Gearheads of War

Explanations of these events:
a) I did myself, and either got in trouble or commended.
b) I witnessed another person do it.
c) Was spontaneously informed I was not allowed to do.
d) Was the result of a clarification of the above.
e) I was just minding my own business, when something happened.

Being a rabid fan of Gears of War, I'd always been pleased by the slaying of locust en masse, believing myself a liberator, fighting the good fight against an undeniable, indefatigable enemy bent on the destruction of humanity as a whole.

But then I began to wonder; am I truly a noble warrior for tossing grenades into the doorways (emergence holes) of the locust, then chain sawing and shot gunning my way through those unfortunate few that made it through? Are the COG the last hope for humanity, as I had been led to believe?

Or, contrary to popular belief, was I simply keeping a scaly people from the suns warm rays?

I consulted the work Dr.  Lawrence Britt, an academic who dedicated his life to the study of oppressive forces.

His work provided me 14 signs of Fascism.

What you're about to read, may shock you.

From the 14 Signs, a list of behaviors common amongst Fascist regimes.

1.    Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
The Gear logo can be found anywhere, in any map. It's borne on the cuirass of the Gear soldiers, the walls of buildings, the sides of choppers and APC's, and can even be seen substituting for "O" in "Hope", in the courtyard at the beginning of Act 4.

2.    Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
     As is demonstrated by the very existence of the Stranded, the bombardment of the planet surface at the beginning of the Locust War shows the disregard for the value of their underlings. The government, believing itself safe one Jacinto Plateau, allows billions to die for the lost cause of saving the surface.

3.    Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
Whose to say the Locust, not unlike the Big Bad wolf, was merely sneezing, a case of mistaken identity, misunderstanding, and overreaction on both sides? The COG as a force was waging war for centuries right above the collective head of the locust: perhaps we are the loud neighbor, and the gray foe from the depths merely arrives telling us to turn it down?

4.    Supremacy of the Military
      Again, the Stranded seem to be a largely civilian force, as a military power rarely leaves large numbers of troops to be blasted by their own chemical munitions. And again, a  military that can still send troops into battle after 12-15 years of retreating and losing must have been a formidable force, glorified by the media and general populace as well.

5.    Rampant Sexism
Why doesn't Anya, the only feminine (with the exception of Baird, hair dying pansy) not get a gun, armor, or a chance to demonstrate her abilities with a lancer?

6.    Obsession with National Security
This, I think, needs no elaboration.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed
Again I must mention the Stranded. A civilian population likely spending much of their time building the armor, making the ammunition, would be of little need with the storerooms stocked so well at the end of the Pendulum Wars. They would be a likely deterrent to the war machine, shedding light on their mass doom.  

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
We see no colleges, other than the East Barricade Academy, and any society that lets Baird into a Special Forces unit like Delta must not be terribly concerned with intellectual advancement beyond medicine (to keep the soldiers alive) and technology (to ease killing of soldiers).

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Why would a man with as demonstrative a military record as Marcus Fenix be imprisoned for such a crime as going to rescue his father? With the war going as poorly as it was, why not simply give him latrine duty, or break him down a rank?

Now I realize, I have been fighting for 8 months on the side of the fascists! A capitalist American like myself, lowered to fighting for the political party that brought us such men as Dr. Mengele, Mussolini, and many others. We've all been through the Gears of War campaign. We've fragged, tagged, and sawed our way to dropping the LightMass bomb, a device so terrible as to wipe out more locust in a single swoop than likely all of us combined. We have become the oppressive force. And we've loved every second of it. I can hardly bear the thought of it.

I leave out several defining factors, such as "Rampant Cronyism" and "Fraudulent Elections" simply because they are difficult to prove without further analysis into the workings of the Coalition, something not delved much into within the actual Campaign.

This is what I wrote at b.net:

After having spent several months playing Halo 3 and becoming comfortable with the matchmaking and multiplayer, I have realized what is perhaps not a flaw, but certainly something to be improved.

But first, a history lesson.

Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States, and one of few Whigs to hold the highest office.
He is also generally regarded as the least remembered President.
Bungie, in their quest for world domination, would do well to recall where we come from, and salute past leaders, even if only in consecutive or spree medal form.
The "Killard Fillmore", as I have dubbed it would be a silent reminder to all Halo players that Bungie cares deeply not just about their community, but also the Executive Branch of the United States.

