Jack sat there on the ground staring at the giant… thing. It was very terrifying to see something so large and yet so fast. The metal giant tore through the group of flood in the other room, and was going to take him out like it was nothing. "I say again, how can you be 'nearly flood'?" The armored behemoth said. "I… I'm a lieutenant in the UNSC. My… my name is Jack Merics, 178th support battalion. I'm not really flood, at least I don't think so…" he weakly said, a bit fearing the truth. "Then what are you?" The booming voice came from the machine, and seemed to slightly sound like it was coming over radio. "I'm human, at least I was. One of those…" and a rifle shot flew by his head. "Shit, Auron, why didn't you tell me there were targets behind me?" He yelled inside the mech. "You were busy gaining information. To interrupt would have been ill advised under such a phenomenal discovery. A human being that has overcome flood control is quite interesting for many scientists." Garrett got a concom from Maya. "Get him back here. I'd like to see what's involved in this. I've never heard of anyone breaking away from the flood, and I'm not about to believe it now unless there is proof." Garrett hesitated, and some more rifle shots flew by. "It's the rogue! He's with the flood! All units! I have flood activity in this section! I've found the traitor Captain! I repeat, I have flood activity in this section and need back up! My team can't…" and a rifle shot flew by and pierced the radio plugs on the marine's helmet. Garrett aimed another shot at the guns of the marines and let off small bursts from the machine rifle, either blowing the guns from their hands or knocking them out with blackout rounds. He reached around and grabbed the man nearby and boosted around the corner.
"Garrett, are all the beacons in place?" Maya asked. "I'm working out here!" He yelled back, throwing a flash grenade nearby and charging into another storage room. Rifle fire pinged off the shields, and did little more than annoy him. "I don't care! Have you put the beacons in place?" She yelled. "Damn you're a pain in the ass! I think so! You happy? Hold up!" and fired a staccato burst towards the door, pulling through another hallway. Jack struggled in his grasp of his left hand, and it was working on his nerves. "You! Stop moving! It's throwing my aim off trying to keep you held!" He yelled. Jack continued to move, and hit the armored hand with quite a bit of strength. Garrett sighed, and brought the butt of his rifle onto his neck lightly. The man was suppose to be knocked out, but he kept moving, rubbed his neck slightly, and tried to pull free. "Son of a… determined little bugger…" and aimed the rifle at him. Despite such close range, the bullets wouldn't kill him, so he fired. The rounds entered, then the holes vanished. Jack took ten seconds before the six rounds started to work, and even then he was only drowsy. He started to lessen in fighting, and Garrett took that time to get to a new location, then shot a few more rounds into him to totally knock him out. "Shit! I'm out of beacons! Ilana, can you send more down somehow?" He yelled, and saw a rocket from a SPNKr 42a fly by. He threw another grenade towards where his counter battery sensors told him the shot came from, and jumped through another opening. He raced down a hallway and bashed his way through a door into a group of marines, and bowled them over. "I, I can't Garrett, I'm sorry. Perhaps, I mean, maybe you can use the main scanner beacons you're carrying. They'll take some time to detect everything, so, so you'll have to guard that area." Garrett raised an eyebrow. "I have scanner beacons? Um… why wasn't I told that before? Never mind, I'll ask later." He set one up, and dropped some waypoint shields around him.
Garrett eyed the openings around him. There were four doorways into the new cargo room he had entered, and he needed to make sure no one busted in while the scanner did it's magic. He engaged a pod on his back, and six small flower like fliers popped out, floated to each side of the four doors, and clamped onto the walls. He then threw some auto mines towards the doors, and saw them skitter to a good location and attach, then cloak. The little beacon he was pretty much sitting on started doing what it needed to do, and darned if it wasn't slow. The 180 degree traverse from one side of the room to the other in a half moon vertical verified fan took ten minutes, sending a wealth of information on what was inside the station to Garrett's HUD. Garrett wasn't interested at that time, as someone had brought a warthog inside and started to rain rail fire on his position through one of the doors. Marines held two more openings, and flood were trying to get through another. Firepower was traded for firepower, bullets flew left and right, and Garrett was starting to have a hard time holding them back. One flood combat form jumped and landed on him, his shields flared to electrocute the hostile creature, and it charred instantly and blew off. As he turned to smash his shield into a marine trying to close the distance, he noticed a wound where flood usually enter into the host's body on Merics. The wound was small, not very noticeable, and was healing. He ran a small scan while firing more rounds at his left, and noticed that the infection form, as it seemed to be called, was being absorbed into the body.
