2322 Hours, August 11th, 2552(UNSC Calendar)
Epsilon Eridani System, Planet Reach
Classified ONI Facility, Northern Polar Region
Reach had been discovered.
An army of Covenant forces has infiltrated the Reach Defense Perimeter by a as of yet unknown means to the human inhabitants. UNSC Fleet Comm was preparing a counter attack against the Covenant forces deployed in the Viery Territory. That did not matter to the marines stationed at Rally Point Tango Seven, a classified ONI research and development facility.
On July 24th, the Winter Contingency was enacted by the UNSC Fleet Comm when the Covenant presence was discovered by the Spartan Noble Team. At that moment ONI began its own directives, namely to exfiltrate all classified items and artifacts from Reach before it was too late.
Rally Point Tango Seven was last on the list. So far the Marines stationed here have only been ordered to maintain the facility and repel any and all hostiles that may attempt to infiltrate the base.
As Engineer Richards made his rounds threw the facilities upper floors he felt unease. He wished he was nowhere near Reach, whereas the Marines stationed here were gung ho to get into the fight. "Damn idiots" he called them all. "The Covenant could not be stopped. They cannot even be slowed down." He was of the belief that humanities only way to survive was to pack their bags and leave this part of the galaxy forever, but he would never actually voice his thoughts. He didn't want to be disappeared, or worse.
He entered a maintenance room and looked inside. Everything looked okay. He was about to close the door when his eye caught sight of something. On the floor was some odd thing made of shinning silver and purple metal. He tentatively entered the room and approached the thing, the door slowly swinging shut behind him. Kneeling down next to it he blinked. This was not UNSC tech. It looked Covenant. Why was it here?
Suddenly it occurred to him that if this was here, then what if there were also Covenant here? Even in this very room? He shot to his feet and was about to use his radio to call for help when something clamped down over his mouth. Instinctively his hands went up to try and pull it off, but his fingers wrapped around something he could not see. A cloaking device?
The unseen foe that held his face lifted Richards from the floor. He began to thrash in an attempt to escape. He tried so hard to scream, but what held him by the head covered his mouth.
His mind worked a thousand thoughts in a fraction of a second. He screamed in his head, "I DONT WANT TO DIE! DEAR GOD, PLEASE!"
His thoughts were cut short by a great pain in his chest. He suddenly felt weak, sluggish. His hand released the force over his face and moved towards his chest. They touched something wet at first, then something so hot. Unbelievably hot.
His eyes gazed down and saw threw the force holding him. To his horror he saw the all too familiar duel edges of an energy blade sticking out of his chest. His vision began to waver. His hands flopped to his sides. He was losing feeling everywhere. The blades must have sliced his heart, maybe other things.
In his final seconds he kept repeating in his thoughts, "I don't want to die... I don't want to die... I don't wa-"
Henr'ak 'Takalu withdrew his blade from the dead human in disgust and tossed aside the body. The smell the human had produced at the end told Henr'ak that the human had soiled himself.
The team of five Sangheili Special Operations decloacked and returned to the holographic generator. A three dimensional image of this facility came into view and they returned to discussing their mission from before they had been so rudely interrupted.
Ismak 'Vadula, the commanding officer of this mission, continued, "Sixteen days ago, our forces successfully took a human facility designated as 'Sword Base'. Sense then, Huragok have sifted through the human archives. Yesterday, the Huragok discovered information suggesting that the base we are in now houses technology that the Prophets consider holy." That meant the humans had Forerunner technology here. It was desecration and an insult to everything the Covenant believed in. "Before they can escape this place, we are to tear it away from their filth grasp."
Each of them, including Henr'ak, gave a growl of understanding. They reinitialized their stealth fields and exited the room. Their primary goal was to remain undetected by the humans here and retrieve the technology before an orbiting Corvette is deployed to burn this place from existence.
At the end of the corridor Ismak gave the order for the team to split up to minimize the chances of detection. Henr'ak considered this to be a foolish decision, but it was not his place to question. Only to obey.
Three other humans crossed his path, but all three were eliminated before they could sound the alarm. He stashed their bodies in adjoining rooms before going deeper into the facility. He was approaching his objective. A blast door ahead of him told him that what he was looking for was threw there. Oddly enough there were no guards present.
Cautiously he approached the door. He gazed upon a control panel on the wall next to it, considering the human words. Like most of his race he could read and understand the primary human language, but he was not able to speak it. The problem came from the Sangheili mouth being unable to produce the same noises as a human. Some had mastered the art, but he had yet to do so.
He pressed the button labeled "Open" and turned as the blast door opened. When there was enough room to pass he entered, but part of the way in he stopped. He was in some sort of cargo storage area, but it was empty. This wasn't right. According to the report this room should house an artifact. He was about to withdraw when he felt something pierce his shoulder.
Instinctively he dived away from the opened hatch behind him. He reached for his back, curious as to why his energy shields had not deflected the bullet, but to his surprise he found no bullet hole. Something else had hit him, a cylinder of some sort. He pulled it off and saw it was a syringe. It had struck him between him in the shoulder, a part that was not armored. He threw it aside and raised his plasma rifle to the door.
A trick? Was this an ambush? Why had they not killed him and...
A great weariness came over him. His breathing quickened. His legs began to wobble. He reached for the wall, trying to stay awake. The plasma rifle felt suddenly heavy. What had these humans done to him?
His legs buckled and he fell forwards, but his vision faded before he hit the ground.
In the drug induced darkness he was able to make out a voice, only bits and pieces. Masculine, twangy, human. "Objective has been captured Major Smith... Special Ops Elite... Rest of the Elites were cornered... KIA... Preparing subject for transport..." Then he knew no more.
Henr'ak's consciousness returned to him suddenly. He could not see, everything around him was pitch black. He tried to stagger forward but found his arms and legs were bound. He began pull at his restraints.
The silence was broken by a human voice, "Looks like Subject 60 is awake." The voice chuckled "Give him the lights."
