Alright and now we start the next chapter. Now, for those who don't know, there were two other chapters prior to this that detailed the events between the last chapter and this one.
So if you don't want to be confused, I'd recommend reading chapters 35 and 36 of Accounts of the Flood Conflicts to get some idea of what happened and just what everyone is reacting to in this chapter. With that said, let's dive right in.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Bionicle, Halo, Metroid or anything else that appears in this story.
"You're certain?"
The room was deathly quiet as Samus had given her report. What she had said was not something any of them had wanted to hear, especially now. If another resurgence of the Flood came, there would be no hope of survival.
So, when Samus reported in with the news, it had nearly sent High Command into a full blown panic. Fortunately, her report noted that the fracture the Flood had used couldn't have let them escape on its own, and not even Salem and Dark Samus could've provided enough power to break free.
Only Voporak's time field interacting with the crack had created a portal into the Void, and even that it was too small to allow anything really large to come through, or for the Gravemind to attempt to widen it easily.
"I'm positive." The ex-Bounty Hunter replied. "There's no other sign of them. And without Voporak or another powerful temporal manipulator, they can't come through the same way again."
"And the infestation?" Thrawn asked.
"Completely annihilated."
"You're sure about that?" Mata Nui asked again. He had to. There could be no room for any errors, any mistakes. Not with them.
"Absolutely." Samus shook her head. "We scanned the wreckage and every planet near enough for the Flood to have reached before we got to that ship. They're all clean."
"What about Salem and Dark Samus?" Helryx asked.
"There's no trace of them." Samus admitted with frustration. "I blasted my doppelganger back into Phazon particles and Makuta apparently hurled Salem into space. When I tried to find them again, they were both gone."
"Is it possible that Teridax took them?" Thrawn pointed out. "Capturing them for his own purposes?"
"Possible but unlikely." Mata Nui said. "Makuta is arrogant, but hardly stupid. He knows the threat of the Flood, especially now. Nevertheless, we should not make any assumptions." The Republic leader turned back to the ex-Bounty Hunter. "Samus, your mission will continue. We know enough about Dark Samus and Salem to assume that they're dead without proof."
"Understood." Samus' hologram vanished, leaving the trinity of Republic leaders to muse over what she had told them.
"I think we should keep this quiet." Helryx pointed out. "The people of the multiverse have already been scarred enough by the Flood. If we tell them that they could return, we'll be inviting panic across all of reality."
"Agreed." Thrawn nodded. "But our highest ranking officers and other leaders definitely need to hear about this."
"We should also reset our Flood detection network." Mata Nui added. "Discreetly, if possible."
"That will spread our resources thin." Thrawn noted. "And we've already got a lot on our plate as is."
"We're not going to have much choice in the matter." Helryx countered.
"I wasn't disagreeing, merely stating an observation." The Grand Admiral casually said. "We can't afford to ignore this, not with the multiverse so divided."
"There's also Teridax to consider." Mata Nui said. "He's not going to take this threat lightly. Of course," The Great Spirit frowned. "that just makes his plan far more unpredictable now."
...
Teridax was not happy. After the events on the Confederacy ship, he had returned to the leadership and made his displeasure about their little mess quite clear. Now, none of the Confederacy's forces could even blink without Teridax knowing about it.
As for the Makuta, he had returned to his lair to figure out the next step in his plan, specifically in adapting to the new circumstance (as well as check in on his latest experiments, which were proving quite promising). Captain Marvel was a surprise, but ultimately one that could be dealt with. No, it was what had drawn them all to that ship that was far more worrying.
A return of the Flood was not something he had expected, nor desired. Though they had been beaten back and were unlikely to return the same way, Teridax knew that he would have to factor their potential return into his plans.
He had already intended to recover what he could regarding the weaponry based on the Halos. That mission had just jumped up to his main priority. Of course, there was still the matter of actually recovering that technology.
The Halos themselves had all been damaged beyond repair during the Tidal Wave, and while he had access to the data the UNSC had recovered from the Rings before their destruction, it still wasn't enough to help him.
