Gears of War Series - Setting

Setting

The Gears of War series takes place on a fictional Earth-like planet named Sera, colonized by humans some time in the series' past. The planet had a history of conflict that took Sera to the brink of destruction. This shocked the people into a rejection of their destructive ways, leading to a golden age of culture, science and the arts, though civil liberties and crime remained troublesome social issues.

The energy demands of Sera's population soon surpassed the planet's traditional energy sources like petroleum and nuclear. A search for new energy sources led to the discovery of Imulsion, a glowing liquid with near-limited energy potential found in chambers and veins beneath the planet's surface. Due to its potential, wars broke out over control of the Imulsion, the largest being a 79-year war between the COG and the Union of Independent Republics (UIR), which ended when COG opted to use its orbital laser weapon, the Hammer of Dawn, to ravage UIR cities. The COG negotiated peace treaties with the remaining collations, becoming the dominant government on Sera.

Shortly after this, the bulk of the population was wiped out by a new threat, sentient creatures called Locust that spewed out from underground and attacked across the planet. The onset became known as Emergence Day. COG evacuated survivors to Jacinto Plateau, where the hard rock would prevent the Locust from tunneling from beneath. Those humans who could not leave their homes or refused to do so became known as the Stranded. COG then employed a "scorched earth" tactic, turning the Hammer of Dawn against its own cities to deny the Locust any tactical advantages. COG ordered its troops, "Gears", to continue to protect the Plateau while finding ways to end the Locust threat completely.

The first game occurs about fourteen years after Emergence Day; Marcus Fenix is a former Gear who was imprisoned for abandoning his post to protect his father Adam, a lead researcher in studying the Locust. Marcus is rescued from military prison by his closest friend, Dominic "Dom" Santiago, moments before the prison is consumed by Locust attacks. He soon re-enlisted in the Gears because they lacked sufficient forces. Marcus leads Delta Team, including Dom, Augustus Cole, and Damon Baird, into discovering the source of the Locust. Using research left over by his father, Delta Team ignites a Lightmass bomb at this source, destroying a large number of Locust. However, the Queen Locust, Myrrah, escapes, and vows revenge for the destruction.

In Gears of War 2, Myrrah regroups her remaining forces and organizes a counterattack using giant earth-eating worms to whittle the land away from the Jacinto Plateau and sink it. Gears forces, including Delta Squad, are sent underground to attack the Locust directly and stop the action. They find a secret COG research facility, as well as Locust slaves where captured humans, including Dom's wife Maria, have been forced to work. As they invade the main Locust base, they find that the Locust are fighting on another front against what they name Lambent, Locust forces that have been corrupted by exposure to the Imulsion. Despite this, Myrrah refuses to end the war. In a hastily-made decision, Marcus decides to sink Jancito Plateau purposely, with the surrounding sea water flooding the Locust and Lambent tunnels. Myrrah and other Locust barely escape, while a radio broadcast from Adam, heard after the game credits finish, begs to know what Marcus has done.

Gears of War 3 occurs two years later. Without Jacinto, COG has collapsed and remnants of humanity work to scavenge supplies while facing new threats from Locust and Lambent forces that have fled to the surface. Marcus learns of a rumor that his father is being held at Azura, a resort island, and with Delta Team and new allies, he heads toward it. While working to acquire Imulsion for a submarine, they learn that humans can also be affected by Imulsion and become Lambent as well. Dom sacrifices himself to allow Marcus and the others to continue on. At Azura, Marcus finds his father, secured in a former hotel, who explains that he had discovered the corruption of Imulsion before, and has been trying to find a way to eradicate it for both humans and Locust. Marcus is shocked to discover that Adam has been working with Myrrah. Adam explains that he found the means to cure humanity and end the Lambent threat using an energy dish at the top of the hotel, and while he has been desperately working to accommodate the Locust after promising this to Myrrah, he has run out of time and that the energy wave that will cure humans will kill the Locust. Myrrah arrives and discovers Adam's betrayal. The Gears fight off Myrrah and kill her, allowing Adam to activate the device, which also ends up killing him as he was his own guinea pig for the technology. Marcus takes a moment to consider his losses before joining with his friends and other humans in their victory.

A fourth game, Gears of War: Judgement, will focus on Baird and Augustus Cole during the early days after Emergence Day.