Chapter 8 NAME "Shit Happens" Part 4

=Delta was very nervous. The bridge of the Comet was in chaos, but all he could do was stand and stare at his console in silence and slight frustration=

All soldiers are to battlestations, and the hellfire is armed and ready, sir!

Good. Let's hope our firends are ready for it, otherwise it could be a very bad day for them.

=He paused for a moment=

As soon as you see the Trophaeum, move in close to it, and bring us parallel.

Yes, sir!

=Delta stared at his console again=

I can only pray that we make it this time. This is a fight unlike any we have ever been in, if our estimates are correct. It will take everything we've got and more if we're going to see this to the end...

(Molly)
=Normally, I would have been back on the Serenity, sleeping in my room. But, before we got to the teleporter, Jason had me report to the Silver Hawk (he was my superior officer now) and join my squad in the fighter pilot quarters. Hey, I wanted in on the life of a pilot, and I was getting it. So, it came as no surprise when I got an alert from the bridge for all pilots to get to their fighters, and prep for combat=

(Jason)
=The shuttle arrived in the hangar of the Silver Hawk, and I got off, and headed straight for the bridge. On the way, I barked orders into my comm=
Someone give me a status report.

*Bridge*
Sir, most of the fleet is still damaged, but we have everyone here. The Forerunner ships are taking position behind us.

=had started a full blown run to the troph the moment he got the alert and arrives at the bridge and has the troph take off and hold position away from the haven fleets=

=Xazhi looked out of the bridge of the Eirav Wing into the Silver Hawk's hanger. He sighed, and fired up his ship=


=The Comet approached the Exit point. They were now less than 5 minutes out. Delta thought about how this fight could end. In all the possibilities he could conjure in his mind, all of them ended badly for someone=

Are we in range yet?

No, sir.

Damn. Alert me as soon as we are.

Yes, sir.

=has the troph go to full combat status and makes sure the crew are ready and has the haddren cannon charged=

=The fleet had assembled in orbit, all 58 ships, 22 of which were the Forerunner ships. They waited there, for whatever it was that was coming=

=A massive portal in slipspace opened over Haven. Slowly, the Azure Comet emerged, and began firing in all directions. Fightercraft swarmed around it, also firing with everything they had. Delta goes into an Open comm=

Sorry to be here on such short notice, everyone! Hope it doesent fuck with your dinner plans!

=the drone swarms drop and eccelerate and meet the fighters head on while the troph returns fire=

only thing you ruined was time and energy again for showing up

(Jason)
=I was shocked when a monster of ship appeared from slip-space, and recognition hit me. It's weapons hit most of us, but our shield held=
Fire! Fire Everything!

=every ship there, all the human ships and the Forerunner ships, opened fire=

=The ship rocks slightly as it turns to face the slipspace portal=

Again! I'm sorry, but we've got a REALLY BIG problem on our hands! And You guys are the only ones who have the tools to fix it!

=Another slipspace portal opens, and the Hellfire cannon fires into it. The bomb misses its mark=

Damnit!!!

=The ship rocks some more as it takes fighter fire=

Mind helping pick off these fighters! Theres a fucking million of them! They just dont die!!!

=The fighters continue firing on the Comet, and some even crashing into it=

Sir, the ship is exiting!

Damn it all!!!

=The Comet takes some cannon hits from the Haven Fleet=

Hey! Watch where you're aiming those things! We've got a big one coming!

=fires the haddren cannon=

this just is not what i had planned for today

=To say that the crew on the fleet was shocked to see the ship that led a fleet to wipe out their homes, and then enslaved them.....was the biggest understatement that could have been said. Shock though, turned to fear and rage, that the Azure Comet had come to their new home=

And now for the grand unveiling! Hope you're ready for this, because to be quite honest, i dont even know what it is! All i know is that it doesent fucking DIE!!!

=The other ships emerge form the Slipspace portal. The 10-mile long and now flood-infested Ekilis Talon, followed closely by the also flood-owned UNSC Flying Fortress. They began firing at everything as flying craft of all types carrying all sorts of flood forms came pouring out and blitzing towards Haven's fleet=

That's them! What the hell are those things, Jason!?

