Chapter 3, Emergencies
Texas, United States, Earth.
John-117 and his second-in-command, Taylor-013, sit in a UNSC Pelican, flying towards Dallas. Commander Thomas Lasky had given John orders back in New York to help UNSC personnel in Texas with evacuation efforts due to abnormally strong storms heading for the DFW metroplex. "Take point, we drop in thirty seconds," John orders Taylor as he calibrates the scope on his DMR that he picked up from the UNSC armory in New York.
"How we dropping?" Taylor asks while loading a clip into her MA5B Assault Rifle.
"The door opens and we jump. We're Spartans; we'll survive the landing. Just brace for a hard landing, and let's go to work."
Sure enough, approximately thirty seconds after that, the door opens. John and Taylor stand and sprint out the back. John jumps and spreads his arms and legs and starts free-falling towards the ground. Through his visor, John can see the ground coming up fast, and steels himself for landing. "You good?" he asks Taylor.
"Yeah, that was a little bumpy. Probably gonna have a bruise or two later," Taylor says as she stands and shakes her EVA-class helmeted head.
"For your first chute less air-drop, you did alright. Alright, onto business. Cortana, replace TEAMCOM with a weather radar on the HUD for me and 013, and patch in any EAS warnings for the storms."
"Already on it. We got here just in time; National Weather Service has already issued a PDS Tornado Watch. I've alerted city officials of imminent danger. Warnings are being put out, UNSC forces are opening up their doors to the public, and letting civilians seek shelter underground. Schools are cancelling classes for an indefinite amount of time, Interstate 20 and Highway 80 both have been shut down; 20, from the other side of Dallas, to Canton. 80 has been shut down from Terrell to Edgewood. "Acknowledged. ETA on the storms?" John asks.
"Later this evening, exact time, unknown. I'll keep you posted with latest warnings and announcements and live radar feed," Cortana replies.
"Situation?" Taylor asks.
"PDS Tornado Watch in effect, a major highway and interstate shut down into and out of Dallas, schools cancelled classes for an indefinite amount of time, UNSC bases are letting civilians seek shelter underground. It doesn't look good," John explains as they sprint through the fields towards the outskirts of downtown.
"Why are we here again? We can't stop the storms, and it sounds like things are being handled fine," Taylor asks.
"We're here to give extra warnings, and help with search-and-rescue once the storms move out."
"Do you have any sort of plan for this thing?" Taylor inquires.
"Yeah, Cortana has put a weather radar in our HUDs so we can track the storms without being immobile. We'll split up and meet up with other UNSC forces, then go from there. The way these storms are looking, Dallas is going to get smashed up worse than a bunch of Marines facing a Chieftain."
Soon after that, John and Taylor find themselves on the outskirts of downtown Dallas. Interstate 635 is eerily desolate, no cars driving back and forth, however, John does see a few Troop-Carrier Warthogs.
"Chief, National Weather Service just issued a Tornado Warning for the DFW Metroplex. Storm spotters have spotted intense rotation, and a possible funnel between Reunion Tower and downtown Fort Worth," Cortana alerts John.
"Acknowledged. Taylor, we need to find UNSC personnel fast. National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning for the storm we're on. Things are going south, fast."
"Alright, where we going?" Taylor asks.
"Reunion Tower. Best vantage point around, best view. We'll know what's coming before it hits," John replies.
Fifteen minutes later, John and Taylor are riding the elevator up to the top of Reunion Tower. From the window in front of the elevator, John can see angry, black, swirling clouds up the sky. He would not have been ashamed to admit it intimidated him a little bit. For once he was facing a problem that couldn't be solved with a gun, some bullets, and whole lot of luck. He's going to have to think his way through this, in order to prevent getting himself and Taylor killed. "Master Chief, can you hear me?" a UNSC Search-and-Rescue operative radios John over COMS.
"117 copies, go ahead," John replies.
