The time has come! The 14th chapter of Forsaken! The ultimate battle awaits…
Chapter 14, "Above and Beyond…".
"Get in, man!" Johnson ordered. The small human ship didn't look big enough, and yet it had just pierced the hull of the Destroyer. "Pile in! Go, go, go!" I shoved myself in the back, and the hatch closed. The dropship rumbled to life, and we were off. "2 minutes until self-destruct!" Frenirn warned. We hadn't cleared the range of the explosion yet, and we were losing time. Just then, High Charity came into view. Amidst the chaos, our target was still very much intact, and I intended to board it. "Take us there!" I demanded. "Are you nuts! Hell, I ain't about to-"he was cut off by the good sergeant. "You heard'em! Go!" he commanded. "…Alright, sir!" he replied, albeit a little nervously, and we were off. The ships tiny guns fired at the debris and fighters in our path. We were on a collision course with High Charity, and the ship bay was in view. As the bay became larger as we closed in, I wondered what awaited us inside. And I was about to get my answer.
The horrid scream of the parasite echoed through the bay as we crashed. In almost an instant, we were surrounded by hundreds of Flood, not counting the swarms of Infection Forms scattered about. "No, it's the Flood again!" Johnson yelled as he opened fire on them, and we followed suit. "I don't think we'll have to do anything here…" I warned. "Take cover!" and as I ordered, the Destroyer erupted into a firestorm. Pieces of the ship impacted High Charity, and the Flood advancing on us were incinerated, as well as some of our own. "No time to mourn, we must push through." I said, perhaps a little coldly. The first door we entered led to a room filled with Jackals. They only took a minute or two to defeat, but every second counted now. We met up with reinforcements on one of the towers, and proceeded as planned, that is, until we noticed a rather large part of High Charity's interior was missing; the massive ship in the middle. And in its place, a massive, rotting…beast…! Was that…was that the overlord of the Flood! It all makes sense now, the Flood invasion, the absence of the Prophets; it was all planned by that monstrosity. "We have to stay." I demanded. "The heck you talkin' about! We've come too far!" Johnson remarked. "Behold the true parasite, the true Flood." I pointed in the direction of that…thing, and he saw for himself the virulent beast. "Sweet Mary Mother of God…" was the best he could manage. "That is the root of everything to date, I'd assume. We must destroy it." "…What about that Prophet?" he asked. "I'm sure the Demon will do something about it." I harshly replied, remembering my comrades that had fallen at his hand.
"A raggedy group of veterans vs. a huge tentacled monster and its army of walkin' horrors…I like those odds!" he said with a grin. "No, of course not! Why don't we have a PARTY WHILE WE'RE AT IT! We can't fight them all!" I answered, knowing full well what would happen if the Flood hosts knew we were after their lord and master. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm in!" one of his marines answered, anticipation thick in his voice. "Yeah, TAKIN' the fight to those mutha's for once!" another answered. "Well, you in, or are ya' yellow?" the Sergeant asked. "…Your tenacity for doing the impossible is infectious. Yes, I'll fight." I simply replied. "Man, why you gotta be so formal all the time for?" he mumbled as a pack of Brutes charged through the next door. But something was wrong. The Brutes were all Captains, and they were being led…by Tarturus! "Thought I'd fallen at your hands! You, and the rest of your race, are finished!" He roared as his warriors opened fire on us, and from behind the Flood erupted through the platform like it was paper. "Things're lookin' to get rough. You up to it?" he asked while putting one of those brown sticks in his mouth. "Would I not be?" I gave some of my own dry wit, and we began, albeit something was terribly wrong here; the Flood weren't fighting us, they were supporting us! The monsters took up a defensive line around us and began throwing themselves at the Brutes. "I'd take this as an invite, but I'm too suspicious." I managed to say. "Not much we can do but keep goin'." A marine, Master Sergeant Jack Hill, suggested. We ran ahead as the Brutes fell before the Flood.
The Flood were joining our merry little band all along the way to that abomination. And the best…err; good part about it was that they were bringing up our defense. We entered the main city. Surrounded by the tall buildings and signs and Brutes in it, I didn't have the slightest clue as to how to avoid all the problems at hand. "No choice. CHARGE!" Johnson ordered. I got in my hits, firing on the far Jackals and crushing the near. M. Sergeant Hill picked up one of those "launchers" from a fallen Flood host and fired it twice. It took out 3 Brutes per shot, leaving the others to go berserk. The Flood Infection Forms had long since taken both the Brutes' and our soldiers' bodies into their collective and picked up any weapon at hand. Our efforts would pale in comparison before the sight ahead of us: a massive tentacle plowing through the ground, crushing Brutes and Jackals while swinging at Drones. "So that's it…" Hill said as the buildings in front of us came down to reveal…………..
I don't own Halo. But none of you do either, so SHAFT! Anyway, RR!