(Jason)
=I was shocked at what I saw, and so were the bridge crew. Another ship came out of slip-space, and fired at the Azure Comet, and my fleet. All of a sudden though, something screamed in my ear=

(Silver Light)
=The battle was going violently, when the latest ship appeared. It was huge, but that's not what scared me: biological sensors, long range, and meant to monitor the status of the fleet's crew, showed me that the new ship, was Flood controlled. Within seconds, orders and protocols came flooding into my head, and through me, to every Sentinel and military installation on Haven=
Inheritor, those ships are Flood controlled. We must destroy them at once, before they land on the surface.

=I took control of the 22 warships, and had them fire on the new ship. At the same time, I overode the controls on the Human ships, and redirected them to fight the Flood ship=

=Delta shouted orders at the crew. The Comet fired everything it had at the two Flood ships, but it was too late for them. One of the flood fighters had gotten into the Hellfire cannon, and into the bomb bay. They must have overwhelmed the crew is seconds, because there was no report of it. He tried to Comm Xazhi on the Eirav Wing, and managed to get off a short message. A large rumble came from the belly of the Comet, followed by a series of explosions. In a blinding light, the Comet was ripped in half. The chain reaction continued in both sides, before nothing was left but small shards of metal, and a few larger chunks of fighters that had just made it out of the Comet before being caught in its destruction. Flood fighters were quick to the scene to salvage whatever they could, but were called back to fighting by the Gravemind aboard the Ekilis Talon. The last thing to come out of the Comet was Delta's brief message to Xazhi, and the video comm of the destruction as told from Delta's console, filled with images of helpless crewmen being engulfed in flame and their desperate cries for help. The Gravemind broadcasted it's voice over that same comm channel=

You will fall, Humans. Remember this day, for it will be the last you live before your entry into our collective.

(Jason)
=A few things happened. One, Silver took control of my fleet away, and had us fighting the colossal ship. Two, the Azure Comet blew up, torn in half by an explosion. And last but not least, someone or something spoke over the comm. It was hard to describe, even looking back. A million voices, spoke as one, all in the same tone, all the same words. A warning, a threat, a promise. This thing, was going to do all it could to kill us. Worse, than kill us. My fleet, under Silver Light's control, kept firing at the ship though=

=yells back at the flood gravemind=

bring it on you squirming piece of trash!

elyon i want every PDF turret we have online as well as every pulse laser turret and plasma torpedo and fire it all at the bastartd

Code:

 very well

=the trophaeum fires everything it has=

=The Ekilis Talon takes a pounding from the many weapons, and even a few peices break off. But the flood manage to pull it back together, and send out many more forms to fight. A squad of Flood transport vessels crash land themselves in the hanger of one of the ships, and more soon do the same to others. The gravemind laughs over the Comms=

You cannot win this fight, Humans.

=drones attach them selves to the flood fighters and detonate killing them=


oh so your psychic now? bring it squishy!

=As each fighter detonates, ten more take its place. A hailstorm of flood fighters begin crashing themselves into the Trophaeum's hanger, and dropping off their forms. The Flying Fortress moves in, and manages to slip passed most of the fleet unnoticed, before taking a critical blow in the side. It goes down, and crashes onto the surface of Haven. The flood forms quickly evict themselves from the wreck, and spread outwards. Meanwhile, the Ekilis Talon moves into the Haven Fleet=

(Jason)
=I commed Silver=
Silver, are you sure that's the Flood?
Stupid question.

(Silver Light)
Yes Inheritor, I am sure.

(Jason)
The give me back the fleet. We can coordinate better against them. That's an order.

(Silver Light)
=I paused for several seconds, then=
Very well Inheritor, good luck.

=I surrendered control back to the Inheritor=

(Jason)
=Control was ours again. Another message came back from the Flood, but I ignored it=
Seal our hangar bays. Concentrate fire on the ships engines. Silver, aim for the ships reactor. Take out it's main source of energy.

