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Emperor's Children by Forever Forerunner
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Flood Survival
Date: 11 June 2003, 5:20 PM
Emperor's Children Series: Part I: Flood Survival
Being the basic marine in a world full of aliens that could basically eat your face off is not the best of times, especially for the marines fighting off the Flood Combat forms in the jungle. Private A.J. Wallace was one of those marines fighting the perils of the Flood in the Halo jungles. His platoon of 15 soldiers plus his sergeant seemed mighty when they first entered, any Covenant in the way were soon eliminated, but because of the lack of ammo, medical supplies, and the necessary tools for night fights dwindled their numbers to 5.
The sergeant was a tall, brutish fellow with a heavy Texas accent. His pale white skin and blonde hair was matted with rain and sweat, the other marines were also wet with sweat or rain. All of them armed with shotguns, 2 full clips, a grenade, and whatever secondary weapon they managed to grab from the dead and deceased. I was one of them, a minor private, Private Zack E. Diemitridov. The last thing I could ever remember from our periling fight against the flood was that there was a lot of blood, the liquid was torrent and made pools on the ground.
We stopped at another structure, just outside the mouth of the entryway to recoup our strength for the time being. I gingerly hobbled over to a white rock and sat on it. The smooth white stone felt so relaxing from about five miles of non-stop running. The Needler strapped to my back was soon untied and set on the ground, the shotgun lay in my hands at all times. The silver barrel gleamed off of the lights from the structure as I combed my eyesight to and fro at my companions.
Another soldier walked up to me with his shotgun in the air and a pistol in his other hand. He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving up and down in a rhythmic pattern. Throwing the pistol into the shrubs to my left he joined me sitting on the rock. Interesting, as it was to see him throw such a good piece of military hardware into the jungle I gave him a shocked look. The marine laughed out-loud and smiled; which went from ear to ear.
"It didn't even have any ammunition left, I'll see what I can dig up in this structure. Why doesn't anyone call for evac? We've been stranded for hours!" He shook his head when there was no response, his helmet glistened in the wet rain, and then he looked at me with a stern look.
"Is this your first time private?" The question wasn't shocking, but it wasn't making me feel better either.
"No, I was fighting covenant back near Reach, our ship was being raided." The marine seemed to think about what I had said as I shifted the weight of my shotgun to my other hand.
"My name is Kraden, but people call me Krad. I've been in so many raids against Covenant ships I've lost count." That last fact surprised me, matter of fact I didn't believe him.
"Zachary, but people call me Zack, and I know you were on no Covenant ship." Krad laughed at my response and slapped me in the back, it sent me forward but that was about it.
"Well, you caught me, looks like I'm going to have to be more creative around you!" I laughed back knowing that Krad was an all-right guy, the sergeant stood back up from his resting place and ushered us into the structure.
I picked up and strapped the Needler to my back once again, I groaned feeling the extra weight holding me down. Shotguns in hand, we went into the entrance and down an elevated walkway to what seemed to be an elevator shaft. The place was empty of life, only the remains of some marines in armor plus a cache of goodies we could use. They were torn open, diagonally across the chest, some had their faces blasted off leaving only tissue. A couple of flares were lit around the fallen marines to reveal a bigger stockpile of human goods, loads of AR's and some medical kits. I looked around the room again since the flares were just lit, open and wide, funny little patterns in the walls and on the ceiling, and the elevator only consisted of a platform. I swapped my Needler for an AR plus some clips; I wiped off some of the blood still lining the grips. Krad chose the AR as well with one clip and a medical kit. When we were finished hoarding the dead, the sergeant started to board the platform and we followed. He stopped suddenly because he heard them, the flood, the wet gurgles were unmistakable and he lit a flare off and threw it at the door. We looked at the glowing green flare to see it land smack dab into a flood division, the illumination didn't seem to effect them because of the fact their already dead...
