Flood Control is Never a Bad Thing

A blue light shimmered above a holo pedestal inside the dead holy city of High Charity. With a slight crackle, the body of Cortana quickly began to take shape as she manipulated the image processors inside of the system. With a sleek, attractive body and a warm blue glow, her presence illuminated part of a large chamber nearly saturated with a dense green fog. She looked around curiously, her gaze not only being projected through her eyes on the holo pedestal, but also through her control of the security systems throughout the room.

The moment after In Amber Clad made contact with one of the upper towers inside the city, she had felt a new, powerful presence. Although she had never been inside High Charity's network grid, past experiences with Covenant computer systems proved that their A.I.s were nothing compared to herself and the others programmed by the UNSC. Although mankind may have been outgunned by sheer brute force, the Covenant fell far behind in their use of artificial intelligence. But perhaps that was because the prophets wished for nothing to be created which posed as a threat to their own egotistical superiority.

After spending a brief period of time setting up firewalls to augment her control of the city's computer grid, she took a moment to search again at the source of the mysterious pushes and pulls that she felt on her very being. The conclusion came as suddenly as the first moment she felt the tug; no, this definitely isn't a Covenant program, but what is it?

The source of the unknown force seemed to emanate from sources all over the ship. However, after carefully analyzing the foreign sources within the data streams, she found one location standing out from the rest. It was a docking bay containing a sole surviving cruiser capable of making a slip space jump.

Whatever this thing is, it seems to be trying real hard to distract my attention from where it has entered the city's network. Unlucky for it, I'm not that easily fooled.

As Cortana eyed the chamber, the features of the docking bay began to stand out. In the middle lay the ominous outline of a small yet powerful Covenant Cruiser identified as the Last Remembrance. Although the logs detailed the naming of the ship to that of an old elite crew which was almost completely eradicated during the Taming of the Hunters, Cortana couldn't help but to smirk at the irony of the name in light of the present situation. This ship was all that was left of the Covenant presence on the dead city.

Fortunately for the firewalls she had installed in the network only minutes before, Cortana felt the warning as a surge of power rushed towards her. If caught unawares, she would have at best been paralyzed under the force of the blow if not completely destroyed. With only a moment to react, she was able to disappear back into the vast network and return to another holo module on the other side of the docking bay. Frantically trying to identify the source, a quick and sudden jolt shook through her and a thick voice echoed through her body.

"You have come to this place with the one of nerve and machine, but while he was able to escape, you will not be as fortunate. The key has not turned and I am still able to fulfill my vengeance on the galaxy. Just as I have suffered for millennia, now will be your turn to join me in the darkness that awaits you."

Cortana felt her strength leave her as invisible hands began to grab her from every possible angle, drawing her down, down into a blackness which she had never before seen. Her struggles were in vain and her essence sank deeper and deeper. With one last desperate attempt, she sent out a cry for help on the city's communication grid, praying someone would hear. It was all she could do. Just as the darkness nearly surrounded her, a voice gurgled and whispered, "Welcome your oblivion just as I welcomed mine."

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The large forerunner craft raced towards the Cairo. The battle above Earth was over and there was an eerie quietness in the space surrounding the planet. Floating hunks of metal were everywhere belonging to both covenant and human ships. On one of the far corner of the planet, two disabled covenant battle cruisers silently hovered with fires bursting out of the rear engines. A battle cluster of UNSC troop carriers were on the way to the ships in preparations to board and capture them. The result of the battle was a resounding victory for humanity. It was in fact, the first truly dominant victory of the war for them. A covenant fleet mimicking the size of the one obliterating Reach was crushed and of the original USNC forces, nearly seventy five percent remained operational. This fact was surprising to both Master Chief and to the exiled covenant around him.

