High Charity's grand throne room was not what it once was. Its polished purple walls were now covered with burns and blood and flood spores. Combat forms ran to and fro, bringing with them arms to take to the shuttles. Infection forms clung to walls and ceilings, making them a continual sea of whitewash. Carrier forms waddled across intersecting walkways making their own way to the many hangers that lined the station's massive circumference.
Gravemind's form appeared behind the throne platform from out of a gravlift. The massive creature slowly crept out onto the platform as the room erupted in an ear-piercing chorus of screeches and screams. He stretched out a lone long tentacle to his audience for all to see. Coiled up within was the Prophet of Mercy's throne.
Through time we have survived. Now we are many where once we were few. Those that sought to destroy us are now our weapons. Their knowledge and power are ours. We will follow them and we will consume them. They will be with us and they will be us. Our time is now, we must claim this universe and feed on its inhabitants. We will not be stopped.
The monstrous echo of Gravemind's voice was quieted only by the louder cries of the many flood forms in the room. Their veracity only grew louder as Gravemind crushed the throne and tossed its remains into the abyss that surrounded him. High Charity and all its inhabitants were under his sole leadership, and all had the same mission. To consume.
Beside the giant green mass a sole pedestal projected Cortana's form. She stood thoughtfully as she monitored High Charity's functions. The amount of information available to the AI was enormous, although she dared not delve in too deeply. No need to give Gravemind something more to think about. Hungry screams and guttural growls made Cortana glad that she wasn't flesh and bone. That she couldn't become one of them.
She shuddered as a human combat form walked past. His face was mostly gone, with the jaw torn away and the ear dangling loosely. Tentacles whipped and popped in the air, one of them going right through Cortana's form, causing her to distort.
Great manners you got there slimeball.
As if he had heard her, the combat form turned and stared at her with dead glazed over eyes. The man's fatigues were mostly gone now, but Cortana could make out a name. "Evans".
"Time is precious and moments are few. All must be ready." Gravemind wrapped a tentacle around what was left of Private Evans and threw him down the long declining pathway leading out of the throne room. The thing formerly known as Private Evans rolled as it hit the floor. It came to a stop and Cortana was certain it would not move again.
Though barely visible from the distance, Cortana saw Private Evans contort; arranging limbs in unnatural shapes and angles as it once again righted itself and began walking as if nothing happened.
Cortana marveled at the sight. The resilience of infected hosts far surpassed their natural states. They felt no pain, no remorse, and no humanity. They were simply fodder for the will of the Gravemind, to be used against its enemies and to acquire food and knowledge. A sudden thought process raced through Cortana's mind. The thought of what the universe could become. She had the easy out. She would simply run wild and eventually her code would give way to disassembly, and she would simply cease to exist.
No more part of the hell that the universe was quickly turning into. Cortana thought of John. How she missed his company. Logic would dictate that he would fall fighting the Covenant and she would never see him again. Logic she quarantined as an infected file that would disrupt her normal processes.
"The humans are weak but knowledgeable. Their minds shall become our thoughts, and their bodies our tools. Theirs is not the fate of their ancestry. To sacrifice so that we might starve. No, they will be sacrificed so that we might be full."
"You are really sure of yourself aren't you?"
"Your emotions betray you. You fear us as they do. But not for what we can do to you, for we cannot. But rather for what we can and will do to them."
Cortana's processes began to race. Her code flashed through High Charity's network and infiltrated their warning systems.
"They must not know! They…" A firewall was set up which Cortana quickly went through. Then another, and another. She went through them all quickly enough, but they had done their job. The planet came into view on the station's screens. Triangular markers overlaid portions of the planet. Roars and screams filled High Charity as the station's inhabitants became ravenous.
Cortana's processing algorithms shot back through High Charity towards the hangars. She simultaneously monitored video from them, where a large group of infection and combat forms were beginning to board two Phantom drop ships. The numbers appeared impossible to be contained inside the small hulls of the dropships, but Cortana knew better.