"Defensives marines! Get on the platform, were going down!" Several burst shots from AR's erupted from behind me as their muzzle flashes lit the room. I shot my own AR at the closest of the beast stopping when the recoil was too intense, the coughing of the AR's were immense as the Flood fell by the flurry when they ran at us with full speed. I could feel the elevator decending just as the beasts came closer, we were going to be all right, all of us. Still shooting away the marines peppered the first wave with deadly accuracy as dead tissues and bone ripped away from the floods bodies. The flood opened fired with a flurry of Covenant and Human weaponry striking some marines. Lower and lower we went, seeing only the head of the flood as we kept firing away, the flood mimicking our actions. A plasma bolt sheared past my eye and struck a marine in the neck, he garbled out a sound and fell to the floor of the lift. Although we knew he was dead we had successfully escaped the flood once again without suffering heavy casualties.
We reloaded once more and folded the dead marines arms across his chest to give him a proper death burial. We laid the now empty weapons he had at his side and tore our eyes away from the blank face. The elevator slowly groaned to a stop into a pitch black room with only portable lights guiding a path to a door, we were hesitant at first, but then after looking around for a little bit the sergeant made us press forward....
Flood Survival Part II
Date: 13 June 2003, 4:49 PM
Emperor's Children: Flood Survival: Part II
Why in the hell did they make me last? Why did they ever have to make me go last on the stupid bridge? Why ME?
It wasn't threatening at all at first; my squad and me ran through a series of hallways until we came into an upper level of a wide-open room. I saw that the place had been raided by Covenant troops as their energy barricades and boxes lay scattered all around. In front of what I could see was some sort of bridge or what ever, the blue transparent bridge seem to let the room aglow showing what was at the lower level. Unknowingly I seemed entranced by the glow and started to shuffle to the bridge The sergeant pushed me back away from the edge and pointed his AR toggled flashlight over the edge and peeked with just one eye.
"Nothin' there, must be anxiety of not seeing anything to shoot..." The sergeant looked disappointed at his findings but continued to sweep the darkness away with his flashlight.
The other guys just sat there and looked around the dimly lit room, each one was similar in texture and in light, so no one really felt the need to be alert. Krad slightly inched over to the bridge and spied on the bridge before us, then he took a dud fragmentation grenade and chucked it on the bridge, the bridge held. The sergeant looked back at the squad with worry as we were losing our alert edge. So he did what all stupid people do in our opinion, go forward into the great unknown, increasingly making us form in tighter lines. He made us line up in single file to march across the bridge with the flashlights slowly panning the bottom for any signs of life as we crossed.
When I was halfway onto the bridge, the Sergeant had made it across, then two marines, then 2 more, another, and then it was our turn. As Krad touched the hard cold pavement with one foot and me still standing on the bridge, his supposed dud grenade went off. The startled yell from the squad as the explosion lit the room in a fiery eruption of light. Krad, who was completely shocked by the explosion, fell forward collapsing onto a transparent computer or monitor. Me on the other hand fell on the bridge from the force of wind of the explosion then trying to scramble to the other side. Technology reared its ugly head as the bridge disappeared below and sent me pummeling to the ground floor. The whistling rush of air filled my ears delivering startled shouts and the common "Nooooo" as I felt the whole world fall from my eyes. What was 20 seconds seemed like 15 minuets; slowly I was falling into the gray slate of reality which was the ground floor. I put my hands up at the last moment on impact feeling my hands get pinched between my hard head and the harder floor.
The shocks of pain through my body were astounding, each pain like a wave, splashing against the areas that hurt making even more pain. I couldn't move, I couldn't talk, couldn't feel my head, and I couldn't even see, just the grimy bottom of the ground floor. I could hear the clattering of my assault weapons far, far way from my ears.
"Oh my god, Zack! Zack! Were going to get you! Hang tight!" Krad's voice seemed desperate, uncertain if I was going to make it. A wash of white light flowed over me making me groan in pain, my head seemed to explode in different waves of pain.
"All right marines, we need to get down there double quick, the private seems fine enough to stay put so well leave him to see if we can find a way to get to him."
"Sir yes sir!" The response was loud and strong giving me some lingering hope as I tried to get up. My back jolted in pain and flared into my brain making me fall back on the floor.
