Chapter 21
Sparks zipped across her field of vision. The lab shook so hard that parts of the floor above came down. The glass windows shattered from the rumbling. Computers, medical equipment, and pieces of weird rock, metal, and glowing energy sources all fell to the ground. Hinata fell to the ground, her first instincts telling her to get in door frame. She pushed this away as something covered her up, protecting her from the falling chunks of concrete that fell from the next floor. Hinata blinked the dust away from her eyes when the dust stopped falling and looked back to see Xedrael over her, a few chunks of stone and wood resting on his back. He was okay.
He slowly got off of her, looking up to make sure nothing else was going to fall on his son's mate. Hinata brushed off the specks of dust as she looked around the lab they were in. A slightly older woman with glasses, red hair, and a white lab coat was getting to her feet. Her name was Karin, and she, like Hinata, had also been trained by Doctor Anders. Karin was a wild girl at heart, but favored science over everything else. She had changed her hair color so many times now that Hinata no longer remembered what the original color was. But she had respect for her skills anyway. That was why Anders had asked for Karin to help them out, along with Ino Yamanka.
Ino had been offered the chance to be a Spartan III but she turned it down like Hinata had. Ino wasn't much of a fighter, but she did know how to fight if it was called upon. Ino wasn't trained by Doctor Anders, but she had a certain spark for figuring things out. She was good with coming up with new kinds of upgrades for the Spartans armors, which was why Hinata and Anders wanted her.
Both girls had unique traits that allowed them to help them out. Karin had managed to work with Xedrael and create a new type of shield for the new suits. The shields were reverse engineered from Xedrael's shields. They boosted about the same strength as the MJOLNIR armor did, but they weren't built to endure the type of damage John's could. These suits were designed for speed and stealth. In the hands of the right person they could be used like the MJOLNIR armor, but it would be risky. Ino had been busy working with the HUD, along with energy weapons.
Right now they were in the middle of testing them, making sure they'd be fit to use when Naruto and his Shinobi team got back. They had designed seven alone. That was all they had time for and that was all they could make. They had to use former MJOLNIR armor parts to make it work, refit them with Sangheili armor designs from Naruto's former armor, refit them with better shields since his no longer worked, and refit them with a wide array of weapons. It wasn't easy, but they had almost got it.
"Is everyone okay?" Hinata asked.
"I'm still alive," Ino whispered. She unconsciously reached for her burned leg from the attack on her homeworld. The damage had been healed, but the pain never really seemed to leave. She had been left somewhat crippled by the burn she had gotten, and to this day it still hurt her.
"I'm alive, but I think I hit my head. Am I bleeding?" Karin was holding a hand to her head as she walked around the room in a daze.
"How could we tell when you're hair is red, Karin?" Anders asked as she got up, her eyes blinking away the dust. She shook her head once before reaching for her laptop. She flipped it open, connected a sandwich of crystals and cabals that ran from the computer to the center suit of armor. It was inside a protection pod, normally designed for keeping test subjects or bad prisoners in without letting them out. With the war going on, several key places had been hit, and they'd been forced to use the old weapons complex to work on the suits.
Hinata went to her computer as well, dusting off the small chunks of stone that lay on the keyboard. Ino and Karin did the same thing. "Alright, begin testing phase one." Hinata ordered. They all typed in a line of code so fast that Xedrael thought he heard gunfire. As he watched Naruto's mate type on the keyboard, the hum of energy shields recharging forced him to look up at the center pod. The object inside was covered in a two inch thick layer of white energy that protected the suit from damage.
Xedrael really couldn't help but wonder how the humans had actually come up with these shields in the first place. Reverse engineering wasn't unheard of in the Covenant. The San'Shyuum and Huragok did the same thing to all Forerunner technology that they found. They reverse engineered them into stronger weapons or stronger shields. They made their fighters a lot faster or stronger. They had even put them to use in everyday life back on High Charity. So why had the humans only given these shields to their Demons?
He shoved the thought away. He was more worried about what was going on outside. Tsume had taken her suit out to check things out. She had asked that her suit be tested first so she could go be lookout. Hinata had agreed to this with a slight frown. But now he was seeing the brilliance of her idea. They didn't know what was going on outside. They had a few Marines come in every now and then to check on them, mostly just to check and make sure the girls were still alive. But that had been yesterday. They hadn't seen nor heard from them since then.
The white light faded and the pod went dark inside.
"Okay, shields are working at eighty-three percent." Hinata informed them. "We need to test the energy weapons next. Beginning testing phase two." She ordered. Once again they typed a line of code so fast that Xedrael could have sworn he heard gunfire. They stopped typing, but the sound of gunfire still sounded. Hinata blinked as the monitor told her the progress of the suits' weapons. "Is that…"
The radio in the center of the room hissed and crackled before Tsume's voice came over the radio. "That ship that just crashed has those Demons crawling all over it!" Xedrael blinked, not understanding why the Spartans would be all of it right now after it just hit. "I mean the Flood, my bad." That made a lot more sense. "The Flood is moving this way. We need to hurry. The Marine beside me said that the Spartans are heading towards the crash site to blow it up."
Hinata felt her stomach twist into a not. They couldn't transport the suits to a ship to get them to safety. They didn't weight anything like the MJOLNIR armor, but they were close to the weight of the SPI armor that the Spartan IIIs wore. Plus she couldn't abandon the suits after everything they put into them. All the hours would seem like nothing but a waste with nothing gained or earned. She wanted these to be used by Naruto and his team as a way of saying thank you for everything they were doing and everything they had done. But she wanted Naruto to use his because of how he had saved her life.
