Chapter 6

2156 Hours, February 12, 2580 (Military Calendar) /

Sol System, In Orbit Around Earth

The UNSC Cobra was the only ship in the orbit of Earth when something exited slipstream from behind the moon. Sending two remote drones, Captain Nathan wondered what it could be.

"Receiving live video feed from Alpha and Beta Drone…what the…? Sir, you should take a look at this." reported the officer manning the sensors station.

"Pipe it through the main screen, lieutenant." Captain Nathan responded. The video stream blinked on. It showed an extremely old ship, roughly the size of a small frigate, though not of any known Human or Covenant design. It was rusted in several places, and had many cracks and dents.

"Gaia, what am I precisely looking at?" Gaia, their AI, appeared on the pedestal next to the view screen.

"It appears to be the experimental frigate, "The Trivet", which lost while moving through slipspace. It appears that the ship was attacked by something, and then dissapeared. Maybe we should call FleetCOM to let them know in case something happens."

"Good idea, we should request that all orbital MAC cannons lock on in case it's a ship controlled by a dangerous alien. Lieutenant, signal FleetCOM and request what we had just discussed."

"Sir, yes sir!"

The captain sighed. With a forlorn look, he thought, First Bravo Base is attacked, then our reinforcements get ambushed, and now this? What in the world is going on?

1030 Hours, February 12, 2580 (Military Calendar) /

Sol System, Orbiting the Moon

Ado 056 stared at the gigantic ship. It was his first mission ever since he received the Mjolnir Mark VII armor. He sighed. He remembered stories that he was told when he was little. Stories about the U.E.S.C. Marathon, and how one marine fought the hordes of alien Pfhors. This reminded him of those stories, only he'll be going with dozens of soldiers, and not just one person. His gaze wandered over to the few other Spartans and marines. His best friend, Nicolas 128, walked over.

"Wow, just look at it. It's hard to believe that it's so old. It looks as if it's large enough to be a weapons module or a frigate."

"Yeah, Nick. It's hard to…believe." Then they both fell silent.

"Suit up soldiers! We're latching on in three minutes." yelled a gruff tan-skinned sergeant, "And don't let your guard down!"

"Spartans, I'll split the team up. 056, 128, and 364, you're yellow team. 156, 285, and 086, you're green team. Finally, Jeffery, Isaac, and I will make up blue team. The rest of you will be red team! If you have any trouble, shout it over the comm. channels. Over and out." prepped the Andrew 158. Number 364 ran over to Nick and Ado.

"Hi, my names Todd 364. Hope we see some action!"

"So do we, Todd, so do we."

1054 Hours, February 12, 2580 (Military Calendar) /

Sol System, Orbiting the Moon

The three minutes seemed like hours. When they finally latched on, there was a metallic CLANG and the blast doors opened. The sergeant peeped out, signaling that there were no enemies, waved for the other soldiers in. They ran out.

"Alright, Blue team, head toward the engines. See if it's still operational. Yellow team, head to the hangar. Maybe there's some tech left over from when this lump of steel was built. Green team! Head toward the bridge. You'll be accompanied by some marines. Remember, this is to scout the ship; by no means should you destroy something unless it's attacking you. Everyone clear?" asked the same tan-skinned sergeant. Everyone flashed their acknowledge lights. "Good. MOVE OUT!"

Green team walked through the empty halls, their footsteps clanging off the metallic tiles. Suddenly, their flashlights on their battle rifles landed on a disturbingly clean skeleton of what was presumably human.

"What the…look what's on it! It's armor very similar to ours! This must be a precursor!"

"Nick, you know what you could do, shut up. It would be great." And with that, they continued toward the bridge. The three Spartans rounded a corner and ran into a horde of aliens. Behind them, they could see tubes of some sort with possibly human occupants. One of the aliens roared with fury and fired some-sort of energy cannon at them. The Spartans nimbly dodged it, but some marines behind them weren't so lucky. They were incinerated in the blast with no time to scream. As soon as the Spartans dodged it, they started firing their battle rifles, but as soon as the alien died, the other ones behind them also started to fire.

"This is Green team. We have encountered some-sort of alien that remained on the derelict ship. Ungh…be careful! They fire something similar to covenant plasma, only much more powerful. I was hit and I can tell you it hurts...a lot. We are requesting support. Much of our marine support has been vaporized. I repeat, this is green team, we need back up! Does anyone read me!"

"Green team, this is Yellow team. We read you. Hold you position, we'll come toward you. And I think you better take all weapons they drop, they might become useful."

"Affirmative, Yellow team. We'll wait," replied Green 056. "Green team, find a hole that you can defend from, but it can't be too far from this area. See if you can take them out." He gestured to the aliens.

