Hunting season

I Do not own Halo or Alien/predator series

Chapter One: The prey, The threat, The hunt

Dalidus was the chieftain of his pack. He was an aged warrior who had withered many battles. His countless scars were a testament to that. He was loyal to his pack brothers and twice as fierce to their enemies. With a keen sense of the jungle and an undying loyalty to his pack Dalidus had earned the right to carry his ancestor's ceremonial hammer.

Dalidus was big even by Jiralhanae standards. He stood over all of his pack brothers with a dark silver mane. What surprised everyone who meant him was his natural agility. Although he was very tall he could out maneuver any sangheili. Dalidus had proved that more than once in his personal vendetta against them.

Before the war ended Dalidus was a well respected chieftain within the covenant. Now he was an outcast hunted by sangheili warriors. Dalidus vowed on his ancestor's hammer that he would kill as many sangheili he could. Jumping from system to system in his flag ship Honor Of Intent Dalidus and his pack did just that. Any planet that had a trace of the sangheili scum Dalidus would go there and kill every single one.

Up until now Dalidus had not hit any snags. However no one could continue on as he had for long. After his last raid nine sangheili capital ships emerged from slip space. With no other choices Dalidus ordered his pack to do a blind slip space jump. At first everything was alright spotting a planet to land on Dalidus ordered that they land there. Shortly after the order however an unknown vessel fired on them crippling all primary system's systematically. Dalidus felt as if his pack was going to die here in some unknown system. Instead the ship reeled back and allowed them to evacuate.

It had been three days ago since then. Dalidus did not like it at all whoever fired on them could have destroyed the Honor Of Intent. For some reason his attackers wanted him alive and Dalidus did not want to find out why. Upon their rough landing Dalidus ordered his pack into the jungle and to conceal their tracks. Ever since they had crashed he had them moving continually, he was not going to give his attackers a chance to find him.

For now his pack was resting at the base of a tree eating a hog they had caught and cooked earlier. Haak, the youngest of Dalidus's pack and the only to not earn the manly us suffix sat away from the pack. He was a runt and a clumsy one at that so most of the pack picked on him. It was all in good fun and they did respect him, Dalidus in particular. He saw something in the runt something the others did not. Dalidus did not know what but he felt deep inside that Haak was going to be a great man one day.

Taking a bite out of his hog Dalidus let the cooked meat's juices fill his gullet. It had a sweet flavor that reminded him of a thorn beast tail. It was more chewy though and was not as tender. Looking to Haak Dalidus stood and sat next to him. He smiled briefly and patted the young man's head.

"Boy kill something so I can call you a man." Haak only smiled and nodded as he took another bite out of his share of the hog. Some of the others sneered and joked on how Dalidus was babying the child again. Dalidus just shot them a dark look letting them know to stop.

"Chieftain why do you think our attackers did this?" Haak asked with a mouthful of meat.

"Boy there is only one reason to capture us." Happy with his answer Dalidus looked to the trees. That was the only reason he could think what other reason could they have. As if reading his mind Jalus the second oldest of the pack said jokingly

"Perhaps they're savages and are hunting us for sport." The rest of the pack laughed a little at Jalus's joke. Even Dalidus found himself chuckling nothing could ever track him and his pack, let alone hunt them without one his brothers picking up their scent.

Sargent Major Benny Loft was an ODST black ops soldier. In other words Benny was an elite among elites specially trained for any situation. Surviving over twenty jumps and countless missions deep within covenant controlled space he had earned his rest. The Corps however did not see it that way. Now that the war was over the military brass had him doing small clean up operations where brute resistance was found. For now he and the rest of his squad were stationed on the capital ship "Oregon".

Passing his time in the ship's cafeteria Benny recalled his deceased father Henry. He had taught him every trick a good hunter should know. It was funny he never really appreciated his father's teachings until he was gone. It only seemed like yesterday that the two were out in the Michigan forests hunting for a prize buck. It made him smile recalling his old man whenever he was hunting.

Looking out of the cafeteria's window Benny fiddled with a red ball his father had given to him for his sixth birthday. Bouncing it against the window Benny let out an agitated sigh. He had been cramped on this ship too long and just wanted off. To pass the time by Benny listened to the others conversations. Most of them were uninteresting war stories, still others spoke about something meaningful like family. For the most part though Benny just tried drowning them out with his ball.

