A/N: Sorry for the bad transitions, it won't let me add anything other than the random letters, the usual "..."s keep getting deleted for some reason. Anyways, enjoy the read.
Click. Click. Click.
Footsteps echoed down the seemingly endless tunnel as the five soldiers made their way down the dimly lit hallway, following the beacon of light that burst from the ceiling up ahead.
Every step seemed to explode through the stagnant air, drilling into the heads of the anxious soldiers who could sense the divide wedged between the group.
Khazo and Marcos were both more serious than usual. Normally the Elite would glance at those behind him, curiosity glittering in the alien's small beady eyes, but now he had his gaze fixed forward towards the next room, deep in thought. Marcos held no plans to converse with his allies either, ignoring everyone just like Khazo.
The two walked on opposite sides of the pathway leading towards the end of the tunnel. Light rays from the cavernous room beyond beckoned them to come closer, invisible fingers pulled them all along towards their promised destination.
o
Khazo stopped, the back of the Elite's shark-like helmet pressed against the back plating of his armor as he craned his neck forward to listen to a sound emanating from the center of the cavern, his appearance mimicking that of a cat with its ears flattened
Vato tapped on Khazo's shoulder pad lightly, standing on his toes to place his words beside the towering Elite's ear. "What is it?" he asked, his reply being a sharp look that told him to shut up.
As he backed away, Khazo turned and assumed the same position, crouching down on all fours as he started to crawl towards the lip of the tunnel, those behind him doing the same.
His head emerged from the tunnel's exit, looking at the space before him. A few feet ahead of him stretched a long platform which extended around the chamber, providing a walkway above the ground floor which was set several dozens of meters under it. Many doors lined the sides of the path tunneling into the metal walls, all flashing soft red lights indicating they were closed, which was not a good sign. The area seemed to be under lockdown.
Trapezoidal figures were placed all around the room in symmetry with one another, which Khazo recognized as light bridges, but most seemed too oddly placed to serve any real use. The most interesting part of the chamber happened to be in the center of the room below where the light of the moon was shining through.
A massive chasm was placed in the center of the room, in the darkness swirled foul brown clouds that stretched into the abyss below. Above it lay a circular glass plate that lined up with the chasm beneath and the opening above which the moon's taunting light shone through. Yellow and green holograms were being cast by brackets holding the glass, which emitted a light bridge that connected to the platform that ringed the room.
Vato looked to his right and found himself staring face to face with Xure, the alien's expression said it all. 'We're almost home free!' he thought returning a grin to the blue Elite, nudging him on the side as he turned his head towards an upset Khazo, who was still craning his head forward to listen to something. The red Elite took a worried glance at Vato, who dropped the grin from his face as he too concentrated to try and make out whatever it was that was troubling the alien.
Faint, yet distinctive noises of squelching and groaning from below the platform came to his hearing, and the marine's eyes widened as he prayed for his assumption not to be true.
o
Khazo held up a long fingered hand, signaling for the others not to follow him as he crawled towards the edge of the platform. After mentally preparing himself, he stuck his head over the edge and his gaze, much to his horror, was met by a sea of malformed faces and writhing brown tentacles.
Hundreds, if not thousands of infected creatures were gathered under them, clawing at the metal as they unsuccessfully tried to climb up the sides of the wall. A loud screech pierced through the air, followed by the whirring noise of a rocket one of the undead marines had fired. Time seemed to slow down as Khazo ducked to dodge the rocket that missed his face by centimeters, he could feel the heat of the flames propelling the explosive.
The rocket made contact far above Khazo's head on the metal and exploded, showering small bits of debris onto his helmet. Rolling back to safety, he crashed into a huddle the group had made beside Kuis. Both of the red Elite's hearts were pounding, that was far too close. "Who knew they were such good shots?" he said, twitching a mandible.
o
Marcos stared at the charred metal where the rocket had exploded in disbelief. "Did one of those things just shoot a fucking rocket at us? There's no way way we can get to that lift in one piece!" he exclaimed, looking around with hopeful eyes. "Please tell me one of you still has a clip left, or even a grenade?"
Vato nodded, unclipping his last grenade from the utility belt around his waist. "Make it count." he said, handing the grenade to Marcos, who shook his head. "I didn't see where he was. Give it to K."
