So, Guys, It's been a while, but I finally wrote a chapter so long that the best thing to do was to divide it in two halves. Of course, I only realized this when I had written 5000 words, so I figured that splitting it up would be easier than having one big 8000 or so word chapter. All the same, that doesn't been you're going to get both parts at once; The next part won't be finished for a week or two as usual. So… yeah…
Chapter 15: The Battle for Installation 06, Part 1
Environmental Replicator, Halo 06, February 20th, 2553
Cortana had only felt fear once or twice in her lifetime, but looking up at the Gravemind above them only brought that back. Both John and Thel stared up at the huge hulking life form above them.
I have seen many lifetimes of bravery in the memories of the flood.
"So you have, parasite." Thel growled.
You readily stumbled into my core, my source of power... Observe.
A tentacle gestured for the two to look at the tunnel behind them. Cortana saw through John's visor as he turned around. The Forerunner replicator suddenly hummed and glowed; a series of arms sprang from it, and in the center of the cylinder, a light blue light flashed.
Your fate was sealed the moment you set foot in here.
Some kind of deer like animal appeared in the center of the chamber. It gave a squeal and turned to run. Immediately, a tentacle from the Gravemind smashed through the creature, and it fell to the ground, motionless. The tentacle was withdrawn from the creature, and biomass expanded from the hole. Within a minute, the animal had become part of the flood biomass.
The Gravemind, this whole time, had seemed almost afraid of them, if not very cautious of them. It couldn't have known what John and Thel did.. But it did. It had confirmed that. It had mentioned the memories of the Flood. Cortana couldn't imagine having access to the lifetimes of millennia.
I am disappointed. I expected more... A plan, a plot, Not just the silence you have presented to me.
John turned back to face the Gravemind.
"What do you want with us, then?" He asked.
The huge form tilted his head in what seemed like confusion. Taking the hint, Thel picked up the conversation.
"The only time where the Gravemind of the Flood has communicated directly to us without trying to kill us outright is when he wants something of us." Thel growled.
But, of course, I do want something of you.
"And what might that be?" Cortana asked through the spartan's helmet speakers.
Your free will.
The group was silent, and then Thel and John glanced at each other in silence.
Become my willing instruments, my greatest tools, my loyal advisors...
"You know, the last Gravemind tried that too, and that didn't end up very well for him." Cortana countered.
The Gravemind paused, and then threw its head back, erupting into deep laughter, which was one of the more disturbing things that Cortana had ever heard. Both Thel's and John's hearts spiked by ten beats per minute each.
And that is true. My weak predecessor failed to plan for every situation. And now, he is gone. But I also say... You have no choice in the matter.
Several gold flashes filled the chamber behind the two. Cortana detected several blips on the Chief's motion tracker and identified them immediately.
"Combat forms!" Cortana warned.
John and Thel turned, drawing weapons. Thel's energy sword ignited and John raised his assault rifle, although it only had twelve rounds left in it.
The Gravemind had teleported in several dozen combat forms behind them, sealing off the exits.
"Why would you not kill us yourself?" Cortana asked.
Another laugh.
Entertainment, my dear.
Great, Cortana thought. Now we're fighting an egotistical Gravemind.
The combat forms advanced in a slow line, managing to form semi-decent lines. John emptied his assault rifle rounds into the nearest line. Two combat forms fell, but a third staggered backwards from the rounds, then returned to marching forward.
"I'm out." John hissed, switching for a combat knife.
Another dozen combat forms teleported in. Cortana had forgotten about the teleporters on the Halo rings.
"Chief!" She shouted over the COM. "I think I can access the Halo's teleporters. Should I pull you two out?"
"Not yet, Cortana." He replied, pulling the last grenade off his hip.
He took aim, pulled the pin and threw in one swift, fluid movement.
The Gravemind roared, but it moved too late, and the fragmentation grenade detonated inside the environmental replicator. The machine seemed to be undamaged at first, but then a high pitched sound came from the machine, and several puffs of fire appeared from several points.
There was silent as the machine smoked, and then a voice issued from it;
"Warning: Replicator Critically damaged, engaging failsafes... Error: Failsafes disabled by monitor."
Cortana couldn't help but wonder why he monitor had disabled the failsafes. Had he done it for every system on the ring?
Her attention was redirected to the replicator as it began to heat up. She knew instinctively that his meant the machine was going to explode.
"The replicator is going to detonate in thirty seconds. Quickly, both of you! Jump off the cliff edge. I'll teleport you out with out before you land." Cortana shouted.
