Author's Notes: Sorry for the lack of updates, people! Last few weeks have been REALLY busy for me, but no worries! Next chapter is here, and a new story is on it's way shortly! Look out for it!

PS: Also, these things may be related to Flood, but aren't exactly like them…

Chapter 18: Omega

Omega Facility

Karla and the rest of her Marines piled out of the Pelicans the moment they touched down. Before they lifted off, however, the Pelicans also detached the Warthogs they were carrying. All in all, they had about a platoon's worth of Marines and four Warthogs with various armaments.

"First squad, second squad, with me! Third squad, form a perimeter around the facility. Fourth squad, take those Warthogs and patrol those forests! I don't want any Covvies taking us by surprise!"

A chorus of acknowledgements followed as the squads moved to perform their assigned duties.

Karla took a look at the Omega facility. Like most secret facilities and bases, it was built much like an iceberg. Very little of the actual structure was exposed to the surface, while the majority of the essential facilities and labs were built deep underground. All Karla could see was a squat bunker and a flight control tower for incoming craft. A somewhat flimsy looking chain-link fence surrounded the bunker, and most of the auto-defense turrets spread around key locations looked as if they were off line. Already, some of the Marines were questioning the importance of this place.

"Cheap operation."

"More like a pathetic operation."

"Can't believe we got dropped off in Covvie territory for this piece of shit."

Karla shook her head and walked toward the front gate. A small console was jutting out of the ground like some miniature monolith. On it, Karla could see what looked like a palm reader and an intercom system.

"Mmm, what the hell."

Karla slowly took off her glove and pressed her palm against the hand-shaped icon on the console. The machine beeped once, and replied in a flat, electronic voice.

"ACCESS DENIED. TRY AGAIN."

Karla was somewhat dejected, but she didn't really expect that method to work. She looked at the console again and keyed the intercom. No answer. She keyed it again, but still got no answer inside.

Holy looked over Karla's shoulder and examined the device.

"It appears that way didn't work."

Karla cracked a smile.

"Which is exactly why we do it the Marine way. Hit it, boys!"

Already, several Marines had rushed over to the gate and already had C7 charges planted on it. Karla was about to arm the detonators when the comm on the console buzzed to life.

"What the-?"

Over the static buzz, Karla could hear a faint and very weak voice, though she couldn't tell whether it was the equipment or if the person on the other end was injured somehow.

"Someone… please….help….help….help…."

Karla immediately popped the safety cap off the detonator and hit the trigger. The C7 charges exploded along key joints and hinges on the gate, making the entire structure fall over and slam into the ground.

Karla checked her assault rifle to see if it was loaded and clicked off the safety. Behind her, she could hear Holy doing the same thing.

Williams and squads one and two followed up closely behind. Williams managed to catch up to Karla.

"Cap! What are we doing?"

Without even stopping or turning around, Karla started planting more C7 charges on the bunker door.

"Seeing if we can actually save someone's life for a change."

Robles

The world was only a blur, but Sam managed to pull herself to her feet. Bad move. The moment she got up, a wave of dizziness slammed into her like a brick wall and Sam found herself back on the ground lying in a heap.

"Are you okay?"

Still lying on her back, Sam turned over to see a girl. Long blonde hair, bright blue eyes…

Christ, she looks just like me!

The girl was also very young. She probably couldn't have been more than twelve years old or something.

"Yeah, just second…"

Sam made a move to get up, but instantly regretted that decision. As if in response to her movement, her entire body responded by exploding in pain. Sam winced, but still made a concentrated effort to get up. The girl rushed over and helped Sam steady herself.

"I don't think you should be standing, miss! I think you're hurt!"

Sam merely picked up her sniper and battle rifles and looked around.

"I don't exactly have much of a choice, uh…"

The girl smiled again, seemingly oblivious to the carnage around them.

"Collete."

"…Collete. I don't know what's going on around here, and I sure as hell don't want to find out. Also, call me Sam. Calling me 'miss' makes me feel old."

"Okay. So are you going to help us?"

Sam stared blankly at Collete.

"What?"

"Help our town? The people have been acting really weird lately, and lot of them have been fighting each other…"

Sam took another look around. She saw two charred bodies near a burnt out Warthog. She saw the second one. It looked pretty badly damaged, but still functional. There were no other bodies.

Leo… Sarge…

She quickly shook the thoughts out of her head and tried to think of what to do, but how could she do that if she didn't even know what the hell was going on?

"Okay Collete, let me ask you something…"

Omega Facility

Karla and two squads of Marines slowly moved into the facility. The top floor of this building obviously housed nonessential rooms and equipment. There was a small motor pool, and a few doorways led off into several administrative rooms, storage closets, a recreation hall, and a kitchen. They had swept every room here except for the rec hall and the kitchen, and were moving in. Karla came up the rec hall door and tried to open it, but the door refused. It was locked.

"Great, this is going to take a little longer…"

Holy stepped forward.

"Allow me. I believe I know a quicker way."

Karla wasn't aware that the Elite had knowledge of how to crack open human door lock systems. Actually, there were a lot of things this Elite knew that she didn't.

"Well... alright. Go ahead."

Holy examined the door for a few seconds, checking the lock, hinges, and other points of interest. Then, Holy backed up a little and gave the door a swift kick with one of his powerful legs. The hinges instantly snapped and the door fell in like a crushed toothpick.

"I thought you were actually going to open the thing."

Holy shrugged.

"It was faster."

"Good point."

Karla and Holy both moved through the door. During her time as a Marine, Karla had seen a lot of things, some of which still gave her nightmares to this day, but nothing prepared her for what she saw next.