Chapter 3: To the Castle!
"All consumption is death for the consumed. Yet all must eat, so we bring damnation to one creature or another."
The Gravemind
By whatever deity that exists, the Flood could drive!
Thankfully, very horribly.
I pulled the mangled corpse of a Elite out of a warthog and threw it on the growing pile of bodies. The Flood had ambushed us when we got close to the outpost by trying to ram a hog into us, but crashed into a boulder. After that, a dozen of those things recklessly charged from every side and a short firefight later left a dozen bodies to take care of.
One positive thing though, the Flood do not discriminate.
I watched as the Promethean blasted each Human, Elite, and Brute corpse into golden ash. The Covies got what they deserved, to be turned into the puppets they truly were, but I felt pity for my fellow man. To be mutated into the 'Combat Forms', as Watchful Seer cheerfully chirped, were sickening. They deserved rest for fighting against a ruthless enemy. Now we had a enemy that could make zombies.
"Reclaimer!"
"You don't have to keep calling me that," I grumbled. Being called Reclaimer was starting to get on my nerves.
"Then is there a proper name for you?"
"Six," I replied. It asked for my name which meant whatever reason it called me for wasn't important. Probably just to keep yapping about how time is of the essence.
"A number?" Seer sounded baffled," that is dehumanizing!"
A I. that cared about ethics and morals? What has the world come too?
Oh right, zombie-fungi and mysterious aliens claiming Humanity was the inheritors of their broken toys.
"Then just call me Noble," I came up with. That's how some remnant would survive.
"Hm, Noble," Seer said as if it was examining a newly discovered species," there is a ninety-eight percent chance this is not your proper name, but due to current circumstances, it will suffice. However, when permitted, I request your proper name."
I growled. I never told anyone my real name since training. That ignorant kid was dead.
Not true, he lives on through my actions.
"I'll scavenge for supplies. What's the situation like?" I asked as I walked towards a semi-destroyed building. When I originally came here, parts of it were already missing. Now it looked like someone had planted all their bombs in one place and blew it up, leaving the entire left section nothing more than rubble.
"Current Flood severity is at twenty-two percent. The Covenant has successfully isolated them into pockets and my Sentinels are dealing with any stragglers. However, the contaminant facility has been overrun. The possibility of a Gravemind is rising one percent per two hours."
"A Gravemind?" I asked. I rummaged through the discarded piles of items and crates, rewarding me with a few cans of soda all tucked away in a crate.
"The Gravemind is the ultimate Flood intelligence. It coordinates all Flood spores to further spread infection as well as integrating the intelligence of other species."
"Sounds menacing," I replied. I ripped a box's lid off and pulled out a shotgun.
"It is, Noble!"
"Then," I pumped the shotgun," let's stop them."
"There is no reason to be all dramatic."
"Let me have my fun. It's not like you're out in the wasteland with everything trying to kill you."
I heard a annoyed groan. I'm surprised that this A.I. could feel emotions at all and here I was thinking that all of them were cold husks of former Humans.
My search turned up little, as expected. All I had was a few sodas, a shotgun, and three shells for it. However, I had put all of the Flood's weapons on the back of the warthog and as I headed to it, I realized the problem that the Promethean was simply too big to fit. For Feather, I could attach a wire to it and drive, but how the hell am I suppose to carry the robot?
"Er, Seer, we might have a problem."
"Tell me Noble so I may calculate all possible solutions."
"The Promethean is too heavy for the warthog."
"Oh, wait just one second."
One second? That would be faster-
CRACK-SNAP
I stopped dead in my tracks as I witnessed the robot use its sword to saw the turret off its support and then throw it onto the ground. The Promethean proceeded to pull back its sword and thrust downwards into the space between the seats and the back. I tried to figure out how it wasn't going to fall off when Feather drifted over, varying metal scrapes in-tentacles, and in a few seconds created a holding by piling all of it around the blade and fusing it together before hovering over it and latching on with all of its tentacles.
"Great, we created the joke-mobile. Just another problem, it can only shoot on its right side."
As if to mock me, the Promethean's back split into two much like a beetle and blue 'lava' erupted out as another robot shrieked out. This one was much smaller, about the size of a toddler or small child and had the uncanny appearance of one in Elite-styled armor. Two circular, segmented 'wings' spun creating a transparent field of blue which I guessed helped it fly.
