Halo: T.O.Z.O.A. Ch. 1

Chapter 4

"Why are we here human? I don't see your reasoning..." Tozoa said

"This building is not as abandoned as it looks, we will encrypt a message for reinforcements, then head to the military base through the sewers" Pace answered losing his smirk.

"You know this area very well human, you may possibly be useful after all" Tozoa said

"Ya, just call me your tour guide, now let's get moving!" said Pace

The two of them ran to the top of the stairs and pace wrote a message "New Mombasa has been attacked! Reinforcements needed!" and encrypted it to look something like this "ffjdjdns8883848,!:!eefidb,,&/,&383"

"Now let's get to those sewers!" said Pace...

Tozoa looked at the ODST and gave his signature nod... Tozoa crawled through the damp dark pipeline, he was almost too big to fit inside the pipe, they emerged to a maintenance area, the ODST pointed ahead of them indicating that they're almost there, Tozoa, for reasons unknown to him, wasn't feeling well, he felt slower. Tozoa halted and leaned onto the wall, up until now he couldn't remember anything, but just then a memory flooded his mind, along with emotions and pain, Tozoa dropped to one knee holding his head, he saw within his mind's eye, a memory, though he didn't know if it was his, he was in a room, the whitest room he'd ever seen. Several scientist, or doctors, Tozoa couldn't tell stood around him, for some reason he couldn't hear a thing they said, he felt pain in his legs and abdomen, the "doctors" were putting needles in him, pumping something into his body, he felt it burn pain washing through him, then... nothing. Tozoa sat on one knee against the sewer wall... holding his head.

"Tozoa! We have to keep moving! If we don't get this base fortified before the covenant get here, it's just as screwed as the inner-city!" Tozoa got to his feet and walked forward, but not with his normal agility, the two of them walked the last mile and arrived at the base. "I need to speak to the C.O. Of this base ASAP!" said Pace

"Look kid! You don't just walk in here an-" Pace had pulled his side arm and put the barrel to the man's forehead "shut up, and take me where I want to go."

"Wh- who are you?" the man whimpered

"I'm ODST and this; this is Tozoa" said Pace. Tozoa stepped out of the shadows "now bring me to the god damn C.O!" yelled Pace. The soldier did as he was told, and after about 10 minutes of walking in though the base they were in the C.O.'s quarters

"Who are you? What is this? Get out of my room!" the C.O. Yelled

"I am ODST 9468 and that's all you need to know, now look old man! New Mombasa has been attacked by covenant! Fortify this position, I want snipers on the roof, warthog troops patrolling and 50 foot mobiles right inside of the front door, ready to shoot! You get me? And if you don't, I'm sure Tozoa will help you understand! Pace yelled and walked out of the man's room "let's GO people! Let's GO!"

Tozoa couldn't figure out anything anymore, he had no urgency to protect the humans, or anything like he did before, was it the memory he had had? He wasn't sure, all he knew now was HE had to survive this, but for some reason he didn't know. Tozoa stood at the front gate of the base, watching several Troop warthogs drive by; two had civilians, children and women. Tozoa's head pounded again, a flash of a memory he had forgotten, but this time he saw it all, the whole thing... what he was, and why he was made. Tozoa, was not originally what he was today, he was but a man like everyone else had a family, though he had memory of the covenant long before any UNSC officer... maybe that is why they were interested in him... Tozoa's name was originally Roy, he owned a small virtual reality simulator arcade that he ran with his children when on 2352, a UNSC officer showed up, he spoke with Roy about the Covenant, Roy told him all he knew, the man was astounded, this man knew more than the average Joe, the officer thought. "We want to make you a proposition," the officer said, "We want to make you into the ultimate weapon against the covenant, make you stronger, faster, and smarter than ever." Roy was over 200 years old thanks to flash cloning, he could get a new heart at any moment he wanted so it was actually like he was only 98, Roy looked at the man in the eyes "Sir, I am an old man, I'll make you a deal, You can scan my brain and make an AI for your little doomsday weapon and let me be in peace." the officer smiled, just what he wanted to hear, Roy was taken to Havana, a UNSC science and research world, he was put into the scanner. he knew he might die here, so to fully make sure his mind didn't go wasted, he placed encryption inside his own mind so that the UNSC couldn't erase it from their little weapon, and he was right, Roy did die there as he had thought, though he was reborn inside a new body, Roy awoke though he could only remember one name at the moment, Tozoa, it screamed at him over and over, he sat up, doctors stood around him, Tozoa could feel pain all over his body, he looked at himself, he wasn't human, more of a hybrid of an elite and a human. He had human colored flesh, but the bone structure of an elite, the pain was taking him, he couldn't think straight. He had to get out; his mind felt flooded, thousands of voices screaming at him to run, to hide, to kill. Tozoa was cuffed to the table, though the cuffs broke with ease, Tozoa slammed his fist into the closest doctor's head and it popped like a balloon, his body flew and hit the wall, leaving a crater in the concrete wall. Tozoa watched the other doctors turn, though they moved slow, like in slow motion, Tozoa ran to the door, hitting a doctor aside into the wall and crushing another under his massive hoofs, Tozoa broke through the door, he had no idea where he was, what he was, he broke through the walls, crushing people in his wake, women, children, it didn't matter, the pain was to great, he couldn't stand it. he had to escape, after about three hours, and several brutally casualties Tozoa came to the docking bay, an ODST pod #42 sat in front of him, Tozoa looked around him, noticing the marines, one had a Battle Rifle and he shot Tozoa, though it wasn't bullets that hit him, it was a dart, Tozoa felt himself slowing, getting weaker, "the marines sounded slurred "good shot, that was the only one we had." one said, Tozoa heard the other

