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 Eight – Final Run? No Way!
Inside the bunker, Master Chief and his Spartans called out to the soldiers.
"Dr. Halsey?" Master Chief shouted out.
No answer.
They walked on and it was getting harder and harder to see when they went deeper into the smoke. They found a door locked down. They busted it down and continued on. Then they burst into another door and were met with bright light.
Outside the bunker
Dr. Halsey wondered how her Spartans were doing. She worried about them, just like a mother to her children. She got up and walked a little down the hill that they sat at watching the burning bunker, unable to contact Master Chief and the others. She stopped a little ways and heard pounding and saw the Chief and the rest of the Spartans burst through the door.
"John!" she shouted.
They walked over and Master Chief signed a smile. The others did as well.
"What happened?" she asked.
"We have the Index." was all he said.
"Ma'am! A Phantom is heading this way!" Garen shouted to her.
They saw it coming in and started to fire on it.
"Hold your fire!" Master Chief shouted.
The Phantom hovered for a moment at the top of the hill. Gonama'ee dropped from the gravity lift. The marines lifted their guns but the Spartans left their guns at their sides. Gonama'ee walked up to Master Chief, and the Predator leader followed down from the ship.
"We got tired of waiting. Come on, there is work to be done." he said softly.
They followed Gonama'ee and Master Chief walked up to Dr. Halsey, she was shocked.
"What is going on!" she asked.
"These Elites are without leaders, they don't know what to do. I doubt the rest of the Covenant know what to do. The Arbiter is their leader basically. We were attacked by the serpents, and that creature following him is an ancient hunter that came to this planet to hunt the serpents. He, along with six originally, now two, are still hunting the serpents. We are joining the Covenant to help the hunter destroy the serpents and destroy the Flood and this ring of course."
Dr. Halsey took it all in and agreed.
"Then let's go." She said.
As they approached the Phantom, they heard roars and screeches.
"Marines, Spartans inside the ship!" Master Chief said.
They didn't hesitate.
"Pokun'aa! Natus'ii! Lift off and give us some cover!" Gonama'ee shouted.
The Phantom roared to life and lifted and shot it's guns at the approaching horde.
They howled and cried but kept coming. The Predator leader roared in anticipation and Gonama'ee readied his sword while Master Chief readied his shotgun that he received from one of the Marines. They prepared.
The first one leapt into the air and tried to crush Gonama'ee, but he sliced it in half. Master Chief shot another heading over the hill. The Predator leader got another with it's disc. They charged into the approaching Aliens. Master Chief shot another as it passed by and Gonama'ee brought his sword down on another Alien. The Predator leader skewered an Alien with it's spear and jumped back as another tried to swipe at him. Then the small group was defeated and they saw three Ravagers heading their way.
"One for each of us." Gonama'ee said to the two other warriors.
They both nodded in agreement. They split off as the Ravagers closed in.
Gonama'ee rolled under the creature as it's giant claw swiped at him. And Gonama'ee grabbed onto it's back and pulled itself up. The creature tried to slice him off but Gonama'ee blocked the attacks with his sword. He attacked it's head until he sliced it off. The creature fell to the ground, dead.
Master Chief ducked underneath the attack of the creature and shot at it, the hit just bounced off the shell, but scratched the surface. Master Chief saw the creature bring it down on him, and rolled out of the way. He ran and dodged another of the attacks and dropped his Shotgun. They creature attempted to bring down it's claws on him again. Master Chief brought up his hands and put them together around the claw and held it there, he held on, feeling his grip slipping, he looked for the Shotgun and pushed up and rolled to grab it. The creature roared as it brought it's mouth to chop down on the Master Chief.
"Big mistake." he said to himself.
Master Chief brought the shotgun in it's mouth, and fired. The guts splattered everywhere and it fell to the ground, dead.
The Predator leader saw the thing come at him and jumped into the air, and launched a net around it's head and shoulders. The needles of the end of the net wrapped around the thing's shoulders and tightened into the skin, it's head was getting crushed and it attempted to bite it, but it had to slice it off before realizing it was free. It looked around and realized the Predator leader was behind him and it turned to face the leader. Right as it did, it was met with tow barbs in it's head. They went straight through, and it fell to the ground, dead.