Although there was a truce between them, John felt that his company wanted no part of him. He had to agree that the feeling was a bit mutual. After spending so much time fighting them, killing them, and watching those around him fall to them, John found it hard to give up the pent up feelings of hate. He was sure that they felt the same way. The ODSTs on the bridge, meanwhile, chatted among themselves and even cracked some jokes. It would be foolish to assume they were completely lax, however, as they all kept a cautious eye on their fellow passengers, especially the elites and the hunter. Any time one of them even flinched, the ODSTs became silent and stared at the alien with their fingers tensely to the side of the triggers.

One ODST, a young private named Thomas Edwards, let curiosity get to the best of him and walked up to the elite commander. Gazing at him curiously the elite turned and looked back at the fully armored marine. Knowing he had the elite's attention he asked, "I joined the ODST division to fight you. Your ships destroyed my planet, my home, and took my mother, father, and my two sisters from me. What did we ever do to deserve this?"

The poignant question sent a sharp jab of pain and guilt into the heart of the golden elite. He took a deep breath and sighed before he sadly responded, "Why did we do this? Our leaders, the prophets … they … we were lied to. The command came shortly before your planet of Harvest was put to fire. We were told that your species had insulted our ancestors and threatened the completion of the great journey. Later on, before we were betrayed, the Arbiter notified the Sangheili command of possible treachery by the prophets, but the thought was unfathomable. Unfortunately, he was right. We were lied to, we were betrayed, and we're all covered with the blood of your innocence. There will be no great journey, no salvation for us now."

The ODSTs stood motionless, uncertain that what they heard was actually said. The rest of the covenant with the elite commander hung their heads down as if defeated. John carefully replayed the elite's revelation in his mind. Perhaps this would be the first stepping stone towards a more permanent peace between humanity and these exiled members of the covenant. Regardless of their decision, John was not ready to just yet inform them about their delusion of the great journey and reveal the true purpose of the halos.

The whole discussion, however, ate up several minutes worth of time and the strong voice of the A.I., Caesar, called out that they would be docking in five seconds. John inspected the side of the station exposed to the bridge of the ship. Deep plasma scars riddled the hull of the platform and there were several sub-areas which were destroyed. However, to his surprise and dismay, the bulk of the platform appeared to be structurally intact. John had witnessed in a very short time the pounding that the Cairo endured and earnestly wondered how the station could withstand such ferocity. There was little time to ponder on that idea, though, as the bridge was illuminated in a bright white light as he forerunner craft attached to a boarding station on the Cairo.

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The phantom took off towards the Faithful Blessing the instant the Arbiter entered the ship. Sergeant Johnson sat next to Miranda Keyes and they quietly conversed together.

"Well, this is certainly a change of action from what one would expect only days earlier," Keyes commented.

"I don't know what to think, 'mam," replied Johnson. "These guys want to kill us one day, and the next, we end up working together after Mohawk back there had a temper tantrum and decided to try and wipe out all life in the galaxy. I suppose it's for the best though, not that I couldn't take them all on." He took a breath and exhaled a plume of smoke from his cigar. "Besides, it's nice to get a free ride every now and then. I wonder what the foods like."

They stopped talking and looked across the passenger bay to see Ferrunee carefully rub his right forearm with a pained expression on his face. Noticing that the two humans were observing him, he quickly stood back at attention careful to not show any signs of weakness. There was a little discoloration above his wrist guard, but at the distance, neither of them could identify what was bothering the elite.

Miranda turned back to Johnson and sighed, "I hope the Chief is doing alright. That Arbiter said he was on High Charity but I over heard the mentioning of an invasion of the flood. With the covenant to worry about in addition to the flood, he probably has had his hands full for a while."

Johnson turned to his commander and smirked saying, "I bet the Chief is whooping both of their asses while having a picnic with Cortana. I wouldn't worry, 'mam. He's fine. There's not a single thing that he couldn't do, well, besides smile for the camera. Then again, if I was seven feet tall and wearing that big green Halloween costume, I might not be able to either."

Johnson got up to stretch his legs and then decided to walk up to the control room of the phantom and get a view of what was going on. As he neared the hatchway, Ferrunee reached out and blocked his way. "Please sit down … sergeant. We're almost there."

