Rah Decisions by The Spook
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Rash Decisions-Prologue
Date: 16 June 2004, 3:11 PM
Rash Decisions-Prologue
1842 Hours, March 17, 2554 (Military Calendar)
ONI facility B-X13, Asteroid Base, Bastini Baja System
"Mornin' luscious!" Lt. Hayton exclaimed, a smile playing across his
face. The Lieutenant had short black hair and tanned skin and wore the
uniform of the ONI brass. An A.I stood in front of him, her green code
blushed slightly red as she giggled.
"Cool down Lieutenant. I still need your password" announced Kalisa.
Kalisa was ONI's most advanced A.I. She was a improved version of Cortana,
many minor details making her the better half. Her major improvements were
that she could transfer herself to any UNSC console in the universe. She
also has ONI's most advanced Covenant translation system after a recent
breakthrough.
"Alright Kalisa. On The Coldest Day Of Winter" said Hayton
joyfully.
"Okay, you can enter. Colonel Ackerson's waiting for you in the
board room" replied the smart A.I. The blast doors screeched open and Lt.
Hayton marched through, smile disappearing.
"Colonel Ackerson, sir. Lieutenant Hayton is here to see you sir!"
announced a marine.
"Alright, send him in!" exclaimed Ackerson. Lt. Hayton turned the
gold doorknob on the thick oak door. The lieutenant let out a small gasp
before concealing it after realising that Ackerson was staring at him. He
jumped to attention and saluted.
"Colonel Ackerson, sir!" chanted Hayton. The colonel got out of his
chair.
"Can it, Lieutenant. I don't have time for this. I've invited you
here to tell you your project's been approved. They're set up down at
testing and they're just waiting for you. Here's your clearance. Hurry I've
got a meeting with Admiral Hood" growled Ackerson.
"Sir, yes sir!" Hayton shouted. He turned on his heel and left the
office before the Colonel could yell at him some more. Ackerson had
obviously been pressured into approving the project as only a week ago, he'd
been told the Colonel had canned his experiment. Hayton had been so excited
that he hadn't seen what his new security clearance read. All Level
Clearance B-X13- First Lieutenant. He'd been promoted! Could this be the
best day of his life?
The newly promoted First Lieutenant strutted down the cramped
corridors of ONI's asteroid base before realising that he didn't actually
know where testing was. A ONI spook he hadn't seen before walked past and
Hayton tapped him on the shoulder. The spook turned with an annoyed look on
his face.
"Excuse me, where's testing?" Asked Hayton.
"Hey, hey I know you! You're the guy testing the flood antidote!
Good luck. Testing is down the corridor to the right and then you come to a
elevator. Kalisa will get you the rest of the way" exclaimed the spook.
"Thanks!" replied Hayton. The spook smiled and walked off. The
Lieutenant headed to the elevator and entered. A voice resounded out of
nowhere.
"Lieutenant, you don't have authorisation to go down to testing". It
was Kalisa.
"Oh, don't I?" said Hayton, eyebrow raised. He inserted his
clearance card into the console.
"They approved your project? Interesting...Why didn't I know that?"
she questioned herself.
"Don't sweat Kalisa! Just get me down to testing" replied Hayton.
The elevator lurched into action and descended into the depths of the
asteroid.
"Ah, Lieutenant. Good. We're ready to go as soon as you are!"
growled a ONI spook.
"Alright Lieutenant!" exclaimed a dark-skinned sergeant carrying a
MA5B assault rifle.
"Who's this?" asked Hayton pointing at the sergeant. The sergeant
answered the question for him.
"I'm Sergeant.A.J. Johnson. I'm here to guard you spooks if anything
goes amiss. How'd you find an antidote for the flood?" Johnson questioned.
"Well there's a chemical in Hunter blood that overpowers the flood
infection. It's the only reason why they're not used for combat forms. They'
re technically immune. The antidote is hunter blood" announced Hayton. The
was silence in the testing area for a moment. A captured flood combat form,
lay strapped to a operating table a few meters from the Sergeant.
"Alright then. What's ugly here for?" Johnson asked.
"'Ugly', is our test subject. If everything works out, in a few
minutes he should be a human again, although he may have lost his mind"
growled Hayton.
"Shit" said the Sergeant. "That thing was human?". Hayton brushed
past Johnson and towards his wriggling test subject. He picked up the vile
of Hunter blood and poured it into a needle.
"Sergeant, would you mind holding down his arms?" asked Hayton.
"Not at all!" replied Johnson. The sergeant strode over behind the
combat form and held the creature's arms down on the table.
"This guy's slippery!" bellowed Johnson.
"I just need you to hold him for a second" Hayton announced calmly.
The Lieutenant placed the needle into the test subject's dead skin and
injected the serum.
"We should see results in a few minutes" exclaimed Hayton. Six
minutes later the results began happening.
"Yes, it's working!" the Lieutenant shrieked. The combat form began
wriggling even more and started foaming at the mouth.
"Are you sure this is meant to be happening?" Johnson asked, a grim
look upon his face. The straps that were holding the test subject down
snapped and it broke free.