The building shook again. There was a growl that sounded from outside the main doors. Gunfire erupted again from the other side, along with screaming. The doors busted open, two ODSTs running in with a few others still firing their assault rifles and battle rifles at something in the distance. When the last one entered, they shut the doors, slamming a chair underneath the old fashion door knobs to make sure nothing got in.
"What's going on?" Karin asked. For someone that was rather wild, she sure did have a good self preservation instinct. Her mind told her to run but she had to know what was going on first before she jumped out and started running.
The ODST that had entered last looked her over. She read his name tag. Kimimaro Kaguya. "Those strange creatures are at the door." He told them. ODSTs were brave, maybe even a little crazy, but even they had limits to their craziness. Going up against something like the Flood would be okay, but when faced with high numbers, not even they were that crazy. This caused Karin to curse. The one way in was through the door that he just bolted up.
"So what do we do," Anders asked. "We can't simply wait for help to arrive."
"I'm afraid, Ma'am, with all the little bastards running around at the door right now, we have no choice but to hold out until help arrives." Kimimaro replied with a shake of his head. ODSTs never backed down unless they had no choice. Obviously if they didn't have to protect them they'd have stayed outside to fight until the bitter end. Of course that was how all ODSTs were. The sound of screaming and moaning grew louder as something banged on the door. Dust fell from the ceiling, alerting the team to the hole in the roof. A blur of black and white dropped down into their midst.
(-)
John couldn't believe it. The Flood had gotten to Earth. It seemed like everything that was a threat to them just knew the location of Earth. Was God conspiring against them or something? He had to be if everything he'd been fighting now knew the location of Earth. First the Covenant found the location of Earth and now the Flood knew where it was? Seriously, what the hell was going on?
"The Flood," Miranda's voice nearly screamed over the radio speakers in his helmet. "It's spreading all over the city!"
"How do we contain it," Lord Hood asked. John knew that was a stupid question. You couldn't contain something like them.
"Find the crashed Flood Ship. Overload its engine core. We either destroy this city, or risk losing the entire planet."
"Do it."
"Chief, make your way to the crash site."
Master Chief pulled his assault rifle off his back, growling in annoyance at another fight. The other Spartans felt the same way, but they didn't complain about the new mission. This was what they were trained for. They would manage another fight.
Thel closed his eyes, offering up a silent prayer for his people that had probably fought and died against the ship before following the Spartans as they ran back down the hill, passing over the fallen Marines that either died during the fire fight or were still unconscious because of the blast of wind that threw them all to the ground. Konohamaru passed a few of them, shaking them as he did to wake them. Those that did wake went back to sleep almost instantly while a few managed to get back up. Thel brought up the rear through all of this, watching as Konohamaru showed respect for the fallen and the sleeping. He didn't really question it. He knew humans and Sangheili were totally different.
There was some chatter over the radios, but it was too garbled for them to understand. The crashed ship must have been interfering with their close range radios. As they got close to the metal walkways of the complex, a shadow jumped over them and landed on the building adjacent to it. John and Neji raised their rifles, searching for the target. They couldn't see it anymore. John knew it was an infected soldier, but as to what he didn't know. He was just hoping it was an Infected Hunter. Those were strong as hell.
They ran back down the concrete path, running around the small carts and wagons, passing over the bodies of Brutes, Grunts, Marines, and workers. As they rounded a corner, they caught a glimpse of another shadow passing overhead. Just as they raised their weapons up at it, hundreds of the little Flood came down on a squad of Marines with Infected Brutes and Humans backing them up. The Marines opened fire, but it was already too late. They were quickly consumed by the Flood, infected before their eyes.
The Spartans were the first to open fire on them, killing the little "Popcorn Flood" as Konohamaru seemed to call them. The bigger ones were taken down by Thel as he shot each spore, destroying the controller for the Infected Soldier. As the bodies dropped, more of the little things showed up, repossessing the bodies until they were totally destroyed or shot up so badly they just couldn't move. When the area was clear, John pushed forward, running through the metal and glass building that overlooked the ramp.
A single Marine stood at the door shaking in fear as one a herd of them jumped up to take him over. Sasuke opened fire, killing each other little Flood Spores before they could take him over. The man fell back, shaking his fear until he saw his rescuer. When he saw the Spartans, he jumped to his feet, raised his rifle, and quickly joined them in dealing with the threat. The warehouse that they had once crossed through, leaving hundreds of bodies lying on the ground for a cleanup crew to get was being infected by them. It didn't look pretty, especially for the Marines that were holed up in the corner fighting off their infected comrades.
They jumped out the broken window, rifles up and punching rounds into targets as they fell. Thel remained at the window, sniping out targets with his carbine. John and Hanabi began running towards the pinned down Marines, firing into the backs of the Infected Brutes that were stalking towards them. Neji and Sasuke were running towards the crates to help a down Marine that they quickly recognized as Tayuya. The Flood that was trying to get her was being held at arm's length as she fought to keep it off. Sasuke ran straight at her and kicked it away. She lowered her arms down to the ground, looked up at him as he began firing on the onrushing enemies, and quickly jumped back to her feet, shooting the rushing Flood with her pistol. Tenten and Konohamaru laid down suppressing fire, which was actually not working like the name would make it sound. The Flood just ran into the bullets, dropping like flies as they butchered them with bullets, turning them into rotting swish cheese.
The Marines thanked John for saving them. He read their name tags. Hidan and Tobi. Both were holding assault rifles with two different expressions. Hidan had a crazed look in his eyes, like he was ready to kill some more. Tobi looked scared out of his mind. He was fidgeting with his gun as he tried to reload it while muttering, "Tobi is a good boy. Tobi doesn't want to die," over and over again. John patted him on the shoulder, a Spartan way of speaking without words. Tobi must have gotten the message because he quickly began to calm down and managed to reload his gun.