Both of them backed up to the edge of the cliff.
"Can't you just do it now?" Thel asked as he split a combat form in half.
"You'd have to keep your limbs still then, and I don't think self-defence works well when you can't move your limbs." Cortana countered. "I can work against gravity, because that's a constant. I can't predict your limb movements."
John planted a foot on a combat form and sent it sprawling backwards. He turned and looked down the cliff into the dark. The Gravemind roared and dove into the darkness to take cover from the blast.
He sighed, and glanced at Thel. And then the two jumped into darkness.
Cortana immediately dove into the wireless connection of the Halo, tapping into the ring's teleportation grid. She couldn't put the two back on their ship, but she could put them nearthe control room, pretty close by.
An explosion snapped her back to the Chief's helmet briefly, then she locked the receiver grid onto the two, countering for the gravitation pull.
In her view of John's helmet, she saw the Gravemind reaching out towards the two.
Come to me.
"Cortana!" Thel roared.
"Grid connected... 3... 2... 1..." Cortana informed them.
The flood tentacles moved to wrap around the two, who were covered in the golden glow of the teleporters.
And then the teleporter engaged, and the chamber vanished.
I+-+-+I
UNSC Spearhead of Dawn, Hangar, Somewhere above the Control room of Installation 06, 20th February, 2553
The Halo had a very odd day-night cycle, which flowed independent of the UNSC military calendar. Now, the sun was setting behind the Gas giant that the station orbited, only to come back up in about 2 hours.
Of course, this information was of little use to the members of the Squad, namely Jimaenius, who had finally, (at least in his opinion,) been given the order to take the other members of the Squad and pick up the Spartan and the Shipmaster.
Jimaenius and Zhab were, at the moment, stocking the phantom they had chosen to use with weapons and ammo. This was the last working vehicle they had hat had not been scrapped for parts to repair the reactors.
Liyik and Limid were running around the hangar like cubs. Jimaenius found them amusing considering the circumstances.
"Vala to away team. Away team, respond." Came the Sangheili AI's voice over the COM.
Zhab set down his crate on the phantom's deck and climbed into the cockpit. Jimaenius climbed on board and set down his box, popped the top open and exposed the contents for easy access. Satisfied, he followed the Kig-yar into the cockpit.
"-position of the two has suddenly changed by 3482 kilometers. They're now very close by to the control room. They're practically right underneath us." The Sangheili AI was concluding.
"What's moved position?" Jimaenius asked.
"They have." Zhab replied, gesturing towards the phantom's viewscreen.
A pinprick of yellow light now flashed below their green light. Jimaenius felt himself grin slightly. Now this would be a quick and easy drop in, drop out operation. Probably no action, but then they'd finally be able to get away from this Halo. The monitors constant threats were getting on Jimaenius' nerves anyway.
"Well, Let's go get our friends." Zhab had a fierce look in his eye.
Jimaenius hesitated at Zhab's choice of words, but quickly hid it.
"Yes. Go get the Unggoy." He replied.
Zhab nodded and jogged out of the cockpit. Jimaenius sat down in the pilot's chair. Friends? He'd never thought that much about the subject, to be honest. Sure, they'd been aquentances, commanders, but... Friends? Jimaenius decided to postpone judgement for now.
One of the only vehicles that the Jiralhanae knew how to fly was the phantom; back with his pack on Diosac, he'd flown a few around times, but never really at speed. Time to see how fast this Phantom could push itself.
"We're all on board." Zhab informed him from behind him.
"Very well." Jimaenius called back. "I'm starting the engines."
Jimaenius reached for the door controls and shut both side doors. He then pulled the ignition lever and started the antigravity generators. He clasped the control stick and slowly started the phantom into a hover. Having rose up about five meters, he then spun the dropship around. Having turned to face the hangar door, he leaned the phantom forward and set the throttle to full.
The ship flew forward, and straight out. The sky were orange, though rapidly darkening as the sun set behind the gas giant the Halo orbited. The Spearhead hung in the air behind them, a dark streak upon the sky.
Jimaenius lit up the HUD and brought the ship around in a circle. A waypoint pointed to a point about 24 kilometers away. Jimaenius pulled the control stick to the left, lined up with the waypoint and pulled back on the throttle. No need to go in too fast.
This phantom was more manoeuvrable than he remembered the ones back home being, so he held the stick more tightly. Of course, that would mean his turning would be more stiff, but that was what he intended.