I heard the squad move away from me, the fading footsteps made me feel more vulnerable to things that attack in the dark. Trying to get up once again, I put a little more faith into myself and managed to sit Indian style, the pain from my back soon subsiding. Inhaling the warm air I tried to kneel on one knee but come to find out my knees were in more pain the my back causing me to fall on my back again gasping in pain. That was the point I gave up trying to stand and found it better crawling on my stomach. Groaning and grunting I found myself flat on my stomach and using my arms to propel me forward to a flashlight. The ground was a mess, it smelt like dead carcasses and spent ammunition, not to mention the amounts of dust on the floor were truly gagging. Another grunt of power and I placed one hand over the flashlight to find it still facetted to the AR. Good start, I thought, I get a weapon and a flashlight all in one package.
I go to check the ammo count of the AR by fidgeting with the clip close to the barrel, it's stuck, and I grabbed it more fiercely now and tugged on the hard metal clip with all my strength. The clip pulled free, but the remaining energy of the tug sent the nose of the AR down causing the flashlight to crack on the ground flickering out...
"Damnit...." I mentally gave myself a dummy smack for now I lay in the dark with no one around and a clip less AR. Wait; I DO have ammo clips for the AR, and receiving another mental dummy slap and the hassle of putting a clip into my AR. Then I heard it, out of the silence that was golden, came a wet gurgle followed by the shifting of feet. My heart raced, breathing became heaving, and I shut my eyes from the darkness and allowed my ears to do the seeing for me. More gurgles came from my left, about six feet away, and there were possibly three of them. Eyes shut, my mind went wild with brainstorming ideas to get out of this situation, from blasting the things with the AR, to just playing dead. Wait... That's it! Play dead!
So here I still am, playing like a dead marine filled with a room of Flood, praying my to my savior that they forget I'm dead. Flood walked passed in solemn gurgling, the decayed feet were extremely potent to the nose and even worse sounding to my ears... I only hope someone could freaking help me...
Emperor's Children: Flood Survival: Part III
Date: 12 November 2003, 12:21 AM
FLOOD SURVIVAL: PartIII: The Icarus
Well there I was, still laying in the dark eyes shut and barely whispering breaths. I could feel the heavy shifting feet of the flood walk around me as if in some sort of trance or daze. My senses went numb, my eyes totally in darkness, and my body felt dead as it itself had joined their ranks. The crass sounds of gurgles and weapons made my mind squeeze with tension and sweat as I not dare breathe. My body then felt great pressure, a heavy foot on my back slowly sinking into my skin. I heaved in my mind about the weight my body couldn't handle until the foot lifted off and the pain subsided.
I breathed a sigh of relief as the pain faded from my back like the fog does going from morning to afternoon. Time passed by as the same scenario took place, me on the floor and the flood cluttered around me, my mind grew weary of all the trouble. Feeling tired of all the same things repeating like some giant record, I fell asleep, I didn't know I did because my eyes were surrounded in darkness and my sense were numb.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked my body awake and my mind flung open its senses to the ear splitting explosion it had witnessed. My eyes flipped open automatically making me take in the environment around since the unfortunate fall. I saw purple, and blue, bodies piled in sloppy stacks of 2 or 3. I still lay silent in case any one was nearby but alas no one was heard. Cautiously my hand slowly moved from its dormant state to the side of my face, the other copied its brother. From there I pushed up with my palms and managed to get my aching chest off the ground. My head swayed in the air as I turned my neck, which was aching in response, to see the room I was in.
On my elbows now I constantly watched the room for any surprises while I was continuing to stand up. The floor, walls, and ceiling was a tinge of blue and purple, purple crates lined the walls in nearly neat stacks. Furthest wall away from me had a door with a small white light around its edges. The floor had fresh piles of Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and even a Hunter; their wounds were clotted and cold.
How long was I out? Where am I? My brain could generate no response but I knew I had to get on my feet fast. So I did, but cried out as a shearing pain in my thigh reverberated to my brain. On my feet now, I started to walk gingerly through the bodies of the deceased and dead like an acrobat on a thin wire.