Suddenly a light brighter than anything he had ever seen came on in his face. His eyes snapped shut. He thrashed about, trying to force his arms and legs free from his restraints. He wanted loose, to kill those who had done this to him.
"Dim the lights." The lights were dimmed and he could open his eyes. The room was some sort of laboratory. Looking about he could see various consoles and medical instruments, all of human design. He looked to his arms and legs, seeing he was bound to some sort of upright table in a position similar to being crucified. The next thing he realized was that his armor and jump suit was gone. He was exposed. A door to the room slide open. Four individuals entered the room. Two marines armed with shock batons, a human in all white including a mask, and an officer. The officer human stepped close to me, and looked me in the eye.
Henr'ak hiss and growled at the humans, his mandibles opened and snapping shut. The officer looked to the human in white and nodded. That human pressed a few controls, and pain lanced threw my body. Every muscle in my body reacted violently. Henr'ak wanted to scream, but he held my mandibles shut by sheer force alone. After a moment the Officer gave a nod and the pain increased. The pain was increased four more times before Henr'ak could not bear it any longer and howled in anguish. The pain suddenly subsided and he slumped, his muscles limp. Henr'ak would have been on the floor had he not been restrained.
"What were the levels at for this one Dr. Wu?" The officer said referring to the one in white.
looked at his readings for a moment before responding, ".060 amps Major Smith. That is twice the amount it would take to kill a human! It is remarkable Subject 60 is still alive."
That was an understatement. His muscles were on fire. His fingers and mandibles were twitching uncontrollably. His breaths was ragged and uneven. Major Smith stepped closer to Henr'ak and looked me in this eye. "You are now nothing. Whatever name you had is gone. You are now Subject 60. Know that I'm going to learn everything there is to know about you, Freak. Your life is mine."
1300 Hours, October 2nd, 2552(UNSC Calendar)
Soell System, Halo Debris Field
UNSC Mona Lisa
Henr'ak sat in his small metal cell. His body remained fixed to the hell he had learned was called the "Mona Lisa", but his mind was elsewhere as he reached a deep meditative state. His cell had little to offer save for a small human style toilet, which had been an achievement to figure out how to use. The floor was his only bed, as his previous escape attempt involved the metal piping used for the beds support. After that they removed everything that could be used.
Sense his imprisonment he learned of others of his kind being held aboard the Mona Lisa. At last count there were at least sixty, but with their human captors constantly coming up with new ways of torture and experimentation those numbers were always changing.
Things only became more strained when the introduction of human prisoners to the Mona Lisa was added. Henr'ak could still recall his first meeting with the human's prisoners. A test of sorts. Five of them had been given improvised weapons, namely pipes and small blades. They were put in the same room as him and told if they killed the Elite they would receive their freedom. Now those humans were dead by his hand.
Recently though the test had changed. Late at night threw the small window, one could see the sight Sangheili and human alike being escorted away. Shortly their after the sounds of screaming. They never returned.
As these thoughts flowed through his mind he was suddenly brought back to reality by the shrill noise that always proceeded the doors opening. He rose to his feet and moved towards the back wall. As the doors slid open the sight of four human wardens bearing shock batons and pistols greeted him. This usually meant more testing.
He knew what to do in this situation, as he had been forced to do so what seemed like everyday sense his arrival. He stepped into the formation and followed the guards. One of the guards behind him kept tapping Henr'ak's back with his shock baton. Not enough to give a full charge, but enough to be annoying.
Instead of taking a right at the junction, as he was usually supposed to do so that he would be taken to the labs, he was taken left and into an elevator. Two levels up he was escorted to a lab he had not seen before. There was an upright table similar to the one he had been strapped to when he first arrived. In the room were several human scientist and the devil of the Mona Lisa, Major Smith.
"Secure Subject 60 to the table." The Major ordered. Like the obedient drones these human guards were they did so. Henr'ak wanted to kill Major Smith, but knew any attempt he made under the circumstance would only lead to his death. Time was his ally, but also his enemy.
As Henr'ak was secure, one of the scientist began to attach sensor devices across his body. As Henr'ak studied the room he was unable to make out any of the usual torture devices. Something was different about today.
As the scientist stepped aside, Major Smith stepped forward and looked Henr'ak in the eye. "You have been a major pain in my ass ever sense you arrived her. I suppose it has something to do with whatever training you had to become what you are." The Major smiled his usually wicked smile, "Let's see if the persistence carries over."
Henr'ak blinked. Carries over to what?
Even as he considered this, the door opened again and technicians entered the room, escorting a device that had a hydraulic arm that ended to a container. The Container was cylindrical with one end attached to the arm and the other to a small hatch at its end, but it was what was inside the container that filled Henr'ak with sudden anger, fear, revulsion, and dread. Inside was the bulbous and vial shape of a Flood Infection form.
All at once the mysteries surrounding the prisoner disappearances, the screaming in the middle of the night, all became clear. These humans were experimenting with the Parasite. His eyes went wide, and even though he knew the humans would not understand he screams, "Madness!" He began to thrash in his bonds, "You must destroy the Parasite! You fools!"
None of the humans took note as they technicians wheeled the device closer to him. He realized that the way the container was positioned would open the hatch right on his chest. They were going to going to infect him? He began to pull at his restraints harder, his mandibles snapped in the air as he fought for freedom. Suddenly he felt his left arm restraint begin to wiggle. Just a small amount, but it was a hope.
The arm was moved into place, the cylinder was pointed towards his chest. The vial creature within squirmed about with delight at the prospect of a host. Henr'ak pulled at his arm restrain harder, it was coming loose.
"Open Flood specimen 24's container. Prepare to take Subject 60 to isolation ward 7." The hatch to the cylinder opened. The creature began to move, approaching Henr'ak's chest. Suddenly Henr'aks arm was free. Without a moment's hesitation his arm shot out in front of him and his the cylinder and arm with enough force to cause the arm mechanism to spark violently and spin to the side, away from his chest.
