Chapter 15: Infected

Chapter 15 – Infected

Fourteenth Cycle, 29 units (Covenant Battle Calendar / Aboard Forerunner gas mine, Threshold atmosphere, Soell system

The moment the door closed behind Thel 'Vadamee, his nostrils picked up a fetor so foul that it caused him to stop dead. He had fought on countless battlefields during the war against the humans, and he had become well accustomed to the stench of death, but this was on a wholly different level. An unholy mixture of decay, stale blood, infection and something fungal assailed his nostrils, causing them to burn and he could feel it tightening his throat.

This is no natural odor, of that much I am sure, the Sangheili thought.

The Arbiter stepped into the darkened room where the rest of the strike team waited. The small square space was dominated by a large tank in the center. The liquid contained within glowed a neon green color and provided the only source of illumination for the Covenant soldiers. Thel paused to peer into the container. Through the foggy panels that served as windows, he could make out at least a dozen small fleshy creatures floating about in the fluid.

Thel could not determine what the things actually were, but all signs indicated that they had some relation to the foe that all in the Covenant feared over any other… a foe that had brought their own gods to the brink of destruction.

In addition, there was some kind of sickly, putrescent slime flecked on parts of the wall, almost invisible in the gloomy chamber. It was clear that this was the source of the stomach-churning reek that filled the air. Thel noticed that the Half-Jaw seemed unusually on edge. He kept scanning every corner, and his gaze kept returning to the unknown forms within the tank and the gunk on the walls. He clutched his plasma rifle tightly in his right hand, and his left hovered close to the hilt of his fireblade attached to his thigh.

The whine of plasma fire suddenly met Thel's ears, and the team quickly moved out of the room and into a wide corridor with a translucent floor that was so fogged up that all the team could see was the faint purple lights on the harnesses worn by the heretic Sangheili in the chamber below and flashes of green and blue from plasma discharges.

There was something else there too. Thel's eyes registered the shape of a massive creature. The outline of an enormous, bulbous body and two elongated tentacles were visible intermittently, lit by the plasma fire that crisscrossed the chamber. The team stood silently as the beast below crushed the heretics. The sickening crunches of the Sangheili being torn apart were almost completely drowned out by the unnatural howls and shrieks of their assailant.

After only a few moments, the corridor fell silent, and Thel listened to the victorious monster's footfalls as it lumbered away, disappearing down an adjoining passageway. As a seasoned veteran who had seen decades of combat, Thel was not easily unsettled. He had faced foes of all kinds on the field. He had fought a demon Spartan face-to-face, and it had almost killed him…

But nothing quite filled him with as much dread as what he just witnessed.

"By the rings, what is that?" murmured 'Zolamee.

Thel could hear the Unggoy whimpering in fear next to him. While this wasn't the most uncommon trait their kind exhibited on the field of battle, these were Special Operations troops. Their reaction to what the team had just seen seemed strangely prudent to Thel, and he couldn't quite blame them.

'Zolamee did not seem to share Thel's sentiment. He gave a sharp command to the Unggoy, warning them to be quiet. As the last of the large creature's footfalls disappeared, the Sangheili spoke quietly.

"It's moved on. Quickly, before it returns. Let's find the heretic leader and finish him off."

The Arbiter gripped his plasma rifle tightly and followed the rest of the lance out of the corridor and into a larger room. Glass tubes ran across the borders of the room, connecting into a large machine of some kind that was attached to the ceiling and extended downwards, with a faint blue light emanating from the tip near the floor. The team stood on the upper level and would have to descend to the lower one to proceed onward.

The Sangheili, with their tall and athletic bodies, dropped to the bottom of the room with ease but the short, squat Unggoy had a harder time. The diminutive creatures used their oversized forearms to hang on to the ledge before dropping the roughly dozen units to the ground.

Thel looked around. Dozens of rectangular pods lined the walls of the chamber, each giving off an eerie green glow not unlike that of the tank holding the strange creatures they had passed. The room was clearly a laboratory of some sort.

The smell of death was thick in the air as well. Corpses lay cold and unmoving on the floor, and there were streaks of blood everywhere - blues, purples… and that sickly greenish ichor. At first glance, all the deceased were heretics, but Thel quickly noticed that many of the corpses were hideously deformed.