I slammed my palm onto my visor in a typical facepalm. That thing could have been useful in dealing with Emile and the ambushing Flood.
"Noble, what is the matter?"
"Why didn't you tell me the Promethean had backup we could have used?"
"The Suppressor-class Watcher was meant for rapid fire. In a enclosed space with allies, it could have caused unnecessary harm to you or your allies! Outside, the ambush was inadequate to be a threat so we could not risk the loss of the Watcher as it has various support capabilities."
"I guess you're right about that," I said. I climbed into the driver's seat and turned the key. The engine sputtered to life and gave way to a steady hum causing me to smile. It worked!
I put some force on the pedal and readied for the jerk of the vehicle. The engine roared and then died in a sputter.
Taking a deep breath, I let my head fall onto the wheel forcing the horn to let out a loud, constant blare. Of course the Promethean was too fat for the warthog to handle.
"Noble, there is a one hundred percent possibility that the Knight is too heavy."
I brought up my head and slammed it into the wheel.
"Noble, there is good news. A functional vehicle classified as a 'Elephant' is directly ahead! Be careful, however, as Sentinels have reported a skirmish between you and the vehicle."
A Elephant? Despite its slow speed, not only might it carry supplies and the Promethean, but might also have vehicles if it was a repair station. Plus having extra armor always helps.
"Alright, let's move out then," I said as I jumped out and placed my shotgun on my back as well as picking up a DMR from the warthog. Feather also quickly ripped out the melded metal mound, allowing the Knight to leap through the air to the once previously closed gate.
I walked through it, looking for the cause of what forced it opened. Blue fires devoured a trail of metal leading to a crashed Banshee. Its nose dug into the ground and the canopy was opened, but there was no occupant. Either they fled or got eaten by the Flood. Not like it mattered, they unlocked the door for us.
We emerged onto a highway clogged with burnt-out or flaming vehicles, people's belongings were scattered between them detailing the panic they had, and dried blood with no corpse in sight told me what happened. Up ahead, I saw the highway broke off in two. One filled with a river of vehicles towards the Aszod shipbreaking yard in the distance. The other had dried up to only a handful all facing us. Obviously some civs thought taking a different route would save them.
Thankfully I had no intention of going to the shipbreaking yard. There was nothing there anyway.
We took the less clogged one.
As my little group trotted along, the distant rattle and hiss of gunfire became ever louder. At first it was like thunder miles away, not at all concerning. Then as we came closer, the thunder slowly transformed into a raging thunderstorm mere meters away and threatening to harm us.
When I saw blurs and flashes of blue and orange, I crouched down and gestured to my companions to stay put.
Quietly I used the sparse amount of vehicles or the misplaced barrier to cover my approach. Getting closer, I saw two dozen Elites firing into the Flood horde. Humans, Elites Brutes, and even Jackals and Grunts kept charging. The ones that had weapons utilized them expertly as if the owner was still alive. The ones without one mindlessly ran straight into the hail of plasma and kept going till they fell.
Among the horde were also swarms of little squid-popcorn creatures scurrying on their little tentacle legs while three with the roots swung about. Whenever a blob of energy smashed into their numbers, a large portion exploded in a flurry of green-tan meaty bits and mist. Now I knew the vector of the infection, I just wonder how they accomplishment such a feat when there were layers of armor, muscle, and bone to get through.
Then my eyes caught a sneaky little one moving under a SUV where a blue Elite was reloading its needle rifle. The form leaped onto the unsuspecting alien who only had enough time to drop the weapon and shout in surprise. I blinked as the creature latched onto the upper chest area by stabbing it with its tentacles. They then began to move about in a circular fashion as the Elite roared in agony. A moment later, it fell to the ground, writhing and twisting much like the Zealot. This time, head-sized bulges burst out and popped as the split-jaws mutated into one of the Combat Forms.
When the process was all set and done, the newly born infected Elite rose, bent down, picked up its rifle, and received so much plasma from the surrounding Elites, it became a mini blue sun. I partially wondered if that was its wish.
But I had the information I needed. Facing both sides would be downright suicidal. The only way I could think of was to toss a grenade and run, teleport, and float like hell through the hole. The Flood had only formed about three, disorganized lines so the force should be enough to create the opening.
"Seer, I got about two dozen Elites and three messy lines of Flood. Fighting them would just result in our deaths so my plan is to create a gap via grenade. Can you send the others to my position?"
"Noble, is there no other way?"