The Flood Infector did not miss a beat, and leapt out of the cylinder onto a Guard. It grappled onto the Guards chest and began the infection process. The Guard writhed on the ground, screaming, "GET IT OFF ME! GET IT THE FUCK OFF ME!" Other guards swarmed in to try to help, unaware it was already too late. Major Smith, the Scientist, and the Technicians fled the room. Even as all of this was happening, Henr'ak had successfully freed his bonds and ran out of the room.
As he exited he ran right and did not stop as he followed the corridors. Even as he run he heard the maddening shriek of the Flood. The Infected Guard was now loose on the ship. He knew that none of his kind had much time left before the infection spread beyond the control of the humans. He had to free his imprisoned brothers and evacuate this vessel before it was too late.
1346 Hours, October 2nd, 2552(UNSC Calendar)
Soell System, Halo Debris Field
UNSC Mona Lisa
Alarms blared across the ship.
A feminine, but synthetic, voice announced a warning to the crew. "Contamination detected on deck four, subjuntion 11. Security has been notified."
Henr'ak slowed his pace. Without a weapon, or an idea as to the layout of the Mona Lisa, he had to be cautious. With the Parasite loose aboard this vessel he may not have the opportunity to be quiet.
A door on the wall ahead of him began to open. He snuck up beside it and waited as the sound of a human caught his attention.
"God damn piece of shit!" The human cursed as he exited the room, fumbling with his pants zipper. Before the human exited the room fully, Henr'ak struck the human with his right hand, flat palm directly to the chest. The human had only a fraction of a second to take in a stunned breath before Henr'ak's left fist struck the human in the head. The human, dressed as one of the guards, flew to the side from the force of the impact. The humans head struck the metal door frame hard, instantly rendering him unconscious.
Henr'ak dragged the human back into the room, the automatic door closing behind him. He searched the human, trying to find a weapon, but could only find a key card. He looked at the card for a moment and decided it might come in handy. Looking about the room he recognized it as living quarters. He searched the room, searching for a human weapons of some sort. All he could find was a wooden bat of some sort.
The bat had a cane like handle and flat fronted wooden blade. It was not sharp but was about 38 inches long and 4 inches wide. Training device of some kind?
He held the stick for a moment, looking it over. Wasn't exactly an energy blade, but the wood seemed strong. It would have to do. With nothing else left he made his way to the exit, but paused next to the door. There was a miniature diagram of the ship with a red dot and words stating, "You are here". Looking over the map he saw that one level up was an auxiliary control room.
Studying the map more closely he traced the quickest path to get there. His target was set, with that he left the room.
The intercom blared to life again, the same voice as earlier. "Contamination detected on deck 3, deck 4, deck 5, deck 6. Security has been notified." Almost the exact instant the intercom finished its speech, the vent ahead of Henr'ak exploded. The unmistakable shape of a Flood Combat Form, human he guessed, fell onto the floor. Henr'ak did not stop his pace, but brought his stick to bare. As the Flood Combat form rose to its feet it gave a blood curdling cry. Before it could leap, Henr'ak slammed his stick against the abominations chest, causing it to fly back a short distance and flop onto its back. Before it could get back up Henr'ak leapt into the air and brought his hoof down on the creature's chest. Muscle and bone collapsed downwards, crushing the infection form that lingered its chest. The creature squirmed one last time before it moved no more.
He stepped away from the thing, breathing heavily. His two hearts pounded in his chest as the rush began to pass. He looked down at the creature below him and realized it wore the remnants of an orange jumpsuit. One of the human prisoners? That meant all those who had been taken before were now loose?
Even as that thought raced through his mind the sound of groaning and gurgling broke him from his thoughts. From the way he had come over a dozen Flood forms of various kinds came into view. He began to run. They were in pursuit, gaining on him fast. Up ahead was an elevator door, the one he was looking for. As he reached it he slowed to a stop and pressed the button with the up arrow.
It didn't open. As his eyes focused on the approaching Flood, his hand pounded on the button over and over again.
The Flood was almost upon him when the door finally opened and Henr'ak was faced to face with a stunned human guard. The guard instinctively raised his hand with a shock baton to strike Henr'ak, but the human was to slow. Henr'ak grabbed the human by his arm and lifted him off the ground, throwing the human towards the Flood. This slowed down the Flood long enough for him to get inside and press a button for the next level. As the door slid shut the sound of pounding from the other side could be heard, and faded as the lift went up.
He moved to one side of the lift and raised his stick into a ready position to strike. He did not know what to expect beyond the door, but he wanted to be ready. As the hatch slide open he saw nothing but empty corridor. It took him a moment to process what he was seeing. The floors and walls were painted with human blood, and at various places were chunks of flesh and bone. It was a sickening sight, even for him.
Slowly he exited the room, and looked from side to side. Whatever had happened here was recent, and violent. He made his way up a corridor until he reach auxiliary control. The door was twisted and forced. Inside the room he found what he had been searching for. A wall of computer panels. Most were broken, but one still worked perfectly. He typed slowly on the crude human console, looking to access the controls to the cell doors. Better to give the prisoners a fighting chance then let the flood get them. A warning appeared on the screen.
"Restricted Access: Level 3 Security Clearance Required"
He considered that a moment, then remembered the security card he had found. He still clutched it in his hand. Experimentally he inserted it into a slot that it looked like it could fit into. After a few seconds the computer chimed and displayed "Access Granted".
Partick Rimmer sat in his cell, feeling like a nervous wreck. For the past twenty minutes the alarms had ben blaring. A few times he could have sworn that he heard gun shots, but he was not sure.
Then he cell door opened, but there were not guards. Hesitantly he rose and moved to the door. Looking out he saw that all the Cell doors were opened. Humans and Elites exited, each as confused as the other.
A Guard suddenly ran around the corner. The Guard kept looking over his shoulder, in his eyes was the sight of terror. He was not paying any attention when he ran into a wall of prisoners. Before the Guard even knew what was happening several humans and Elites swarmed him, beating him to a pulp and stealing his gear.
