[EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: I decided to take a stab at seeing if I could rewrite the story from the start, at the behest of several loyal readers. This 3,000 or so word chapter is basically a test. If people like this then I know I've got my direction and I can start working this into a full story. If people abhor this then I know I've still got the direction wrong and need to go back and make some changes. At this crucial stage COMMENTING CAN MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE. All feedback will contribute to making this better. This will eventually be posted as a separate story, but for now I need to know how you react to this. Thank you for anything you can tell me.]
This wasn’t the first time that Paul had gone up against an alien. The Elite towered over him but the plucky human was still ready to give his all. Paul leapt forwards into a left hook that sent his opponent reeling backwards. The Humans forming almost the entirety of the circle that surrounded the brawling soldiers cheered when the blow connected. Their cries of adoration giving the punch an extra burst of force. A spurt of liquid indigo flew as the fist collided with the alien’s jaw. Paul’s silver ring scored a bloody welt on his opponent’s face. “This is for Earth, squid-head.” Paul spat as he pulled his fist back for the finisher.
Fel’ Vara’s head wouldn’t stop spinning. This… nameless creature had slighted a Sangheili’s honour, and now he would pay the price. Fel saw the filth pull back his hand and shout something, but the words were unintelligible to the dazed Elite. The human’s intent was obvious from the murder in his eyes. A burst of rage spurred Fel to do the last thing his opponent expected. He let out a thunderous, rage filled cry and bounded forwards in a mad charge.
Paul struck outwards with a vicious punch when he found his arms suddenly locked to his side. The air was crushed out of his lungs with such force that Paul could feel bruises forming on his ribs. The split lip had him in a vice grip. The Elite’s long arms easily wrapped around Paul’s midsection, and slowly squeezed the life out of him. Paul kicked wildly in a mad effort to break free. “Let… go…” he choked as he tried his best to move his arms.
Fel brought the Human right up to his face. “You think yourself brave, Human?” Fel hissed into his ear. Fel tightened his grip and the Human started to kick even more frantically. “Surrender yourself to me, and maybe I’ll let you live.”
“Never… surrender,” Paul gasped. His probing fingers suddenly found their target. He pulled a serrated blade free from his boot. With a burst of energy, he thrust the blade into the Elite’s split maw.
Fel felt the sharp stab of the combat knife as it plunged into his face. The coward had brought a knife to a fist fight. Did he have no honour? Fel could feel his grip starting to weaken. The frantically struggling marine broke free with a final push, and landed on the metal floor gasping for breath. Fel stumbled backwards once more. His vision began to cloud over. Indigo liquid poured from his mouth in a constant river. Fel tugged on the knife to pull it out, causing another torrent of blood to pour out of his mouth. The knife clattered to the floor shortly followed by a soft thump. Fel’ Vara took one last breath before stilling permanently.
With a cry of rage, a group of three Elites clad in purple armour bounded forwards from the crowd towards the still spluttering marine. At the lead charged a fourth Elite in a suit of golden armour. The golden elite reached to his side and pulled out a small metal bar from his hip. The bar reacted to his touch with a burst of purple light that solidified into a thick, curved blade.
A group of seven marines in combat fatigues stepped forwards from behind the coughing combatant. The leader at the front wore a pair of yellow shades and held a sleek silver magnum in his hand. “Get back, hinge-head. The fight’s over. We won. Now leave gracefully.”
“Do you have no honour, Human? This… filth has contaminated the holy rite of combat by his aversion to the rules. Now he dies as is custom.”
“Maybe on your backwards ass planet! You take one more step over here and we’ll see what your rite of combat says about a bullet to the face.”
The Elite made as if to step forwards, but the Human called his bluff by pulling the top piece of the magnum back with an audible clack. “I will do as you wish,” The Elite eventually said solemnly and turned to leave.
“That’s right! Get your scraggly alien ass outta here. Go on, get,” The marine shouted as two of the purple clad Elites walked around the golden Elite and pulled Fel’s body back to the doorway. With one last angry stare at the newcomer, the golden Elite snorted derisively and left the room with the fourth Elite. With the action over, most of the crowd followed his lead.
A pair of Paul’s supporters lifted up the wheezing trooper. “You okay there, Paul?” one of them asked.
“I’ll be fine, Johnny,” Paul replied before coughing loudly into his hand. Johnny gave him a pat on the back causing another storm of coughs that eventually subsided.
