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Hunter Flood - Chapter 4: Mutation
Posted By: Skul<skulkrusha2000@hotmail.com>
Date: 9 December 2005, 2:23 am
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Ninth Age of Reclamation, Hall of Peace / Ancient Structure, Halo
Lero Sono Madda stood by one of the large archways of the Forerunner building, carefully surveying the landscape for any threatening movement. His partner, Narga Sono Persu, stood by the arch opposite. Innu 'Simolee, having already requested a Phantom of warriors, was crouched in the shadows of the central arch, sweeping the outside with his Beam Rifle, a Carbine on his back for close-range combat.
Lero turned at the sound of Plasma Rifle fire. His leader, Zanu, looked up and grunted. He turned to the three figures at the arches, "Stay here and don't move. I will be back."
The tall, Red Armoured Sangheili motioned for the Unggoy to follow him. Lero turned back to the rustling foliage as the Unggoy toddled after Zanu.
Lero shifted, slightly, the spines on his back bristling. He was bored. He wanted to crush something; a boulder, a frail human body, even an Unggoy. His attention drifting, the Lekgolo imagined bringing his massive shield down on a screaming human, excited by the look of fear on his victim's face and revelling in the wonderful feeling of power as the human's body was ground into dust.
Lero realised his mind was wandering and quickly focused on the foliage, again, ignoring the glance given to him by Innu.
There was more firing from above, followed by a deep booming sound. Although curious, Lero knew it was not his concern. It was most likely nothing important.
Lero's mind wandered, again. His boredom was making him so weary! Staring out into the constantly moving jungle, the massive Lekgolo sighed heavily. Innu looked over at him, irritably, and then resumed his attentive watch with a shake of his head.
The powerful Lekgolo attempted to focus on his duty, mustering all of his will to keep himself alert, but it was not easy. He had already been awake for more than two days. He could have staved off sleep for an extra day or two, but recent events had depleted his energy, vastly.
Two days prior, Zanu had told them of a Forerunner building of great importance and that they must reach it before the humans. They had planned for almost an entire day, deciding at last to approach under cover of night. Lero had been set guard duty that night, along with Narga. Only an hour later, just when his group was about to begin their journey, the humans had made a surprise attack on their encampment. Lero had enjoyed that – swinging his mighty shield, bludgeoning the foolish humans to death and vaporising their pathetic bodies with his powerful Fuel Rod Cannon. The battle, although short, had tired him. The attack had caused them to delay until the next day and Lero found himself unable to sleep. Slumber teased him, but every time he offered himself, it floated away, like dust on the wind. That night had seemed like torture, everyone around him was blissfully resting their bodies, dreams filling their heads while he sat with his back against a large rock, always about to fall asleep before suddenly waking up for no reason. Finally, after many long, long hours, they set out to find the temple.
They would have arrived by Phantom, but the risk of being spotted and attacked by humans on the way was too great, so instead they had flown a short distance and continued on foot. And then the rain had started, chilling Lero where his armour did not conceal the worm-like organisms. The rain was also causing Narga discomfort, Lero noted, as his partner kept shaking himself every once in a while.
A small, high-pitched scream brought the Lekgolo out of his reverie.
That sounded like an Unggoy… thought Lero.
There was a confusion of noises coming from the floor above. Unggoy voices yelling, Zanu barking out orders, plasma fire and what sounded like guttural roars.
The three Covenant at the arches found their attention being divided between the outside and inside.
"You two stay here," ordered Innu, shouldering his Beam Rifle and unslinging his Carbine.
Checking the Carbine clip's gauge to make sure it had a full compliment of ammunition – it did – the keen-sighted Sangheili started on his way towards the ramp which would lead him up to the second floor. He had just slipped out of Lero's line of sight when the large Covenant warrior heard the Sangheili cry out.
"No!"
Short, sharp sounds of the Carbine being fired could be heard. Lero saw Innu running backwards out of the shadows, firing blindly, the shadows producing several rapid 'popping' sounds. Scant seconds later, several dozen small, yellowish-green shapes came skittering into view. They were Flood Infection Forms.
Both Lekgolo contracted into their combat stances, keeping their backs to the wall, trying to limit the amount of flesh exposed.
Innu continued firing when his Carbine suddenly ran out of ammunition. Fumbling for a clip, the Sangheili warrior didn't notice a particularly large swarm of Infection Forms slithering towards him. They leaped at him just as he locked a clip into place, exploding as they came into contact with his shields. Half-blinded by his shields flashing violently, Innu's finger involuntarily tightened on the trigger of his weapon. A green beam shot out of the Carbine's barrel, deflecting off of Narga's shield and hitting the ceiling. There was no time to comment on the stray shot from any of the three Covenant warriors, as more Flood kept appearing.