"We need Taylor-013 to get to the base, double time. Our thinking is you'll be better off with her at the base, able to watch civilians, while you focus on being out in the field, watching the storms." "Agreed. Taylor, I'm sending you to the UNSC base near here. The guys there will give you instructions. Go, don't argue with me," John tells her. She nods and goes back down the elevator, and out towards the base. John turns his eyes back to the skies, and sees something truly terrifying. A funnel protrudes from the clouds, and from what John can see, it's expanding towards the ground. "Cortana, is that what I think it is?" John asks.
"Yes, that would be a tornado in the process of touching down. Doesn't seem to be that strong though. There's a major cell heading this way from Forney, ETA, thirty minutes, maybe less," Cortana replies.
John watches the tornado touch down, move forward, then pick back up. He watches the swirling clouds, and sees the funnel spinning high above him. It starts to descend back towards John, who doesn't see it until it's twenty feet above him. "Oh... shoot," he mutters. He turns and barrels towards the glass doors, the tornado almost down completely. He looks back, and sees it fully on the ground and moving towards the tower. John crashes through the glass doors, flies towards the elevator, jams the button and calls it up. He grabs the doors, rips them open and punches a hole through elevator floor. He looks back and feels the tornado making the tower sway. He jumps into the hole and free falls through 500-foot elevator shaft down to the bottom. He grabs onto the wall just before he lands and stops himself, while also ripping cords and steel bars off the wall. He grabs his Energy Sword and cuts a hole to the outside, where he sees the tornado tossing tables and chairs down from the top of the tower. "So, I just escaped a tornado by falling down an elevator shaft. All in a day's work for a Spartan," John says to himself.
"That was a bit close," Cortana remarks. "We have a confirmed extremely large and dangerous tornado on the ground from the Forney cell as well."
"Taylor-013, do you read me?" John asks over public COMs.
"Yeah, what's up?" she asks.
"Tornado on the ground here in downtown, and an extremely large and deadly tornado inbound, coming from Forney," John replies.
"I saw the one in downtown, I'll let FOX8 know about the Forney tornado," Taylor replies.
"Acknowledged, 117 out," John looks off at the tornado that almost hit him as it goes off towards some open fields.
"John, National Weather Service has bumped us up from Particularly Dangerous Situation, to Extremely Dangerous Situation. That's unprecedented levels of danger in that case," Cortana tells him. "They also issued a new tornado warning; one I don't recognize: Catastrophic Tornado Warning. From what I can tell, it's being used because the tornado in Forney has surpassed even the strongest EF5 ever measured in human history."
"This is going way too south way too fast for my liking," John remarks. "Patch me in to Channel 8, I need to report this, and send any drone shots of the tornado." Cortana sends the images, and what John sees shocks him beyond belief. All he can see is a massive wall of black and debris, the tornado has to be 3 miles wide at this point.
"Can you hear me?" a voice says in John's helmet.
"Yeah, hi. This is SPARTAN-117, UNSC. I'm standing next to Reunion Tower, where a tornado just passed by. My intel tells me we have a Catastrophic Tornado Warning in effect, and drone images I've seen show the Forney tornado to be at least 3 miles wide. Anyone not underground, or in a UNSC facility needs to reevaluate their life choices and get to safety ASAP. I'll be watching for the tornado, and I'll keep you guys updated." John watches the approaching storm, and starts to tremble very slightly in his armor. What he had seen in the drone shots was terror in physical form.
"Chief, the tornado is moving into Mesquite right now. It'll be here in ten minutes tops," Cortana tells him.
"Acknowledged. Let the UNSC Search-and-Rescue that the thing is here." Just as John says that, the wind suddenly starts whipping and blowing like a screaming gale. A tree branch narrowly misses hurtling into John; even being a Spartan, having a large object hurtle into his armor is never fun. A spear of lightning cuts the sky, followed by a mighty crack of thunder that sends John diving into cover. "Cortana, what's happening?" John shouts over the wind.
