Chapter 7: Reading Room
Soell System, Installation 04
The Library
September 20; 2552
Ren had to admit, this time the teleporting wasn't as bad as last time. At least they didn't pass out. And if they had, it would've ended horrible, considering the new threat that just showed its ugly head. Or tentacles.
However, he wasn't sure yet if they could trust their supposed ally. The flying orb didn't say much yet, but he teleported them here without even asking. And there was this feeling he had about him.
And this 'Flood' wasn't a small problem either. At this point, they were aware that they infected other beings, making them into their own. A horrifying thought, really. But luckily, their Aura kept them save. Still, he was scared if Nora and the others were okay. They were still at the control room, and, as far as they knew, it could've already been overrun by Covenant, Grimm, or the Flood. Even more of a reason to get through this new place. Wherever that was.
They were inside a giant structure, in a wide, open hallway. Vents stuck out of the wall here and there, and an orange glow was visible to their right, where the wall was small.
In front of them was Spark, levitating in the air. "We must collect the Index before we can activate this installation."
"Activate? Why?" Ruby asked.
"To destroy the Flood, of course. It is the highest priority to not let them escape this ring." He answered, in an extremely cheery voice.
"But-"
"Hey, we've got company!" Bailey interrupted, and pointed at the distance. Some sort of walking balloon was waddling towards them.
"That thing looks ridiculous." Ruby deadpanned. "I mean, seriously. What's it gonna do?"
Suddenly, it laid down on the ground, and exploded. A dozen Infection Forms came out.
"I should just shut my mouth." Ruby said, and aimed. However, they were already gone with one swing of Penny's swords.
"Remarkable. You seem to be highly effective." Spark commented.
"We got experience with hordes." Ren explained, and they started moving.
After fighting more Flood along the way, Spark flew over the small wall, and they followed through a tunnel, leading into a big, central chamber. Above them was a blue glowing platform. "The energy field above us contains the Index. We must get up there."
"Ruby? Can you use your Semblance?" The Chief asked, and crushed an Infection Form under his boot.
"I can try." Ruby crouched down to gain a bit more momentum, and jumped, before turning into rose pedals. She came a couple of meters high, before coming down again. "Nope. It's too high. Dumb gravity."
"Interesting powers." The Monitor said.
They left the chamber, and went into another hallway, similiar to the one they were just in. After fighting their way through, they eventually arrived at a big door, with holographic signs in the middle. "The security doors have sealed automatically. I will go access the override to open them." Spark explained, and went into a vent next to the door.
Of course, more Flood forms came from everywhere, pinning the group's back to the door. Thankfully, none of them came far under the combined fire of them, and the door opened behind them. "Please, follow closely. This portal is the first of ten."
"Oh god no." Yang muttered. "Please tell me nine of them are directly behind each other.
"I'm afraid not. Admittedly, my creators had a habit for building their structures massive." The Monitor explained, and flew away, followed by the humans.
More Flood attacked, but were dealt with, while Spark, once again, started to talk. "Puzzling. You brought such ineffective weapons to combat the Flood, despite containment protocols."
"Hey, we didn't know that we'd fight zombies." Bailey yelled. "And what protocols?"
They saw Penny clearing the hallway with a laser beam. "I'll take it back. This synthetic lifeform is highly effective."
"She's a robot?" Bailey asked.
"Yeah." Ruby answered, and grabbed an Assault Rifle from the ground. She wiped off the bits of Flood on it, and gave it to Bailey. "I think this'll be more effective."
"Right. Hey, Spark? Why are our Snipers so, you know, shitty?"
"Well, they are mostly rotten flesh, and it appears your rifles are meant to penetrate targets at a high distance. They just travel through, without doing much damage. You have to consider that the Flood does not rely on any vital organs, except for the Infection Form in the middle."
"Thanks. That's... actually really helpful." Pyrrha said, and shot down another infected.
"And what happens if they escape?" The Chief asked, and put his back against Yangs. A couple of Infected closed in, but the two covered all sides.
"They consume all." Spark answered. "You can see how the body has been transformed by the genetic restructuring of the Flood infection. The small creatures carry spores that cause a host to mutate. The mutated host then produces spores that can pass the Flood to others. It is insidious and elegant. As long as any hosts remain, the Flood is virulent."
"Yeah, they're parasites. We already know that." Yang said, and blew a huge hole into a mutated Elite. "But I doubt they'll manage to infect everyone. Not as long as we're here."
They continued, taking out Flood left and right. Bailey tried to stay in the middle, since he was the only one that could be infected easily. It was a bit embarassing to be guarded by children, but in this situation, he was okay with it.
After getting into another, long hallway again, Yang looked at the vents. "Hey, Spark? Are those vents important?"
"They get fresh air in here, but one is enough." A carrier form jumped out of one, and was shot out of the air, realeasing more Infection Forms. "I see what you mean. Destroying them could hinder the Flood. If you have the firepower, go ahead. They can be easily repaired, once this whole mess is over."
Yang stared into the vent. She couldn't see an end, and wondered just how deep they were underground. "Do I have the firepower?"