He heard a noise behind him and turned his head to see Zhab standing behind him, staring out the front viewscreen.
"How long should it take?" Zhab asked. "It's getting dark out."
"About a minute or two." Jimaenius guessed, and reached over to switch the lights on. "Hold on, I'll switch on the lights."
The cockpit and the transport bay were bathed in purple light.
"What do you think of that monitor?" Zhab asked.
Jimaenius tilted his head and thought about it for a moment.
"At the moment he just seems to be all talk, no do." The Jiralhanae answered, waving his hand in a dismissive manner.
"But that was when we were on the ship. You know what happened when the human and Sangheili left the ship." Zhab replied.
A long-time communications blockout, then they reappeared in the middle of nowhere, nearly out of ammo and deep in supposed flood territory. But on the other hand...
Jimaenius' impression of the Kig-yar was that he had incredible judgement. While normally he had his confident squash-buckling attitude, when he was nervous of something, it rarely turned out to be wrong.
Jimaenius opened the plasma conduit, warming up the phantom's plasma cannons. The underside turret deployed, and with it, and additional torch.
Ten kilometers now, and Jimaenius began to slow the ship down, twisting to the right to lose some speed upon atmosphere. The phantom vibrated slightly.
"Hard landing?" Zhab asked.
"Doesn't look like it; would've seen some fire by now." The pilot grumbled back.
With the waypoint about a kilometer away, the ground came into view. The sky was now extremely dark, with the only light coming from the gas giant. The grass rustled slightly as the phantom swept on by, about a hundred meters in the air.
About two-hundred and fifty meters off, Jimaenius cut forward thrust and pulled the phantom nose up; slowing the craft and beginning what limited scans the dropship could perform. Nothing hostile moved within a kilometer. Jimaenius finally landed the phantom at the foot of a slight hill. It was very dark now. The Jiralhanae had no intention to wander through the darkness with Unggoy in tow, and yet, if they were left alone, the phantom would probably never survive ten minutes.
Speaking of the Unggoy, there was a bang in the transport bay. Zhab immediately turned away and muttered something under his breath, before storming into the bay. Jimaenius unstrapped himself from the pilot's seat and followed Zhab into the transport bay.
He stepped inside to find several weapons crates thrown around, the goods inside scattered across the floor. Zhab was giving Liyik and Limid both a serious stare, and the two were standing with their arms behind their methane packs, each giving Zhab little puppy eyes.
"What on Eayn is this?" He asked.
Silence. After around a minute, Jimaenius spoke up.
"I've landed about two hundred meters away from the signals. We'll stealth the rest of the way to the top of the hill and observe. If they're there, we'll take them back. If not, we return. Nothing lost, hopefully undetected." He cast his gaze across the room. "Any questions?"
Zhab raised his hand immediately.
"Yes." He pointed to the Grunts. "They don't do stealth. And we know that we can't leave them here alone, so only one of us can go."
"Easy." Jimaenius replied, "You."
Zhab looked surprised for a second, then his face returned to normal.
"Of course." He laughed. "Of course."
Jimaenius picked up a weapon that had been thrown across the room, which turned out to be a plasma pistol. He tossed it to the Kig-yar.
"Best get ready then." He replied, turning to face the left-side door controls.
He pressed the top purple holograph and the left bay door fell open in one swift movement. The cold air rushed in, rustling the Jiralhanae's fur. He hadn't lived he been sweating slightly beforehand.
Zhab picked up his beam rifle and strapped it to his back. He was restively unarmored, but had pulled on a couple of body-defence packs. That should be enough armor to keep a large amount of agility, or so Jimaenius thought.
With a confident salute, Zhab jumped out into the grass and vanished into the darkness of the night.
Jimaenius closed the doors quickly afterwards to prevent the Unggoy getting any ideas. He had no intention to chase a pair of partially insane Grunts across the hills.
I+-+-+I
Bridge, UNSC Infinity, somewhere in slipspace, February 20th, 2553.
There had been thirty GA ships available within ten light years of Sol to follow Infinity to the newly-discovered Halo. Now they all followed the wake of the newly-commissioned ship.
Hood noted the majority of the crew were human; except for a single Sangheili who had taken the role of navigator. He was being watched closely by two armed guards, though he seemed to be unfazed by this.
Captain Del Rio was sitting on the captain's chair, head leaning on a fist. He was a strange kind of captain; there was no uniqueness or personality to him, just an uptight by-the-book personality.