Sangheili flesh was colored a pale, sickly greenish grey, laced with discolored veins and pustules that quivered and throbbed. Body armor was cracked and missing in some places as the mutations forced their way through and what remained was covered in dark green slime. Thick, ropy tendrils had torn their way through the arms of the creatures, breaking their wrists. Thel could see the hands hanging limp below these new tumorous appendages.

Thel noticed a definite shift in Commander 'Vadumee's composure as he regarded the scene before him. The warrior's plasma rifle was tightly clenched in his four-fingered hand while his eyes darted from one corner to the next and his body trembled, imperceptible to all but the most observant.

"What happened here?" the second Sangheili commando, Kril 'Revumai, exclaimed, looking around at the carnage.

"Me have bad feeling about this!" One of the team's Unggoy murmured. The small creature trembled as it spoke, its plasma pistol pointing from one corpse to the next.

"You always have bad feeling!" replied its companion, sounding no less frightened. "You had bad feeling about morning food nipple!"

"Close your jaws, or I shall bind them shut!" 'Revumai growled.

A strange humming sound greeted Thel's ears, and he raised his plasma rifle, looking for the source of the sound as the rest of the group did the same.

He spotted it: a small grey orb no bigger than his fist, with bright bands of blue energy flowing it, drifting down from one of the vents near the ceiling. The small drone floated down until it was level with the Covenant soldiers, before it suddenly vanished with a pop. In its place, the team found themselves confronted with the heretic leader himself.

"See! Heretic!" shrieked one of the Unggoy, and both of the smaller aliens opened fire with their plasma pistols. With each hit, the heretic's form flickered white, with static washing over it. The image was not real.

"Hold your fire. Hold your fire!" 'Vadumee boomed.

As soon as the shooting stopped, the holographic form of Sesa 'Refumee turned its neck to look down at Thel.

"I wondered who the Prophets would send to silence me. An Arbiter… I'm flattered."

The heretic leader gave no indication that he recognized his former supreme commander. The likely reality was that 'Refumee had thought him dead in the aftermath of the cataclysm at Halo.

It was just as likely that he did not recognize the Sangheili inside the Arbiter's armor.

"He's using a holo-drone, he must be close." 'Vadumee said to the group before turning back to the form of the heretic in front of him. "Come out, so we may kill you."

The heretic sneered down at the Half-Jaw. "Get in line."

With that, the image of 'Refumee evaporated in a flash of white light, and the orb dropped to the ground. There was a moment of silence, and then Thel heard it – a soft skittering sound that seemed to come from every corner of the room. The team raised their weapons, an instant before several dozen small fleshy creatures flooded out of the darkened apertures above them, descending on the Covenant.

Each of the aliens had a soft, pod-shaped body that was colored a sickly pale gray color, with a small sagging lobe towards the back which was covered in tiny nodules. They were held aloft by an array of small tentacles and had three longer tendrils tipped with red ganglia that protruded in front of them, tasting the air.

"Leader!" shouted 'Zolamee in alarm.

"Stand firm!" 'Vadumee commanded, already firing his plasma rifle at the tide of creatures. "The Flood is upon us!"

Thel fired a burst of fire from his plasma rifle at a large jumble of pods that had landed in front of him. The pulses of energy obliterated the first wall of the creatures, causing their bodies to explode in small but violent bursts of noxious gas and flesh. The force of the destroyed forms was enough to destroy others that were too close, allowing his short burst to wipe out the entire group in a chain reaction of popping pods.

But there was more, many more of them, and they continued to rain down on top of the strike team. The Half-Jaw bellowed at the Unggoy to get behind the Sangheili for protection. The pods that managed to get close enough to leap at the Sangheili instantly popped upon contact with their energy shielding, but the Unggoy were far more vulnerable to attack.

The Unggoy scampered into the cover provided by the four Sangheili warriors. The team formed a loose circular formation, with the Sangheili facing a different direction, plasma streaming from their rifles while the Unggoy fired from their protection. Each time enough of the creatures appeared in a suitably large number, a glowing plasma grenade hurled by the Unggoy was often enough to obliterate the whole swarm.

As more of the strange aliens flooded the room, it seemed that many of them had a different focus than the living Covenant troops. They instead made for the corpses of the heretics that lay scattered across the floor. Thel swung his plasma rifle at the pair of pods that leaped at him, causing them to explode in a puff of green mist and chitinous spores, which he promptly wafted away from his face. As he did so, he noticed one of the pods climb on top of a deceased Sangheili.