"No" whispered the Lieutenant. The combat form swung it's arms at
the bewildered Sgt. Johnson to the floor with a sickening crack. Now it
turned on Lt. Hayton. It's long arm impacted on his jaw, sending the
Lieutenant sprawling to the floor, gasping for air. Hayton felt a pang of
regret as he blacked out.
It was loose.
I've been reading fan fic for a while but have never written one. Please
comment.
Rash Decisions Pt 1
Date: 16 June 2004, 5:40 PM
Rash Decisions Pt 1
2134 Hours, March 17, 2554 (Military Calendar)
ONI facility B-X13, Asteroid Base, Bastini Baja System
"Hey Hayton, you all right?" asked a voice. It was a friendly voice. It made Lieutenant Hayton feel happy. Hayton's field of vision was hazy. He was returning to consciousness. What had happened? The Lieutenant felt a heavy spike of pain. He put his hand to his face and felt a warm, thick liquid. His mouth tasted of copper. As his vision returned Hayton realised it was blood on his hand. A dark-skinned man kneeled over him.
"How many fingers am I holding up buddy?" questioned the dark-skinned man. The Lieutenant's eyes focused and he counted three fingers.
"Three" answered Hayton.
"Good, your alright" said the man with a sigh of relief. The Lieutenant's vision finally cleared and he stared around his surroundings. He recognised the dark-skinned man as Sergeant. A.J. Johnson.
"What happened Sergeant?" Hayton asked. The Sergeant looked at a nearby operating table and then back at the Lieutenant.
"Don't you remember Hayton?" acquired Johnson. "Your test subject broke free and went mad. I'm afraid he killed your fellow spook". Hayton turned his head slightly to take a look at his fellow ONI worker. His corpse lay, twisted, swimming in his own blood. He remembered his project, he remembered it's straps buckling and the combat form knocking him to the floor.
"We have to find the test subject! We have to kill it before it evolves into a carrier!" shouted Hayton suddenly.
"Alright Lieutenant!" Johnson said, reloading his MA5B."But first we gotta get you patched up. Are there any medical supplies around here?
Sergeant Johnson opened the medical supplies cupboard and retrieved a can of biofoam and a few painkillers. The Sergeant swallowed one of the drugs and then turned to Hayton.
"Alright Lieutenant, let's get you patched up!" he exclaimed.
Hayton felt the cool satisfying feeling of biofoam on his head injury.
"Hey Sarge, are you alright?" questioned the Lieutenant.
"I think I cracked a rib or two, but it's nothing these painkillers can't heal" Johnson chuckled. He finished applying the biofoam and strapped a bandage around Hayton's head.
"Okay Lieutenant, let's go hunt some flood!" he growled.
The pair walked out of testing and towards the elevator that Hayton had ridden down to his experiment. Kalisa appeared on the elevator's console.
"Lieutenant, what happened?" she questioned.
"The test subject broke loose. It couldn't break free until I injected the hunter blood. Maybe the hunter's immunity isn't something we can transfer to humans. Ackerson was right" replied Hayton.
"I haven't seen the combat form, so it' still in testing. Find it!" exclaimed Kalisa.
"Yes Ma'am!" shouted Johnson. They returned to testing.
Dead ONI spooks lay dead, in the wake of the combat form or the test subject. It's bone structure was beginning to change as it quickly was evolving into a carrier form. It continued searching the corridors for more defenceless victims, so that when he released his infection forms they would easily be able to find hosts. Then they would spread to the rest of the facility and find more food. That's how the flood worked. Kill. Feed. Leave.
"No Pulse. This thing's tough!" exclaimed Johnson. The sergeant backed away from yet another dead spook.
"This must be a side effect of the hunter blood!" announced Hayton.
"Man Hayton. You and ONI really screwed up this time didn't you? The last thing the UNSC needs is a new race of super-powerful flood. Then again what can you expect from a spook. Always messin' with everything!" Johnson said in a huff. Hayton opened his mouth to speak and then stopped. The Sarge was right. He had messed up. He had to fix it!
"I know I screwed up, but if we kill this thing now we can fix it. We have to hurry. The hunter blood might speed the evolution phase up!" yelled Hayton. Johnson stood back slightly shocked by Hayton's rage. He looked down at the ground, thinking it over.
"Alright Hayton, let's fix your mess!" exclaimed the Sergeant. He charged down the corridor, assault rifle at chest height. The Lieutenant followed.
The test subject leaped down the corridor. He had to find a place to hide. He was evolving and if he was found in his evolving state, he could easily be killed. And he didn't want to go down without a fight. A small door stood to his right. The combat form reached for the door release and pressed it. Inside was a storage room. Perfect it thought. The test subject strolled in and the door closed behind him.
"The trail of dead bodies ends here" the Sergeant announced pointing at a small door. "It might be tough but it sure ain't clever!". Hayton hit the door release and the Sergeant charged in, rifle raised. Hayton followed. Johnson slowly stomped around the dark, small storage room.
Suddenly a large puffy figure stepped out. The combat form had evolved. Hayton watched as Johnson put his finger to his MA5B's trigger.
"No Johnson!" bellowed the Lieutenant. Too late. The Sergeant fired a quick three-round burst and the carrier blew in a gassy explosion. Hayton and Johnson flew back and the Sergeant dropped his rifle. The pair got to their feet and the Lieutenant shouted :
"Run!"
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