One thing was certain: He needed to go to Republic territory. Not impossible with the continuing conflict, but they would be looking for intruders, and he would be about as welcome there as a Stone Rat infestation.
Fortunately, he had a way to get what he needed. But first, he needed to make a few stops. Teleporting out of his lair, he headed to the staging area where his servants were lying in wait.
"My Makuta." Roodaka bowed her head in a show of subservience, while the rest of them couldn't be bothered.
"I have a mission for all of you." Teridax said, immediately drawing everyone's attention.
"About damn time." Voridus muttered.
"What exactly is it that we're doing?" Pavium asked, drawing nods from the rest.
"It's quite simple." Teridax smirked. "We're going to break into Republic territory."
...
It really is becoming quite depressing. Those were Palpatine's thoughts as he looked over the conflict map once more. Getting constant reminders of just how badly outmatched the First Order was against the Republic didn't do anything to remotely alleviate his perpetually bad mood.
At least Makuta and his Rahkshi had taken care of the Jedi-led rebellions in First Order territory, just as he had said he would. Despite his utter hatred for that machine, the Sith Lord couldn't deny the effectiveness of it all, especially with several rowdy planets becoming the exact opposite, with one in particular standing out.
With the help of Makuta's Rahkshi, the First Order had pacified the people of Mandalore. After all, Mandalorian armor became a liability when Magnetism Rahkshi were involved. Furthermore, brutally crushing several Mandalorians to death inside their armor had been a favored method of intimidation.
As if summoned by the Sith's own thoughts, a portal appeared in the middle of his throne room, and the Makuta stepped out in all disgusting glory. Mechanical whirring occurred with every movement, yet Palpatine still had to kneel to this wretched creature.
"What is thy bidding, my master?"
"We have an operation to plan, one that will strike a more direct blow to the Republic." Teridax smirked. "We're going to attack the Ark."
...
It was mid-day on the Normandy when Commander Shepard got a call from an old contact number, someone he hadn't talked to in some time. Nevertheless, upon seeing who it was, Shepard was immediately down in the comm room and answering the call.
"Miranda." The former Cerberus operative looked haggard, which barely marred her nigh-perfect appearance. Nevertheless, it was clear that something was haunting her. "Is everything alright?"
"No, it's not." Miranda's expression was almost pleading. "Shepard, Makuta has my sister." The Commander's blood froze at that statement before he composed himself.
"We'll call for Republic support." He said. "We've got a direct line to Mata Nui, he'd be more than willing-"
"No! That's exactly what he wants." Miranda said. "He wants you to call in as many Republic forces as you can so he can wipe them out in one blow."
"How do you know that?" Shepard asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.
"Because that's exactly what he told me to do. What he told me to say." Miranda looked away, tears running down her cheeks. "And that if I didn't, I'd be sealing Oriana's fate."
"Miranda... I'm sorry"
"Shepard, please." The ex-Cerberus Operative looked back, wiping away the tears. "I know exactly who Makuta is and what he's capable of. But I also know he's arrogant. He believes I'll play his game like a good little puppet, but he's given me more freedom than he should have."
"What do you want us to do?"
"We need to talk in person" She tapped her omni-tool and location data was sent through. "I'm on Ilium. Meet me there."
"I'm assuming you got all that EDI?" Shepard asked the moment the hologram vanished.
"Of course, Shepard." The AI replied. "The Republic has already been informed."
"Any suggestions?"
"For the moment, they suggest that we go meet her." EDI replied. "They can't spare any forces at the moment, but they will come immediately if things go south."
"Alright, set a course for Ilium." Shepard left the comms room. "And tell the team to be ready."
...
An hour later, the ground team was all gathered in the dropship and heading down to the meeting point on Ilium, while the rest of the team and the Normandy hung cloaked in orbit. The dropship itself was also cloaked as Cortez smoothly maneuvered it through Ilium traffic.
"You all know what's going to happen." Shepard said. "With any luck, this should be a simple meeting between old friends, but if it isn't..." He left the thought unsaid, but it was why he had brought, Garrus, Javik and Ventress with him.
