Chapter 12: Floodgate
A damaged Covenant cruiser appeared from out of slipspace, huge plumes of smoke and dirty fumes escaping from the vessel. The dying ship thundered past the Covenant Separatists before crashing to the ground in a loud thud that shook that ground. The smog from the damaged ship started to darken the sky, a foreboding omen of what was to come.
"I wonder whose side that ship on?" Nomnom wheezed through his mask.
"I have an idea," Zakap said.
"Oh no." Curlap shook his head. "Not them again."
"The Parasite," Mehmep said with a tone of dread.
"Not again." Gagaw stomped on the ground. "Stupid Flood don't know when to give up. When they ever going to learn they no win?"
"Because they're stupid. Like you said," Curlap answered. "But we need to go, now. Call in a pickup," the Unggoy Ultra told 'Kotoree. Mntis 'Kotoree glared at the Unggoy Ultra for presuming he could order him around, but still called in a ride to pick them up.
The sky continued to turn blacker as the Covenant Separatists waited for their ride out. The Unggoy fidgeted and paced around nervously while the Mgalekgolo stood watch for any enemies that might attack.
"The waiting is killing me," Mehmep complained.
"Be watchful or it will be the Parasite that kills you," 'Balatee warned.
"Bah," Zakap grunted. "If they were coming for us they would have gotten here by now. The Flood is too busy munching on humans."
The thought of humans being devoured by Flood caused 'Kotoree to laugh. The Elite caught himself and tried to extinguish the chuckle but it was too late. There was something that the Unggoy and Sangheili had in common. The idea of humans being devoured was certainly a humorous notion.
What looked like Flood spores started coming down from the diseased clouds that blotted out the sun. Yayap noticed that the Elites were breathing lighter. It was obvious they didn't want to consume any of the airborne spores. The Unggoy had no such worries. While constantly being confined to wearing a mask could be tiresome, it proved to be a definite advantage when dealing with the Flood.
Only a single Phantom approached. To Yayap it appeared to be a violet angel against a sky of dirty grey.
"What's the meaning of this," Curlap demanded, "there isn't enough room for all of us on a single Phantom."
"That's all they sent. You'll be fine, your masks will protect you," 'Kotoree hissed, his four mandibles forming the equivalent of a Sangheili smile.
"It's not Flood spores that I'm concerned about," Curlap darkly replied. The Unggoy Ultra looked like he was about to chuck a grenade against the Elite. It was behavior Yayap would have expected from Zakap. Zakap and 'Kotoree were always butting heads. Curlap usually had a cooler head. The constant combat must have been getting to Ultra Grunt.
"It's fine." Yayap put his hand on Curlap's shoulder. "Let him run. This will not be the end of us."
A large portion of the group was able to get out on the Phantom. Yayap, Curlap, Zakap, Mehmep, Gagaw, Nomnom, and Deadside were the only ones left stranded on Earth.
"Come on, we better get moving. See if we can't help the humans," Yayap said.
"I'm pretty sure we can't." Mehmep kicked a small rock.
"Why bother to help them?" Zakap asked.
"I wouldn't think you would run from a fight."
"I wouldn't think you were in such a hurry to help humans," Zakap hissed. "Maybe you spent too much time with that human woman."
"Keyes is not so bad," Yayap said. "Who knows? The humans may end up being our permanent allies against the San 'Shyuum."
"Fine," Zakap gave up on the argument. "Let's go and save the scared humans."
The small group of Grunts and their one Hunter set out back towards the Traxus facility.
Yayap started to feel his heart beat loudly in his chest. He almost regretted not staying put but he had faced the Flood on so many different occasions now. It didn't seem like he would die now. Of course, Yayap was just one unlucky move from death at any given time.
It did not take long for the small group of Covenant Separatists to find action. Before they had even entered the buildings, they discovered a squad of humans fighting against the Flood.
Their opponents almost exclusively consisted of infection forms. The human marines were holding their own and when the Grunts and Hunter started to help, the Flood was outright losing. The only problem was that the infection forms never stopped coming. There was a constant and steady stream of the balloon-shaped enemies. There was an ever droning popping noise as human and Covenant weapons impacted on the frail Flood forms.
The fighting had gone on for nearly a minute before the stream of infection forms finally ran dry. The humans and Covenant soldiers stared at each other awkwardly for a moment.
