Holy crap I've actually updated. I'm really sorry for long hiatus but there was some things going on that took me away from this project and of course there was the ever-present writer's block. However, I do care about this story enough to at least try to continue it so here is the next chapter. I actually had fun writing this once I was able to get back into it. Enjoy.

Chapter 6: Outbreak

It was getting close to dusk when some of the new staff arrived at the compound. For the most part, they were scientists who were specialized across a broad range of fields from xenobiology to artificial intelligence to cryptography. They numbered at around at least thirty, not counting their military escorts which numbered in the hundreds of marines and logistics personnel; all for one crashed spaceship. While she enjoyed the help and like-minded company, Ellen Miles did not wholly enjoy their presence. Nearly all of them had no idea what they were looking at and tinkering with, thanks in part to the high level of secrecy even with the people directly involved with it. Sure, she never understood much of what was found either, but at least she was the one who understood it best even if it wasn't much. This was also the reason why she was seen as suspicious from the others despite the fact that they had only been there for less than six hours. She would often find herself being stared at from across the hall when leaving the lab and would overhear hushed whispers whenever they were noticed. It kind of reminded of her high school years and it did not ease her mind any.

Miles had already met two of the scientists who were assigned to work with her. One of them was a burly man named Willie who was a sort of systems analyst. Unlike the other scientists, he wore flannel instead of the typical lab coat since his line of work had no use for it. She had already known him from university and they were good friends. The other was more of an astrophysicist named Fitch. Miles did not know him as she did not recognize the young and well-groomed face and his conspicuous glasses. Though they all recently met, the three had gotten along real smoothly with no sense of competition. Right now, they did not have much to do. The daily reports were already recorded and there was very little information of interest from what Miles had managed to take from the ship. Mel, the micro-AI, was having a surprisingly difficult time trying to decrypt it. She figured it was likely because of Mel's small processing power combined with the sheer complexity of the information. It would take a while.

While Miles looked at the decoded data for the eighth time and Fitch watches Grifball at a computer terminal, Willie spoke as he was cutting an apple with a pocket knife. "You know, I've been thinking: Who would make the best astronomers? I mean, think about it. Who has…"

He cut out a slice. "…the perfect synthesis of career and lifestyle?"

After a short pause; Fitch said nonchalantly while never taking his eyes from the screen, "I give."

"VAMPIRES!" Fitch turned to see Willie with his hands up and there were put two apple slices in his mouth to make it look like he had fangs. The vampire impersonator then giggled like a little girl. Fitch did not say anything and only gave him a look before turning back to the game. Miles chuckled a bit. They were at least entertaining.

As they were screwing around, Miles suddenly realized how cold it was getting in here. Sure, it was getting dark and the compound's climate control was hastily built, but it felt colder than it should be as she was already shivering a bit and needed to grab a jacket. The other two didn't seem to notice at first so she asked them about it.

"The heater probably went out," Fitch said.

Suddenly, the lights and all the electronic screens flickered before returning to normal as if nothing had happened. Everyone looked around for a moment, unsure what to think of it before Willie pointed out, "I'm sure it's more than just the heater, man."

Even though she felt it was paranoid to think so, Miles felt a sense of dread wash over her. She could neither pinpoint the source nor the reason behind it; she could just feel it as if they were fighting the Covenant again and just waiting for the invasion force to come to their world. Maybe she was over thinking it too much but that ship came from an unknown civilization that her people barely had time to know anything about. They could pose a possible threat.

A beeping noise soon grabbed her attention and she turned to hear Mel speak. "Doctor. I am currently running at 45% operating capacity from unknown reasons. I'm afraid I will not be able to decode some of this information without some assistance."

She sighed as this was the third time this week he broke down like this. While she knew they were experimental and not as stable as normal AIs, micro-AIs had to at least have some durability, right? Willie stood up out of his seat and strolled over after hearing her. He took out a pair of reading glasses and said "Here, let me help with that."

"You know how to decode an alien language without the help of a fully functioning AI?" Miles asked. He nodded, saying that he learned a lot of things in his spare time that included cryptography. Reluctantly, she allowed him to do so and sat alongside Fitch who was still watching sports. A few moments later, the young man looked away from the screen and asked her, "What was all that about with the fruitcake?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"You know; the pink guy you were talking to. What was that about?"