"Scan is done! Pull out!" Maya yelled as Garrett pulled the gear he was using around him back. The fliers disengaged from the walls and floated back to the pod on his back, firing as they traversed the room at a leisurely pace of a grunt walking. Garrett threw another grenade, and noticed Jack was waking up. He fired a few blackout rounds into him again, putting him under, and picked him up off the ground where he left him so he could fight. Garrett rushed an opening, saw the marines pull back and he leapt. He jumped to a second story floor with guard rails and a winch above, and ran upwards. The floor spiraled upwards toward the ceiling, and towards a door to what looked like a control room. Rifle fire flared on his shields occasionally, but he was mostly ignored as the flood fought towards the marines. He leapt a corner and barreled through the door, and found an iris opening on the ceiling. "Auron, I need station specs for this area." a map of control systems and floor levels appeared, and the floor under him started to rise. The iris above him opened, and he started to raise into solid rock. "Bad idea! Ilana!" He yelled as he saw paneling slide around the elevator he was on. He couldn't leave now, and he was about to be crushed. He wondered how long the shields and armor could take the pushing, and when he reached the ceiling he placed his hands against it. He pushed hard, but the hydraulics or anti-grav systems used were too strong and started to push him through the rock. "Ilana! Auron! Somebody stop this thing!"
"Hold on! I've got a lock!" Ilana yelled, and the rock above him busted open with a blaze of blue light. His shields flickered somewhat, and the charge rate of the defense field lowered to 10. "Holy shit! Watch what you're doing!" He yelled. "I'm, I'm sorry! I only used the point defense systems at minimum power! Are you alright?" She said. "Transport! Transport would be good! Leaving is a good idea!" A hand shot through the panels to try and grab at Jack, as he was laying on the floor. Garrett saw it get cut off as the lift raised beyond the iris. Suddenly, it seemed he was ejected upwards as if he was fired by an electro magnetic shotgun. Jack seemed somewhat singed by the charge shot through him, and he seemed to have a sunburn from the shot Ilana fired, but other than that he was unharmed. His altitude rose quickly, and as he reached the top entrance point, he grabbed Jack flying next to him and grappled the side of the hole. He flipped upside down and landed on his back, knocking the wind out of him. His shields flickered slightly, and Jack laid next to him. "Transport. Now." He said, getting up slowly, slightly staggering and trying to gain air. The sleek silverish ship flew in quickly, and extended a winch cable. It dragged along the ground, whipping along boulders and rocks. He positioned himself to grab it, grabbed Jack and waited. Firepower was blazing across the sky, tracing the path the ship flew, and ground forces were desperately trying to fight back the flood wave coming toward them. The cable hit, he grabbed, and the actuators and hydraulics in the arm screamed at the speed of the lifting into the cargo bay. He let go of the cable and landed neatly on the floor. He looked out of the bay door, and saw gunfire everywhere. "Can they win? Is Reach II going to fall?" He asked. "I don't know. They, they might fight the flood back. They do have a chance, but, but I don't know" Ilana whispered. Garrett shook his head slowly, hoping against hope that they did win.
Jack woke up clamped to a medical bed. Floating what looked like angular large footballs watched him with a bluish sensor, and red glowing guns were aimed at him all around. A robot of some sort stood nearby, clunky and seeming to carry some heavy firepower on one arm, while a large claw was on the other. Turrets were in the ceiling and on pods on the ground as he looked around, and all of the weapons were pointed directly at him. He tested his restraints, with no success. The defenses around him twitched at his movement, watching everything he did, waiting for him to try something. He heard a door nearby open, and in walked a raven haired woman, quite beautiful, and had pointed ears like the people in those memories. She wore a lab coat over her clothes, and he couldn't tell what else she was wearing. "Well, the so called "human" is awake. Sleep well?" She said in a sarcastic voice. "What the… Shit. Lieutenant Jack Merics, 178th support battalion, United Nations Space Corp. Soldier number 382615." She walked over to a desk holding numerous gadgets. "Tell me, how did you get all of these healing abilities and strength? Weren't you taken over by the flood?" She picked up a glove like object, and moved toward him. "Lieutenant Jack Merics, 178th support battalion, United Nations Space Corp. Soldier number 382615." She ran her gloved hand over his body, three inches above him and moved from his feet to his head. "I'm not interrogating you, Lieutenant, I'm trying to run some tests. You've been infected with an alien organism and I want to know why it isn't controlling you, and also why you can heal quite rapidly and improve your body." She moved over his head, a blue scanning sensor moving across his eyes and making him squint.