The team regrouped, firing on the onrushing Flood that swarmed them. "This isn't going so well!" Tayuya stated as she reloaded her gun.
"Noticed," Hidan replied.
(-)
Naruto climbed into the Phantom with his team behind him. They were all going down this time. There would be no mistakes this time either. They had all been healed up by the Huragok and were now ready to drop in for a fight. Since they were dealing with the Flood, Naruto had ordered them to take plasma rifles and lots of plasma grenades. They were allowed to take their other weapons, but Naruto was persistent in letting them only take plasma rifles.
He quickly moved up to where the pilot was, finding Ahiel in the pilot's seat. "So… you think the Demons are still alive?" Naruto asked calmly. Ahiel blinked and then laughed. Naruto laughed as well. "Forget I asked you that."
"I believe I shall," he replied happily.
Naruto shook his head as he walked back to his team. Their mission was to save his mate, first and foremost. After saving his first mate, they would link back up with the first strike team that would be launched from the pods and head to destroy the ship while taking whatever was inside it. Naruto believed the device to have been the AI Cortana since he had heard the voice speak throughout the entire time he was with the Demons; he figured it was what was in the device. Now all they had to do was rescue his mate, link up with the team, and then go burn the Flood until there was nothing left to burn. Naruto was all for this part of the mission.
"Out of curiosity," Rauk began, his eyes closed as he spoke. "Did you teach them how to use our weapons?" Naruto blinked once before shaking his head. Rauk and Haer instantly winced. "I suppose we need to make sure to stay behind them so wedon't get shot, right?" Naruto nodded again. Great…
"In Naruto's defense; we didn't have a lot of time to train with them," Yahiko told him.
Time that you all spent mating with one another, Haer thought.
"Bare Humans and take heed," Rtas's voice echoed over the speakers as he made a call to all of Earths occupants. "This is the carrier, Shadow of Intent. Clear this sector while we deal with the Flood." He ordered. Pods were launched from the ship onto locations that were overpopulated with the Flood. The Hanger doors opened up, dropping the shields in that area long enough for the Phantoms to depart. Naruto took in a deep breath as Rtas opened a channel to them. "Be careful, Uzumaki. We know not how bad the damage is or the safety of your mate. If she is infected…"
"I will do what I must, Rtas. There is no need to worry," Naruto cut the channel before Rtas could speak again. She's alive and well. That is all I will believe in for now.
(-)
John blinked in astonishment. The Elites were here to help combat the Flood? Maybe the Elites weren't so bad anymore? He glanced over at Thel as he watched his brethren fight against the Flood. It must have pained him to know that they had to come here and fight them now. For the Marines and other Spartans, this was more than they could imagine. The Covenant had been bad enough, but the Flood… they weren't so certain they could deal with them.
John pushed down the broken and turned up metal grate towards the fighting. He'd have to save them as well in order to protect Earth. The others were quick to follow, Thel taking point while John brought up the rear as the team all settled into a simple line. The Marines were in the back which was why John was behind them. He would let none of them be turned by the parasite. He'd kill them if he had to.
By the time they got down to the Elites, the fighting was over, and Thel conversed with one in red armor. "My brothers, I fear you bring bad news," Thel looked down at the single dead Sangheili. He was young and brave. He knew not his name, but he would make certain his family knew he died protecting something important to them now.
"High Charity has fallen and became a private hive," Chichi replied.
"And the fleet? Has quarantine been broken?"
"A single ship broke through our line and we gave chase."
"But we had a fleet of hundreds!"
"Alas brother… the Flood… it has evolved."
John's helmet managed to translate all of it. The only thing that worried him was High Charity. If it was a private hive now… he dared not even think what it would do to Earth if it came this way. The fleet that Thel spoke of did seem be somewhat refreshing considering that even though they'd taken out hundreds maybe even thousands of Covenant ships, that they still had hundreds more. They might be able to use that to take down the rest of the Covenant if they could all gather them to strike back at Truth.
There was a rumble from the hill that he'd come down the first time using a Mongoose and he tensed. It was the Flood. They were heading this way. They had five Elites, not including Thel, three Marines, and an army of Spartans. Army wasn't the real word he'd use, but five or six was considered an army in his book. Just one could take down almost anything if you gave them enough resources and time to think up a tactical solution to the problem at hand. But he had six not including himself and six Elites when you count Thel. They could take anything probably.
Thel gave a low bark to the Elites while John motioned towards the hill. It was clear that they were both going to take it or die trying. Flood Infected Brutes and Humans appeared, all of them carrying different weapons. The Elites combined fire with Thel to melt and burn the flesh from those closer to them while the Marines and Spartans used their long range weapons to mow down opposing forces in the rear. But no matter how many bodies were destroyed more just kept coming. It seemed like an endless wave of them as they slowly crawled up the ramp, shooting at anything that moved. John knew that at this rate they'd run out of charge and ammo before getting to the top though.
The Elites all pulled out plasma grenades, activating them as they threw them into the faces of Infected Brutes. Flashes of ionized gases and thunder melted them into nothing but heaps of charred flesh. John ordered the Marines to throw grenades at the crates. They threw them, Tobi forgetting to pull the pin on his, and blew the boxes, along with Tobi's inactive grenade, into the bodies hundreds of Flood controlled Brutes. The flying shrapnel tore through the unprotected bodies with ease, cleaving several in half while removing limbs from others.
A force that had once had John worried was now nothing but a pile of rotting flesh. They moved up the hill, policing the wounded with quick bursts to the head. The Elites melted them with plasma weapons to make sure they stayed down. As they got to the top, John looked down at the destruction he'd just caused. Part of him wondered how much longer until they were off of the continent. They needed to deal with them now. They didn't have time to keep fighting them like this.
