Hopestar : cp8 : Snags
Posted By: sam_fisha<sam_fisha@yahoo.com>
Date: 2 April 2005, 1:23 AM
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The Master Chief watched the strange Forerunner contraption dance and twirl in the air, casually informing him of the destructive capabilities of the Halos.
He snapped his arm out and caught the Monitor by a part of his metal roll cage. Bringing the thing to his face he began to speak, Wanderer stopped mid-sentence as he was jerked downward. "Answer the question, what is this ship?"
"It is the vessel of saving, the last refuge." It began bleeping and blinking its 'eye' at him.
"What do you mean?" The Master Chief asked, not allowing the Monitor freedom as it shook in his grip.
"It is the last activation point of the Halos and the only safe point." The Monitor stopped shaking for a moment, "It is the Ark."
The Arbiter shared his gaze with all the others on the bridge of the cruiser. There, showed in a perfect holographic representation, was the planet the Humans had directed him to. "This..." The Arbiter began, trying not to offend the Humans. "This is your home world?"
"Yes..." Commander Miranda answered. "Yes it is." She studied the shining planet intently.
"I thought you said your fleets would hold of those Prophet bastards!" Sergeant Johnson said loudly from somewhere behind her.
The Arbiter turned to face the Human soldier. "I said they would try."
"Well they didn't try hard enough!" Johnson yelled, his hand reaching for a cigar stub resting in his shirt pocket.
The Spec ops Commander, nicknamed 'Nubs' by Johnson, stepped between them, facing the Human soldier. "We were very generous to offer our help and you should be very grateful." The Elite said, pointing one of his large claws at the Sergeant.
Johnson stepped forward, bringing himself close to 'Nubs'. "Listen split jaw; I'd rather kill your ass with a fork than talk to it! So you're damn lucky I aren't doing just that!" Sergeant Johnson yelled, forgetting about Miranda's presence, as he stepped closer. Nubs drew himself to full height, towering above the Marine. "I would enjoy watching you try." The Sangheili said, in spite of the fact he didn't know enough of the Human language to understand what a fork was.
"Don't push you luck you ugly mother..." Johnson was cut off by Commander Keyes.
"That's enough Sergeant." She turned to a small holographic pedestal to her right. "Cortana, I want a full scan." Cortana's transparent 'body' appeared on the pedestal.
"Already scanning." She chimed in a monotonous, routine tone. Ever since they had brought her back from the Covenant city ship Miranda had noticed Cortana was slightly changed, behaving erratically and moody.
"I found several Covenant bases and encampments here and here." She said, highlighting large areas on the holographic screen.
"Any idea why the didn't glass the entire area?" Miranda asked, watching Johnson and Nubs glare at each other.
"Yes. Same as on Reach, some artifact or other item of religious value to the Covenant." Cortana looked expectantly at the two Elites standing before her. "Isn't that right?" She asked, already sure of the answer.
"Yes, but I do not know what it is they are searching for, I know only ancient legends." Nubs said quickly, turning away from Johnson.
"Lets find what they're looking for." Miranda said, turning to exit the bridge.
"What else have you been hiding Goldman?" The Captain asked, glaring at the unmoving officer.
"That information is classified to a level of..." The Officer was cut off by the raving Captain.
"I don't care if God came from the damned clouds and classified it himself! I want the information now!" The Captain stopped his pacing back and forth around the table. "What else are you hiding?"
The Officer felt that there was no way out of taking the blame. "There is one thing Captain." He said slowly, as if trying to give himself time to escape.
The ground shook and threw the Master Chief sideways. "What's happening ?" He snarled at the Monitor.
"I have received the command to activate the weapons, the Flood has spread." The Monitor stated quickly, watching Master Chief glare at it.
"Make it stop." The Spartan commanded the hovering machine.
"Protocol does not allow me to do that. Once the Flood has been released, there is no other way of stopping them." The Monitor dropped down to Master Chief's level. "Or they will consume the entire galaxy." It said, sounding surprisingly melodramatic for a machine.
"I don't care, turn the thing off." The Master Chief watched the Monitor bob slightly to the side in contemplation.
"I can't do that. A level eight release in the area of. . ." The Monitor seemed extremely disturbed when he was interrupted.