"The storm is hitting! I can't locate the tornado, but I think we'll be seeing it soon enough," Cortana replies.
John scans the sky and sees odd things falling from the sky; things such as tires, parking meters and newspaper dispensers. He dodges into an alleyway (all the while he had been communicating with Cortana and FOX8, he had been running into downtown for cover.) He watches, from cover, more junk falls from the sky. The strangest thing happens after a minute: the wind, rain and lightning all stop. Complete silence engulfs Dallas, but it's short lived. A thunderous roar sounds out, and John instantly knows what it is. He peeks out, and sees a massive swirling wall of cloud out in the middle of everything. "Taylor, the tornado is here. I want you underground right now," John radios Taylor.
"I'm in the reinforced bunker underground, looking at your suit's live feed. You need to be careful," she replies.
John doesn't reply, for he becomes aware of the tornado bearing down on him. "This isn't going to be fun," he growls. "Come on tornado, let's dance." He grabs his Energy Sword, steels himself, then sprints, as fast as he can make his MJOLNIR go. He penetrates the tornado, and has to catch himself, or else he would've been picked up by the storm. Pandemonium reigns inside the funnel; John throws himself to the side as the massive ball from the Reunion Tower hurtles towards him. He looks straight up, and what he sees could only be described as incredible. Multiple vortices are constantly forming and breaking away from the main circulation, lightning constantly flashes, giving the interior of the funnel a strange, eerie glow. John sprints through the carnage, out of the funnel. He leans forward to catch his breath. He turns and sees the tornado heading into the heart of downtown. "Taylor, I don't know if you can hear me, but this monster of a tornado is about to hit downtown head-on. Thousands of people are about to die, and I just ran through the beast," John tries to radio in. All he gets in return is seven seconds of static silence. He feels the ground start shuddering violently and turns to see what happened. The tornado had entered downtown, and destroyed a skyscraper, blowing it over.
"Chief, you're not going to like what I'm about to tell you, but there's an even stronger storm about to drop a tornado, and it's trekking straight for the metroplex," Cortana informs him.
"Will this madness never end?" John groans.
"This seems like it's the last storm, although we're going to have our work cut out for us." John looks at the radar in his HUD, and sees a purple and red mass moving down Interstate-20, coming from Canton. "Is it just Dallas that has major damage? Or have other places had confirmed tornadoes," he asks.
"Canton, Tyler, and Grand Saline have all had major tornadoes plow through them, but they weren't nearly as strong as the one in Dallas, nor the one inbound," Cortana replies.
John turns and sprints into the city, and he stops when he realizes what he's witnessing. Skyscrapers lay on their sides, a few still standing, but nothing left except a mangled frame of steel girders. Smaller buildings are completely demolished, nothing except the foundations and a few bits left over. Collapsed tower cranes lay over the still-standing skyscrapers. From what John could see, the tornado managed to leave its mark. "Cortana, how many?" John asks breathlessly.
"I've scanned, and the death toll is well over fifty-thousand. Adequate warnings were put out, but no one was prepared for a tornado of that size and strength. There's still another one coming and I think it's going to shred what hasn't already been destroyed."
John feels an ache in his chest, the kind of ache you feel when you realize people died and there was nothing you could do. "I'm a veteran of the Human-Covenant War. I was on Reach when it was attacked, I destroyed the first Halo ring, Thel 'Vadam and I defeated the Covenant. But this is far worse than anything I've ever seen," John mumbles. Numb with shock, he moves through the apocalyptic damage and sees fires burning, cars upside-down and something he really didn't want to see. A body lays off to the side of the street. He walks over to the body, a middle-aged man by the looks of it. "Cortana, who is this?"
"I can't be sure, but it would appear blunt-force trauma to the head killed him. Likely, he was trying to run for cover and the tornado threw something and it hit him. Chief, we need to get out of here, the final storm is about to hit."
