well…… uh… hmmmmmm. yeah, this is sooooo sad.
you might be wondering why it's been taking me so dang long to get another chapter up. well let me tell ya, my computer needs surgery or something.
a couple of months ago I was having writers block for this fic, so I go play halo, which always cures my blockage. so I come back to the computer to find that SOMETHING is wrong with it and I can't figure out what. so that's why I'm so late. and! you know what else? I'm getting a little pissed because not all of my computer problems are solved, obviously, because I'm sitting here using an on-screen keyboard because my real one has an issue. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Ghost1800: die off? uhhhhh… heh heh. well, I don't plan to, but considering how long it's taken, fans might have to wait…. awhile. flaminchica doesn't really mean much…. just something I made up. chica means girl in spanish, and I'm a girl, so yeah. flamin's just there because I think fire's pretty cool. so that's my name!
Dark Dragoon 22: hurry? umm, sorry. obviously I can't hold a deadline because of my crazy computer. hope you'll stick around, though!
Sage-Doomhunter: thanks! I'll check that out!
dumass44: with plesure!
"The captain's last message was from this area." Foehammer's voice crackled over the COM. Gina and MC jumped out of the back of the Pelican without a reply. "Call me when you're ready for evac."
The swamp water sloshed as Gina followed MC to higher ground. Over head, an out of control Covenant drop ship sailed down. There was an explosion as the craft crashed somewhere ahead of them.
"Wonder how that happened." Gina murmured.
"Let's check the crash site for survivors." MC replied, continuing forward. Gina followed close behind.
The two found the smoking ruins crashed into the wall of a short cliff. Two Grunts and a Jackal were running away from their destroyed ship.
"Where do you suppose they were going?" MC asked, crouching low beside the ship. Gina shrugged.
"Probably the same place their headed now." she replied as MC stood up again.
"Let's follow them. It's possible that they could lead us to Keyes." the Spartan said, running stealthily far behind the retreating Covenant. Gina followed him.
"You don't suppose Keyes has been captured again, do you?" Gina whispered.
"We'll assume the worse for now." the Chief replied, crouching behind a bush as the Jackal stopped to sniff the air. Gina hid behind a clump of trees, trying to make herself scarce. The Jackal sniffed again, then ran to catch up with the Grunts. MC signaled with his hand and the two continued to follow the unsuspecting Covenant.
After a short jog, the Covenant started climbing a log up to the top of the ridge. Crouching in the swamp's bushes, the two soldiers spotted a Shade at the top of the ridge.
"I think they've reached their destination." MC whispered. "Let's go." Gina nodded and primed a grenade. She hefted it up at the Shade as MC used his Assault Rifle to knock the Grunts and Jackal of the log. The Shade flipped as the grenade exploded, crushing its operator.
"Someone probably heard that." MC said, jogging up the log. Gina shrugged and followed him up.
"We'll just kick their butts too." she replied as she scanned the slope down to some trees. Nothing was on the slope, but Gina couldn't say the same about the trees. The two walked down into the trees, guns at the ready. They discovered a couple of Grunts sleeping around an un-operated Shade. A good whack on the head took care of them and the two soldiers continued out into the open.
They stood in front of a small structure with a large opening that slopped down deeper into the ground. A few Grunts and Jackals were defending the structure. Guns blazing, MC and Gina got into the structure.
"This lift goes one way." Gina said as they stepped onto the elevator lift. "Down."
"Lets go." MC replied and Gina hit a button on the control panel. The mechanics in the lift whirred and they began their decent.
The structure was silent as they got off the lift. No one was around. Guns ready, MC lead them through the structure. Soon, in a narrow hallway, they discovered a dead Jackal, it's purple blood and insides in a mess on the floor.
"That's disgusting." Gina said, making a face.
"What about this blood?" MC asked indicating the green blood smeared on the wall. He seemed completely unfazed.
"There isn't a body?" Gina asked. MC shook his head.
"Just the blood."
"I've got a bad feeling about this. Nothing looses this much blood and walks away alive." she replied.
"It wasn't Covenant, we know that much. It was probably something a lot bigger." MC assumed.
"Bigger?" Gina scoffed. "There aren't many big things that can fit in this hallway." She touched the ceiling with to prove her point. MC didn't reply as the two walked away from the dead Covenant. Gina made it a point not to get Jackal guts on her boots.
The next set of doors slid open, revealing a Marine sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall.
"Get away from me!" he screamed. "Don't come any closer! You can't take me!" MC and Gina glanced at one another before taking a careful step towards the crazed Marine.
"Don't come any closer!" the Marine yelled, fumbling with his pistol and shooting wildly. Gina ducked a wild shot and MC hit the floor.
"Give me that!" Gina growled, jumping for the gun. The Marine screamed and fired at the ceiling before Gina wrenched from his hands. MC grabbed the Marine by the shoulders and shook him.
