Obsidian Thirteen: Yeah, I've been updating as quickly as I can – I'm looking forward to finishing this. And this is the final chapter!
Oh, Longsword fighters don't have slipspace drives? I'll fix, it then . . .
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The Phantom hovered over an opening in the hull of the In Amber Clad. Four Grunts went down into the opening, two holding turrets. Three Spec Ops Elites quickly followed them. A moment later, Sortan dropped down, then Alicia, and finally, me.
I landed heavily, and looked around. Fires and explosions had blackened the interior, and the bulkheads were ripped open. The two Spec Ops Grunts with turrets had secured the makeshift LZ, setting up their weapons in the broken doorways.
The Elites secured the area, and the room became the DeMilitarized Zone. Sortan began barking out orders, and then approached me. "Where are we to go?"
Alicia hijacked my response. "We are going to the reactors. After we're finished there, we'll return here and head to the hangars."
"What do you want my Elites to do?" Sortan continued.
"Send them to clear the path to the hangars. I believe you should go with them," Alicia responded with a blank expression. "Leave the Grunts here."
Sortan nodded, and began speaking in an alien tongue again. I pulled Alicia away, and quietly screamed, "What are you talking about? We'll need help if you want to detonate the reactors!"
She calmly replied, "If the Elites find out about this, they won't be happy. Wewon't be taking them with us when we escape."
"You're ruthless. How are we going to detonate the reactors? Don't we need the captain's transponder on the bridge?"
"I've been on the bridge for a long time, and I know how to hack like the best AI out there. Plus, Cortana was serving as the AI on the In Amber Clad, which means there won't be one here. And that means that it will be much easier to outwit the computer. And if my hacking doesn't work, we can set a charge on the reactors and time-blow it."
"I don't like this," I admitted. "We'll be leaving Sortan behind, then?"
"Yes," she said emotionlessly. Sortan approached us again, with the three Elites by his side.
"Okay, humans, we've decided to send one Elite with you. I'll take the other two to find your hangar." He nodded at us, and I had a feeling I wouldn't see him again as the tall Elite marched away. Two of the black-armored aliens followed him, leaving one behind.
"Can you understand me?" I asked him slowly.
"Yes, human," it answered impassively.
"Do you have a name?" Alicia asked.
It turned its head slowly toward her. "Yes . . . You can call me . . . Sankah."
I bobbed my head for a few seconds before turning and heading through the former doorway. Alicia quickly took the lead, and the Spec Ops Elite followed me. I noticed that he had a Beam Rifle – the Covenant Sniper Rifle – strapped to his armor, and a Plasma Rifle in both spindly hands. I held a Covenant Carbine, but Alicia was weaponless.
She led us into the next room, which was covered in blood. Three Combat Forms were standing motionless in by the opposite doorway; Sankah leapt ahead of us and fired on them. I was amazed by his skill; they went down in seconds. But the early appearance of Flood told me that we would face a lot of resistance.
In the next room, security station B-01, we came across six Infection Forms gnawing on human corpses. The Elite and I dispatched them easily enough. I remembered this room: it had been the station Sergeant Major Zoë Stevens had made her last stand. There was a shotgun and some ammo near one of the surveillance consoles. Picking up the weaponry, I glanced at the screens: they were all blank.
"Let's keep going," Alicia ordered, also picking up a weapon: an SMG, which she held in her good arm. I followed her, and the bulky alien did the same. We passed through a commons room, and then another security station before arriving at the shipping station, a cavernous chamber with a few lights still gleaming above. There was a large elevator that took us slowly downwards, to the ground floor, where five Combat Forms greeted us. My shotgun dealt with them, and we continued through the door. After passing through three empty rooms, we took a left. The darkness was overwhelming, now – I could barely see two feet in front of me. Alicia pulled out the flashlight and led us onward.
It became worse once we entered the maintenance shafts. Flood were everywhere. Sankah took the lead, following Alicia's orders. Combat Forms leapt out at us from the shadows, and I took up the rear as more began to follow us. As we entered the final maintenance shaft before the reactors, dozens of Carrier Forms appeared between the reactor and us.
Sankah immediately leapt at them. I assumed his train of thought was: these things look weak; it'll be a waste of ammo if I don't just beat them down. I tried to yell stop him, but one Plasma Rifle already connected with the hide of a Carrier Form. It dropped, and began bulging. I pulled Alicia away, and ran, just before the first Flood Carrier Form exploded. The others quickly followed, and there was a huge explosion from within as the chemicals used to power the reactor – that went through pipes around the maintenance shaft - combusted. Alicia waved her flashlight in the direction of the noise, where I watched as the shaft collapsed on the unfortunate Elite and the Infection Forms.
"Shit!" Alicia screamed. "How are we going to get to the reactor, now?"
"We can't, Alicia," I said sadly. "We'll just have double back. Cortana could still be on High Charity, right? If something goes wrong, she'll detonate the reactors."
"How can you say something like that?" She cried, turning on me. "The Flood will encompass High Charity, and use it to spread across the galaxy. We need to stop them!"
"No, we don't," I whispered soothingly. "It will all work out. It is our job to survive."
"You blasted coward!" The ensign screamed at me, before disappearing into the darkness, switching off the flashlight. I was alone again, but I quickly followed in the direction she stamped off in.
"Alicia – wait!" I called after her. "Think logically!" I tried. No answer. I had to follow my own advice now: survive. Damn it.
I retraced my steps as best I could in the darkness. I felt along the walls, following the path that we had taken until I reached the shipping station. I tried the console to begin the elevator, but it didn't work: it might have been connected to the maintenance shaft. The wall the elevator moved down was slanted, and had grooves in it: I hurriedly climbed upwards.
