Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or any other character portrait on this fic, any character portrait here is property of Microsoft. If I did I would make Halo 2's ending better.
´´ ´´: Dialogue of characters.
Escape from Halo
Countless Bizarre forms emerged from the blasted wall received by a hail of bullets from the surviving marines in the hangar. The master chief quickly grabbed an assault rifle and joined in the fight. Although the marines fought bravely they were just too exposed to infection and one by one they fell to the parasites.
´´ What are your orders sir ´´- A fellow marine said to the chief, the marine was clearly in shock after seeing his fellow comrades and once friends being devoured by the small
blob-like creatures.
´´ Fall back to the upper deck and seal the gates, that will slow them down ´´- The chief ordered to the small group of marines.
´´Yes sir, give them hell sir ´´.- The marine along with the others ran towards the nearest hallway while the chief kept the flood at bay.
´´ Master Chief report to the bridge immediately ´´- The comm. came to life with Keyes voice.
´´ Sir, I'll head there in moments, first I have to clear the way for the marines´´
´´ Your orders were to report to me immediately, the index cannot fall to the flood, is that understood ´´.
´´ Yes sir ´´- The chief reluctantly obeyed, lowering his rifle he ran pass marines ,without someone to hold them off the flood ravaged every moving thing left in there, the chief could hear the screams as he made his way to the bridge, hoping that he made the right choice.
´´ Was that really necessary ´´- Cortana said by comm. after the spec ops commander punched the Arbiter.
´´ You left a filthy human steal the Icon Arbiter ´´.
´´ I did not have much choice ´´- The arbiter said to the white armored elite as he helped him back to his feet -´´ But I promise that the demon who took it shall pay dearly for what he has done ´´.
´´ Indeed, now grab some weapons, you're going to need them ´´- The spec ops commander said to the arbiter, dozens of phantoms rendezvous with them, filled with elites, grunts, hunters and jackals.
´´ What is this, most of our forces are here with us ´´.
´´ Not most, every last one of them Arbiter ´´- The commander replied -´´ You are going to recover the Icon, and I shall secure our means to escape Halo ´´.
´´ Someone help me…´´- A marine yelled as an infection form managed to latch itself to his neck, other marines nearby couldn't afford to aid him , any mistake and the flood could get them as well. The Spartans distributed in the autumn were the only capable force to deal with the flood ,but there were so many of them and by each moment a marine fell to infection.
´´ Sir, thank god you're here, we could surely use your help… hey wait ´´- An ODST yelled as the chief ran pass him leaving the small group of marines by themselves. The chief silently cursed, instead of delivering the useless Index he should be in the battle, but he had to obey.
As he ran around a corner one of the nearby panels overloaded sending him and fellow marines flying back, the chief had little time to react as numerous combat forms outnumbered the marines and himself, the chief tried to recover his assault rifle but the flood made the task difficult. A marine seeing that it was pointless to keep on fighting pull the pin of his last grenade , the explosion not only killed the flood, but also sent the chief out of the ship by a previous hole in the walls, all that the chief could see before loosing conscious was the battle still being waged below the ship.
´´ Commander, the weak humans are currently dealing with the parasite, they have not detected our approach ´´- A crimson elite said by comm. to the spec ops commander, since the autumn didn't make any attempt to take down the phantoms it was clear that the humans failed to detect them or decided to ignore them by fear from the flood.
´´ Everyone, prepare to descend on top of the human vessel, our mission is to eradicate the opposition still active and to take control of the ship ´´- The spec ops commander barked by the comm. ,then he turned to the Arbiter -´´Are you sure that you do not wish a squad to help you reclaim the Icon ´´.
´´ No, I was the one that left the human take it from me, I will be the one to recover it ´´- The commander nodded and prepared to drop on the Autumn, the grav lifts dropped hundreds of grunts ,hunters and elites , some black elites deployed anti matter charges to create holes to enter the ship.
´´ Alright , lets go on and let no human alive ´´- The commander yelled to the invasion force as every elite let out a roar of war. The Arbiter jumped first in the nearest hole and proceeded to head towards the bridge, but he was stopped by the commander.