Rimmer backed away from the carnage, "Holt Shit! Holy Shit!" He stammered a few times, "Wha- Wha- What the fuck is going on?!"
One of those who jumped the guard rose to his feet. He was a thin muscular man, his head was shaved bold, his eyes were green, and he had a scar on his noise. Rimmer recognized him immediately, and knew he was someone he was afraid of. Mark Lazerus. A serial killer from the colonies who was known for preserving his victims by submerging them in tanks Liquid Nitrogen, so that he could look in on their death faces whenever he wished.
Mark spread his hands and called out, "For too long we have been treated like animals! Now, let us show our captures what kinds of animals they have made us into!"
The human prisoners roared with approval, the Elites began to spread out into teams. Rimmer began to run. He had to get away from this madness, find someplace safe!
He did not know how long he had been running. He passed guards who were rushing in different directions, but they all ignored him. Something must have been going on. Maybe other prisoners had escaped first and were causing havoc? Maybe the Covenant had come? Maye-
Suddenly he stepped on something slippery. He instantly lost his footing and fell onto his back. He lay there for a minute before sitting up with a groan. He looked down the corridor. Lights at one end were all out, leaving that area in blackness, but the lights closer to him were flicking. It took his mind a moment to register what he was seeing.
Spread across the floors and walls was blood. Hand prints, drag marks. So much blood. Rimmer suddenly felt sick and realized this is what he had slipped in. He was about to turn tail and flee when he saw something in the darkness approaching.
As it came closer he made out the outline of a human, and what looked like a guard's uniform. Rimmer held up his hands, "Oh thank God! Listen man, I don't know what is going on but I am not with those other guys! Infect, I surrender! Yea, I gladly surrender!"
The form came closer, then from the shadows it raised one of its arms... No, not arms. Tentacles. It shrieked and ran right at Rimmer.
Rimmer backed away, his eyes wide with terror at the thing coming for him, but stepped in the same splash of blood and fell again. On his back he began to crawl backwards as fast as he could.
"NO! No, please don't! Go away!" He screamed. He remembered what that guard had told him. Something about a biological weapon on this ship... The Flood, yea that was it. This must be it!
The creature was about to dive down on Rimmer when suddenly what looked like a Cricket Bat came into view and smashed into that things body, forcing it back. A dark form rushed after it and hit the Thing over and over again until the creature moved no more. Rimmer breathed heavily and looked at his savior. It was an Elite, armed with nothing more than a Cricket Bat.
Rimmer quickly got to his feet and without fear approached the Elite, "Th-Th-Thank you so much! I thought for sure I was going to die! But you saved me!" The Elite turned his gaze on the human and blinked. The Elite said something in a language he could not understand. "Yea... So, my name is Rimmer! Actually my first name is Patrick, but everyone calls me Rimmer for some reason, so yea."
Henr'ak had only been passing by, trying to find a place to gather supplies, and just simply come across this human about to be killed. He would have left him had he not considered the fact they were both prisoners to Major Smith.
Now, as he moved through the ship with the human in tow, he wondered if he should have left him. So far the human had not shut up. Reminded Henr'ak of a talkative Ungoy.
Finally they reached a Maintenance and Storage room. As they closed and sealed the door behind them, the two took stock of the area. No large vents for the Flood to sneak through, and plenty of supplies to last a few days.
Henr'ak knew that as long as the Flood knew that there was prey they would not abandoned the chance for food. So the safest time to move was when the Flood thought every living thing aboard was dead. That begged the question, where would they go?
Henr'ak looked from his pitiful stick to the human. With the Flood on the loose their odds for survival was slim to none.
1958 Hours, October 5th, 2552(UNSC Calendar)
Soell System, Halo Debris Field
UNSC Mona Lisa
It had been three days sense the Flood broke containment. Three days sense Henr'ak and this human, he had learned his name was Rimmer, had sealed themselves in the Maintenance area. Rimmer had not stopped talking in that time, it was annoying but he was still glade for the company. In an odd way he considered this human a friend, or at least an ally. Rimmer reminded Henr'ak of A chatty Ungoy. Not much in a fight, but they still served a purpose.
Something about today was off. He could hear it in the walls. The Flood was more active today than they had been in the past twenty four hours. Something must be happening to irritate them.
Rimmer was chattering about some human school called "High School", and how it was in High School he turned to crime, when the sound of battle could be heard. Henr'ak moved closer to one of the side hatches and listened. Automatic Weapons Fire and what might be Human Grenades. As far as he knew there were no such weapons stored on the Mona Lisa. That meant that there must be another human ship nearby? Possibly an opportunity to final escape the Mona Lisa.
He took a few steps closer to the door, considering opening it a little to look out, when suddenly it opened from the outside. A wave of foul smelling bilge water came flooding in, along with three human marines. The marines scrambled to close the door. Beyond it the sound of metal crashing, and the screams of the Flood, could be heard. They finally closed the hatch that is when a human female in White Armor turned and was faced to face with Henr'ak. Her eyes went wide and she raised her pistol to a firing position.
That was when Rimmer did something that Henr'ak did not think he would every do. Rimmer scrambled in front of Henr'ak and began to wave his arms and frantically yell, "Don't shoot! He is not infected! It's ok! JJJJ. Just don't shoot!" Rimmer lowered his hands and pointed to himself, "My name is Patrick Rimmer, I'm a prisoner here, but I wasn't in for anything serious! I swear!"
The female human narrowed her eyes and got to her feet, her weapon still aimed for Henr'aks face. "That's a Covenant you are protecting. Why the crap should we care if he is infected or not?"
One of the other humans moved up next to the female, the human had an assault rifle that he quickly raised. The third human appeared to be wounded... No, worse. He could smell the infection on him. The rank smell of the Flood was unmistakable.
"Please guys! Please! D.D.D.D. don't kill him! You got to understand that he is Cool! We're Cool!" Rimmer began to pat Henr'ak on the back, which made Henr'ak visibly uncomfortable. "He is my friend! He is the only one I had to talk to! The only one! He's Cool! He's clean. He's Cool! Please, you got to understand that it isn't the Covenants fault. At least not this time! We're Cool! Really!"