They all rushed around a corner of stacked crates and came to a halt as hundreds of Infected Brute and Humans turned to greet them down the long corridor of twisted steel and burning metal. One of the Elites spoke, John's helmet translating for him. "Keep count on my kills," it said as it began firing into the horde of enemies. A competition? This would make things a bit more entertaining. Not that this was a competition, but a friendly match wouldn't hurt none.
(-)
Naruto dropped out of the Phantom, his body hunched over from the fifteen meter fall. The others were down beside him, all of them huffing from the fall as well. It wasn't their fault they had to bail out actually. Some idiot targeted them with a few missiles that took out the Anti-Gravity pods on the Phantom, forcing it into a nosedive on a nearby building. The fall wasn't much of a fall. It was more like a jump or die fall. They decided to jump.
Naruto shook his head, clearing the misty green haze from his vision as he did. The green clouds did little to bother him, but it was still annoying trying to look through it when your eyes hurt from the rush of wind you had to go through during the fall.
He gave simple hand signs to his team, telling them to stay in tight and keep up with him as he jogged to the building where the locator was beeping. All Sangheili armor had locators to them, allowing them to see who was in the area or to help you find them should they get injured and need evac. Most Sangheili requested that theirs' be removed so they could die with honor rather than retreat unless ordered to. Naruto made sure that Xedrael kept his when he left with the others.
He pressed his back against the hard concrete of the buildings' outer wall. He gripped the hilt of his katana tightly before spinning around into the building. He saw nothing. The others rushed in; guns up and ready to shoot at anything. They saw nothing as well. They moved silent and swiftly through the dark floors of the complex, all the while listening for anything out of the ordinary.
A crate moved and Zabuza opened fire on it. The crate burst into flames and then vanished. A single human in a white jacket with dark black hair lay there. Zabuza had killed an innocent person by accident. Naruto hissed at him, forcing him to stow away his weapon. Zabuza quickly did so, not really hesitating in the switch either. Naruto knew this was his fault. He should have trained them to use them rather than beat them into the ground or have sex with Yugito. But he had his priorities at that moment. They had to be dealt with then or someone would have ended up hurt or dead.
The others made sure to keep their plasma rifles down low, hoping not use them as they crossed the dimly lit corridor. Gunfire erupted from another room. Naruto raised his plasma rifle, searching for the target. He couldn't see anything. The gunfire had stopped. Naruto hoped that meant that whatever was on the other side was either dead or had just shot its self to death. He knew that the Flood weren't that stupid.
Naruto motioned for his team to press forward. The signal unit was getting stronger, and Naruto couldn't wait any longer. He had to see them now. He kicked down a door, his plasma rifle up and ready to fire. A man in black stood before him, his battle rifle up in his face. Naruto lowered his weapon. It was the human second Elites: ODST. There were others in the room, a few hurt but okay. In the distance he could see Hinata working on something with a happy Xedrael giving him a nod.
"Glad to know someone came for us," The man muttered. Naruto looked at the name tag. It was Tucker. "Nice to see you again, Foxman. How goes the hunt outside?" Naruto shook his head at his words. The Flood was on Earth. What kind of question was that? Having them on any planet was bad enough. But this was just insane.
"Not well," he muttered while walking up to his mate. Xedrael nodded to his son one last time, glancing back at the pod up against the wall. "We must leave. The parasites are nearing this building and I will not lose you." Hinata waved him off without looking up. Naruto, had he not been in a battle situation, might have allowed this action without words being spoken, but her life was in danger while she worked on the device. Naruto had no time to sit here and watch her play. He grabbed her wrist, jarring her from her work. "We must go. Now!"
"I'm well aware of what's going on outside, but this is important. If we can complete them, you can help the others in fighting them off," she explained. Naruto blinked. What did she mean by that? Rtas was about to start glassing the place to keep the Flood from spreading even further than what they already had. If he didn't move now she'd be dead. When he reached to grab her again, Xedrael grabbed his wrist, his head shaking slowly.
"She has a gift for you and your team," he explained. Naruto narrowed his eyes on his father, unsure of what to think. They still didn't have time for this. But if his father said it was a gift, it would be wrong not accept it even if the Flood was breathing down their necks.
Hinata continued her work with the others, typing away as fast as she could while the ODSTs and Naruto's team watched their backs. "Power output is stabilizing at ninety percent," she informed the others. "Shield recharging unit is up to seventy percent. Cooling system and bio-algorithms units are working at eighty percent. All systems are in the green. Opening the pods," she typed in a line of code and the pods cracked open. Chilled gasses leaked out through the cracks, momentarily chilling the metal floor.
A growl sounded from dark. "We got company!" Hana yelled.
"The suits are ready. Naruto, we need to get your team geared up before we leave," Hinata informed them as the pods fully opened, revealing a black and white suit inside each other them. Hinata began typing in another line of code on her computer that opened up a few crates. "ODSTs hold them off with whatever you can use! I'll help them change into their new suits."
"Yes Ma'am," Kimimaro replied, raising his battle rifle. "Cover that doorway and don't let a single fucker through it!" He ordered. They didn't both replying with words. They moved swiftly to the door, their rifles up and ready to kill anything that moved towards them. Naruto admired that much as he stalked towards the center suit.
It was obviously his. It was an inch or two taller than him; black with white lines around the biceps and thighs, biped legs, and bore his title on its back. Black shoulder pads pointed out from its body with small glowing red dots in the center. Its arms and legs both had armguards and shin guards with white rims wrapping around each section of it. The helmet resembled the Sangheili's armor, but still had a new touch to it, bearing two triangles on top it with two more pointing up like spikes of hair in between them. A golden visor formed over the face of it with an outline of metal forming around it. This was his and his team had the exact same suits as well.