´´ Before you go Arbiter, good luck ´´.
´´ Same for you ´´- The Arbiter replied and raised his carbine, for some reason both had a feeling that they would not see each other after this mission.
The sound of bullets filled the air as the marines did everything in their power to keep the flood from boarding the Autumn, a small contingent had already managed to infiltrate the ship and they were currently loosing control of various sections aboard, time after time the marines would find a few corpses of fallen Spartans ,but they ignored them.
´´ Lieutenant, Charlie team has failed to report, should we send a squad to help them ´´- A private said, as the marines were reluctant to go and die just to help an already doomed team.
´´ Negative lieutenant , any team that fails to report is consider KIA, now focus on keeping the flood at bay until Captain Keyes can find a way to eradicate the infestation , is that understood ´´.
´´Yes sir ´´- The marines marched due north of the Autumn in hopes to succeed in their mission, one of the nearby dead Spartans raised from among the bodies ,grabbed an assault rifle from a deceased marine and proceeded to check his keepsake. The Index was unharmed by the fall and it was safely concealed inside his armor, shaking the impact from the fall he proceeded to find a new route back to the Autumn.
´´ No god ,get it off me ´´- A nearby squad waged against a surprise attack of the flood, the Spartans were the first ones to be taken out since the flood considered them a threat, and now little by little the marines fell to them.
´´ Hold your ground ´´- The chief yelled as he reached them and joined the fight , some well placed grenades took down the flood long enough to finish them with a hail of bullets. An ODST approached the chief when they finished clearing the hostiles nearby.
´´ Thank god sir, a few minutes more and we would have been overrun by them´´.
´´ Corporal what is our status ´´.- The chief asked the battle fatigued men.
´´ Our orders are to prevent the flood from reaching the Autumn , but sir we have not received any strategy or Intel since we descended from the ship, our teams would be fighting blindly if it weren't for the Spartans here to back us up´´.- The chief acknowledged , when the Autumn was attacked the two remaining UNSC ships immediately left the ring and remained in orbit without much lifting a finger to aid them.
Right now the Chief's orders are to bring the Index to Captain Keyes, but for once he would disobey, first he would rally the still active troops to fight back then he would deliver the Index.
´´ Corporal I'll take control of the remaining teams , load your weapons our new orders are to regroup and counterattack ,is that understood.´´
´´ Yes sir ,following your lead ´´- The chief constantly gave orders by comm. as the marines fought their way to their designated rendezvous point.
The Arbiter followed the schematic's Cortana had downloaded in their previous visit to the human vessel, the most likely place to find the Icon was the bridge so they decided to head there first.
The spec ops commander divided his teams in 2 groups: the first lead by himself to eliminate the majority of the hostiles still onboard the autumn, the second to take control of vital key systems to fully control the ship. Constantly they comm. each other to report their progress.
´´ Arbiter, we have reached the cryo bay without much human or parasite interference.´´
´´ Very well, follow the schematics towards their secondary lift to reach engineering, once there call back to receive more detailed data ´´- Cortana replied to the secondary team, each team leader had a copy of the schematics but Cortana explained them in more detailed words their way around the ship.
´´ Half jaw, how are you handling the human defenses ´´- The Arbiter said by comm.
´´ Very well, If I may add , we took down their communications relay moments ago ,so no human can communicate between the ship and the ring's surface and the still active humans onboard the ship are no threat for us ´´.- The Arbiter smiled to himself, no more human or demon reinforcements would be bothering them for a while.
The Arbiter stopped dead on his tracks and leaned against a wall, his motion tracker detected 2 red foes just around the corner, grabbing his carbine in one hand and an assault rifle in the other he revealed his position to finish them, expecting to find two weak marines or combat forms he wasn't expecting to run upon two demons.
´´ O crap ´´- Turning around he barely avoided the incoming shots of the two mentioned Spartans, seriously out powered he ran through the corridors trying to loose them.