All three were now exhausted, and they ran to the Phantom as it approached back down to the surface. They got in and fell to the ground, exhausted.
"You guys are a pretty good team." Cortana said to Master Chief.
"Your right."
"Arbiter, where to now?" Master Chief asked Gonama'ee.
"To the Truth Beckoned, there we should make a plan of action to destroy this ring and all those creatures that inhabit it."
The Predator leader got up and looked at the ring world; he hoped his other Predator would be able to take care of themselves. Being a righteous leader meant caring for your own clan. He had to have faith and that the Ancients would be OK with it.
The traveled for a long time, and they saw the great city. Or at least, what remained of the great city. They headed into the docking bay, and stopped.
"I'll meet up with you guys later; I'll take care of a few things here first." Turaga'uu said to Gonama'ee and the other Elites.
They all got off and Pokun'aa, Gonama'ee, and Natus'ii led the way to the chamber where the Prophets used to provide council to the Covenant.
"Natus'ii, Pokun'aa, round up the remaining Covenant forces and meet us in the Prophet Council Room." Gonama'ee said to them.
"Yes, Arbiter." Pokun'aa said.
The marines and Dr. Halsey stood in the left corner of the back behind Gonama'ee and Master Chief. The Predator leader stood on the right corner, arms crossed in wait. The Covenant slowly made it's way in, and noticed the humans and Master Chief. Once they settled in, Gonama'ee stood up and addressed them.
"My brothers! The Prophets are dead! We have no leaders! I, being the eyes and ears of the Prophets, hereby claim leadership over the remaining Covenant; I will lead with grace and leave no Covenant forces to die in worthless fights!"
They were silent for a moment. Then Pokun'aa and Natus'ii stood up.
"We pledge ourselves to you, Arbiter!" they shouted.
Then Turaga'uu stood up.
"I pledge my honor and faith, o Arbiter!"
Soon, one by one, the rest stood and pledged themselves to their new leader. Then they sat back down in wonder why humans were here.
"These humans aren't the evil ones! The Prophets poisoned our mind with these lies. The Demon, known as Master Chief by his human friends, has saved one of our own in a selfless act of courage. Pokun'aa owes his life to Master Chief. They are not our enemies. We all have a common enemy. The first is the parasite, the Flood! The second is those serpents, who use our bodies for their own sick purposes! We shall destroy them and destroy this ring. For those of you who don't know the Prophets plan, when they activate this ring, it will not rush a divine wind through the stars, but kill us all! We would have died had the Prophets had their way!"
Some realized this and agreed.
"We must join with the humans and I will lead you into battle! My brothers in arms!" he raised a fist into the air.
Elites all around the room did the same. They all roared in agreement. He turned to the Predator leader.
"This is a hunter. He was one of the six that came here in an effort to hunt the serpents for sport. He will join us on the battlefield; we will also fill you in on the weak points and weaknesses of several of the serpents."
They all looked at the creature, they thought he was amazing.
"I wish to speak with each race individually; I want all the Grunts over here, and Hunters to wait in the armory. Elites, I wish to speak with you now."
The Elites made their way to Gonama'ee.
"Long ago we were known as the Sangheili." Gonama'ee started.
"Not Unggoy." he said looking left.
"Not Lekgolo." he said looking right.
"The Elites are the strong and the quick. The Grunts and Hunters have their places where they are best suited, but the Elites are the ones who will lead this war. I will do my part; each of you will be assigned a group of hunters and grunts. Treat them as your equals. No longer is there a classification of races. We are all Covenant, we are brothers. We shall treat the Grunts and Hunters as one of us. You will each lead your own group with equality and dignity, understood? Color of rank means nothing anymore."
"Yes, Arbiter!"
Then he walked over to the Grunts.
"You are the Unggoy. You may not be brave, but you know can track down scents of animals, humans, anything you set your mind to. You shall all carry the proud Fuel Rod Cannon. You will be behind the Elites themselves, helping them in their time of asking. You will assist without question, because you must be brave in this war. You must become braver than any Unggoy before you. Many of you will die, but those who do will always be remembered."
They nodded and went to get ready.
Then he approached the Hunters.