She looked at him with both curiosity and surprise. "How did you-"

"Let's just say Willie and I were filled in on it."

Miles did not inquire further about it, and instead answered his question. "I don't know."

Fitch nodded. "Who do you think he is?"

She could only shake her head as the thoughts of the strange man returned to her mind. Why would he ask that if no one, not even the only person he spoke to, would get an answer? However, there was a strange feeling the woman had when she talked with him. It was not something that could be easily explained in words but it was plausible that might be some sort of connection between them. As a scientist, Miles was inclined not to trust personal feelings but they were quite compelling in this case. The way that the man looked at her was akin to the way a man reacts to seeing a long-forgotten friend from days past. She knew that look as she had seen it before.

"I'm not sure, Fitch. That man was certainly strange but I can't help but feel familiar with him. It's like-" she held up her arms and waved them for emphasis "-he's someone I once knew but I can't remember. The way he looked at me is just… I don't know, maybe I'm just going crazy."

"I don't think you're going crazy," Fitch said calmly. "I think you're quite fine in the head."

Looking back at him, Miles slightly smiled. At least someone around here thought she was sane, though she did find the man's calmness about it to be quite odd. Then again, everything that is happening on this damn rock is odd.

"I mean, come on. Look at what the guy was wearing! He had a samurai sword and wore a pink dress." Fitch emphasized the word pink. "I think anyone with half a brain would feel the same way." She only nodded, thinking more of the strange man she had "interrogated" before there was a distinct beep that caught her attention.

"I think I got it!" Willie said with his arms raised in success. Fitch and Miles got up and joined him at the console where there was a block of text alongside the strange symbols and pictograms. The big guy then started to point at it with a confused look on his face. "I can't believe that worked."

"What?" The two leaned over as well, trying to get a good look at what was on the screen. They could see three columns of text; one in the alien language, one in English, and the third in-

"Japanese? Is that written in Japanese?"

Willie looked back at them, equally as shocked as they were, and nodded. "It took me a while to make sense of all of this but what I got: some text in ancient Japanese. Good thing I was able to translate it."

Fitch turned to Miles and asked "I thought Mel didn't have language translation software?"

"He doesn't."

When Willie turned to find his co-workers looking at him with strange looks, he sighed. "I watch a lot of anime."

"Too much, apparently." Fitch replied before hearing the big man grumble to himself.

Miles shook her head, unable to grasp what Willie had said. "Before we could get carried away here, can we talk about what this actually says?"

With a nod, the man turned to the screen and traced his finger along some of the text, his eyes moving all over it to try to process it. "Well, it's definitely some sort of cargo vessel. What I've got here is the ship's manifest. I can't read half of it, but it looks like it carried a lot of something. It doesn't say exactly what, but all this security surrounding it would leave me to guess that it was pretty important."

"Or dangerous," Miles added, leaning in to get a good look at the screen. She glanced at it, finding some odd words and commented on one such word. "What the hell is 'Okami'?"

Willie scratched his head with furrowed brows and saw it as well, finding it odd that to find it in the manifest. "Written like that, it means 'great god'. I don't know why it didn't fully translate, though. It might be because some of the data has been corrupted…"

Suddenly, the screen flickered and over the course of a few short seconds, the fluorescent lights hanging above the dull grey ceiling went out and the room was dark. Then the room was shaken by a deep rumble and everyone turned to a quick knock on the door. Despite showing the courtesy to knock, Sergeant Kane did not show the courtesy to wait for the answer as he slammed the door wide open with several marines standing behind and out in the hall.

"Doc, we need to get you out of here. Now."

All three of the scientists stood up with confused looks, noting the seriousness in his already firm voice. The two men in the room quickly moved to pack up their things without saying a word while Miles closed up the case they were looking at mere moments before. She then turned to the soldiers who had burst into the room, "What's going on, Sergeant?"

"Something's happened," he answered, not even glancing at the men behind him who appeared to be scanning the hall with their rifles drawn. "We will explain on the way but right now, you have to come with us."

