Disclaimer: Well, If I owned Halo, I'd be so freaking awesome. I don't own anything of Aliens or Predator. If I did, I'd sooooo be making this into a movie. Well. Bye. I do, however own some of the Spartan's numbers unless they actually show up in later games. Otherwise, it's Bungie's. See ya.
Aliens Vs. The Flood
Chapter Six – Thieves and Heretics
Crash site of the foreign ship
A lone Alien pushed it's way out from the wreckage of their ship. It was a Warrior. It looked up into the sky and started running towards the Flood's home base.
Back in the Bunker
"Alright Master Chief." Dr. Halsey said.
"This is Brian, Spartan 3-0-4. He is the leader and knows how to handle things well." she said pointing to him.
"Wow, Spartan 1-1-7. It seems as though we have a legend to lead us now." he said to Master Chief.
"Thanks." he replied.
"And this is Jack, Spartan 3-0-9. Best sniper you could find anywhere." she said.
"This one here is Harry, Spartan 3-0-7. He may look suitable for front line work, but he can hack into a system's mainframe as fast as an A.I. can if it's necessary."
"And this is Lisa, Spartan 3-0-8. She is a strategist. She and Brian like to come up with plans to promote an effective tactic on the battlefield."
"The one back in the back likes to work alone when one can. His name is Lance, Spartan 3-1-0. He joins the team on the battlefield, but when reconnaissance is needed, he goes in alone. "
"And of course, there is Kelly. She is the fastest among the group as you know. She has gotten a lot faster since then. Records show she can run about ten times faster than she did when she was with you."
After she had gone through the entire team, she then told them to get ready to go and retrieve the Index.
"Master Chief, will you come with me?" Dr. Halsey asked.
He followed her into an operating room and she asked him to lay on the table in the middle of the room. He laid there, staring up at the ceiling. She then typed something on the computer next to her and Master Chief felt himself being lifted up. He was now hovering over the table, and it was glowing blue. He then saw a beam of light streak across the armor and his image came up on the screen. He then saw several mechanical arms surround him and attached themselves to his armor. He began to panic as he saw his shields go down.
"Don't worry." she told him instinctively.
He relaxed and then a large beam of light was at the top of his head and slowly scanned down. The light eclipsed the entire body of armor and it got down to his feet. It then sped up as it came back up to the top. Back and forth it went, going faster and faster. Until he was shrouded in the light of the beam. He armor began to shift. Parts became looser, and his helmet felt like it would fall off. Then it quickly became tight again, as a second skin once more. But this time, it was more adapted. He felt something pierce his neck in the back and he felt a coldness shove itself into his mind.
"Cortana." he said.
"Miss me?" she asked.
Then the beam began to slow down. It stopped and he was put back onto the table softly.
"You'll have to get used to the armor. It's a lot heavier than what your used to." Dr. Halsey cut in.
He realized she was right when he tried to sit up. He couldn't. He shifted and then put his arms down on the table. He pushed himself up and sat up. He huffed and then looked at Dr. Halsey.
"I need to warm up in this suit." he told her.
"Then come to the training room." she responded.
He followed her and stepped through the metal door into darkness.
"Don't you wish to turn on your shoulder lamp?" Cortana asked.
"I need to get used to my surroundings, you know that." he told her.
"Now starting the program." Dr. Halsey said into a COM from a room that overlooked the room Master Chief was in.
Master Chief let out a sigh and then, he heard movement all around.
"All of you pay attention to this." Dr. Halsey said.
They looked on with wonder at what this Spartan veteran was capable of.
Master Chief looked around and saw nothing yet. His eyes were still getting adjusted to the dark. He then heard something behind him and he turned and punched the hologram of an Elite and it fell to the ground. He then looked around for a weapon and found an assault rifle. Then he shot a hologram and it fell to the ground. Several shots were heard and several holograms were on the ground. Then Master Chief was blinded by several lights that came on at the same time. Master Chief looked around and saw tons of Elites surrounding him. He was attacked but he jumped back and attacked back. He shot all of them once and jumped to the top of a nearby stack of crates. He then tossed a frag and blew the holograms to bits.
"Program terminated." Dr. Halsey said over the COM.
All the lights went on and the newer Spartans looked on in awe. They saw what was so legendary about this Spartan. It was he who survived, he destroyed almost all the Halo rings, he lived to tell the tale of the Spartans. And they looked to him now as their leader.
"Well, is he what you expected?" she asked them.
"Even more." Brian said in awe.
On the Truth Beckoned
"Here me, my brothers! We must go back to the crash site of the Aericeth and retrieve the Sacred Icon." Pokun'aa said to the gathered crowd.
"Why should we listen to you?" A lone Blue Elite said to Pokun'aa.
Everyone then quieted down to listen to this apparent uprising. This Elite was going against it's oath it had sworn to uphold.
