HALO – NOBLE SIX's Last Battle
A Spartan walked down a pathway en-route to a Pelican Drop-Ship. Six marines walked with him as well as five ODST soldiers. They had just eliminated a pocket of Covenant forces. Suddenly a plasma blast came down from the sky and blew up the Pelican. The Spartan, NOBLE SIX, looked around at his men.
"Is everyone all right?" he asked. Then out of the smoke between the falling pieces of burning metal a Covenant Phantom emerged. Its cannons turned to the rest of the UNSC soldiers. They ducked behind cover as a volley of plasma blasts rained down on them. There were now only two ODSTs and three marines with NOBLE SIX. They peeked out and fired at the ships cannons and turrets. From the left side turret a Grunt fell to the ground with a large thud. One of the bottom cannons exploded and two Jackals fell out. The Phantom halted a few feet off the ground and both the side hatches opened. A mix of Elites, Jackals, Skirmishers and Grunts leapt off the ship and opened fire on their opponents. The UNSC soldiers fired back. A Jackal fell to the floor and blood seeped from his wounds. A marine took a bullet to the head and fell back. NOBLE SIX threw a grenade over and took out two Grunts and most of the Skirmishers. An Elite leapt over the rock and smashed an ODST's head against the rock. The Spartan took out a knife and stabbed the Elite with it.
The alien slumped over the rock as a plasma grenade flew over to the men. NOBLE SIX leapt as it exploded, taking out the last ODSTs and the marines. Four Grunts ran at him. He pointed his gun and opened fire. They all fell to the ground and three Jackals, two Skirmishers and an Elite Zealot stepped over their fallen comrades. The Spartan hit a Skirmisher with the butt of his gun then took out his Pistol and blew a hole in a Jackals head. He lifted his Assault Rifle and took out another Jackal and Skirmisher. The last Jackal slipped behind NOBLE SIX as the Elite took out his Energy Sword and swung at him. He ducked and the sword cut the Jackal. The Spartan rolled forward under another swipe then dropped his gun and took out his knife.
He rose it up as the Elite bought down his sword. There was a loud noise and purple sparks flew everywhere as the two blades clashed. The Elite proved stronger though, as it forced the knife down and cut across NOBLE SIX's chest. He rolled back and fired his pistol. The bullets dug into the Elite's chest and he stumbled backward. The Spartan picked up his gun, knocked the Elite to the floor then fired the rest of the round of bullets into its head. He stood, victorious after defeating the enemies.
Then the Phantom rose up and fired at him. He ran behind a section of rock jutting out from a cliff face. Bits of rock chipped off as plasma bolts tore at the cover. He called over the comlink.
"This is Spartan NOBLE SIX, calling for back up!" he said.
"This is Shadow Strike Squad, we hear you," came the reply.
"I need some heavy fire power and support at sector nine-two, repeat sector nine-two."
"Roger that. We'll send you a Gauss Warthog and a few soldiers. You'll have to wait for a few minutes."
"Right, thanks for the assist. Spartan NOBLE SIX, out."
"Shadow Strike Squad, out."
NOBLE SIX looked over at the Phantom. It was nearly through the rock. He looked for another piece of cover. About fifty metres away was a small cave. He could run into that and the Phantom couldn't reach him. He made a break for it. The Covenant vehicle followed his movements and kept up a barrage of bolts. As he ran, NOBLE SIX fired at the machine. The bullets bounced harmlessly off the ships armour but he took out the other Grunt on the right turret. He made it into the cave, where he rested for a while. A few minutes later, a voice came in over the comlink.
"This is Shadow Strike Support Team. We are at sector nine-one in response to an ask-assist for Spartan NOBLE SIX."
"This is Spartan NOBLE SIX," he replied. "There is a Phantom Cruiser and my squad was eliminated by Covenant forces."
"Don't worry, we're just entering now."