He hadn't been Hood's first choice for captain of the Infinity; But he'd been the best, or at least, most experienced captain available for the Infinity. Margaret hadn't wanted him to take the ship; She'd probably wanted a more easily manipulated or animate captain, not just a shell of the UNSC rule book.
Hood heard the rear doors of the bridge open.
"Admiral on the bridge!" Someone shouted.
All the crew who weren't engaged in vital ship activities turned and saluted. Hood turned to see who had entered. Of course, It was Margaret herself, hobbling on board with her walking stick; however, still she was as intimidating figure as ever.
"At ease." She muttered, and the crew returned to work.
"Good to see that you could join us, ma'am." Del Rio stated.
"Thank you, Captain." She replied.
"Shall I have a chair gotten for you?" The captain asked.
"I shall be fine." Margaret told him.
Del Rio returned to his chair and began requesting status updates from his crew. Hood turned to Parangosky, who was now staring out the main viewscreen into the endless expanse of slipspace.
"It's been a long time since we last met face-to-face, hasn't it?" He chuckled.
She glanced over and gave a faint smile. That was as close as she ever got to outright emotion in a crowded room.
"Arrival at the Halo in 10 minutes!" Someone shouted.
"Alright, people!" Del Rio announced. "We're goon to arrive in possibly hostile territory. Weapons all up. Broadcast to fleet."
"Message sent." COMs informed them.
Out of the thirty ships accompanying the Infinity, there were seven Paris class heavy frigates, two of which had GA upgrades, such as BOWMEN plasma pods and Covenant Shielding systems. There were two Marathon class cruisers with them, still obsolete. There were also three Stalwart class frigates, all of which were upgraded. There were also four Charon class frigates, three of which were obsolete. With them also, two halberd class destroyers, along with three CPV class destroyers and four SDV class corvettes, finally rounded off by six CCS class battlecruisers. One of those battlecruisers had undergone upgrades.
Hood suddenly remembered that the Infinity also had an on board compliment of ten strident class frigates, completely new UNSC designed frigates, designed to take full advantage of the new technology created at the end of the war. If there were any hostiles waiting for the GA, they'd be in for a great surprise.
I+-+-+I
Somewhere nearby the control room, Halo installation 06. Febraury 20th, 2553.
Falling from several hundred feet and suddenly landing unharmed was definitely strange. Thel slammed into the grass which they had teleported over, attempting to roll, but ended up simply landing face-first in the dirt.
He lay on the ground for a minute, and then slowly pushed himself up. A few meters away, he saw John doing the exact same thing.
"Where... Are we?" He asked.
"We are about five kilometers from the control room." Cortana replied.
Thel could feel the beginnings of exhaustion creeping in for him, but he shook it off and surveyed the area. They seemed to be standing nearby a forerunner platform, which was located in the middle of some grassy plains, surrounded by some hills.
"The Spearhead was holding position nearby, wasn't she?" John asked.
"Yes. In fact, she is currently nineteen point eight kilometers away right now." Cortana replied.
"Can you contact them?" Thel asked.
"On it... I can't get a message to them, but I can transmit our new location."
"ReclAiMeR..." A voice hissed in the darkness.
A hostile signature suddenly appeared on the motion tracker. A hatch opened on the forerunner platform, and from it rose a monitor. It looked almost like the rampant 343 Guilty Spark.
It was 16807 Resigned Barrier. His central eye glowed a deep red. He hovered rather erratically, quickly switching his focus between the two.
"mY, MY, mY..." He chastised in a voice which constantly changed pitch and tempo. "wHat HaVe we HerE? A reClaImEr aND a SaNghEilI..."
He flew down right up close to John, examining him like a dog sniffing a new person it had met.
"tHe LibRarIaNS ChOseN oNE..." He swooped in front of Thel, tilting himself to the side as he examined the Sangheili. "And wHat HaVE wE HeRe? A sAnGheiLi, yeS, BuT sOmeThIng liv... i sHaLl live tHat yoU aRe kEpT live For sTudY..."
The monitor suddenly backed up until he was hovering about ten meters away, righting himself as he did so. His eye began to glow orange over the red.
Experience from Halo 04B told Thel what was about to happen. He dove to the side, John doing the same. Barrier fired his beam into the spot where John had been. Thel raised his own carbrine and fired, only to realise that it was empty. He growled a Sangheili swear and drew his energy sword.
The monitor dove low and charged again. John drew his combat knife and warded the machine off with a few swings. Barrier pulled back into the air and his eye reached full charge.