"You are the mighty Lekgolo. You strike fear into our enemies with your powerful shields and Fuel Rod Cannons. You give us power and strength, and courage when faced with impossible odds. You will be changed. You will strike fear, and you will dominate on the field. Many of you and your bond brothers will join my brothers and listen to them. They will be wise and efficient. Listen to them, and this remaining group of Covenant will be known throughout the worlds to come as the best there is."
Then Gonama'ee watched as they walked off, getting ready for the war ahead.
"So what now, Gonama'ee?" Pokun'aa asked.
"We will think of a plan, in about an hour, have everyone back in this room, we'll discuss a plan of action, and figure a way to destroy this ring to kill those serpents and parasites."
Queen's Hive
"-and figure a way to destroy this ring to kill those serpents and parasites."
The Queen heard this in her mind.
"So…they think they can win? I will make sure they will not get their plan to work. I will need to attack swiftly and hard. They won't know what him them."
Onboard the Truth Beckoned
The Predator was cloaked, walking through the ship, looking at the troops and species. They are here for a purpose. Not for sport. The hunter will have to report this to the Ancients.
Dr. Halsey walked up to Master Chief.
"So. This is the day that Covenant and humans join forces. Never thought I'd see the day."
"Chief, Kelly was hurt worse than we thought. She sustained more damage from that attack. The suit could be out of commission."
"How's Kelly herself?" Master Chief asked, concerned.
"She's fine, a few broken ribs, but that's about it. Nothing serious."
Master Chief went silent for a minute. He cared for Kelly, he cared for his team. He didn't want to lose them, like the others.
His team was one of the greatest. He didn't know how to not rely on them. They always did their part. He led them without question, and they always followed. They were the greatest. No doubt his new team could come up to par with his old team though.
His thoughts were interrupted by Dr. Halsey as she asked him if he was OK.
"Yea, I'm fine."
In the mural chamber of the Truth Beckoned
"So, Gonama'ee, will this plan of yours work?" Pokun'aa asked.
Gonama'ee, Pokun'aa, and Natus'ii all sat at a table, looking at each other.
"I think so. We have the Index, but we can't use it. We'll need to think of a way to blow the ring up like Master Chief did to the first six. But we don't have a ship capable of that power, and neither do the humans."
"So what?" Pokun'aa asked.
Gonama'ee thought for a minute.
"We have the Index. Or, the humans have it, but if their A.I. could get inside the ring's computer and shut it down, then maybe that might work. Otherwise…"
"Otherwise what, Gonama'ee?" Natus'ii asked.
"That ship."
"What?" Natus'ii asked.
"The ship that the serpents live in. If we can get to that ship, and blow it up, it could cause enough damage to the ring world."
"But that ship was already destroyed, Gonama'ee."
"But the fusion engine was spared. True the ship itself blew up, but the reactor and the engines are intact. If we can set those off, it'll destroy this place."
"Good idea." Natus'ii said.
"We will need to set up a base camp for everything down on the ring world to house the Wraiths, Banshees, and other vehicles and weapons. We'll also need to take in account the human weaponry."
"Agreed." Pokun'aa responded.
Gonama'ee walked out to the Master Chief.
"Master Chief, the plan will be for us to split into two groups. Your team of Spartans will go to the Control Room to see if you're A.I. can interface with Halo's controls. My group will head to the ship that the serpents crashed in and blow it up like you did with the first Halo."
The Chief nodded.
Then they prepared for departure. The Predator leader came up behind them, brandishing his spear. He heard the plan and got ready to board the Phantom. Several Phantoms left the Truth Beckoned as they descended. They all used the Phantoms as a base camp. They positioned the Phantoms to create a semi-barrier. Inside the Phantoms was where everything was stored. Concerning length, they had about 6000 square feet of ground to house the troops.
"Snipers in position Gonama'ee." Natus'ii said over the COM.
"Good. They'll tell us if anything is coming. How's everything on your end, Pokun'aa?"
"Everyone is suited up and ready to go. We are all standing by."
"Good."
Master Chief carried with him a shotgun, full loaded, and an energy sword given to him by Gonama'ee. Kelly walked out of one of the Phantoms.
"How are you?" Master Chief asked.
"Better. I wish I could help more, instead of getting hurt in your times of need." she said quietly.