Threw what looked like Sangheili blood on the female human's armor, Henr'ak could make out the name Benti. She seemed to be in charge of these humans. "If that Covvie makes one wrong move, looks at us the wrong way even-" Benti and the other human marine lowered their weapons, "Its dead. You got me?"
Rimmer relaxed slightly, which wasn't much. "Yea, ok Cool. Yea, he's ok. Yea, Henry's clean, he's cool, and he's ok. Yea." That was when Rimmers eyes lit up with what looked like hope, "Hey, your Marines right? You're going to get us out of her right?"
Out of all of Rimmers nonsense, Benti picked up on only one thing it seemed. "Excuse me? Henry? Did you just call him Henry?!"
Early one Henr'ak had told Rimmer his name, but the human could pronounce it. So Rimmer had started calling Henr'ak Henry instead. "Yea. I.I.I.I. don't really know his name, I can't understand a thing he says. I just call him Henry, and he calls me Rimmer of course because that's my name! All though he doesn't really pronounce it right, or say much of anything, because he can't speak our language, but he's cool!" When Rimmer saw the disbelieving looks on the others faces he just went on, "No really, he's cool. Hey there's more of your right?! You can get us back out! Right?!"
Benti didn't really know what to say about this odd duo, but whatever questions she had she pushed aside for the more important issue, "No, wait! You tell me, what the hell were those things back there?! We're not going anywhere until you tell me what they are."
Rimmer didn't know how to answer that, but then he saw what Henry already know. The wounded marine, "He's... He's been infected!"
Benti turned to the side and looked towards the wounded marine whose name was Gersten, "Infected?"
That was when the third marine, the one named Clarence raised his rifle and shot Gersten in the head.
Benti was stunned for only a moment, "You killed Gersten..."
Clarence simply nodded, his face was unreadable.
Benti sighed, "His dog tags."
Rimmer was panicked now, knowing that Flood infection works faster on the dead, "Oh, forget the dog tags! We got to rip his body up! Rip it up! That's not dead enough! You got to destroy the body or they just come back!"
Now Benti was angry. She turned her head slightly to look back at Rimmer, "Don't be stupid. He's dead. He's dead!"
Rimmer was trembling and drew a screw driver he had found in the maintenance area, "He aint! He's infected! We got... We got to take him apart! Or he's going to come back!"
Benti raised her rifle as she saw Henry shift into a combat stance, raising the Cricket bat he held in a position to strike, "He's dead!" That was when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning she saw Gersten rising to his feet. His eyes were empty, dead eyes. From the wound in his head a small tentacle emerged. Then his mouth dropped open and Gersten let loose a shriek, a shriek just like the Flood.
Clearance calmly began to fire, shooting Gersten until he fell again.
Rimmer pointed a trembling finger at Gerstens body, "You see! They just come back! If you leave enough of the important body bits they just come back! They all come back." Once again Rimmer patter Henry on the back, "Me and Henry here... We are the last ones! They didn't know we were here!" Rimmer was panicking now, his hands were to his face as he began to tremble and sweat, "But now you've let them know!" Quickly he composed himself, "Ok, I'm not blaming you. Not really! But they will try to get in! We have to move! There are more of you coming right?"
Benti had never met anyone like Rimmer. She didn't know whether to laugh at him or punch him until some sense entered his head, "Right..." She looked towards Henry. Even though he was a Covenant, he seemed to be the most composed one here. Hopefully he could at least understand English, "Is there another way outta here?"
Even though she wasn't speaking to Rimmer, he did answer her, "Yea, but we have heard them outside that hatch to..."
Judging by how Rimmer was he would have gone a long tangent, so she cut him off early, "Just show us the way out!"
Henry chuckled a little in his own Sangheili fashion, and simply pointed towards a ladder. It was the only other way out, and he had not heard any signs of the Flood up there.
Benti didn't like it, but they didn't have many options to work with, "We'll have to chance it..." She looked towards Rimmer and considered for a moment. "Were on a prison transport, so you must be a bad ass. Grab Gersens gun and use it."
Rimmer's eyes went wide and he shook his head, "I'm not that bad ass! Nobodies that badass!" He pointed to the gun as if it were cursed, "He touched it! I'm not touching it! I'm not going near it!"
Before he could go on, Clearance grabbed the rifle and forced it into Rimmers hands. Rimmer looked from it to Benti, "What about Henry? Henry deserves a better weapon!"
Benti shook her head. Was this guy crazy? Give a Covvie a gun? No way in hell, "Let him keep his Cricket Bat, and he can be on point. If he doesn't like it, tough! Henry, Rimmer, me, and Clearance. In that order. If one of us drops-"
Rimmer cut in, "We leave them! And make sure they don't come back! The Covenant are not incharage of this ship! The Flood got out! There is no one in charge of this ship anymore!"
Henry lead the Marines threw the ship. He had memorized the layout from schematics stored in the maintenance bay. So far they had not come across any Flood, but he remained on guard. He had listened to the other humans, gathering as much information as he could. Apparently there was another team on board, led by someone they called Sergeant Lopez. He gathered that their communications were all down, so they were unable to contact Lopez or their ship the UNSC Red Horse.
Most of the corridors were dark, as the power seemed to be on minimal. They were entering a larger corridor when Benti asked Rimmer, "Where the hell are we?"
Rimmer was terrified. Henry could smell in on the human as Rimmer replied to Benti's question. "Guards team room? Gods waiting room!" He laughed, "I didn't really get a tour of the ship you know?"
Benti considered that, and something Rimmer had mentioned earlier. "You said Flood before? What did you mean?"
Rimmer kept turning his head, watching every shadow for a threat, "Some uniform came aboard. He was with ONI. After that we weren't allowed out of our cells... I think they brought the Covvies on board then. We could hear them talking. We could smell them to..." Suddenly he realized what he had said and looked towards Henry for a second, "Sorry Henry."