Maya looked behind her and watched a holoscreen pop up. Data ran by on his blood glucose levels, white cells, red cells, bone structure, all body functions, etc. She twitched her pinky on the gloved hand and the holoscreen changed to information involving the flood. She then twitched again, holding two screens together and scanning brain waves, heart beats, and temperature, along with dissolving or eroding tissue. Scan showed no eroding tissue, and only one brain wave or consciousness. "That's odd. Why is it that I'm seeing only one wave scan?" She turned back towards him. "I don't know" Jack said. "I think you do. Care to tell me?" She crossed her arms over her chest. "I, I don't know! I don't know okay?" He yelled. "You don't have to yell, I'm standing right here. You can either tell me what you think happened, or I can cut it out of you. Your choice, and I would definitely be interested in samples of your tissue. To gain full information on human flood parasitic relationship would be quite a discovery. Care to take the easy path?" She asked with an evil glimmer in her eyes and a slightly smile. "What the… Hey! You can't!" She took the glove off and went to grab some sharp objects, and a man walked in through the door. "What the… hey, he's a marine Maya. Back off. Have you tried talking nice to him?" He asked. "I've tried, but all he's interested in is playing dumb. There is only one reason why I'm only able to get one brain wave scan on him, and it isn't because of the flood infection form dying. The infection form was absorbed, and he's getting stronger. That reason is in him, and he's going to tell us, one way or the other. Ilana would love nothing more than to have the defense systems annihilate him, so this is his only chance." Garrett gawked. "This is torture Maya. You can't do this. And Ilana doesn't want him on board?" She turned around with a knife. "He can tell us what he knows. Tell us his story. If he's willing to cooperate. And yes, she positively can't stand having him on this ship. She wants us to throw him off or kill him." Jack looked back and forth, and was quite scared. "Marine, my name is Captain Garrett Gryphen, previous with the UNSC and SPARTAN program. I used to be on your side, so I suggest you listen. Do what she asks okay? I can't save you on this." Jack stared at him. "Wait, I heard you're the rogue marine with that crazy armor. You traitor!" Garrett got pissed. "TRAITOR?! I'M NO TRAITOR! I WAS GOING TO BE CUT INTO LITTLE PIECES IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE BY THE PEOPLE YOU FIGHT FOR! TRAITOR MY ASS! THEY WERE TRAITORS TO ME!" Jack laid there, dumbfounded. "What? You abandoned us. Why would the UNSC do that? They took care of you, sir!" Garrett sighed. "They were going to have me executed so they could cut me into little pieces and find out what the armor did. They didn't care about me at all! They would probably do the same to you if they got their hands on you!" Jack was silent. Garrett was right. "Time is up. Cutting the leg off now" Maya said. "Alright! Alright! I'll tell you what I think I know! No knives! I'll be good! I don't know much though!"
Jack was allowed off the medical bed, without restraints, although all the security bots were watching him closely. Maya recorded all the information he told her, and acted in all points and references just like a psychiatrist. "And that's all I know." Maya tapped a stylus on her lip a few times then stopped the recordings, and started to close down certain things. "Alright then. Garrett can handle you now." Jack sat on the bed, looking at her, then glancing around at the machines aiming weapons at him. "Um… so I just… sit here?" She glanced over her shoulder and sighed. Maya touched a glowing panel nearby and called Garrett down. Garrett came in after ten minutes and yawned. "He needs to get a room, preferably one that is secured. I need to run some more tests." Garrett raised an eyebrow. "I'm not a bell hop, Maya, I'm a marine. My job states that I fight, not bring luggage to a person's room. Why don't you show him?" She turned around in her chair. "Because I'm the only person who can run these tests, and since both of you were marines, you might be able to talk to him better than I can." Jack mumbled a few things afterward. "Talking to a cute lady is nice… even if guns are pointed at me…" Maya twitched at his eyes watching her. "The entire idea of a primate such as you being on this ship makes me ill. The only reason Garrett is on this ship is because his armor can potentially match this ship's offensive capabilities, among other things. So in other words, "The only reason I haven't thrown you out of an airlock or disintegrated you is because of your friend here. And don't ever call me cute again. Your certainly not my dead husband, and Garrett I allowed to say once." Garrett scratched his head for a second. "When did I call her that? Pain in the Ass comes to mind, but I don't…" Maya started to look pissed. "Okay! Time to get you a room!" And both of them walked out of the door.