Hinata ran up to his, pressing a few buttons on the pod as she did. Small arms reached out, grabbing the suit at all of its joints to tear it apart. It broke down to nothing but an empty space with the suit pieces being held in the air. "Get in and strip off your current armor," she ordered. Naruto closed his eyes, his patience nearing its end. He complied nonetheless along with his team. Other females helped them with their suits, giving the commands to the arms that plucked the armor apart. She stopped Naruto from stripping out of his black leather suit he wore underneath it all and motioned for him to enter. He complied. She typed in a few commands and the arms came to life, putting the armor back on in seconds. The last thing it put on was the helmet, but already Naruto felt hot and confined within.
Hinata ran back to her laptop along with the others as they began checking the suits out. It was about that time that gunfire erupted down the hallway and Tsume appeared wearing the same thing. She held one of Naruto's former guns, the broken down sniper rifle he used, and had it broken down to assault mode. She combined fire with the three Sangheili and ODSTs, mowing down the enemy that rushed them. Naruto wanted to move to engage them, protect his mate, but his suit wouldn't allow him to move. He could see Hinata typing furiously on her laptop, sweat trickling down her cheeks as she worked hastily to get the suits to work.
"Hey," Shizune shouted. "I don't suppose you could hurry the hell up, could you?!"
"Working on it," Ino shouted back, annoyance crossing over her features.
Anders pushed back a strand of stray hair as she typed with one hand. Zabuza's suit began to glow, changing from dark black to a glowing white. "Energy shields are working now, but for some reason the suits won't move," she explained. That helped them. They were stuck inside a target for the Flood then. They might as well just wave their hands and scream come get me while they were at it. Anders must have been able to read their minds as she continued typing. "Just hold on, we're almost there."
Karin blinked as she looked down at one of the many screens on her laptop. "The problem is that the suits are locked up on some sort of code word," she gasped out. Hinata snapped her fingers and Karin sighed. "You forget to tell us, didn't you, hussy?"
Hinata ignored Karin as she typed in a few words. The suits blinked and the red lights changed to green. Naruto's HUD went from clear to black and then back to clear with TEAMBIO appearing on the top left, motion tracker on the bottom, and a shield bar appearing at the top. He checked the links to his other teammates and found them in working order. He moved his limbs, making sure they all worked, along with his armored tail before walking out of the pod.
"We can't hold them off much longer!" Isaribi shouted.
"I'm out of ammo!" Dustin cried.
"They'll take it from here now," Hinata smiled as she stepped back. In a flash of black and white, Naruto moved through the ODSTs and cut down three Infected Brutes with his katana. No more parasites could be seen, so he backed up towards his team. Hinata typed in a few words on a large black metal box that hissed open. Its contents rose up, revealing the same rifles that Tsume had been using. Naruto gave her an odd look that she could have read even without his mask. "Ino was able to recreate your weapons for you. We don't have many of them, so use them wisely." She explained. Naruto took one each, handing them to his human teammates. They were designed for them, not Sangheili.
The former Jinchuuriki smiled as he placed it on the small of his back, resting just above his tail while he clipped his katanas to his belt. The others quickly did the same before nodding to him. "Can we leave now?" He asked kindly. The building shook and part of the wall and floor where the pods had been fell into the darkness below.
"Hell yes!" Ino shouted, clinging to Hana as she watched a crack grow in the floor. More Flood appeared down the corridor. "But how the hell do you plan on getting us out of here?!" A Phantom with a few Marines riding on the edge of it appeared. "I am not jumping," she declared.
Naruto grabbed her by the back of her lab coat. "Good, then I'll just throw you." He proclaimed as he tossed her over the gap. The Marines caught her, grunting with effort as she landed in their arms. Karin was thrown next, followed by Hinata and then Anders. The ODSTs agreed to leave the area when they learned that Rtas was going to start glassing the place. Naruto and his team couldn't take the Phantom though. They had to link up with the others so they could get whatever was on the ship off. As the Phantom flew away, Naruto looked back at his team with a determined smile. They could win now. All they had to do was stick together and hope no one shot them in the back. "Let's link up with the other squads so we can take the ship."
Naruto jumped first, dropping twenty-five meters to the ground before the others did. The Sangheili grunted when the landed, but were able to walk it off. A navigational point directed him to the ship. Even without the point it wouldn't be hard to miss a giant ball of fire burning in the distance with enough smoke that it covered the night sky from view.
Naruto gave quick motions to his team, ordering them to run at full sprint in order to get to the target. A few minutes of running had them just two hundred meters away. He picked up radio chatter just as soon as he dropped down beside a few crates. "Chief," It was a females' voice, Miranda if her remembered correctly. "The Elites are looking for something. We didn't believe them when they told us." She sounded happy, despite the growing threat of the Flood.
"It's Cortana, Chief," Naruto recognized that voice as Johnson. "She's on that ship. Find her! Get her out!"
Naruto waited for the rest of his team to show up before dropping down to an entrance the building they'd been running across. As soon as he was down, he was quickly turned around by something. He reached out, grabbing it by their arm and twisting it. The hold was broken and reversed, but it didn't call for Naruto to repeat it. It was Thel. He blinked once before looking into the mirrored visor of Naruto's new suit. The others had been greeted in a similar fashion, but with guns. Their suits had used their energy shields to deflect the projectiles, keeping them safe.
"Uzumaki," Thel question in disbelieve. Naruto nodded, patting him on the shoulder. Thel did the same, his mandibles forming what he had always known as a smile. "It is good to see you again, my friend. We must hurry though. I fear the construct on the ship may be in danger." Naruto nodded just as a brute shot round flew between them. Instantly the area was lit up with tracer rounds and plasma fire that melted and punched holes in the idiot Infected Brute. "Let us hurry. We have no time to waste."