The marine in yellow glasses took one last look at his magnum, before flipping on the safety and holstering the pistol. The marine turned around to face the trooper. “Private Franklin, I told you not to take one of those bastards head on. We ain’t gunna win support if everybody knows those aliens can kick our asses.”
“I know, LT, and I’m sorry. It’s just… one of the squids was showing off some memento he’d gotten from Earth. He’d probably torn it from the cold corpse of some civvy. When I confronted him over it, the sonuva bitch took it as some kinda slight against his honour or whatever. Those blue-skins are just fucking crazy.”
“Amen to that.” The Lieutenant sighed in agreement. “Look, Paul, we all have to at least look like we’re getting on with the Elites. I can only bail you out of trouble so many times, man. The Captain’s starting to take notice, and when he does it won’t be pretty. If you want to stay out of the line of some firing squad, you’re going to have to pretend to get along with the fuckers. Ya read me?”
Paul looked at his feet for a few seconds, before looking up with a smile and a nod. “Yes sir, Lieutenant Kinney, sir!”
Before the lieutenant could reply, the room was suddenly filled with the deafening blare of a ship wide alarm.
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Captain Rubin Jameson sighed exhaustedly as he stared out of a window and into the vast emptiness that was space. “This mission has been a complete disaster,” he announced as he turned around and took his place on a small metal chair at the head of a large rectangular table. A chorus of nods echoed his sentiment from all around the table. Human officers of varying stripe and colour mumbled as they nodded. One Covenant officer was also present, Special Operations Commander Vas’ Rayle in his white armour.
“Excuse me, Captain, but my science team have made leaps and strides with all the information we gathered from the remains of the UNSC Hastings,” Matthias called from his position directly to the left of the captain. His trim black moustache ruffled as he spoke, and he made sure to adjust his round rimmed glasses during the speech for that extra science factor.
“With all due respect, Science Officer Henderson, the research was merely a secondary objective. The main assignment was to bring back information about what happened, recover the precious cargo and rescue the crew if we could.”
“But we have…” Matthias began.
“No we haven’t. All of the crew members are dead, all of the cargo was destroyed, and all of the evidence was erased. We recovered nothing!”
“We recovered some very important samples,” Matthias insisted.
“Permission to speak freely, sir?” one of the officers in a dull grey uniform called out from directly across the table from Matthias.
“Permission granted, Executive Officer Jung,” the Captain consented with an accompanying nod.
“Despite the lack of crucial evidence, it is quite clear why the crew died. That science experiment those ONI idiots were carrying out was clearly the catalyst that led to the destruction of the Hastings. I for one would like to see these recovered “samples” that Matthias somehow lifted from the wreck without my knowledge.”
Matthias leapt to his feet and shouted “No!” He then realised his mistake and began to sweat profusely. “I-I mean… uh… you can’t. I’m afraid that these samples are Level Five Security Clearance only. That means that only the research staff can enter the laboratory!” The scientist pulled a hankie from a pocket in his lab coat and began to dab his face.
“As well as Captain Jameson or Major Gerundell if they so desire,” Jung finished for him.
“Uhm… well… technically,” Matthias began.
“You heard the man. Captain, I implore you to investigate what is happening down there.”
“You have your own security guards, correct?”
Matthias was staring down at his feet, mumbling something to himself.
“Matthias!” Jameson bellowed at the stuttering scientist.
“Y-yes!” Matthias returned.
“Then let us see what is going on down there. Gerundell, would you care to accompany me?”
A rather portly man with greying hair stood up from the opposite end of the table. “Of course, Rubin. You can always count on me.” Gerundell broke into a wide smile as he strode over to the other two officers. “Lead the way, Matthias.”
The science officer stood up shakily and pulled out his handkerchief again. Before he could dab his face, the alarm began to blare. A burst of frantic beeps erupted across the room as all the officer’s beepers went off as one. Matthias tapped his head and a retinal display powered up. Scrolling across the inside of his eyes were two words. Two words that filled him full of dread. “Containment Breach.”
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Jek’ Varaee mourned the loss of his battle brother. Whenever an Elite fell to someone so weak it was a tragedy. It gave small comfort to the golden armoured Elite that his brother had fallen in combat as the fight had not been glorious. The coward’s knife had put an end to a brave warrior in what was supposed to be a test of brute strength. Behind him marched the three elites in purple armour, carrying the burden that was once their comrade. Out of respect the small group marched in complete silence.