"Snap out of it, Marine!" he yelled in his face. The crazed man just continued to rant. MC slapped him.
"I'm gonna die!" the marine yelled.
"MC, I don't think he's gonna snap out of it." Gina said softly. MC sighed and nodded. Gina shot him in the head, then carefully laid the gun in the marine's limp hand. "Lets keep moving."
As impossible as it seemed, Gina thought the installment was getting quieter and creepier the farther into it they went. They found nothing else but dead bodies before they came down to a locked door. A code breaker was placed on the side of the door. MC reached to press a button on it. The two soldiers froze as they heard a scratching sound. Gina leveled her gun and peeked around the corners. Nothing was there. She turned to MC and shrugged. MC turned back to the door and opened it.
The silence was broken by Gina's short yelp of surprise as a Marine fell through the opening door. MC quickly caught the body and dragged it in the next chamber, Gina following behind. Both of them had guns up and ready. A few more Marines were dead to their left. The rest of the room was empty.
"What happened here?" Gina asked, barely audible. MC laid the body down and picked up and abandoned helmet. The label read Jenkins.
"I don't know. Are any of them alive?" MC asked, indicating the Marines. Gina checked.
"No. No sign of Captain Keyes or Sargent Johnson." she replied. "And these guys weren't killed by Covenant, by the looks of it." MC looked at the helmet again.
"What about this Jenkins guy?" MC asked. Gina checked the Marines' dog tags.
"No. Why?" MC set his gun down and examined the helmet.
"There's a possibility that Keyes, Johnson, and Jenkins escaped together." he said, taking the recording equipment out of the helmet.
"That still doesn't answer what happened." Gina reminded him.
"Well, we're about to find out." He took the tape and jammed it into a slot in the back of his helmet. Gina bit her lip and continued to scan the empty room.
After what seemed like an eternity, MC removed the chip and grabbed up his gun.
"What? What did you see?" Gina asked.
"We're getting out of here. Now." was his only reply.
"Chief, what's going on?" Gina asked as the scratching started up again.
"Where's that noise coming from?" MC asked. Gina shook her head.
"I can't tell. What's making it?" MC turned to look at her, then pointed with his gun.
"Those things." Gina turned to see little yellowish brown spores skittering towards them. The two humans shot at them, discovering that they exploded easily.
"What are they?" Gina asked once they were all gone.
"I don't know, but they must have killed the Marines." MC replied. "Look, here come some more."
Waves of the spores came out of nowhere. Once one wave had been dealt with, more came out. In a pause between waves, MC and Gina made a break for the door.
The only problem with the door option was the large tentacled creature was coming in through it. It was about the size on an elite, a yellowish brown color, and coming at them fast. The creature jumped at them, lashing out with its tentacles. Gina dropped and rolled to the side as MC simply jumped away, sending a stream of bullets at the creature. Gina opened fire as well, having to duck another swinging tentacle before the creature fell over. The two didn't check to see if it was dead before they ran out.
Throughout the complex, the two encountered the spores and their larger forms. By time they made it to the lift, they were both almost out of ammo. Gina punched the lift button and the machinery groaned and began moving. In the wrong direction.
"Crud." Gina hissed, repeatedly hitting the up button over and over. The lift continued on its way down lower into the instillation.
"There isn't another control panel." the Chief commented, sweeping the room with his gun. "We're going to have to find another way up.
"Great. Because I was just hoping to get to know these aliens better." Gina replied sarcastically, checking her ammo. Her pistol was almost depleted and her assault riffle was down to the last clip.
"You take right, I got left." MC told her, ignoring her comment. The two cautiously went around either sides of the wall, discovering nothing was there. Still on guard, they went through the door, Gina on point. She ducked instinctively and searched for cover as she heard riffle fire. Crouching behind a turned Shade, Gina shot at the quickly approaching aliens. MC was behind a corner, shooting at things that came too close in range.
Tossing her spent riffle down, Gina shot an oncoming form with her pistol, firing rapidly. It kept coming. She slammed the butt of her weapon down on its head and it crumpled. Sighing in relief, Gina reloaded her weapon and turned to MC.
"Ready, sir."
"Watch out!" he barked. Gina didn't ask questions and hit the floor. He fired his riffle over her head and the creature fell down again.
"Dirty little buggers." Gina muttered, stepping on the creature's spinal cord before it got up again. At least she figured that's where its spinal cord was…
The two grabbed what ammo they could and quickly hurried through the rest of the installation. The spores were continuously coming out of nowhere, the larger forms were getting more and more aggressive with their weapons fire, and the Master Chief and Gina were constantly scrambling to get ammo and stay alive.
Both were glad to see the lift port after the last spore in the room and been taken care of. Gina checked her shoulder, discovering a wide gash under her half destroyed armor plating. Things were not going well. The Chief touched the key pad and there were a few clicks. The screeching of metal against metal raged and the list, crushed and on fire, raced past them and down lower into the installation. There was a large crash when it landed many kilometers below.