"What if the Prophets were false? What if they lied to us? I say they are false. All they did was control us. And now that they are dead, we are free." he shouted.
Some roared in agreement.
"Hold your tongue! Do you not know the crime for which you are committing! You are committing heresy against all that we live by! What is your name?" Natus'ii said to the Elite.
"I am Hunad'ee. Listen, we are free from being slaves to those Prophets. They did nothing but lead us down the path to destruction. We have become a weak race ever since we started listening to them. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm leaving and going to find the Sacred Icon on my own." he shouted.
Some others were nodding their heads at each other. The Elite heretic was walking to the docking bay area for the Phantoms. Others, but not all, followed behind him.
"Stop!" Pokun'aa shouted.
They got into a Phantom and took off towards the ring.
Later
"Well, how did it go?" Gonama'ee asked Natus'ii.
"Some of the Elites, Jackals, and Grunts walked out on us. Damn Heretics."
"What shall we do, Pokun'aa?" Gonama'ee asked.
"I don't know, we'll have to wait."
"But, if they retrieve the Sacred Icon, they will probably keep it for themselves and not fulfill the Covenant's destiny and the path to the Divine Beyond." Gonama'ee said to Pokun'aa.
"Then we should head to the crash site and find it before they do." Natus'ii said to Gonama'ee.
"Good idea. Natus'ii, you'll need to stay here and send troops in case we run into trouble." Gonama'ee told him.
"Agreed." he responded.
On the other side of Halo
The lone Warrior stood outside of the Sentinel Headquarters. It would get revenge for the loss of the Hive. It spotted two Combat forms holding some guns and it charged at them. They fired at it and it jumped into the air and landed on one. The Warrior ripped the one it landed on to pieces, then skewered the other with it's tail and chomped on it a few times with it's second jaw. It moved inside and continued on through the corridors of the place. It heard movement and jumped and attached itself to the ceiling. A lone Combat form walked through the hallway, patrolling. Unaware of the creature about to pounce on it. In a flash, when it was right under it, the Warrior pulled it into the shadows and sliced it with it's claws and mutilated it. Then it dropped the dead Combat form and dropped from the ceiling.
Moving slowly, it didn't notice that the Combat Form got back on it's feet and tackled the Warrior. The Warrior collapsed on the ground and turned so it was facing the attacker. It then opened it's mouth and spat acid all over the Combat Form. It instantly let go and ran around blind until it started to disintegrate into nothing. The Warrior then moved on into the rest of the facility.
In the forest
The leader was getting restless. Exactly how many had been created? It was barely 3 days, and already the Aliens were consuming this world. He was getting tired. They had already lost one of his clan. He needed to not make that mistake again. He then arrived at the crash site of the Alien's ship.
"No!" he shouted in his tongue.
"The armored species that inhabited the ring before we hunted the kainde amehda on this ring has destroyed our trophies. They will pay."
Then they heard a ship approaching. They activated their cloaking devices and hid in the shadows. It was the species that had ruined the hunt.
"Perfect." the leader said.
Onboard the approaching Phantom
"We will be the ones to replace the Prophets." Hunad'ee said to himself.
They landed on the surface and dropped down. They pulled out their energy swords and began searching the wreckage.
The Predators looked at one another and began to plan. The leader pointed one Predator to one side and another to the other side. They were going to flank them. The leader first got to the top of a pillar and looked down on the unsuspecting victims. He then told the Blazer Predator to ready it's heat beams and the Hydra Predator to aim every missile it had on each one. He then told his Vanguard, the plasma scythe carrier, to attack the one in front. He sliced the lead one in half and backed off as the Blazer and Hydra let loose. The Covenant never had a chance to react as the leader threw it's disc into the mix. He cut a few down and saw a leader of the group. He then extended his spear and let it fly.
Hunad'ee never saw it coming, he was lifted up and attached to a wall. He then saw the spear appear from nowhere and began to feel cold.
"Our leader is dead! Run away!" A Grunt said out loud.
"No! We face our opponents!" An Elite said.
The Predator leader switched to his net launcher, and shot it at the Elite that had spoken. The Elite was trapped inside, and it began to cut into his skin, deeper and deeper, until he slowly died. Then the Predators uncloaked themselves and attacked.
In the bunker
"Alright, let's go and get the Index." Master Chief told his Spartans.
"First, do you have any Shotgun ammo?" he asked a nearby marine.
"Yes sir." he responded.
He got into a room and pulled out a full box of shotgun shells. Master Chief filled the shotgun full.
They all got into a Pelican and a marine took the controls.
"John, we'll stay right here, the Marines and I will hold down the fort." Dr. Halsey told him.
He nodded and told the Marine pilot to go. They slowly lifted off and were going to the crash site. Then they saw the strangest thing.