=Sentinels on Haven swarmed to the wreck, firing their weapons at anything that moved. There were millions of Sentinels, with more being made in minutes, and the ground around the wreck turned to glass. Soldiers from nearby bases were deployed, weapons meant for medium range, and outfitted in class 3 Combat Skin. Ships from the bases swarmed within the Sentinels, gunships=

=The flood fought back furiously, slowly pushing their way through. Every soldier that fell was added to the flood collection, and their armor was a warmly welcomed bonus. Some of the Combat forms even jumped out onto the sentinels, trying to bring them down. The Ekilis Talon moved into the center of the Haven Fleet, and deployed more and more flood carriers. One landed on the surface of the Sliver Hawk, and the flood forms began sprawling out over it, searching for a way inside=

=More Sentinels came flying toward the wreck, firing their weapons, even on the infected soldiers. The uninfected, pulled back, and were picked up by transports=

=The Forerunner warships continued to fire at the main ship, lances of plasma cutting through it's hull. The human ships continued to open fire, weapons discharging at the engines, while the Forerunner ships fired at the main source of energy=

*Bridge*
Sir, we have Flood on the surface of the ship.

(Jason)
Silver, have the warships deploy their Sentinels, tell them to burn the flood off my ships.

(Silver Light)
Understood.
=The order was sent, and more Sentinels spilled from the warships, weapons firing at the Flood on the surface of the ships=

=The Ekilis Talon drifted its way through the Haven fleet, covering ships in flood forms, some of which managed to break in and start infecting. The flood repaired what damage they Talon took, albeit crudely. The ship was starting to fail, but the flood were determined. On the surface of Haven, the flood forms had located an entrance, and were working on getting it open, though it was not seeming to budge. A flood transport got into the hanger of the Silver Hawk, and Xazhi stood on the entrance ramp of the Eirav Wing firing into the unrelenting horde. He tried to comm the bridge=

This is RSS-1210 to bridge! I need some help down here! There's something in the hanger!

(Molly)
=my squad and I were already in our fighters, and preped to go, when a transport of some kind crashed into the hangar. Things began to pour out of it, and they looked like the stuff of nightmares. I didn't even wait for an order: I fired my fighters weapons at the things, at the transport. They blew up=

*Bridge*
Whoever you are, we're sending security teams now. Admiral, two of our ships have gone silent. They said something got aboard, and then they went dark.

(Jason)
Fire on those ships! They've been infected!

=half of the fleet fired on the infected ships, gauss rounds and plasma tearing and melting them=

=Xazhi continued firing at them. He saw the transport they came from blow up just as one of the flood forms latched itself onto his helmet face. He dropped his MCR-II and ripped it off. He squeezed it and it popped like a water balloon filled with green goo. He He picked up his gun again, and fired. The Ekilis Talon took another hit in the side, and went down. Just before the propulsion systems failed, it let out one final blast, sending the Ekilis Talon towards the sealed entrance to Haven. As it entered Atmosphere, it picked up speed at an alarming rate=

=Two out of fifteen pelicans go to help Nolan, as the other thirteen help the soldiers attack from the side=

Squad Whiskey - Chase - Hold the line!

Squad Whiskey - Julias - Gah! We won't last much longer! Where are the pelicans?

Squad Whiskey - Amber - What the he--.. Get down!

=A pelican, who seemed to come out of no where, got shot down, heading straight for them. It gets close as the squad runs, crashing, with little hope of any survivors inside=

Whiskey; Chase - Search the Pelican, Amber, Julias, and Gordon, cover us.

Whiskey; Jeremy - If there are any survivors, they won't stay in the fight much longer.

Whiskey; Chase - Well, it's better than nothing.

=The Forerunner Warships followed the falling ship, blasting at it's front sections. Pieces began to fall away, and two of them even moved so they were in front of the falling ship. They fired their weapons again, straight up into the center of the ship, while the rest of them formed a tight ring around the middle, and fired weapons again=

(Molly)
=I took off from the hangar, running over at least one of the combat forms, and my squad followed me=

=The Ekilis Talon took severe damage, but it held together long enough to plow straight into the sealed entrance to haven. Only a small breach was made, about a Yard in diameter, but it was enough for a handfull of infection forms at a time to squeeze through. They began sprawling into Haven's interior, heading directly towards the closest city. Driven by their insatiable hunger, they drove onwards. Xazhi polished off the last of the flood in the Silver Hawk's hanger, and commed the bridge=

I cleaned up what came in, but a few may have slipped away. What can i do to help?

