I Scatter...

It didn't take long for the team to grab the vehicles and start roaming out into the great deserts once more, all in search of the strange signal or voice calling out to the Nikkes. Delta herself was in the leading victor with the Chief, eyes peering down the scope, while the Oryx behind them fired part of its 30mm belts toward enemy units that were finally attempting to meet them in battle.

The first bullets zipped by their ears, the enemy drones overhead suddenly diving down on them, rounds rippling, sparking off the armor of both the Saddleback and the Oryx. The IFV itself swiveled its gun up and opened fire, thirty-mil proximity fuse rounds ripping apart the machines, tearing chunks of armor off of their frames.

Delta aimed up, scoping in for their cores and popping off shots between the petals that acted as the Rapture Drones' armor. One of her rounds tore clean through the core of one of the machines, but a second drone came in and shot her clean through the arm. She scoffed, grabbed a bandage and drew her pistol, firing as she wrapped the wound around with her teeth.

Chief swiveled left, letting the Counters take potshots at the drones. Rapi and Stella were the first ones firing, SMG and AR chattering while Neon and Anis loaded flak rounds into their weapons. Neon grinned, shouldering her gun and barking, "FIREPOWER!" with a bright smile on her face. The shotgun barked and the first flak shell, another proximity fuse slug with explosives embedded, detonated dead on on the drone that had nailed Delta.

Signal finally opened up, too, cutting down several suicide bomber drones trying to charge their vehicle while Niner's MG cut through yet more via her belts. She grinned a little, eyes locked through the smart scope as she fired on and on, her barrel gradually getting warmer instead of immediately overheating due to the rounds. The UNSC had upgraded most MG barrels for Product-12s in order to withstand high rates of fire for longer.

Running by the formation, Kilo and TALOS moved quickly, the arm-mounted minigun of the mech acting as CIWS. Kilo, on board the mech, peered through the multitude of external optical sensors and cameras, murmuring, "W-Why does this feel like we're running excitedly into hell…?" as she swept the area ahead, clouds of dust rising with each impacting round from her minigun.

Chief replied over the com, "That's how combat usually is, Kilo. Hang tight," calmly.

"Y-Yessir!" Kilo replied, her voice cracking. She shut the microphone of her com down and mumbled, "UUuf… Of course, I forget the coms online when I'm complaining," before she slapped herself with the base of her palm and mumbled, "Stupid…" while TALOS himself was focused on combat, trying to keep calm as he seemingly started leading the advance.

TALOS spoke, "You are not stupid, Kilo. Moments of heavy excitement like combat usually make us most prone to small mistakes such as this. You didn't block or jam the com system, nor did you cause any damage," with his unusually calm, somewhat robotic tone of voice. He cocked his armored-up left fist back, then sent it forth, hydraulics on overcharge.

The core of one of the enemy machines shattered upon impact, spraying itself alongside the coolant, muscle and sinew of the machine all across the desert and its comrades. The IFV beside them let its main gun thunder again, repeating blasts of HE and APFSDS striking across the enemy line. The return fire of enemy multi-launch rocket systems followed, a rain of missiles striking around their positions.

One round struck the reactive armor on the front of the Oryx's hull, causing a flash-boil and a rippling shockwave. The IFV still rolled forward, dumping rounds. Chief saw their target on his HUD, getting exponentially closer. He drew his pistol and began to fire against the enemy's mechs, pistol roaring loudly against the Raptures' own guns and neutron beams.

"This thing's integrity's getting lower!" Cortana stated with every neutron beam impact on the hull of their transport. She drew her own weapons and opened fire, having switched from the previous to a pair of Magnum M6Gs she'd heavily modified, to the point she'd taken the smartscope cowling off the front to allow her to look down the iron sights and extended the barrels and slides.

"We'll ditch it in two," The man replied as he veered left, dodging past a slew of Raptures that Kilo and TALOS soon bulldozed through. He flicked his com and said, "Kilo, you and TALOS sweep forward. Oryx 'Pig O' War', shift to the left and prepare to drop the rest of our teams. Rookie, you and Matis prepared?"

"Ready as we'll ever be, Chief!" The man replied aboard the vehicle, racking the bolt of his AR. He and Matis nodded to one-another, while the Lucky Strikes themselves prepared their own weapons. Laplace grinned, then looked back at Syuen as the girl seemed to be mentally preparing herself. She gave a gentle nudge to her former boss, who looked up, then offered her a smile.

Syuen blinked, then looked around at the others, the rest of her teammates, as they prepared. No vitriol, no hatred, no nothing. Pinne handed her an extra magazine and said, "AP rounds! Neon made them specifically for Subguns!" as she racked the bolt on her own shotgun. Syuen blinked again, stunned, then slammed the magazine home and racked the bolt.

"We're in it now!" Drake laughed heartily as she loaded her own AP slugs. The thumping of the 30mm echoed overhead, followed by the ka-thumps and roars of missile motors igniting, their fire-and-forget ATGMs lancing out of the vehicle's turret sides. She looked at Syuen as her mask materialized, then demanded, "Ya ready, Ex-Boss?!"

The girl hummed, feeling something warm in her chest for a moment, then nodded and said, "Ready…" as she shifted her own weapon at the ready position and moved over to the seat closest to the door. She looked to the others and barked, "ALRIGHT, LISTEN HERE! I'M TAKING POINT, SHIELD FIRST! YOU STAY BEHIND ME AND MOVE FAST!" while the others stared at her. They smirked and gave nods of approval.

"TWENTY SECONDS!" The Marine driver at the front of the Oryx barked, his struggle audible in his voice. Rookie hit the separating wall with his fist gently to confirm, then moved forward to join the team. Matis also took point next, weapons at the ready. As the timer ticked down, the vehicle began to slow down. It bucked under a missile strike, but the main gun never ceased firing, spent 30mm cases dropping into the basket as the gunner and commander yelled at each-other.

The rear hatch opened with a resounding screech, dropping against the sand and slowing the vehicle further. Springing out of the hull first, Syuen lifted her shield to blunt a volley of machine gun fire from one of the Thermites up ahead. She felt the rounds strike the plate, but returned fire with her own, screaming aloud in anger, her Nikke-tier adrenal glands pumping her full of the good stuff.