I couldn't believe the death I saw, the destruction, the total annihilation of a force. Elites had their helmets bent in and grunts were missing some chunks from their bodies. The door that was far away from me was now just yards away, I could hear muffle alien jargon wit the occasional scream that would fall silent in a few seconds. At my feet lay an AR rifle with spare clips, no grenades though; I could have really used them at a time like this. I flicked the safety off for good measure, nestled the butt in my armpit, and walked with caution to the door I felt I was destined to go through. As if sensing my presence like a ghost to a new victim the door slowly creaked open. The rusted tracks groaned and tore from the door, it stopped about 75% opening and slightly moved off its tracks.
The hall was dormant, still the same purple and blue, a tinge of green could be seen on the floor. The side walls still had their pipes intact and the hum of the energy through them was nearly silent. The hall was elevated to lead to the next floor and turned right about two meters down. Carefully I walked to one side caressing the sleek walls in all their colorful glory, sometimes a door would interrupt the pattern, some were dented or torn, others just left alone. I started to get chills as I was the only one in this hall that made a sound, my boots clanking on the hard metal floor of the hall. Surely it seemed odd to me that the Covenant would see a lone marine just walking half anxious and half suicidal. The end of the hall and more shouts could be heard, the alien dialect of the elites was thick but the Grunts could easily be heard.
"...The Icarus is dead!"
"The last drop ship... you must go!"
"Save yourself!"
Luckily for me I was paying attention in language filter classes and fumbled with the microphone attached to my helmet, I switched it two ways until I could fully understand anything the Covenant said. My other hand grasped the barrel of the rifle for extra security as I listened in just sitting in the hall.
I glanced up to see the door that originated the yells was the one that was open; the white lines pulsed with green fluid.
"You must go Prophet Caza! The last drop-ship is waiting!" The lumbering grunting of an elite.
"Foolish Commander, I must fall with the ship, we cannot give the diseased ones out ship!" Came the frantic reply that echoed in the microphone.
"The Grunts are falling back too fast, the more we send, the more fall victim!"
"Get out of my way!" A Grunts scream of protest. A moment of silence was heard before I heard the Prophet issue something I would never have believed if I hadn't heard it from some one else.
"Issue a call to arms! If there are humans still alive in the brig get them out and fight for their freedom! This ship must not fail!" I guess the Elite was also taken back by that request.
"Sir they cannot be trusted, for they could turn on us then turn on the Flood"
"Nonsense," He interrupted, "the humans have seen the Flood act like we have, I'm sure they will lend their fighting talents."
"Prophet I need a small regiment of fighters, preferably Spec. Ops. Elites."
"Very well, you may have what's left in the hangar." Stupid me, hearing the news that they were going to have a truce to humans I barreled out of the door smack in front of the commander and Prophet. The Elite bellowed a challenge and came towards me with sword drawn, I quickly started to retreat backwards mind reeling of how such an idiot I was with the rifle pointed at the beasts head. As if instantly the Prophet himself held against the commanders' attack and let me fall backward. He looked at me with his alien eyes and his wide throne chair.
"Speaking of humans..." I looked at him with shocked and sputtered expression to speak but he put his hands in front of my mouth.
"Obviously you must have heard of our conversation human, tell me, why you came forth." The gold armored elite still bellowed in protest, so I quickly and timidly explained.
"H-h-hey, its just m-m-me fighting for m-m-my life right n-now, I surrounded by a bunch of hostile aliens a million miles away from home."
The Prophet shook his head as if he understood, then swiveled to the open hangar that I had emerged into.
"This is the Icarus, a mighty capital ship of the Covenant Armada, and now she has fallen prey to the Diseased Ones. You, human, may join the ranks of our forces in hope to rid ourselves of these warriors. Along with Commander Osheena and me, we can take back this ship and spare our lives." The elite muttered a grunt of protest again.
"This stupid human could not kill a maggot, let alone a Flood Warrior." That insulted me; I could tell this elite never heard of 'friends'. Still he scowled at me for most of the time which made me want to talk.
"I heard you need someone to take back the ship, I'm game as long as Goldy Locks here can keep up." The elite looked at me with a strange look but still growled when I said 'catch up'. The Prophet smiled and looked at me again with those big blue eyes, "you shall help Osheena and his men to find more of your kind, then you shall fight to the bridge, and that is where we will make our stand."