John nods and sprints back out the way he came. He looks up and sees a funnel starting to appear. It stretches towards the ground and makes contact with a ground-shaking boom. The tornado starts to pick up dust and debris, and it steadily grows larger and larger. Here we go again, John thinks to himself. "013 be advised, there's another tornado heading into town. Much larger, much stronger. Anyone not underground will not survive." He watches as the random debris are picked up and hurled around like toys. Massive chunks of concrete are hefted into the air and chunked hundreds of yards. The tornado finally hits the skeleton of a skyscraper and sends it toppling into the ground with a mini-earthquake. From where John's standing, he can tell it's heading straight for him. Alright smart guy, time to run, he thinks. And run he does, he runs as fast as he can make his MJOLNIR-coated legs go. He turns, and just as he does, a large steel girder smacks straight into him. His shields fail, and he's thrown to the ground. The force of the impact cracks his visor, distorting his HUD. "Oh no, not here, not now," he groans. He tries to stand, but his legs fail on him. He finally gets to a standing position and limps away, trying to find cover.
"Ch-chief, c-c-an you he-hear m-me?" Cortana asks, cutting in and out.
"Yes, what all is compromised?" John wheezes, having trouble breathing. He waits for a reply. Nothing. "Cortana?" Still nothing. Don't think about it, just try not to get yourself killed, he steels himself. John tries to sprint, but can't; the girder had knocked the strength from his abdomen all the way down. He looks back one last time, and sees the tornado starting to lift.
"Chief, the tornado is lifting," Cortana tells him, crystal-clear.
"How are you so clear now?" he asks.
"The impact from the steel damaged just the exterior of your armor. The suit was just jostled badly, and connections were loose. Everything else is fine, I'm bringing your HUD and shields back up now. You're going to need a new helmet though. I talked to Taylor; the base was completely annihilated, but all the weapons and vehicles were underground. UNSC Disaster Recovery are already on their way, they seem to be bringing UNSC Scarabs, Pelicans with cranes, and several platoons of Spartans. I'll have Stark and the technicians start building you a new suit ASAP," Cortana informs him.
"Any other tornadic storms we need to know about?" Chief asks.
"There's a cell in Canton. It seems to have produced an EF-3 strength tornado. I measured the wind-speed your armor was picking up. The winds peaked at 524 miles per hour in the first tornado. This last one had winds going an excess of 550 miles per hour. That's almost twice as fast as the El Reno tornado in 2013," she replies.
"Holy... I ran right through that?" John asks, dumbfounded.
"The tornado hadn't peaked yet. When you went through, winds were about 350. That was still the strongest winds that had ever been recorded. I don't know how the tornado didn't blow you away, but you managed to punch straight through. I guess your armor has spikes in the boots that deployed, anchoring you to the ground. Storms seem to have passed, let's link up with the UNSC," Cortana says.
John nods and starts limping into the carnage. Fires burn everywhere, cars are absolutely shredded and buildings are completely demolished. People start to walk out from underground and observe the apocalyptic damage. Skyscrapers are completely toppled, along with massive tower cranes lying over them. "013, do you copy?" John radios.
"I read you. Where you at?" Taylor replies over COMS.
"Can't tell, too much damage. Just set a waypoint for my tag on your TACMAP," John says as he looks around.
"Never mind, I see you. On my way."
John looks and sees her sprinting towards him, MA5B in her hands. "How did the bunker hold up?" John asks, having been outside and not knowing how everything went underground.
"It was violent. When the first tornado hit, we could hear things being ripped apart, and things exploding. We could tell the tornado was bearing down on us judging by the fact the ground was shaking and no one could hardly stand, not even the other Spartans. Not long after the first one passed, we got your message saying we had another one on the ground. We checked it and confirmed that we did in fact have another tornado bearing down on us. The first one didn't completely demolish the base, but the second one wiped it off the map."
