The Plague: Chapter 0

Ok, my first fan fic, so please R&R! This is a teaser chapter. If you like it, e-mail me to do more. I'll put up chapters 1, 2, and 3 before I start to seriously consider reader input. Enjoy! D

The war for this planet had been going on for months now, the longest engagement of the war. Both sides were exhausted, and the battles had ground to a halt. With the humans sitting on Forerunner artifacts the Covenant could not glass the planet, but they could not push into areas held by them; concentrated heavy artillery fire had seen to that. Field Master Isna'Rallnme sat, glaring at the human mortar field. Visibility was poor with all the rain, and he was getting wet. Nothing to do about it, though. He liked the rain; it usually gave him a way to move his troops into position. But with the sensor net set up by the humans, it was impossible. Isna sighed, and brought his telescope-like monocle to his eye. He could SEE the human artillery with it; giant computer controlled cannons angled up to the sky. Some even pointed toward the ground.

Commodore O'Keff was not happy. She had lost many men in this battle, and with no air support, if the covie bastards decided to really push, they would not hold the perimeter for long. However, the Covenant leader apparently did not like to lose troops either. She snorted. "That's another thing we have in common, my dear enemy." While mulling these thoughts over, both O'Keff and Isna saw the burning object streak down to the field in between them. It was obviously not a weapon, or one side would be eliminated. Isna decided to send in a party of ghosts to investigate. O'Keff sent out a few Hog's to see what just fell. Both parties arrived at the scene at the same time. While eyeing each other warily, neither side opened fire. It was when the wreckage shuffled a bit that attention was placed on the object. With the Elites in their ghosts flitting for side to side, and the humans in the Hogs training their machineguns on the burning scrap, nothing was going to get out of it alive. At least that was what both sides had hoped for…

O'Keff was getting worried. The scout team had reported that they found the artifact, and then no other reports were being made. She decided to send a larger force in, some more hogs, and a couple of tanks. Snipers and rocket jockeys were to hang back and provide cover fire if things got too hot. Isna was also not happy with the situation. HE decided to send in a unit of Elites, some ghosts, and also a few hunters. They both gave strict orders to NOT fire upon the other side unless told to do so by them. They both hoped that it was simple communications failure, nothing more. Fate was not on their side today, however…

Kikal and his bond brother Kinkik were hunters, so they saw a lot of battle. Battle was brutal, and horrible things were done to bodies in battle. But when Kikal saw the scene of carnage before him, he screamed. (Yes, I know. Hunters don't scream. If it makes you feel better, he gave a yell of terror) Many of the elites fared no better, staring at the bodies of their fallen comrades. The humans were shocked to the core. One marine said, "Aw HELL no! Not the Flood! NOT AGAIN!" "Get a grip soldier!" The Sergeant had recovered before most of either side had. "This is obviously not the work of the flood. So calm DOWN!" A corporal stuttered, "Then w- w- w- WHAT did t- t- t- this, Sarg?" The sergeant paused. "I don't know son. I don't know…" Before all of them, lay the horribly mangled bodies of comrades. 3 elites, and 8 humans. All of them had faces of pure terror on their faces, every one of them had been literally ripped limb from limb. Some were even half eaten. One human body, was missing…