Plasma fire, tracer rounds, spikes, crystal shards, and spines flew down on them from the tower ahead of them. They all took cover, John grunting as he took cover behind a crate where Thel was. Sasuke was beside Naruto, a scowl forming on his features at the very idea of being near him. As soon as the projectiles stopping flying, the team spun around, unloading on whatever moved in the distance. The rounds came back, forcing them to take cover again. Naruto, fed up with how things were moving; took a step back, looked up, and hurled a plasma grenade into the air. It fell behind some rocks in the distance and exploded into a flash of light and thunder a moment later.
"You wasted a good grenade," Sasuke remarked.
"I didn't see you coming up with anything," Naruto shot back.
"I'm thinking."
"We'll think faster, Demon." Sasuke gritted his teeth, accepting the dig with a scowl as he looked around the corner of the crate. Once again, he was forced to take cover as enemy fire came screaming at them. Naruto looked over his side as well and suffered the same thing. John and Thel were trying as well and suffering the same thing. This was going to get them nowhere a lot faster. Plasma fell from the sky, raining down white death on the Flood. "Glad I thought of that," Naruto said happily.
"You didn't call for them," Sasuke snapped out, turning around the corner to run at the enemy.
"Stop your squabbling, both of you," Thel commanded. John wasn't sure if Sasuke would listen, but Naruto seemed to get the message instantly.
As the plasma fire stopped coming down they all ran out from the cover, guns up and ready for anything. Dazed looking Infected Humans and Sangheili walked around or limped around with burned off limbs. A few of the larger Flood which he called Brutes, bellowed out in anger, spewing green gasses as they did. They opened fire on them, melting and punching them full of holes as they ran without breaking stride towards the ship.
"Hurry, Demon," Chichi shouted over the COM. "We seek the same prize. But our Shipmaster will sacrifice all to stop the Flood." Chichi had been taken out of combat when both of his arms were broken by the larger Flood creatures. Thel had ordered it and he accepted it without question.
This got John moving just a bit faster at the thought of losing Cortana now. He blew past waves of Flood without blinking, Neji staying right by his side with Sasuke on the other side. The Spartans were up front, firing onto anything that moved towards them. The Sangheili and Shinobi teams were behind them, covering the rear to make sure nothing got in behind them.
A large Flood with massive arms dropped down between them, splitting the team up. Thel was with the Spartans while Naruto was with the Sangheili and his team. Thel turned to help, but Naruto waved him off, his katana drawn and ready to kill it. Thel didn't hesitate when he turned to help the others.
The massive beast lunged forward, its massive arms propelling it towards them rather fast. For something so big to move so fast was rather intriguing to them all. It swung one of its arms at Naruto. He ducked under it and raised his sword to its shoulder. The blade sliced the arm clean off, dropping it to the ground with a wet splat. The beast howled in pain at this and backhanded Naruto away. Zabuza stepped forward, his massive blade poised to gut it. He drove it into its chest, making it scream in pain as he pushed the blade up. It cried and then died as it fell in two halves. Three Infected Sangheili warriors landed down in front of him. Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko jumped on them, knocking them to the ground. They pointed their weapons into the core of the infection and fired at point blank range. Red plasma melted through their shields and armor like a hot knife through butter.
Metal cried in agony as the large tower began to bobble. Naruto looked up, his eyes widened as he saw it begin to fall in their direction. He jumped away with his team doing the same. They hit the ground rolling and jumped back to their feet just as it came down. More Infected Brutes and Sangheili got in their way. Mikoto and Tsume stepped up, their weapons drawn. Mikoto kicked one in the face, spinning it out around before digging the blade into its back. She ripped it up, split the creature in half while Tsume used her brute strength tear the rotting limbs off of them and claw them to death with her energy teko-kagi.
The Sangheili growled in annoyance. Yes this was to be done, but they wouldn't be shown up by humans, not even if they were Naruto's people. These rookies needed to know who their better was. Haer, Rauk and Ahiel stepped up, their energy swords sizzling to life as they charged in towards the enemy. Naruto followed them, his team following closely behind him as he ran behind his fellow Sangheili warriors. The three Sangheili cut and tore their way through an armada of Infected Unggoy and Jiralhanae and Sangheili.
The tower that once stood was seen melting from plasma fire that was being fired at from several hundreds of Sangheili and Jiralhanae controlled Flood. John and the others were pinned down, unable to move unless they wanted to get shot. Naruto looked around, searching for a way to help them. A ladder led to a roof. He motioned for Ahiel and Konan to take it. They climbed without a second thought; already understanding that he wanted them on sniper detail. He gave a single cut motion to Zabuza while pointing frame that was part of the ship. Zabuza nodded, showing he understood. He then pulled his rifle out, switching it from assault mode to sniper mode. The others did the same, Haer and Rauk switching from their swords to their plasma rifles as they all moved for a flanking maneuver.
Konan and Ahiel jumped onto the roof, both pulling their prospective snipers out. Konan sighted down the barrel, aiming for the first of the many Infected Brutes. Ahiel did the same but made sure to wait until they got the signal to open fire. Zabuza ran behind the supporting frame, his massive sword in hand and ready to cut through the bars. The others got into position, all of them waiting for Naruto to give the order. Naruto gave Zabuza a, thumbs up telling him to begin. Konan opened fire when Ahiel did, both of them melting the Flood army with ease. The metal frame cried in protest before finally falling on the dazed Flood. It rolled along, not stopping until it fell off the side of a cliff. The others sprang up, unloading on the army of Flood.
