Alright I'm going to make a series of one shots that depicts battles, conflicts or even just random events that occur in the overarching multiverse of my stories, so expect a lot of universes crossing over.
If anyone's hoping for another Deadliest Warrior-style fanfiction, I'm sorry to say that you'll be disappointed if you come here expecting fair conflicts. Partially, because I'm biased, but also because it's flat out impossible to truly predict the outcome of any sort of conflict (or anything really).
I do not own Star Wars, Halo, Mass Effect, Metroid, Alien, Predator, Bionicle, Young Justice, Red vs Blue, Killzone, Dead Space, Half-Life, Portal, or Titanfall.
First up: how the Great Flood War began.
Matriarch A'liet stood in the silver and bronze metal hallway, overseeing the exploration by Council forces. Salarian techs and asari scientists were scouring the rooms for useful data and new technology, while turian and human soldiers accompanied them and stood guard against possible incursions by these "Forerunner Sentinels."
A turian built cruiser with an interdimensional hyperdrive hovered nearby the station, holding position underneath the larger platform above. The almost grappling hook-shaped facility was suspended from the larger station by a massive cable, which shouldn't have been able to support its weight.
This station was an unbelievably advanced piece of technology, and yet according to what little records that had been acquired by STG from a group of Kig-Yar pirates, this place was only a gas mine.
There had been warnings from the Kig-Yar to stay away from this place, and what little information they could gain from ONI indicated this station wasn't exactly innocuous, which was all the more reason for the Council to investigate.
If they recovered any weapons or technology from here, it would drastically change the Citadel's standing in the IDA, and it could even put them on par with the Republic and the Separatists, though A'liet knew the latter two would be decades away at minimum.
Regardless, the Citadel Council had dispatched a quiet mission to this unnamed gas giant in order to gather any useful technology. Though they were technically allies with the UNSC thanks to the governing body of the InterDimensional Alliance (IDA), the Council chose to keep this little expedition quiet at the insistence of the Salarians, who were unused to being left in the dark (intelligence-wise) thanks to ONI and wanted to gain any sort of advantage over the other factions of the multiverse.
Gunfire and screaming interrupted the Matriarch's musings and she called for an update from her omni-tool. A turian face emerged on the video screen.
"Status report. What's happening?"
"We lost contact with the Salarian techs after they opened Section G." The turian replied, "Almost immediately afterwards, these Sentinels started attacking all of us."
A'liet frowned in anger. Section G was the most tightly secured area on the Forerunner gas mine. It had taken three days to break through the door, during which time, the guards and techs were under constant assault by these Sentinel drones.
The initial assumption by the scientists was that Section G held their control room, which meant that getting inside would allow the Council to deactivate the Sentinels and take them for further study. Now though, it seemed that this was not the case, and they would have to fight through these drones or evacuate.
"Send the word to all points. We're evacuating the station." The Matriarch ordered. The turian was about to reply when an unnatural noise permeated through the air, causing the soldiers nearby him to spin towards the position.
"Take them down! Take them-" The link cut out into static, but not before the Matriarch could see the panicked faces on the human soldiers. Turning to her entourage of asari commandos, A'liet told them to follow her and get everyone to the evacuation point.
Following the weapon fire, the asari commandos found a squad of soldiers and scientists locked in a struggle against the Sentinels. Lances of energy burned through flesh, completely ignoring the kinetic barriers they were wearing. The battle wasn't entirely one sided, as a human marine destroyed a Sentinel with a well-placed barrage.
In the center of the group, a male Quarian (one of the only expedition members not part of a Council race) tech was attempting to hack the Sentinels, but it didn't seem to have any effect, and the Quarian was rewarded for his efforts by an energy beam through the chest. A'liet and her commandos rushed to assist when a door on the opposite end of the room burst open.
A swarm of sickly pale, squid-shaped creatures scuttled through opening before they were cut down by the fire of the Sentinels, who were now focusing all their efforts on these new arrivals. A swarm of humanoid shaped creatures also ran through the door, firing weapons at the drones and the defending forces.
With a horrified start, A'liet realized that these sickly green and brown figures were a mix of asari, turian, salarian and human beings. Or they were, before they were twisted by whatever these were. The commandos started unleashing biotic attacks at these monsters as they started pouring in from vents and other chambers, but most of them were overwhelmed.
Regardless, they bought A'liet enough time to get the few survivors out of that area. The Sentinels were too busy with the flood of hostiles to notice their retreat. As they made their way back to the evac point, A'liet struggled not to give in to despair.
She not only lost her sisters, but the Council's expedition had clearly released these monstrosities. A'liet didn't know what they were, but they clearly twisted life to suit their own ends, like the Reapers, except these were even worse.
The few survivors of the expedition made it back to the shuttles, but as soon as they were back on the cruiser, one of the shuttles opened to reveal that some of these parasites had slipped aboard, and soon an all out battle broke through the ship.
A'liet barely noticed, as one of those squid-like forms had latched onto her back and buried its way through her spine. Pain like she had never experienced coursed through her body as it became twisted beyond all recognition. One of her arms became a thin tendril, while her neck was pushed to a broken angle as the infection form forced its way through her chest.
Inside her mind, the Matriarch was met with a disgusting hunger that sickened her to her core. This hunger overcame even the most potent of instincts and emotions, making the Matriarch want to vomit if she still had control of her body.
A'liet mentally struggled against this hunger, to keep it from consuming her essence. Surprisingly, it seemed to work, though she started drifting in and out of consciousness as she was forced to watch herself attack her former crewmates.
As the battle progressed, she realized that these creatures seemed to gain the power of everything they infected, which was horrifying when she watched herself unleash a powerful biotic shockwave that leveled a hallway and killed dozens of soldiers.
It didn't take long before the Flood had taken the ship and started interfacing with the systems. Soon, the former Matriarch was on the bridge, and to her horror, she was added to the mass of a creature that had formed itself around the controls of the ship.
All other concerns were driven from her as she found herself trapped in her own mind with an incessant buzzing noise droned from all around her. Soon, the buzzing intensified as A'liet felt her memories being pulled from her and consumed.
The first time she had left her homeworld, the first life she took as a mercenary, the day she found out she was pregnant, and her happy years raising her daughter to be the best asari she could be. All of these memories were destroyed as the Flood sifted through her mind to find what they were looking for.
It didn't take long for the Flood to rip all the useful knowledge they wanted out of A'liet's mind. As the asari felt herself slipping into the darkness, a rasping baritone voice broke through the silence:
"This is not your grave. But you are welcome in it."
That was the last thing Matriarch A'liet ever heard before the hunger completely consumed her.
Well, the Citadel Council have really screwed up this time. The Great Flood War that I mentioned in my other works begins here. And all because the Council allowed an interdimensional transport device to fall into the tentacles of the Flood.
Now, to be fair, the UNSC and ONI could have told the rest of the IDA about the existence of the Flood. But that would have opened a whole other can of worms that the Halo factions wouldn't want to deal with (such as the existence of the Halo rings and their purpose), especially with the political sychopants that make up the leadership of the IDA who would end up trying to go there anyway.
Besides, the Mass Effect races seem to have the same mindset of the Covenant when it comes to scientific exploration (as in they open every door, while ignoring the warning signs that say "Keep the F**k out!"), so this seems rather fitting.
Anyway, this collection will contain little excerpts of conflicts or stories from several different perspectives in the multiverse, so stay tuned for more.
Reviews are always welcome.