It took only moments, but Thel saw it use its barbed tendrils to quickly cut through the heretic's undersuit and the skin beneath. Almost immediately, the corpse began to convulse violently on the ground as the beast disappeared into the cavity it had just created. Misshapen growths and tentacles exploded along the Sangheili's body as the flesh rapidly decayed into a pale sickly gray color similar to that of the invading creature.

The Sangheili jumped to its feet, accompanied by a sickening crack as a column of writhing tentacles exploded out of its left arm while the red fronds of the infector protruded out of the gaping cavity in the corpse's chest, forcing the heretic's long neck to flop back over his back, broken.

The monster made a beeline for 'Vadumee, waving its arms in the air. Lightning fast, the Half-Jaw drew his energy sword with his left hand, igniting it with a flash and spearing the oncoming creature even as he continued to fire his plasma rifle with his other hand.

"Destroy the bodies!" 'Vadumee shouted, firing at the Flood infection forms that skittered towards their potential hosts. The Arbiter drew his own energy sword and began to cleave through the ranks of the parasite as it surged toward him, heedless of the casualties it took. He slashed his sword into the spasming corpse of a heretic, destroying the pod infector within and halting its mutation.

Another body, this one previously claimed by the parasite, lunged at Thel, a plasma pistol clutched in its mostly undamaged right hand. The Sangheili dodged several blobs of plasma before stabbing his sword into the reanimated body. This strike destroyed the infection form, and as the body slumped forward, Thel thrust the blade upwards, cleaving the torso of the former heretic almost in two.

"Heretic fools!" cried 'Revumai. "What have they done?

Thel struggled to understand the situation that the team now found themselves in. Had the parasite always been here? Perhaps it had somehow escaped from the Halo ring. He himself had enforced the quarantine following the outbreak of the Flood during that battle. He had destroyed many of the vessels of his own fleet that had fallen to the parasite. Nothing could have escaped.

This was just yet another development they would have to deal with, and one more answer he would draw from his former ally before he perished.

Finally, the tide of infection forms began to subside, and a nearby door opened, allowing the team to move on. The room was covered in green slime and strips of destroyed flesh from all the pods they had killed. Flood spores gently drifted through the air, and Thel made sure to double check that his armor was completely sealed and was filtering his oxygen intake properly so as to not accidentally breathe in any of the spores. The smell of ozone from plasma discharges was completely covered by the overpowering stench of the Flood.

The Half-Jaw glanced at the open passageway beyond, before looking at each of his soldiers and then finally to Thel. "Go, Arbiter! I'll follow when our reinforcements arrive."

Thel nodded to the commander. He understood that this new development would necessitate further troop deployments if they were to have any chance of surviving the parasite and escaping the station before the roiling storm consumed them all. If any could understand the true threat of the Flood, it was the Half-Jaw – the only one of their number to have fought against the parasite face-to-face and survived.

"The rest of you are with me!" Thel said. 'Zolamee paused for the slightest of moments, his eyes meeting Thel's, before dipping his head. He understood. Regardless of how the rest of the strike team viewed the disgraced warrior, they were obligated to obey the command of the Arbiter on the field of battle.

Thel discarded his plasma rifle, which was almost fully depleted of charge and stooped to pick up a carbine that lay on the ground near a puddle of purple Sangheili blood. He was quite fond of the Mosa-pattern, with its design that harkened back to the ancient Sangheili design of millennia past, albeit with several modern Covenant innovations such as its holographic optics suite. He also scavenged several small cylindrical magazines for the weapon. His blade still had a surplus of charge left, and he returned the hilt to his plated thigh.

With 'Vadumee waiting in the laboratory, Thel and the other Sangheili and Unggoy quickly moved through the door into a small vestibule with a dividing wall. Beyond this, the sound of battle could be heard through another door. The Arbiter went first, and he soon found himself standing on a short walkway that led to a large platform that had a small, raised level that encircled the central support beam of what looked to be a massive transportation elevator. The surrounding walls stretched high on all sides and there were dozens of circular recesses in rows along each side.

A large mechanical arm mounted on the periphery of the platform occasionally retrieved cylindrical cargo modules from these gaps and fed them through a system on the underside of the platform, where they would emerge through small matching trapdoors that were spaced around the floor.

