Shaw used the topographer to lead the team to an opening that wasn't much bigger than a regular doorway.
"Looks excavated," Kai said. "Must have been done by the Prometheus' crew."
Zima looked around in amazement. "I can't believe it," she said. "Aliens. I wonder if they're cute little green men."
"Little," Layton said looking around as well. "This doorway may be human size, but the gate looks gigantic."
"Giants," Eastman said. "I'm pretty sure I heard about giants living in Earth's past. Kinda treated like a conspiracy theory. I'm trying to remember what the evidence was but it might have just been stories."
"Mic," Kai called. "You there?"
"Yes," Mic responded from a station aboard the Avellan. "I'm monitoring everything. Your voices, vitals, and camera feeds are coming in crystal clear."
"The structure is right outside the ship," Kai said. "If we need ya, it shouldn't take you long to reach us."
"Expecting trouble, Sir?" Mic asked.
Kai chuckled and said. "It's an alien structure and that last message said something about death. I expect the unexpected. Be at the ready in case things go south."
"Affirmative, Sir," Mic replied.
"Zima," Kai called. "Anything?"
Sticking the motion tracker as far into the doorway while still being able to read it, Zima answered. "No, nothing. Motion tracker isn't picking up anything."
"Ok," Kai began as he passed by. "I'll take point on this. Zima, I want you in right after me. Keep an eye on that tracker. Shaw, you go next. Eastman, cover Shaw. Layton, pick up the rear."
Everyone entered as Kai ordered, slowly and in a single file. At first, it looked like the inside of a cavern. Debris littered the area.
"Must have been a battle," Kai said, noting the large rocks.
Shaw read the topographer. "Likely," she said. "This didn't come from being excavated."
"Everyone, scatter," Kai said. "Head down the corridor. Shaw, talk to me."
Shaw briefly looked down to read the topographer. "Corridor splits in two at the end," she said.
Kai didn't want to, but he knew that if they were going to find anything, they'd have to cover as much ground as possible. "Shaw, Layton, go right," he said. "Eastman, Zima, you're with me on the left."
The group split up as instructed. To them, it was dark, and the corridor almost seemed as big as a cave.
Shaws's eyes were concentrated to the front and on the topographer.
Layton paid a little more attention to the sides. He noticed and asked. "Anyone else see strange markings or writing going along the wall?"
"Look's like cuneiform," Zima said.
Eastman reached up to try running his hands along with it. He just wanted to see how high it was off the ground. "I can't even reach it," he grunted. "You'd have to be huge, at least eight feet tall."
Kai looked at the writing for a moment. "We're gonna have to bring in experts for this," he said.
Eastman tried one more time to reach the writing and grunted before giving up. "…and ladders too."
Shaw looked at the topographer. "Layton," she called. " Corridor splits again, but it looks like there's a big room further up ahead."
Not even a minute passed as Shaw and Layton slowly entered a very large hall.
"Looks like a cafeteria," Layton mentioned.
"Yeah," Shaw added. "These look like chairs and tables. Reminds me of the one at the base."
"We found a room too," Kai reported, as he and the others continued searching.
"These look like cryo pods," Zima said. "Broken. All empty. Sort of, there's a few that seem to have been broken into. Whatever was inside is just in little pieces."
"We're going in a little further," Shaw said. "Does any of that stuff look human?"
Kai and Zima then spent some time looking over what little remained of the Engineers. Eastman was more interested in the pods themselves.
"Doesn't look human," Kai reported.
"Or that old," Zima said. "A few years maybe."
"If it was really old," Kai said. "There'd be nothing left."
"I wonder what happened," Zima asked. "What could have done this?"
Eastman pushed several buttons causing them to light up and make a sound. "These must be the controls., there has to be a combination. I just have to figure this out."
"Give it up, Eastman," Kai said. "You can play around with that later. We still got a lot of ground to cover."
"I think we found the kitchen," Layton reported. "Or, what passes for a kitchen."
Shaw picked up a good-sized bowl to pour what little contents it had out. "Looks like someone raided the fridge." She said.
Layton kicked another bowl and ran the tip of his foot through what looked like blue-green sludge and said. "This either happened recently or this stuff has a helluva preservative."
Shaw looked around to see little bits of this sludge smeared on the floor and wall.
"Entering the next room," Kai reported.
Zima suddenly found herself looking up. "Jesus," she said. "Are these statues or spacesuits of some kind?"
Eastman grabbed onto one to see if he could feel a difference. "Can't tell," he said. "Maybe the topographer could tell us. Man, these are big, about the right size for that writing we saw."
"Shaw," Kai called.
"Yes, Sir?" Shaw replied.
"Get over here," Kai said. "We need that topographer."
"Right away," Shaw said, as she and Layton began a light jog back.
Zima suddenly heard the sound of a familiar beep. It was the motion tracker. She readied it upright and looked at it intently to make sure she wasn't hearing things.
"Is it just me," Eastman said. "Or did that thing just go off?"
"I heard it too," Zima said. "Could be Shaw or Layton, but they're still aways away, unless their MT nullifiers aren't working."
"Shaw," Kai called.
"Go ahead, " Shaw replied.
"Stop right where you are," Kai ordered. "Hold your position until further notice. We think we picked up some movement."
Shaw and Layton came to a dead stop in the middle of the corridor.
"Probably just reading us," Layton said.
"You both wearing your MT nullifiers?" Kai asked.