Johnson looked up at the elite and commented, "Well, since you said so, so politely," but before he returned to his seat, he gave the elite another one of his icy stares. It seemed to unsettle the elite slightly as the look penetrated him more than it had before. This human is definitely no pushover …

Back in his seat, Johnson gazed over to where a few grunts were sitting. One grunt in particular, named Nuyac, had been in a battle against Johnson before and hosted a scar on his cheek from a grazed bullet. In a display of mercy against the hysterical enemy, the marine had spared his life during the long distant battle. Johnson recognized Nuyac the second he saw the scar. When he had the grunt's undivided attention, he snapped his facial expression into his classic icy stare which penetrated to the very core of the grunt. The creature gave an unsettling cry and Johnson had a chance to chuckle to himself before Miranda gently smacked him on the arm, telling him to grow up.

A few minutes later, the cockpit door opened up and the Arbiter quickly walked out. Glancing quickly at the two humans, he promptly stated, "Come, we've arrived."

Wasting no time, the elite jumped onto the gravity lift and warped down, out of the phantom. Keyes and Johnson followed with Ferrunee and Nuyac behind them.

After adjusting their eyes to the brighter lights in the docking bay aboard the Faithful Blessing, Johnson noticed the Arbiter hastily walking away with a white armored elite to his side. Miranda noticed too, and started to clip along after them waving for Johnson to follow. To keep up with the elites, they nearly had to jog, and after what seemed like a few miles of jogging, they finally caught up to them in the bridge.

Panting, Johnson exclaimed, "God damn, I have got to stop smoking!" The Arbiter turned around and said slightly impressed, "Ah, nice to see you two could keep up." Gesturing towards the white elite, he continued, "Half-jaw, these are the two humans I encountered in the library in search for the sacred icon."

The specs-op elite raised an eye towards Johnson and Keyes. With only two fully functional mandibles, he was able to speak but only in a slightly muffled voice. "These are the humans that beat us to the sacred icon? With the lead over us, I assumed that the demon was with them. If they could make it that far just by themselves, then I may have underestimated their capabilities."

Johnson proudly exclaimed to the elites' comment, "You're damn right you underestimated us. If you ever get a free moment, I'll see you at the war games simulator and you'll learn what it's really like to get a butt-whoppin'."

Half-jaw merely looked at Johnson and shrugged the comment off. "Maybe someday, human, but for now, our hands are full." Turning back to the ceremoniously garbed elite, he continued, "Arbiter, we have full control of the ship. My team and I were able to defeat the brute guard. I lost some of my best soldiers, but their sacrifice in blood will be avenged along with the rest of our brothers."

"Indeed," the Arbiter replied emotionally. Clearing his throat, the elite issued to his new crew, "Let us move out now. We go to the holy city to avenge our fallen brethren! May the Gods reward our faith!"

The Faithful Blessing slightly shook and the front display indicated that the ship was rising towards the outer atmosphere of halo. The sun shown pristinely on the underlying landscape but the signs of battle could easily be seen. Smoke bellowed from numerous fires around the horizon, the corpses of dead brutes burning to ash while the bodies of fallen elites lay buried, allowing their spirits to join their ancestors.

In a matter of moments, the ship was facing towards the imposing figure of High Charity. The ship seemed to get closer and closer at a breathtaking pace and the ancient city loomed larger and larger. Standing next to a panel of sophisticated looking displays, an elite cried out, Arbiter, scans show that the city's shields are activated! Life scans report blips of life throughout the ship, but they appear and disappear just as with previous experience with the flood! There also appears to be one slip space capable ship left on the city, the LastRemembrance."

As soon as the elite finished his diagnostics report, a siren announced the reception of in incoming message. The Arbiter called for the message to be played on the main speaker system. What sounded next surprised everyone who listened.

A shrill, female voice cried out, "This is Cortana, UNSC A.I., can anyone read this? I repeat this is Cortana, UNSC A.I.! I am in severe trouble and request any aid to be sent immediately!"

