Chapter 4
A Discovery
Ra' Effraee ditched the flat Plasma Gun and picked up another one. He rubbed away the Grunt's dried blue blood to make sure the counter read full then regarded the picture before him once more. It amazed him. He was standing in the middle of a wide ring of dead creatures and at the epicentre were two lifeless Grunt Majors. Despite being riddled with bullet holes and plasma burns they hadn't broken their back-to-back formation, nor had their punctured methane tanks exploded.
The Minor Elite felt pride instead of the normal irritation or indifference. Though he didn't recognize them – their tags stopped transmitting because their computers in their environmental suits were dead – he regretted their deaths but knew it meant if they had gotten down here, there might be more.
Or perhaps they already were but running amok with those other filthy animals?
He would not find them or anyone by standing around. He wished the Grunts good hunting in the afterlife and followed some more bloody footprints to a new door.
Effraee's blood was on fire in the darkness. Not only had he lain waste entire roomfuls of enemy, he'd seen the Demon!
That green-armoured Human devil spawn was down here too!
But as soon as he'd seen him the Demon had gone. Still, seeing the Humans greatest warrior in person gave him a goal to aspire too. It even made failing to prevent the Humans penetrating the Forerunner Structure slightly bearable...and his privet skulking ground was lit up by a volley of white plasma bolts. It was almost as effective as a spotlight.
He dove behind a squat concrete pillar and took cover, bullets pinged off the floor and exploded into the front of the column.
Human weapons no longer meant humans, which was anomalous but adaptable.
It now meant ex-Elites or ex-Marines. A single red blip appeared on his 'tracker, then another and another, five in all.
Rage welled as he thought of his comrades. He would destroy them all.
He charged the plasma gun till the single charge flared green at the tip and it vibrated. Then the Elite dove into the fight. One of the apes went down in a flash of emerald. Effraee switched to the rifle and blew the others away.
The light faded back to darkness and his shield recharged.
These things were mindless. But the minor Elite was quickly learning about his foe; both human and Elite, displayed little combat ability, unless you counted running at you while shooting. They only used the gun that they died with; they didn't add or pick up superior weapons. Nor would they reload them if they ran out...
Those were the ones that would run and leap at you and try to bludgeon your skull in.
He again took his pick from the best-charged Convenant weaponry littering the metal floor. Satisfied he continued on through this vast steel edifice with battle-heightened senses. He was in awe but baffled by the overall function of this installation. He was also still quite lost and had felt he had progressed little more than killing a lot of already dead things.
There were also no useable computers down here. Effraee could hear their familiar hum of holographic projectors but they only had set functions like 'open a door' or 'extend a bridge'.
He ghosted around the perimeter till he found another door. It was then his radio burst to life, the sound almost made Effraee's heart stop.
'...turn back. I repeat that the Flood have overwhelmed our forces. All units are to retreat. May the prophets forgive us and save our souls. This is Second Commander Zealot Kea' Gerentee, the Flood has escaped. I am ordering all to turn back...'
The Elite almost broke his com toggle in his hast to respond.
'Second Commander Gerentee, it is I, Ra' Effraee. I am lost. Report your position and I will make my way to you.'
The other Elite had to be in a thirty meter perimeter, he thought with bated breath.
Then, 'Flood has escaped. I am ordering all to turn back...' And the message began repeating, again and again.
The Sangheili felt the familiar burn of disappointment. He then realized two possibilities. The Elite with the laminable voice could have recorded his message and been killed or done what he had said he was going to – retreat.
Then an entire elite strike force may still be in the area for the Zealots had entered first and the second wave – which Effraee was a part of – had been deployed soon after to keep the Human's dirty hands away.
So what, he may be ten or fifteen minutes behind? Well longer because he'd been lost...
Buzzed he played with the Plasma Gun then clipped it to his belt and drew the rifle.
He would find them and they would fight this thing together.
The young Elite knew he had found them. He had not seen them yet but he knew that they were dead. He was hiding behind a dusty concrete bank that ran right 'round the vast boundary, his quads and calves were cramping from kneeling in this position for so long. This place felt...so old, like an ancient burial tomb that had been opened in the present day. The Elite could almost feel the two time lines colliding together.
This place had been first, the rest had been built around it.
The barren light and dead air housed an enormous vault built into the opposite wall. The vault itself was made out of pure titanium and gleamed. Effraee gazed at it in wonder. It looked twenty meters tall and four meters thick, it had to weigh a hundred ton...
And it was open. He could just see a small display panel on the wall beside it flashing red. Effraee had a feeling it had been made to keep those things in, but the creators had not considered anyone letting them out.
I have been here for ages, the Elite thought and slowly stood as though on oiled bearing and flexed his legs and arched his neck. Nothing had been through here for almost thirty minutes, and why should there be? All the fresh meat was outside.
With great trepidation Effraee let his hiding place and walked like the last sheep to the slaughterhouse, to the great vault. With plasma grenades and rifle at the ready he ducked through, put his back to the cold wall and swept the area.
Nothing moving, nothing on the tracker. The Elite relaxed slowly let himself take notice of the interior.