Beside her, Laplace's cannon roared its mighty roar, a beam of azure light shearing in half three other Thermites, while Drake's shotgun shattered a few dozen of the smaller bastards in short bursts. Maxwell, whom Syuen now watched with great interest, surfed the back door of the Oryx, aiming her rifle as she overcharged it.

She fired. The railgun round snapped, a blinding golden flash, before the ammunition detonated amidst a swarm of enemy drones, a small, though non-nuclear second sun that sent a rippling shockwave around, causing a small sandstorm. Syuen barked, "Where the HELL Did you get that kind of ammo?!"

"Neon built it!" Maxwell snorted as she jumped off the vehicle, running to join the rest of Matis with the Rookie. Jonathan himself raked the enemy's units with high-caliber rounds from his MA rifle, rounds denting and tearing armor from larger hexapedal Raptures. Had Syuen been any smarter in her business days, she'd have started developing new ammunition for them ahead of schedule.

She watched Pinne reach out and touch a Rapture with a SAPHE round from her own shotgun. The explosive penetrator drilled through the leg armor plate of one of the Raptures, then exploded, causing it to stagger as its limb was ripped clean off the body. Rapi followed up, charging the machine and dumping a magazine into its core before utilizing the corpse as a springboard.

She jumped over onto one of the monsters, landing on top of its form and aiming for the twin missile pods on the sides of its body. She fired the launcher mounted beneath her own rifle's frame, explosive rounds causing a chain reaction that made the monster buck. She jumped off and called out, "ANIS, NEON, COMMANDER!"

The three summoned charged, Neon flanking the machine as its twin maw-mounted machine gun turrets rippled. Anis moved to the right while the monster was distracted and fired her own high-explosive projectiles into its back, a full volley that cratered the monster's armor. She loaded a new type of round, too, then grinned and said, "LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED, GIRLS!" as she fired.

The shot struck the Rapture, burrowing inside and detonating. Several dozen smaller bomblets popped out of the body, spraying around and magnetizing to the bodies of smaller quadrupedal infantry raptures before detonating, tearing asunder several of the machines and spraying shrapnel across the desert.

Syuen fired her SMG toward another machine as she slowly stepped forward, utilizing her shield as armor. Beside her, Alyosha surged forth, kicking away one of the Raptures like it was a soccer ball, before swiveling about and firing his MA5k at the others. Behind him, Rookie moved up next, his own rifle chattering rapidly, like a drumbeat. The two men cut down yet more swarms of Rapture units, while Delta, Pinne and Niner focused on taking down the flying drones overhead.

Another large Rapture charged them just as several smaller ones collapsed in unison, one of their leaders having been killed. Syuen saw that, then turned toward Pinne and whistled. When the shotgunner turned and saw the enemy, she also saw the diminutive Product model/former CEO take a knee, lifting her shield.

The blonde Product-23 grinned and, with the cover of Niner, she ran forward, Sammy moving out beside her with Layla. She jumped, landing on Syuen's shield just as Syuen herself put all the strength in her artificial leg muscles to use. Both girls jumped in unison, with Pinne launching into the air and aiming for the Rapture commander unit.

It aimed its own missiles at her and fired, the proximity fuses detonating and washing the girl's heavy armor in shrapnel. She was injured, but not severely enough to hamper her ability to put three slugs into the beast. The first ripped the top armor plates off, the second sheared flesh off and the third dug through the wound and detonated the Oculus in a sickening blast.

She landed on her feet, staggered and stumbled, then breathed a sigh. The IFV beside them rolled back and ran over several machines just as they were dying, firing its 30mm autocannon to the very last second. Layla stepped up beside the girl and covered her and Stella. Stella herself moved forward and said, "That was insane…"

"Thank Syuen for it," The blonde chuckled awkwardly. The three looked over at the SMG gunner as she ran forward, utilizing her shield to block several blasts. Stella herself stared, stunned, at the woman, while her brother and the rest of the squad moved forth. Kilo and TALOS stomped forward, the mech itself powering a shield emitter to cover the rear as the squad formed up.

"You good, there, Tw-... Pinne?" Syuen caught herself, having buried the shield in the sand partially to tank the shots from a smaller Rapture's neutron beam. Pinne, despite the look of pure disbelief, offered a nod to Syuen. The diminutive creature spoke, "Damn right, you are. Nothing I make breaks that easily and especially not thanks to these damn things!" before she yelped as a missile exploded against the shield. A moment seemed to pass before Pinne cracked a smile. Stella nodded in approval…

Perhaps they were wrong about her, Sella thought to herself…

Niner stepped forward, pressing her MG atop the shield and stating, "Keep her steady!" as she opened fire. Syuen gave a nod, then covered her left ear as the gun began to scream, each round rippling down the length of the barrel, causing it to glow a faint orange as she swept the area ahead. Syuen was about to make a comment, until she watched the Chief, Alyosha and Rookie run forward.

The two ARES/SPARTAN four-point-five members were on the Master Chief's flanks as they moved forward, the Spartan himself drawing what looked like some sort of experimental firearm off of his belt while the Rookie and Alyosha carried their standard UNSC rifles. The former CEO watched the three men take down the last command Rapture, one twice as big as the standard Thermite, by working together.

Chief helped Alyosha jump high, while Rookie distracted the heavily-armed machine. It fired a neutron beam, trying to track the Spartan-IV. Alyosha, meanwhile, landed on top again, grabbing onto a chink in the armor taken from Matis laying the hate down upon it with Anis and Rapi. The latter two were now taking care of its escorts.

Chief slammed against the leg of the beast, causing it to buck and stagger, its barrage of missiles flying above its intended target:Kilo and TALOS. Kilo smirked and pumped her fist high, though she hit it on the mech's hatch, causing her to yelp and rub her hand. TALOS was about to ask something, but she told him, "I'm okay! Just did something stupid is all…"

"Roger," TALOS replied, then hefted his arm cannon and fired again, all while one of his external cameras watched Alyosha and the Rookie tag-team the Rapture Commander's frame, ripping apart armor and guns as they shot and punched their way through. Chief, meanwhile, kept it pinned to one spot, breaking part of its leg off and then firing that strange new weapon into it.