She was about to ask where but her colleagues had already bolted to the door, both holding data pads and personal valuables under their shoulders. Sighing and grabbing the case containing Mel and all the important data, she followed them out of the room. Rushing through the dull yet pristine hall of grayness, one of the marines explained after Fitch asked about it. "There's some kind of attack. Most of our electronics got knocked out and we just got orders to evacuate the area."

"Yeah, and we don't even know what we're dealing with." Another one said, glancing back at some other scientists being escorted out by other marines. Then another explosion was heard and felt, being slightly more intense than the last which nearly knocked all three scientists off of their feet. After reaching the end of the hall and opening the double doors that lead outside, the sight before them made Miles gasp quietly.

The scent of burning oil reached her nostrils upon seeing the scene in front of them. Various men in uniform ran about in a seemingly chaotic fashion while warthogs and even the occasional tank rolled past and down the makeshift roads. They could hear the men barking out orders and shouting at each other, barely audible over the low rumblings of distant explosions and gunfire. She glanced up and saw a flight of pelican dropships fly from behind and towards the crashed ship, where a black mist engulfed the wreckage. Along its edge were the tiny figures of men and vehicles against the backdrop of the setting sun and they were firing upon it. Though it was hard to tell from this distance, she had a feeling that whatever fighting was going on would not end well.

After a moment of staring at this, they quickly moved on and towards the airstrip. She and her companions had difficulty just keeping up with Kane and his men and it didn't help that they were getting distracted by the battle several miles away. Even the speculation of what they were fighting clawed at everyone's minds as no one could tell what it was. Miles could only hear the sergeant practically yelling into the radio and not whoever was on the other side.

"- yes, sir. I understand, but what are we-? We are heading to the evac point now… Affirmative, the assets are secure. Who the hell is 'they'!?" They suddenly stepped out of the way of a warthog that sped right by them at high speed, causing Willie and Fitch to drop some of their things. The escorting marines quickly gathered them as Kane took a moment to gaze at the dark cloud looming in the distance, wiping some sweat off his brow. "Yeah, I know they're unknown! What DO we know?!"

There was another long pause and he started running again, forcing the others to follow.

Barely holding on to his data pads and teddy bear, Willie shouted, "Hey, man! What the hell's going on, man?!"

At that moment before Kane or anyone could answer, a loud and animalistic roar filled the air. It overtook the sounds of the fleeing vehicles and shouting men, causing everyone for the briefest moment to stop and look towards the wreckage of the alien ship that seemed so far off. The black mist was a lot closer than before and they all felt a sense of dread that tapped into the very core of their fears. After a second of silence, another roar was heard but it was not the same and this was realized when the marines and the civilians looked up to see the pelicans emerge from the cloud. All of them were trailing smoke and losing altitude as their engines were either ablaze or destroyed completely. They were also flying in their general direction.

"WATCH OUT!"

In a few short seconds, the nearby building exploded in a massive fireball as the craft crashed right into it; the shockwave and the heat would very nearly knocked the group down had it been closer. Another explosion shook the ground below them and they all turned to see the air pad and the aircraft that sat upon it turned to flaming debris that flew across the ground. Their ride out of here was gone and a flurry of swearing and cursing followed.

"Fuckberries! We're screwed, man!"

"Holy shit! What was that?!"

"No! My orange juice was in there!"

After muttering some profanities of his own, the sergeant soon barked at everyone nearby to take cover and they obeyed though they were visibly shaken.

There was no time for them to look back as more aircraft fell from the sky in huge fireballs and crashing down all over. They were more concerned with opening the door into a storage building nearby. Thankfully, the door was unlocked and all that was needed to be done was to simply turn the knob. However, the men simply barged through since they were in a rush as they entered the structure.

Once inside, the group scanned the enormous room filled with shelves stacked with all sorts of strange equipment and tools that were used for many kinds of purposes. Everything from firearms to handheld construction tools were present and some of the men grabbed the extra ammunition and a gun or two for good measure. Miles herself grabbed a pistol and checked to see if it was loaded before taking a full magazine that was sitting next to it. She had a feeling that she would need it, loading it and hearing it click into place.

