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Halo From the Flood's Point of View: The Harboring Mist (Part 1)
Posted By: Simpsons Rule
Date: 9 July 2003, 12:41 AM


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Author's Note: Sorry for the lack of additions to the story. I've been busy as of late. The next submission will come sooner, I promise. Make sure you've read the entire series before you read this or you won't catch the connections. Enjoy!



       The Master Chief, having been in search of the Captain, came across his downed pelican. He followed the trail and was eventually brought to a large structure. He entered it and saw signs of a brutal battle. He ventured deeper and deeper within the structure until he came to a door. After opening it, a dead marine lay at his feet. Using the video recording, the Master Chief viewed what he had been through. Just as he finished seeing what had happened to the Captain and his crew, the Flood decided to attack.

       A new food source, that's what the Flood sensed. They gathered from all over the structure to that tiny room that the Master Chief lay in wait. Bursting through the doors, the Flood attacked, all of them eager to get a host. This host, however, wouldn't be infected so easily. Just as he had almost completely killed the first wave of attackers, more Flood came after him. A total of four waves of attackers came after the Master Chief, but he managed to kill them all. There were still Flood in the room, many of them, but after seeing what had happened to the rest of the Flood, they chose not to try and infect him just yet. They decided they had better get the help of combat forms first.
       The infectious forms slithered out of the room and informed the combat forms of what they had just seen. Careful not to kill the Master Chief, word was spread to take great care with the human. Every combat form that the Master Chief encountered, however, was killed.
       Three marines who had been waiting at the opening of the structure, chose to venture within in search of the Captain. They had just been attacked by a handful of combat forms when the Master Chief found them. In desperate need of assistance, he managed to kill off all of the attackers but the effort proved to be a waste of time. Too emotionally distraught to listen to reason, the Master Chief had no choice but to leave them behind in search of the Captain.
       As soon as he left, the infectious forms easily infected the tired and injured marines. Sifting through their memories, the infectious forms struggled to learn who that special human was. Eventually, they found what they were looking for. Before the boarding parties attacked the Pillar of Autumn, the marines had been briefed that the Master Chief was onboard.
       The Flood took great interest in infecting this particular human. They were hopeful that this 'Master Chief' would not only help them get off the ring world but, ultimately, find all of the other worlds that they had seen from other hosts.
       Now, not only had the Covenant constructed a special search party after the Master Chief, but the Flood had as well.

       The Prophets, knowing of the Flood on Halo, knew that it would only be a matter of time before they found Covenant vessels. One such vessel, The Harboring Mist, a fairly large Covenant Carrier, was stranded, hovering above Halo's surface.
       It was the closest Covenant ship to where the first Flood outbreak had begun so it was also the first attacked. Martimere 'Berty, the Ship Master, was standing in the ship's control center monitoring the status of the ship. During the fight with the Pillar of Autumn, above Halo, The Harboring Mist had taken a lot of damage. They had managed to stop the coolant leaks but the reactors still needed to be repaired.
       All of a sudden, 'Berty heard an alarm coming from one of the holo panels surrounding the ship's control center. Motion censors were picking up thousands of creatures approaching the gravity lift. Thinking that they must be malfunctioning, 'Berty decided to ignore the warnings for now and shut them off. The nearby Prophet, however, demanded to see what he had just done by speaking through 'Berty's assistant, Inigmus 'Rofle. Since the higher Prophets spoke a very unique Covenant dialect, only few people could fully understand them. Those who were taught the sacred language always accompanied the Prophet and served as its translator. A very high honor.
       "The Prophet requests to know what has been detected," 'Rofle said.
       "A minor equipment malfunction," replied 'Berty, "nothing to be bothered with."
       The Elite relayed the message to the Prophet who was hovering inches off the ground. After hearing 'Berty's response, the Prophet's face took a look of suspicion. He told 'Rofle something in his language to which the Elite turned to 'Berty.
       "The Prophet desires to know exactly what the sensors were picking up."
       'Berty had become annoyed. Thinking this was nothing but an equipment malfunction, he saw no reason as to why the Prophet was focused on this subject. Besides, the Elite had better things to do since he needed to watch over the repairs going on in his ship but, he was a Prophet and so his decisions must not be questioned.
       "The motion censors picked up thousands of creatures inbound to the gravity lift. The humans would have no way of being dropped this close to the ship without us detecting their vehicles. That is why I shut down the motion censors at the moment, to be repaired later."
       'Rofle translated for the Prophet and almost wished he hadn't. The moment the Prophet heard what the Ship Master had done, he began screaming instructions to him.
       'Rofle, with an obvious tone of fear in his voice shouted at 'Berty, "DISABLE THE GRAVITY LIFT AT ONCE! Order all personnel to gather their gear and await further instructions. Now!"
       'Berty, having no idea what had just happened, rushed to fulfill the Prophet's orders. No doubt the Prophet would inform him of what was going on as soon as he complied with his requests.
       The Prophet began to continuously talk to 'Rofle, giving him messages to tell 'Berty.
       "Sound the battle alarm and tell all of the soldiers that we will be attempting to repel all borders. Order at least fifteen squads to gather at the gravity lift and prepare to be sent down onto the surface," replied 'Rofle.
       'Berty complied with the Prophet's commands and then asked "How could the humans have come this far without us detecting them, your Excellency?"
       'Rofle, with a look of fear in his eyes said, "It isn't the humans. His Excellency believes that the Flood may be here, under this very ship. What is their position now?"

       The Flood, who had known the gravity lift would take them to the buffet inside the ship, stayed on top of the gravity lift. Through their hosts' memories, the Flood had expected ascend into the ship straight away. Obviously this wasn't the case. Still hopeful that they would be granted access into the ship, the Flood stood there, absolutely still, waiting.

       "The Flood? Here?! This can't be, why…how are they here?" Realizing the urgency, 'Berty turned on the motion censors but saw absolutely nothing. As far as it seemed, the Flood, or whatever had been there, had since disappeared. "Nothing…nothing at all. They seem to have vanished," replied 'Berty who turned the motion censors off again.
       "Just the same, his Excellency wants to be sure nothing is there. Turn on the gravity lift and turn it off again the moment the squads touch down.," 'Rofle ordered.
       Just as 'Berty turned on the gravity lift, the Flood that had been stationed there, motionless, were instantly brought up, into the ship at the precise moment that the groups of Covenant landed on the surface. Not all of the Flood had entered the ship, however. Those that were around, but not actually on top of the gravity lift, failed to reach it in time and so were left there.
       At the moment, however, the Flood still on the surface weren't too occupied in wanting to get into the ship. A new food source had come, and they were eager to get more hosts.





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