John and his team looked up and did the same thing, all of them unloading onto the confused creatures that turned to face the new threat. Sasuke jumped down in between the group, his assault rifle up in their backs as he began spitting out rounds into them. None of them thought to turn around and were shot to death. Neji and John was just a second behind him, the other Spartans trailing behind by two more seconds. Thel was the last one down, and together, ran up the side of the ship that led to a large hole in the side of it.
"I shall remain here," Thel informed them. "I will let nothing pass." Naruto gave a motion for his team to stop, John doing the same. Sasuke nodded, giving out orders for his team to remain as well. There was no questioning that John could do it. He'd fought these little bastards enough to know how they worked. John quickly jumped down into the ship, wondering how he'd get out after getting Cortana. He also wondered what her excuse would be for bringing the Flood to Earth. Knowing her, she'd probably just state she knew he could handle it and thought the risks outweighed the gain of having her back.
As John dropped down, the others all watched for any signs of the Flood. Naruto could already see the Cruisers glassing certain spots of the planet in order to destroy the Flood. Part him wished they'd just glass it all, but he knew that would be wrong. They were allies for the time being and would work together for both of their worlds in order to stop the Covenant. A Phantom appeared overhead, grabbing the Master Chief with its Gravlift. The Oracle was with him, its energy tentacle holding on to the device he'd seen before. A second Phantom came by to pick them up just as Rtas began glassing the ship.
(-)
Deep inside Shadow of Intent's Tactical Room, Rtas, Thel, John, Lord Hood, Miranda Keys, the Oracle, and a handful of brave Sangheili warriors watched as the Oracle poked and prodded at the device. Even though John was incased in half a ton of angular MJOLNIR Amor was tensed and relived to know that Cortana was back with him. She was all he had left. Halsey had betrayed them, taking Kelly t god knows where. His Spartan IIs were either died or crippled. He'd lost his family and home, both of them actually. He lost his family back Eridanus 2 when he lived in Elysium City in the Eridanus Star System and Reach in the Epsilion Eridani System.
Now only he remained. His luck would be the death of him.
"Will it live, Oracle? Can it be saved?" Rtas asked quietly as he watched the Oracle work its magic.
Spark shook itself as he continued to work. "Uncertain," he explained. "This storage device has suffered considerable trauma. Its matrices are high unstable." He explained further.
Lord Hood looked to Miranda while biting his lip. This technology wasn't anything the Covenant had even been seen using. If he could get his hands on it might prove valuable to them in the long run, maybe not from a military poet of view, but from a technology point of view. "Perhaps one of our technicians-" he began only to have Rtas cut him off with a wave of his hand.
"That will not be necessary," he stated determinedly. This was their technology; he would not see it in their hands or any other for that matter. When it was used up, he would make certain it was destroyed for safeties sake.
The device sprang to life, glowing brightly as it brought forth the image of a young woman with numbers running down her body and short cut hair. She almost instantly began speaking just as she appeared. "Chief,"
"Success!" Spark cried with joy. John held his tongue to shout at it for disturbing the moment. He knew Cortana well. She wouldn't sound so impatient unless it was important.
"High Charity, the Prophets holy city, is on its way to Earth. With an army of F-f-flood," she stated before coming to a pause. "I can't tell you everything. It's not safe. The Gravemind, it knows I'm in the system." Her image flickered a bit, jumping around as she tried to walk. John sighed inwardly.
"It's just a message," he explained, hiding his sorrow quiet well as he motioned the device like it was nothing new for him.
Rtas blinked, catching the sorrow hidden deep in his tone. He didn't know what the figure meant to him nor did her truly care, but it was obviously coming with a warning. He tilted his head as he looked at it the image of the woman. "Let it play," he commanded.
Spark hit with a beam of light, poking the circuits back together in an effort to get more out of the message. "But it doesn't know about the portal! Where it leads! On the other side, there's a solution. A way to stop the Flood. Without firing the remaining Halo rings-" she grabbed her head before she could add more, falling down as her image faltered and became distorted for a moment while giving out a desperate cry of pain. John looked down, putting his knuckles against the hard metal of the alien ship's table as he watched her try to get back up. "Hurry, Chief. The Ark. There isn't much time." Her body became distorted and her image jerked before going still.
All was silent in the dark room until Spark spoke up. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"No matter, Oracle," Rtas told him. "We've heard enough." Rtas fidgeted in his chair a bit as he looked over his troops. Since leaving the Covenant, it had become just them and the humans to stand against the Covenant. The Unggoy that had once worked on their ships had left, fleeing in terror at the thought of fighting their nipple brothers. Lekgolo left as well, either unwilling to fight their own brothers as well, or just because they didn't want to fight anymore. But it was up to them to stop them. Now they knew where to go and what to do. Rtas took a deep breath, his eyes burning with fire as he spoke in a sure voice that held power and respect for those before him. "Our fight is through the portal! With the Jiralhanae! And the bastard Truth!" A collection of roars sounded from the guards that stood by.
Lord Hood look around, his eyes showing his sadness to them all. He had hoped that they'd remain here to help them take Earth back. But stopping Truth did matter a great deal. It wasn't like the Sangheili owed them anything. They'd killed them as well. Both sides still hurt from all the fighting. But when it came down to it, he knew that Earth picked the fight first back at Harvest when the Brutes showed up. "Fine," he whispered. "We'll remain here. Hold out as long as we can."
"Did you not here? Your world is doomed," Rtas narrowed his eyes on him as he stood up, both clawed hands clenching into fists. "A Flood army, a Gravemind, has you in his sights. You barely survived a small contamination." He pointed out.
"And you, Shipmaster, just glassed half a continent!" He shot back, his anger flaring at what had just been pointed out. "Maybe the Flood isn't all I should be worried about."