Henry simply growled. By their usual standard Henry knew he smelled. The humans didn't exactly give the Sangheili prisoners that were aboard any opportunities to clean themselves.
"No one told us anything. Not even the guards knew what was going on! We made some slip space jump to here, where ever here is, and they started taking people and covvies." Henry turned his head slightly to eye his companions. The human named Clearance seemed interested in what Rimmer was saying. He did not trust this human, he could sense something off about this Clearance. Rimmer continued, "They didn't seem to care if we saw the Covvies then. They figured we weren't going anywhere and it didn't matter what we knew."
Rimmer slowed a moment to whip sweat off his brow, "The Air Conduits on this ship, you know how it is, carries the noises funny. We heard things... And no one they ever took ever came back! None of them!" Henry chuckled at that. He supposed he was the only one who got out alive from those experiments.
Benti scowled at Rimmers story, "Nothing good ever comes out of ONI."
Rimmer just kept talking, to give the Marines answers and to ease his nerves, "There was a guard... Fat asshole named Murry! He found out about the Flood! Some new biological weapon? I don't know, something they were studying. Here... With us! Something happened, I don't know. I think the Covvies made a break for it or something, and in all the chaos I guess the Flood got out... The Covvies let some of us out to, which might surprise you but by then we had both been threw the same stuff! We all have the same fate on this ship..."
Benti was appalled by the story. She looked from Rimmer to Henry, and actually felt sorry for them both, "And you have been hiding ever sense?"
Rimmer shrugged, "A day I think... Maybe two? You lose track of time real fast around here."
Benti nodded, "I bet."
Rimmer began to chitter again in the way he often did, "We got to get off this ship! Soon you know?"
Benti didn't say anything right away, then stopped at a corridor and pointed down it, "What's down there?"
Rimmer looked and considered for a long moment, "D Cell Block... I think the Engines are right behind. We should find a different way!"
Benti looked down that corridor, scanning for hostiles, "What for?"
Rimmer began to rock back and forth on his heels. He did not like the idea of being this close to the Engines, "That's where they took all the dead! I'd be like going into an angry bee hive!"
They had been walking again, following the blood trails. Benti somewhere along the line had moved to the lead position. Henry wondered what that meant, but choose not to ask questions of these humans. They were nervous enough as it is.
"Henry was the one that got me out! There was a... One of the Guards... She wasn't a... She's been... She wasn't... But Henry took her out! Saved me! He's a good guy. Really!"
Up ahead they saw on the wall the words Engine Room. Henry knew that going into the Engine Room was dangerous, but he could guess why they were. The human Cole Protocol. In the event a ship has been compromised by an enemy force, the ships navigation computer is to be destroyed to stop the location of Earth from falling into enemy hands.
Rimmed continued to chatter on about the Flood, "They learn... They take what you know and learn!"
Suddenly from the darkness, a Flood Infection form leapt from the darkness towards Benti. She raised her hand to her face as if to ward it off. Henry grabbed her by the shoulder and threw her back. He leapt forward and smashed the Parasite with his Cricket Bat, causing it to burst into small pieces of flesh.
Benti was stunned. She looked up at the Elite with a new found respect. Then she found herself saying what she thought she never would, "Thanks Henry..."
Henry looked down at her and grunted. He could not speak their language, but he could understand it.
Then the sound of more Infection Forms could be heard. He turned to face them and walked backwards back into formation. Down the corridor came dozens of Infection forms, crawling across the floors and walls, all after the prospect of finding a host. Rimmer, Clearance, and Benti began to fire.
"Where the hell are they coming from?" Benti yelled to no one in particular. Henry looked up at a conduit near the roof. One of the Infection Forms had slipped by, "Die you bastards!" It jumped, going for Benti. Henry Quickly moved in and hit the abomination with his bat. Second time he had save Benti. He left those in the corridor to those with the guns, but he cleared away the Infection forms that got past the group defensive line.
The battle had lasted for two minutes before they pressed on to the Engine room. They arrived there at a control platform on the upper floor. What they found was monstrous beyond belief. The bodies that Rimmer had mentioned earlier head been transformed into a mass of organic material. On the outside of the mass you could make out faces... Faces of those who were thrown into this mass. Henry knew at once what this was. A Proto-Gravemind. It was growing on and into the ships Drive core.
From out in the crowd of Flood bellow, the voice of a Human female could be heard screaming, "DONT LET THEM TAKE ME! DONT LET THEM TAKE ME!"
The look on Benti's face was one of horror. Henry could only guess that the human being taken to the mass was part of team of Marines that had come aboard. Benti raised her rifle and aimed at the human. The other human was being carried, and within a crowd of hundreds of Flood Combat Forms. Henry knew if she fired her weapon the Flood would realize they were there, but he knew this was something he could not interfere with.
Rimmer opened his mouth, about to start screaming when Clearance clamped his hand over Rimmers mouth.
Benti held her position for a moment, then did the hardest thing she had ever done. She lowered her weapon and eased herself back into cover as the Flood threw the human into the mass. Henry watched with a mix of rage and pity as the human was enveloped. Rage against the flood, and pity for that human.
Benti was crying now as she eased back up to look. Then suddenly the chorus of Flood was broken by the activation of the intercom. "This is the UNSC Red Horse to the Mona Lisa, come in Mona Lisa."
Below the Flood began to go wild. The sound of a voice was a signal of food to them.
Benti looked confused, "What's going on?"
Rimmer was panicked, and for good reason, "You got to find a way to turn that off! It will enrage them! They go crazy when they hear something that might be food! They go CRAZY! They will look for where it is coming from-" Rimmers eyes began to search for a way out, "Then they will find us!"
Henry reached over and took Rimmer by the shoulder, shaking him a bit. Rimmer seemed to calm down then as they listened to what came in over the intercom. The name Major John Smith peeked Henry's interest. If that human was alive, then it was just one extra reason to live. To make sure he had a chance to tear that humans head from his little shoulders.