Maxwell spoke, "They're insane!" As she shouldered her rail sniper and zeroed an enemy column of small Raptures. Laplace and Drake laughed heartily, each laying waste to more and more smaller and medium-sized Raptures and drones with laser and shotgun respectively. The team watched Alyosha cock his fist back, then punch clean through synthetic flesh.

He then dismounted the monster and showed Chief and the others to move away as it began to scream in pain, firing wildly into the air, missiles dancing and exploding like blossoming fire-flowers. All other Raptures around followed suit in a thunderclap that spread throughout the entire sector of the Desert, the explosion causing a massive tower of smoke and sand to rise high into the sky.

After a moment of disbelief, the team gazed upon the cleared field ahead, black ash having replaced sand, craters instead of dunes and Rapture shards instead of actual Raptures. Alyosha, Chief and Rookie walked out of the smoke, slightly covered by sand. The entire team erupted into cheers, save for Rapi, who breathed a deep sigh of relief, and Syuen, who fell on her ass and stared at the broken Raptures.

Syuen mumbled, "God, what the hell…?"

"Didn't think you'd be invoking God after all this time," Rapi quipped as she looked at Syuen. The woman stood above the girl, staring down at her in a deadpan. Syuen had half a thought to ask if she was gonna just laugh at her falling into the sand, especially after she just saved some of their lives. But, no. Instead, she stared on in surprise as the Executive Officer of the Counters offered her hand.

She blinked, stunned, then warily took it. Rapi helped her to her feet and dusted her off, stating, "I think we're a bad influence on you, considering what I have just seen you and Pinne do," which got a laugh out of Pinne and a giggle out of Stella. She then turned to Pinne and told her, "Next time, run it by the Master Chief, please…"

"While I agree," Chief spoke as he approached, "I appreciate the quick thinking."

"All Syuen's, sir," Pinne admitted. Syuen had expected to hear a freakin' bit of sarcasm in there, but nope. It sounded like genuine praise. For a second, the girl felt her heart well a little. She breathed a shaky sigh, then scratched her cheek and put on her usual bitch face. Honestly, she hoped they didn't see whatever tiny smile she'd cracked.

How the hell was she starting to get along with these people, she thought to herself, when they'd literally humiliated her multiple times? She breathed, then said, "High ground. Figured you'd need it to put that slug right where it needed to go," before lifting her gear. She gave ever-the-slightest nod to Rapi almost instinctually. She scoffed at that.

Rapi hummed, slinging her rifle on her back and crossing her arms. She watched Syuen step away, seemingly annoyed that she was becoming nicer. Alyosha himself said, "Out of character much?" as he tilted his head toward Syuen, staring at Rapi. She nodded, confused, to which he asked, "Are you alright, Rapi? I mean, Syuen obviously has some degree of kindness in her, considering Laplace, but…"

"I'm fine," Rapi sighed deeply. She stated, "Here she is, after we told her not too long ago we wouldn't have her back."

Anis stepped forward as she was loading her launcher, then told the girl, "Well, I guess things do change," with a smirk. "She's exactly what she kept hating and berating and it must've opened her eyes to the kind of shit we were being put through before the UNSC decided we're worth giving rights back to…"

"Including the pranks," Neon quipped as she loaded a few more slugs in her own gun. She tilted her head to Anis and said, "Nikke-tier laxatives in her splendamin supply and all," which caused Anis to burst into a hollering laugh. Rapi turned her head, glaring a little at Anis, to which the girl raised her hands defensively.

Alyosha stared, meanwhile, at Syuen. She paused when Stella stopped her. Though dead serious, he could see a flicker of kindness in his sister's eyes as the two spoke. Both women stared at each-other in a deadpan, too, but shook hands. Stella then walked over to them, giggling, before stating, "I feel like I went insane."

"Syuen being nice," Snorted the Commander, cradling his rifle as they started following the Chief, "It's almost a dream at this point…" and he led the way forward with the Spartan. The two men followed the waypoint, Cortana herself seemingly working overtime to keep the enemy's own weird voices out of their heads.

As they strolled down the desert way, now having to walk instead of drive as the Oryx had gone back for repairs and their other transport had pretty much been blown up after everyone got off of it, the group looked around. Despite the marks of the battlefield here, the place still bore an eerie beauty, the glistening sun beating down on the plateaus and on the great, craggy canyons below.

"... Look, I'm telling you, that ain't happening," Stella told her brother, face red. She told him, "Daniel's just a friend. Plus, the UNSC re-hired him to test the new mechs Kilo was helping develop and he couldn't exactly say no to it either. It keeps him and his family out of the Outer Rim while the UNSC makes it a livable suburb."

"Heh," Alyosha laughed, "Sure thing, sis. Keep denying it to the best of your abilities."

The rest of the team, save for Chief and Rapi, laughed. Although compared to the former, the latter did crack a visible smile at the teasing Alyosha was giving back to his sister after yesterday. Rookie, meanwhile, was simply enjoying laughing with Matis, all while Niner, who was at the center of the formation, held close her weapon as they marched.

Niner herself wondered just when the voice would completely go away. It was calling to them and last she'd heard, Rozvidka Squad would get evacuated out of here on a Pelican. And, indeed, in the corner of her eye, she picked up the friendly IFF on Heads-Up Display, the Pelican with Foe Hammer, Captain Carol Rawley, gently moving away.

The voice was annoying, but her comrades laughing and Cortana keeping it at bay helped. She noticed Chief cast a glance back her way and simply smiled behind her helmet, giving the man a gentle wave of the hand. He gave a slow tilt of the head, a nod, before turning back to leading the pack with Rookie and Laplace.

She felt a hand clap against the back of her backpack, then turned and watched Pinne step up, shotgun in hand. She said, "You're looking a little distracted there, Niner," as she carried the shotgun in one hand. The girl then asked, "Everything alright with…?" before pointing to her right ear with her right hand.

The machinegunner replied, "It's annoying, but at least that's all it is," as she shifted her MG onto her backpack, letting it attach via mag-lock. Looking around, she spoke, "It's been several months since Chief came into our lives and here we are…" before her eyes locked onto her 'modified' limbs, the ones she'd sustained damage on.

