Humanity's Worst Fear

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Halo, Halo related characters.

A/N: Here it is! Chapter 3! Oh, and thanks for all those kind reviews and tips you gave me! That helped a lot!

Chapter 3

Come, my minions. Come and let us grow to be undefeatable! We have found those who have released us. Let us show them how powerful we can be! Gravemind of Installation 05 broadcasted his speech to the entire Flood through his thoughts. Soon, we shall be the most powerful creatures in this world.

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The battle for Earth has begun once again, but this time, the enemy wasn't the Covenant. The Flood was crashing ships all over Earth and came pouring out by the thousands. Civilians were immediately evacuated the minute they heard the Flood was coming. But they didn't evacuate on time. Hundreds were stranded with no means of transportation and waiting for the Flood to come and mutate them.

Back at the Cairo Station, Admiral Sir Terrence Hood was furious. He didn't expect the Flood to come to Earth so soon. "Cortana, don't you have any ways to stop the Flood for a while?"

"No, sir. Unless you call destroying every single ship that come a possibility."

"How many ships are there?"

"An estimation or the exact number?" Cortana questioned.

"Cortana, I don't have time for that. I'm really feeling stressed right now."

"Of course. There are at least 30,000 ships coming out of slipspace right now and soon more to come." Cortana reported.

"And how many ships do we have at our disposal?"

"Under 10,000."

Hood sighed in frustration. Humanity didn't usually win a battle with the odds of 3 to 1 in the favor of the enemy. It was usually the other way around. The Flood is firing their ship's weapons wildly around. They weren't accurate but it was most likely to hit someone every time they fire.

"How many ships did we lose?"

"About 40."

Hood scratched his head furiously. It shows that he had been trying to think of a way to get rid of the Flood quickly, but to no prevail. He had bags under his eyes from a week's lack of sleep, and his eyes were bloody red.

"Sir, if I may speak," Cortana stated. "It would be better if you sleep for a few hours. I'll alert you if anything important happens."

"Cortana, NO ONE, especially not an admiral, has slept through the middle of the war. Why would I be of any difference?" Hood sharply asked.

"Sorry, sir. You look very tired, and I thought if you slept, you'll have a fresher mind when you wake up." Cortana reasoned.

"No," Hood stated firmly. "Not until I think of a way to repel those freaking Flood."

"Yes, sir." Cortana said, a little disappointed.

"Cortana, go with Master Chief. He may need help gearing up." Hood ordered.

"Yes, sir," Cortana said. "Although I doubt it."

"What did you say?" Hood asked.

"Nothing," Cortana replied, then disappeared into the station's network and went to find the MC. He was easily found in the Armory, gearing up for the mission at hand. He was checking and double checking his ammo, weapons, NOVA bombs, and so on.

"Missed anyone?" Cortana asked as she appeared in the pedistrial next to the Chief.

"I know." He said without even looking up. He sighed and stood up to his full 7-feet. "Where's Johnson and the rest of the crew?" He asked.

"Johnson's in Armory B and the technicians are already in the pelican bay."

"Contact Johnson, and tell him to hurry up."

"That wouldn't be necessary." Johnson said as he walked into the Armory with his full battle gear on. He had the Automatic rifle slung over his shoulder with the standard UNSC sidearm – the pistol – in his waist belt with numerous useful tools in his pack.

"I think we're ready to go, Chief." Johnson stated. MC nodded and headed out the door to the pelican bay.

"Ok, just give me a second." MC put his hand over Cortana's image, and she instantly disappeared through MC's hand and went up to his neural network.

"You didn't change much up here," Cortana said.

MC didn't respond but grunted. "Let's go."

The group casually walked down to the pelican bay, with Cortana leading the way of the most deserted hallways (they didn't want to attract too much attention to their Black Ops mission). After 10 minutes, they've finally arrived at the pelican bay, and weren't surprised to see several pelicans up hot and running, ready to go. MC pulled the NOVA bombs up to one of the pelicans and with a grunt, lifted them into the pelican. As soon as he jumped off, the pelican door closed. MC and Johnson took off in another pelican, and the technicians in the last. They were racing towards the Omega-class ship called The Fate's Mercy and indeed, they were racing towards their fate.

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The Arbiter was busy preparing his warriors for the battle that looms ahead. He armed his warriors with Energy Swords and bullet weapons. They and the Humans were stationed on every country in the world. They had every military vehicle at their disposal, but they were losing nevertheless.

"Arbiter! We have confirmed reports that we are losing warriors by the dozen!" A Spec Ops Commander reported to the Arbiter. The Arbiter sighed (or very close to it) in frustration. "Arbiter, if I may speak, why do we have to defend this Human planet?" The commander asked.

"Commander, it clearly shows that you still have hatred for the Humans. You must get rid of it! For the millionth time, the Prophets have betrayed us! Didn't you listen to my speech at the beginning of the URF?"

The Commander was shocked at the outburst. Not many people saw the Arbiter burst out like that. "My apologies, Arbiter. I was just curious."

"Just get out of my sight. Oh, and tell your warriors that they must protect the Humans at all cost! If the Humans die before your warriors do, I'll have them hanged for treason!" The Arbiter declared.

"O- Of course, Arbiter." The Spec Ops Commander stuttered, and then hurried out the door.

The Arbiter sighed. He didn't know why, after all these years, some warriors didn't put away their hatred for the Humans. Sure, they've listened to the speech about how the Prophets have betrayed them, but they still have hatred in their hearts. Maybe he would teach them a lesson when this nonsense with the Flood is over.

Suddenly, he heard explosions outside of his tent. He ran out the door only to see several combat forms a distance away holding what looked like rocket launchers, pointing it at the tent. The Arbiter yelled at the top of his lungs, took out his Energy Sword, and charged at them. The Flood has landed near the Human ONI headquarters.

A/N: Review please! Was this too short? Was this kind of boring? Review!