Halo: The Nameless War
Chapter 6: Cold Fury
Not just a Covenant patrol, but a Covenant Assault Team were descending on the base. Led by two Black Elites and followed by more than twenty black Grunts. Reds littered the ranks and Jackals were also inside. Omega Team sat wearily, huddled inside the control panels where Williams thought them most safe. The Covenant did not go near the panel, they simply went to the door that held the creatures and one of the Black Elites entered a finger into the side. The door slid open and the Covenant raised their weapons.
In an instant two of the sickly-coloured creatures had leap out and scratched at the Black Elite with their whip like fingers, taking it down before continuing on, leaving it to be engulfed by several small, similarly coloured heads on spider legs. The Covenant opened fire, blasting at the two that had attacked them, managing to take down one before three grunts were toppled by the other. The heads lunged forwards, followed by amazing numbers of other heads that engulfed the grunts, creating more heads. The fallen Black Elite rose, and it was yellow and unfocussed with whip-like fingers. A Red Elite turned to it and fell from a scratch across its face. The heads moved towards it.
It was a massacre, now two again the larger yellow creatures whipped at everything in their path, and with every Elite taken down the heads brought about another one. The Covenant fired relentlessly, hitting head after head but they just kept coming. The second Black Elite managed to charge and knock his brethren to pieces like he was held together with glue alone. It moved it's Plasma Rifle up and fired again at the heads, holding them back. A daring grunt rushed forward to aid it and threw a plasma grenade into the midst of the heads. It blew, taking head after head in a buckling chain reaction. The attack slowed, letting the Covenant push forward and blast down the second yellow creature. It fell from Plasma in the stomach.
The Covenant moved forward into the hole, firing at the heads, but then the creature stood up again. It charged forwards, taking hold of a Red Elite and snapping it's neck with a fearsome grip. Picking up the Plasma Rifle the Elite had held it began to fire into the Covenant, knocking over two more Red Elites and a grunt. The heads scurried forwards, engulfing the bodies until two more of the larger creatures stood where the Elites had fallen. The Covenant continued their fire, blasting off the head of the enemy behind them before retreating back into the Command Centre. They were closely followed, the Black Elite shut the door on their oppressors.
It rushed to the Command panel and mashed the keypad. It grunted several times while doing so, until the panel grunted back. Omega Team stayed low while their AI's began translating.
"It is the Flood, we need reinforcements to finish the eradication. We have been decimated and need help. We will not be able to win alone.Of course; reinforcements are already on route. We feared it might have been the Flood."
Unnoticed by the Covenant, a single yellow head moved towards the corpse of the Red Elite with the snapped neck. It moved towards the Red Elite's head and attached its legs. They went into the skull and the Red Elite began to deform. Its skin became a sickly yellow and its shoulders puffed up. Its fingers extended on one arm and the leg muscles bulged out. It stood up and moved towards the door.
Before the Covenant had noticed they were engulfed again. The one combat yellow creature slaughtered two more Elites quickly before it hit at the grunts. Swiping left and right, knocking them into the path of oncoming fire. Another leapt out from the mines, knocking down a Jackal on it's way out. The heads moved quickly, altering the injured Elites. Four of the creatures stood against the Covenant. Hitting left and right until finally, only the Black Elite remained. It clubbed its weapon, beheading one of the creatures before another took him. The Covenant were dead and altered. But they had taken a hell of a lot of heads with them.
Omega Team went active, Miller and Gainer threw frags from their positions on the roof, blowing heads flying. They slid down on their ropes, firing their Assault Rifles. Jerkin burst out from his panel and fired at everything he saw while the older Williams brother swung his weapon, sending heads flying back into the mine. Thyme and Mesa shot with their pistols, hitting hard while Reid sent twenty needles hard into a combat creature. It exploded, sending heads with it and another that was blown to bits nearby it. Gainer leapt down and knocked the head off another with the butt of her shotgun while the other get a faceful of shell from Miller.
"So they're called the Flood huh?" said Miller, "well we'd better close this door."
"Already on it," said the younger Williams, the door shutting as he spoke, "and we'd better be getting back into our positions."
"Hell no," exclaimed Jerkin, "we have to get out of here!"
"If we try we'll be hit by the second wave of Covenant reinforcements, at least we know what happened now. The Flood must have done this. If you need to transmit do it over the AI."
As they hit again Jerkin began to send a message, "The Elites wanted to find out about the heads, but the other Covenant weren't keen, that's why there was a battle. By the look of it four Elites managed to get into that area and became Flood. The heads seem to come from the others, my guess is they have been here a long time for these sort of numbers. Stay alert. We don't know just how many there are."