(Silver Light)
=I detected the Infection forms heading through the entrance, and already deployed hundreds of Sentinels. To humans, that may have seemed a bit overpowered, but when it came to the Flood, there was no such thing. The Sentinels destroyed the Infection Forms, save for one, which they captured in a stasis field class Sentinel. I wanted to study it, and see if there was a way to complete my maker's work=

=the hangars had sealed automatically when the flood entered and the turrets located on the ceiling opened fire on them=

=As more and more flood forms poured into the interior of Haven, they were met by more an more Sentinels. The combat forms leaped into the air, attempting to bring them down. The Gravemind set its sights on the capital city of Haven, and the flood were fighting fiercely to get there=

Whiskey; Chase - Three soldiers, one pilot, where is the evac?

EvacPelican1- Hang tight, E.T.A five minutes.

Whiskey; Chase - We don't have five minutes, we need you now! Covenant forces are closing in, and fast.

Meanwhile;

=Nolan and the other pelican arrive six blocks from the plant, going through buildings as cover, trying not to be seen by the covenant=

Nolan- Quiet, covenant forces on the streets.

Joseph - There is a way around them, just keep going.

Nolan - Do you hear that?

Commander (Random Marine aiding Nolan getting to the plant) - What the hell is that?

=A wraith's explosion hits the building, the covenant forces start firing at the building=

Nolan - Keep going! We will lose more soldiers than we have to if we just sit here and engage!

Sgt. Dominguez - We need to get out of the building!

Nolan - If we can get out of the building, we can go underground through the sewers, and there may be something leading to the plant.

=the drones return to the their protected bays rearm then redeploy then fires it all at once before priming their small reactors and resume there kamikaze attacks but doing far more damage then last time=

(Silver Light)
=More and More of the Flood tried to get through. I ended up having to seal off sections of the tunnel that served as the entrance. More Sentinels were deployed, and I was forced to activate the "Cleansing Rings," small versions of the Halos. They burned all organic material, and thankfully, that was all the Flood were=


=Sentinels were deployed against the infection forms heading for the city. They burned all in their path=

The Gravemind and its swarms of flood that had made it through moved towards Osea at a stunning rate. They eventually came to the outskirts, and expected to be greeted by swarms of sentinels. They readied themselves for it. Xazhi waited in the hanger of the Silver Hawk for orders from the bridge. The flood on the surface of Haven were spreading like wildfire, consuming everything=

=More and more Sentinels appeared, when all of a sudden, a dark shadow passed overhead: one of the human ships from the ship-yards, non-crewed, and already damaged, crashed into the tide of Flood. Silver had taken control of it, and sent it into the tide=

(Silver Light)
Well, if it worked for them.....

=meanwhile, in orbit, with the main ship gone, most of the ships descended to the surface, and glassed the area around the wreck. Plasma beams hit the surface, while Gauss rounds made devastating craters=

(Dormii)
=i woke up to the sounds of panic. I looked around for someone and saw no one. I tried to sit up and found that I was still restrained. I lay back down for a moment to see if someone was watching. I don't think any was seeing as how no one came. I extended my arm blades and cut off one of the restraints. I cut off the rest and sat up=

What the fuck is going on?

(Jason)
=I heard some commotion outside the bridge doors, and suddenly, a Flood Combat form burst through, guards behind it, firing weapons. They stopped once I got behind the creature, afraid of shooting me. The Combat form, a human by the looks of it, turned on it's spot, looking at the room it was in. It's gaze, I guess, settled on me, and it froze. It shuddered, and I was suddenly aware of another.......presence, was the best I could describe it. The "head" flopped towards me, and the mouth spoke. That voice, spoke again. It was something that had killed and absorbed millions, and used their voices. Men and woman, young and old, sick and healthy......even children. They all spoke=

*Gravemind*
You are, and you are not, Forerunner. You are not their chosen successor, yet your veins pulse with their blood. The poor cousin, black sheep of both the humans and the Forerunners.