"Thanks for the assist," one of the humans spoke to the Grunts.
"No problem," Yayap said. Even through the foggy smog-filled air it was crystal clear that there were still humans who were extremely uneasy about working with the Covenant Separatists. But at least they didn't attack, and that was good enough for Yayap and his allies.
Before anyone could utter another word the area was beset by infection forms once again. Only this time there were many more than before. They came out of the Traxus buildings, and being closer, the marines were attacked first.
The Grunts saw as a marine was turned into a Flood combat form before their eyes. It was incredible and horrifying at the same time. The transformation took mere seconds. Suddenly the Flood had a more durable and armed combatant on their side at the expense of the humans. It was no wonder the Flood was able to wreak such devastating and immediate havoc wherever they went. They were so quick in forcibly turning enemies to their side.
"This was such a bad idea." Curlap tossed a plasma grenade at the combat form. The grenade missed its mark, but the cyan explosion still did splash damage to the Flood combat form and sent it falling face forward.
"That's how I know we'll stay alive," Zakap told Curlap in between plasma blasts, "this whole damn war we've been full of bad ideas. I guarantee the first brilliant idea we have will get us all killed."
Deadside charged in and trampled most of the newly created combat forms. The Grunts handled the clean up.
"See, it wasn't that bad," Gagaw said. The Separatists could hear the sound of gunfire coming from inside the complex. Most of the sounds belonged to Covenant weaponry.
"Come on, let's go," Zakap urged the group onwards.
Before the Grunts could even get anywhere a pair of combat forms that used to be Brutes burst through a window to attack. Spiker rounds flew towards the Unggoy. Those that had active camouflage used it while those that didn't ran and hid behind Deadside. Yayap could have sworn he heard the Flood combat forms talking. He was so sure they were saying something to the Grunts, but couldn't make out what it was. It didn't matter, as Deadside was quick to shut the Flood up.
The Separatists continued onward towards the sounds of the gunfight they had heard before and their curiosity was quickly rewarded. A pack of Brutes was fending off a crowd of Flood tanks. Flood tanks relied on melee attacks and could soak up a lot of punishment, which explained why the Jiralhanae were having such a prolonged fight with them. The Unggoy immediately started to help out. Even in the fighting, Yayap recognized that it was Natarus on his pack. Yayap wished that had run into a lance of Unggoy. The last time they had seen Natarus things weren't going so well. But the Brute seemed unusually reasonable for his kind, so he may be able to be reasoned with.
Soon the Flood were all dead, whether death even meant anything to the Flood was anyone's guess. Infection forms had a habit of bringing Flood corpses (or any corpses) to life and any victory against them was sort lived unless the bodies were burned or destroyed.
The Jiralhanae and Unggoy raised their weapons at each other, though neither side fired. The Grunts knew they would lose the fight and the Brutes did not want to face the wrath of the Hunter. Natarus and his Brutes had long forgotten their original assignment once they were forced to struggle to survive against the Flood. Coming so far, they did not want to risk it all by taking on a Special Ops Hunter. Still, even if both sides were reluctant, something bad was going to happen if someone didn't speak up and try to make peace.
"Natarus, wait. We don't have to fight anymore. We have spoken to the Oracle and it has revealed the truth to us," Yayap tried to keep both sides from shooting at each other.
"Speak, Yayap," Natarus said. The Captain Ultra gave a hand gesture and his pack of Brute Stalkers lowered their weapons.
"We have spoken with the Oracle. The Prophets have betrayed us. The Great Journey is a lie. The Sacred Rings did not transform the Forerunner into gods; it destroyed them to deprive the Flood of food. Everything about our religion is a misunderstanding. The whole setup of Sacred Rings was just to stop the Flood from spreading any further across the galaxy."
"You spoke with the Oracle?" Natarus was intrigued.
"Yes. It reveals the truth to those who have the humility to actually listen to what it says."
"I believe you." Natarus crossed his arms.
"What?" Boartorus was taken aback.
"Conversing with the Oracle is a great claim. But you fight with bravery. You fight like us, despite your weaknesses. You are a shining example for all Unggoy to follow. I believe that you are speaking the truth."
"But they're just a bunch of Grunts," Moartorus protested.