She recalled that damnable day. The way those beasts had ripped her entire team apart and nearly killed her. Had it not been for Delta and Signal, then the Chief and Counters, she wouldn't have gotten out of that swamp alive. Images of her commander and comrades flashed in front of her eyes, causing a pang of guilt to well in her chest. She took her helmet off and wiped tears from her eyes, to which Pinne raised her hands defensively and asked, "H-Hey, c'mon, you okay? It wasn't something I said, right?"

"N-No… Sorry," The girl replied, sighing deeply. She looked at Pinne, her red eyes still glimmering a bit, before telling her, "Just remembered my Commander and old team…"

She almost yelped when she heard, "Niner," come out of Syuen's mouth. Both women turned to face the former CEO… But instead of berating her, Syuen gave her a light tap on the shoulder with her hand, but said nothing, stunning the two as she walked past. It was a slight bit of encouragement from her old boss.

And she'd even called her by name…

Pinne blinked, then whispered, "Holy shit, guys, are we sure Syuen wasn't replaced by someone likable?" which garnered a snort that basically spelled out 'you wish' from the shield-toting SMG carrier. She chuckled and replied, "Nevermind," before putting her own hand on Niner's shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly. Laplace, Max and even Drake followed suit, soon starting to bond with the Products again.

"... You and the teams seem to be closing the distance, Chief. I'd advise you to await reinforcements before proceeding into it, but…" Shifty spoke to both the Master Chief and Alyosha as the young Commander joined them at the front of the formation, which was a staggered column of advancing troops, weapons at the ready.

Chief replied, "I'm afraid we can't wait or retreat. Cortana believes the Raptures set up some sort of base of operations nearby. We need to remove it before it becomes a problem for the Garrison near the Database Station," which was what they'd decided to call the Librarian's little 'Hole In The Ground' terminal.

"Roger that, then. Give me a couple seconds to see if I can't send you three and Cortana seismic scans and satellite footage of the area of operations," The young Ratatosk operator didn't even miss a beat, a smile on her face, which was visible thanks to the com window. Cortana was also boosting their signal through the Alva Particle fields in the area.

Chief felt the strange 'field' pricking at his skin slightly, like static. His HUD flared with static for a moment, then faded back out to a comfortable, if abnormal dark-blue tint as the team scanned the area ahead. Ramshackle buildings soon greeted the formation, abandoned buildings from an old UFH or VTC base of operations.

Cortana said, "I like having Shifty as support," with a smile. She sighed, however, when she ran a hand on one of the shanty buildings' walls and scraped a thick layer of reddish dust off of it. Just enough to reveal the wall below, which was burned and looked like it'd aged very, very poorly. Cracks formed in spiderweb patterns, intersecting with bullet holes.

Rookie quipped, "Agreed. She's probably one of the most skilled people at the Ark CIA," before signaling a halt. The entire team tensed and scrambled for cover amidst the remnants of the base, hiding behind the overturned husks of tanks and transport vehicles, or behind ancient concrete walls. A trio of Raptures waded past the line, feet stomping against the sand, leaving hoof-marks.

Chief heard it, like a pin dropping in a thunderstorm. The ground below one of the Raptures cracked, but the weight distribution was just enough to keep it from breaking through the thin layer of sand and what he could only assume was an even thinner layer of concrete. As the Raptures passed, he spoke, "Hold position… Shifty? Those Seismics?"

"... Affirmative. Delivering now," the girl sounded both surprised at the Chief seemingly knowing when she would deliver them and, obviously, at said readings. She spoke, "it appears as though the Raptures have been excavating the ground beneath this old Airbase and even further beyond… It's an entire cave system down there," as images of the scans showed a rough outline of exactly what Chief had suspected.

"An underground Rapture base of operations," Rookie said quietly, "Nice spot, Chief."

"Just luck," The Spartan mumbled. He gave a chop of the hand and the rest of the team slowly moved forward, drawing their weapons. He then radioed, "Sergeant Johnson. Sergeant Forge. Send Pelican Bravo-22 to us with an ammunition resupply. We'll need it before we delve deeper into this mess," as he checked his own ammo count. He heard a garbled, but affirmative reply from him.

Shifty asked, "Shouldn't they join you down there?"

Alyosha sighed as he saw the Chief ready his weapon, then replied for him, "Negative. We'll need a garrison up top just in case whatever's down there manages to break loose… Keep them updated on our status, 'kay, Shifty?" and he heard a happy confirmation from the girl. He looked at Rookie and the two bumped fists, before looking at the Nikkes around them.

They all nodded back to the Chief, Syuen herself included. They prepared their weapons just as the Pelican arrived, descending with a box of ammunition which it dropped, plus an entire platoon of Marines led by Johnson. The Sergeant-Major, much to Chief's chagrin, grinned proudly, cigar between his teeth as he jumped down and brought forward titanium cables, stating, "If you're gonna be droppin' into Hell, Chief, you're gonna need an airtight insurance policy. Consider us it."

"... I can't send you back to the FOB, can I?" The Spartan asked. Johnson shook his head, to which 117 looked at Alyosha, tilting his head. Alyosha shook his head, sighing deeply. He didn't want to get more people put in danger than there was a need for, but here they were. He let Johnson and his Marines bring forward the cables, connecting them to the remnants of metal supports buried into the ground.

Regardless of the state of the ground they walked on, those things should hold, Chief thought to himself. He showed everyone to wait, only for Alyosha and Jonathan to follow him, weapons at the ready. The man looked at them, to which Alyosha quipped, "If you're going in first, we're right with you, Chief. Spartans on point."

Jon Doe nodded, smiling behind his ODST-styled helmet. Chief simply gave them a nod, then attached himself to the cable, pulled on it to make sure the supports were properly secured, then he began his descent down what was basically a steep cliff face of dark-red stone. Not far behind, the Rookie and Commander followed, then the rest of the teams.

Last to drop down was Laplace. She drew her cannon and activated her mask, letting her HUD scan the place ahead, only for an audible gasp to escape her mouth, reverberating across the massive walls of this strange underground construct. In the distance, built into the sandstone caverns, tunnels with conveyors stood, shaded by dark fog.