"What about you Prophet-"
"I'll be fine Osheena; I have many Grunts and Jackal groups to defend for me...."
TO BE CONTINUED....
Next: Battle for the Icarus: Part 1: Hangar Warfare
Emperor's Children:Battle for the Icarus:Hangar Warfare
Date: 24 November 2003, 6:16 PM
Battle for the Icarus: Part I: Hangar Warfare
Osheena looked at me again with a furrowed look, seeming that he still could not believe that I was an ally. The gold armor around him resonated a small tinge of light that shone on the crates around him. It was like he was still judging my present state as a Warrior. A slight feeling of worry washed over me about the though of teaming up with one of the most alien terror's the human race has ever faced.
The Prophet Ciza on the other hand seemed to have great interest in me, clicking and chirping is mandibles as signs of astonishment. The long flowing purple robe draped along the cold floor as his chair elevated him off the floor. The two just kept staring at me, like a new animal at the zoo no one has ever seen before, and it was starting to creep me out. A loud explosion sounded some where off in the hangar causing the three of us to flinch from the boom.
"Come Prophet, you must come, you must rally our troops!" The Commander bellowed, but the Prophet remained solemn. Instead he took a little vial from a right compartment on his arm chair and unplugged the stopper. He turned away from the panic stricken Commander and looked at me, in doing so my hand flew forward palm face up. I didn't know what the heck was happening but all I could do is watch in utter amazement. The vial, clear blue glass with a little black fluid, tilted and let the fluid out, and then splashed on my awaiting palm. This seemed to make the Commander angrier than before.
I tilted my head in interest as my hand startle to tingle and glow with a pale blue light.
"I have given you the human chemical 'adrenaline' with some modern engineering. You, unlike your predecessor's, now have an Elite chemical similar to adrenaline. The chemical will enable you to keep up with our forces and help aid them in their fight against the Diseased Ones." I blinked in astonishment, he just gave me something I didn't even think I would get, a few sputters of disbelief dribbled through my lips but they were soon silenced.
"Why did you give him the Vial? Why Prophet?" The Elite ranted, looking at me with the thought of death in mind.
"He needs to aid you Osheena, enough of this! Come! We must go to rally the troops!"
More infernal racket sounded across the high levels of the hangar as his chair reverberated in some mysterious way. Osheena glared at me once more,
"You have flank human, cover it well." The plasma sword sparked to life once more as he ran in front of his beloved Prophet. In doing so, it gave me time to look at my ammo count, fasten my belt and helmet, and even letting me think.
Me protect the flank? I can't even protect myself from a paper ball!
The turmoil inside my head wasn't as bad as the turmoil in the hangar; it seemed that nothing seemed normal. The commander started to walk in a fast pace, the Prophet not far behind; I easily strode in back of him keeping the flank covered in case any Flood decided to poke his head out. I was amazed at the speed I was going and not even breaking a sweat, Osheena's legs were like in slow motion, and I didn't even feel like breathing heavy.
This stuff is amazing! The complete virtue of running faster than you have ever run before is nothing I had experienced, it was great!
The dark suppressing shadows fell and rose over the two in front of me while I kept a keep eye on the open hangar and behind us. Beyond the purple struts that held the other floors was a mess, massive pilings of crates, ammunition, and even the occasional vehicle buried under the masses. My eyes scanned over the open hangar in search of life or anything that moved, just blow the peninsula of the first floor, there was a group of Covenant Spec Ops pinned by enemy fire.
"Wait! Over there! Left of the last Wraith tank!" The booming sound of my voice made them stop and turn heel, Osheena raged an angry battle cry and leapt several yards into the fray. The Prophet looked at the shining gold basically jumping across the hangar to help the fellow followers, I could have sworn I could see a tear, but then again that was just me.
He looked at me then pointed a long skinny finger in the direction of battle as if saying 'Go! Get out there and do what you're supposed to do, idiot!' In utter shock I ran full speed toward the first line of boxes preparing to climb over them, I heaved my body up, reached my hand out, and soared OVER the crates into a small gully surrounded by crates. I shook my head for a moment in disbelief again, man, this adrenaline combo works great! A sound made my mind come back to the settings as I glanced all around. Bright whips of plasma screeched across my eyesight and burned into the floor, my glance up to the upper floor revealed several Flood fighters ready to fire more volleys at the helpless creatures on the ground floor.