The sound of their strange alloy boots clattering against the metal floor echoed across the empty corridor. A sudden flicking noise caused the Elite’s warrior instincts to kick in as he span around and pulled out his blade. With a mix of relief and anger he noted that it was just the sound of the corridors fluorescent lights powering down. In large blocks the lights turned off seconds between each other, hiding the Elites in darkness. Jek’s sword was the only source of light in the now pitch black corridor. His fellow Elites eyed the warrior warily, watching the sword as it swung around leaving a faint trail behind it.
A faint hiss sounded out somewhere close to the party causing one of the elites to jump nervously. “Are we under attack?” the Elite asked Jek.
“Steel yourself soldiers. Continue moving our brother. I’ll cover our rear with my sword. We have to…” Jek’s voice was drowned out by the sudden blare of an alarm. Sickly red light filled the corridor as the emergency lights kicked into gear with a loud whirr. A shadow suddenly exposed darted into an open door.
“Let us hurry our brother away. Something prowls the night,” Jek said to the three Elites before they continued to rush away.
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Doctor Shilaa routed through her pockets for her security pass. There was no way she could possibly have lost it. It was always in the same place for the express reason that she wouldn’t lose it. With an annoyed sigh, she hit the buzzer. “Hey, Steve. It’s me Jenna. Could you open the door? I seem to have lost my pass.”
No response from the other end. Jenna pushed the button again and put her ear to the speaker to check it had static. Sure enough there was a buzz of static from the other side. Someone had the intercom button pressed. “How many times have I told you not to put your coffee mug on the intercom?” she muttered under her breath as she released the button.
“Forget your pass, again?” A voice called from behind. Jenna spun around to see Doctor Chen with a smug smile on his face.
“I could have sworn that I had it on me this time. Steve’s got the intercom stuck on again.”
“Calm down, Shilaa. All this stress isn’t good for you.” Chen said as he stepped forwards.
“Sorry. Could you just let us in? I’ve got a lot of work to do.” Jenna rubbed her forehead.
Chen noted the bags under her eyes. It looked like he had been right on the money. Chen took a step forward and placed his card into the reader. The reader beeped once and then ejected the card. “Welcome to the lab, Doctor Chen.” A robotic voice came from the reader. Chen stepped through along with Shilaa.
“How’s the Alpha coming along?” Chen asked conversationally.
“Oh, you know. He’s responding to stimuli. Those samples from the Hastings helped us iron out a few of his quirks. When we get back we’re going to have to…” Shilaa suddenly stopped in her tracks. At her feet was a pool of blood and a set of bullets. “…oh no,” she concluded softly.
“That’s not…” Chen swallowed nervously. “Tell me that’s not the work of the Alpha.”
“I-I don’t know!”
“I’m leaving!” Chen shouted as he turned around to come face-to-face with the Alpha. It looked Human… or at least its structure was. Thick chitinous claws emerged from the knuckles of its hands. Its skin was a pallid green and hung loosely from its form with no hair covering it at all. Its once human teeth had been replaced with razor sharp fangs.
Its eyes turned on Shilaa. “Hello… Doctor,” it growled in a guttural and strained tone. “So nice… to see… you.”
Chen took a few nervous steps backwards while its attention was on Shilaa.
The Alpha’s eyes flicked to her companion. “No… escape,” it hissed.
Chen spun around and sprinted for the entrance. Within a second he was pinned to the floor by the much heavier than normal body of the Alpha. “Tut…tut.” The Alpha plunged its thick claw into Chen’s back, eliciting screams of pain. With practiced precision, the Alpha positioned its two claws either side of his neck. “Goodbye… Assistant,” he gurgled before pulling his claws together. A sick tearing noise followed by a soft thump marked the end of Doctor Chen.
Shilaa bolted while the Alpha was busy and charged into the security office. Steve was at his desk, face-down on the intercom button in a pool of his own blood. There wasn’t time to freak out about this, so she shelved it temporarily. She wrenched open the security locker and pulled out one of the preloaded twelve gauge shotguns they kept for just this kind of occasion. She pointed it at the door and waited. Nothing happened. Shilaa tried to regain control of her frenzied breathing.