I took a detour and arrived at the armory I had defended so long ago. No corpses, but there were dropped helmets and blood of both humans and Flood. There was more ammunition for my shotgun, and plenty other weapons, but I decided to just keep the M90.
It felt like a walk down memory lane. Well, a broken, battered, and burned memory lane. I thought about where Alicia could go and realized that the bridge was probably destroyed when the In Amber Clad crashed.
I finally came across the path to the Longsword fighter bay. There were quite a few Combat Form casualties and even one Elite corpse. Sortan had come through here. I jogged down the path of destruction until I came to the fighter bay, where I heard sounds of battle. Inside, the two Elites were fighting against a lot of Flood. I couldn't count them; I just watched in amazement as Sortan slashed through the hordes ofCombat Formswith a newly acquired Energy Sword.
The other Elite lost his shields; I had become familiar with the burst of energy as they dissipated. The many tentacles instantly devoured him. The gruesome image shook me out of the reverie; I screamed to Sortan, "Sortan! I'm here!" I rushed into the fray, pullingthe triggerand pumping as quickly as I could. The chamber emptied of shells; I dropped behind a tower of boxes to manually reload.
I leapt back out. More Combat Forms were dropping from the dark rafters; I knew this battle couldn't be won. Sortan kept fighting, but his shields were constantly being hit. A few of the Combat Forms turned on me, but I took care of them calmly.
Sortan yelled to me, "Human! Where is the female?"
"Don't know!" I replied, loading a shell into another Combat Form, point-blank. It dropped.
"We need to get inside your fighter ship!" He said, referring to the Longswords. Three of the huge craft remained in the bay.
"Its impossible with all these Flood!" I called back, throwing a grenade into a slew of approaching aliens. It exploded, bringing most of them down. At least the Combat Forms in the immediate area were thinning out; I noticed Sortan's shields recharge. I began back-stepping toward the Longsword, gunning down multiple foes as they approached me. Sortan didn't follow; he just kept fighting.
"Sortan! Come on!" I yelled at him. He didn't answer, as three more Combat Forms dropped from the rafters. They must be congregating in here, so they could escape from the In Amber Clad in Pelicans and Longswords.
Suddenly, the lights flickered on above, illuminating the Flood in the rafters. Carrier Forms watched with eyeless gazes. Combat Forms prepared to leap down on us. I didn't see any Infection Forms, thankfully.
I looked up into the bay station, the room where officers commanded the Longswords going in and out. I could see a figure: Alicia! She immediately left the room.
I looked back down, where Sortan was still slashing at six Combat Forms. He stood beside four crates, splashed with Flood Blood. He stabbed through two more Combat Forms when suddenly the Energy Sword failed. I knew my lifeline had died, then, too: I turned and ran towards the Longsword. As I stood in the doorway into the Phantom, I watched as Sortan swung ineffectually at the Flood. His shields failed, and the Carrier Forms dropped from the rafters as if on cue. The Combat Forms stepped back, allowing hundreds of Infection Forms to smother the hapless Elite.
As Sortan dropped to his knees, Alicia suddenly burst into the room through the doorway I had once been in. I had totally forgotten about her!
I jumped out of the Longsword, sprinting towards her. Two Combat Forms leapt at me; I loaded them full of lead. Alicia ran towards me. I grabbed her arm once we came close enough; then, we both turned around and ran to the Longsword. I felt a headache coming on.
The Combat Forms were regrouping, and soon following us. I stopped and pushed the ensign towards the fighter. She ran on, also stopping in the doorway.
I gunned down the Combat Forms easy enough. And then the Infection Forms came at me. The scatter shot of the shotgun took a few down; the rest leapt onto me. I pulled them off and flung them down as they vied for a position on my spine. After those on my body were dead, I leapt to my feet and sprinted once more to the Longsword, leaping in and closing the hatch. Alicia was now gone, disappearing into the depths of the Longsword.
I lay quietly, until the Longsword lifted off. We were safe, now, I hoped. I was exhausted, but I knew Alicia would probably need my help. I stood and jogged to the cockpit, as the Longsword circled above the city. I sat down in the co-pilot's chair.
"Where do we go now?" Alicia asked, no longer calmly.
"There!" I pointed towards the opening in the ceiling of High Charity, the one that the Prophet of Truth's vessel had escaped through. It had once been illuminated with a bright light, but the light was now gone. I hoped it was still open.
We moved upwards, towards the spherical hole. The ship began to shake, and the ensign asked, "Are you sure this is an opening?"
The Longsword came closer. As we were within half a kilometer of hole, in opened up, slowly. But the ship it was made for was much bigger; we passed through the slit of an opening and disappeared into the next huge, cylindrical pressure chamber.
It was indeed huge, large enough for Truth's ship to fly through while the first opening closed, and the second one opened. Alicia piloted the Longsword towards the other side, and moved it through the portal into space.
I gasped as we flew out of High Charity. A massive space battle unfolded before us. Covenant cruisers, firing on each other; Seraph fighters chasing Seraph fighters; and Delta Halo below. Balls of plasma and long, deadly lasers speared empty space. Alicia turned the Longsword fighter away from High Charity, and accelerated. It wasn't long before we were in the war zone. Seraph fighters zoomed past us; two of them fell in behind us, and I knew we were in trouble. The Longsword evasively dived toward a nearby carrier. The fighter flew along the hull, just as the Seraph fighters fired their weaponry. The plasma missiles curved toward us, but splashed against the carrier's shields. I grinned.
The Longsword soon cleared the carrier, flying into clear space. "Where are we going to go?" I asked Alicia.
"Nowhere else to go but down, now," she answered, moving the Longsword toward Delta Halo . . .
THE END