(Jason)
=I regained my wits halfway through it's little taunt=
If that was supposed to demoralize me, then you'll be sad to know, it didn't.

=starts taking care of the flood in space=

(Dormii)
=i opened the door and walked outside. I kept my arm blades out, not trusting the muted sounds I was hearing. It sounded like combat, even from back here=
That can't be good...

To avoid confusion;
Whiskey - One of the very few squads with the warthogs, yet, they are away from the other squads.

Team 1-13 - The team that came from the pelicans from the frigate

Nolan - My squad

WG (Warthog) && WR (Wolverine) Squad - Squads with Wolverines

Command - Frigate

Marines - Random marines with the squads (Not everyone has names)

Pelicans - Obvious

Evac Pelicans - ^ Obvious
|
272 Platoon - The soldiers that are waiting to join the battle |
|
Vultures - Waiting with 272 Platoon. |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whiskey*

Chase - The Covenant are multiplying!

Amber - Get the ammo supply in the pelican!

Charlie [Pilot from crash] - There is some in the top shelf.

Evac Pelican1 - Landing 500 meters behind you, run it from there.

Chase - You heard 'm. Let's get outta here.

=Outside Osea, the sacrificed ship helped to stall the Flood long enough for more Sentinels to begin encircling them, and burning them to ash. The sounds of the detonations went all the way to the city=

=On the surface, the fleet continued to bombard the area with plasma, keeping the shots focused, as Silver Light highlighted on their targeting screens the areas thick with Flood=

*Gravemind*
Demoralization, was not in the plan. You shall know what I am: I am beyond your comprehension. I have existed for thousands of years, and I have destroyed civilizations more powerful than yours. Not even the great rings could stop us, only stall us. We are inevitable, the end of evolution. I am perfection. You, are just food.

(Jason)
Eat this.
=I whipped out my pistol, and shot him in the side=

=it didn't kill it, but it staggered the damn thing. My team came in, weapons raised, when Silver Light sent me a message: he wanted it alive, well, intact. For study. I gave the order, and my men, fired their stunners on the creature, and then subdued it. Granted, it took all of them, and a few restraints, but we got the damn messenger=
Take it to the hangar.

=they nodded, and dragged the thing down to the hangar. Silver had already sent a special, prison Sentinel for it. The creature was encased in a stasis bubble, and transported via the Sentinel down to the surface=

(Jason)
Alright everyone, let's keep pushing.

(Dormii)
=i ran towards the sounds of combat, pai fully aware I don't have my armor. I kept an eye out for anyone who looked like they might have something resembling an idea asto what is going on. My arm blades retracted partly. I closed up the blades, so only the one main one was obvious=

=A massive creature appeared near Osea, in the center of the Flood. It towered above them all, a massive stalk, with hundreds of tentacles sprouting from it. They reached out, and grabbed nearby Sentinels, crushing them, and then taking their weapons, assimilating them into it. Several of the tentacles froze, then lances of energy shot out of them, impacting towers in the city, as well as Sentinels. A sound, felt more than heard, erupted from the thing: a laugh=

*Bridge Officer*
Sir, Osea is under attack.

(Jason)
What?

*Bridge Officer*
It's the Flood. Something formed outside the city, and it's huge. It's using weapons, from Sentinels.

(Jason)
Shit. What's the status up here?

*Bridge Officer*
We lost two ships, and one more went down when that giant ship fired. We lost another one outside Osea, but no one was in it.

(Jason)
Crap. Have military centers inside Haven send everything they've got. Stick to aerial attacks, and artillery strikes.


=within Haven, the Gravemind, now formed on the field of battle, stood twice as high as a Scarab. It moved, sluggishly, towards the city, it's troops moving ahead of it, around the wreck of the sacrificial ship. All of a sudden, explosions ripped through it's small army, and screaming sounds were heard from overhead: fighter squadrons, firing missiles and dropping bombs=

(Dormii)
=i saw the...thing appear in the city=
What the fuck...?