Suddenly, a beam of white light slammed into the side of the monitor, sending the forerunner machine slamming through the dirt. The two turned towards the source. A single locational waypoint was plotted upon the hill. It was Zhab, a faint light twinkling from the scope of his beam rifle.
"Impertinence!" Barrier cried, firing his eye beam as he rose from the ground.
Thel lunged to the right, narrowly avoiding the beam.
"Let's go!" John yelled, and Thel broke into a sprint towards the hill Zhab was firing from.
"We're still in a COM jammer range; presumably the monitor. I'm trying to contact Zhab." Cortana said hurriedly.
Thel's shields dropped to half as the monitor scored a lucky shot. He stumbled and rolled several times. He quickly thrust out an arm and was able to catch himself. He quickly rose to a knee, locating the monitor as he charged up again.
Thel swore in Sangheili as he prepared to dodge to the side. Zhab hit the monitor with a beam rifle burst, sending Barrier flying backwards. He discharged into the sky as he did so, yelling several profanities.
Thel took his opening and stared running again. As he reached the foot of the hill, his COMs exploded to life.
"He's in COM range." Cortana stated.
"Hurry up, Shipmaster." Zhab snarled.
"I'm coming, -pant- hold on to your feathers, -pant- Jackal." Thel panted.
Normally, a short hundred and fifty meter sprint shouldn't have unconvinced him, but after spending several hours fighting in Flood controlled sector had taken a lot out of him.
He reached about halfway up the hill. A beam rifle fired from overhead, and Thel quickly glanced back to see the monitor hit the dirt again, giving another cry.
"Nice, -pant- shooting." He said, still panting.
"Rutag." Zhab grumbled in Kig-yar, firing another shot.
Thel finally reached the top of the hill and stopped, turning to examine the rescue party. It was just Zhab. John stood on the other side of the Jackal, watching the monitor attempting to dig himself out of the crater he'd slammed into.
The Spartan looked impassive, but Thel could see the fatigue in the way he stood, his arms hanging by his sides, his combat knife not even sheathed.
"Is it just you?" Thel asked.
"Nah. The rest are in a phantom at the bottom of the hill. Let's go." Zhab replied,
He turned and pointed towards a point of several lights, which turned out to be a phantom resting at the foot of the hill.
The three set off down the hill at a brisk pace, reaching about halfway when Cortana suddenly shouted;
"Incoming teleporter transmissions!"
About thirty meters away, three golden lights flared to life; from these lights, angry Flood forms charged. Thel reached to his side and drew his energy sword; Zhab raised his beam rifle again and fired. The middle form was blasted apart, causing one on the left to stumble, but the one on the right lunged forward. Thel bisected it in midair.
The phantom finally decided that it would do something, and a side turret blasted the final flood form to shreds.
"I'm detecting several more teleporter transmissions across the ring!" Cortana warned. "It appears that the Flood are spreading across the ring."
Several bright lights lit up the area behind. Thel heard several snarls from more Flood combat forms from behind them. Jimaenius suddenly burst onto the COM channel.
"Get down!" He roared.
All three hit the dirt in sequence. Jimaenius opened fire with the plasma turret. The air was suddenly filled with the cries and roars of flood forms as they were ripped up by the plasma barrage. As soon as the turret started, It stopped.
"Come on!" Jimaenius hissed.
Thel rose to his knee and kicked off, using the momentum to gain that little bit of extra speed starting off. It was a trick that Elder Doram Vadamee' had thought him back when he was vying to compete in the Zolatig tournament, when he was less than 14 years old. He blinked. The phantom was little more than ten meters away now. Jimaenius had sent the side bay door down, and now he stood clutching the side turret tightly, with Liyik and Limid standing side by side with him, fuel rods aimed and ready.
Thel grabbed onto the door and pulled himself onto the phantom. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw John jump into the dropship, before running into the cockpit of the dropship. Zhab was a good ten meters away from the phantom. The phantom's antigravity drives began to change in pitch, signifying imminent takeoff.
Thel kneeled on the bay door, extending his hand down towards the jackal. Zhab seized his hand just as the dropship lunged towards the sky. Thel tightened his grip, and with a little help from Jimaenius, pulled Zhab on board the dropship.
Thel quickly glanced towards the ground below, as the bay doors began to close. On the ground below he saw dozens of golden lights flare to life across the hills below them.
Thel opened the main team COM.
"I don't like what I'm seeing below..." He muttered as the bay door closed.