"Smoke?" Master Chief asked himself.
"What happened here?" Jack asked Master Chief.
They landed and looked at the place, Covenant bodies littered the ground, some scorched, others cut in several places.
"A battle. But one thing is very wrong here." Master Chief said.
"What?" Brian asked.
"All of the Covenant's spinal cords and skulls are missing." he told him.
"Was it the new species? Those serpents." Jack asked.
"It was another. In the Library, I met these creatures that were attacked by the serpents. They were very skilled and very lethal. They took out about 20 or so by themselves. Then, after they killed them, they took the serpents skulls and spinal cords."
"What were they doing in the Library?" Brian asked.
"They seemed to be hunters. Very smart hunters. But-" Master Chief stopped mid sentence.
"What is it Master Chief?" Jack asked.
Master Chief then remembered something, they were coming from the platform that Master Chief was going to.
'It's possible they could have taken it. We need to search this place all over.' he told himself.
'If they did, then we'll have a serious problem.' he thought.
"We need to search this place from top to bottom. We will need to find the Index, if it is not here, then I think I know who has it." he told them.
"Who?" Brian asked.
"The hunters." he said slowly.
They began to search frantically. They searched for several minutes, turning over every piece of ship. They found nothing.
"Then we must find the hunters, and get the Index back." he told his team.
"Master Chief, we've found some of the creature's tracks." Brian said.
"Then let's go follow them." Master Chief said.
2 hours later, onboard another approaching Phantom
"What is that smoke, Arbiter?" a blue Elite asked.
"Trouble for us, maybe." he responded.
They landed and saw the Heretics, but without their heads or spinal cords. They started to search the wreckage for survivors. Gonama'ee looked around and noticed several pieces were turned upside down. He noticed that the dried blood was facing the ground, which meant that someone else was here before, already searched, and left.
"Someone's been here before." he told them.
"But who, Arbiter?" Pokun'aa asked.
"I think it was the humans. It could have been the serpents, but your guess is as good as mine."
'Or those humanoid species that spared me.' he thought to himself.
They found nothing.
"Then we must find the humans, and recover the Sacred Icon." he told them.
"Sir, I've found tracks imprinted in the cement. They are not human."
"Maybe I was wrong, let's follow them and see where they lead." Gonama'ee said.
Then they moved out.
In a desert
"We need to report to our leaders." the lead Predator said as they walked into their ship.
They walked inside and removed some of their armor. The Predator who picked up the Index walked to it's quarters and shut the door. It unbuckled it's belt and hung it up on a hangar. It removed the Index and placed it on a table under a lamp and began examining it. Then, it opened it's wrist computer and placed the Index on it. It scanned it and a hologram of the Index appeared. The Predator placed the Index back on the table and pressed a few more buttons on it's wrist computer. Predator writing was scrolling across the hologram screen. The Predator stared at it intently.
"What are you doing in here, brother?" the leader said, coming in.
The other Predator quickly put it's arm behind it's back.
"Nothing, leader."
"Well, we're about to display the trophies in the trophy room, you do not wish to join?"
"No."
"Very well." he said.
Then he left.
Then the Predator went back to work.
On the other side of Halo
The Warrior turned a corner, and quickly turned back and waited for an opportune moment. Suddenly, it heard the Combat forms getting killed. It put it's head around the corner, and the Flood were dead on the ground, blood everywhere. Then, in the middle of the dead, a Covenant Alien turned off it's camouflage. The Warrior ran to it's comrade and then, several more appeared out of the shadows. Now that they had a small group, they were ready to attack. They continued, ever closer to their goal.
They got to a large passageway and turned into a room full of Flood. The Flood all turned and pointed all their weapons at the Aliens. The Aliens backed up and went to opposite sides of the entrance. One unlucky Covenant Alien was struck down by the weapon's fire. They then charged into the room and engaged the Flood. They began to quickly get killed, but two PredAliens dropped from corridors in the ceiling and attacked the Flood. In the end, the Flood were all killed and only a PredAlien, the Warrior, and three Covenant Aliens lived. They continued on.
In the bunker
"Dr. Halsey, ma'am, we've got some signals in the forest." a marine said.
She walked outside to the lookout in the top of the bunker.
"Friendly, or not?" she asked.
"I don't know, it showed up for a brief second then disappeared off the radar." he responded.
"Keep an eye out for anything." she told him.
The forest then started to move when the wind picked up. Dr. Halsey felt cold and couldn't shake the feeling that this entire place was being watched. It felt just like when she was in cryostasis when she left Reach. She had her Spartans, but she needed others. The Spartans only filled the emptiness slightly.
"Are you OK ma'am?" the marine asked.
"Yes, just a little dizzy." she said.
She left back inside. A moment later, when the door was shut, the marine was grabbed by the throat by a bony hand and a set of jaws attacked him.