Johnson nearly swallowed on the remaining stub of his cigar and the remaining crew aboard the bridge needed to take a deep gasp of breath before they could come to grips with the situation.

Miranda urgently exclaimed, "Is there anything we can do?"

Focusing on the ancient city, the Arbiter replied, "No, we can't get through those shields, but we can make a mighty knock on its door and distract whatever is attacking the construct." A quick nod of approval from Half-jaw signaled the Arbiter to cry out, "Attack squad one, prepare to board the city! Fire all weapons at the holy city's primary shielding!" Turning to the humans, he quickly commanded, "You two, go with the boarding squad, hurry!" Keyes and Johnson raced out of the hatch at nearly a full sprint out of the bridge and towards the main boarding hatch.

Alert sirens screamed to life and the ship shook indicating the main weapons had fired. Several large bolts of plasma raced towards the city followed by a half dozen plasma torpedoes. They impacted the shielding and were absorbed.

The Arbiter sighed and whispered, "I hope that got its attention."

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For a moment, the hands pulling her down seemed to let up. Cortana took the moment to jump out of the abyss that was consuming her and race to safety. An enraged voice of an ancient tongue caused the whole network to shake, but not before Cortana was able to program in a nasty virus which she had learned to make back on Reach. Unleashing the electronic pathogen on the force that nearly consumed her, she felt her control instantly increase.

Her control over the computer networking indicated that a Covenant ship had just attacked the city's shielding. Although the city wasn't damaged in any way, it had distracted her attacker just long enough to allow for an escape.

Before she could plan another action, a message forwarded itself into the city's communication channels. "Construct, this is the Arbiter aboard the Faithful Blessing. A phantom has been sent to docking bay 00-143 for extraction where your original message was sent. Two humans are with the boarders, I believe you know them. Is there any way you can shut down the shielding and allow us to enter?"

Overjoyed at the news of a rescue and at the thought of meeting friends, she rushed into High Charity's control grid. Quickly shutting down the enemy shielding, she sent out another transmission. "Thank you Arbiter, for the help. The shields are down and I'm ready for extraction."

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The phantom rushed down towards the indicated docking bay passing harmlessly through what was heavy shielding only moments before. Inside of the transport, Miranda Keyes and Sergeant Johnson activated their newly acquired plasma rifles along with the rest of the squad. Nuyac was with them along with nine other grunts. Ferrunee, Half-jaw, and three other elites joined the rest of attack squad one.

Half-jaw walked over to the humans and asked, "Do you humans know how to use these weapons effectively?" Johnson acted as if insulted and cried out, "How to use these effectively? Hell, I could pick drones out of the sky with this toy gun using only my toes! Don't you worry, we know how to use these things."

Half-jaw gave the elite impression of a laugh and commented, "Then try to impress me."

An elite cried out on the speaker comm., "We're at the target in, three … two … one … now!" The gravity lift came to life and the boarding squad quickly jumped out of the phantom.

The fresh air of the phantom was replaced with a heavy and stale air with dark green mist flowing out of the main doorways. A holo module lit up and Cortana urgently gestured them over. Running over to the A.I., Miranda pulled out a data chip and inserted it into the module. Cortana quickly transferred herself into the data disk and a green light signaled Commander Keyes to remove the chip. Placing it into her pocket, she hollered, "Got her, we're good to go!"

The response she got in return was the last thing she wanted, however, as several explosions ripped through the primary entry hatches on the far side of the chamber. Enemy fire poured through the door and dozens of flood forms raced towards them.

Johnson quickly pulled out a frag grenade and hurled it an amazing distance towards the far end of the chamber. The explosion ripped up the front most soldier forms but many more replaced them. "Dammit!" he yelled out. "Get your asses back into the ship, I'll slow them down!"

A loud clink of metal hitting metal sounded behind the marine and turning around, he saw two elites had dropped a large anti-matter bomb behind him. "Come, this here is a gift for the parasite!" one of the elites shouted. He activated the timer on the bomb and Johnson couldn't help but to smile.