The second Covenant attack wave came swiftly, and, seeing the destruction that was there, they called for more reinforcements. Although these would take a while to get here. They moved towards the door and the first of the Black Elites, this time three of them, leading the team opened it.
It began all over again, another massacre ensued. The first Black Elite and three Grunts supporting it were all taken instantly by the heads, then another Red Elite behind them. The others opened fire but by then two of the combat Flood were active and killing. One swept its long fingers, taking down one Red Elite and two grunts, which were quickly engulfed by the heads, while the other ran from the room towards the surface. The other two continued their torment, striking down one Covenant after another until one was struck hard in the head, sending pieces of it flying. The second continued the attack, only to receive the butt of a Plasma Rifle in the head, squashing it. But by then it was two late, six more were already on the attack. By the time the Covenant had fallen twelve of the combat Flood stood and ran through the centre into the corridors. When they had seen the area cleared Omega Team left their hiding places and began following the Flood.
By the time they reached the main room a furious battle was at hand between the Covenant and the Flood. Omega Team hung back, watching through their AI's and the cameras in the room.
Now the Covenant was fighting with everything they could muster. The group was huge, filled with everything, including four Hunters. The leaders of the group were two Golden Elites bearing Plasma Swords. They were swiping at every combat Flood there, taking them out piece by piece, but by now the Flood was taking every corpse that fell, and their numbers were only growing. However, though the combatants were growing, the heads were thinning. The heads were becoming less and less. The Covenant were in a large circle with their guns blasting outwards and downwards. They were gathered together and looking evil.
"We need to get out before they get more reinforcements," said Gainer, not even eager for a fight anymore, "they're close together, maybe a grenade can loosen them up a bit."
"Not a big enough bang," said Reid, "but a rocket might do the trick. Open this door for me Liam."
She set herself at the door and raised her rocket launcher, "once I've fired we'll have to rush in and clear what's there. We might be able to send in a few grenades."
"We should be able to send them in at the same time, clear out more," said the older Williams, "remove as much as we can before we rush in, but wait a bit longer. They should be able to take out each other a little at least."
"We don't have time," commented Miller, "reinforcements could arrive at any time, plus, your brother's already working on the door."
Reid took careful aim as Miller, Gainer and Williams gathered around her with frags in their hands. The door opened fully and they all sent out their explosives. The blast cleared most of the room, reducing the Flood to tiny bits and making Covenant corpses litter the room. They moved in to see more than thirty dead Elites and about fifty grunts. The room was cleared so they began to move on. But as they did, three heads came from the door they had come from and moved onto the grunt corpses. More heads appeared which moved onto the Elites. The combatants rose again and leapt after the Omega Team, and the exit.
Omega Team ran most of the way, not even looking at the craters from explosions at either side of the walls. Jerkin noted them briefly, saying the Flood have probably been stopped so far by the Covenant attack wave that had just been pulverised. As they reached the door out they saw a shadow fall. It was a Hunter shadow. Quickly they dived sideways into the nearest craters. Escaping the view straight down or up the corridor. The Hunter moved in, its weapon charged. It fired down the corridor and struck three combatants, clearing every trace of them. It continued to run down, going straight past the Omega Team, followed by several Elites and another Hunter bringing up the rear. After them, much slower, came a few grunts and Jackals.
The Flood flew straight at them, swinging hard at the throat of the front Hunter and clearing its head from its body. The Elites began firing, while the grunts began to throw grenades at the few heads that remained. Higher up, Omega Team stepped out of their hiding spots and Reid shot a rocket down the tunnel. The blast blew the rear Hunter into pieces and scattered the grunts. The Elites had no time to turn before the Flood struck them down. Another rocket was launched, but it exploded on a head that leapt in front. The blast got several heads, but otherwise nothing. Reid lowered her rocket launcher and began reloading. Thyme lowered her Sniper Rifle and took a shot. It went clean through the head of the combat Flood, before hitting several other heads. But non fell.
"It didn't work, what the hell happened?"
But too late, the Flood charged at them. Gainer stepped forward and blasted the closest Flood. Her and Miller stood at the front and blasted away, their team covering them, until they could see no Flood. They moved on, but again, heads, this time on the ceiling, dropped down and consumed the corpses of the Covenant.
Omega Team ran from the camp, moving away until they believed themselves safe. Once they were into the mountains they looked back only to see the Flood racing from the camp. So many were moving, but nothing could be done to stop them. It was too late. Omega Team moved away.
