A/N: Okay, so here's a BioShock-Halo crossover. And my keyboard decided to be not-gay and actually type BioShock right the first time! Woot! Mhm... so, thanks to PMOH]Winters for giving me the idea of this. If, for any reason, you read this, I will scream like a nine year old fangirl and probably faint. XD Just kidding. But, seriously, PMOH, I love your story, even though I haven't reviewed it (I'll get to it... eventually.) And, for those unaccustomed to my writing style *Coughcough*pussies*Coughcough* There will be no incest in this story. Damn. But, yes, there is romance, since I have to have some form of (hidden, usually) sex in my stories. 8'D
The ten marines kept glancing at each other as the submarine descended. They had never worked with each other before, with the exception of two. Captain Price, Sergeants Jackson, MacTavish, and Vasquez, Lieutenants Zachary and Kamarov, and Privates Catherine, Ai, Sarah, and Gaz.
Lieutenant Zach was sitting by Ai, and his sister, Catherine, was sitting on his other side. He was talking quietly to Ai. "What's your name?" He asked, violet eyes roaming across her face. He felt Cathy's hand slide into his and clenched it quickly before releasing it.
"Ai," she muttered, blushing slightly as she averted her light silver eyes to the floor of the sub. Her light brown hair framed her face, and she was constantly pushing it out of her eyes. She glanced up at him. "What's yours?"
"Zachary," he said, smiling slightly. He ran his hand through his black hair. "This is my little sis, Cath." He raised Catherine's hand, and she turned to smile quickly at Ai.
"Hey."
Ai blushed again, looking down.
"You're really shy, aren't you?" Zach asked softly.
She nodded. "Around… other humans, really. The Covenant… yeah, just put me in the same room as them, and they're screwed."
He smirked slightly, then said, "Hey, what do you think they're going to have us do?"
Ai shrugged. "All they told me was that it was important and way under the Atlantic."
Various choruses of 'same here's rang out, one in heavily accented English.
Lieutenant Kamarov held onto his sniper rifle, sighing slightly. He had sixteen extra clips, and a shotgun. The Russian glanced around at his comrades, wishing another of his brethren was there. The English captain, Price, he had heard about but never actually worked with. Something that made the Englishman famous was that he could shoot the head of a Brute, aiming sideways, ten out of ten times… with a Magnum.
A joke about that was that "he could hit a Brute eleven out of ten times."
Zachary and Catherine Heathe were also famous, for a different reason. They never left each other's side unless they had to. They barely talked to anyone outside their immediate family. They could use anything with deadly efficiency—human or Covenant weapons, even a wrench or golf club. Zach even said he'd assassinated someone with a shoelace.
The others… Kamarov did know anything about.
Except for Ai. His brother had said that she was a complete bitch.
Jackson sighed, resting his black hair against the metal. His blue eyes rested on his friend. Vasquez was smoking a cigarette, against the rules. His blond hair was messed up, his blue eyes calm. The two had been friends since they were in fifth grade. They'd teamed up on the local bullies and kicked their asses. The two became fast friends after that.
Captain Price took one final look at his fellow marines, then his eyes rested on the American soldiers, next to Japanese woman. They all looked considerably young. The two siblings were holding hands tentatively, and the sister was looking out the window, amazed at the life. He chuckled quietly. He took another glance at the only other British marines, Soap and Gaz. His hand ran through his dark brown hair, and his brown eyes rested on the ceiling. Soap. Black hair, black eyes, slightly tanned skin. Really pale, really… Gaz, brown hair, black eyes.
And the other American… Sarah. She was sitting away from the others, her head hung, blond hair covering her eyes. She glanced up suddenly, maroon eyes quickly sweeping the area, then her head lowered again.
"We're here," one of the crewmen said, an ex-ODST soldier. "Rapture… have fun, kids. You'll have reinforcements in a few hours. Four SPARTAN-IIIs. Heh… feet first into hell… good luck." And then the door opened and they walked out.
They were on the surface, outside of a lighthouse. Cathy gripped her brother's hand even tighter. "Why'd they send us in a sub?" Ai asked softly.
"Fastest vehicle they had available," Zach replied, grabbing her wrist. "Come on." He pulled his sister and Ai up the stairs, and eventually released Ai. They came to a doorway, a giant one, and they walked in. A few moments after they were all in, the door shut, and lights turned on, showing a banner: "No gods or kings. Only men."
They stared at it for a moment, then looked past it, to a set of stairs, and walked down them, then another flight.