The Architecture seemed almost familiar to the Spartan. Archways built in geometrically familiar shapes, symbols glowing in the darkness and even the shade and glow of the place felt eerily familiar. Although it was not Forerunner by any normal metric or sense of the word, it was certainly almost ancient-looking.

Cortana spoke, "Microfissures are currently being sealed in the material plates we're walking on," in a whisper, seemingly stunned. She said, "This entire place was built via nanotechnology," and that caused everyone else to gasp. Syuen walked over to her, raising a brow as if asking her if she was serious. Cortana gave a nod, then stared at the Chief.

The Spartan and two Commanders seemed just as concerned. He tilted his head ever so slightly to the right, to which Cortana nodded. She, Rapi, Anis, Neon and Stella joined them, taking point while Pinne, Niner, Sammy and Layla held rearguard. Layla commented, "Man… Place gives me the creeps…" then she looked at Johnson.

The Sergeant-Major stated, "Couldn't agree more, girl," in a murmur. Mendoza and Jenkins beside him scanned each and every single crack, hole and crag in this place, flashlights on. He quipped, "Reminds me a little of the Library on Delta Halo, honestly. Less debris, though," before he walked over to an edge and gazed down, noticing the multiple layers to this place.

He whistled, hearing the reverb. He walked to the front, joining Chief just as Rapi started talking to Alyosha. She said to him, "This place is not normal… Why would the Raptures build something so vast…?" as they walked past a series of sealed, armored containers and boxes being shifted over to another distant platform.

"I don't know," Alyosha mumbled, "And I don't like not knowing," and he shouldered his carbine properly.

Laplace started, "Oh, relax, Birdie. I'm sure it's gonna be fine. We're all here, after all! Watching each-other's backs like a true team of Superheroes!" and that got a light, if worried laugh out of Maxwell, who, much like Cortana, examined this place with wide open eyes. Laplace then murmured, "Now, if only the whispers would actually fully go away…"

Rookie said, "We'll find the source of the signal and shut it down," as if to reassure her. The two other members of Matis gently and quietly reassured Laplace with either a tap on the shoulder, or an elbow bump. Drake seemed pretty distraught by what she was seeing, too, however, with Rookie telling her, "Calm…"

Large tubes appeared overhead, flowing lines upon flowing lines, overlapping and yet perfectly arranged, supported by struts and metal and reinforced half-ceilings teeming with Rapture iconography. Tubes filled with something both eerily familiar and completely foreign to the group. It was almost recognizable as it flowed, viscous, toward deeper parts of this alien base.

Rapi spoke, "The source of the signal coincides with the way the Pipes are heading…" as the distant noises of machinery continued, mixing with the strange voice of the Rapture. She rubbed her eyes, mumbling, "Cortana, any chance you can increase that electronic warfare to counter the noise…? I can hear it in the back of my head…"

"Working on it," The AI replied, slightly gruff and annoyed. She told them, "But I'll be damned if it isn't getting louder…"

"Must be whatever the hell controls this place," Anis spoke, looking around.

Neon added, "It's like… A Rapture factory, but…" before she hit herself on the head and shook her head slightly. She breathed, stating, "Ugh… I didn't get tinnitus from testing any explosive enhancements. Why am I getting it now?" Then she turned her head toward the Lucky Strikes and Matis. While the former seemed ever more uncomfortable, the latter were surprisingly calm.

Maxwell, who noticed the girl staring at her, said, "Don't worry about us, Neon. If there's something Syuen did right with us, it's outfitting us with NIMPHs strong enough to withstand crap like this," only to pause as she heard Sammy whine. She moved over to the girl to help her, as did Johnson, while Pinne, Niner, Delta, Signal and Layla provided cover.

Delta scanned the tubules with her rifle scope, mumbling, "That looks almost like liquid Goddessium," before lowering it. Kilo herself yelped at that statement, fully turning herself and TALOS toward her. She whined, to which Delta gave an awkward smile and said, "Apologies…" only to wince as her own head felt like it was splitting open.

Signal whined a little at the headache, but she kept herself steadfast, too, SMG up and prepared to meet any hostile threat. The silhouettes of Raptures appeared on more distant platforms, though every single trail and path in this place seemed to converge. She spoke to the Chief, "I-It seems like this place has a central antechamber, Chief."

The three Spartan Commanders looked around, with Chief nodding, "Good spot, Signal," which got a smile out of her. Cortana smiled a little, too, though it was strained by her own Cyberwarfare suite. She knew whatever this was at the center of the Rapture structure could not exactly control Nikkes. Not by itself anyhow. But The Network here was still terrifying to listen into.

Especially since it all seemed like one coalescent voice, speaking to them, demanding that they surrender themselves while hiding it behind dulcet tones. It mixed in with the whirring of distant machinery and the pumps making what she could only presume was liquefied Goddessium flow through the pipes.

They started seeing slight splotches of dried red coolant as they walked, with Pinne looking at both Sammy and Layla and saying, "I swear to God, if you two invoke Murphy again, I'm going to shoot you with Suppression ammo repeatedly," through grit teeth. The two rifle Nikkes shut up instantly, to which Anis and Neon let out light, but forced chuckles. Trying to keep morale up was Pinne's speciality, but even she felt the overwhelming pressure of this nightmarish place.

They marched past several containers that looked fresh, Anis herself whispering, "I really, really, really don't think we oughta be walking through here…" only to pause as she saw movement underneath the floor, shadows hiding glowing symbols for but a moment. Laplace gave her a smile of encouragement, but she seemed tense, too.

Drake whispered, "Real bad Juju…"

"Agreed," Johnson replied, while his boys let out short, but nervous laughs. The teams moved past several of these boxes, stacked high on top of each-other, as they followed the tubes down to their end-point. A wider cavern opened up ahead from the tunnel they'd been walking through, an area supported by pillars of steel and stone, built out of the place.

Nanomachines were still building the place, but the scaffolds and the structures all converged in the center of the room, on a raised pedestal with what seemed to be a central assembler piece. One closed Oculus Core, glowing a faint blue, sat in the middle while laser-cutter turrets and other disassembly and assembly tools worked, whirred and screeched with the sounds of Industry.

The Goddessium was being pumped into the center of this massive pedestal, this alien structure which seemed to have at its center a construction chamber of some kind. The sounds of the pumps were now clear as day, sounding like heartbeats, pumping the lifeblood of most Nikkes into a gigantic assembly device.