"It's not looking good. I'm detecting transporter signals arriving all around the surrounding area. It seems that the flood are going all out now." Cortana exhaled.
"Question." Zhab asked, giving Thel and Jimaenius a nod of thanks. "Why on Eayn are they using the teleporter only now? Wasn't it there from the beginning?"
"It seems that our stunt in the replicator reminded, or perhaps showed the Gravemind that there was a teleporter infrastructure on the ring." Cortana replied. "Or, alternatively, we could have just really pissed him off and driven him over the edge. Your choice."
Zhab swore quietly and sighed, turning and taking a seat on one of the supply crates lying inside the phantom.
The door to the cockpit opened, and John stepped out, and then leaned against the wall beside the door.
"You got here quickly." He said.
"We were actually just leaving the Spearhead when we noticed that your transponder location had changed." Jimaenius replied.
"You were heading out to pick us up from the Flood controlled territory, despite the danger?" Cortana asked.
"Yep." Liyik squeaked. "That was the plan."
He then dissolved into a fit of laughter with his brother. Thel shook his head. Some Unggoy, he would never understand.
"Well, then... Thanks." John concluded.
"Where are we going now?" Zhab asked.
"Back to the Spearhead. We sent a message to the GA. Hopefully, a ship will turn up soon enough." Cortana explained.
There was silence in the bay for three minutes, and the only thing to hear were the antigravity drives. Then a clank was heard; the dropship slowed and the artificial gravity cut out and was replaced by another, larger one. They were on board the UNSC Spearhead of Dawn.
The bay doors fell open on either side. Thel stood up and hopped out of the dropship.
Vala suddenly joined the team COM.
"Will all crew report to the bridge immediately, we have a situation." She sounded panicked.
Thel started towards the elevators at the end of the hangar bay. The rest of the Squad clambered out of the dropship and hurried after him. John sprinted up beside him, holding Cortana's chip tightly in his hand. They reached the elevator and went up at top speed. It took them around ten seconds to reach the top of the over two hundred meter tall ship.
The doors opened, revealing a hallway which led into the bridge of the Spearhead. John and Thel both quickly hurried into the bridge, the rest of the Squad following them from the other lift that arrived a few seconds later.
The two ONI operatives were sitting in the bridge, both staring at the holotable beside Thel's chair. The Spartan inserted Cortana's chip into a terminal.
Thel stopped beside his chair, which was occupied by the other human.
"Off." He growled.
She muttered something under her breath, but gave up the chair nevertheless.
"Cortana." The Sangheili muttered as he clasped the armrests of his chair and spun in around; "Status please."
The AI's holograph formed on the holotable.
"On it." She replied, immediately beginning to building a holograph of the halo; complete with red dots signifying covenant ships, and a large red patch on the ring signifying the Flood controlled zones.
Thel glanced back towards the front viewscreen; only to notice something out of the corner of his eye. He paused, uncertain of what he just saw. He focused on the outside of the window for a few seconds, and almost immediately, he spotted a plasma blue explosion rip through space.
He then spotted several other plasma torpedoes flying through space aswell.
He turned back towards Cortana.
"What's going on up there?" He growled.
Cortana pointed to the two hundred or so covenant ships, which were now scattered across space around the Halo. Faint red dots flew from them and connected with other ships of their own. It reminded Thel of the battle over High Charity at the start of the Great Schism less than a year ago.
"It seems that, when the flood started using the teleporters, a good portion of the covenant fleet didn't have their shields up, so the flood got on board and gained control of some ships, so now both sides are blasting each other apart up there." Cortana replied, ringing both hands behind her neck. "I don't like the looks of this..."
Suddenly, at exactly ninety degrees each across the ring, a red patch lit up.
"What are those?" Jimaenius asked.
"It seems that..." Cortana paused and scratched her head. "The monitor has begun activation of several failsafes across the ring... These appear to be ancient Forerunner ships."
"Well, he doesn't like us very much, so I don't think he's going to avoid us because we're not infected." Zhab pointed out.
"Red alert." Thel growled. "Bring all weapons to full capacity, shields to 75% and send whatever's left to engines."
There was a roar from the binaries as they flared to life.
"The battle for this Halo has well and truly begun."
I+-+-+I
Here I leave you. The next chapter will be something else; I've been looking quite forward to writing it. Anyway, you guys, thanks for all your reads, favs, follows and reviews. It… Well, is really encouraging. Anyway, cya next time!
Oh… by the way… R&R!
(Why did I add this?)