=i continued moving forward, determined not to let it win=
Looks like flood.

"Let me out. Give in. I can help here."

Fuck. No.

"You cannot win, not against this many. I can. I did it before, I can do it again."

I don't care.

"Then you will die. We will die."

It's better than the alternative.

"What, letting a monster out? You already think of yourself as one. What's one more? Besides, it'd just be me taking over. I'll even make you a deal."

What?

"I help save you and your friends, and you help me take care of those who made us like this?"

No.

"Think of Jay. Shelby. What would happen to her if you died?"

She'd survive.

"I doubt that. You doubt that. You couldn't let that happen, now could you?"

If I have to I will.

"You are lying to yourself. Take the deal. I am a man of my word."

...fine. But you will give me control again, once this is done. You will not harm anyone other than the Flood. And, if I suspect you are breaking this deal, you will not come out again, understand.

"I do."

Fine.

=I stopped and let Dormii Mali take control=

-I looked around for the first time in who knows how long-

What have you done with my body, Fortuni? Tsk, tsk, tsk.

-I hurried off towards the battle, my mouth watering at the thought of bloodshed-

"Remember what our deal was."

Yea, yea, shut up already. God.

"Gods."

Whatever

=more fighters screamed through the sky, guns and missiles firing at the massive thing. It fired more of the captured Sentinel beams, one of the shots hitting a fighter, sending it hurtling into the army=

(Jason)
=The Good news: The situation up top was contained, and Silver was confident we'd destroy them in an hour. Bad news: the Gravemind itself was inside Haven. I ordered the Silver Hawk back to Alpha Base, to the main entrance, and when the door opened, swarms of Sentinel flew out of the tunnel. The Hawk tipped down, and we flew through the entrance, engines going at full burn. I headed for the hangar bay. I wasn't going to take on a Flood army by myself. At least, not without help. I was going to meet up with Blue and Orange Teams, and while the Hawk and air support bombarded the Flood, we'd move in on the Gravemind. Stupid, I know. But, this thing, it knew me, or at least, it knew my......I struggled to accept the word, "ancestors." I wasn't expecting answers, but this thing is what wiped out the Forerunners, and forced them to use the Halos. I intended to finish their fight, their war. I may not have been true Forerunner, but I was as close as anyone was going to get=

(Dormii)
-I saw the frontlines, and rejoiced. Combat was approaching. Finally, I could feel my blood sing in glorious death again. I saw a few troops firing at the masses of Flood, and a few behind them were trying to save the wounded. I picked up a Forerunner rifle and held it in one hand, the other clenched in a fist as the blade was ready-

Oh, I would've killed to get this arm.

"Shut up. Don't think, don't gloat, don't do anything except help people."

Yes mom.

-I jumped over their small barricade into the masses of flood forms, firing the rifle at everything. I sliced and stabbed and shredded any combat form or infection form next to me. I stabbed the rifle through the chest of one combat form, breaking the small infection form in the process and fired the rifle, "killing" a few more forms. I kicked it off and spun the blade along the ground, popping a few nearby infection forms and cutting the legs off of several combat forms trying to get to me. I planted a foot on one of them now fallen forms and pushed off, squishing it's "head" and jumping backwards at the same time, avoiding an infection form going for my back-

Just like old times...

(Jason)
=we exited the tunnel, and the Hawk flew over the interior, casting a shadow over the land. Even from the hangar, i could see the battle below: something from the world of nightmares fought against the sky, and moved against the Capital. Fighters could be seen as large dots, dropping bombs along our intended path, on the Flood troops. Me and the two teams all packed ourselves into the transport, and we exited the Hawk. We let it pull ahead, and I watched as it fired the guass guns at the Flood=

Jason to Silver Hawk: deploy fighters against the Flood groups closest to Osea. Use the Plasma beams to make a literal line in the sand, and block them.
=we descended down, towards the Gravemind. I felt it somehow reach out, and touch my mind=

*Gravemind*
Enemy, mine enemy, you fly to your death. Do the soldiers with you know, that they breath their last breaths? You cannot stop me, I am God. Accept your fate, Forerunner.