"I can tell. I literally ran through the first one and the second one hit me with a girder, as you can tell from my cracked visor." As John says this, he looks up and sees multiple Pelicans carrying a massive Scarab Assault Platform. The Pelicans drop the Scarab and it stands up. John observes the Scarab and sees the letters spelling out UNSC on its massive legs. "Cortana? When did the UNSC procure Scarabs?" John asks.
"At some point during the time we were adrift in deep space aboard the Dawn. ONI developed a chip that could be plugged into a Scarab's main control console and essentially hijack it by implanting a bug in its system to turn it against its Covenant owners. They came into use after the war, when the UNSC was cleaning up old Covenant remnants," Cortana explains.
"Taylor, did anyone tell you what the plan is?"
"Other than we search for people trapped under rubble, no," Taylor replies.
John thinks for a second and scans the debris. He sees something that causes him concern. "That skyscraper due north is swaying. It's probably going to collapse soon and anyone under or inside it, Spartan or otherwise, will not survive if they get hit."
"What do you suggest we do?" Taylor asks.
"Clear the building, then use the Scarab beam to bring it down safely," John orders. If he was to be honest with himself, it felt good to be giving orders again. He pulls out his DMR and motions to Taylor to follow him towards the building. John looks up, and watches it sway. "Listen up, we're going inside that thing. The foundations are unstable and it could collapse at any given time. If I say jump out of a window, you must do it. Don't jump around or sprint, just stay with me and move gently," he tells her.
"Let's get this done," Taylor replies, her jaw set.
John nods and they move towards the building. He draws his DMR and opens the doors and goes inside. He goes over to the elevator, and presses a button. "No good. Elevators are destroyed, guess we'll find another way up."
"Chief, this building is really unstable. I would highly recommend scanning the building instead of manually searching it. One wrong move and it's going down and taking everyone with it," Cortana warns him.
"Agreed, scan the building. Taylor, get outside, change of plans, we're not manually searching the building," John orders. Taylor nods, slings her MA5B Assault Rifle, and walks out the doors.
"Scan complete, no signs of civilians, alive or otherwise," Cortana reports.
"Acknowledged. Scarab-1, this is Sierra-117, once I am clear of the building, bring it down."
"Scarab-1 copies, awaiting your signal, 117," the Scarab pilot radios back.
John sprints back out the doors and out onto the street. "You're gonna like this," he says to Taylor. John watches as the Scarab moves into position and levels its cannon directly at the building. The beam starts to charge up, then with tremendous force, it fires. The Scarab's focus beam instantly vaporizes the bottom of the building, bringing it down onto another wrecked building with a ground-shaking crash. "Cortana, tell me that building was clear," John mutters.
"Yes, it was. All the buildings have been confirmed by other Spartans."
"John-117, do you copy?" Lasky contacts John.
"117 copies, go ahead, Commander," John replies.
"Fantastic work down in Dallas, you saved a lot of lives today, Spartan. Now, you will remember I told you two days ago that there was an SCP that needed handling. We know exactly where it is and what we need done. I'm sending in a Pelican to pick you and 013 up and bring you back to me, where you will be debriefed then sent to the site to conduct business. SCP Foundation director, Thomas Clark has been informed, and has agreed to allow you two to go investigate and rescue civilians trapped inside."
"Acknowledged, awaiting transport," John replies. "Swift, we have orders. We wait for Lasky's Pelican, then we fly back to New York. We get debriefed and we're off to the site of this so-called SCP."
"Yes sir, Chief," Taylor replies.
Fifteen minutes later, after rescuing civilians and bringing down the other buildings, John sees a Pelican flying towards them. "Chief, you crazy fool," John hears a voice he thought he'd never hear again.
"Johnson?!" John exclaims.
"Well yes, you want an autograph or something?" Sergeant Johnson replies.
"I thought you were dead," John mumbles, shocked to hear his old friend had survived.