"What now, sir?" Gina asked, wiping some sweat from her face. The Chief stood their for a second, examining their possibilities before speaking.
"What's your weapon status?" Gina quickly went over her weapons again.
"Pistol has two clips left, shotgun has a good twenty four shots left on it." she replied. MC hefted his own shotgun and reloaded it.
"Use the shotguns for now; they seem to work best against these things." he replied, heading towards the door again. Gina hoped they wouldn't come across much more trouble, considering how many bodies were dead on the ground. But that wasn't the case as more of the monsters raged at them and others, who had been dead moments before, were madly running at them again.
"Do you have any clue where we're going?" Gina yelled above the noise of gunfire. MC backed up to a wall, shooting at the oncoming enemy.
"No. You?" he asked, quickly shoving more rounds into his shotgun. Gina shot three more forms in the heads before replying.
"This place is a maze! We could be going in circles for all we know!" She reloaded her guns and policed the ammo from their enemy.
"We'll go through here." MC said, and Gina didn't argue. He was the better judge of the whole deal. In the next room, the parasite ran ravage on the bottom floor. The light bridge to the other side was inactive, but the panel for it appeared operational. With a jerk of his head, MC directed Gina to hide behind a Covenant crate. He crouched and inched toward the panel, hoping for as little contact as possible.
"Chief!" Gina hissed, crouching behind the crate. "Catch!" She tossed him a Covenant Environmental cloak. The crate was broken open in front of her. She herself shimmered then disappeared as she activated her own. MC activated the bridge, then the two sprinted across. They reached the other side and the aliens below were still in their own frenzy, oblivious to the light bridge. The door hissed open and the two left the room.
A few forms walked lazily around the lift and a group of parasite skittered around in a corner. Gina watched as a grenade flew out of the air beside her and landed in the midst of the spores. The forms were suddenly alert as they saw it sail over head and ran towards its origin. Gina ran left, MC to the right, both just a shimmer in the darkened installation. Gina came up behind the confused parasite and whacked its back with the shotgun. The form fell limply and Gina had enough time to stomp on it before the other forms turned to her. Gina jerked from the force of the shotgun as she shot one form in the chest. The third one fell behind it and a shimmer whacked its fallen body, squirting green blood. The spores, of course, had popped at the detonation of the grenade.
The two got on the lift and MC pushed the button. Gina let out a sight of relief as the lift lurched and went up.
"Finally." she murmured, but still kept her gun up. She wouldn't feel safe until she was out of this swamp.
A group of ragged Marines stood outside the installation, murmuring softly. When they saw the Chief, they ran up.
"Oh, God are we glad to see you sir." one said, breathing heavily. "We just got out of that mess down there."
"Have you seen Captain Keyes, marine?" MC asked, leading the group slowly away from the looming building.
"No sir." the marine quickly replied. "We haven't seen Sargent Johnson either."
"Wonderful." Gina muttered.
"But we have made contact with Foehammer." the marine continued. "Evac is on the way." At that moment, the COM crackled.
"Marines! There isn't any good place to set down. There's a tower just northeast of your position. I'll meet you there."
"Roger, Foehammer. Master Chief out." the Spartan replied and killed the connection. Without having to be told, the ragged group began to sprint away from the construct.
They had only gotten a few meters before spores began skittering towards them, coming from where they were trying to go. The marines shot wildly at them, continuing on as quickly as possible. They spotted the town in the distance.
"Tighten up your lines of fire!" the Chief barked. "Take on one at a time." The sound of shotgun fire and the gurgles of the parasite echoed across the swamp. Gina's boots sloshed through water as the giant tower construct. The marines pulled into a circle and defended themselves from the enemy. The Chief jumped up on a boulder and took a sniping position with his pistol. The roar of Pelican engines was not far away.
Surprisingly, the large amounts of parasite began to dwindle. Sentinels shooting beams or orange energy began appearing from no where, burning down the quickly approaching enemy. Gina relaxed and looked over at the boulder, expecting to see the Chief. He wasn't there. She quickly did a double take and scanned the area. The Spartan was standing on top of one of the tower's spires, a small glowing blue orb floating in front of him.
"Hey, Chief!" she yelled, beginning to approach the tower. The Master Chief turned to look at her, but before either of them could do anything, beams of orange surrounded him and the orb. When the beams disappeared, both had disappeared. "Chief!" The COM crackled again.
"Chief? I've lost your signal." Foehammer set down and Marines began to pile in. "Chief? Chief?"
"He's not here." Gina replied, jumping into the Pelican. She hardly believed it herself.
"Then where the hell is he?" the pilot demanded.
"I don't know! Just get us out of here!" Foehammer hesitated before lifting the pelican back into the air. "And take me back to the control room. I gotta talk to Cortana."
okay. sad that it took this long… sorry. hopefully, I'll get the next chapter done faster, but it all depends on my computer. unfortunatly.