´´ It's not working ´´- Cortana said to him -´´They're still after us ´´.- A few shots that activated his personal shields confirmed it.
´´ No kidding ´´- The Arbiter replied. Seeing an open shaft over him he leaped to it and disappeared from their line of fire. The two Spartans reached his last position both looking up.
´´ My tracker detects enemies up´´- One said to the other by comm.
´´ Look ´´- The other Spartan motioned towards the open shaft -´´ How stupid can that elite get ´´- Aiming their rifles up the let loose a barrage of bullets only to reveal hundreds of infection forms raining upon them.
´´ Not much as you ´´- The Arbiter decloaked on front of them, sending two plasma grenades to the occupied Spartans, after the grenades exploded he only saw a body. He didn't have time to wonder for the other as the second Spartan revealed his position and slammed his rifle to his shoulder.
Falling to the floor the Arbiter turned to see the Spartan aiming his weapon to his head, acting quickly he kicked it away and leaped back to his feet, the Spartan punched him in the face lowering his shields at half, the Arbiter grabbed the second blow and pinned him to the ground. Frantically punching the demon in the back of the head he subdued until the lifeless body stood motionless in the floor.
´´ Are you ok ´´- Cortana said, motioning his bloody hand.
´´ I'm fine, their armors are quite hard ´´- The Arbiter replied, pouring some foam into his arm, stopping the bleeding for now. Recovering his weapons as well as those of the demons he went back to his way, not before giving a few kicks to the bodies.
´´ …we need reinforcements now, Covenant forces have boarded our ship, does anyone copy, over ´´- A marine yelled to his comm. as the rest of the surviving marines hold the covenant in place. Hearing the last marine scream in pain he turned to his back.
´´ I copy , human ´´- The spec ops commander said as he lifted his Carbine and shot the marine in the head. Ordering some grunts to 'clean' his new engineering bay he walked to the panels of propulsion system.
´´ Cortana, we have captured engineering, what is your status over ´´.
´´ We're almost there, once we get the Icon we will leave the ship to head for the control room, then you can leads the ship to Orbit.´´
The commander acknowledged , the last section to secure was the bridge but the Arbiter would take care of that, If not they would head for orbit and eject the damn bridge crew.
´´ Understood, Cortana out ´´- Once finished her conversation with the commander she turned her attention to the Arbiter -´´To get faster to the bridge we'll need to take a shortcut trough cryogenics or genetics, I'm not sure ´´
´´ Not sure ´´- The Arbiter replied -´´Then be, I don't want to end in the other side of the ship ´´.
´´ It's not that, It's only one room, but the name is quite difficult to traduce ´´.
Sighing the Arbiter ignored some combat forms and ran to the next point, two marines were holding the flood and guarding the entrance but the Arbiter ran by them slamming both marines to the wall, leaving them for the flood. Closing the door he looked at the countless test tubes.
´´ We need to get moving, later you can site watch, ok´´.
Ignoring Cortana's sarcasm he made his way to the next door, passing a section called cloning investigations he saw test tubes containing some black humans that kinda resembled that human sergeant that always bothered him, shaking that idea out of his head he opened the door that would lead to the corridor that would lead later to the bridge, stopping in the human cafeteria he suddenly stopped. Human forces had occupied the place fighting the flood.
Opting to pass by them he activated his cloak and quickly made his way , at half way there a gun shot hit him revealing his shields and his position.
´´ What the, that fruit looking squid lips again´´- The sarge turned his attention to him and opened fire. The Arbiter took cover by flipping a table , however the cheap table was easily turned to pieces.
´´ Haha, nowhere to hide split chin ´´ - The sarge yelled but the flood had already finished the remaining marines and came after him, the sarge turned and opened fire upon them but ran out of ammo.
´´ O shit ´´- The sarge said as the two remaining combat forms ran towards him, but the Arbiter easily took them down with his plasma sword. Then he turned to the sergeant. Grabbing him from the neck and twisted it, leaving the corpse to rot in there.
´´ Deja'vu´´- Cortana said.
