Wes Hartman

Best-selling author Karen Traviss continues to explore the years prior to "Emergence Day." It's the end of boot camp and the start of the real war for new recruits Marcus Fenix and Carlos Santiago. Marcus immediately establishes his reputation as a hard-charging Gear and natural leader, while his father struggles for a breakthrough in his orbital laser research, codenamed Hammer of Dawn.

In part 3 of "Dirty Little Secrets," the Gears have found their respite on the island of Vectes to be all too brief. The Lambent – a deadly, mutating lifeform – has followed them from the mainland and now threatens to wipe out what's left of humankind. Chairman Prescott has a plan he can reveal to no one – least of all Marcus Fenix.

In this issue, new series writer Karen Traviss (author of the best-selling Gears of War novels) takes us into the past with a story focusing on Marcus Fenix's father, Adam. It's a time before Emergence Day and the arrival of the Locusts, and the humans of Sera have battling each other for 62 years in conflict known as the Pendulum Wars. Adam is appalled by the human carnage he sees in battle and is determined to find a better way to wage war.

A new, six-part epic begins, leading up to the release of the Gears of War 3 game! "Dirty Little Secrets" picks up at the end of Gears 2 with the sinking of Jacinto. Find out what becomes of Marcus, Dom and the rest of the COG forces as they continue their struggle against the Locust invaders.