Several feet in front of her, Kane turned to her direction after hearing it and asked, "You know how to shoot that thing?"

"Well enough," she snorted, holding the weapon down and away from anyone. She walked up to him, noticing that he and some of the others were standing by a small window that had a view of the chaos outside. The smoke was thick and dark and muffled explosions shook the structure considerably. It was very difficult to see what was going on out there except that it was getting ever darker and explosions and gunfire grew closer. The weary marines grew anxious as they felt another quake.

"Hey, we need to get out there and fight whatever is out there, man!"

"Yeah. We've gotta help out, sir."

Kane raised a hand, giving them a quick and cold glare. "Yeah. And we'll die with the others. I've lost contact with command and just about everyone else. We're on our own." Everyone looked at him incredulously. This was not something he would normally say, especially if this were years ago when they fought alongside the gritty old soldier against the Covenant. Deep down, however, they all knew it might have been a good idea since the humans were getting slaughtered out there. There was only one thing they needed to know: what was killing them?

That answer soon came when Willie's eyes grew wide and he raised a shaky finger pointing towards the window and the others tried to get a good look while crowding the small space with curious eyes. Between the three inch thick glass and a kilometer of dust, smoke, and now-burning buildings was something that made their jaws drop. Standing tall over a flipped over Scorpion tank was an enormous beast that dwarfed the wrecked vehicle before it. Though it was difficult to tell through the smoke, it was clearly a canine or something of the sort with what looked like multiple tube like tails that swayed behind it. Everyone in the storage room/bunker stared at it with awe as it grabbed a hold of the tank's turret barrel in its jaws and picked it up as if it were an over-sized toy. It then swung its head back and actually threw the 66 ton battle tank high into the air and heading straight for them as it began to fall back down like the brick it is.

After a second of blinking, everyone quickly retreated away from the window and took cover. Everyone flinched and ran to the other side of the room with the exception of Miles who did not even notice it. She was completely focused on the giant creature wrecking the compound with its long and utterly massive "tails", crushing and literally sweeping aside anything they touched. It was destruction on a scale she had not seen since the war with the Covenant, or the New Phoenix Incident a mere three months ago that she had the misfortune to witness firsthand.

She was then yanked out of her moment of stupor by a yell from behind. "GET BACK!" She barely had enough time to react when she gazed up to see the tank flipping end over end in the air and falling fast right towards them. Only a few steps away from the window and the massive tank soon crashed into the side of the building with a loud crash and all that came after was darkness.

20 Minutes Earlier…

"I don't think Yoga counts as a legitimate medical practice, Doc."

Washington never thought he would ever ask such a question in all of his life; yet here he was doing it deep within the wreckage of the alien craft. The Freelancer had only met the purple armored medic for only a few minutes and already felt the urge to shut him up with a good slap to the face; or a punch. Yori and a squad of marines had also accompanied him and they seemed just as annoyed by the medic as he was.

"The point is that it works well to calm the mind and body," Doc replied as he walked alongside Wash. "Having a serene sense of balance and control of both really helps to resolve anxiety and stress, especially in an uncomfortable environment." There was a quiet wave of groans and sighs from the marines behind them and they looked back to see them rolling their eyes and giving annoyed glares at him, and the Freelancer who refused to punch him after listening to him go on about New Age music and alternative medicine for two straight hours.

After glancing at the same engravings on the wall for the third time in those two hours, one young marine yelled, "Yeah, except the problem lies with the fact that any environment is stressful with you around!" Some of the others nodded in agreement and Wash did the same though it was difficult to tell with his helmet on. Yori did not say a word nor bat an eye to them as he was gazing at the vessel before him with folded arms, mentally going through every detail that he saw.

Doc glanced back at the men behind them. "Now, now, now. Remember what I said about being a negative influence. You don't want to compromise the emotional state of your unit, do you?"

"Oh, for God's sake! Why the hell did we even bring this guy?"

Wash shrugged, mostly to himself. He truly did not really know why this Frank DuFresne, known as Doc, had been sent here after looking up his record of failing medical school and having a low IQ score in general. With a sigh, he said, "He's supposed to be one of the few medical officers stationed here and thus has the most local experience and knowledge available to us." There was a short pause before quickly adding, "I'm using those terms very loosely here."