Anis blinked, staring at the alien assembler, then whispered, "I really, really don't like this," before gently turning toward one of the boxes. Syuen followed her closely, SMG ready just in case. Said box was the sole one that was partially cracked open, as if the move here had caused it to rattle open. Both Syuen and Anis felt chills, then smelled a very, very familiar scent.

As Anis pushed the lid further back, she screamed.

As the entire Platoon of Nikkes, Spartans and Marines tensed, the three officers in charge of the formation ran over, with Syuen holding a stunned Anis, her own eyes wider than saucers. The Spartans climbed onto the box and all froze, Alyosha himself audibly gasping at the grisly sight. Dozens of Nikke corpses lay stacked within the box in various states of disrepair. Some were stripped of their skin, leaving just the pallid endoskeleton. Others were broken, missing limbs or chunks, bloodshot mechanical eyes staring up at the group.

Some still moved…

Rookie audibly gagged, taking his helmet off and jumping off, retching off to the side. Chief himself stared, visibly disturbed despite his own helmet shielding his face, while Alyosha looked upon the corpses like any sane man looking at a mass grave. The other Nikkes approached, too, with Rapi stating, "... They're stripping them of their Goddessium…" in a murmur. She gazed at the machine, whispering to herself, "And building something with it."

"This is…" Syuen whispered, gently letting Anis stand up and walking over to the corpses. She covered her mouth, noticing several had the Missilis symbol on their bodies, though it seemed as though whatever this piece of trash was did not discriminate. She whispered, "And I thought Ether and MMR Vocational went poorly…"

Johnson added, "We should get'em outta here. Bury them or… Shit, I don't know. Cortana?"

"They're braindead," The AI spoke as she leaned against the box, staring at the Nikkes, "That, or their bodies are locked. I'm trying to see if I can access their NIMPHs, but all I'm getting is… The same voices and screams," only to blank. She whispered, "Oh, God. Was this thing using them to drag us in, too…?"

"N-No way, right?" Pinne laughed nervously, staring at the red-eyed Nikkes in the container, "T-There's no way a thing like that is smart enough t-to…" and she felt her head, memories flashing as she started seeing red. She whimpered, "Oh, God… No…" while looking at them. She could make out the faint faces of other Product-23s, buried deep among their dead sisters.

"Fuck this," Sammy whispered, then looked at the machine in the center and asked, "Cortana. D'you reckon that, if we blow that thing up, we'll end this…?"

Cortana had wanted to reply and agree, but her motion sensors immediately picked up movement all around them. She froze, eyes shooting wide open as her mind directly transmitted the incoming across the squad. Rapi, now emboldened, ran to the Commander's side and called out, "Commander, LOOK OUT!"

… A stringy, alien tentacle-like device sprouted from the ground and lanced toward Alyosha just as the man was recovering. Rapi, however, caught it right in the stomach. She grunted in pain, then slammed the butt of her rifle against it, cracking its armor and body. She then kicked it down and shot it, before calling out, "ENCOUNTER!" to the rest of the force.

"CONTACTS!" Johnson barked as he racked the pump of his shotgun. The first armored tentacle flew past his head. He quickly put the barrel of the Shotgun to its body and shot, spraying crystallizing blood across the sky. His Marines immediately took formation, letting loose volleys of automatic fire at the creature's mechanical grapplers.

Anis herself shouldered her launcher, then fired at Raptures that were arriving, calling out, "RAPTURES! HIGH AND LOW! NEON!" just as she felt the shotgunner go back-to-back with her. The two began unloading high-explosive shells into the areas around them while fighting against the tentacles ahead.

Syuen yelped, taking one tentacle to the shield. It embedded itself, having pierced it, but narrowly missed her. She grit her teeth, kicked the tentacle down and shot it until it retracted. She looked at Pinne, then paused as she saw the girl move. She danced around the tentacles, practically and rapidly dodging them, her own eyes glowing a faint scarlet instead of their usual blue.

Her shotgun barked, shearing in half a Rapture overhead just as Chief appeared to her right, catching a tentacle aimed at her and snapping it clean out of its socket. He then took cover beside a box and dragged the girl behind it just as cutting lasers shot out from the machine ahead. Its oculus awoke, glowing a burning azure as it locked onto the squads. It roared angrily, all of its combat systems powering on.

Rookie dodged a tentacle, too, moving to form up with Matis as he called out, "Looks like we woke up the fucker!" before grabbing another Tentacle that was aiming right at Laplace. He snapped it in two and used whatever remained of it as a throwing spear. He aimed for one of the laser towers as they shifted into place on the scaffold pillars and charged up.

He nailed it dead center, causing it to explode, before he nodded to Matis's team lead. The girl grinned as her mask and armor materialized before she stepped up, cannon charged. She called to Drake and Maxwell, "GIVE'EM EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT, GIRLS!" as she squeezed the trigger. The burning blue beam shot out of the cannon just as she charged forward, utilizing the boxes around her as both cover and ramps to jump and fire from.

The beam sheared another part of the machine off, but it replied in kind, blasting Laplace with a trio of laser beams that struck her armor, causing it to flare. The girl landed in a combat roll, Rookie not far behind, keeping her safe from the Raptures' strange tentacles. Rapi joined her, firing her rifle and calling out, "Laplace, on me!"

Cortana herself powered her own weapons, engaging the monstrosities around her with focused fire and hacking prowess. She saw the Battlefield around her transform into ones and zeroes, strings of data she could easily read. She plucked the core of several of those tentacles, then gasped and staggered. She called out, "Girls, don't get touched by the tentacles! They're embedded with the Corruption Code!"

The girls didn't pause, simply replying affirmatively. Signal and Delta covered Cortana, while Chief, Alyosha and Rookie pushed through, cutting down as many tentacles as possible while waiting for an opening from the machine ahead. Chief drew his Magnum and aimed for the core, firing three shots of SAPHE right at it.

The rounds scraped and tore armor off the Core, but the machine was relentless, returning fire with another three focused beams. Chief's shields flared and boiled, but the Spartan took cover just before they hit. He aimed again and fired at the laser turrets, watching the rounds detonate on the Rapture material plate, cratering it and denting the cannons.