Chapter 6: Cold Fury
Not just a Covenant patrol, but a Covenant Assault Team were descending on the base. Led by two Black Elites and followed by more than twenty black Grunts. Reds littered the ranks and Jackals were also inside. Omega Team sat wearily, huddled inside the control panels where Williams thought them most safe. The Covenant did not go near the panel, they simply went to the door that held the creatures and one of the Black Elites entered a finger into the side. The door slid open and the Covenant raised their weapons.
In an instant two of the sickly-coloured creatures had leap out and scratched at the Black Elite with their whip like fingers, taking it down before continuing on, leaving it to be engulfed by several small, similarly coloured heads on spider legs. The Covenant opened fire, blasting at the two that had attacked them, managing to take down one before three grunts were toppled by the other. The heads lunged forwards, followed by amazing numbers of other heads that engulfed the grunts, creating more heads. The fallen Black Elite rose, and it was yellow and unfocussed with whip-like fingers. A Red Elite turned to it and fell from a scratch across its face. The heads moved towards it.
It was a massacre, now two again the larger yellow creatures whipped at everything in their path, and with every Elite taken down the heads brought about another one. The Covenant fired relentlessly, hitting head after head but they just kept coming. The second Black Elite managed to charge and knock his brethren to pieces like he was held together with glue alone. It moved it's Plasma Rifle up and fired again at the heads, holding them back. A daring grunt rushed forward to aid it and threw a plasma grenade into the midst of the heads. It blew, taking head after head in a buckling chain reaction. The attack slowed, letting the Covenant push forward and blast down the second yellow creature. It fell from Plasma in the stomach.
The Covenant moved forward into the hole, firing at the heads, but then the creature stood up again. It charged forwards, taking hold of a Red Elite and snapping it's neck with a fearsome grip. Picking up the Plasma Rifle the Elite had held it began to fire into the Covenant, knocking over two more Red Elites and a grunt. The heads scurried forwards, engulfing the bodies until two more of the larger creatures stood where the Elites had fallen. The Covenant continued their fire, blasting off the head of the enemy behind them before retreating back into the Command Centre. They were closely followed, the Black Elite shut the door on their oppressors.
It rushed to the Command panel and mashed the keypad. It grunted several times while doing so, until the panel grunted back. Omega Team stayed low while their AI's began translating.
"It is the Flood, we need reinforcements to finish the eradication. We have been decimated and need help. We will not be able to win alone.Of course; reinforcements are already on route. We feared it might have been the Flood."
Unnoticed by the Covenant, a single yellow head moved towards the corpse of the Red Elite with the snapped neck. It moved towards the Red Elite's head and attached its legs. They went into the skull and the Red Elite began to deform. Its skin became a sickly yellow and its shoulders puffed up. Its fingers extended on one arm and the leg muscles bulged out. It stood up and moved towards the door.
Before the Covenant had noticed they were engulfed again. The one combat yellow creature slaughtered two more Elites quickly before it hit at the grunts. Swiping left and right, knocking them into the path of oncoming fire. Another leapt out from the mines, knocking down a Jackal on it's way out. The heads moved quickly, altering the injured Elites. Four of the creatures stood against the Covenant. Hitting left and right until finally, only the Black Elite remained. It clubbed its weapon, beheading one of the creatures before another took him. The Covenant were dead and altered. But they had taken a hell of a lot of heads with them.
Omega Team went active, Miller and Gainer threw frags from their positions on the roof, blowing heads flying. They slid down on their ropes, firing their Assault Rifles. Jerkin burst out from his panel and fired at everything he saw while the older Williams brother swung his weapon, sending heads flying back into the mine. Thyme and Mesa shot with their pistols, hitting hard while Reid sent twenty needles hard into a combat creature. It exploded, sending heads with it and another that was blown to bits nearby it. Gainer leapt down and knocked the head off another with the butt of her shotgun while the other get a faceful of shell from Miller.
"So they're called the Flood huh?" said Miller, "well we'd better close this door."
"Already on it," said the younger Williams, the door shutting as he spoke, "and we'd better be getting back into our positions."
"Hell no," exclaimed Jerkin, "we have to get out of here!"
"If we try we'll be hit by the second wave of Covenant reinforcements, at least we know what happened now. The Flood must have done this. If you need to transmit do it over the AI."
As they hit again Jerkin began to send a message, "The Elites wanted to find out about the heads, but the other Covenant weren't keen, that's why there was a battle. By the look of it four Elites managed to get into that area and became Flood. The heads seem to come from the others, my guess is they have been here a long time for these sort of numbers. Stay alert. We don't know just how many there are."