Most of what was said he had already guessed, but the fact there was also a Covenant ship in the area gave him pause. There were two possibilities of escape. One was to return to duty, and the other was back to being a Prisoner. At this point Henry did not care which. Getting off this ship and away from the Flood alive was his only concern... As was getting his companions out. He did not know when it had happened, but now there were two humans here he trusted. Rimmer and Benti. He still did not trust Clearance.
Then something else came over the speakers from who he guessed was the Captain of the Red Horse. "Rebecca has told me there are two remaining escape pods on the lower deck. The launching mechanisms appear disabled, so they may need manual release. Once Major Smith is aboard you will have until we are in position, and a Shevea Missile is armed, then we will open fire. We cannot delay any further. The Major has brought the attention of a Covenant Capital Ship upon us. Eight, maybe ten minutes Sergeant. Good luck."
The voice of the female named Lopez said nine words that made Henry respect the human without meeting her. "You know what you can do with your luck." Then the transmission was cut.
After the transmission ended, Benti looked out on the mass and judged the situation. "We have to destroy it. That thing they just shoved Burgandy into, I think... I think they are trying to hotwire the Slip Space Engine without bridge control. We have to destroy it!" The others looked from her and to the Engine, "Even if not, that Engine is still important to them somehow. We have to take care of it!"
Rimmer managed to get Clearances hand of his mouth, "That's a slip space drive! We don't want to mess with that!"
Henry reached out and placed his hand on Benti's shoulder. She turned to Henry. He did not know how to say he agreed with her other than giving a nod nodded. Benti took her last two grenades and activated them. Rising from her position she threw them towards the mass. Then they began to run as the Grenades detonated.
It was a running fire fight from there. As the Flood began to swarm into the corridors, Henry, Benti, Rimmer, and Clearance ran threw them. Henry smashed the Flood that got to close for comfort, while the others did what they could to keep their path ahead clear.
"The most important thing is the pods! It gives us something to run to!" We stopped at a junction long enough for Benti to take Rimmers Assault rifle and give it to Henry. She nodded to Henry and explain, "He's a lousy shot!" Henry growled, holding the rifle with one hand and his cricket bat in the other. He pointed down a corridor as to the direction they needed to go. "Keep moving!"
As they ran, Henry could hear detonations behind them as the ships engines began to destabilize and approach critical.
We were falling back to a blast door when Benti's radio came to life. Someone yelling "Reload!"
"MacCraw?" Benti radioed back.
Sergeant Lopez responded, "Benti! Who's alive?"
Benti considered that for only a second, "Clearance, and some survivors! One deck to go!"
Lopez growled into the radio, "Get your ass in gear! This ship is not going to wait!"
"Yes Sir!" Benti replied.
They were running again, threw some observation windows they could see the core was over loading. It was then that a Flood Combat Form rushed out from a corridor and slammed Benti hard, throwing her against a wall. It stabbed her in the shoulder. Clearance rushed in and unloaded his MA5B on the Flood. When the parasite was down he turned his weapon towards Benti. Before he could fire, Henry grabbed Benti and began to run towards the pods. The other two followed suit.
As they approached the Pods the sound of gun fire ahead could be heard. Benti radioed ahead, "Serge, were coming! Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"
That is when both groups saw each other. Lopez and MacCraw raised their rifles at the sight of Henry, but couldn't fire as he was holding Benti.
Benti raised her hand to Lopez and called out, "Don't shoot! Henry's ok! DONT SHOOT!"
Lopez eyed Henry with distain, "MacCraw, don't take your finger off that trigger!"
We slowed to a stop in front of them. Clearance moved forward along with Rimmer. Henry remained back, but still supported Benti.
"What's this Covvie Bastard doing here? You said Survivors!" From down the corridor the sound the Flood could be heard. Then a gunshot as Clearance shot Rimmer in the head. Henry was only in shock for a fraction of a second before he turned and brought his rifle to bare on Clearance, while Clearance brought his pistol to bear on Henry and his rifle to bare on Lopez. Henry was enraged, wanted to kill this human for killing his friend.
Lopez didn't know who to aim for, then suddenly the sound of one of the pods launching could be heard. MacCraw had abandoned them, "Damn it MacCraw!"
It was a three way standoff in front of the last pod. Benti looked weakly up at Clearance, "your ONI. You've got to be."
Lopez narrowed her eyes as the realization hit her, "ONI? I'm not surprised."
Clearance shrugged lightly, "Nothing personal. There were never meant to be any survivors." He looked towards Henry and Benti, "Benti, get down. You can walk. Henry, put her down."
Henry was snarling now, but unwilling to let Benti go. He could fell Bentis blood running down his arm, and it only served to enrage Henry further. Lopez then noticed the blood coming from Benti's shoulder, "Benti, your hurt bad..." Lopez looked towards Clearance once more, with nothing but ice in her voice she commanded, "Clearance, put your rifle down now. It's two against one!"
Suddenly Benti elbowed Henry in the gut, taking him off guard and pushing herself forward. She looked toward Lopez and said, "You can have my Shore Leave." Then she suddenly threw herself at Clearance. Henry side stepped as Clearance fired his pistol. Then he was running as the Flood arrived to sweep over Benti and Clearance.
He and Lopez didn't have time to look back as the entered the pod room. They were both firing at the mass of Flood. Lopez hit the door control. As the blast door sealed henry fired the last of his ammunition at the closest Flood.
Now it was down to Henry and Lopez. Two survivors, but one pod. Lopez raised her rifle, pointing at Henry's face, "Sorry Henry, but there is only one pod." She pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. She was also out of ammo.
Henry growled, dropping his rifle and raising his bat. Lopez turned her rifle around to use it as a club. Pounding from the door could be heard as the metal began to bulge inward.
"Alright... LET'S DANCE!" Lopez yelled as they rushed at one another.
Henry swung his bat, aiming for Lopez's head, but she ducked under and slammed her rifle against his ribs. He staggered back, but quickly recovered. He brought his fist up hard against Lopez's stomach, but her body armor took most of the blow. Still was hard enough to cause the armor crack and for the wind to be emptied from her lungs.