Hurling another frag grenade at the enclosing flood, Johnson ran over to Miranda and grabbed her by the arm. "Let's go 'mam, our new friends left a surprise for the flood."

Miranda fired a few bursts at one of the nearest soldier forms and ran back with Johnson. The impact of the plasma from her gun burned right through the carrier form inside of it. The creature's legs gave out from underneath it and it crashed into the side of another flood form right behind it.

Stepping underneath of the gravity lift Johnson and Keyes flew up into the phantom and Half-jaw signaled they were clear to leave. The phantom vibrated as the main thrusters came to life. As the ship left the docking bay, various weapons fire harmlessly reflected off of the transport's shielding. Johnson jumped over to Half-jaw and said enthusiastically, "Now that's how you get it done!"

The white armored elite was indeed impressed with how the human handled himself. He had seen his own soldiers melt with fear with the sight of incoming flood of such numbers, but the human took them on with remarkable bravery. "Yes, and good job. I have rarely seen my own soldiers throw a grenade as far as you can, and your leadership skills shine well for your people."

Johnson nodded and smiled, "You're damn right!"

The enthusiastic crew left the phantom transport the second they had arrived back into the Faithful Blessing, but when they made it back to the bridge, the cheerful atmosphere quickly died down.

Turning to face Half-jaw, Johnson, and Keyes, the Arbiter solemnly said, "Good work bring back the construct, however, the bomb's timer sequence has been terminated."

Before anyone could respond, Cortana came to life in the portable holo device that Miranda had imported her into. "Johnson, Commander, it's so nice to see you and thank you so much!" Her bright expression faded as she faced the Arbiter, but she continued, "Excuse me, but that bomb you installed, if it's anything like the one on the Cairo back on Earth, a direct shot of the main plasma cannon should set it off."

The Arbiter's nodded in agreement and replied, "That is correct. It'll be tough to do, but that's our last option. However, I think I can make that shot." After announcing to the engine command to prepare for a slip space jump to Earth, the Arbiter took the manual controls over the ships main weapon and focused on his target. He narrowed in the crosshairs towards the main entry chamber hosting the bomb and a narrow bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. With a sudden shake, the plasma gun erupted with a burst of hot, blue plasma and it sped towards its target.

After waiting a moment, the Arbiter commanded, "Jump into the slip stream in, five…"

The plasma burst raced ever closer to its target.

"… four…"

The crew had its eyes glued to the forward monitor watching the fiery blue speck get smaller and smaller.

" … three …"

The plasma blast passed through the empty shielding shell of High Charity.

" … two …"

Unbeknown to anyone on the Faithful Blessing, a large escape pod ejected out of the other side of the city and raced towards the empty blackness of space.

"… one …"

The plasma blast hit its target square on and the heat triggered the antimatter bomb to detonate. A blinding flash of light tore out of High Charity as the bomb augmented its blast by combining with the detonation of Last Remembrance's engine core. The Faithful Blessing punched through the slip stream gap just as the massive wave of energy swarmed over its position. The blast ripped through the city obliterating everything it touched. Soon, it reached the fusion cores of In Amber Clad as well as the secondary energy source of High Charity. With a now combined blast rivaling that of a NOVA nuclear bomb cluster, the sphere of energy enveloped the city, the halo, and everything in between. As the blast reached the ejected pod, the shielding around it combined with that of a mysteriously powerful and ancient force managed to protect it from the wall of energy. As light from the blast was cleansed by the darkness of space, the small speck of an escape pod could be seen vanishing in the black abyss.

Authors Notes: Sorry again, about the delay in this chapter. In the next few updates, you'll see things get really crazy. Thanks to those who've left reviews – and to what some of you have commented: It is the Malta, my apologizes, not the Multa like I had spelled it. The new gun on the Cairo is a MACK gun, totally independent of the main MAC, but I understand if there was any confusion differentiating them. But again, thanks to those of you who help point out my mistakes (and to everyone else of course!)