In a grassland region of Halo
"Wait." Master Chief said to his team.
They stopped in their tracks. They stood there and silently told Kelly to go check up ahead on top of the hill they were about to pass over. She slowly crept up the way and fell to the ground so only her helmet was visible. She looked around and saw nothing. She then asked for a sniper that one of the Spartans carried. She looked through it at 10x scope and didn't see anything. She gave it back and got up on top of the hill. She began to creep down the hill. Master Chief was getting impatient and asked her what 's taking so long.
"It's very difficult to concentrate when someone is talking." she responded.
Master Chief silenced himself and then he heard a gasp and a hit to something metal. Kelly came flying over the hill and landed on her back with a large thud.
"What happened?" Master Chief asked quickly.
"I don't know." she responded. She was out of breath.
But then, Master Chief's question was answered. A figure uncloaked itself and it stood on the hill. It was a Covenant Alien.
"Humans!" it said to itself.
"What is that thing?" one Spartan asked.
"It's going to be dead!" another responded.
A Spartan jumped up and pulled out an assault rifle and shot at the creature. The shots bounced of the armor, and when the clip was out, the creature charged at the Spartan that shot it. It rammed into the Spartan and he flew into a nearby rock. Master Chief jumped up and pulled out his SMG's. He began to fire, but when it wasn't doing anything, he gave up and backed away when the creature tried to swipe at him. The other Spartans got up and readied their weapons.
"Fire!" Brian shouted.
The ammo from the SMG's and Assault Rifles bounced off. But the Battle Rifle and the Shotgun proved useful. It died in 6 shots of the Shotgun, and took 12 bullets of the Battle Rifle.
"Are you OK, Kelly?" he asked.
She dusted herself off.
"Just a little shaken, but I'll be fine." she told him.
Master Chief looked around, wondering if there was more.
"Do we have a team Sniper?" Master Chief asked.
"Jack." Brian told him.
"Jack, come here."
Jack ran up to him.
"I'll need to you do what Kelly was doing, but look for shimmers of bent light. Those are the creatures that are cloaked."
Jack nodded and silently took position on top of the hill. He looked around as the others sat silently on their stomachs, waiting for something to happen. Jack looked and noticed a shimmer, he shot at what looked to be the top, a Covenant Alien dropped dead to the ground. His scope then got blurry. He tried to fix it but it wouldn't go away. He lowered the sniper.
"What's wrong?" Brian asked.
"It's the sniper, it got real blurry. Couldn't see." he said as he returned to position.
'Why would it go blurry?' Master Chief then asked himself.
Then it hit him. He grabbed his Shotgun, and the next thing Jack knew, he heard a shotgun shot and a Covenant Alien dropped on top of him. Then, as if it sent a signal, about five more Covenant Aliens appeared on the other side of the hill. Master Chief got up and ran into the middle of them and shot a few shotgun shots and killed one with a headshot. A nearby Alien was about to hit him in the back, but Jack shot it in the head with the Sniper. The other Spartans opened fired and they quickly killed the two others. A Spartan jumped up and ran into the battle and was swiped out of the way and hit the ground. The remaining Alien jumped on him and the Spartan began to shoot at the thing wildly.
Master Chief ran up to it and shot it's head. Guts splattered against the rock as the thing released it's grip and fell to the ground.
"That was close." Master Chief told himself.
On a cliff top overlooking the grasslands
"At least the humans are clearing the way." Gonama'ee told Pokun'aa as they looked on to the battle.
Gonama'ee saw the Demon jump up and run into the middle of the group of attacking Aliens.
"We should keep an eye on the Demon. Maybe he has a weakness we can exploit." Gonama'ee said to Pokun'aa.
"How's it coming?" Natus'ii said over the intercom of their helmets.
"Good, so far." Gonama'ee responded.
"Arbiter, look at that!" Pokun'aa said to him quickly.
The scene played out. One of the Demon's friends jumped in and immediately got attacked. Then the Demon acted immediately on this.
"We could use this." Pokun'aa said.
"The Demon cares a lot for his men. When one is in danger, he acts on it and tries to save him. If we can capture one, hold it hostage, we can use his friend as a bargaining tool for the Sacred Icon." Gonama'ee told him.
They got up and turned on their cloaking devices again as the humans continued on.
On the other side of Halo
The small group met a captured Praetorian and freed it. They also found a half dead Warrior. A Drone was in a nearby cell. The Aliens broke it out and the Drone spat out Hive Web. All the Aliens rested on the Hive Web and the injured Warrior regained it's health. So did the others. When they were all done, they moved further in.
A Combat Form walked out from behind a statue of the room that the Aliens had occupied moments before. It let out a cry. Others joined inside the room and they chased after the intruders.
End Chapter Six