"If we had missed I don't kn-" Tozoa blacked out... Then that's when he woke up in the hospital. Tozoa was a weapon, made to kill; Tozoa was human, but changed into a monster. Tozoa was alive, but now he was nothing... but machine. Tozoa was, but now, Tozoa IS. Tozoa came to, a marine yelling at him to get up, Tozoa grabbed the man by the head and stood up, holding him in the air, he squeezed and the man's head popped. Tozoa was a good guy, but something in him made him enraged... at everything. "Tozoa, look, we have two hours until the covenant get here, and you have been different sense the sewers, you seem off...really damn off, I want to know what's up, just me and you. As friends not soldiers, what's been up every sense the sewers?" Pace asked.

Tozoa ignored him and continued to stare out the bullet proof windows of the military base blankly "Tozoa, if you don't tell me what's up and why you have been acting so...different...I don't know if you are fit to fight, I'm ALREADY the only person here that even trusts letting you in the base! So are you gunna tell me what's up you or not?" asked Pace. Tozoa stared out the window a little longer and said... "I remember..." Tozoa said, "Everything." Pace starred at Tozoa, Tozoa turned and looked at him, the rasp in Tozoa's voice sounded worse than ever, he was different, and he had found himself. Tozoa's mask hissed and opened slowly, "You are the only one to see my face Pace" Said Tozoa, "I want to show you what the UNSC has done to humans, to Covenant, to life..." Pace stood there, mouth open, Tozoa had what looked like mandibles, like an elite, though he had a human nose and eyes, his hair was jet black, though his skull was elongated like an elites. "I am not human," Tozoa rasped coldly, "I am not alien... I am machine... Cold emotionless... I was a man once... But no more!" Tozoa's mandibles widened and moved with his "breathe" "Why do I do this! Why do I act like I can breathe! What is the purpose? To make me seem more human?" Tozoa slammed his fist into the wall, and it buckled and shattered. "Why?" he coughed, "Why am I the one? You needed a guinea pig!" Tozoa stood there, fist in the wall, looking down on Pace. "I need to find answers..." Tozoa said coldly, "I don't want to hurt you Pace, but if you get in my way, you will die." Tozoa pulled his fist from the wall and walked down the hall "I need to speak to Captain Keyes about this..." Tozoa said as he walked down the hall into the CO's Office. "You think Keyes will have your answers? Jacob friggin Keyes! They don't tell him ANYTHING anymore Tozoa! He's a damn puppet! He's all washed up! If you want answers, I can get you answers, the ODST, we're above the law, I can get you all the answers you want, but you gotta help me here. Now. And if you help me Tozoa, I swear I will help you find out whatever the hell they did to you! I'm a soldier, not I scientist, so I can't tell you what they did to you...but I can MAKE people that can tell you, tell you...we gotta deal?" Asked Pace, extending his hand to Tozoa... Tozoa stopped in front of the CO's door he looked down at Pace, his hand extended towards him, "You better" Tozoa rasped, and grabbed the hand, they shook. The alarm sounded and the CO opened the door "Tozoa, Pace!" he screamed "They're here, and they have a scarab! I sent for reinforcements, they're sending a SPARTAN-III Jake or something, He'll help you out." Tozoa didn't know why, but this seemed like it was going to end bad for that Spartan, The doors busted open and a seven foot Spartan in black armor walked in, he held a duffle bag in his right hand, He stopped dead as he noticed Tozoa. "Get down! Covenant hostile!" He bellowed. The Spartan charged at Tozoa, side arm drawn.