Yori raised his hand slightly, causing everyone to stop for a moment as he saw a figure at the end of the dimly lit hall. Though it was difficult to see it clearly, it was certainly a man who was skulking in their direction. An assault rifle was hanging lazily from his hand and he did not look up to notice the group that stood at the other end of the corridor. Doc suddenly walked out in front of his companions and towards the pale man who was breathing laboriously.

"Hey! It's you, private uh, Reynard is it? Wow, I thought you were supposed to be back in your quarters since I last checked on you. How's your hand coming along?"

The man gave a shallow breath and slowly looked up at the medic who now stood near him at an uncomfortable distance with dull eyes, his skin clearly lacking in depth and color. Several quiet gasps could be heard when Reynard raised his hand, revealing a bloodied palm and sickly fingernails that were abnormally long and sharp. Wash slowly raised his weapon with his finger on the trigger and some of the other marines followed suit. Something was wrong, very wrong.

Doc did not seem to be as fazed by the unhealthy looking man and only scanned him with his plasma pist-, err… medical scanner which suddenly glowed with a bright green light. "Whoa… Have you been overdosing on your painkillers or something? Your blood readings are off the charts."

Washington took a step forward, aiming at the strange man down his rifle's sights. "Doc, get away from him."

"It looks like you're under a lot of psychological stress, too," he continued as he raised the device over Reynard. "There are many feelings of anger and rage combined with a narcissistic and highly anti-social personality with a hint of homicidal tendencies." Doc then lowered his scanner and stared incredulously for a moment. "I think you should talk to a professional."

With jaws hanging open and staring wide-eyed at the medic's diagnosis, everyone behind him blinked and then glanced at each other with shock and surprise. How could he make a diagnosis like that with a plasma pistol that only glows green? Despite their questions, they did not doubt what he said and the men raised their weapons again; all of them feeling a great sense of dread and fear wash over them when Reynard stared at them past Doc. Raising his hand, he said in a low and raspy voice before falling into Doc's arms, "Run… "

Doc stared at the now limp marine in his arms, seemingly unsure what to do for once as his tool remained as bright as ever. "Uhh… I think we should take you back to the base. My scanner is really going crazy and is indicating that there is a sudden and radical change in brain acti- Agh!"

Reynard suddenly grabbed the medic by the throat, his long claws of fingernails almost choking him through the soft spot between his helmet and the chest plate. He shot his head up and looked into the golden reflective helmet with blood red eyes with an enraged and very disturbing look on his face. This sudden move enticed everyone else to aim their weapons at the man. "Put him down!" Wash ordered and the crazy man did not oblige with a magnum pointed at him from a few feet away. "I gave you an order, soldier!"

He gave a mere scoff and smirked before shoving Doc away from him and towards Wash and the other marines with impossible force. "Oh, son of a-" The Freelancer barely had the time to react when the man in a half ton suit of armor flew right into him and was knocked back into the squad of marines who stumbled and fell from the impact of the two Spartans. It had happened so fast that none of them saw Reynard put on a strange white mask crafted in the shape of a fox's head. They also failed to notice the horde of short greenish humanoids with paper masks over their heads come out and stood behind the red-eyed man; all of which appeared to be armed with primitive wooden poles and swords that were menacing even to the squad of men armed with assault rifles on the other end of the hall. It seemed as if they posed little threat to the technologically superior humans and when the strange and quite ugly creatures approached with clear hostility and brandishing their weapons; the marines were given the order to fire.

The first shots fired in what would become the Aegis Incident never hit their mark as the bullets seemed to phase right through their bodies, harmlessly passing through them and only hitting the metallic walls of the ship's interior. A few more bursts of fire from the marines and Wash spat out at the advancing horde while Doc cowered behind them with his scanner still on. Nevertheless, only one or two of the green and red skinned monsters may have only flinched from the fire before they were all upon them, slashing and stabbing with not just swords and poles, but also fangs and long claws on their hands that were unnatural and frightening. That was when the screaming and bloodshed started.