Lero fired his fuel rod cannon at an approaching swarm, the powerful green beam obliterating them all and leaving a small crater in their place. Looking around for any more Flood, Lero saw Innu's shields fail. More Flood continued to jump on him as he dropped his gun and began tearing in panic at the strange creatures that were crawling over him like giant spiders. Innu's efforts stopped as an Infection Form plunged a tendril into his lower back. His body went rigid as the Infection Form began to burrow into his body, moving his internal organs out of the way to his chest cavity. Innu vomited blood and began convulsing as the Flood organism released spores, changing his DNA. Innu 'Simolee was fully conscious of the large, oddly-shaped presence inside his body, fully conscious of his organs being crushed against each other, making it hard to breathe, fully conscious of the pain that was so intense, he felt as if the whole thing was a dream. Or rather a nightmare. His vision went blurry and all colour seemed to fade out of the world. Just before he blacked out, he thought he heard a something, a sound in the back of his mind. Although the language was not tangible to him, he understood it perfectly.
Fooood…
The two huge Lekgolo were only faintly aware that Innu was lying twitching on the floor of the ancient Forerunner building as they blasted and battered and stomped and crushed the innumerable shapes weaving towards them.
Lero had just stepped on another Flood Infection Form when he heard a guttural moan. He turned towards the sound and saw a Combat Form, Formerly Innu, staggering like a drunk towards Narga's exposed back. Lero was about to warn his partner when the Combat Form swung its tendrils at the orange flesh, ripping out a sizeable chunk. Narga's arms flew out to his sides, the sudden pain shocking his system.
The large Lekgolo stumbled forward, orange blood running down the back of his large, armoured legs. Another violent swipe of long, spidery tendrils swathed through the exposed skin. The pain and loss of blood made Narga too weak to put up any real resistance against his assailants and he fell forward, unconscious, as the Combat Form attacked once more, killing the Lekgolo as the vicious swipe removed many of the Lekgolo's worm-like creatures that made up the body.
Lero looked over at the sound of his partner's body hitting the floor. Half of the lower torso looked like a giant claw had reached in and scooped it out. The sight of Narga's lifeless body threw Lero into a fit of rage. He ran towards the Combat Form and drove his large shield into the creature's chest. The ferocity of Lero's attack caused the Flood's body to explode and fly backwards several feet. Through the haze of anger and sadness, Lero realised that he had left the relative safety of the wall. Worse, he had over-reached in an effort to kill the despicable being that had ended his partner's life.
He was about to retreat back towards the wall when he felt several sharp needles plunging into his back. He knew what they were; Flood Infection Forms. Three of them had attached themselves to his lower back when he had disposed of the Combat Form and were now attempting to mutate him. Lero stumbled backwards, heedlessly stepping on more Infection Forms, and attempted to crush the Flood attached to his back against a wall. However, his bulky armour stopped him short. All it did to Infection Forms was push them deeper into his back. The parasites then started to dig in with renewed ferocity. It wasn't long before they were squirming inside his large body, exploring its vastness with their feelers.
Lero was disgusted by the feeling of three Flood Infection Forms inside him, poking and feeling with their strange appendages. He saw the remaining Infection Forms skitter away into the shadows, leaving him in the darkness, alone.
The massive Lekgolo suddenly felt queasy. His mind swam, his thoughts were disconnected and distant, the world around him seemed to be just a dream, a fantasy made up by him.
Then he heard… what? Sounds? Voices? Thoughts? They were all mixing together. They were saying – thinking? – different things, yet they all seemed to be connected to one main idea. Lero couldn't understand them… could he? He clearly 'heard' several distinct words, distinct thoughts.
…Ring… Grave… Food… Death… Unity…
To Lero, the words themselves meant nothing. They had no ties to each other, they were without substance, they were just words. If only he could silence some of the voices to hear what they were talking about. There also seemed to be a dominating voice. It was distant and hard to hear, but it was becoming clearer every moment. It was a very deep, almost rasping voice that had the knowledge of centuries echoing through it.
As the Flood finally claimed him, there was a moment of exquisite pain… and he was no more.