If Elites could sweat, Khazo would be pooling right now. He accepted the grenade with a nod to the head, testing the weight of the explosive in his hand. He had never thrown a human grenade before, but knew they worked almost exactly as their sticky Covenant counterparts.
The Elite took a bold stride forward while pulling the pin on the frag, throwing it right at the Flood carrying the rocket launcher. It's head followed the grenade mindlessly as it bounced from the floor towards it, tongue lolling as the bomb struck its face and engulfed the area around it in flames, ripping the infected to shreds with flak and fire.
Khazo paced past the group, ignoring the praise and the hand that clapped on his shoulder, congratulating him on the good throw. "That wasn't the only one with a weapon. The rest of the dead wield small pistols and rifles." he said, draining the atmosphere of any positivity.
The red Elite sighed, crossing his arms. "Xure, we shall cover the humans as they run beside us against the wall. Our shields will deflect the shots."
"Woah woah, this is not a good idea!" Marcos protested. "How do we know one of you won't just bolt, letting the rest of us get killed?"
Khazo growled and spun around, slamming his closed fist into the Human's chest, sending him sliding across the floor towards his two stunned allies. "I have shown you mercy, yet you refuse to repay in trust! Your insolence will be your downfall, Human. I have already given you my word, question my honor once more and I shall sever your head from your spine!"
o
Marcos stood up speechless, a hand clutching his chest. "There isn't another option, man. We gotta do this, it's not like we can go back to where we came from anyways." said Vato, trying to convince Marcos to cooperate.
He nodded meekly, hanging his head low as Kuis and Vato guided him to the sides of the Elites.
o
"Go!"
Khazo spread his arms out over the marines in a protective shell as he ran sideways beside Xure, his back to the horde of Flood below him who peppered their armors with shots.
The sound of ricocheting bullets and the sizzling of shields deflecting damage filled everyone's ears as they sprinted towards the lift.
Just before they reached the edge of the circular glass platform, Xure's shields broke.
The Sangheili screamed in agony as a bullet went through his calf, making him trip and fall out in the open only a few meters away from safety. Khazo turned to the sound of yelling, skidding to a stop as he and the three marines behind him reached the cover the brackets around the glass lift provided.
Xure held a hand out towards the group as he tried to crawl his way towards them when another barrage of gunfire met him, ripping through his body as he cried out in pain, his yelling subdued a moment later by a magnum round that tore through his skull and burst out of the top of the alien's head.
Khazo stared at the body of Xure in a state of shock, he couldn't believe that the warrior had been killed in the short run to the lift.
"Come on! Let's go!"
The sounds of moaning and gunfire from below faded into nothingness as Khazo stared at the corpse of the young Elite. He couldn't believe the warrior had died in such a short run to the lift.
"What are you doing?! Let's get the hell out of here!"
A feeling of dread rose deep within his heart as the Elite stared at the purple blood that started to pool around Xure's lifeless body, the liquid flowing to the side of the platform dripping onto the faces of his murderers.
Khazo was still with the Humans, but knew that he was all alone now, his only true ally lay dead in front of him. Long ago he had come to terms with the thought that a group of a few marines and Sangheili would not last long against the flood, but any hope the Elite had built up of getting out alive was cruelly slashed away along with the life of the minor.
Slowly, he walked to the circular glass floor, making sure everyone was aboard as he activated the lift, staring down at the cracks on the other side of the thick glass as it caught bullets the infected tried to shoot at them. "Damn, that was close!" said one of the marines, pointing down at a few dozen brown pods that had crawled over the lip of the platform where they were standing thirty seconds ago.
Khazo watched in silence as one of the infection forms scurried over to Xure's body, bringing up its tentacles as it tried to burrow through his torso. Right before the vile creature cut into the corpse to take control of it, Khazo's view was blocked by the tunnel the lift had gone through.
It seems the moon's beacon of hope was not what it seemed to be.
o
Kuis stood alongside Khazo, watching the pod stalk towards the dead Elite's body as the lift ascended through the tunnel, the gray walls surrounding them and cutting off the scene below.
He glanced at the lone alien who was still staring at the ground below him with sympathy in his eyes, but said nothing. The soldier knew from experience that there was no consolation for death.