The patriotic tears that well up for our dear President Fillmore can be matched only by the tears of opponents as a skilled player runs wild, earning medals and helping his team.

Honestly, is there anything more heart touching than remembering a man deserving of respect along with propelling your team (or yourself) to the top of the scoreboard?

Help us, Bungie, as we remember the beloved 13th President of the Union.

Perhaps the Killard Fillmore could be for scoring 13 consecutive kills?

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=21911151&viewreplies=true

Of course, this was largely irrelevant; by the time I got there, nobody (with the exception of 3Suns) was reading it anymore, and if they were they didn't have the inclination to respond.
This didn't bother me (I don't pretend to find myself quite so interesting as to warrant a response to every post), but I was rather peaked considering the anecdotal evidence that seemed to point irrevocably towards ignorance regarding the faith of an approximate billion people (roughly the equivalent of the Catholic church).

Of course, I don't need to point out the fact that there aren't 1 billion (or 1/6 of the world population) fundamentalist, suicide bombing nutjobs running around the world.

But, in any case, I found this opinion piece by Mr. Sriram Khe to be quite interesting, especially regarding America's ignorance pertaining to the Middle East (especially after nearly 30 years of interventionist policy).  

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory.cls?cid=57164&sid=5&fid= 2

By Master Ritter/Sparton 501

I begin by saying; this argument is completely hypothetical due to my nature of play.
I've never frag tagged a player in my Gears career, and attempts to have resulted in my own destruction whether it be by chainsaw, curb stomp, or shotgun blast. I myself have been tagged more often that I would care to admit, and the large portion of the Gear playing community seem outraged by this tactic.

My argument is not to justify it, merely to play the devils advocate and elaborate on perhaps why it is not such a `bastard child' as the community has thus far believed.

The community has been after this aspect of the game since it was first overused by players; a rather Macbeth esque series of demands put upon Epic desired to discover the solution. "Shorten the distance required to tag!", "Disown any taggers!" "Remove it from the game entirely!!"

Have we been pursuing the symptoms and not the disease? A frag tag when considered out of context is an honor. The other team has seen fit not to merely down you by gunfire, or slash you with the torque bow or the chainsaw.
No, they'll not rest till they have you in dozens of bits across the map, not merely taking out another foe, but completely eradicating you! Players get upset out of proportion when someone is tagged in Gears, but I can remember no such disdain for someone blasting you by a plasma grenade in Halo? The skill is different, no player talented with a plasma grenade is a shoo in for a grenade tagger, but the end result is the same.

One might argue that the tagging allows a gory display of skill that no other weapon employs; the chainsaw gets put down after the player receives a bullet. The pistol is a ranged weapon. Etc, etc.
But a person is as readily destroyed by a close range shotgun blast as they are by a grenade. And a grenade is a dangerous tool to use; how many times has a player been tagged, roll into the nest of the enemy, and destroy them with their own grenades? I've done it, and taken out 1, 2, 3 opponents! And how many times has a player been closing on an opponent not to tag, but maybe to chainsaw, shotgun, or pistol whip and gotten blasted by an 8 gauge surprise? It's a dangerous, difficult tool to master, and it seems unfairly judged, juried, and executed.

The chainsaw subjects you to an unfortunate animation watching your character get hacked into pieces by another player screaming with blood lust. The grenade creates no humiliating animation.

The torque bow creates the same end result, but without the stigma of the grenade(?)

The grenade seems a tool crucified by the public, along with Wal-Mart, drive by shootings, and mimes. They all have a simple solution. We can stop doing/going. Or we can let it go, and live with it as another (perhaps unfortunate, perhaps not) part of life.

Now, the hivemind mentions that "we seem to have located another squad", or something of that nature. But, we come across 3 squads during the game (at least I think its three, Alpha, Delta, and the squad at the beginning of act IV that gets zapped in the chopper crash).
And Hoffman is the sole officer you come across.
So, what do you think the real remaining strength of the COG is?

I'm on the east coast, and can play for the most part at any time except the "prime time" television hours (my mother doesn't really enjoy videogames, and she is the one who bought the tv, you know?) Even if anybody just wants to get some online co-op going on, in stead of "warzone", "exucution", etc., I would like to start playing with you peoples.
Anybody up to stomp on my head?