The walls of purple speculated the dim light that entered the ship as I traversed the unique gully that I had landed in. My rifle was still aimed at the fighters on the other floor but I wasn't intending to fire just yet, I wanted to make sure they couldn't get a good view to shoot at me. Following the gully, I made a right, a left, and then another right eventually hitting a dead end. I looked up to see the multi-colored projectiles flick back and forth. Looking closer I could see that the Flood were falling quite rapidly, but as they did two more took its place.
Cries of anguish rose from behind me, from those still alive, attempting to escape to more of the hangar. Pink Needler needles stuck onto a Flood and exploded, sending him and two others down into the gully. My mind thickened with concentration, rifle pointed at the fallen bodies, eyes carefully watching them as the battle on top ensued. The furthest one hopped up all the sudden with a wet gurgle flipping on his feet.
*Pt pt pt pt pt pt PTAK* My rifle coughed to life sending out bullets of destruction, impaling the flood who awoke, limps fell off and what was left of the head, that was gone too. The body shuddered violently and fell back down again with a sickening plop on the cold floor, my mind shouting victory while I could feel my stomach churning.
The sound of gurgles made me look up again, rifle trained at the very edge of the level walkway, alert again, and not daring to breathe. I couldn't hear the Covenant in back, but I knew they were there, they were frightened and out of ammo. Assessing the situation in my mind was more like a blueprint than thought.
All right, if the Covenant were hiding because of ammunition, I have no backup. I guess the only reasonable option is to level the first floor but how? I only have 2 grenades and possibly 4 clips left, maybe if I could ricochet the grenade so that the flood would fall off of the floor into the Covenant pile that would work better for me. Of course, then there would be a gaping hole for more flood to fall through and run the gully, I think I can handle it.
Re-thinking the plan over again my gripping hand on my AR went to my belt and detached one of the grenades strapped to it. The spherical shape lingered in my palms before one of my fingers felt for the trip switch, then hold it there until I could get into position. Mt eyes never left the first floor, in fear that some dramatic cinematic would start to play with me getting killed by the Flood.
*click*
Okay, it's cooking, now time to look for a good spot to ricochet this beast to the first floor. Then I found it, the perfect spot, a pillar adjoining the first floor was flat but broad enough to bounce the grenade off of. Praying that I wouldn't die in the next couple sections I threw it screaming the old familiar phrase,
'FIRE IN THE HOLE!' Of course that wasn't really too brilliant, when I released the grenade from my grasp it flew and connected with the wall, and barely, just barely docked on the first floor. The Flood were erratic with the noise and started to shoot off into unknown tradjectories into the ship. Osheena grunted with compliance as the Covenant grew deathly silent, waiting fort the explosion.
BOOM!
The sudden red-yellow explosion threw the awaiting Covenant into disarray as random weapons flew from where the flood were standing to there awaiting hands. Where the flood were now there resides a wide crater, blackened by the explosion with a tinge of green blood. The narrow gully I was in now caressed in green blood and broken bodies of the Flood. Nervous that the bodies would soon jump back up and attack I started back the way I came, pumping my legs in a rhythmic fashion. A flood appeared in front of me standing over his arm, I didn't give him much time for remorse when my bullets etched off what was left of his head. The shock and loss of blood made him fall to the floor as a wet gurgle emerged from behind me. My mind was in terror as I wielded around and opened fire totally craving into the flood that emerged. Waves of their sickening blood filled my nostrils as I could see my ammo count shrink and diminish.
More flood entered the gully as I panicked over my trigger, it clicked once and coughed uncontrollably. I glanced at the ammo count... Zero, the beasts were closing in on me and they could sense my fear, a terror only mind mind could make. The feeling in my viens went numb as the Flood leaped into the air...
"AHHH!!!!"
TO BE CONTINUED
Emperor's Children: Battle for the Icarus: Part II Floor to Floor
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