"Hm, highway with a mountain on one side and a great fall to the other."
"The chance of success is fifty-seven percent. I'll alert the others."
"Don't tell me the odds."
"But that is one of my functions," Seer said sadly. I rolled my eyes.
"Just send them over. In the meantime, I'll get the plan ready."
"I recommend you wait for the Promethean Knight as it is equipped with a pulse grenade. The bigger opening will increase your chances by two-point-five percent."
"When we have a lull, I want a detailed report of everything the Promethean can do."
"I will compile every function then."
While I waited for Feather and the Knight to get here, I watched as the Elites slowly dwindled away. Bullets filled up their bellies, plasma scorched their skin, claws tore them apart, or subjected to the horror of being turned into one of them alive. However, the Elites fought tooth and nail, bitterly to the last one. They steadfastly refused to retreat and suffered for it.
I found myself enjoying their stupidity and resulting deaths.
My ears perked when I heard swooshing and I twisted my body to see both the Knight and Feather behind me. The Watcher was still floating about too.
"Noble, my estimates show you will only have a fifteen second window before the Flood recover from the shockwaves."
That was actually a long time, more than enough for us to run through. I didn't voice it though.
I grabbed a grenade I had acquired from the ambush earlier while the Promethean lifted its sword, a electric, blue ball of energy coiling into it. We launched them into the air and they arced down into the middle.
Right before they exploded, I jumped out and my allies followed suit. A distorted human shriek alerted the others to us and half of the Flood horde turned its attention to us. Then, boom.
The highway shook as a explosion sent fire and shrapnel in all directions, engulfing the nearest Flood and peppering the rest. The Promethean's grenade sent a semi-circle of blue, causing them to stumble like drunks. So that's had such a large window.
Nonetheless, I madly dashed through the opening and I heard the swooshing follow. Not sure how Feather was going to get through. Likely just hover over them all.
We exited the horde just as it recovered and I didn't look back. Just meters away were the Elephant. Above it, the Engineer descended and went into the driver's seat on top. I used the momentum generated as fuel to fling myself into the back and whipped about with the DMR shouldered. To the left corner or my vision, I saw the Promethean mineralize on the second level of the vehicle.
The horde, meanwhile, gave chase to a lone Elite running to us. It waved for what I believed to wait for it and I could just imagine it shout, "wait for meeee!"
Not gonna happen.
I fired three bullets into the Elite's right knee. The first two slammed against the shield, causing it to collapse. The third erupted a waterfall of purple and it faceplanted onto the ground. I watched as the horde moved in for the kill and the Elite pushing itself onto its back to desperately and wildly fire its Plasma Rifle. The bolts smashed into the wall, but none fell and the wave of Flood engulfed the screaming Elite.
By then, I lurched forward, nearly falling off the Elephant itself. Looking side to side, I saw the landscape beginning to move faster and faster. That was when the Combat Forms began firing their weapons. Bullets sent dings vibrating though the air and plasma went up in balls of light, scorching the vehicle. Some hit my shields and I grunted at each impact.
If only the shields also stopped pain. At least the Flood were horrid shots. In retaliation, though, I fired at the Flood. I found myself with a spark of frustration as the bullets merely slammed into the Combat Forms who simply flinched. It took two to four to bring down the Humans, six for Brutes, and nearly ten for a Elite due to their personal shields depending on color.
Still, I fired as we moved faster and faster till I felt as though we were going faster than a warthog, leaving the infected to devour our dust.
Huh, I always thought Elephants were turtles when compared against other UNSC vehicles.
There was also the fact that the Promethean or its friend didn't help me with the Flood. I turned around to see the Knight facing me.
"Thanks for not helping," I said. In response, the Promethean's back split out and spewed out bits of metal and half of a burnt engine."You're also a pack mule."
Then I heard Feather's cooing and the Engineer floated from the second level. I watched as its tentacles picked up the scrap, weighing and bringing it up to its face, and either tossing them or coiling a arm around it. It didn't even look at the engine and went back up to the second floor. Now I know why Engineers were called Engineers.
But if Feather is upgrading the Elephant, than who's driving?
In all that time, I didn't catch a glimpse of the Watcher.
It was driving, wasn't it?
I went to the left and ran up the ramp to see that it was. I wasn't going to bother how it did such a feat. Being nearly killed, revived by a hovering squid, meeting robots of Humanity's 'Forerunners', and being engaged by parasitic popcorn in the span of what felt like hours, this was one of the lesser strange, but still helpful, occurrences.