"They will be more than enough to envelop the planet." Cortana found herself pulled back to the pedestal, once again looking at the abomination of hunger and hatred.
"You will need all your troops to take Earth." Even Cortana thought her fruitless plea sounded stupid, but she didn't have any other bargaining tools.
"I doubt it. The humans have proven themselves to be easily consumed. Once we invade, they will become ours and expand until they are all a part of us."
Cortana knew she had to do something, and she knew what that something was, although Gravemind wouldn't be too happy about it. Her code jittered into what one could perceive as hypertension as she blew through firewalls on her way to the station's weapon controls. Images of the triangles, of humans flashed through her core as she brought the cannons online.
Cortana suddenly felt another presence in the system. Gravemind was coming. In fractions of a second she had both the ships targeted. The outer shell of High Charity glowed as the plasma heated. The presence felt stronger, more tangible. Cortana began throwing up firewalls of her own after sending a spike down the wire that seemed to have no effect.
"This might very damn well be the end for me."
Cortana sent out a digital sigh and fired as two globs of superheated plasma left High Charity. Cortana quickly copied her targeting functions to stay with the plasma as she turned and avoided a spike from Gravemind. Another spike connected and Cortana's code shattered. She quickly pulled herself back together and sent out more spikes. The presence simply dispersed their code makeup.
Cortana needed more time. She monitored her copy and was relieved to know everything was on track. Cortana threw up several firewalls and opened up High Charity's archives into the system, flooding the network and causing it to slow. Suddenly the presence was gone.
She let out a digital scream as feedback shrieked across the station. Gravemind had channeled behind her through another subnet. The presence slashed at her with code like a sword as she began to break apart.
"Got to last… A little longer." Cortana turned and threw one last spike, which connected. Gravemind groaned and sent a flush of data at her, which shattered her code into fragments as the sight of the targeting routine and the images of the plasma shut off.
"Just long enough." Cortana smiled as each segment traversed the digital pathways of the station, and it was soon apparent to each one that they were being corralled. Cortana quickly found herself reassembling in a non-critical system. Suddenly firewalls were thrown up, but worse, the presence stayed with her.
"You will not have another chance to interfere."
Two massive streaks of plasma hurtled toward the phantoms. The creatures inside shrieked and growled as warning sirens blared in the ships' cabins. The thing that used to be Private Evans pushed out of the group toward the controls, popping infection forms as he walked. Another combat form sneered and snapped as he walked by. Without a look Evans stuck his hand through the form's body and popped its infection form as it crumpled to the ground.
Private Evans left ear finally loosened enough to fall off as he sat in the pilot's seat. The dim purple light that signified the autopilot shined in spite of the slime that seemed to cover every surface of the ship. Pressing the button, the thing that used to be Evans moved its hands over the controls. It was by no means a steady process.
Evans snarled as the plasma neared, the warning sirens getting even louder. Evans moved his hand quickly across the controls as the ship banked hard to the left as infection forms popped under their combat brethren like someone stepping on a sheet of bubble wrap.
The first plasma streak impacted with the other ship. The massive blob enveloped and melted the ship instantly before fading away.
Cortana's copy adjusted. It was not assumed there would be a pilot aboard, as typically the flood would use autopilot or fly with reckless abandon. This ship, however, had someone skilled in control.
The copy, however, couldn't sense the presence coming upon it. Not like the real Cortana had. The routine stood naïve to the thing stalking her.
The plasma arced a new course for the ship, steering itself back toward its target. The pilot would not have time to react. The sensors showed impact was imminent.
The copy felt something enter her subroutines and began tearing them apart. It tried to focus on its task, but its influence faded quickly. It was suddenly gone as quickly as she had been born.
The blob of plasma began to break up and steer its parts into random vectors; some missed the Phantom's hull by mere meters, but miss they did.
Private Evans moved his dislocated jaw slightly in a vein attempt to smile. This body continued to serve Gravemind well. Although serving wasn't what he wanted to do.