´´ Indeed ´´- The Arbiter said, before leaving he fired a few rounds from his Carbine to the sarge just in case.
´´ Contact the chief again, order him to return to the bridge immediately ´´.
´´ I can't sir, all I get is static, besides several ground and ship teams have failed to…´´
´´ I don't care, just contact him again ´´- Keyes yelled to his ensign. Over an hour had passed and the Chief hadn't delivered the Index.
´´ He's not coming, human ´´- Keyes and the rest of the personnel turned to the door as the Arbiter walked in. Some crewmen reached for their holstered gun but the Arbiter quickly shot them dead in the spot. After the Arbiter reached Keyes he grabbed him by the collar of his suit and lifted him to the height of his head.
´´ The Icon human, where is it ´´- The Arbiter asked , the remaining crewmen took the chance and ran out of the bridge, the Arbiter didn't noticed or cared.
´´ I don't have it, the master chief has still to bring it to me ´´- Keyes stammered to say the words as an excuse, and by the looks the Arbiter gave him he wasn't pleased.
´´ Don't tell me that now we have to search for him, do you know how many of them are in the ship, and plus the bodies and the ones in the ring's surface…´´- Cortana said but decided to stop as the Arbiter tighten his grip on Keyes -´´Okay, maybe I'll tell you later ´´.
The Arbiter had resigned to search for the 'demon' after all, but before he left he wanted to ask something to Keyes.
´´Tell me, why do you want the Icon human ´´
´´For what else, power ´´- The Arbiter was taken back by his reply but quickly hide it. -´´I know what this ring does and instead of informing my superior officers I decided to keep that power for myself´´.
´´ You wanted to begin the great journey ´´-The Arbiter almost laughed.
´´ No, I want to become a god ´´.
The way he said it infuriated the Arbiter, lifting him once more he tossed him like garbage trough the tactical panel , Keyes landed just back of the main cruise controls , broken window like pieces from the panel all around him. As the severely bruised Keyes lifted his gaze he saw the Arbiter above him.
´´ Guess what human, that wont happen ´´- The Arbiter tossed a single plasma grenade that stuck in Keyes head, he desperately tried to take it off, but he well knew it was pointless. As the Arbiter made his way out of the bridge he only heard a desperate cry for help and a loud bang after that.
´´ Now to look for the demon ´´
Unknown to him the chief had returned to the ship after ordering the ground teams to regroup and hold the flood in the surface, after delivering the Index he would return to aid them.
´´ Captain Keyes do you copy ´´-The chief tried again -´´Captain Keyes respond ´´- dropping it he decided to run to the bridge just as the Arbiter headed down to search for him, entering the bridge the first thing he noticed were the missing guards and the bridge crew, advancing forward he noticed the tactical panel that Keyes always surveyed destroyed , approaching he finally found Keyes, or what was left of him.
Somehow the chief didn't feel remorse for his death, Keyes had sent hundreds of soldiers to die below the ship just so he could be safe and sound aboard the ship waiting for the Index, the chief pulled the Index from his compartment and stared at it.
´´ This is what you wanted ´´- The chief said, he was going to toss the Index to his body but remembered something, an unfinished business. He could very well stay and aid the surviving marines but he was confident that they would be ok by themselves.
Packing the Index once more he headed towards the nearest fighter bay.
The Arbiter ran across the ship, passing dead bodies to fellow covenant troops that couldn't even say a word to him as he ran pass by them, ignoring Cortana's idea to search the demon bodies along the way, he knew better.
´´ There's no way he could be defeated by these zombies ´´- The Arbiter thought. For 20 minutes he found nothing, resigning he asked Cortana for her help.
´´ Oh, so now you want my help ´´- Cortana said and the Arbiter knew very well what she was getting at -´´If you would have listened to me half an hour ago I would have gladly complied ´´.
Sighing the Arbiter spoke -´´Yes ,you're right. I'm sorry ´´.
´´ And …´´
´´ Don't push it woman ´´- The Arbiter growled. Cortana laughed a bit then she spoke.