"It's OK. We all know you only got hurt because you were doing your job. I'm glad to have you with us."
He put a hand on her shoulder, and she looked at him. He let go and turned to the "gate."
The gate was a metal door, with two Phantoms on each side, melded together. Metal was connecting each of the Phantoms to create a wall. Needless to say, they had a fortress.
"Natus'ii, you'll need to stay here and get the troops to defend the-"
"Arbiter! Something is heading this way! It's really big!" an Elite sniper said from up top the front gate.
Gonama'ee rushed to the top of the Phantom and ran up next to him and looked out. He saw a cloud of dust growing bigger and bigger. Gonama'ee asked for the sniper and looked through the scope. He saw the biggest Alien horde coming this way.
"There must be hundreds!" the Elite shouted.
"Then we'll have to fight them off with what we have. Have the snipers take as many out as they can before they get here."
"Yes sir."
Gonama'ee called for a meeting at the gate, the snipers blazing away up top. Human and Covenant.
"An army of serpents is heading this way; we must get past them to go onward. The serpent Queen has sent us her first challenge. We will meet it head on. I want the human marines to stay in the back and wait in reserve. The Hunters will go first, followed by the Grunts, then the Elites will rush in and attack when the serpents don't know what him them."
They all shouted, whooped, and hollered as they got into position. The snipers still slowly trying to kill the invaders. The same sniper who warned Gonama'ee spoke up.
"They are only 500 feet away."
"Tell me when they are 100 feet away, that's when we'll strike."
"400 feet."
Gonama'ee turned to the Spartans.
"I want you, Master Chief, to go ahead and go to the Control Room to see if you can shut it down, we'll hold down the fort."
"Sure. Protect Dr. Halsey with your life."
"I will, Master Chief, she will not die this day."
Then the Chief turned to leave and headed through the back door. Gonama'ee turned to the incoming horde.
"200 feet."
"They are almost upon us!" another sniper shouted.
"100 feet!"
"Go!" Gonama'ee shouted.
Outside, the creatures rammed into the door, being bombarded by laser fire. The door burst open and out walked slowly, the Hunters. The serpents backed up a little at the sight and power that these creatures now had. The Hunters opened fire. They took out several of the Aliens in the first strike, but others retaliated. Many of the Hunters were being pulled down under several serpents that jumped on them. Then the Grunts came. They were blazing away on the Fuel Rod Cannons, blow some away, helping the Hunters. One Hunter grabbed a Grunt and put him on his shoulder and they attacked together. Other found that effective and did the same. The Aliens were dying, but there so many. The Elites joined and jumped over the fence onto the ground, energy swords in hand. They attacked. Several Aliens died, some Covenant were killed. A few Grunts with acid burns died. An Elite was skewered by a serpent's tail. One Hunter ran into the group and fired. The Elites threw plasma grenades at them. The Marines in the back had an idea; Gonama'ee saw them come up to the front gate.
"What are you doing!" he asked.
"Watch." Garen said.
The marines all threw fragmentation grenades at the horde, careful to not hit the Covenant, and they didn't. Gonama'ee jumped into the fray and attacked viciously. One jumped on him and held his sword in place. He lifted his right arm and choked the Alien; he suffocated it and killed it.
"That's for my arm, you bastards!"
He ran into more and attacked. The Predator leader took some shots from up top the gate with his shoulder cannon. The Aliens kept coming, never seeming to have an end in the numbers. There were too many, Gonama'ee wondered how long that they could hold out if the serpents kept this up.
Halo's Control Room
Turaga'uu had taken the group straight to where Cortana had mapped the location in Master Chief's HUD. They arrived at the door and headed inside. Turaga'uu stayed inside his ship while the others headed inside.
"Master Chief, put me inside."
Master Chief yanked Cortana from his neck and placed her inside the computer. She appeared as a big hologram now.
"Tapping into the mainframe."
"Who dares enter into my domain?" a voice said throughout the control room.
"Who are you?" Master Chief asked.
"I am 16807 Alpha Omega; I am the monitor of installation 09."
"Alpha Omega? Cortana, can you find him?" Brian asked.
"He's a monitor, alright. But I can't trace him to anywhere on the ring world but here. So he's in this room. Wait-"
"No!"
