Part II: The Oracle
Posted By: DarkZipper<crayolaj@comcast.net>
Date: 15 October 2005, 3:35 am
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The purple gleaming phantom that contained the Architect and his mighty warriors hovered above the first flat surface sighted on the structure. The purple beast opened its belly and the soldiers inside filed downwards with grace. Then Gnarlg slowly came down after his troops had their feet on the ground and were standing at attention. He hadn't been able to get a good view of the structure coming in so he took this time to gaze at its beauty.
It was a floating fortress of history and valor. Its brown and blue exterior was awe inspiring. They were standing atop the largest part of the structure that branched off into four other smaller ones. Each of the sub-buildings were held to the beams that connected them to the main building by three giant cords on each of them. Gnarlg cleared his throat and turned to the technician. "Before we do anything, release the engineers and let them examine these buildings. I want to know where I'm leading my troops before we go inside any of them.
"Yes sir." The technician replied. He then walked over to the phantom in the middle of the other two and opened a hatch on the bottom. Almost immediately after he opened the hatch the engineers came pouring out.
The engineers were the ultimate tools. They could take anything apart and put it back together. They could tell how any piece of machinery was made, or how to make another one. The small creatures' tentacles could do amazing things.
The engineers came back and released their newly aquired knowledge onto the Architect's data pad. It was a lot of information but it all said the same thing:
1: The middle structure that they were standing on was purely meant for keeping the whole facility suspended at that point.
2.The other four structures purposes were unkown, but they all had entrances.
3.There were Flood in one of the sub-structures.
4. There were setinels inside every structure.
5. There was something else inside the building to the left of the building that contained the Flood. It had a different signature than the sentinels but it was definetely a machine.
Gnarlg looked over the data pad again to confirm the grim news. There was no doubt that the parasite was located inside of the building he was facing. He fiddled with the handle on his belt and turned to his men. "There is a large concentration of the parasite in the sub-structure behind me." He pointed to the structure with his thumb. "We will not explore that area. Luckily none of the other three sub-structures contain the vile things. Although they all contain sentinels. I don't believe that they will be a problem, but stay on guard either way." The troops nodded in agreement. "We will split up our forces and explore the three parasite free buildings seperately, but we must constantly keep radio contact. I will go into the structure to the left of the structure with the Flood. I want ten elites and ten grunts with me. Twenty-five Grunts and fifteen Elites will each go into the others. Remember, constantly keep radio contact with me." He paused for a moment. "Does everyone understand your orders?"
"Yes Architect!" They said in unison. Gnarlg leaped into his phantom, and the troops filed into their respective phantoms. Gnarlg decided to make sure all of the leaders communications were online.
"Red and Blue leaders, do you read me?" Gnarlg waited for a response through the static. Finally a voice chimed an answer.
"Sir, Blue team is ready." A gravely voice exclaimed.
"Red team is ready sir," said Red team's leader. He, unlike the Blues' leader, was always thirsting for battle so he was a bit on edge.
"Good," Gnarlg replied. Remember, we want to try and keep the sentinels peaceful. The last thing we need is lost lives.
"Yes sir," the leaders said in unison. The Architect knew that they would follow orders and keep their men in line. After all, they had been hand picked by the Prophets.
His phantom landed and he was the first one to exit. Gnarlg was standing in front of a large doorway with a control panel beside it. The doorway had Forerunner markings that he recognized. He walked up to the control panel and looked it over for a moment as his men filed out behind him. He saw the red hologram on the pad and pressed it. The door slowly opened as they all gazed in awe at it. When it opened it revealed a room with another door on the other side. It was much to small for all of his troops.
He turned to his men. "The room is obviously to small to fit all of us. I want the grunts to come through first and open the door. Assess the situation when it opens, and we will see if it is safe to enter."
The grunt in the front of the pack stepped forward. "Yes sir." The small warrior stepped inside with the other nine grunts. Just as the last one of them walked inside the door immediately shut.
"Grunt leader what's happening in there?" Gnarlg asked worriedly over the communications network.
"Nothing yet si-" It was about to answer but the door in front of the grunts opened and they all walked inside. The leader quickly looked over the room. "No enemies sighted sir. We are currently inside of the structure, and the door leading to the room behind us has closed. You can come through now."
The Architect and the other Elites went throught the process and also scanned the room. It was much like the outer walls. He conversed with Red and Blue teams for a moment. They had gone through the same process. Gnarlg walked up a ramp in the room and looked upon an assembly line of silver containers holding a blue gas. The containers were moving on a blue energy conveyer belt. His men walked up and also saw it.
"Find out what that blue gas is." Gnarlg ordered. A Grunt hurriedly stepped forward and examined a barrel with a needle like tool.
"It's a form of nitrogen sir. Us Grunts could probably live off of this stuff."
Gnarlg smiled. "Good. Maybe we can use that. Contact Red and Blue team and report this to them." Gnarlg walked past the little being as it chattered with the other groups. He noticed a ramp that led downwards to a floor dirctly below. The floor was made up of little more than a ramp from what he could tell. The rest was a deep abyss. He was about to descend into the next floor when he saw a blue light deep in the abyss. A few Grunts walked up beside him and readied their plasma pistols just in case.
This must be that other signal the engineers detected! he thought.
"What are you?" he demanded. At first there was no response, but then the light began to rise. Before it reached them he discovered that the blue light was within an ,oddly crafted, round metal surface that indicated the light was an eye of some sort. The machine rose and viewed Gnarlg and his warriors.
After a short pause it turned to Gnarlg and said happily, "Hello. I am 343 Guilty Spark."
To Be Continued...
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