"Isn't there any other option? Some way we can stop them?" The Chief inquired abruptly, taking no notice to the Monitor's speaking.
"No, once I am commanded to fire I cannot stop the process." The Forerunner contraption turned from him and floated away, humming merrily. He turned and did the only thing he could think of.
The Master Chief ran down the alien corridors, searching for anyway to stop the system from engaging. His feet hit easily on the metal as he slid into a large room, full of delicate looking machinery and transmitters. Content that this would affect whatever was contacting the Halos he raised his Plasma Pistol and began firing randomly at everything in the room, burning the ancient things into molten puddles.
As he fire the strange lighting around him turned from a pleasant off white to a dim red.
Hillers watched intently as the groups of Marines marched in and out of the recently pressurized corridors. They moved quickly in stony silence, their rifles sweeping about anything they saw.
He waited until a patrol passed him and slipped out of the civilian block into the dimly lit corridor. Walking softly he produced the pass card he had earlier taken from an unaware Marine. On one side it clearly read 'Blue', a basic clearance level.
Soon he came to a large door marked 'Armory A2' with a large blue stripe running across its center. Excellent. He thought to himself, eager to get his hands on some weaponry. The doors silently slid open as he fed the pass card into a small slot. Upon entering he was caught off guard by how dark it was. Crouching to the ground he groped through the room.
Suddenly he froze as his veins filled with ice. Voices. Somewhere ahead he could hear people discussing something in a language other than common.
"Wissen sie vom Kristall??" Said a low voice, somewhere at the far end of the room. "Nein, hat Herr Goldman es alle sehr ruhige behalten" Answered the other voice.
Hillers moved slightly, peering out from behind a rack he was behind towards the source of the voices. The floor plating clanked slightly as his knee slipped and he struggled to quietly regain his balance. "Was war das? Da drŸben!" Yelled one of the voices loudly.
Not good. He thought. Before he could react a firm hand gripped his shoulder from behind and something blunt smacked into his head. Everything flashed white and then slipped into a hazy darkness deeper than the lightless armory.
The large pyramid shaped ship erupted from the ground and shook off the dirt and debris that clung to its hull. It accelerated out of the atmosphere and began to orbit the planet.
The Master Chief watched as the Sentinels began to surround him, several of the smaller types began examining what little damage he had managed to incur.
Snag. He thought as he examined the dozens of machines hovering around him. The Monitor floated into the room and swept its 'eye' over the damage. "A pity Reclaimer, that you have chosen to do this." The Monitor seemed much different than Guilty Spark now. "This..." It said calmly, indicating towards the damaged machines. "Is a recycling system, which we rarely utilize and will take only a few cycles to repair."
The Master Chief aimed the Plasma Pistol at the Monitor. "You are an annoyance, Reclaimer." The Sentinels closed in around him, their weapons glowing.
"What is that?" Miranda asked, watching the large pyramid structure which had approached them.
"Its definitely Forerunner." Cortana said. "One life sign."
"Lets check it out." Sergeant Johnson said, eager to investigate.
"Not so fast Sergeant, something is happening." Cortana pointed towards the viewscreen. A large blue pulse had emanated from the top of the vessel and rocketed upwards.
"Not good." Cortana said quickly. "Hold on everyone."
The Gravemind shuddered as it felt its minions report their failure on the human vessel. He growled to himself and turned his attention elsewhere. He could see through his scouts eyes, the lavish Covenant ship hovering in space, unaware of his approaching soldiers. Yes, inside...inside. He urged them.
Fury yawned sleepily, peering out of his cell into the dark, unguarded room beyond. Honor has gone mad. He thought, watching the shimmering blue energy field that separated him from freedom.
He was surprised by a sudden ticking, like that of an ancient clock. He rubbed his eyes and looked towards the source of the sound. On the holographic control panel sat a small bulbous shape, just barely illuminated by the panel. No. The things tentacles groped over the controls, as if controlled by a being other than itself.
An audible beep reached Fury's ears. The energy field flashed and disappeared. The bulbous creature jumped from the control panel and skidded across the floor towards him. No! Fury tried to scream for help but no words left his mouth.
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