The Flood in Young Justice? Be honest, who was expecting this?
Takes place prior to the events of Season 1.
I do not own Halo or Young Justice.
The Warworld cruised through space, at top speed towards its destination: a tiny world at the edge of the galaxy, it's only significance was the fact that the planet was a military stronghold belonging to the Reach. Rumor had it that the Reach intended to launch an invasion against the nearby systems from this base, expanding their empire even further.
Naturally, Mongul couldn't let that happen. He would be the one to conquer the galaxy, not them.
As the Warworld reached the outer edge of the solar system, Mongul expected to hear a transmission that consisted of either threats or begging. Oddly enough, the communication network was silent.
The Warworld wasn't stealthy, in fact, the Reach should have seen him coming a lightyear away, and he loved hearing the desperation in everyone's voice when they contacted him, begging for mercy. It seemed the Reach on this planet would deny him that joy.
Enthusiasm considerably dampened, Mongul sent the Warworld directly towards the Reach stronghold, which soon arrived in orbit around the planet. This was another oddity for Mongul; there were no Reach ships in orbit. Ignoring his coming was one thing, but not even sending a fleet to defend your stronghold? Something was definitely wrong.
Maybe his intelligence was off? No, Mongul could see the Reach military facilities from orbit. Maybe the base had been abandoned? A cursory scan revealed huge amounts of military hardware, it wasn't like the Reach to leave that behind. Furthermore, he could detect some form of activity on the surface, so the planet was clearly still inhabited. And yet, the Reach were showing no sign that they were even aware that the Warworld was in orbit.
It was irrelevant, as long as the Reach have their forces here, this planet had signed its death warrant. Preparing the Warworld for combat, Mongul activated the Grand Laser Emitter and targeted the planet. As the emitter was warming up however, sensors picked up movement on the surface.
Two squadrons of Reach warships rose from ground bases off the planet's surface. Mongul expected them to rise into the atmosphere and converge on the Warworld, causing him to mentally activate the Warworld's missiles and point defense cannons. What happened instead was quite shocking: the two squadrons converged on each other and opened fire.
Curiousity piqued, Mongul halted the charging sequence, activated the long-range scanners and launched probes, in order to gain a better understanding of what was happening on the surface.
Mongul was not a being to know fear, being a galactic conquerer would do that, but the things he saw on that planet chilled him to the core.
The Reach were locked in conflict with a species that Mongul had never seen before; a parasitical alien race unknown to the universe. As the Reach soldiers fell, the parasite took control of their bodies, turning their weapons against their former allies.
A squad of Reach scarab warriors flew into the heart of the alien parasites, causing innumerable casualties to the infection. It seemed like they would be sufficient enough to turn the tide against this flood, but as Mongul watched, a horde of parasites overwhelmed one of the beetles, punching a hole in its armor and allowing a squid-like infection form access to the Reach warrior within.
The parasite quickly overwhelmed the beetle, turning him against his former brethren. Soon, all the beetles were either dead or infected, turning the tide against the Reach.
Mongul had seen enough. Reactivating the charging sequence, Mongul unleashed the firepower of the Grand Laser Emitter on the planet, destroying it within minutes. This was no longer done out of hatred for the Reach, but to prevent this parasite from spreading. They were too dangerous to be allowed to exist.
As the debris from the planet settled, the Warworld detected that several Reach ships had escaped their stronghold's destruction. Closer inspection revealed that these ships were covered in the same biomass as those parasites on the planet.
"They know how to fly ships." Mongul thought, alarmed at this development. Targeting the ships, Mongul was prepared to unleash dozens of missiles at the infected ships, when an impossibly powerful and unknown energy wave swept through the system.
Passing harmlessly through the Warworld and Mongul, the energy had a much more dramatic effect on the infected ships; vaporizing the parasite that was inside and on the exteriors of the ships, leaving them drifting through space. A full sensor sweep of the ships revealed that there was no life left on any of the vessels.
Grimacing, Mongul watched the viewscreen as a dozen missiles streaked towards the hapless ships, destroying them in moments. He could not afford to take chances against these things.
Mongul scanned the other planets in the system capable of supporting life, and found them to come up negative for any signs of the parasite. Destroying them anyway, Mongul ordered the Warworld's systems to archive this battle. Normally, the tyrant liked to replay each of his conquests for his own amusement while travelling between worlds. But in this case, he would archive this conquest for further study, in case these aliens ever returned.
Returning to his conquering ways, Mongul left the system, hoping that a galaxy united under his rule would stop these parasites if they ever reappeared. The galactic conquerer would never admit it, but the thought of those monsters returning and running loose sent a chill crawling up his spine.
Shaking the feeling off, Mongul set the Warworld's course towards his next target.
This idea just came to me out of nowhere, so I figured, why not? It's especially fitting given that the voice actor portraying Mongul in his debut on this show, also voices characters who've fought both the Flood and the Reapers (Arbiter Thel Vadam and Admiral David Anderson respectively).
Reviews are welcome.