"What is it Cortana?" Master Chief asked, concerned.
"He's an A.I."
Queen's Hive
The Queen, now free of her egg sac, began to move her children back to the ship. The Flood had other plans. Several combat forms leaped into her chamber, attacking. She swiped at some, other evaded. She realized that they had done something to become more efficient. One jumped on her back and she stabbed it with her tail when it sliced her exposed back. She roared and Aliens poured into the halls. The combat forms were quickly overwhelmed. The Queen left the chamber, realizing she was on a limited time schedule. She had to get to her ship before the Covenant, as they call themselves, reach it first. She ran out with her children by her side. They got into the open air when they where attacked. A Wraith's mortar shot through some of her young. A Scorpion tank drove over the hill and began taking out the younger ones with it's gattling gun while the main gun focused on the Queen. A Warthog with a Gauss cannon equipped to it drove over the hill and drove back and forth, shooting it's gun. The Queen spat the tires and it halted, sending several Flood to be crushed under the flying vehicle. She rammed the Scorpion and her children where sent into a frenzy. They followed another Warthog as it attempted to escape. An Alien jumped on the back of the Warthog and took out the gunner, while another took out the side driver. The driver shot one Alien with it's shotgun and did a donut to throw the other one off. It stopped and shot two others that came at it. It jumped out of the Warthog and stood defiantly as the Queen walked up to it. It then raised an arm in the air. Suddenly, the Queen was getting barraged with rocket fire from rocket launchers behind the one Flood.
"Clever." she said to herself.
The other Aliens attempted to attack the Flood, but the rockets did too much damage. The Queen rushed in, and took out three rocket wielders with her tail as she took hits from the rockets. Many of her young attacked at the moment that the Flood's attention was focused on her. The Aliens moved on.
Covenant Base
Bodies littered the ground, Covenant and Alien. There was no end for this soon.
One Runner Alien ran through the crowd and burst through the open doors.
"Stop that serpent!" Gonama'ee shouted.
It ran inside, only to be skewered in mid-air by the Predator leader. Gonama'ee nodded to the Predator leader and it nodded back. The Aliens spread out and were now surrounding the base. The army of Covenant pushed was pushed back inside the base and they shut the door. The Covenant now waited for the Aliens to climb over. They started to attack, one by one. The whole place was going to fall to the Aliens. Gonama'ee couldn't let that happen. A Hunter and his bond brother attacked together and killed two or three. They had to keep going. Gonama'ee could see the anguish on his troop's faces. Then he heard Pokun'aa.
"Arbiter! Help!" he shouted.
Pokun'aa had been injured and was currently being taken from the group by some Aliens.
He was attacked by a Ravager and it got in his path.
"I have no time for you!" Gonama'ee said as he punched the armor through.
The creature backed up and Gonama'ee stuck an active plasma grenade in it's armor. It blew to pieces as Gonama'ee ran to Pokun'aa's aid.
"Pokun'aa!" Gonama'ee shouted as he plunged his energy sword into a nearby Alien. The Alien ran as fast as it could with the creature on it's back. Gonama'ee still was having a hard time catching it. He found a sniper rifle and took aim. He locked on and felt a punch to the back of his neck; he fell forward as several Aliens now attacked him. He roared in anger and threw them off. His sword lay behind the group of Aliens that attacked him. One lunged at him and he punched it in the abdomen. When it fell to the ground, Gonama'ee lifted his metal arm and brought it down on the Alien's head. He looked at the rest with hatred. Some of the Aliens seemed to back away.
"You will suffer for what you have done."
Gonama'ee shouted as he plunged his fist into another Alien, and broke the arms and legs of several others, leaving the group to die. He ran after the Alien that had his friend, but lost it.
"Damn. Where is it?"
"Arbiter! Pokun'aa's tracking signal is still active, he's at…"
"Spit it out!" Gonama'ee said with slight hatred at Natus'ii.
Natus'ii paused for a moment.
"He's at the old ship of the serpents."
Gonama'ee ran for it, never wanting to stop.
"The Queen will pay with her life. Natus'ii, you are in charge until I get back."
Queen's old Hive
She looked at the wreckage. In a way, it felt good to be home. But then, she sensed something.
