Flood Combat Form (Human)
Flood Combat Form (Shangheili/Elite)
Flood Combat Form (Jiralhanae/Brute)
Flood Infection Form
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"Keep firing!" You said, blasting your shotgun. A combat form that was about to reach you exploded when the pellets mauled its rotting body, making it explode in a green mist.
"They are everywhere!" Taylor yelled. More flood arrived from the part of the tunnel that you had just come in, forcing you to advance in a retreat movement. Infection forms rattled as they crawled all over the demolished walls and wiry ceiling of the subterranean highway.
'Gwraaaaaaaaaagh!'
'Heaghrrrrr!'
Elite combat forms rushed, jumping over them and sending debris flying away with their putrid whips attached to their arms.
Taylor tried to spray his assault rifle, but his magazine ran out of bullets. "Damn it!" He took a new mag from his chest and put it on faster than any soldier among the marine corps. Your shotgun ran out of shells and you pulled out your pistol.
"If we don't leave this hole we are gonna end up joining their ranks!" You yelled. Both of you kept advancing, not putting your eyes away from the back of the tunnel.
"Runaway! This will hold them off!" Taylor took out a grenade from his chest. He pulled the ring and launched it against them like a baseball. "Fire in the hole!"
"Aaaaaaargghhh!" More flood jumped from the holes across the ceiling. Taylor and you rushed ahead and jumped behind a pile of debris and dirt making a small cover.
'BAM,' the grenade detonated. Green blood and rotten limbs flew everywhere. The explosion made the near cars detonate as well, generating a mini-chain outburst that would have destroyed your eardrums if you weren't using pressurized helmets. A massive fire started, and beams and cables above collided down, smashing everything behind.
No more screams nor sticky meat being rubbed against worms sounded again. You took a deep breath and got on your knees. Taylor's respiration was agitated. He didn't get up from the pile of debris.
"What... What in the hell are those monsters, exactly?!"
"The flood," You responded. You extended your hand to him. He grabbed it and sat up. "What ONI never wanted anyone to know about back in our world."
"Damn..." He unpolarized his visor. His face sweated heavily. "And to think they live in the same goddam dimension as us. In the bloody hell, they should have stayed."
You unpolarized your visor too. The voice channel activated, and Sargeant Madison —as well as Nepgear's icon— illuminated at the bottom of your user interface.
"(Y/n)? Taylor?" Sarge Madison spoke. "We detected something powerful and nasty coming below right where you are. What in the hell did just happen?"
"The flood, sarge. That happened. " You responded. "We blew up part of the tunnel. There's no way back for us but to keep going further. What's your status?"
"We've only fought those damned spider bitches so far. But we traded fire with some brutes. They are already here, and they are deploying light vehicles. They must really want those shares."
"(Y/n)?" Nepgear's picture illuminated. "Are you alright? Do you want me to come and assist you?" Her eyes frowned, and her voice was not any less worried.
"We're fine, Nepgear. Thank you," You said. "But please keep going on together. You are the ones going to the most dangerous place; the bassilicom, the heart of the city."
"I agree with (Y/n)," Taylor joined the chat. "You're going to the place where the shares are located. Soon you'll have the whole damn Covenant troops from both Elite and Brute sides before you can even say it. And the flood, those monsters are no game. It must be boiling with them right there."
"We will take care..." Nepgear said. "And we've also seen spirit dropships getting inside the city. They are deploying Elite forces! but no signs of their leader, that elite who killed Rom."
"I doubt he is going to be here," Sargeant Madison said. "We'll keep going on. Keep us informed." He disconnected from the channel.
"Take care, (Y/n)," Nepgear said. "Don't hesitate to call if you need assistance."
"We'll be fine, Nepgear," You said. "Keep us informed too." You disconnected.
"I don't even know if we'll get alive outta this," Taylor whispered. "If we don't make sure that those nukes explode and send this city to Oblivion there's not going to be any future for anyone."
"Well, you know what they say," You grabbed his assault rifle and passed it to him. "If it wasn't hard, almost suicidal, it would not be a job for the ODST." You polarized your helmet and got up, loading shells into your shotgun.
"Heck, it is," He got up. "Heck, it is."
No more enemies appeared after that, even though neither Taylor nor you could put your eyes away from the holes on the roof and walls, the spaces between the cars, nor the craters around. It was as if more of those monsters were right there, stalking you amidst the dark, ready to lounge and reduce you to human puree and then feed their biomass with your bloody remains.
"Wait," Taylor suddenly put his big hand on your chest.
"What's it, big guy?"
"You heard that?" He whispered. The dry sounds of gunpowder and bullets rumbled in quick successions. "Someone must be here with us. But how strange, those are the sounds of MA5C's. No one besides us has those weapons in this dimension."
MA5C? Now that was strange. You were apparently the only ones having access to them, mainly from the crate that Neptune's troops found. It could be that they got them from the remains that fell into this dimension alongside you, or they have brought them with them inside their infected ship.
"Let's keep going," You told him. "Let's see what we can find."
The density of demolished cars began to fade away as you advanced further into the darkness. Even if you were using the night vision in your helmet, it was as if soon you would need another one over it. The tunnel arched down, and when you reached the bottom of it, the gunshots thundered once again.
"Ahhhh! Help!" Someone yelled. Someone human...
"They are all over him!" Another voice screamed.
You and Taylor traded looks, and he made you the hand signal to keep going on further. You acknowledged.
And then, you saw a group of human and elite combat forms trying to reach a reduced number of no more than 4 Lastationite soldiers. You also discovered the source of the MA5C's shots; it was the flood human forms who were shooting those rifles.
"They can even use goddamn weapons!" Taylor exclaimed.
You switched to your DMR. "Let's give them hell."
He and you opened fire ahead, but the combat forms didn't seem to notice you. One of them jumped above a flipped car and unleashed fire over the soldiers, killing one and sending her brains flying away. The other ones kept yelling and firing, but infection forms rushed, and eventually engulfed all of them, crawling and adhering themselves on their armors and flesh.
"What in the hell is happening?!" Taylor yelled.
You saw what you had not seen ever since you were in installation 04; The infection forms began to turn into combat forms the lastationite soldiers, all in a torturing, ear-piercing process while they were still alive. They twitched and arched back in agony, screaming in horror as their skin mutated, and their morphology drastically turned them into the same monsters they tried to defend themselves from just some moments ago.
"Gwraaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" They all screamed, and then spotted you. The combat forms with weapons unleashed fire, forcing you to take cover. The other combat forms leaped, and the infection forms made a swarm all over the walls and roof.
(A/N) It's been almost 2 months ever since I updated this story. I'm sorry for that. Thanks for reading!