The second Covenant attack wave came swiftly, and, seeing the destruction that was there, they called for more reinforcements. Although these would take a while to get here. They moved towards the door and the first of the Black Elites, this time three of them, leading the team opened it.
It began all over again, another massacre ensued. The first Black Elite and three Grunts supporting it were all taken instantly by the heads, then another Red Elite behind them. The others opened fire but by then two of the combat Flood were active and killing. One swept its long fingers, taking down one Red Elite and two grunts, which were quickly engulfed by the heads, while the other ran from the room towards the surface. The other two continued their torment, striking down one Covenant after another until one was struck hard in the head, sending pieces of it flying. The second continued the attack, only to receive the butt of a Plasma Rifle in the head, squashing it. But by then it was two late, six more were already on the attack. By the time the Covenant had fallen twelve of the combat Flood stood and ran through the centre into the corridors. When they had seen the area cleared Omega Team left their hiding places and began following the Flood.
By the time they reached the main room a furious battle was at hand between the Covenant and the Flood. Omega Team hung back, watching through their AI's and the cameras in the room.
Now the Covenant was fighting with everything they could muster. The group was huge, filled with everything, including four Hunters. The leaders of the group were two Golden Elites bearing Plasma Swords. They were swiping at every combat Flood there, taking them out piece by piece, but by now the Flood was taking every corpse that fell, and their numbers were only growing. However, though the combatants were growing, the heads were thinning. The heads were becoming less and less. The Covenant were in a large circle with their guns blasting outwards and downwards. They were gathered together and looking evil.
"We need to get out before they get more reinforcements," said Gainer, not even eager for a fight anymore, "they're close together, maybe a grenade can loosen them up a bit."
"Not a big enough bang," said Reid, "but a rocket might do the trick. Open this door for me Liam."
She set herself at the door and raised her rocket launcher, "once I've fired we'll have to rush in and clear what's there. We might be able to send in a few grenades."
"We should be able to send them in at the same time, clear out more," said the older Williams, "remove as much as we can before we rush in, but wait a bit longer. They should be able to take out each other a little at least."
"We don't have time," commented Miller, "reinforcements could arrive at any time, plus, your brother's already working on the door."
Reid took careful aim as Miller, Gainer and Williams gathered around her with frags in their hands. The door opened fully and they all sent out their explosives. The blast cleared most of the room, reducing the Flood to tiny bits and making Covenant corpses litter the room. They moved in to see more than thirty dead Elites and about fifty grunts. The room was cleared so they began to move on. But as they did, three heads came from the door they had come from and moved onto the grunt corpses. More heads appeared which moved onto the Elites. The combatants rose again and leapt after the Omega Team, and the exit.
Omega Team ran most of the way, not even looking at the craters from explosions at either side of the walls. Jerkin noted them briefly, saying the Flood have probably been stopped so far by the Covenant attack wave that had just been pulverised. As they reached the door out they saw a shadow fall. It was a Hunter shadow. Quickly they dived sideways into the nearest craters. Escaping the view straight down or up the corridor. The Hunter moved in, its weapon charged. It fired down the corridor and struck three combatants, clearing every trace of them. It continued to run down, going straight past the Omega Team, followed by several Elites and another Hunter bringing up the rear. After them, much slower, came a few grunts and Jackals.
The Flood flew straight at them, swinging hard at the throat of the front Hunter and clearing its head from its body. The Elites began firing, while the grunts began to throw grenades at the few heads that remained. Higher up, Omega Team stepped out of their hiding spots and Reid shot a rocket down the tunnel. The blast blew the rear Hunter into pieces and scattered the grunts. The Elites had no time to turn before the Flood struck them down. Another rocket was launched, but it exploded on a head that leapt in front. The blast got several heads, but otherwise nothing. Reid lowered her rocket launcher and began reloading. Thyme lowered her Sniper Rifle and took a shot. It went clean through the head of the combat Flood, before hitting several other heads. But non fell.
"It didn't work, what the hell happened?"
But too late, the Flood charged at them. Gainer stepped forward and blasted the closest Flood. Her and Miller stood at the front and blasted away, their team covering them, until they could see no Flood. They moved on, but again, heads, this time on the ceiling, dropped down and consumed the corpses of the Covenant.
Omega Team ran from the camp, moving away until they believed themselves safe. Once they were into the mountains they looked back only to see the Flood racing from the camp. So many were moving, but nothing could be done to stop them. It was too late. Omega Team moved away.