Chapter 7
flood-free
713 and his squad moved silently through the city blocks, after the massacre they just did of the covenant troops. They were almost under the scarab they've been following for for hours to the city center. The scarab was using its excavation beam to drill into the heart of the city. They looked down into the hole it was making. They could see the very bedrock and more, they saw a silver gray metal here and there poking out of the dirt and rock. 713 knew it was forerunner, no other being made such metal. Soon Backlash and his team slowly made their way to them. Backlash looked down the hole and was having about the same thoughts as 713.They all rested for a bit, cleaned their weapons and prepared for a long climb down. 713 was the first to start, the hole wasn't a straight drop down, but it was slow slope going down. It was almost like a huge hill then a hole. They descended down the hill like hole. Tread slowly and stealthily down, trying not to catch the eyes of the scarab. The hill was long it seemed as if they were climbing into hades like an old Greek myth of Perseus or Hercules. Soon they found were it dropped off a little. It was good size drop down that might break a man's legs. 713 dropped down, and thanks to him being a spartan, his legs survived. They party followed behind him slowly. After hours of marching down the hill they reached the bottom. A forerunner building stood before them, but some of it still seem buried. They heard someone coming so the hid away behind boulders left from the digging. 713 looked over the boulder to see a prophet and some honor guard elites walk by. The prophet was speaking to one of the elites in their covenant language. They walked into the building without noticing them, or not caring if they did.
Backlash spoke over the radio to them all in a quiet voice, "Team were going to move in a follow them, but do not engage unless they shoot first, understand now move." Everyone moved as quiet as they could into the building. They slowly tailed prophet and his guards lower into the building. They kept going lower and lower. After several level of going lower, the prophet and his guards stopped at a door. One of his guards walked up and attempted to the door. It wouldn't open at first, but after awhile of trying opened for him and they all walked in. 713 followed them in, but no one followed him and no one saw him walk in either. Backlash turned his head from Regen to see 713 going in without the order. Backlash ran up to stop him, but the door closed before he got there. Backlash looked in through the window. 713 was in a huge room that seem as big as open space, but the room couldn't be. 713 looked over at the prophet and his guards who now saw him. One of the guards pulled out his energy sword, but the prophet lowered his arm and moved toward 713 in his hover chair.713 had his weapon raised at the guards and the prophet. The prophet then spoke to him, "demon lower your weapon this is no place to fight in." 713 slowly lowered his weapon. The prophet spoke again, "this place is contains a relic of great importance. Not just to the covenant, but every race that thinks. The relic is something that can combat the flood, by making the user immune to the floods parasitic powers." 713 stared at him, trying to think of what this could be. He looked up to see a machine come down. It looked like a mechanical arm with a ball head instead of a hand.
The machine spoke, "Welcome beings, I know you seek the weapon that I and the other forgers made to combat the flood, by making it so the being can not become infected by the flood even if they were to be swarmed by the flood infection forms. The being could fight on to kill every flood even they have enough power and strength that is." 713 looked at the prophet and covenant and the stepped forward a spoke before the prophet, "What is this weapon? A chemical? what is it please tell me? and will it cure those already take over?" The machine turned to 713.
It spoke to him, "This weapon is a suit much like yours and to cure those taken by the flood is possible, dangerous." It moved closer to him. It then shot out a beam of light and scanned him.
Then i spoke again, "The weapon can be added to your armor if you wish?"
Then the prophet spoke, "You wish to give the only weapon that can fight the flood to a demon? To a human?How could you even think of that? You must have been infected with its disease!." The machine turned to the prophet.
Then its eye grew red and shot the prophet killing him, "Your kind is not welcomed here." The prophets guards moved, but so did 713. The honor guards pulled out all energy swords, 713 pulled out his plasma swords. 713 sprinted for them and cut each of them in gut or across the throat. Elite blood spread across the floor.
713 looked up at the machine and said, "I would like the suit if it can be added to my armor." Then as soon as he said that a pod was lowered down to him. 713 looked up at the machine and then attempted to open the pod. He saw a hand print and put his hand in it. The pod opened with a hiss, and then 713 saw a armor that looked like a spartan's, but this one had the color of all forerunner made things. It also what looked like blue, glowing veins all through the armor. It was a full suit, but then it started to shift into pieces that would fit in between his armor.
He looked up at the machine and said, "did your creators give you a name?"
The machine looked down at him and spoke, "Yes, they called me Archimedes"
713 looked down with his thought running 'even this machine has a name yet my creators didn't give me one."
The machine spoke again, "you soldier are almost perfect to take this armor, but with this armor comes a grave curse that I couldn't get rid of. This suit will never be removed not even if the user tries to rip it off. Taking this off will kill you if you try so caution soldier." The armor then started to float slowly up. It came toward him and shifted so it would fit on him. Then the armor came into contact with him, and a surge of pain filled him. He fell to his knees, but the armor attached itself to him. The armor shift so it would fit perfectly with his own armor. The pain stopped and 713 stood up. The forerunner armor the grew black to match his own and the blue like veins moved onto his spartan armor. The blue veins then grew red. 713 looked at himself to see that he was now completely armored head to toe no space in between, yet he didn't feel heavier. He looked up at Archimedes, who opened the door to show Backlash standing there watching.
Backlash was staring straight at him and then he spoke out of his shock, "What have you done to your armor, 713?"
713 looked down in shame and said, "Backlash this is a weapon meant to fight the flood."
Backlash stepped closer and asked, "the new armor your wearing is a weapon?"
713 looked up at his and said, with a sort of confidence, "No I am the weapon not this suit or armor, but now I am."