"Yes…good idea, my young." she said in her mind.
She settled in and looked around the room. She felt a presence, however, and it didn't feel good.
Halo's Control Room
"A.I.? So he's like you. What now?" Master Chief asked Cortana.
"I'm trying to override him, but he has such excellent barriers preventing me form going anywhere."
"You wish to do so? Activate this ring to destroy all life so the Flood cannot be allowed to spread!" 16807 Alpha Omega responded.
"He's shutting me out. I can't get out."
"I have to kill off the Flood and this other species of host breeders. It seems they are very much like the Flood, but they hate each other for some reason. I have their ship on surveillance now, and they will soon be destroyed."
"That's all fine and good, but we need you to not activate this ring! If we are able to destroy this ring, it'll not only wipe out the Flood, but you won't need to kill everything." Cortana said to it.
"Ha! Surely you jest! I would not want to destroy the Flood, but merely study them. This has been recorded thus far, and shall continue. The ring will be activated now to see how long the Flood can sustain life without food." the voice chuckled to itself. A large countdown with a huge 72:00 being beamed into the hologram.
"We only have a day to stop him. Cortana, can you get inside the mainframe and shut him down?" Brain asked.
"Negative, I can't get it. You'll need to go along with the Arbiter's plan and blow up the serpent's ship!"
"You think I'll sit back and watch you do this? Don't make me laugh; I will stop you in your tracks. You won't even be able to leave this room!"
Several Sentinels arose from the ground and attacked. The Spartans attacked while Master Chief grabbed Cortana and they made their way to the door. They were met with three huge metallic walking behemoths.
"These are my Guardians, the OverGuards. They have the Sentinel's beam, along with huge hands for smashing and bashing. Isn't this exciting?" 16807 said in a cheery voice.
"Now I can really test their power."
"Master Chief, we need to get out of here now! We need to get to the ship to destroy it." Cortana said to him.
"Agreed. Spartans, open fire!" Master Chief said to the group.
They shot and the shots from the SMG's, Battle Rifle, and Pistol did nothing. The other Spartans backed up as the beams hit their shields.
"Our shields can't take much more of this, Chief!" Brian said.
"Jack! Take them out!" Master Chief said.
Jack ran for cover and took aim.
"Everyone else, throw your frags!" the Chief shouted.
They threw the frags and destroyed one and another was damaged. A sniper shot went off and destroyed a second one. The third was smoking and Master Chief shot it with his Shotgun.
They ran out of the room to find the OverGuards overpowering Turaga'uu and his ship. Turaga'uu had taken off but realized the things could hover in the air. One jumped and used it's small rockets to boost it's height. It missed but held onto one of the guns of the Phantom.
"Master Chief, need assistance!"
"Open fire!" Master Chief said.
The group found some plasma grenades and stuck them to the creatures. They blew apart instantly. The creatures defeated, they left 16807 Alpha Omega in the Control Room with only one option left: get to the serpent's ship and destroy it.
Queen's Hive
The Queen saw the body of the Elite.
"Yes, he will make a fine addition to the swarm." she chuckled to herself.
"One of the creature's friends is at our gate, what shall we do, my Queen?" the Alien that carried Pokun'aa asked.
"Let him in."
Gonama'ee pounded on the gate and shouted. Then he felt the door give way and he ran all the way to the chamber. He burst through the door, and he looked around in darkness.
"Show yourself witch! Come out so I may kill you!"
"But Arbiter, don't you wish to see your friend? You have one final nightmare to go through; this one will make you who you really are."
He thought for about two seconds after that and felt himself go black. He awoke in a dark room, much like the one he saw before. He noticed a glimmer of light, and golden armor shined brightly underneath it.
"Gonama'ee, I…" Pokun'aa's voice was heard.
"Pokun'aa? What happened, are you safe?"
"No…your too late."
"What?"
Suddenly, he was in an energy sword fight with an Alien, but this one moved so swiftly, and it attacked like some of the best Sangheili warriors he had fought before.
"Gonama'ee, I'm sorry."
Gonama'ee saw the face of his attacker.
"Pokun'aa!" he shouted.
"No!" he shouted as he awoke.
"You bitch! I will kill you! Those lies are nothing but tricks!"