The door bent further inwards. Tentacles began to writhe their wait in as the Flood worked to break the door, and consume them.
Lopez staggered back. As Henry rushed at her again he brought her rifle up and smashed it against the side of his head and drew blood. Part of her rifle had torn into his flesh, but he ignored it and slammed into Lopez hard, sending her flying back into the wall. She was on her knees now, trying to get her breath back.
Henry stood over her and raised his bat for the killing blow. Smashed her head would be easy, but he stopped. He remembered those he had been with. Rimmer, his twitchy friend. Benti, the one who sacrificed herself so that both Lopez and Henry could survive.
There was only one thing he could do, and it was crazy. It could kill them both, but what did it matter?
As the door began to open he scooped Lopez up into one arms, and she began to struggle. He moved to the pod and ease himself in with Lopez right on top of him.
She realized what he was doing and was stunned, "Crazy bastard." Then she hit the pod launch control. As the pods door closed they could see the bay doors open and Flood begin to rush in. The pod launched.
The pods basic control screen came online as it rushed away from the Mona Lisa. It was tight in the pod, but she managed to take the controls. With the Mona Lisa's Engines near critical there was no way they could escape blast range.
Lopez suddenly began to laugh, "Hell of a way to go. I get away from the Flood only to die spooning with a Covvie."
Henry found that funny and chuckled. The pods proximity sensors came online, blaring a warning. The Covenant Capital Ship was almost in range, it weapons were online and targeting the Mona Lisa and the Pod.
Henry chuckled, realizing he was going to die here, but at least he would not become one of the Flood.
The Proximity sensors lite up once more with a new warning. A new contact had just revealed itself from a dense part of the debris field and was heading right for them. Lopez was stunned for a moment as realization of what it was hit her. "The Red Horse!"
0214 Hours, October 6th, 2552(UNSC Calendar)
Soell System, Halo Debris Field
UNSC Red Horse
The Red Horse was moving at maximum burn. They had used a dense part of the debris field to mask their approach from the Covenant ship. One pod had launched. That was when Commander Tobias Foucault ordered the Red Horse to move in, against the A.I. Rebecca's recommendation. The first pod impacted with a piece of debris and compromised its hull. Then the second pod had launched.
"Helm, take us in. Get that pod into the Hanger bay at max burn!" Doing such a thing was dangerous, but he was out of options. The Covenant ship suddenly targeted the Red Horse as it moved into firing range.
Rebecca was alarmed by the Commanders actions, "Captain! The Covenant ship has spotted us and is locking on! Mona Lisa's Drive Core is forty five seconds from overload! We must withdraw!"
The Captain ignored Rebecca, "Helm, status!"
The Navigations officer was frantic as he worked the controls, "Almost there Captain. Almost... GOT IT! Pod is in the shuttle bay!"
Tobias quickly yelled out orders, "Helm bring us about! Engineering, jump heat the reactor and jump now!"
The Red Horse suddenly came about. The small Prowler class vessel was no match for a Covenant Capital Ships fire power. As the Covenant vessel began to fire it moved close to the Mona Lisa. The Red Horse flew threw a Debris field, using it as cover from the Covenant Ships Plasma Bombardment.
Suddenly the Mona Lisa disappeared in a brilliant flash of white light that expanded into space. Before the Covenant could react, the light enveloped them. As the blast approached the Red Horse, their Slip Space engines came online and they jumped on a random vector.
Everyone on the bridge seemed to sigh at the same instant. Everyone seemed to relax once more. From get go the mission to the Halo Debris Field had been FUBAR(Fucked Up Beyond All Reason), but now they were underway and had at least saved one member of the original boarding team to the Mona Lisa.
Just as those thoughts finished running threw his mind, the intercom activated. The voice on the other hand sound nervous, "Sir, this is Private Simon on the Hanger deck... We got Sergeant Lopez out of the pod, but she apparently came aboard with a Covenant Elite... She claims that he helped her escape and that he is a Prisoner of War... What should we do?"
After the Events onboard the Mona Lisa, the UNSC Red Horse returned to Earth.
Rebecca, the ship AI, was decommissioned just one month later after displaying signs of rampancy.
Commander Tobias Foucalt was awarded the UNSC Silver Star and promoted to Captain, in response to his daring action in destroying a Covenant Capital Ship and preventing the Flood from reaching Earth. During the assault on Earth by the Covenant, Captain Tobias gave his life so that a Civilian transport could escape a Covenant cruiser.
Sergeant Lopez returned to Earth and was put in charge of a new unit of Marines. During the battle for Earth She, and her squad, were part of Lord Hoods plan destroy Covenant Anti-Aircraft towers. When the Flood infected ship crashed, she and her squad successfully managed to get wounded Marines and Civilians to Evacuation zones. She credited her experience onboard the Mona Lisa for her survival. She was then later promoted to Major and awarded the Colonial Cross, for her actions above and beyond the call of duty. When the Spartan Four program searched for Volunteers, she was one of the first to enlist.
Henr'ak 'Takalu(AKA Henry) was held as a prisoner of war on Earth. He was held in the Japanese province until the Covenant invasion. When main power was cut he managed to escape his cell and find a set of Sangheili armor the UNSC was studying. Japan had been hit by Jiralhane forces. Instead of abandoning the humans to the Brutes, Henry assisted human forces on the ground. He worked alongside Human forces in defending a Civilian evacuation area against the brutes. Out of all the survivors that reached that evacuation area it has been reported that not a single one was lost. He eventually returned to his people to hunt the Covenant Remnants.
Major John Smith was court marshaled for his actions onboard the Mona Lisa. He was subsequently imprisoned in a covert ONI facility in Japan, the same as the Sangheili prisoner Henry. When UNSC forces returned to the base they discovered Major Smith still in his cell. His head had been removed for his body and placed into a toilet. It was suspected that the Elite prisoner, code named Henry, was responsible. When asked if he did it Henry simply said, "I killed a lot of things that day."