Author's Note: Well, just as a note, I'm not going to follow the official Halo timeline anymore, since I sort of believe 27 years is just a little waaaay too long to be fighting a war, much less fit in to where my story is going. Also, this story is intended to be taking place during the same time as Halo, let's just assume the war started oh... four years ago. That works. (And if you don't like it, go write your own fanfic!)
PS: Sorry if this part doesn't seem very long. I promise to try to make them longer in the future!
PSS: Also, I would've posted this 3 days ago, but because one of my older fics, which was script based, got deleted, my account was locked "As result of a recent infraction". Because of this, I'll pay it back with another part very very soon.
Chapter 6: Reminiscing
Aeolan WildernessRaka Melazee stumbled through the forest, cursing this infernal world and the humans on it. He sorely wished that the Covenant armada would come in and cleanse the planet of its sins, but with that cursed electromagnetic field, it was just not possible. Continue to wander through the forest, Melazee began thinking about his options. Regulations demanded that he was to find another Covenant base camp. From there, he could get reinforcements, find any of his scattered units, regroup, and stage a counterattack on the infidels. Unfortunately, Melazee's main concern was how to explain the loss of the Structure to the infidels. The Prophets were very clear on their need to find and hold these areas, and Melazee had witnessed the fates of many Elite officers who had failed to keep their promises. Melazee gulped. His neck still enjoyed the company of his head, and he wanted to keep it that way.
The Flood drone kept a careful eye on the gold-armored Elite. It was waiting for the perfect moment to strike...
Melazee thought of ways to try to squirm out of his punishment. He could say that he was caught off guard by the human attack, but then he would just be blamed for being sloppy and be told to send out more patrols to prevent that problem from happening in the first place. Then he'd have his head cut off.
Patience... wait for the perfect moment, when the creature is most distracted... the least alert... then stirke...
Melazee finally settled on a perfect explanation. He could say that he was inside the Structure, overseeing the excavation while his officers were outside in charge of defense. That would hold well. His is officers couldn't complain or defend themselves, seeing as they were all dead. Melazee smiled, and then raised his arm to swat away some brush blocking his view...
NOW
The second Melazee swept aside the brush, some strange... thing... jumped out and latched onto his face. The Elite shrieked and attempted to pull the creature off, but the creature had a firm hold and didn't seem inclined to let go. Melazee scrambled to take out his plasma pistol, but it was too late. He felt something pierce his neck, and everything went black.
Unknown Structure
"Okay, Williams. Anything new?"
"Uhh, new orders just came from ONI. They want us to hold this position until they can ship in reinforcements and a science team."
"Eggheads? That can't be good. And how much reinforcements are we talking about?"
"Lets see... they're sending in an entire regiment."
Wellings whistled. ONI must want this thing pretty badly for them to send such a large force.
"Anything else?"
"Yeah. They said not to enter the building under ANY circumstances."
"Probably because ONI wants their eggheads to be the first to see what's inside."
"You're not excited?"
"I've really learned not to put my trust in ONI in the past years. They're more concerned with their snoopy politic-games rather than actually fighting -and winning- a war."
Wellings recalled the first time she met an ONI officer. Ten years ago when one of them came to meet her father...
Three miles from UNSC Outpost 6
"What do you mean you can't find her?!?"
"I'm sorry sir, but she's disappeared! She's no longer in the position she radioed from!"
"Damnit! I want you to find her! NOW!"
"Yes sir!"
Sergeant Paccone clicked off the radio and growled. He suspected Wellings and her friend Carter were trouble the moment he saw them. If they weren't in the middle of the warzone, and if they weren't so damn good at what they did, Paccone would've court marshaled them for gross insubordination by now.
"I'm getting WAY to old for this crap."
"Hey, Sam? You sure this is a good idea? I mean, disobeying orders and stuff? The Sarge will be pissed!"
Sam looked at Leo as if he had just taken a loyalty oath to the Covenant.
"You are definitely not the Leo I met ten years ago."
"Well, boot camp and basic training can do that to you."
"Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night."
"I'm serious Sam, don't you-"
"Sh!"
Sam signaled Leo to be quiet. She quickly went prone and started to crawl forward.
"Leo, get the Sight out. Face it twenty degrees to the right and use the thermal imaging."
Leo quickly followed the order.
"Holy crap. I'm getting heat readings. Lots of them."
"How many?"
"Ummm... about... ten of them."
"And...?"
"Lets see... about seven small blobs, two slightly larger blobs, and a pretty big blob."
"Hmmm... I can take them."
"Sam... are you fucking serious?!"
Sam merely gave him one of her playful smirks again.
"My turf, my rules. I'll be fine."
"Say that when they drag you back in a bodybag."
"You're no fun anymore."
With that, Sam got up, checked her gilly suit, and disappeared into the forest. Leo merely watched and muttered.
"Ten years and you still haven't changed..."
Aeolan Wilderness
Now with a larger and more complex body, the entity that had possessed the Flood drone now had a chance to spread, and to expand its consciousness. Slowly but surely, memories of millennia past began to seep in, and it slowly began to learn about its surroundings. But right now, it was only acting on instinct.
Learn, Evolve, Eradicate
To get what it wanted, the entity needed to achieve evolutionary perfection. Only then could achieve its task. Whatever it was. The entity took a moment to inspect its new body. It was very strong, very fast, and very smart, but hardly near any sort of perfection. The entity started to flex its new muscles.
I can make this body better...
Suddenly, flashes and memories surged into the entity's mind. It remembered. Its origins, its past, millennia ago. It was once born a normal Flood form, destined to find a host, and spread the Flood across the galaxy, but something happened. In the game of chance called evolution, something extraordinary happened. It developed intelligence... self-awarness... sentience. With its newfound power, it whipped its brethren in a feeding frenzy, sweeping across the galaxy. Nothing seemed able to stop it, that is, until it met the Forerunner.
The entity shuddered. The Forerunner had torn through its armies and brethren with relative ease, and nearly put his kind into extinction. But they were not so kind. They captured him and his remaining brethren, locked them away in countless laboratories, performing all sorts of studies and experiments. After they were satisfied, they tossed it away like garbage, and it was forced to endure thousands of years in suspended animation, painfully aware of every second that dragged by. Every second, every minute, the entity thought of thousands of ways to destroy the Forerunner when it was freed. It was patient. It knew its time would eventually come.
Name... Name...
The entity needed a name. Something to have Forerunner fear. It wanted to destroy the order the Forerunner brought to the galaxy, and in the process, thought of the perfect name.
Chaos... Chaos shall destroy all that the accursed Forerunner had achieved...
All Chaos needed now was food. Food to sustain itself, and to help it modify this body enough to suit its needs. It used its consciousness and reached out. It found countless lifeforms and potential meals, but then, as it combed over a certain area, became intrigued. Some of the lifeforms read very strangely. They were Flood... yet they were not. They responded positively to his queries, and seemed to acknowledge it as their leader. Chaos smiled. Minions were always necessary to carry out wishes. Chaos stood up in his stolen body, and like a newborn first learning how to walk, the Flood stumbled off in the direction of strange beings.