´´ Very well, tap me into the nearest panel and I'll use the ships sensors to search for the remaining Spartans ´´- Doing so the Arbiter looked at the ships schematic in the screen, with Cortana's filtering he could see the few remaining human forces still onboard the ship, glad that they were only a few he focused onto a single red dot that moved towards the fighter bay.
´´ That's him ´´
´´ Are you sure, how can you be certain ´´- Cortana asked.
´´I just know ´´- The Arbiter said -´´What is the fastest route to intercept ´´.
´´ Trough the Armory ,two levels below, but even running you wont catch him in time ´´
´´ Let's just see if you're right ´´.- The Arbiter said and before Cortana could say something he ran towards the bay.
Killing a few combat forms the Chief activated the bay's blast door. Once done he descended in a nearby lift towards the nearest Long sword fighter.
The Arbiter ran as fast as he could to get there before the demon escaped with the Icon, If the demon would reach any human ship in orbit his chance to recover the Icon would seriously drop to nearly impossible. Just as he turned a corner a combat form slammed him to the ground.
´´ Damn it, not now ´´- The Arbiter drew his sword and sliced the abomination in half, however 3 more appeared on his place.
With some trouble the Chief seated himself into the small seat of the fighter, once secured he ignited the ships engines. The Arbiter stained in green blood reached the bay just in time to see the long sword fighter exiting the bay.
´´ Told you so ´´- Cortana said.
´´ Tell me human , which of the remaining ships in orbit is he heading to ´´.- The Arbiter asked. Even with nearly impossible odds he wasn't going to give up.
´´ Wait a moment , odd ´´- The Arbiter turned to the panel as she spoke -´´ His destination according to the ships logs is not to any ship in orbit but … o no ´´.
´´ Where ´´- The Arbiter said, he was getting tired of Cortana's small cliffhangers.
´´ He's heading towards the Control room, if he activates the Ring…´´
´´ That won't happen ´´- The Arbiter cut her off -´´ Prepare the next fighter towards the same destination, and Inform half jaw that he can leave ´´.
´´ Take that you freak ´´- Some marines celebrated below the ship as they successfully held the flood at bay, suddenly the pillar's bay opened and from it a single long sword fighter exited at full speed.
´´ Check it out, a fighter just took off ´´- Just after the first fighter exited, another one followed a few minutes later. The sergeant comm. the pillar in hopes that they had already repaired the comm. malfunction.
´´ This is sergeant Johnson to the pillar, respond ´´.- Static followed shortly.
´´ Respond damn it, have you repaired the malfunctions already ´´.
´´ Why yes human, we have ´´- The spec ops commander replied , surprising the sarge-´´we'll be taking off shortly so don't expect transportation to the ship anytime soon, have fun with the flood ´´.
The sergeant dropped the comm. to the floor and lifted his assault rifle to shoot at the ship, pointless anyway. The spec ops commander was currently in engineering since the bridge had multiple hull breeches, thanks to the Arbiter. He was going to leave the humans to fend the flood as long as they could ,but what was the fun of that.
´´ Lieutenant, open fire below us ´´.
´´ With pleasure commander ´´- The blue elite replied, with his jaws opened like a smile.
The pillars archer pods let loose a barrage of missiles towards the surviving marines below. The sarge saw this and dropped his rifle.
´´ O shit …´´
The Master chief arrived to the control room and proceeded to activate Halo, he was currently tapping commands to the control panel Ignoring the red orb that floated around him, since the chief easily finished the remaining sentinels in the room the monitor had decided to keep asking him to stop.
´´ Damn orb, how I wish for a rocket launcher, that would shut him up ´´. –The chief thought, then he wondered just when would his guest arrive. Not long enough said person walked towards him, plasma sword in hand.
´´ Demon ´´- The Arbiter spoke -´´ Let usend this ´´.
O yeah, next chapter will be the last of this fic, sorry to keep this fic and some others from my list in the dark for so long, got carried away in the annoying writers block reading other fics as well. Anyway, until the last chapter. Review.