"Highly doubtful. We must continue. This way." He flew away, and they followed him. "This installation's research facilities are most impressive! Maybe we'll have time to see them later."
"When we aren't kneedeep in dead aliens, then sure." Ruby answered sarcastically.
"I'd love to see them!" Penny said, and cut down more Flood.
They entered another hallway, and saw a opening on the other end, with an orange glow. Yellow beams cut through the air, taking out Flood, which fought against the sentinels. "These sentinels will supplement your combat system. But I suggest you all upgrade to at least a Class Twelve combat skin. Your current model only scans as a Class Two, which is ill-suited for this kind of work. Not to mention the inappropriate clothes of the other humans."
"Hey!" Ruby yelled. "It's a combat skirt!"
No one reacted to it, and they went into the orange glowing room, finding themselves on an elevator. Spark flew up. "Pardon me. A plasma conduit breach in Section 5-5-2-4 has disrupted power flow to a gravity maintenence assembly. Repairs require my attention. I will return soon." With that, he was gone, leaving the seven alone on the elevator.
As soon as it was on the second level of the facility, he already returned. The next hallway was full of Flood too, but nothing they couldn't handle.
"So, Ruby?" Bailey started. "Why are you doing this?"
Ruby sliced a Floodform in half with her scythe. "What?"
"Fighting. You're only fifteen, this doesn't seem like something one would do at that age."
"Well, my Mom was a huntress, my Dad is a huntsmen, and the job is just so cool. And thanks to them reading me fairytails every evening, I wanted to be just like the heroes in these books."
"All right. Sounds reasonable. I think."
"And what's with you? Is there a reason why you joined the UNSC?"
"Well, my brother and my sister both went out to fight the Covenant as soon as they were old enough. However, it was a bit harder for me. I just didn't want to stay at the sidelines, and watch them burning down planet after planet. My parents though, they didn't share the my opinion. You see, before the Covenant attacked, there was a Civil War, between the UNSC and the URF. My parents were part of the latter." He shot down three Infection Forms with his AR. "Although most of the Insurrectionists joined forces with the UNSC to fight of the Aliens, some stayed with their ideology. Just like my parents. They forbid me to enlist, so I ran away, and joined the UNSC. After basic training, I was put on Sigma Octanus IV, and then transferred to Reach. During the battle, I was placed on the Autumn, and well, you know the rest."
"Are your parents still alive?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know. The UNSC lost contact with my home a couple of months ago. But I'm sur-" He looked up, as the Monitor interrupted him.
"Flood activity has caused a failure in the drone control subsystem. I must reset the backup unit. Please, continue on. I will rejoin you when I have completed my task."
"Can he stay here for more than two minutes?" Yang asked.
They arrived at another locked door, and had to hold their ground again. Luckily, as long as the Flood came from one direction, it was fairly easy, since they went down quickly. Sometimes, Ruby had to use her semblance to go in and quickly collect some ammo for them, a task Pyrrha helped with.
The Sentinels were a great help too. Their energy beams took out the Flood like it was nothing, a fact that led them to believe that the drones were specifically designed to deal with the infection.
Finally, Spark returned, and opened the door, which lead into another hallway. "The Sentinels can use their weapons to manage the Flood only for a short time. Speed is of the essence."
"Says the one who's always flying off?" Yang mentioned.
It seemed like the Monitor didn't care about the jab, and they continued. In the hallway, a rocket flew past them. The Chief had managed to dodge it in the last moment. "Great. A zombie with a Rocket Launcher." Ruby said, and charged forward. With the help of her semblance, she took the Flood out, making the way forward save. However, she could already see the next door, and the Sentinels flying to the middle of the room, and disappearing.
The door opened a bit, and Spark followed the Sentinels. "Please wait here."
"Okay, fuck this thing." Yang said angry, and her hair started to burn a bit. "It always abandons us!" They saw Infection forms coming through the opening in the door. "Seriously?"
They held them off until Spark came back, and opened the door completely, leading into another hallway, which in turn led into a small tunnel, filled with carrier forms. They took them out from a safe distance, and then killed the Infection Forms in a hail of Assault Rifle fire. Thankfully, the fact that the Flood was using UNSC weapons meant that there wasn't a shortage of ammo here.
As soon as they were out of the tunnel, it led into another hallway. It was getting annoying.
"Your enviromnent suit should serve you well when the Flood begins to alter the atmosphere. You are a good planner. For the children though, I hope you got enough fresh air to use." Spark mentioned.
"Wait, alter the atmosphere?" Pyrrha asked. "How is that possible?"
"Releasing spores. The Flood is highly effective at infecting everything." The Monitor explained. "Life forms, even planets. The only way to get rid of an infection completely, is to eliminate the entire system."
"That's insane!" Ruby yelled. "How are we supposed to beat that?"
"Well, this installation was well conceived. It is surely the only way to end the Flood threat." Spark replied, still cheery.
"Then let's hurry up, and get the Index." The Chief said, and shot down another Floodform.
They arrived at the next elevator, and ride it up to the third floor, which looked just like the others. They started to fight their way throught the Floodhordes, with the aid of Spark's Sentinels.