Zanu's eyes widened as he saw the huge, writhing mass fall from the opening in the ceiling, crushing Gugum under its weight. The tall Sangheili could tell from the sound and the smell that it was the Flood. They were in the room, only a few feet from him. He drew his Plasma Sword and assumed a battle stance. Rigon and Taytok grabbed both of their Plasma Rifles and began firing at the mass of bodies streaming towards them.
The Unggoy began panicking as they saw the parasites pouring out of the hole.
"Stand firm!" yelled Zanu over the noise of plasma fire. The Unggoy were too overcome by fear to listen to him. Two of them started firing panicked shots into the swelling mass while the other two dropped their weapons and ran, their arms waving in the air, short, sharp gasps escaping their small bodies.
Zanu growled in annoyance, his gaze following the two retreating figures. He turned his attention back to the Flood. They were still falling from the hole like oversized droplets of poisoned rain.
A particularly vile-looking raindrop leaped at him. There was no time to react and the parasite burst on his shields. The Flood were starting to move towards his position. Rigon and Taytok quickly realised this and ran to different locations. Zanu ran to the left, following Rigon's path. Still running, Zanu turned, swinging his sword blindly. He missed the three Flood Infection Forms leaping at him and they burst on his shields, depleting them further. He needed to find a position where he could easily defend himself from the Flood and allow his shields to recharge. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Taytok's shields flicker and then disappear, depleted. Taytok yelled, firing plasma into thin air as Flood Infection Forms swamped over him, covering his body, all of them eager to penetrate the soft flesh.
Backing away, Zanu swung his sword again, the blade bursting two more Infection Forms, but missing the other three which impacted his shields, draining them significantly. He desperately needed to find cover before his shields failed completely. He bumped into a wall, which was a bad position. He pushed off it and started running for the other side of the room, diving over the Flood Forms that were still pooling in the middle of the floor. As Zanu landed from his dive, rolling forward to absorb the impact, he heard fuel rod cannons firing. The Flood had reached the lower floors and were attacking the rest of his warriors.
Spinning, Zanu's Plasma Sword sliced in an arc once more, catching one of the parasites flying towards him. There was a strange, guttural moan behind him. Zanu turned to see what was left of Taytok shambling towards him. The shock of suddenly seeing a Flood Combat Form so close to him paralysed his limbs just long enough for the horribly mutated creature to swing a deformed arm at him, smashing into his right side and knocking his shields out. Zanu jumped right as the former Sangheili attacked again. Two Infection Forms appeared in front of Zanu, but he kicked them away, irritably. His action had cost him dearly. The Combat Form rushed forward, its disfigured arms outstretched to seize him. Without breaking stride or hesitating, the creature launched another mighty swing of its tendrils at Zanu, catching him in the abdomen. Zanu cried out in anguish as blood, his blood, flowed from the cruel laceration.
Acting on instinct, the Red Armoured Sangheili raised his sword-arm and then brought it down with a strength born of pain and rage. The superheated energy blade cut easily through the Flood Warrior's weak flesh. The gruesome figure stopped in mid-stride, both feet planted on the floor. Slowly, the Flood Warrior split into two parts, the two halves falling away from each other. An awful stench hit Zanu and he backed away, coughing.
There was a faint whoosh as his shields recharged. Zanu sighed with relief. Now he was no longer vulnerable. Just as he was preparing to battle more Infection Forms, several bolts of blue plasma came sizzling out of the shadows towards him. Zanu immediately knew that Rigon had been taken by the Flood. He sliced two more Infection Forms and then transferred his Plasma Sword to his other hand. He unhooked the Needler hanging at his side and fired roughly half the clip towards the figure shambling from the darkness. Seventeen crystalline shards flew towards the Combat Form, embedding themselves in the green flesh before exploding violently, leaving nothing but the stumps of legs and an arm surrounded by watery, green blood. His foe defeated, Zanu turned his attention on the remaining Infection Forms. He was tiring, drawing in lungfuls of air, ignoring the foul smell of the Flood as best he could.
Just as he was preparing to throw a plasma grenade into the mass, something which he did only when he was sure the grenade would not be carried back to him, he heard a deep roar followed by booming footsteps. Still, clutching the Plasma Grenade in his right hand, Zanu fended off the seemingly endless swarm of parasitical creatures as something lumbered up the ramp of the building.