Out of the flurry of gunshots that never hit their targets, splattering blood which sprayed everywhere upon the walls, and the wail of crying agony; three figures managed to retreat from the clearly losing battle as the monsters literally tore through the marines and leaving nothing but bloodied corpses and torn limbs. Only Washington, Doc, and Yori made it out of the previous chamber but not unscathed; Yori had a bad gash in his side and Doc stood there cowering like frightened cat, having to be literally dragged by the Freelancer out of that horrifying scene and into the small chamber they had left ten minutes before. Unfortunately, the heavy sliding door that led out of that room was locked and they were now forced to hide behind a metallic support column and they all looked back at the other heavy door to see that the creatures were starting to bash through it, creating loud thumping noises that shook the room. Wash growled quietly and looked down to hear a moan from the injured man, who was barely conscious as he lay there against the pillar.

"What do we do? What do we do?!" Doc cried as he crouched over Yori, shaking and holding his scanner over him even though it was turned off. Wash leaned over and grabbed the medic's shoulder tightly.

"We stick together and find a way to get out of here. We need to inform Command about what had happened." He said that in a low and in what sounded like a worried tone despite being professional. He had never experienced enemies like that; none of them did. Turning on his radio and after a moment of static, Wash spoke into the microphone in his helmet. "This is Agent Washington to Command and calling all military channels. We have contact with a very dangerous and hostile force and we have sustained heavy casualties and wounded, please respond!"

Only static answered him back and another loud thump on the door.

"Command, this is Agent Washington! Come in! We have a hostile situation at Sector 4B within the interior of the alien craft and are now trapped inside with no clear route to an extraction point!" No response. He sweated a little more when he heard the growling and snarling of the demonic creatures starting to punch through. "GODDAMNIT! IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE!?"

Nothing.

"Maybe the d-demons are somehow causing interference with our radios." Doc piped in, starting to settle down though still frightened.

Wash sighed and looked up at him, giving a cold glare through his helmet before flinching at the sound of more thumping and glancing over to see more bumps in the door that was now shaking. It was not going to hold long. "You think? What other explanation could there be in times of-" He paused. "Wait a minute. Demons? Really, Doc? That's what you think those things are?"

"T-they look like them!"

"Demons are only a myth to scare primitive people, Doc. There's no such thing." A high pitched screech coursed through the room as if answering him, followed by more violent thumping.

Doc gave that same glare back. "Yeah? Why don't you go over there and tell them that?"

He stood there for a moment, feeling mildly annoyed by the constant growling from the creatures. "I'd rather not."

"I thought so."

A sudden crash made them duck and lean against the column, stiffening up and trying to be silent as possible as they heard approaching footsteps. It sounded as if they belonged to one individual as opposed to many and the growling stopped. Wash peered over to see the masked figure standing there and looking away from them. It searched throughout the room, leaning over to the scientific instruments and recorders that lay about the room after being left behind by the last scouting party. He could see the paper white fox mask with red and faint blue markings adorning it, and noticed no sign of what attached it to Reynard's face. It seemed that it was only glued on and that there may actually be a muzzle underneath it, though such a thought came across as ludicrous to Wash.

Looking back at trembling medic, he whispered, "Give me your scanner."

"My scanner? Why?" Doc replied.

"Quiet! If you overcharge the power cell, you might be able to produce an overcharged burst of energy and fire it as a ranged weapon. It might have some kind of effect on him."

"And if it doesn't work?"

Wash took another peek to see the masked man getting closer but still quite a distance away and toying with the equipment and lights. "It has to work. If it doesn't, we're dead."

"But what if it works and we still die anyway? What if it explodes?"

He snorted. "It's not going to explode. What makes you think it's going to- uh…" He paused and pondered for a moment, thinking that it really might explode and turn them into a million pieces of pulverized flesh and metal. It wasn't designed to be used like that, even though it may be modeled after a weapon. He then shook his head. "Just give me the damn scanner."

Doc handed it to Wash and he started to fiddle with it while Doc nervously peeked over the side of the wall they were leaning against. He saw the fox-headed thing search behind a nearby column and he quickly pulled back, thinking he might have been spotted. He squeaked when Wash gave the scanner back to him. "Alright, it's done. Aim it at him and shoot."