But now we had a lull, a moment of fragile peace that could be broken by unholy fire or all-consuming flood.
I should have asked Seer to send the report over, but I instead slumped down against the sloped bridge. My hands went up to my helmet when I heard Seer complain.
"Noble! Do not remove your filtration device as the Flood spore could be airborne at this point!"
"I just want some fresh air," I said and before he could respond, my helmet hissed as the locks were undone and I removed it.
And tasted the dusty winds.
I gagged. I felt a burning sensation in my throat as if my stomach was threatening to unleash vomit if I didn't put it back on. Breathing was like inhaling sand, crunchy and salty. Nonetheless, I braved it and flipped the helmet over to see what changes were made. Aside from its repairs, it appeared exactly the same when I first got it. Heh, never thought I got to wear the armor that the legendary SPARTAN-IIs wore.
Like Jorge.
I closed my eyes and sighed. Damn you, Reach needed you more than me, but what's done is done. As I put back my helmet, I thought back to when Jorge shared chocolate with me.
For the two days between the discovery of the Covenant on Reach and the Battle of Sword, me and NOBLE were sent out to combat the Covies and take out whatever bases they had set up. One particular mission had us clear out a supposed resupply camp that they had set up near Sword Base.
"House is clear sir," I spoke over the comms as I searched the building of the homestead. There wasn't anything here aside from toppled and torn furniture, shattered dishes, and dead aliens.
"Copy Six, try to find that stash Intel suggested was here."
"Got it sir," Jorge's Hungarian accent boomed behind me," let's have a look, shall us Six?"
I nodded.
I went over to a door and kicked it open. Inside was a messy bedroom that only had human objects such as discarded clothes that could fit a teenager and posters of a popular hip-hop singer. After messing it up more in a search for Covenant supplies, I walked out empty handed.
"Hey, Six, found some chocolate, want some?" Jorge said as he emerged from a hallway with a giant bar of the candy in hand.
"We are currently on a mission."
"Lighten up, no need to be serious all the time. Even Carter has his moments like the time tried to sing."
"I heard that," Carter's annoyed filled voice growled.
"Just trying to make the recruit feel welcomed sir."
"We are still on a mission, that is a time to be serious."
"Of course Six, but it feels like you're him, John. I swear, sometimes he's like a machine. Even other SPARTAN-IIs are like that."
"Really? Sorry then, but I rarely get a chance to relax. When the opportunity arises, I would like a piece. Haven't had chocolate in forever!"
"That's contraband!" Carter shouted over the radio.
"Sir," I said," would you like for me to pull the stick out of your ass?"
Silence.
I then heard Jorge's soft chuckle, Jun's attempt at stifling laughter, Emile's boisterous laugh, and Kat's mocking snicker.
Carter mumbled something, but over the varying amounts of laughter, I just heard his irritated voice.
"Hope you enjoy the shit then."
I internally laughed.
"ALL OF IT IS MINE!"
All the laughing stopped when we heard a high-pitched voice roar. Me and Jorge ran out of the building to see a Grunt climbing into a Wraith I thought we had disabled with Covenant crates strapped to it. The tank whirred to life and white-blue streams shot out from its back as it sped away.
"What's going on?!"
"Grunt is driving a Wraith away with all of the supplies!"
"I thought you said it was clear?!"
"This one is good at hiding."
"Or you're just bad at seeking."
The chase didn't last long. The Grunt thought the only method of escape was to drive over one of the moutaincliffs.
A metallic thud greeted my head when it went limp and landed on the metal. I stared up at the skies as a Covenant cruiser Glassed some place far away, likely purging the Flood and Humanity's achievements.
A/N: We now move onward to Castle Base! I should let you know I haven't read the book, First Strike, but thanks to the wiki and summaries, I have a basic idea of what happened. Unfortunately Chief won't drop by(yet) so we're stuck with Dr. Halsey and whatever SPARTANs I might throw in. Oh wait, I just told you we were going to meet a mad scientist. Well, whatever. Anyways, hoped you enjoyed the story and do leave reviews detailing what you liked, what you didn't like, and the meh parts. Always looking to improve my writing!
Guest: as seeing you don't have a account, I'll respond to your review the old fashion way! Thanks for saying my story was good and that Six's character is decent, it lets me know what I'm doing right.