Just as he was getting comfortable in his seat his name echoed off of the ship's loud speakers. It was Captain John Donnell requesting that he and his team come to the command deck. Cursing silently Benny forced himself up and quickly made his way down the ship's long hallways.

As he made his way to the command deck of the "Oregon" he was greeted by his team's sniper and childhood friend Harmon "Jester" Wright. Being a wise cracking prankster Harmon lived up to his nickname. He took any chance he could to make a situation funny and if he failed try again. Only when Harmon was on assignment did he stop, somewhat.

"What do you think it is this time Sarge?" Harmon asked with a grin.

"Same as last time Harmon still hunting that damn brute chieftain." Harmon only frowned and shrugged his shoulders. He hated clean up and detail missions. To Harmon it was something the common soldier could do but the military board felt that the ODST would do it faster and better. Licking his lips Harmon uttered under his breath,

"Let's just hope the brutes are not as organized as last time."

"Yeah let's hope not" Was all Benny said before they entered the command deck. All of Benny's hand picked team was already being briefed by Captain Donnell. He stood in the center of the room bringing up various holograms of the nearby planet the Oregon was bound for. Sylvia the Oregon's A.I construct pinpointed different points of interest, safe evacuation zones and the objective. It was a remote facility located on the planet's surface. Clearing his throat Captain Donnell stated.

"Marines as you know three days ago we were tracking the brute flag ship Honor of Intent. We believe it landed on this planet. The objective is simple it's an ape hunt you know the drill. However the brutes are a secondary objective." Narrowing his eyes Benny looked over the facility. It was a five story complex with three levels below ground. As for the security it was like a miniature prison designed to keep anything in and everyone out. Looking over the entire facility a final time Benny asked hoarsely

"Captain what is this facility for?" Captain Donnell didn't answer not right away. He stepped back took a deep breath and cursed under his breath. Rubbing his eyes Captain Donnell brought up a hologram of a flood infector.

"Understand this right now Sargent Major officially this planet does not exist. There are five facilities located on the surface all personal in the facilities are expendable. These facilities were commissioned by the military board as joint experiment between us and the elites to properly research the flood." All of Benny's team went pale in the face. Until now there were only rumors and stories of labs that bred flood for study. Now it was a hard reality for Benny and his team. He had only faced the flood once in his service and he never wanted to again. Gaining back his strength Benny asked briskly

"Have the flood escaped containment?"

"We don't know, that's your primary mission to assess the situation on the planet. Gentlemen you have forty eight hours to wipe out all intelligence of this planet, it's operations and to find and eliminate the brute chieftain Dalidus." Harmon crossed his arms and leaned against the back wall. Looking sternly at the schematics of the base and asked.

"And if we don't report in after forty eight hours?" Captain Donnell looked sharply to Harmon and said coldly.

"We glass the entire planet."

Dr. Gary Varner was a seasoned scientist. He had been on the flood research project ever since it began five years ago. To him it was simply fascinating how single minded, how driven the flood as a species were! Perhaps what he found most interesting was their uncontrollable need to consume. Gary loved watching the flood he loved observing them it was his passion.

Sadly most of his research was in vain. The flood were incredibly smart. They had nearly broken out of containment five times just within the past few days. Worse yet Dr. Varner did not get any of the escape attempts recorded. Each time the beasts had effortlessly avoided the perimeter camera's. It was as if they knew they were being watched. This didn't dishearten Dr. Varner though it just motivated him to try harder.

For now Dr. Varner had ordered every specimen be put in cryogenic suspension. He had misjudged their intelligence one too many times. Some time next week he would begin his research again but for now he would let his team rest. At least that was his plan and Dr. Varner's plan's never went through quite that smoothly.

Looking out into the distant sunset from his office. Dr. Varner let out a grated sigh. It had been a long day of processing the frozen flood specimen's. Leaning back in his chair Dr. Varner began to drift into a light sleep, only to be awoken by an alarm sounding. Something from inside the complex had tripped one of the sensors.

Dr. Varner pressed the the loud speaker on to see what was going on. All that was heard were screams and gunfire. It couldn't be a flood, it just couldn't be every specimen was accounted for. Regardless of what it was he had to contain the situation. Acting fast he activated the emergency warning grid all throughout the complex.

