The grav lift was still glowing when we arrived. The green 'Flood Blood' surrounded the portal where the Carrier Form had exploded; smaller blots also pointed out where I had killed the Infection Forms. Limbs of the Combat Forms were also scattered across the rooms that I had run through; indeed, I also came across the red blotches of my own blood.
I followed behind Sortan; Alicia followed me. Four of the doors we passed had to be forced open. That meant that the last of High Charity's emergency power was failing. I kept this cheery thought in my mind as we floated down the lift. It was three long minutes before we arrived on the ground level.
Sortan landed correctly, feet-first. I fell on top of him, causing both of us to crumble into a heap. Alicia landed heavily on top; I grunted as she carefully stepped away from our tangled mess and inspected the chamber.
I separated myself from the Elite and stood. The grav lift failed a few seconds later, emptying the room of light.
In the darkness, Alicia triggered a flashlight.
"What the hell?" I grumbled. "Why didn't you use that earlier?"
"When?" she replied innocently. Her voice was muffled by the oxygen tank's mouthpiece; I realized mine was, too. "There has been sufficient light until now."
"Whatever," I answered, following the spotlight. The room was empty except for a few corpses. All was silent, except for the muttering of Sortan.
"Where to, now?" I asked him.
"We're near an exit on the opposite side of the tower we want to be at. We could go around, through the lower districts, or we could go through the tower."
The lower districts would be full of Flood, right? I asked myself. I glanced at Alicia. "Through the tower?" I inquired.
"I guess so . . ." she whispered, squinting into the darkness.
"Okay, off we go," I said cheerfully, walking further into the tower. They followed me; I was the one with the gun, right?
We hadn't made two rooms before we encountered the first of the Flood on the ground level. It was a long hallway with slightly raised platforms on either sides; Sortan told me it was one of the Grunt sleeping quarters. Above us were balconies that once were hidden by glass, which was now smashed all over the floor. Dead Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals lay in pieces. Both Covenant and human weapons joined them in the debris.
I readied my assault rifle and checked my ammo. I was down to two clips left, including the one in the rifle. It might be time to pass it up, I thought. We stepped into the room and made our way through the next bend before we saw the five Combat Forms. I immediately fired on them; Alicia used a Magnum in her good arm, and Sortan fired a Plasma Rifle. Three Combat Forms came close enough to lash out at me, and I managed to fill two full of lead before the magazine was depleted. I dropped the MA5B and grabbed a nearby Brute Plasma Rifle. Sortan had stumbled into one of the Grunt's quarters, and Alicia was taking potshots from behind a Covenant weapons crate.
The Combat Form leapt at me, its claws ripping at my skin. I tried to push it away, but it was too strong. Finally, I managed to jam the Brute Plasma Rifle into the folds of the dead skin. I held down the trigger, even once the Combat Form collapsed against me. I held down the trigger until it overheated, burning my hand. Feeling pain and fatigue wash over me, I lay back and drifted into unconsciousness again.
I didn't know how much time had passed; I just felt the pain, and the stifling, crushing weight of the Combat Form. When I awoke, there was light: directly in my eyes. It pulled away, and I saw Alicia's face. She smiled, and I immediately felt better. Sortan was standing to the side, watching, and past him I could see the city of High Charity.
"What happened?" I muttered, voice hoarse.
"You fainted, or something. Got a little beat up," Alicia explained.
I reached for my face, and felt a deep slash across it. Thankfully, it missed my eye, but still reached from my chin to the ear. Alicia had disinfected it and bandaged the awkward wound up as best as possible. I could also feel a few more scratches across my arms and armor.
"There's going to be a few scars," Alicia continued.
"Yeah." I mumbled, "Where are we?"
"Outside of the tower, in the lower districts. The In Amber Clad is close now."
That must be where the light is coming from, I thought, looking up. Indeed, the massive figure of the burning starship cast a glowing radiance over some of the city.
"There are still a few battles going on inside the city," Sortan rumbled. "Apparently, some of the Elites from destroyed cruisers fled here."