All around the platform, there were more reanimated corpses – Flood combat forms – engaged in battle against Aggressor sentinels. While the drone's weaponry was effective at burning down individual Flood forms, many of the attackers had weaponry of their own: plasma which was brutally effective at destroying the machines.

Thel took aim at a combat form standing on the raised level and fired, striking the creature in the chest where the protruding sensory organs of its controlling pod were located. Fortunately, the former Sangheili's energy shielding was non-operational, and there was a small pop as the infection form was destroyed. The corpse crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut and crunched onto the platform below.

The rest of the team emerged, picking targets and firing. Several Flood attackers took exception to this new threat and turned to face them. Plasma fire quickly ignited their mutated flesh, burning whole chunks of the creatures away with each hit. Some of the infected Sangheili retained enough of their armor to provide them with limited energy shielding and they were able to shrug off several plasma bolts before this protection failed.

One of these forms charged at Thel, lighting up in surges of energy as his carbine peppered its shielding. Thel stepped backwards but the form leaped at the Arbiter, knocking him down. The beast lashed out with a thick, tentacled arm but Thel managed to roll to the side just in time as the cudgel smashed into the ground where his body had just been. The Sangheili swung his knee up into the combat form's groin, and its weakened energy shield broke allowing the Sangheili to fire a final carbine shot into the controlling infection form. As the empty carcass fell forward onto Thel, he braced with both boots up, and with an almighty heave, he kicked the corpse back.

Quickly leaping to his feet, Thel hastily rolled the ex-heretic's body off the walkway, where it tumbled into the murky depths below. The rest of his team managed to kill off the final hostiles and they quickly assembled on the elevator as it suddenly started downwards with a loud groan.

"This place… it is filled with the parasite." 'Zolamee whispered, looking at the chunks of infected flesh and slime from the destroyed combat forms that littered the platform.

"Not even heretics would have come here had they known this."

Thel found himself unable to disagree with his fellow warrior. How could they have known that this facility would house the parasite? There had been no reported instances of any contact with the Flood on this station during the battle of Halo, when these soldiers were still loyal to the Covenant. Certainly, the Prophet of Stewardship had not disclosed such a thing… although a part of Thel very much doubted that he would have reported an incursion were it to have happened. He and the Prophet had not seen eye-to-eye during that whole blasted campaign.

And despite their blasphemies, Thel just could not fathom that the heretics would deliberately release the parasite were it to have been contained here. Every member of the Covenant knew of the danger even a single Flood spore would pose were it to escape unchecked. Only the most radical of fringe sects of the empire, such as the Governors of Contrition, would even entertain the Flood as anything other than an infestation to be cleansed.

What followed for the strike team was a long and harrowing fight for survival as the platform moved excruciatingly slowly, periodically stopping and rotating as it carried out its automated task of transporting cargo pods to and from the elevator. The whole time this was happening, Flood combat forms would leap onto the platform from various gaps and spaces along the sides of the walls. The mutated creatures climbed through the interior structures of the wall before throwing themselves through the air to land on the elevator.

One Unggoy went down as a combat form struck a cargo module next to it with its whip-like arm, smashing the container to pieces. It was then that they realized in horror that the pods carried infection forms within. Half a dozen of the creatures exploded from the ruined module onto the Unggoy, who wailed in fear and pain as the small beasts drove their penetrators through the Covenant soldier's chitinous exoskeleton.

Thel roared a warning and threw a plasma grenade, sticking it to the Unggoy's methane tank as it flailed and writhed, vile mountains of sickly pale biomass erupting across its body. The resultant explosion obliterated the new Flood host, as well as all the surrounding pods.

Occasionally, groups of sentinels would descend on the cargo elevator as it slowly lowered the strike team into the bowels of the facility, searing orange beams of energy from their sterilization beams down on both Covenant and Flood. 'Zolamee was most well equipped to deal with these flying threats with his dual plasma rifles, while Thel focused on using his carbine to pick off Flood forms preparing to launch themselves at the platform. 'Revumai had holstered his own rifle, instead wielding an energy sword to cut through the combat forms that managed to land on the elevator. With each member of the team focused on their role, and providing cover for one another, they were able to survive the onslaught of enemies.

Eventually, the elevator ground to a stop, and two more infected Sangheili charged through a doorway towards the Spec Ops lance. 'Revumai sprang into action, his blade lopping off the arm of the first attacker as it swung at him before springing forward, impaling it through its chest. Without pause, he swiftly drew back, allowing Thel to drop the second with a single precise shot to the controlling infection form.