NOBLE SIX looked over as a Gauss 'Hog came out around a corner. It fired the turret an explosion engulfed the underside of the Phantom. A Carrier Warthog appeared around the corner. Two soldiers in the back fired rocket launchers. The Phantom rocked under the blows. Another shot from the Gauss Turret blew off the entire left side of the ship. The rest crashed into a cliff face and exploded. Dead Covenant soldiers were thrown into the air and crashed to the ground. NOBLE SIX hopped into the Carrier Warthog and drove back to the UNSC base on the planet.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet, a giant asteroid covered in slime and pulsing lumps crashed into a Covenant base. Small creatures crawled out of the rock. An Elite burst through the door. It turned toward the rock, then it looked down at the creatures. It started to fire its plasma rifle as one crawled onto it and dug into its flesh. Blood trailed from its wound as lumps started growing all over its body. Its right arm grew tentacles and its head arched back as a mouth ripped from its neck. It turned and ran back to its old comrades, where they were all slaughtered and infected by the ancient enemy, thought to be destroyed by the Forerunners…The Flood.
A marine walked up to NOBLE SIX.
"Sir, Commander Keyes wants you to go to the Covenant base here."
"What?" he exclaimed. "Alone? That's suicide!"
"We had scouts watching the base. They stopped all movement in their about three hours ago. About ten minutes ago the scouts went in. As far as they could see, there were no more Covenant troops."
"Alright, I'll go."
Forty minutes later he was walking through the Covenant gates with another twenty marines, ten ODSTs and four other Spartans. Dead Grunts lay on the floor. The base was a mess. Dead Grunts and Jackals lay everywhere and the floor was covered in blood. They stepped into the base.
The Flood Infection-Forms hid from view in tunnels and inside the walls. Combat Flood hid behind walls and Crawler-Forms climbed behind the intruders. In the centre of the Covenant base was a Gravemind, the door to this horrible creature was blocked by its strongest minions, Juggernaut-Forms. There was no way they could defeat it. The last humans had been defeated easily and now were in among the many ranks of beasts. These new enemies would suffer the same fate.
A marine approached Commander Keyes.
"Sir?"
"What is it soldier?"
"We can't contact the scouts we sent into the Covenant outpost."
"What are you saying?"
"There's a chance that there may still be enemies in the base."
"We need to get our people out of there."
"Sir, it's not probable that we could them out. Our only hope is to send them a greater force that can back them up should there still be threats."
"We haven't got any other choice…" Keyes turned and called over a Spartan.
"312, I have an important mission for you."
NOBLE SIX was searching through a room when screaming came out of the alley. He turned and ran back out as a marine was dragged out of view by a monster. He pointed his gun and opened fire. One of the bullets skimmed along its leg and it stumbled. He ran over and blew its head to pieces. After checking the marines pulse and feeling none he stood and walked a little more into the hall, looking in all the shadows for any more of the beasts. He heard a sound behind him and he turned to see the soldier standing up. But he was terribly deformed. Lumps were growing all over his body and his neck was growing beyond ordinary size. He was no longer a human. It fired its gun and the bullets weakened NOBLE SIXs overshields. The Spartan returned fired and the beasts arm blew off. Tentacle looking things burst from a hole in the body's neck. It ran forward and punched NOBLE SIX who stumbled backward. As he looked back at his former teammate the tentacle things moved forward and fell to the floor. A small creature ran at him and jumped onto his leg and started climbing. He got out his knife and stabbed its head and the monster fell to the floor. Another small beast rounded the corner, followed by another and another until the hall was full of them. He opened fire and those pierced by the bullets stopped moving. But the wave still continued. He threw a grenade and green blood flew everywhere as the aliens were blown to pieces.
Then Combat-Forms leaped over towards him. He fired his Assault Rifle and one of them fell. Another fired the Needler it held in its hand but NOBLE SIX dodged the projectiles. He fired three bullets straight into its head and it crunched to the floor when it landed. Another Flood, one of his men, ran at him with a Shotgun. He stepped to the side as it rushed past him and he cut it in half with his knife. He put his Assault Rifle on his back and picked up the Shotgun. He ran toward the centre of the base. An Elite Flood ran at him and he blew its chest to pieces with the shotgun. He crushed Infection Forms beneath his feet. He rounded the corner to the Gravemind when a long arm rushed toward him. He ducked behind cover as the spikes cut through the metal. He took out his knife and cut off the arm then he rushed the Flood that had attacked him. He dodged a swipe from its other arm then he cut up through its chest.