He looked back at him. "Um, you do it."

"Me? You're the one trained with it, not me. We wouldn't want to-" He leaned away from Doc and the potentially explosive device. "-make any mistakes, right?"

"What? But what if I miss? What if it doesn't do anything and it just makes things worse?"

"Oh, don't start that! We'll improvise if we have to."

Doc stared in shock before looking to take another peek around the corner of the pillar only to find the fox mask staring back at him with angry red eyes. He panicked and raised his scanner and began to charge it when the psycho prepared to strike at the two with a long and odd-looking blade that had multiple branch-like protrusions. Wash aimed his rifle and yelled, "Fire the shot!"

"Ahh!" Doc cried as he let go of the trigger and the intense green glow suddenly burst forth from the device and it shot straight at the attacker at almost point blank range, throwing him back at a nearby wall with a loud wham before falling to the floor. He looked back at the two with rage while he was covering the smoking burn on his chest before slowly standing up again. Fiddling with his scanner, Doc panicked. "What do I do? What do I do?!"

Wash moved to step in front of Doc and raised his rifle at the possessed man. "Get Yori out of here. I'll distract him." While Doc was fumbling to get his arms around the injured man and attempting to drag him to the open door which seemed strangely clear of enemies, Washington aimed at the head and pulled the trigger. He was not going down without a fight even though he knew that bullets were ineffective against this thing. A moment afterwards, Reynard suddenly found himself struck to the side with an even greater force and he flew right through the nearest wall and into the outside world which appeared quite ominous. When he looked back into the hole that he made into the side of the ship, Reynard saw something shimmer and a low growl was heard.

Then, something started to materialize in front of him and it made Washington grit his teeth and stiffen up when the thing revealed itself. Standing just outside of the hole was a tall and intimidating figure in white armor and a spherical gold-plated helmet. The figure soon uttered a low and inhuman growl before raising a bulky weapon at the fallen man who was now standing back up.

"The Meta? How…?" Wash uttered quietly as he stared at the newcomer, recognizing him immediately. He then turned to Doc who barely managed to pull Yori's still limp body through the hole and out of the wreckage and sprinted over. "Now's our chance. Try to stay quiet."

Doc grunted as he attempted to pull and drag the body across the lifeless dirt. "What the hell is that thing? Is that some kind of new monster?"

Looking back at the Meta facing off against the masked man who was now standing and brandishing his odd sword at it, Wash nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes it is."

A low growl followed by an explosion filled their ears when a few grenades were lobbed at Reynard who managed to leap out of the way and rolled to another position nearby. There, he raised his blade and charged at the Meta who proceeded to counter the overhead swing by parrying it with the curved blade attached to his brute shot. Upon contact, he shoved back against the ridiculously long weapon in an attempt to push him away but one of the protrusions on the sword got caught between a gap in the grenade launcher and Reynard gave a smirk through his mask as he lifted the blade up to throw the Meta off and away. However, the opponent used that motion to get close and deliver a powerful kick against the man's chest. With a loud thump and a cracking noise from his chest plate, the man was thrown back for the third time, back flipping once before landing on his feet. With a growl of his own, Reynard raised his free hand and the ground suddenly exploded around him.

Out of the surrounding dirt and scorched grass emerged five small swords which hovered above the ground and glowing a bright red as if made of burning embers. They oriented themselves towards the Meta and were thrown at him by an unseen force. While throwing a sword always seems to work in video games, it does not work here when Meta stopped with a raised a fist and punched it into the ground, creating a translucent sphere around him which deflected the flying blades away. The shield soon dissipated and Reynard suddenly found himself looking at his reflection on the gold-tinted visor of this new enemy and heard another angry growl from inside that helmet. Swinging his sword to deliver blow, Reynard, or whatever possessed him, grimaced upon being countered again and the fight resumed.

Washington was forced to look away from the scene when he heard the honk of a horn behind him. He turned to find that Doc somehow managed to find a warthog fifty feet away and it was lying on its side against the exterior of the ship. The medic tried to flip it over on to its wheels with little success, barely even lifting the jeep. "Uhh, I need a little help! I can't lift this thing!"