"What?" I said, rubbing my eyes and pushing myself into a sitting position.
"There is a space battle going on outside, between the Elites and the Brutes," Sortan explained. "Now, we must be going. The next tower isn't far."
I stood, getting quite annoyed of being on the ground. There were a few buildings around us, crushed by the fall of debris. There were Elite bodies, too, which surprised me. The Flood hadn't absorbed them yet.
I could see the tower ahead. The street led straight to it, occasionally illuminated by plasma grenade explosions. The Covenant and the Flood was fighting nearby.
The three of us marched ahead. Remembering the last time I had looked in the mirror, I casually glanced at myself and laughed inwardly. I also remembered when I had first seen Ensign Hartman on the bridge. We looked like a duo of savages. Even Sortan looked beat-up: the bandage around his midsection; dents and scuffs in his armor; even his shoulder plates were missing their tips.
An explosion directly ahead of us interrupted my thoughts. A Spectre roared out of an alley between two prefabs, quickly followed by eight Combat Forms. The red, vaguely pear-shaped Covenant vehicle doubled back and ran through the Flood, causing three of them to explode from the sudden impact. The turret on the Spectre spun around and spewed plasma at the remaining Flood. The creatures turned and followed it back into the alley.
We sprinted past the alley, continuing forward down the street. As we drew closer to the tower, I saw an increasing amount of Flood: Carrier Forms, looming on the prefabs' 'rooftops'; Infection Forms, pouring into and out of broken portholes. Combat Forms ran in their awkward sprint through alleys and over the buildings. Occasionally a Ghost would fly past; I felt we were extremely lucky to not have been noticed.
Three Flood-piloted Ghosts ambushed us just before the entrance into the tower. I ducked into an alleyway, confirmed the others were following, and headed down the narrow space. I stumbled into the next street, just as I saw a Phantom speeding towards us. Sortan pulled me back into the alley.
"That Phantom will kill us!" I squeaked in the darkness.
Sortan poked his head out and glanced at it as it began to hover over the street, expelling Elites and the occasional Hunter pair downwards. "Have you thought out how we will get to thehuman ship inside the tower?" He asked.
"Yeah," I said, "Take the - " and then it hit me. He was right. We couldn't take the grav lift; there wasn't a command console on the ground floor.
Sighing, Alicia asked Sortan, "How do you propose we get to the In Amber Clad, then?"
"I'm going to take you prisoner." Sortan growled.
Two minutes later, I narrowed my eyes and frowned deeply as the Elite marched as toward the Phantom, which still hovered above the street. Alicia was playing a good act, struggling immensely.
Sortan took us just under the portal into the Phantom before another Elite, this one clad in black armor, marched up to us and rumbled, "What are these?"
"Human prisoners," Sortan answered, looking down at the black-armored alien. It wilted under his gaze, and meekly answered, "Go right ahead, Field Commander. Our Arbiter - "
Sortan stopped in mid-step. "The Arbiter? He is alive?"
"Yes, Field Commander. He is on Halo. As I was saying, the Arbiter has allied himself with the humans, temporarily - "
"Why?" boomed Sortan, just before realizing he was doing the same. I snickered quietly.
"They have helped him, in some ways. The Arbiter has killed Tartarus."
I didn't know who Tartarus was, but it was obviously important. Sortan marched us away quietly and released us from his grip, just before we floated into the Phantom.
The inside was dark and, unsurprisingly, purple. A few Elites prepared themselves in the corners, loading Carbines and such. Sortan left us in the chamber and walked to the cockpit. I looked around, wondering if one of the Elites were going to kill me unexpectedly or something.
I gasped as one of the Elites glanced at me and lowered his head in acknowledgement. Quietly, he threw a loaded Carbine at me. I raised my eyebrows at the alien, who simply returned to his work.
Sortan joined us a moment later. "The Phantom will drop by the human ship. I have also acquired us a Spec Ops squad."
"Oh, great, more aliens," I grumbled. Sortan gave me a meaningful glance, and the Phantom rose into the air, heading towards the In Amber Clad.