“Doctor… come out… and play,” the beast called from the other side of the door. The door pushed open and she fired the gun through the portal. No cry of pain or sign of green meant she had missed. The Alpha was testing her and she knew it. The thing wasn’t stupid and obviously understood that it wasn’t invincible. The scientist part of her wanted to congratulate the fact that they had bred self-preservation instincts into a hive animal. The Human part of her brain was still screaming at the events of the past five minutes.
Shilaa pumped the shotgun and kept it poised on the doorway. Someone was bound to find the science team was missing. Someone had to come to their aid, they just had to. She tried desperately to nurse the small spark of hope that kept her going. Then the lights went out and so did her spark.
“Doctor… it is… time,” Alpha called. Shilaa flinched and let off another shot into the darkness.
“I have to control my breathing,” she murmured to herself. Deep breath in, deep breath out, deep breath in, deep breath out. Slowly her heart stopped beating so hard. Her ability to hear clearly returned. If she listened very carefully she could just here the faint scratching of claws on metal. It was coming closer. She fired again. A soft thump and sharp cry earned a taut smile. She had hit it. There was no mistaking the sound of flesh hitting steel. Pushing herself to her feet, Shilaa felt around for a button on the wall. Her hand came to a familiar glass box and she smashed it hard with the butt of her gun. A dull red light filled the security room and the labs. Turning to the ground she looked to see an unmoving humanoid. She sighed loudly as she walked into the lab.
A sharp stabbing pain suddenly started in her lower back. She spun around to see the Alpha smile as it knocked her shotgun flying across the room.
“Bad luck… doctor.”
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“Someone tripped the alarms in the labs, sir,” A young ensign read off of his monitor.
“The labs? Send a routine patrol over…” Captain Jameson began.
Science Officer Henderson sprinted over shouting, “No! We need a full-scale containment team! Every marine you can muster! The specimens are free! Oh god! Oh god!” Matthias pulled out his inhaler and took a deep breath.
“What are you talking about, Matthias? What is happening down there?” The Captain turned around to confront the scientist.
“We need to stop them from infecting the crew!” Matthias was visibly shaking.
“We need to stop what?” Jameson shouted as he grabbed the nervous scientist by the scruff of his collar. “What the hell were you doing in that goddamned lab?”
“We-we were experimenting! With… with Flood.”
“You were what?” Jameson bellowed.
“We’ve got live Flood Specimens free on the ship!”
“You stupid bastard!” Jameson dropped the scientist onto the floor with a loud thud. He then turned to the same ensign from before. “Send all available combat teams to contain the Flood. Order all auxiliary staff to seal themselves in their quarters and not respond until I give them the safety call.”
“Yes, sir!” The ensign saluted as he brought up the command screen.
Captain Jameson turned to the one white armoured Elite on board. “Special Operations Commander Vas’ Rayle, may I borrow your Sangheili troops to help stem the tide?”
“Of course, Captain. My troops will serve you in any capacity possible,” Vas returned.
“Excellent. Ensign relay that.”
“Adding to the command list, sir!”
“I had hoped that we would be battling the followers of the False Prophets, but the Parasite is still a worthy enemy.” Vas nodded and left the room.
“Matthias, you must have had some containment measures!” Jameson turned back around to see that Matthias was now sat upright.
“They were operated from the security office, where the alarm is. The fact that the alarm has been raised means that the security measures have failed.” Matthias couldn’t meet Jameson’s eyes as he spoke.
“I need numbers, Matthias.”
“We had twelve flood forms under containment: eight Human Combat Forms, two Sangheili Combat Forms, and two Jiralhanae Combat Forms.”
“How about the staff?”
“There’s eight scientists on the research team and six security guards.”
“Assuming they’ve all been transformed then we’re looking at twenty six hostiles. Relay that, ensign.”
“Yes, sir!”
“If any of those Flood Forms get free we could be looking at a full-scale contamination. I want all access routes between floors closed down. I want every possible security measure activated.” Jameson strutted over to a different console. “How close are we to the nearest planet?”
“The nearest system only has one planet. Unexplored.” Another ensign replied.
“Pull us in closer. If we have to blow the ship to contain the threat, then I will. We can’t give Flood access to a space-worthy vessel.”
“Yes, sir! Relaying the orders to engineering.”
“For your sake, Matthias, let’s hope that we can contain your specimens, or it’s your neck on the line.”