"Well, I did too. If you recall, I'm a SPARTAN-I, from the ORION Project. I managed to call in my Pelican using a radio control transmitter. It picked me up, got me back to base and I got patched up. I serve on the Infinity, directly under Lasky. Good kid, not as experienced as you and I," Johnson replies. "You picked up Taylor Swift, huh? Good job, the UNSC has wanted her for a while now, seems to think she has potential for infiltrating suit-and-tie operations, as we more rugged soldiers call em'."
"Yes. When I landed in New York, she was the first one I met. I decided that night as I was lying in bed, that I wanted her trained as a Spartan. Which leads me to my next question: why is she a SPARTAN-III, I thought the augmentations were lethal, like with Kurt-051's III's on Onyx," John asks.
"If you remember NOBLE Team, all of them except Jorge-052 were IIIs, and they were fine. Jun-A266 was the sole survivor of NOBLE on Reach and he helped us develop a more stable SPARTAN-III augmentation program," Johnsons explains. "She'll be fine. The new SPARTAN-IIIs have been tested and confirmed no deaths due to poor augmentations. Kelly, Linda, and Fred will be on this mission with you and 013; Lasky confirmed that just before I got onto the Pelican."
"Taylor, looks like you get to meet some old friends of mine," John says, looking forward to seeing his old team.
"You've told me the stories about your heroics, I look forward to it," Taylor replies.
"We ain't getting any younger, let's get going," Johnson calls from the machine gun turret mounted on the Pelican.
Two hours later, the Pelican sets down at the UNSC facility in New York City. John, Taylor and Johnson go into the base and see Lasky standing next to three SPARTAN-IIs. "Chief, it's been too long," Fred-104 says as he shakes John's hand.
"Likewise, Fred. Good to see you've kept the team together, even through the cataclysmic changes that I know occurred."
"We were starting to lose hope, and then we heard that a Spartan had been spotted falling out of the sky riding a cryopod door above New York, and we knew instantly it was you."
Linda and Kelly walk up to John and give him a hug, "Don't let Fred fool you, we never gave up hope that you were still out there," Linda says.
"Who's this?" Kelly asks, nodding to Taylor.
"Blue Team, I want to introduce you to our newest member: Taylor-013, SPARTAN-III, Recruit, now officially promoted to Lance Corporal," John says proudly.
"Taylor Swift, a Spartan?" Linda asks, clearly confused.
"Yes, Johnson told me the UNSC has wanted her for a while, now we have her."
"That is true. Welcome to Blue, Spartan. We're going to make a great team," Kelly says as she shakes Taylor's hand.
"Spartans, hate to break up this happy reunion, but we have debriefing and then you have to ship out, we're running low on time," Lasky says as he walks up to Blue, holding an ONI datapad. John nods to his team and they follow Lasky.
They get to a debriefing room and John sees a man not wearing a UNSC or ONI uniform. "Director Thomas Clark, SCP Foundation. You must be the legendary John-117, and this must be your equally legendary fireteam."
"Yes, this is Fred, Kelly, Linda, and Taylor," John introduces each of them in turn.
"An honor to meet such a prestigious team. On to business. SCP-3008 is known as the Infinite IKEA. It is inhabited by SCP-3008-2, humanoid IKEA workers with elongated features, and no facial features. They are neutral until either provoked, or 'night' falls in the building. Your orders are simple: get in, rescue any trapped civilians, and get out. You are not to damage SCP-3008, unless no other alternative is presented. You are permitted to terminate any instance of SCP-3008-2 if threatened, or if they are threatening civilians. Any questions?"
"How will we know if night falls inside the building?" John asks.
"The lights will go off, and SCP-3008-2 will start saying, 'The store is now closed, please make your way to an exit."'
"Acknowledged. Get in and out, only use of collateral damage is if no other alternative presents itself, can take down any instance of SCP-3008-2 if threatened, rescue as many civilians as possible. We in agreement, Blue?" John asks. All of Blue nods, "We ready to deploy now?" John asks
"You leave in ten, I suggest you arm up," Lasky says.