"It could easily be a trap." Garrus pointed out again. "That could easily be Teridax impersonating her."
"It's a possibility." Shepard admitted. "But if it really is her, and she's telling the truth, then we need to find out what's happening."
"Commander, we're 30 seconds out." Cortez reported. "Standing by for deployment."
In moments, the four had left the dropship and were making their way to the meeting point, which was the same bar Liara's father used to work at long ago. Shepard led the way, noticing the streets outside seemed rather deserted for the time of day. Pausing at the door, Shepard turned to Ventress.
"Well?"
"She's inside." The Nightsister nodded. "And she's not alone."
Shepard nodded back, feeling relieved. Miranda had wanted to meet at a public place first, and it seemed that wasn't a lie. Palming the hologram on the door, he stepped inside, followed by the other three.
In contrast to the walkway outside, the bar was packed with a fair amount of people. It didn't take long to spot Miranda, who stood up just as they entered the room. Sheaprd moved to meet her, but was stopped by Ventress' hand.
"Commander, something's wrong." The Nightsister's eye widened as she realized the problem. "There are too many people here!"
"What are you talking..." The problem became clear as the illusion faded away.
The crowded bar vanished around themselves and Miranda, leaving behind a ton of bloodstains and bodies. Several other figures materialized, two human women, with holding a staff with two crystals on it, and the other holding a javelin of burning obsidian.
Two heavily armed and armored Jiralhanae also appeared, flanking a black and grey female Vortixx. But all their eyes were drawn to the fourteen foot black and red armored titan standing behind Miranda.
"My apologies, we didn't exactly get to clean up before you arrived." Teridax said.
"EDI, we need backup!" Shepard shouted into his earpiece, but only got static in response.
"I must admit, I am almost disappointed." Teridax continued as the others pulled out their weapons, only for them to be magnetically ripped out of their hands. "Feed a distress signal from your former crew and you come running blindly like a stampede of Kane-Ra."
"Then, Miranda..." One glance at ex-Operative's distraught face told them everything they needed to know.
"I am so sorry, Shepard."
"You lied to us!" Javik snarled, green biotics flaring only for him to get surrounded by a purple aura and lifted aloft by Cyclonis' magic.
"Every word she told you was true." Teridax continued as if nothing happened. "But, I wanted to make sure you'd all come here. That's why I coached her on exactly what to say."
"Why?" Shepard growled. "Why go to all this effort just for me."
"I would think you would already know the answer to that question." Makuta chuckled. "And for the record, getting you is just a bonus."
"You're after the Normandy." Garrus realized. "You jammed our long range comms!"
"To start with." Teridax agreed. "The rest of your AI's systems shall be under my control shortly. Of course, I couldn't do it without the virus Miss Lawson so helpfully transmitted onto your ship with the location data."
"You're not going to win." Ventress said, reaching out with the Force to retrieve her lightsabers, only for Roodaka to blast her with Shadow energy.
"Yes, he is." The Vortixx whispered.
Teridax hit the four Normandy crew members with Sleep, then picked up Shepard's earpiece and shapeshifted himself into a copy of the Commander, calling Cortez for extraction. By the time the pilot realized the truth, it was already too late, and he was bound and gagged with the others as the dropship was flown back to the Normandy.
The hangar bay opened to reveal everybody inside the bay to be unconscious, EDI having lowered the oxygen levels to well below normal thresholds. The AI stutteringly greeted the Makuta personally as he emerged, the virus taking over as intended.
"Excellent work." Teridax turned to his own entourage. "Gather the crew and secure them in the cargo hold."
"Why not just kill them?" Cinder questioned, holding a flame in her hand. "It's not like we need them alive."
"Not yet." Teridax shook his head. "For the moment, they shall remain alive to use as hostages or leverage as required."
"And what shall we do now?" Roodaka asked.
"Contact Palpatine." Teridax said. "Now, the next phase begins."
Well, that just happened. Trust me, things are about to get very interesting in the next chapter. With any luck, you hopefully won't have to wait as long as you all had to wait for this particular chapter.
With all that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.