These were cutting lasers meant to help forge whatever this gigantic Factory Rapture was trying to forge. Whatever it was, the Spartan thought as he primed a grenade, it wasn't good news. He hefted and long-armed it, a plasma grenade taken from the wreck of the Long Night of Solace. The blue, flickering ball of plasma stuck to the body of another energy cannon and detonated.

The central Core roared in anger, sprouting several shield emitters and activating them as the nanomachines within the walls crawled toward it. Cortana said, "DISRUPTING REGENERATION CAPABILITIES NOW!" before she ducked and dodged two more Tentacles. Drake laughed heartily, pounding down said tentacles and pelting them with shotgun blasts.

Rookie noticed one aimed right for her. The speed at which he moved was incredible and his strength, doubly so as he ripped the tentacle out of its socket and tossed it overboard. He then snapped up his rifle and fired a burst at an advancing Rapture. He tapped Drake on the shoulder and said, "Eyes open! Cortana, get in cover!"

"On it," The woman replied as she blasted another Rapture with her own weapon. She took cover behind one of the boxes containing Nikkes and mumbled, "This bastard better be ready to be stripped for parts…" as she started hacking into the dome shield system it had protecting its core. She felt her mind shift realities into the digital realm again.

The ghosts of the Nikkes this thing was swallowing to make itself tried to stop her, the Corruption seemingly taking their forms to try and halt her advance. Regardless of that, through the darkness and past the scarlet ghosts of the dead, she pushed, her focused attack being right on the shield. In the middle of its glowing blue light, she was a figure standing.

"... Human AIs are certainly terrifying," That same sultry voice from before teased, following up with a short laugh. "You are tenacious, too… But no match for-"

"And you're dead," Cortana snarled at the creature, interrupting her… A Heretic. She pushed through the wall of living corpses once more, surging forth and touching the very control panel of the machine. She turned one knob and twisted one gear out of place. The Code pulsed and a wave crashed against the shield, then another, then another.

When she came out of the digital world, to the cover of Rapi and Laplace. She snapped her fingers and the shield collapsed, the beast screaming as Cortana called out over com, "ALCON, MATERIAL H is OPEN!" only to pat both girls on the shoulder. She watched Layla and Sammy utilize Kilo and TALOS as cover, the mech itself laying down the hate with its arm-mounted cannon while the girls kept the small creatures off of him.

The trio ran toward it, before Rapi turned to join the Commanders alongside Delta and Laplace at the front. Cortana took cover with Sammy and Layla, the latter of which said, "Whatever ya just did, CT, you probably saved our collective Bacon!" before she took down another Rapture machine. Kilo laughed, aggravated, but in agreement, while Sammy focused on sniping parts off larger Raptures that fired at them.

Niner moved forward, firing as she did so in order to join Chief. May she be damned if she was gonna let the man go toward that thing alone like he seemed to be planning. She watched him use his pistol with one hand while lobbing grenades at Rapture formations with the other. Bullets and shells peppered the machine, Anis and Neon laying into 'Material H' fury for their fallen sisters, too, while Pinne, Syuen, Laplace, Maxwell and Drake stripped everything from the outside in.

She saw, however, one thing that threatened the balance. A tentacle slithered out from beneath the ground and aimed at the Chief. She gasped, eyes widening, before she began to sprint, the very world slowing down around her as the Tentacle moved. It seemed to move at the same speed at her:Normal, relatively… And it aimed for Chief's spine.

The Spartan had noticed it, turning at the same speed, but he couldn't get his pistol on it in time. "No…" Niner whispered, "No, this ain't how he goes down!" then she boosted her legs to maximum, feeling her artificial muscle burn. She slammed into the Chief, causing the lunging tentacle to miss, striking her instead.

Chief, feeling a sudden bout of anger as he watched the Nikke collapse in his arms, set her down as gently as possible, then turned to face Material H's tentacle. He watched it lunge his way again, simply grabbing it before it impacted his visor, snapping it off and slamming its tip back into itself. It began to writhe before it self-destructed.

The Spartan then knelt and helped Niner up, watching the girl grab her side. He asked her, "Are you okay?"

She smiled, though it was strained, "I'll… Live," her voice slightly distorting as she grabbed her weapon. Chief furrowed his brows. He could've taken that hit, honestly. His MJOLNIR was reinforced, so what the hell possessed her to do that? He jumped to his feet, thinking about Vapaus. If they could get enough…

Johnson's shotgun thundered and one of the last few tentacles was destroyed. Alyosha took a step back and asked, "You okay after taking that hit, Rapi?" as he looked at the girl. She felt her stomach, then nodded.

"Yeah, it didn't go in deep enough to do anything," She replied, which got a snort out of Anis. Rolling her eyes at the crass attitude, she peeked out, then gasped as she felt Alyosha run past them. Her eyes widened as she saw him, Chief and the Rookie coordinating, then she waved to the others and said, "FOCUS FIRE ON 'MATERIAL H'!"

Indeed, the three Spartans decided to focus on the machine. It roared at them, utilizing its grappling hooks and systems to try and stop them mid run, even trying to regenerate its cutting lasers to use as weapons against them. Regardless of it, the Spartans moved forward, dodging and coordinating. The Rookie and Alyosha each grabbed one of the two grapple arms, planting plasma grenades on them as bullets, rockets and slugs struck the armor plate of the criminal machine.

Cratering wounds began to grow, gashes from energy blasts and kinetic rounds. The Spartans had a clear path to the machine, their own troops providing fire to clear the path. Laplace laughed heartily, firing her beam cannon at the enemy while their Commanders surged forward. Syuen herself covered the others, providing a bipod for Niner.

She looked back, noticing the girl trembling, her shots going a little wide, then asked, "Niner! Are you okay!?" to which the gunner grunted an affirmative nod. Syuen noticed the impact wound in her hip and realized there was no bullet. Corruption… Oh, God. Every fiber in Syuen's being recoiled, remembering Missilis's own experiments with the Flood and, previous, with Cinder and her soldiers.