And there was an old-fashioned, 21st century bathysphere. They crowded inside it, and Ai pulled the lever. A small screen came up, and a video started to play.
"I'm Andrew Ryan, and I'm here to ask you a question… is a man not entitled to the sweat of his brow? No, says the man in Washington. It belongs to the poor! No, says the man in the Vatican, it belongs to God! No, says the man in Moscow, it belongs to everyone!
"I rejected those answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose… Rapture." The screen lifted, revealing a huge city… underwater. They all sucked in a breath.
"It's beautiful," Ai whispered.
Ryan continued.
"A city where the artist would not fear the censor, where the great would not be constrained by the small, where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality."
"Obviously, he hasn't seen 2552 Earth." The all laughed quietly.
"And, with the sweat of your brow… Rapture could become your city, as well."
After a few moments of beautiful underwater scenery, the bathysphere was set into a frame, and started sliding forwards. Letters lit up as they moved forwards. 'All good things,' 'Of the world,' 'Flow into the city.' The radio on the wall crackled to life.
"Okay, so you're in Rapture. We didn't tell you because, seriously, this place is a hellhole. Which is also why we gave you enough ammo and food to last a year. Don't worry, you'll only be here a day or two… three at the most. You have to map out the area, and… bring back some plasmids, kiddies."
The transmission ended. They stared at it for a moment as the bathysphere ascended. "Stay sharp, marines," Price said. "We don't know what to expect."
Zach placed his hand on the door, and was just about to open it, when the radio turned on again. A German accent came over. "Wait! Do not open it!" The voice was distinctly a woman's. "There is a Splicer. Just wait a moment."
They waited, and something flashed by them. Then gunshots and a scream. "All right, you can come out. Take the radio with you."
Ai grabbed the radio, tucking it into a pocket. They exited slowly, weapons raised and aimed. Once they were sure the area was clear, they walked forward cautiously. The bathysphere descended behind them. There were various signs scattered around, but no one took notice of them.
"I notice you have weapons already… good. I am Maria Tenenbaum. I will help to keep you alive."
Zach frowned, and snatched the radio, clicking the button that allowed him to talk. "Miss Tenenbaum, how can we trust you?"
"You can't, really, and I do not blame you, Marine. Ah… my sisters… they bring me news from the outside world from time to time. It… has changed greatly, as I understand."
"Damn right. We got murderers, thieves, and fucking aliens all over our asses up there."
"Aliens…?…other than those, I fear Rapture is much the same."
Ai snorted. "If there's no Covenant, this place might as well be heaven."
"This is far from heaven… Splicers are everywhere. ADAM is much too abundant… keep walking, gottverdammt!"
They complied.
"It started in the year… oh, what was it? I think it was 2000. My ancestor, Dr. Bridget Tenenbaum, started distributing small amounts of ADAM back throughout the city. Shortly before she died, she tasked one of her daughters, Miranda, to do the same. She did, and quite well, for a while.
"But then she made a mistake. She grew careless. She let ADAM black markets spring up. Soon, there were Little Sisters crawling everywhere again… and the Splicers were still in a good enough mental state to reproduce. They stayed that way, horribly for us. They're cunning, now, and hard to defeat. The Big Daddies, who protect the Little Sisters, they can kill many of them… but they're swarming."
As she stopped talking, they stopped walking. They were in a large, lobby-like area. "Weapons up, marines," Price ordered, and they happily complied.
Zach had a shotgun; Ai had a battle rifle; Catherine had a rocket launcher; Kamarov had a sniper rifle; the rest had assault rifles.
Kamarov swept the area with the biosensor on his sniper rifle before the others advanced cautiously, Price taking point with assault rifle raised. The doors slid open, and there was someone standing there. He glanced up at them, and grinned. "Why, hello, there…" He advanced slowly.
Price didn't hesitate. He shot the ugly thing down.
"Good choice. There are stairs to your right, Marines. What are your names, hm? I will need to know later."
"Zach."
"Cath."
"Ai…"
"Price."
"Jackson."
"Vasquez."
"Soap."
"Gaz."
"Kamarov."
They all glanced at Sarah, who hadn't said a word… ever.
She glared at them all, intense maroon eyes burning with a hate that surprised them all. "I won't say a word to her."
There was a small intake of breath on the radio. "I remember that voice…" Maria said softly.
"No, you don't," Sarah snapped.
"Sarah. Sarah Azekail."
A/N: DUNDUNDUNNNN... And so, I have a cliffhanger that no one will understand until next chapter. Woot.