Rtas tensed at this. He knew how dangerous even one of them was. He had had to kill a friend because of them. "One single Flood spore can destroy a species," he told him hotly. "Were it not for the Arbiter's counsel, I would have glassed your entire planet." He hissed as he leaned forward over the table. Hood placed a hand on the table while the other was cocked back, ready for him to jump over at him.
"Sir," Miranda jumped in, calming both of them down with her words alone. "With respect, Cortana has a solution." She reminded.
"Cortana? Did you see her condition? How damaged she is. She could be corrupted for all we know." John began to ignore the two as he leaned down on the table, staring straight at her image. She wasn't gone. She couldn't be. "Her solution could be a Flood trap!"
"We should go through the portal. Find out for sure," Miranda argued, staring down the image of Cortana with determined eyes.
Lord Hood placed both arms on his hips as he turned to face her fully. "What we should do, commander, is understand, clearly that this is humanity's final stand. Here. At Earth," he paused for a moment, thinking on his words. "We go we risk everything. Every last man, woman, and child. If we stand our ground, we might just have a chance."
"No," Thel motioned towards the construct with one hand as he walked towards the Spartan. "If your construct is wrong, then the Flood has already won." He told them.
John looked down at Cortana, happy that his helmet blocked them from seeing his sad face as he spoke. High Charity was lost. And he knew sure as hell that the top brass wouldn't let him go just for her. "I'll find Cortana's solution. And I'll bring it back." He told them slowly. He would save her as well. He'd find a way. Even if he had to break a hundred regulations he'd do it. A promise was a promise, and he always kept his promises.
Lord Hood's face faltered into a deeper sadness as he walked around the table towards him. "Earth," he almost wished he could reason with the Spartan as he continued speaking, "is all we have left. You trust Cortana that much?"
John looked back at her image before giving his reply. "Sir. Yes sir!"
Hood somehow managed to suppress his smile at the sound of his voice. "This is either the best decision you've ever made or the worst. Hell of it is, Chief? I doubt I'll live long enough to find out which." He turned around and walked out of the room, Thel breathing out the held breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding.
(-)
Naruto sat before his two mates, both of them looking at each with smiles on their faces. Surprisingly enough, the two knew each other. This didn't bother them at all to know that they were dating the same guy, though Hinata was a bit jealous at the idea of her having him all to herself for a few days. Naruto had already explained the situation to both of them, stating that when they were prepared to leave he'd be heading out as well. This hadn't bothered them at all. Hinata seemed to accept it while Yugito instantly stated that she was going with him. Naruto knew her reasons for coming weren't for sex. It was to make sure the UNSC didn't try to use her as a weapon again.
He closed his eyes and sighed openly. "You understand that I won't let you fight, right?" How many times had he asked this now?
Yugito rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to fight," She told him calmly. "I'm going so the UNSC doesn't make me fight. I'm not a tool. Not anymore. I've been training since I could walk. I'm tired of fighting. I don't wanna fight anymore." She pulled his hand into her own.
Naruto sighed as he covered her hand with his other hand, a smile forming on his face. "Well I'm coming too," Hinata declared. Naruto blinked. Yugito he could understand, Hinata he couldn't. Hinata had no reason to come unless it was to make sure the UNSC couldn't use her to get to him. When he thought about that, he quickly nodded, accepting her onto the ship without much thought. "Good," Hinata pulled her lab coat off, stripping down to her underwear almost instantly. "Now let's see if you're as good as Yugito clams you are," she ordered. Naruto blinked and without warning was tackled to the ground by two semi-naked females.
Not what he had in mind.
(-)
When word got out that Forward Unto Dawn was heading out with the Sangheili Cruisers to fight the Covenant, the first people to sign up with the ODSTs. No surprises there really. First to drop, first to fight, they always said. They'd happily go with their former enemies to some far off land for some fun in the sun fighting the alien bastards. Tech crews moved supplies of every kind onto the Dawn while hundreds more finished giving it its much needed repairs. Tech crews were helped with Huragok, them mostly doing most of work since they were quicker at it.
ODSTs and Sangheili watched each other from crates like boys and girls when they first started to like each other but were too afraid to speak to the other. Chichi in his red armor was resting on a Ghost while looking around, not sure on what to say to the ODSTs on the other side of the hanger of Shadow of Intent.
Johnson walked up behind him and then between them, carrying two carbines before stealing his beam rifle that rested at his feet. Chichi jumped up, not paying attention to the white and black armored warrior that was behind him. "Give me back my weapon, trash!" He spat. A fist slammed into the side of his head, sending him back onto the Ghost. When he got up, he saw that it was Naruto that had hit him, his two mates conversing with each until seeing this.
"Damn," Kimimaro whispered.
"He'd have made one hell of a Helljumper," Dustin added.
"A Helljumper?" Shizune shrieked. "I'd be more worried about him as a Spartan."
"He's ours, not yours," Thel told them as he walked through their little group carrying a SPKNr Launcher and Flamethrower. The two sides watched as Johnson and Thel walked by each other, the Oracle nodding to Naruto and his two mates while Hinata and Yugito gave it a frosty glare. Yugito had been taking a shower when the little floating bastard wondered in, wanting to see if she was alright. At first she didn't care but when it started checking her out, then she cared. Now she hated it just as much as Hinata did.
Miranda, John, and Sasuke watched as the hatch closed on the Pelican that would take Lord Hood back down to the planet to continue fighting the good fight. As the ramps closed and the Pelican took off, John turned to face Sasuke, a sly grin appearing on his face as he looked him over in his Mark VI MJOLNIR Armor. His team had been fitted with them after proving they were good enough to be called Spartans by John. He was just happy to know that they got the same things as him now.
As the Pelican dropped out of view, the ships all nosed up, preparing to go through the portal.