"Let's go, Blue," John orders. Lasky walks them to the armory, explains that every weapon the UNSC had ever encountered was present, and they could take whatever they want. John looks at an ornately-designed Gravity Hammer. "Fred, what is this?"
"Tartarus' Gavel, a modified Gravity Hammer, built by Tartarus himself. We found a few when we were raiding old Covenant armories. It boosts shield strength, your speed, and jump height, as well as having several kinetic explosions when it is swung. You need special clearance to use it, it's dangerous for a normal Spartan to wield it."
"I can make do," John says as he slings the hammer. He grabs an M6S SOCOM Automag, screws a silencer that also has a Kinetic Bolts attachment to the barrel, fits a Magnum-grade scope onto the top and fits a laser pointer. "Taylor, this is a pistol that real men use," he calls over to her.
"Good gracious, did you put enough stuff on it?" she asks in disbelief as she looks over at it while loading a magazine into her MA5K Assault Rifle.
"Nope, but I can't put anything else on it." John holsters the pistol and looks around at his team. Linda loads a clip into her Sniper Rifle, Nornfang, Fred slings his DMR, Kelly puts shells into her custom Shotgun, Oathsworn, and Taylor picks up an Energy Sword and attaches it to her hip. "Let's roll, Spartans," John commands and they troop out of the armory. They walk to the Pelican and board it. As it picks up off the ground, John asks, "Cortana, did any government or educational facilities get hit by the tornadoes? Not just in Dallas, but smaller areas."
"Yes, unfortunately. Van Zandt County courthouse was completely leveled, and most of the staff were killed, among whom were the county clerk, judge and other officials. Canton High School was destroyed, miraculously, no deaths reported from there. Terrel High School got hit head on by an EF4 and fifty students were killed. The whole city of Tyler was completely wiped off the map; that's major, Tyler had over 100,000 residents, half of which were killed."
"Total death toll from today?" John asks.
"Well over 400,000, and the number is still rising, making this the single worst day in national history. It's two-hundred times more than 9/11, and two-thirds of the Civil War, currently."
John groans, "We could've done better; saved more lives."
"Chief, we did all we could. Linda, Kelly and I were deployed in Tyler, and we watched as four tornadoes rolled in from different direction and wiped the town off the map," Fred says.
"You're right. Spartans, take a nap, we're going to need all the energy we can get for this op," John says as he leans back.
An hour later, the Pelican sets down. "Wake up, Chief," Fred shakes him. John awakes and sees the ramp lowering out the back of the Pelican. He motions to the rest of the team to follow and they walk out of the Pelican. John observes the massive building with the IKEA logo on the front, and steels himself for whatever nasty surprises lie waiting for him inside. "We have our orders, Spartans. Stick together, watch each other's six," he says to Blue Team. They walk to the massive IKEA building and up to the front doors. He pulls out the custom Gravity Hammer, opens the doors, and walks inside the building. First thing he notices once they all enter, is the front door vanishes, as if it wasn't even there in the first place.
John steps back as a tall, lanky humanoid creature with no obvious facial features stalks towards the Spartans. "Welcome to IKEA, there are signs that will show you where to go. Feel free to contact a staff member if you need help finding something," the creature says in a normal human voice.
"This is SPARTAN-117, identify yourself," John barks. The creature just stares at John, and walks away. "That must've been an instance of SCP-3008-2."
"Agreed. Chief, we need to find civilians and get out. I don't fancy prolonged engagement with the inhabitants of this facility," Fred says in a concerned voice.
"Acknowledged. Blue Team, on me."
"John, I don't like this," Taylor says quietly. "This feels too quiet, too deserted."
"I know. Keep your rifle up and ready, but don't shoot unless attacked directly, we hope to not have to get into an engagement with these creatures." Just as John says that, the lights shut off. "Flashlights on," he orders.