"I would conjecture that the other species currently on the Installation is repsonsible for releasing the Flood. They seem most persistent in their attempts to access restricted areas."
"Wait, do you mean the Covenant or the Grimm?" Ren asked.
"The Covenant. I'll admit, their determination is quite admirable. At least they didn't damage the Installation." Spark said. "The Grimm on the other hand. Sadly, my records about them are lacking. I only have a small amount of information, and even they are mostly assumptions."
"How do you have data about the Grimm?" The Chief asked.
"I have to admit, I don't know where they come from. My creators put them into my databanks, but I have limited any access to information not regarding this Installation. It is quite a shame. But if I had to guess, I'd say that they encountered them during their travels." Spark explained.
"I still can't believe the Covenant was idiotic enough to release these things." Yang said. Another rocket flew past her, and they eliminated the source with their weaponry.
"Why naturally the Flood is too dangerous to release, and mass sterilization protocols may again need to be enacted. Of course, samples were kept here after the last catastrophic outbreak... for study. It seems... that decision might have been an error."
"Oh, you think?" Bailey commented. "Why did those Forerunners keep samples anyway?"
"Oh, that is easy to answer. They knew that the Flood might return one day, and wanted to find a cure. However, the efforts are still in vain."
"That actually sounds logical. The execution was terrible though." The Marine replied.
"Yes, the research stations had some problems, which I of course tried to solve. I think you can see the results."
Yang shot down another Floodform with her Shotgun, and reloaded. "Yeah, we can see it."
They fought through hordes of Flood, and passed more locked doors, until they finally reached the next, and final, elevator. "The Flood are already hard at work repairing your vessel. Its parasitic nature belies the Flood's intelligence."
The elevator arrived at the top, and they went back to fighting the Infection. "You mean they are repairing the Autumn?" The Chief asked.
"Precisely. When they manage to do that, I fear all could be lost."
"We can't let that happen." Pyrrha said.
they fought their way to the last door, which Spark unlocked. A giant horde of Flood came through, the biggest one they'd seen until now. Pyrrha threw her shield, and guided it through the masses with her semblance, using it as a giant knife. Penny did a similiar thing with her swords, and with the firing assistance of Ruby, Bailey, Ren, Yang and Masterchief, a big hole was blown into the army. They used the opening and went through, going into the middle of the room, where the Index was resting.
They moved in a turtle formation, and eventually reached the middle. "The energy barrier surrounding the Index will deactivate when we reach the ground floor." The platform they were on started to shake heavily, and descended into the dephts. They took care of the couple of Floodforms still on the elevator, until it reached the lowest level. "You may now retrieve the Index. Penny, could you do that please?"
"What? Why me?"
"Everyone else here is capable of being infected by the Flood. Keeping the Index in the hands of an synthetic lifeform is required by protocoll." Spark explained.
"All right." She slowly moved up to the Index, as the locks around it disappeared, leaving behind a grey, 'T'-shaped obejct with a green glow. She took it into her hands, and looked at it.
"The Flood is spreading! We must hurry!" Spark said, and teleported them away from the hell they just went through.
And Chapter 7. Well, that was a thing. I decided to make this one less action orientated, since it's nearly impossible to write interesting combat against a horde of Flood, and made it more dialogue driven, since Spark already told some important information about the Flood in the level, and it was a perfect opportunity to give Bailey a bit of backstory.
Also, little fact, one of the ideas I had for this chapter was Bailey getting infected by the Flood in front of Ruby, and she would have to take him down. An idea that I scratched, since it would have been a bit too much for Ruby at this point, and I decided that it was better to have Bailey around for a bit longer.
Now to replies:
Plasma Dragon 312: Well, that they aren't alone certainly is a big factor. However, they also haven't fully realized the whole thing about the Flood yet, since they didn't have any room to breathe.
rocketmce: Yes, the idea is planted now. Let the crack ships flow! Seriously though, the only ships I might consider are Rennora and Arkos.
Edrap: I think if they were to produce an army of Pennys, it would take longer than the rest of the war. However, ONI will of course be interested in Penny, but won't brake her apart, since she is too much of an important asset, and the whole Aura thing makes it hard to do that, just like surgery. For your second question: This is something that will happen in the next chapter.
.549: It wasn't that bad. I put on the bandana skull for this. But still, thanks for the helping words.
red october700: Well, I'm not playing it on legendary for this, but on normal. Even on legendary, I actually found myself having more problems with the Level Cortana in Halo 3. In HCE, I mostly stayed in the back and shot them with my Magnum, or ran through when possible. But thanks for the condolences. About what the others are doing in the meantime: Looking at the holographic Halo, playing games on their scrolls, eating and training.
A fan: If you look closely, the lock around the Index in Halo 2 was actually missing, which I guess is due to Pentient Tangent being captured and rampant, along with the library on Delta Halo being in shamples. But even if, the dialogue of Spark is pretty important to the characters realizing the danger of the Flood.
Guest: Look at my reply to red october.
Halo belongs to 343 Industries and Microsoft; RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth.