… She didn't pull back, however, calling out, "CORTANA! STELLA! WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM!" with panic in her voice. Cortana herself staggered, looking at them. She dashed toward the two girls, with Syuen stating, "One of the tentacles hit her… She's…" and the girl hesitated. Cortana, stunned, looked at Niner just as the girl collapsed and caught her…

Chief dodged over a slashing arm, firing his rifle until he broke the chains holding it together. Beside him, Rookie mounted a second and shot out its support, running up it with all the grace of a ballerina before priming a grenade and throwing it at a regenerating turret after two seconds. The explosion shattered the laser, causing several blasts to flash around as if they flew out of a prism, one beam slashing across the side of the hanging core.

Alyosha ran up the Core's pedestal, firing his weapon at it. Chief followed close behind, covering the man, calling to him, "Commander!" before handing him a plasma grenade. He then shot the alien machine's arm down, covering Alyosha as the boy ran forward. The young man moved, dodging past enemy laser fire and priming it.

As he dodged blast after blast, his team-mates calling out and cheering him on while protecting him with their weapons fire, he felt pride well in his chest. He was finally doing something to help them. He jumped, aiming for the Core. It saw him and tried to charge the regenerating laser arm to its right. It failed the moment one of Anis's missiles and Rapi's bullets struck it.

He landed and stuck the grenade, then jumped off the bucking machine as the grenade's pitch shifted upward. The bright blue flash that followed enveloped the monster's body, shearing clean through the central computer systems and its repair, command and control abilities. Any remaining Raptures rushing to its aid soon detonated, shattered across the fields of this place while the machine itself exploded to pieces.

Chief watched the other side of the pylon where the core had been, waiting to see Alyosha appear. A moment passed as the Spartan and the Rookie(also a Spartan) felt their stress grow. It was a moment later that Alyosha appeared, waving to the two Spartans. Rookie sighed in relief, while Chief did that internally, simply nodding.

"Heh, that was awesome," Rookie complimented Alyosha, lifting his hand in a balled fist. Alyosha grinned behind his helmet, bumping his fist with his fellow normal Human's. Chief only gave them a nod of approval. The two gentlemen depolarized their visors, smiling at the man, then paused as they saw the Nikkes crowding around someone.

Chief turned his head and saw it, too. He and the two men then jumped down, all three of them praying that nothing major had happened, though the Chief knew… He knew. He'd seen her get hit, but every fiber of his being now prayed that the girl got just as lucky as Rapi with that thing. As they pushed through the crowd of Marines and Nikkes to the front, they saw Pinne, Syuen and Cortana tending to Niner.

They'd removed Niner's helmet, revealing the sweating Nikke as she panted, tears welling in her red eyes. They flashed a deeper shade of burning scarlet every few seconds. Pinne spoke to her, "Hey, hey, Niner, stay with us, sister," as she held her hand. She told her, "We called MEDEVAC. They'll get ya on board and get you some Vapaus…"

"Too late…" The girl replied, though her voice was weak, "I think I waited… Too long…" only to look up and smile a little as she saw Chief. She cooed weakly, "Hey, Commander…" as the man took a knee in front of her. She chuckled sadly, gently bobbing her head back. She told him, "I'm feeling a little cold… We got any warmers in our gear…?"

"I'll look into it," The Spartan replied, taking his helmet off. He looked at Cortana, blue eyes locking onto hers, as he asked, "Can you keep her stable until the Evac bird gets here?" only to see the young woman frown, causing his heart to drop. He sighed deeply, then said, "We're getting you out of here, Niner. Back home, where Doctor Halsey can-"

"Don't, Chief…" The girl wheezed out, her voice slightly distorting. She grit her teeth, grip tightening on Pinne's hand, "Don't make a girl a promise you… Can't keep," and that caused the Spartan's eyes to widen. Cortana bit back a few words, while Anis and Neon walked over, too, with Rapi walking up beside the Commander…

Sammy and Layla now joined the crowd, while Delta and Signal were behind Pinne already. Pinne herself seemed pale as bone, though she held onto Niner's hand. She raised her other hand toward the Chief, weakly smiling while staring at him. He blinked, then slowly shuffled over and took it as she said, "... Thanks for everything, sir…"

"You saved my life enough times by now, Niner," Chief replied, gently wiping away some dust from her gauntlet, "No need to thank me…" and he looked at her, right in those glimmering red eyes. Alyosha and Rookie both took their helmets off, too, standing beside their respective squads. Even Syuen seemed to be fighting back tears.

She chuckled again, eyes closing, "I'd have been scrAP without you, sir… You gave me a home… A squad," her gaze swept to Pinne, Sammy and Layla, not to mention Delta and the crying Signal, then she heaved and let out a slight yelp of pain. She cleared her throat and mumbled, "Ugh… Bastards really did a number on my voicebox already," before narrowing her lips. She looked at the Chief, "I just did my duty, sir… The Duty I failed the first time…"

"You didn't fail…" Syuen whispered, "That Commander was a known fool. He got his entire squad killed," and she swallowed empty, staring at the girl. Niner chuckled, smiling thankfully at Syuen while Chief simply offered the New Nikke a nod. Kilo had climbed out of TALOS, as well, taking a knee beside the Chief and stifling tears.

Pinne, meanwhile, seemed to be somewhere between tearing up and having a panic attack. Her mind, jumbled by memories returning, made her look at the Chief. She whispered, her voice cracking, "Evac is ten mikes out, sir… Maybe if she can hold on for a few more minutes," only to pause and break down, covering her own eyes as she began to weep the moment Niner squeezed her hand.

She squeezed the Chief's as well, then said to him, "Sir… Let me go out my own way," even as she, too, began to break down, both mentally and physically. She looked at the sidearm on the Spartan's thigh, which Chief looked at, too. Most of those present felt their hearts rip in two as the girl told him, "I'm sorry for asking you this, sir, but, as my commander… Please, follow Final Dispensation Protocols…" and her voice grew cold at the end. She grit her teeth, trying not to wail.

The Spartan breathed, sliding his helmet onto his head and standing up. He drew the pistol, watching as the girl's eyes turned a terrifying shade of red. Even through the tears, she looked up at him, letting go of Pinne's hand and snapping a crisp salute. The Spartan drew his pistol and, instead of dragging it out, he followed the wishes of his first Nikke…

A single shot rang out across the artificial caverns…

And one more Nikke found her resting place…