"Really? My young, shed some light on the truth."
Rattling was heard and some Aliens moved away from the top of the ceiling. It gave away some light and it hit something golden yellow.
"No…" Gonama'ee silently said to himself as he knew what it was.
Pokun'aa was one of them.
"Gonama'ee, do not worry, your friend Pokun'aa is with us now. He is living a better life."
As she said this she put a hand on Pokun'aa's shoulder.
"He is one of us now, he can't go back."
"Know that he suffered greatly at the hands of his….host." she said, pointing to the dead facehugger.
"And he did, Gonama'ee. He did."
Gonama'ee looked at his old friend, now transformed. Standing there, looking down, teeth glaring. He now wished to break the Queen.
"I wonder if you're the type to kill your own men for your own survival." the Queen chuckled to herself.
"No…I will not let you!"
He ran to Pokun'aa and shook him.
"Say it's not true! Pokun'aa! I know your still in there, you're alive."
The creature slashed at him and cut his armor with his claws. Gonama'ee backed away. Gonama'ee looked down and a single tear fell from his eye. Pokun'aa, along with Natus'ii, was his childhood companions. Always spurring him on to be the best he could. But now…
All he felt was anger.
"Pokun'aa, I will free you from this demon!"
Gonama'ee drew his energy sword and so did Pokun'aa.
They clashed. Pokun'aa jumped to meet Gonama'ee head on. Pokun'aa seemed to smile in a way only an Alien could. Gonama'ee jumped back and was sliced in the shoulder. Then Pokun'aa struck again, cutting Gonama'ee's cheek.
'He always was the better swordsmen.' Gonama'ee thought to himself.
Gonama'ee pulled out a plasma grenade and stuck it to Pokun'aa. With a shriek, the bomb exploded.
Gonama'ee shielded his eyes and looked into the clearing smoke. Pokun'aa stood there, defiant.
Pokun'aa rushed Gonama'ee with his fists and punched him. Once. Twice. Three times. Pummeling Gonama'ee to no end. Gonama'ee dodged the creature's second jaw. And he rolled on top of Pokun'aa and started bashing his head in. The creature spat acid and a little caught Gonama'ee right in the eye. More so, it caught a line on his eye. He was blinded on his left side and Pokun'aa disappeared.
"This young one is exceptionally skilled at dealing death. He was a good addition to my young." the Queen said to Gonama'ee.
"Shut up!"
Gonama'ee now stood in silence, waiting for his opponent to make a move, he was tackled from behind and fell out of the room, and they hit the ground and rolled. Pokun'aa clawed at Gonama'ee's armor, and broke through several places. Then they fell through a hole under the ship. They now were on a cliff overlooking a gorge. Gonama'ee was lifted by his neck by Pokun'aa and he looked at Pokun'aa.
"You will die." Pokun'aa said in a sickly low voice mixed with his old one.
He threw Gonama'ee over the cliff and Gonama'ee managed to grab the edge. His sword was thrown over the side and his plasma rifles went with them. Pokun'aa stood defiantly over him.
"This is where it ends."
Gonama'ee looked for a way out of this. He exhausted every option; none made sense in his mind. He looked around for other solutions but none arose. Then, a shimmer.
Gonama'ee saw it for a split second behind Pokun'aa. Then Pokun'aa turned only to be met with a Predator spear in his chest.
Pokun'aa and Gonama'ee both had a look of shock on their face. Pokun'aa was thrown over the Predator leader's head and hit the ground with a bang. Gonama'ee looked to the Predator leader and the Predator leader pulled him up. Gonama'ee sat down and looked at the ground, breathing hard.
"Never got your name." Gonama'ee said, still breathing heavily.
The Predator leader typed a few things on his wrist computer and looked at Gonama'ee.
"Nek'ttir"
"Thank you."
Then a tail impaled the Predator leader as Gonama'ee got up. The Predator leader was thrown over the side, bleeding while hitting the cliffside on the way down. Pokun'aa stood, blade drawn, with blood oozing from his wound and blood, mixed with saliva dripped from the creature's mouth.
"I will defeat you!" Pokun'aa shouted.
"I realized that the anger for the Queen got in my way." Gonama'ee said softly.