Zanu couldn't clearly see what it was, but he didn't wait for the creature to show itself; he activated his plasma grenade and threw it straight at his target, the hissing blue ball arcing over the Infection Forms. As soon as the grenade had left his hand, Zanu swiped at another parasite jumping towards him. To his dismay, the Plasma Sword ran out of energy just as the Infection Form popped. Looking away from his darkened sword, the Red Sangheili turned his attention on the large creature that he had managed to stick his plasma grenade to. In the small pool of light it emitted, he saw what appeared to be the shape of a Lekgolo, yet it was grossly deformed. The grenade exploded, obscuring his view of the large creature. But what he had seen was beyond words. Was he right in thinking that a Lekgolo was infected by the Flood virus? That couldn't be correct, could it? It was impossible!
Impossible or not, the large Flood Form moved towards him. Enraged by the plasma explosion, it heedlessly trampled the smaller Infection Forms which scurried around it. Zanu threw his sword away; it was now next to useless to him. He armed himself with his Needler and dove left, avoiding the monster's lethal swing. The tall Sangheili landed heavily, causing his wound to start burning with a renewed intensity. He cried out in anguish, clutching his stomach with his left hand. Bearing the pain, Zanu stood up, retreating from the Lekgolo Flood Form – Impossible! – which was turning towards him, again. The Sangheili thought frantically, he was wounded, he was exhausted and he had a weapon that was almost useless against such a creature. Then an idea struck him – it wasn't much of a plan, but it was better than nothing. He grabbed another grenade, thinking quickly. He moved slowly towards the ramp, getting ready to move. Activating the grenade, he held it for one second. Then, bracing his legs, he threw it towards the slowly moving Flood Form. No sooner had it touched the infected Lekgolo than brightened and exploded. The instant Zanu saw the grenade brighten, he ran down the ramp, praying he wouldn't encounter much Flood in the lower levels.
The explosion had confused and disorientated the huge monster. Once it had regained its senses, it looked around, tendrils twitching. It knew its prey had moved, it saw it move, but not to where. Surely it must still be up here? The Flood Form could not see the ramp Zanu had disappeared down, and so began searching its immediate surroundings, hoping to find its prey and crush it with the large object attached to its powerful arm.
Fatigued and injured, Zanu stumbled around in the darkness, listening to the Lekgolo Flood Form stomping around above him. He stayed alert for sounds of slithering or hissing that would indicate Infection Forms nearby. He slowly moved through the lower level of the Forerunner building, which now seemed to be some kind of holding structure rather than a temple.
Ahead he saw the three arches that opened to the outside. Shakily, he staggered towards the exit. He had walked only a few steps before he fell to his knees. A jolt of electricity seared through his wound and he was forced to use all of his will power not to cry out and reveal his position. He choked back his yell of pain, sweat trickling down his face. He looked around just to be sure nothing had noticed him and spotted an alcove to his right. He groggily stood up and began moving towards it, grabbing onto the frame of the threshold for support as he neared it. He moved as far into the alcove as possible and slid down a wall to a sitting position in a corner, waiting for his strength to return. He would never survive out in the cold in his condition. He needed to get his strength back before venturing outside. But he was so weary. His limbs were weak and sluggish. His eyes felt as heavy as his armour and he struggled to keep them open. His vision blurred and he found himself continually forcing his eyes to focus. He couldn't afford to sleep here, not with the Flood close by and especially not when there was a mutated Lekgolo so near, eager for his blood.
Suddenly, Zanu felt a wonderful peacefulness cover him like a soft blanket. He felt as light as air. He would have plenty of time for sleep when he got back to – Zanu sat up sharply, pointing his Needler at the alcove's entrance. Nothing. Zanu realised he had almost fallen asleep! How foolish! The adrenaline running through his veins helped his body awaken, although it still felt sore and tired. He released his grip on the Needler and it clattered on the floor next to him. He breathed deeply, drawing cool oxygen into his lungs. For some reason, he found himself laughing softly at nothing in particular. His brain was so exhausted that everything seemed funny, even the Flood.
Zanu shook his head. This was no way for a Sangheili of his stature to act! A faint trace of a smile remained on his face and laughter still escaped from him, but it was humourless and was more a way of his body releasing tension than from mirth.
He leaned his head against the cold wall behind him, listening to the sounds of the slowly retreating storm and his own ragged breathing. He was so tired, he hardly noticed the tall shapes moving slowly towards him. Hearing footsteps stop near him, he turned his head towards the sound. Hope rose inside of him. Could it be his fellow Sangheili? Before he could discern the shapes hovering near him, white light exploded in his face, burning his hope away. He cried out, turning his head away and instinctively raising his arm to block the light that was blinding his darkness-adjusted eyes.
Then, the figure wielding the light spoke, "Who are you?"
Zanu's expression darkened.
Humans…
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