Jack walked next to Garrett down a long hallway in mostly silence. He watched the man for the entire time, wondering what he was thinking. "Hungry?" Garrett asked. "So you're going to stop and get a bite to eat? Mind if I get something too?" He said. "That was what I was asking. Are you hungry?" Jack looked dumb for a second, then nodded. They walked into a large dark room and the lights suddenly turned on. The room seemed to look similar to a mess hall, but far larger and seemed to be filled with many round tables and cushy chairs around them (Think mess halls from the Enterprise D in Star Trek NG and that scene in Star Wars Clone Wars with the clones eating.) Garrett walked to a square opening in the wall and asked for some Chinese food. "No MSG. None. Light soy sauce… My stomach's a little upset" He said. The food materialized in the opening. Jack's eyes widened. "Wow. Wish these were in our ships." Garrett turned to Jack. "That's what I said. Well? You gonna ask for something?" Jack stood there for a few seconds on the blue carpet, his bare feet feeling comfortable. "Five one pound bacon cheeseburgers with three packs of French fries and two Cokes." Garrett's eyes widened. "And for dessert I'll have two slices of New York cheesecake and a bowl of Vanilla ice cream." The items materialized in the opening, and Jack attempted to hold part of the package in his arms. "Take two trips. Don't drop anything. I don't think Ilana would get mad if I told her not to, but Maya would roast you if a stain appeared on the ground from ketchup. Besides, it would give her another thing to bitch about for us humans being dirty and slobs or what not." Jack nodded, and took two trips. On his second trip, he noticed multiple robots watching him nearby, following his movements with what looked like energy weapons. "You didn't think you wouldn't go unguarded now did you?" Garrett said. "Uh… I guess not." Jack sat down after Garrett and they began eating. "So… when they said you got power hungry and didn't want to defend humanity, that was a lie?" Jack asked. "Didn't want to fight huh? Jesus… the reason I went rogue was either that or I get killed by our own people and get chopped up into little pieces for research." Jack's eyes widened. "They wanted to kill you… so that they could gain a super soldier armor exceeding the Spartans? That would mean destruction of the covenant… and give them a weapon to control the UNSC" Jack said, averting his eyes to his food. "I'm just SO glad they value my life so much that they were willing to flush it down the toilet and perhaps other marine's lives as well. These factions want technology not to help humanity, but to affirm their control in the UNSC and lead it. Just wonder what would have happened if we left you inside the base?" Garrett said as he dug into the rice and chow mein. Jack thought for a sec. "Same thing they tried on you. That woman, Maya, she was going to chop me into little pieces to find out why I regenerate so quickly." Garrett looked up from his food. "Yah, about that… why can you do that? You seem to absorb bullets and damage like it was nothing. And you mastering that flood infection form that tried to control you…" Jack raised his eyebrows. "All I know is that when it tried to control me, I got angry and thought up some really nasty things. It seemed to be afraid and, well, died of shock. Now it seems to be absorbing into me."
Garrett and Jack ate in silence after their conversation, and Garrett showed Jack to his quarters. "Sorry for this, but your room is restricted in certain ways. Security protocol and all that. You are still a hazard until proven otherwise." Jack nodded and smiled. "I understand. Um… where's the bathroom?" Garrett's eyes widened. "Ilana? Can you change the shower and toilet?" Ilana acknowledged over the com channels and the bathroom nearby altered. "By the way, who is this Ilana you keep talking to? The AI?" Garrett turned to leave. "Yep. She's the Master AI on this ship. Say hello Ilana." No answer was heard from the other side. "Ilana? aren't you going to say anything?" Garrett asked. "No" was all that was heard from her. "Well that's rude" Garrett grumbled. "I've got to get some things checked out with equipment and all, so if you need anything, just… ask for a comlink to me or something. I doubt Ilana or Maya will help you." Jack turned around and looked at the surroundings. "Wait, you two are all that's on this ship?" Garrett turned around to walk out the door. "The three of us were all that was on this ship until you popped up." Jack looked quizzically. "You mean the AI? No I mean physical bodied beings on the ship." Garrett nodded. "Ilana has a physical body?! How?!" He yelped. "Long story, not enough time, got shit to do and you are staying here. If she saw you on the bridge within ten meters of her she'd probably have everything in here blow you to hell and back nine times over." Garrett said goodbye and walked out. Jack walked over to the bed and sat down. "Is there a tv in here?" He asked. A fairly large screen appeared out of the ceiling and started to switch through channels of Spanish channels and German channels, then hit an English channel and stayed. "Uh… change?" He asked. The channel changed to a cooking show involving Jonathan Engelid, a master chef, cooking a lobster. "Change to… news?" He asked. The channel changed to news channel nine, showing local as well as intergalactic news through the colonies. "Alright… I at least know about the home front." And laid there on the bed for three hours, the entire time his body bulking up and growing stronger.
(Heads up to all those who think Jack will become a super trooper that can break through anything and absorb anything. No. He can absorb lots of punishment, but can eventually succumb to the damage. And no, he can't break through everything, his body make up can only be altered so much and strengthened so much before you can't consider him a hybrid at all, but a completely new species and even then bio matter has it's limits… oops. I think I just gave away a hint. Oh well.)