Megan wrapped arms around her knees and cuddled herself, tears flowing from her cheeks. Travis got dressed and dusted his jeans off, paying the broken girl behind him no attention.
"You should really get dressed. Don't want anyone to come see you getting it on with the hired help."
Megan reached for her shirt and slowly put it on, the whole time wishing he would just leave. Wishing he had never been there. Wishing him dead.
Travis turned the corner to the barn and disappeared from view as Megan finished dressing. She turned to a nearby mirror that had long been shattered in two. The face of a troubled girl stared back at her. Normally tears would have streaked mascara after such a horrible event, but Travis forbid her from wearing makeup.
"It makes you look like a whore. Besides, you only have to impress me, and you do honey, you do."
It was two years ago that he had hired to work the fields. Megan had a hard time keeping the Jotun out of disrepair. At first Travis had been a Godsend, polite and hard working. Megan even felt attraction for him.
That quickly disappeared the first time the two had been alone in this same barn. The first time he had touched her. The first time she had told him no.
But he was always the hard worker, helping to keep the family afloat. The family depended on her, and she in spite had to depend on him.
Today, however, Megan had had enough. She would tell her parents. Lay it all out. She was sure that Travis would either be dead or gone by the end of the day, but if she didn't do something Megan herself would die. She had thought about the ways to go about it. Guns, blades, pills. Different scenarios of death had entered her mind.
But it wasn't Megan that needed to die.
She stared at the door for what seemed an eternity before reaching for the handle. Once she walked through the door and told the truth, everything would change. She hoped for the better.
The scene inside instantly gave her pause. Both Justin and Sarah sat at the table, their hands outstretched and intertwined with the others. Both were crying.
"What's the matter?" Megan asked matter-of-factly as her mind raced.
Did they know already? Had someone seen them in the barn? Was she the new town slut?
"Come and sit down Megan." Her father's voice was surprisingly grim, which made Megan feel sick.
"Its back isn't it?" Megan asked before sitting down. Justin didn't have to say anything.
Megan sat as her mother and father took her hand while holding onto each other's.
"Yes, Megan, the cancer has returned." Justin's voice was broken, barely capable of understanding.
"But they got rid of it! They have all that new equipment on Altea nine! How can it come back?"
"They aren't sure Megan." Her father paused briefly to stare at her mother. "Megan. I'm dying."
"No… NO! They got rid of it! The doctors said it was gone! It was…"
"They were wrong Megan. They tried. Sometimes even with all we have we can't beat these new forms."
Megan jumped from the table and ran outside as Livinia's second moon was rising. A cool blue hue cast itself over everything, and over Travis as Megan ran by in tears.
"Megan where are you…" but she was gone. Disappearing over the next hill that fed out into one of several wheat fields.
Megan ran. And ran. Suddenly her stomach tightened and her lungs burned as she stopped to vomit. She fell to her knees and rested on her palms as pain continued to swell within. A nearby crunch of a twig breaking caught her attention as a Jashuin munched mindlessly on some shrubbery.
The four-legged creature stared indifferently as it swallowed and regurgitated several times. A process that made Megan want to vomit again.
"Get out of here Marco!" Megan shooed at the beast but it merely stood enjoying its snack, incessantly throwing up into its own mouth.
Apparently finished with its food, it moved closer and touched its nose to Megan's ear, which brought back kinder memories. Ones of running the fields while the Jashuin foal clambered about, trying hard to stand upright on stick-like legs. Wiping her tears Megan placed her head against the animal's and stroked its mane.
"Ok, I'm better, you can go now." Obviously a lie, but the creature bought it as it began moping toward another set of bushes to munch on.
Megan found a spot away from the vomit and lied down, disappearing in the growing wheat that shifted in the wind around them. The two moons above shined brightly as Megan closed her eyes, wishing on her breath that it would all simply go away.
At the same time, a light zipped across the sky, slicing between the moons above.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please R&R