"That was my mistake."
Pokun'aa rushed at him at full speed.
"It won't happen again."
Gonama'ee pushed Pokun'aa and tripped so Pokun'aa fell forward. Right onto Gonama'ee's blade. Gonama'ee held him in place and placed a hand on his back as the blood from Pokun'aa dripped onto the blade.
"I'm sorry old friend, it had to be done."
Gurgles and coughs and groans could be heard. Then Pokun'aa uttered something.
"Thank you." was all he said as he died.
Gonama'ee turned to the ship and then looked over the edge of the cliff. He saw the Predator's body, it was intact, but no doubt all the bones in his body were broken.
"Die in peace, Nek'ttir."
Gonama'ee turned to the ship and went to face the Queen.
Covenant Base
The last of the Aliens fell, but the Covenant had heavy losses. There were only a handful left of each race. The Covenant was broken, and now these three great races are on the edge of extinction. But they didn't care. They wanted to be rid of this ring and leave it forever.
"Natus'ii, any word from Pokun'aa or Gonama'ee?" Turaga'uu asked as he came in to the base with the Chief and the other Spartans.
"No. Nothing. Just static."
"I'm worried."
"Me too."
Master Chief floated down and went straight to Dr. Halsey.
"There is a problem at the Control Room; our only hope now is to destroy the ring with the serpent's ship."
"What happened?" she asked.
"It was the monitor. This monitor was an A.I. mixed with the mainframe of Halo's controls. Even Cortana couldn't hack in."
Dr. Halsey looked on in shock.
"Cortana, is one of the best A.I., I wonder what happened?"
"I do too." Cortana chimed in.
"Dr. Halsey, where is the Arbiter? I must speak with him."
"He went chasing after a serpent that had his friend. I imagine that he followed all the way to the serpent's ship."
"Master Chief! Flood are heading this way."
"We better welcome them, then." Natus'ii said.
"What are we dealing with, exactly?" Master Chief asked.
"They have several of both our race's vehicles. They are armed to the teeth with weapons. Several of the serpents are mixed in Flood form as well."
"Spartans! Let's push them back!"
Jack positioned himself and placed his sniper in aiming position.
"Do we have any vehicles?" Master Chief asked Pokun'aa.
"We have a Warthog, taken long ago from a group of Flood."
"Show me."
The Master Chief loved the Warthog and it's……modifications.
As the Flood approached, the doors swung open wide and the Flood opened fire. As the dust cleared, a Rocket went zooming through the air and came down on a Flood controlled Warthog. Out of the midst a Warthog drove though and Harry fired it's gun in the back. Another Rocket zoomed into the air. It damaged the Scorpion.
"Direct hit!" Harry shouted as he fired the mounted Rocket Launcher.
The Flood came at all sides and aimed. Several of the shots missed the Warthog thanks to the Chief, but a Wraith got passed. The Spartans never saw it coming. The hit landed on their back, taking out the Rocket Launcher.
"Hang on!" Master Chief shouted.
They spun, end over end. Harry was gone, he was flung out as the shot hit. And Master Chief, along with Kelly, flipped in the Warthog and it landed on it's top, and it skidded for about ten feet.
Dr. Halsey looked on with tearful eyes. For the first time in John 1-1-7's life, he had made a mistake.
Master Chief couldn't move. His arms wouldn't respond, and his legs were trapped under the Warthog. His helmet was red with blood, and he tasted copper. Kelly was out like a light, either dead or on the verge. Harry was on a rock, sprawled out from the throw. His arm was twisted behind his back, and the elbow faced the opposite direction it was supposed to. John was facing the sky. It reminded him of home. He wondered what just happened. He remembered Chief Mendez's words long ago…
Flashback
"A leader must be ready to send the soldiers under his command to their deaths," Mendez said without turning to face John.
"You do this because your duty to the UNSC supersedes your duty to yourself or even your crew."
John looked away from the view screen. He couldn't look at the emptiness anymore. He didn't want to think of his teammates—friends who were like brothers and sisters to him –- forever lost.
"It is acceptable," Mendez said, "to spend their lives if necessary." He finally turned to meet John's gaze. "It is not acceptable, however, to waste those lives."
End Chapter Eight