Blood spurted all over him and the ground two metres ahead of the beast. Another Juggernaut Form swiped but he ducked under that too and the spikes impaled a third monster and crushed its head against a wall. He rushed up and blew its body to pieces with four shots of the shotgun. NOBLE SIX then kicked the door open and ran in to see a giant creature with bits of Elites sticking out of it at all angles. He threw a grenade and the entire thing blew up, covering the walls in blood and rotten flesh. He turned as an Infection Form climbed onto his leg. He crushed it with his Shotgun when he was knocked backward. A flood Infector Form rushed at him. He cut off one of its legs but it regrew. It spewed out an Infection Form as well as three others. NOBLE SIX crushed them all but a huge wave of assorted Flood broke through the walls.
The Spartan climbed up onto the highest point of the room. Combat Forms jumped at him from all points of the room. He spun in a circle, firing his gun. They fell back into the crowd. Infection Forms crawled all over the floor, roof and walls. Some dropped down from above and he slashed at them with his knife. He threw a grenade into the mass and blood splashed everywhere. A Tank Form knocked him into the army and his visor cracked. He beat his way to the surface and then fired the entire round of bullets from his Assault Rifle. He ran out of bullets so he threw it into the crowd. He pulled out his pistol and another grenade, which he threw and blew up another section of Flood. He fired his pistol and took down most of the Flood around him, then picked up two Plasma Rifles that had been dropped by the Covenant earlier. He fired both and Flood fell all around him. The guns overheated and an Infection Form leaped onto his back and crawled inside him.
Pain erupted all over his body. He turned and spun, taking out as many Flood as he could. Another Infection Form got inside him as rotten flesh ripped out from beneath his skin. NOBLE SIX still fought on. He grabbed a Combat Form's mouth and ripped out the little beast, then crushed it with his fist. He kicked another Combat Form into a tank form. A spiked tentacle from a juggernaut went straight through his chest and he fell to his knees. But he still wouldn't give up. He cut off the tentacle and then he jumped on top of the flood and cut it in half. Blood leaked down his chest and splashed to the floor. A Human Flood came over and wrapped its tentacles around his arm. They squeezed and his arm was crushed.
He grabbed the enemy and kneed its head and it exploded. He pulled out the tentacle and slammed it into the flood around him. Infection Forms exploded and Combat Forms shattered. A Ranged Pure Form fired spikes into his body and blood dripped from these new wounds. He threw the tentacle, which hit the beast and it died. By now, over seven Infection Forms had crawled inside him and he was losing lots of blood. It was all over the floor from him moving about and most of it was mixed with the foul green liquid that filled the Flood. His head reared back and something burst from his neck. He leaned forward as his vision faded. He had found out what had happened and defeated the main threat but he had failed to survive...
312 was in the Covenant base. There had been sounds of struggle inside but now everything was quiet. He rounded a corner then retreated as noise came from the hallway. He looked over and saw a horrible creature wearing red Spartan armour. He looked at the name on its armour. NOBLE SIX. He pulled out his Pistol and knife. As the deceased ally rounded the corner alone he grabbed its chest, pulled it close to him and slit its head off. But the beast turned to him like it was still alive. Small red tentacles in a hole at the top of its chest started vibrating and a low growling noise came from it. The head rolled around on the floor. 312 cut the voice bits off, then stuck his hand inside. He pulled out a little creature and dropped it to the floor. He put the body against the wall as he heard movement around the corner. If there were more like this then he would have to destroy this base. He pulled out some time bombs and placed them against the wall and set it for two minutes.
As he ran out of the base he placed bombs along the walls and on the floor. He ran out and placed another on both the gates. He hid behind a bush and waited. A small explosion came from the base, then it triggered another. The explosions continued toward the outer edge of the base, toward where he had placed a whole group of extremely powerful explosives. They were triggered and a massive explosion was created. A blast of wind knocked him back. As the base came into view again, all he could see was a massive crater, smouldering metal and fire.
When 312 had returned to the base and explained what had happened, Keyes had eight Hellbringer marines go and check the base for any more threats. They returned reporting nothing, so the Commander had another resource base built over the top of the rubble. Since it was the main Covenant base on the planet, it was much easier to cleanse of the enemy and the planet became an important resource generator for the war. With its help, many other battles were won from its creation. But later on in the future, the Flood would be discovered as still living on the planet and it would be lost to them, but that is later on and for now the battle was won.
THE END
NiTrO BUrNeR & Anthony Hughes