"Enough," Natarus snapped, "Why would they lie about that? Why would they come to our aide? I believe they speak the truth. I have made my decision and you will respect it. Come, let us all leave. This area is sure to be either glassed or flooded soon." Natarus was never particularly devout and needed little convincing that the Covenant religion could be abandoned. To Natarus, the Covenant Civil War was more about settling the rivalry between the Jiralhanae and the Sangheili. If the whole Covenant religion was a lie Natarus wouldn't lose any sleep over it.
The Loyalists and Separatists continued on together. The dull, slate-gray floor was covered in blood of various colors and burned with fire from a several different kinds of weapons but there were no corpses. Anyone who had recently died was now up and about looking to create more mobile corpses thanks to the unflagging efforts of the parasitic Flood infection forms.
"Have your Elite comrades fallen in battle?" Natarus asked Yayap.
"No. They have fled from the Flood."
"Ha!" Natarus gave a hearty chuckle. "They are more cowardly than even I would have guessed."
"You are quick to work with us again," Yayap spoke.
"We share a common enemy. I have issue with the Sangheili, not with the Unggoy or the Mgalekgolo."
"Indeed. If things get any worse, we may all be fighting together against the Flood."
"Perhaps," Natarus agreed.
The Flood had been notably absent for a long time as the Covenant scoured the Traxus facility. The most they came across were a few infection and carrier forms that they killed with ease.
When they finally went back outside they realized why the Flood had been absent before. The Parasite was busy fighting outside. The Separatist cruisers in the sky had pepper the area with drop pods, a rather stupid move considering they were starting to glass the area. Perhaps they were apart of a specific strike team sent in to accomplish a specific task, but none of the Grunts or the Brutes could guess what their goal could possibly be. It wouldn't matter what their assignment was as the Elites were being torn to shreds by the Flood.
There was also a small squad of Grunt Rangers that were faring much better. Grunt Rangers wore silver-blue armor but could easily be recognized by the fact that they had jump packs and were constantly bolting up into the air to avoid being slashed apart by the Parasite. Occasionally the acrobatic Flood would leap up after the Rangers, but their aim was always bad and they never managed to swat any of the Unggoy out of the sky.
Natarus and his Brutes engaged the Flood, specifically Flood that were not near the faltering Elites. It seemed the Brutes were content to let their rivals die. The Grunts and their one Hunter ally went to assist the Grunt Rangers against their foes.
"You giant, bulling, monster!" Nomnom taunted a Flood tank that was lumbering their way. The Unggoy combined fire to bring their slow but durable enemy down. Deadside focused on the more dangerous combat forms.
The Unggoy were all doing miraculously against the Flood. It was a particularly spectacular sight considering the same Flood they were killing had eviscerated a large group of Sangheili only moments before.
"What, is this game on legendary?" Nomnom asked.
"Yeah, in our favor!" Zakap answered.
"Here's some candy!" Gagaw stuck a Flood Stalker with a plasma grenade.
Yayap turned and saw that the Brutes had not moved away from the Elites because they were content to let them die, but because they were heading towards a pickup location. A Phantom had dropped down when the area was clear of Flood and the Brutes started piling in. The Brutes were willing to work with the Grunts against the Flood for a time, but it was clear that was the current extent of their cooperation. Natarus and his pack weren't wasting any time and left the Unggoy behind.
"Look at them run. They're just as cowardly as the Elites," Zakap balked.
"We should really be getting out of here ourselves. If the Flood don't eat us we're gonna get glassed," Curlap muttered.
Two more Phantoms were spotted in the polluted air but these were heading straight for the Unggoy. No one in Yayap's group had summoned them and it was unlikely they would have come at the request of the Grunt Rangers. A likely scenario was that the Elites had called in for extraction almost as soon as they had touched down in their drop pods. But now the Elites had all been killed. The two Phantoms kept coming in anyway, their pilots determined not to return empty-handed.
"Run away!" Yayap heard one of the Grunt Rangers call out for a general retreat.
The Unggoy wasted in time in loading up onto the pair of Phantoms as they dropped down. The pickup was fast and the purple dropships were quickly back in the air and heading towards the cruisers. As soon as the Grunts were on the ships and out of reach the Flood in the area immediately broke away from the area without a second thought in search of other prey.
Author's Note: This chapter has the same name as the sixth mission of Halo 3.
The Elites being torn to shreds by the Flood is a reference that the Elites that came down to fight the Flood in the sixth mission of Halo 3 would constantly be devastated on all but the lowest difficulty settings.