D +00:58:53 hours (yellow team mission clock) /

Aboard unidentified vessel, heading towards hangar

As Yellow one moved down the hallway, something scurried to his left. Bringing his gun to bear, he signaled for everyone else to stop and find cover. He moved closer and closer to the source of the noise. Out of the dark, a creature roughly the size of his thigh jumped at his throat. He tried to shoot it, but it was too fast. It clamped its mouth into his neck and wouldn't let go. Struggling to pull it off, he tried to shout, but couldn't do a thing. His teammates, the rest of yellow team, stood helpless, unable to shoot the creature without hitting Yellow one. He felt the creature stick a needle-like tongue into his suit, penetrating the material, and injected something into the blood stream. White-hot pain lanced through his whole body, pain like he had never experienced, not even when he lost his left arm, he did the only thing he could do. He screamed a scream no one would ever hear, even to those close to him. As the life left him, he looked at his friend, his continuous companion, Yellow Two, more formally known as Lieutenant Major Sarah Nelson. With her in sight, Yellow one, Private Zach Wakowski, left the physical world.

Watching Yellow One writhe in pain and not being able to do anything was the worst feeling of her life. She closed her eyes, hoping that this was all a dream. She tried to stop crying. Marines don't cry, marines don't cry, she thought as she struggled to control her emotions. Suddenly, a single gunshot rang out in the empty hallways. The creature fell dead on the floor, followed by Yellow One. As Yellow One's body fell, for her, it fell slowly, almost as if reminding her that her friend was dead, and she couldn't do a thing. She felt a hand on her shoulder, reminding her that they had to keep going.

"Sorry I had to do that Sarah, but I had to. It could've hurt other people."

"I understand, thanks."

Standing up, she sadly marked Yellow one KIA. It seemed ironic that he died shortly after meeting her. Unfortunately, no one will ever remember who he was. I will never forget him, never.

Yellow Two stood up as a message rang through their COMM. systems. Green team was in trouble.

"Green team! This is Yellow team. We read you. Hold you position, we'll come toward you. And I think you better take all weapons they drop, they might become useful." As the answer crackled back, Yellow Two motioned for everyone to head over to Green team.

"Team, I guess or mission will have to be scrubbed. Let's go." Silently, everyone backtracked and headed for Green Team.

1054 Hours, February 12, 2580 (Military Calendar) /

Sol System, Orbiting the Moon

"Uhh…Captain? I'm reading an energy pulse in the ship's engines. It appears to have some biological systems in them. Should we check with Blue Team? They should be there by now."

"Yes, do it."

"Blue team, I'm reading a biological signal in your area, are you sure it's clear of life-forms?"

"Yes, the signal must've been from our analysis equipment. We found a layer of some organic substance, quite possibly a…wait. It's…coming alive! I don't understand…this…shouldn't have happened! AHHHHH!" The message was suddenly filled with the screams of blue team, "It's taking control of my team! It…it's spreading… Get everyone off this ship! NOW! Tell all teams to get off. Do NOT send reinforcements. I repeat, do not come close! AhhhhhAHHHHHH-AUGH!"

"Blue team, BLUE TEAM! I've lost them, captain."

"Lieutenant, tell all the other teams, now!"

"Yes, sir."

"All teams, abort mission, I repeat, abort mission! Something is loose and it's taking control of the ship. It just wiped out blue team! Get out now!"

"Captain, this is mission control. We'll need at least five minutes to get out. We have to get out…what the…marine, get back! Get back! Oh my… AHhhhhhHHH!static"

"Mission command, do you read me? Please respond!"

What spoke next horrified them to the core. It was as alien as the different species of the Covenant, and as chilling as the screams of dying marines. It simply stated, "We live…"

The bridge crew was shocked as the message finished. In the silence, a rumbling of engines told them that two of intercept ships and a research ship had rumbled next to them.

"Attention ships, we have just lost contact with the boarding team. Be advised, the ship is housing potentially harmful aliens. Stay at maximum range to carry out you orders." He barely finished his sentence when a vivid red plasma beam lanced through the dark vacuum. It impacted with the closest ship, the research ship UNSC Inquisitor. It suddenly spun out of control, and the comm. was filled with the screams, curses, and shouts of despair as the beam coated the ship with the same pink bio-layer on the ship they had found. The two other ships, the Inquisitor's escort, immediately fired two MAC rounds at the ship, creating two long gashes in the derelict's hull.

"Sir, I'm picking up signs that the thing on the ship is dying, but the engines are failing! It's heading straight for Earth!"

"What? The MAC rounds didn't destroy the ship?"

"No, Captain…SIR! The infected ship is turning toward us, and it's preparing to fire!"

The infected research ship suddenly shot out three red beams identical to the original plasma beams. Each one hit the three ships, creating the same bio-layer when it hit. As each ship fell, they all drifted out of control, but then righted up again. The whole crew was screaming, the captain himself was tearing at his thoughts, trying to keep a hold of them, but to no avail. Unfortunately, the crew and captain like the crew of the other ships, fell victim to this new plague in the system.