He looked back at the battle and was forced to come to a decision. He could stop the Meta, the thing he had been chasing before he got dragged out into this valley or to let him get away once more to save a man who is probably close to death and the he never liked anyway. Taking a split-second to decide, he turned away and ran over to the warthog where Doc still tried to lift the jeep. The ground started to shake a little and the two looked up to see a plume of black smoke rise above the wreck, overshadowing them and even the human compound a few miles away.

Washington pushed Doc aside. "Move over!" Taking a deep breath, he lifted the jeep and soon flipped it right side up after a labored grunt. Doc looked at him, impressed. "Wow. You're really strong. I wonder what diet you've been on. I bet it involves food that begins with vowels."

"Not now, Doc! Put him in the passenger seat; you take the gun!"

He turned to the big turret that was mounted on the rear end of the jeep. "Um… I don't know if I should. I'm a pacifist, you know? And as one, I don't think operating such a deadly weapon would-"

"You don't have to use the damn thing. Just get in." He sat into the driver's seat and turned the key where the engine sputtered to life. "You don't want to stay here, do you?" Doc raised a hand to object once more before a grenade flew right by him and exploded nearby. He slowly nodded and got into the back without saying anything. Wash then floored the accelerator and the jeep began to speed away from the scene before taking one last glance back.

The fighting still continued on he could see that the Meta may be gaining the upper hand; he fought with an animalistic ferocity and raw power that even a peculiarly overpowered human like Reynard could not easily match. The man already dropped his sword and now stood there against the wall of the ship. Seeing this as a sign of being vulnerable, the Meta took his chance by firing his brute shot a few times and charging. Reynard barely had any time to react when he was shoved back against the wall by the hulking thing and its suit of armor. He resisted as hard as he could, gritting his teeth and snarling like an animal but the Meta barely budged and began to twist and break his arm. Suddenly, the human started to push him off with even greater force than before as if out of desperation. He then took out a small knife and stabbed right through the armor and into the heart.

The Meta barely flinched and only grunted with annoyance before managing to grab a hold of the man's head with both hands. He stared into red eyes behind the mask which did not seem to show any discernable emotion. Then there was a snap of the neck and the body fell limp against the hull. Meta gave another growl after taking a moment to examine the body of the marine wearing a fox mask before turning away to pick up his weapon. After retrieving it, he soon noticed a dark shadow loom over him and he turned to see that fox mask. Only, it belonged not to a human but to something furry and much bigger…

While driving away from the ship and out of their sight, Doc stared wide-eyed at what he had just seen behind them. "Wow! That guy was badass! Good thing he's on our side, huh?"

Wash sighed, keeping his focus on the route back to the compound that seemed to be bustling with activity and a few gunships flew past them. He tried to contact them again by radio but there was still too much interference to make out anything, even on the jeep's unit. The skies were much darker even for a sunset and it made him feel uneasy. He looked at the passenger side to see that Yori remained unconscious. At this point, Washington shook his head and tried to make sense of what just happened in the past ten minutes. It was bad enough with this new and unforeseen threat from wreckage of an alien ship no one knew anything about and just when it could not get any worse, the Meta shows up. He could not process the possibility of all of this being true. Still, he remained calm and focused on the task at hand. "No. He's not…"

Doc swiveled around. "What? He definitely seemed like a badass to me. I mean, with all the fancy moves and beating the crap out of that demon thing."

He grimaced at the word "demon", still not believing that that was what those things were. "No. It's not that. I mean he's not on our side…"

"Huh? What do you mean he's not on our side? Whose side is he on?"

Wash did not answer and just continued on driving. He felt that this would not be the end of it and he found the growing storm behind him fitting for his thoughts. It only just started and it would soon get worse.

And that's that. Somehow, I kind of feel that I put a little too much stuff in this one but I do like it as it is. I certainly had fun writing the battle scene there. I wanted to post the next chapter at the same time as this one but I just wanted to get it done and put out there. I have already started on the next one and I will work on it whenever I can. That being said, I'm starting to think that I will definitely have to rewrite this once this story is finished. I do intend to finish it, however long it takes.

Anyway, any comments or thoughts are appreciated and I will see you next time.