All five Spartans turn on their helmet lights and look around, wondering which direction the threat will come from. "Where do we start from here, Chief?" Fred asks as he swings his DMR around.
"Reading intel on this place right now. It would seem as if trapped civilians have set up rudimentary towns and forts all around the interior of the building, SCP-3008-1 as it's officially known. We start searching for these towns that are rumored to be scattered about, and we retrieve any civilians trapped inside, terminating any instance of SCP-3008-2," John commands.
"John, do we split up or stay together?" Taylor asks.
"Stick together, we absolutely do not want to get lost. Keep eyes and ears open," John replies. They walk forward, watching for civilian forts.
"John, I got something," Fred calls out. "Due east."
John nods and draws his Magnum. "Follow Fred," he orders. The Spartans nod and turn east, but their path is blocked by an instance of SCP-3008-2.
"IKEA is now closed, please exit the premises," it says.
"Do not engage. Ignore it and let's move," John orders. The creature repeats itself, then charges. "Big mistake," John growls. He fires three rounds into the thing and puts it out of commission. Four more of them rush him, and he drops to a knee and Armor-Locks, stopping them in their tracks. He spins around and pummels one attempting to slash the back of his MJOLNIR, turning it into a pile of flesh. He grips the front of another and slams it straight down, snapping its spinal cord, sending it into convulsions. John turns into the face of last one and punches a hole straight through its chest and out its back.
"So that's why they call him legend," Taylor whispers to Linda.
"I once watched him flip a tank with his bare hands and punch a Banshee off course. His strength is unmatched by any other the Spartan the UNSC has ever seen except for Sam-034, but he officially went MIA, but he's actually KIA," Linda replies.
"Enough chitchat. We need to keep moving; now that we've mowed down five of these cursed things, the rest will be on us ASAP," John commands. The Spartans make their way towards the beacon Fred had set and what they see shocks them. A fort had been erected, walls made out of boxes, towers made of shelves. John grabs his hammer and stalks into the fort. Refugees stare at the five Spartans with apprehension. "We're here to bring you out of this place," John calls out. At this, people start making their way out of the huts and shelters.
"We've been trapped in here for years," a man says to John. "Every night, those monsters terrorize us. Only four people have escaped, dozens of us have been slaughtered by these creatures."
"That ends today. Now that we know what dangers present themselves here, we'll send in UNSC Fireteams in to rescue civilians and take out SCP-3008-2," John says.
"What's the plan for getting out?" Taylor asks.
"Same way we came in, if not, we bust our way out," John replies. The five Spartans and twenty or so civilians make their way out of the fort and into the Wasteland, as the civilians called it. All it was, was the displays and shelves and areas to buy furniture, but the wanderings of SCP-3008-2 made it impossible to traverse at night without being killed.
"John, we have a problem. I count forty instances of 3008-2 making their way towards us," Cortana rings in.
"Spartans take point. We have a fight to win," John orders. Taylor and Fred get the civilians huddled behind shelves out of harm's way and stand next to John. All forty instances of 3008-2 charge at once and John reacts instinctively. He swings the hammer over his head and watches as four kinetic explosions fly off of the main explosion, ripping bodies apart and flinging corpses into shelves. One lone straggler stands and looks at John then hisses and charges. Just before John swings, he notices something obvious. This creature was different: it was wearing a suit and had tentacles protruding from its back. "Cortana, what am I looking at?" John shouts.
"Can't tell. It's not an instance of 3008-2, but seems to be related to them somehow. I suggest we run and not engage until we get more data on this thing," Cortana replies.
"Acknowledged. Spartans, take the civilians and fall back," John commands.
Two hours later, John and the Spartans land back in New York and walk onto the tarmac. "You guys get it done?" Johnson asks as they disembark.
"Yes, and we have new intel to discuss in debriefing, an entity we encountered within the building, something unlike the instances of SCP-3008-2 we terminated. Lasky can check helmet video to see what I'm talking about," John replies.