"They probably just need calibration," Layton replied.
"Just stay where you are," Kai said. "That's an order. I'll call you later."
The motion tracker came to life again. It hummed as it detected the movements of…something.
"Movement," Zima said."Must be in the next room. It's hovering at about thirty meters."
"How many?" Kai asked.
Zima looked at the motion tracker carefully. "Looks like it's just one person." She answered.
"Ok, you two," Kai said. "Let's move. Hurry."
Layton looked at Shaw. "You don't think he meant us, do you?" he asked smirking.
"Layton, Shaw," Kai called, as he, Eastman, and Zima ran. "Stay put. You might confuse the motion tracker. Wait three minutes, then double-time it."
It was a short run. Upon entering the room, it seemed mostly empty. Kai stuck close to Zima and the motion tracker, and Eastman moved up to the other side.
There was a large open area in the middle surrounded by what looked like control panels, tables, and containers on shelves.
"Talk to me, Zima," Kai said, as they inched closer to the middle of the room.
Zima kept her eyes on the motion tracker as it hummed sporadically. "I don't get it," she said. "They should be right in front of us."
Kai looked around frantically. He suddenly had the idea of glancing upwards. It was there he saw an odd-looking monstrous form looming directly above him. As quickly as he could bring up his pulse rifle, the Deacon dropped down on him, biting through the suit's neck area as it landed.
Monitoring Kai's vitals from the Avellan, and seeing them suddenly flatline, Mic immediately got up, going into his emergency mode.
Zima didn't even have time to react before the Deacon backhanded her with a powerful swing of its arm.
"Kai!" Eastman yelled as he trained his pulse rifle on the Deacon to squeeze off a few rounds before it rammed him like a bull to send him flying back over a table and into the wall.
Layton and Shaw took off, running as fast as they could.
The Deacon began to amble back to Kai's body as Zima managed to pull herself up using a control panel for leverage.
"Kai, no," Zima said upon seeing his motionless body with blood. Her pulse Rifle lay at her feet, but she was too dazed and scared to think about picking it up, especially when the creature paid her some attention, slowly approaching her.
In this barren place, the Deacon was smart enough to save fresh meat for later.
As frightened as she was, Zima estimated the creature to be around ten feet on two legs. She made sure to keep a table between her and the creature, though it occurred to her that if it wanted to, it could easily reach over and snatch her at any moment. Instead, it simply roared while extending its secondary jaw out.
At that moment, Layton and Shaw came running in. The Deacon immediately took notice and leaped up to the ceiling. This allowed Layton and Shaw to take aim and fire without worrying about hitting Zima. For its size, the creature was extremely fast and it was difficult to tell if they were even hitting it as it ran and disappeared, dropping behind some shelves.
Eastman managed to crawl into view, groaning in pain. "My ribs." He said.
Shaw hurried over to help him stand while Layton went over to Zima. Both kept their guns pointed in the area where they last saw the creature.
"You ok?" Layton asked.
Zima nodded while Eastman complained. "That thing hits like a truck." He said.
"Kai." Zima softly cried.
Layton and Shaw then looked over to see Kai's body. That's when the Deacon leaped back on the ceiling and made a run for the room's entrance. Zima picked up her pulse rifle to help Layton and Shaw shoot at it.
Oddly enough, the Deacon dropped down to the ground, blocking their exit but making it easier to aim at. This was when they could see that their bullets were having little effect. The monster wasn't immune but highly resistant. It very well could be brought down by pulse rifles, but not easily.
Layton and Zima began to back away while firing as the Deacon began to approach them at a distance. Only small bits of the creature flaked off on impact.
After a few seconds, Mic ran into the room, grabbing the Deacon's attention. It was shoot first, ask questions later. Armed with the smart gun, he immediately opened fire on the creature, causing enough damage to cause it to crumble in pieces, rather than explode; its body was too strong for that to take effect. It was a good thing too, as its highly acidic blood would have gone everywhere.
"Is that all? Mic asked.
"We only saw the one," Eastman replied. "Could be more somewhere."
Mic walked over to the Deacon's dead body and watched the acid burning everything it touched.
Layton and Zima inspected Kai's body, hoping there'd be some sign of life – but nothing.
Shaw was propping Eastman around her shoulders when the motion tracker began to hum again repeatedly.
Zima quickly grabbed the tracker to hold it in front of her "Contacts, closing in." She said.
Everyone immediately hid behind something. Layton and Zima ducked down behind a table, Shaw and Eastman took cover by a control panel, and Mic ran a little further in taking a position by the shelves. Everyone pointed their weapons at the entrance.
"How many?" Shaw asked.
Zima looked closer at the motion tracker. "Two," she answered. "Maybe three. It's hard to tell.
"Everyone," Shaw said. "Stay frosty."
It felt like an eternity went by when suddenly, a humanoid figure emerged around the doorway.
Were it not for his android reflexes, Mic might have instantly shot, but instead, he observed the giant that just entered. Standing eight feet tall, with no hair whatsoever, his head and hands were extremely pale white. His eyes were completely black and appeared to be wearing an all-black biomechanical pressure suit. He appeared dangerous, carrying what was obviously a rifle.
Behind this humanoid, appeared another, slightly smaller, dressed in more traditional robes and eyes that appeared more human.
From between these two humanoids appeared a much smaller 'Mic'. Looking identical to the point it was like looking into a mirror. He wore terrestrial clothing which bore a name tag reading: Covenant.