In this bright and sterile steel room there had been a terrible battle, the bodies of the Covenant Elite where strewn about the deck, burn marks pocked the walls and ceiling and discarded weapons littered the floor.
In the dead silence Ra' Effraee could almost hear their throatless battle cries. He walked among them, their gold regalia burnish in the white light and came face to face with an enormous smashed tank that dominated the room; the holographic keyboard beside it glowed red.
After a few moments of just standing there he began to recite the words of passing to them all. When he finished he removed the helmet of one who had had his armoured chest caved in. Fiddling with it he managed to get the tiny data chip out.
If he wanted to find out what happened this was the only way.
Replacing the helmet beside the corpse he took his own off, took his chip out and put the new one in. Because what was on the chip would show up transparent on his HUD he found a quiet corner to hide in and played it.
The file contained a Mission Briefing and a Vid. He asked for the Vid first.
On the superimposed screen was the name Ked' Hallefee and a Mission Timer.
00:00:00.
A small troop carrier lifted off, causing trees to shake and foliage to fly through the air. It looked like their drop off so Effraee fast forwarded it.
00:07:34.
The screen bobbed around as they ran through the corridors, Hallefee was in the middle of the group so every time he looked at someone their tag would show green...
Where they under attack? He wondered, and then, as if answering his question a throaty voice called out; 'Hurry my brothers! Let our swift actions show the noble prophets their Zealot's devotion!'
Again he fast forwarded it. He stopped the flowing pictures when they come to something recognizable: the vault room.
00:18.09
There was lots of jostling as all of them crowed around the huge round door. As the camera panned about Effraee caught sight of a bright purple Huragok with pale striping over its back, working on the door control panel. The 'lock cracked open and the engineer tried to float away to examine whatever came in tentacle-reach when it was unceremoniously plucked out of the air and dragged inside.
'What is that?' One said and Hallefee looked at great tube filled with something slimy green in the middle of the room.
Yes, what is that? Effraee thought as well when he saw the outlines of something before the camera moved.
'For the Prophet's sake, bring that thing over here!' Another voice bellowed.
'Yes Excellency!' The camera panned again to see the Zealot tagged Ref' Tufnellee bring the Huragok over to the Elites standing by the control panel.
As soon as the violet tentacles touched the holograms a noise sounded. Hallefee turned, as did many others, to a golden tube pulsating high in the air.
'Hold your fire!' Was roared, though on Hallefee's 'tracker the newcomer showed up as an unfriendly.
The tube disappeared in a flash and a round, silver drone with a bright 'eye' took its place.
'Hello!' It said enthusiastically and zoomed closer. 'My name is Guilty Spark 343 and I am the Monitor of Installation 04.' Though its voice was tinny through the tiny speaker it was being translated from Human to Covenant Standard.
Odd...
'I must ask you to leave.' It continued in a friendly tone. 'I will escort you back to the South Entrance.'
Off screen a plasma rifle sounded and the Monitor's shields blazed.
To sycophantical laughter came Guilty Spark's quivering indignation. 'Then I must insist!'
Effraee watched Hallefee watch lights show in air vents near the ceiling, and then large flying machines came out. There were nine in total.
'Please leave. Only the Reclaimers may enter this place!'
Over the Zealots' privet channel came, 'We must fulfil the Prophets wishes! Defend the Huragok at all costs! Destroy the interlopers!'
Everyone's affirmation light blinked and they filled the air with plasma. In retaliation the drones dodged about and fired back with thick yellow laser beams. Over the shouted orders, weapons fire and the Monitor's pleas to stop and leave was a resounding bang then glass smashing.
Hallefee's camera turned to see the Elites' running and the Huragok floating away from the tube where an enormous, slimy green blob with tree-trunk tentacles smash its way out of its tank. One of them flew at Hallefee.
Effraee heard him cry out as he was lifted up. His camera thrashed about and there was a sickening sound of bones snapping and armour creaking as the Zealot was crushed to death. Dropped to the floor the screen showed the huge thing rampage through the Zealots and drones, then the image stopped as the suit's power died.
Chilled Effraee rewound the last five seconds then froze it.
Hallefee was dead on his side – mayhem all around; in front of him was the creature, and on its 'back' where dozens of clear, tear-dropped shaped sacs. Ra' Effraee could make out the little baby carrier forms inside.
He switched it off and called up the 'Briefing. Effraee read it once then read it again and was still unenlightened. Clearly they were to bring the engineer down to this room, where it would make Halo activate. He took his helmet off, put his own chip back in and pocked the other in his belt.
That Vid raised more questions than it answered and the Mission Briefing held nothing!
Irritated he trawled through all the weapons till he found a fully charged Plasma Rifle. Any reply he came up with was overshadowed by the Monitor, the drones and the blob thing. The Elite also found it was odd that 'Briefing contained no contingency plan, not even an emergency dust off point.
He gave a nearby Plasma Sword an envious stare. He was tempted to take it but his rank forbade him to use one. He needed to shelve these unanswerable questions. He'd learnt all he could from the Vid. Before he left he did a body count. There were fourteen purple-bloodied bodies were here.
Six of them were missing, plus the Huragok.
With that devil spawner on the loose he wondered if he'd find anyone...