"All personal that are within the designated safe zones remain calm. Lower all blast doors and signal me that you are secure." Dr. Varner waited a couple of seconds and watched a panel that indicated if a safe zone was locked down. It would remain red until the blast doors were completely sealed and the staff activated a switch to signal Dr. Varner. Watching the panel for at least a minute Dr. Varner wanted to made sure everyone was locked down.

Waiting a couple more seconds Dr. Varner activated the main defense grid. The defense grid was a specially designed weapon for flood outbreaks. It was based off of Forerunner technology that was integrated into equivalent of a covenant scarab cannon. Blasting all throughout the complex anything outside of the safe zone's would die.

Firing the main cannon for a while Dr. Varner wanted to make sure whatever it was died. After a while he switched over to a smaller variant of the weapon to sweep the air vents and water pipes. Once Dr. Varner was sure whatever it was, was dead he ordered that security do an extensive sweep of the facility.

Reclining back in his chair Dr. Varner felt a sting of guilt. That was the second time he had to enact the fail safe protocol. He knew some unlucky man or woman was in that blast and their blood was now on his hands. Choosing to shake it off Varner rationalized that it was for the greater good of humanity. Funny enough though every time he told himself that Gary Varner could barely stomach himself.

Lighting a cigarette Gary looked out his window again. The sun was now set and the twilight of this system's three moon's was beginning to shine. Taking a drag of his cigarette he couldn't help but wonder, what tripped that silent alarm inside the facility.

Little did Dr. Gary Varner know he was going to get his answer much sooner than expected. Relaxing in his chair the speaker on his desk crackled to life. One the junior scientist's Dr. Maria Huft was frantic out of her wits. She was going on about something but she was to raddled to make any sense. After listening intently though Dr. Varner pieced together what she was saying "They weren't flood."

Sprinting down to her location Gary needed to see whatever this was for himself. Maria described them as black scaly monsters. At first Gary only thought that she was delusional but than similar reports began coming into his office. Shortly after the security team had found one alive. They had cornered it into one of the flood's holding cells and locked the creature in. How it survived the purge Gary did not know. Reaching the flood holding area several guards were present if it escaped. Ordering the guards to stand by Gary looked at the black creature through the six inch wired glass. It was a hideous, eyeless beast. It snarled and growled at Dr. Varner out of anger. Placing it's claw on the glass it hissed and revealed a tongue with a head of it's own!

"What are you..." Dr. Varner whispered under his breath. As if able to hear him the monster instantly rammed the glass and screeched an ungodly sound.

Nihko'te was aged hunter one who had survived many cycles and countless hunt's. Some would say he was as old as the ancient's and just as wise. Nihko'te was never afraid he never let anything unnerve him. Above all he respected the hunt and everything that it meant.

That is why the un blooded Da'dtou-di both looked up to and respected him. Nihko'te had taught him everything of the hunt from looking for tracks to reading the prey's movement. Now he was leading him on his first hunt for the hard meat! They had landed on this remote planet looking for soft meat instead they found the serpent! Da'dtou-di was excited he finally could prove that he was a blooded hunter!

Personally Nihko'te felt that Da'dtou-di was not ready to face the hard meat but none the less this was unexpected. Nihko'te knew where the serpent liked to nest and this planet was not where he would expect to find them. The one thing Nihko'te did expect was the un blooded pup's excitement. Ever since he saw the serpents attack the ooman settlement Da'dtou-di was over excited. Regardless of how eager he was it would do little against the ferocity of the hard meat.

Nihko'te quickly switched his thoughts over to the strange ooman ship they had shot down. Never in his long life had he seen such an advanced ship in ooman control or so oddly designed. Normally ooman ships were more angular, this one was smooth and curved like a claw. Also it was a deep purple not the usual gray steel Nihko'te was accustomed to.

What surprised Nihko'te the most though was not the ship, but how the oomans had just disappeared. when he and the un blooded had landed their was no sign of the oomans anywhere. Usually the ooman would set up a base camp and have scouting parties search for help or a better base camp. Not this time as the ooman's crashed they took off into the heart of the jungle. They left no trace of where they went, save a single tuft of silvery white hair.