The group passed through the door and found themselves in a tall corridor lined with oddly shaped protuberances and pale overhead lighting that flickered on and off. More corpses lined the passageway, both infected and uninfected.

"We should have brought weapons to burn these bodies," 'Zolamee said as they marched through the carnage. "Every one is a vessel for the Flood."

Thel knew that what 'Zolamee said was right, but they had not, and there was no time for them to do so on this mission. They all knew that time was running out. If the heretic leader was not caught soon, they would all perish.

They emerged onto the upper gallery of a large rectangular room, which seemed to be another laboratory. Thel could hear an ongoing battle nearby, and he could see the combatants moving around on the ground floor through the misted glass that lined the gallery. As the parasite began to overwhelm the heretics, Thel spotted a new kind of Flood form. They were large, bloated creatures that waddled towards the battle on stunted legs. Instead of arms, they had two long, thin tendrils that waved in front of them. When one was struck by weapons fire, it would swell up and explode, throwing infection forms everywhere.

Within a few minutes, the sounds of battle died down. Thel kicked the glass, smashing it easily with his armored boot. The noise attracted the combat forms in the room, causing them to leap into the air towards the Spec Ops lance. One of the twisted bodies landed in front of Thel. He quickly ducked beneath its flailing arms and shot the infection form in the chest with his carbine. The dead Flood form toppled back down to the floor below.

Another reanimated Sangheili crashed through a nearby gallery window, followed by another. The group focused their fire, burning down the charging Flood forms before they could close with them. They would have to descend to the lower level of the lab to continue, as there was only one other door on their level, and it was locked.

The Arbiter jumped first, crushing several infection forms beneath his feet, and the rest of the team soon followed. There were many infection forms still present in the room, and Thel could see one of them in the process of transforming a heretic Sangheili into a combat form. He quickly destroyed both host and Flood form with a grenade to prevent further trouble.

Thel's shield suddenly flared as carbine rounds slammed into them from behind. He threw himself into the meager cover of an overturned purple supply case. He caught a glimpse of two Sangheili heretics as they emerged onto the gallery that the Spec Ops team had just vacated; evidentially having arrived from the previously locked door. With their higher ground, the heretics would have likely succeeded in killing Thel and his team were it not for the intervention of the Flood.

One heretic was brutally beaten down by a mob of combat forms and the other was flung off the platform, landing with a sickening crunch on the ground next to Thel. With the heretics neutralized, the Flood quickly turned their attention to the strike team.

Waves of infection forms poured down from the upper level, and were destroyed in their dozens by the Covenant's weaponry while combat forms threw themselves haphazardly forward, unfeeling of pain and only stopping when enough of their bodies were obliterated or the controlling pod was killed.

More and more Flood continued to surge into the laboratory, arriving from both upper galleries as well as large vents closer to the ceiling. Thel realized that they would be overwhelmed if they stayed in their current position, so he shouted for the group to retreat to the opposite end of the room, where there were two plasma cannons set up on raised islands flanking a locked door.

The team moved to the strongpoint, and Thel quickly took position on one of the plasma cannons while 'Zolamee took the other. 'Revumai and the sole surviving Unggoy stood behind them, watching their backs in case any opponents managed to get behind the cannons.

Despite their unnatural resistance to pain, the Flood combat forms were unable to withstand the two streams of plasma that surged their way, and their charred bodies soon began to accumulate on the floor. The infection forms were plentiful but easily destroyed, and Thel made sure to prioritize those that sought to reanimate the corpses of the larger Flood forms.

Just as the tide of Flood began to stem, Thel's ears were met by a monstrous roar. There was a loud crash as something massive landed in the room beside the Spec Ops team. Standing almost three times a Sangheili's height, the bulk of its body was a large, bulbous mass of pale gray, ossified flesh, with an opening from which at least a dozen sensory tentacles protruded. It had two enormously long, flexible tendrils that ended in bony spikes, a comparatively thin waist and two trunk-like legs tipped with hardened bone.

The monster we saw when we arrived.

The beast reared back and bellowed, a noise that was so powerful that it caused Thel to wince in pain. Even as Thel began to turn his plasma cannon, he knew that it was too close and he jumped away as one of the monster's appendages whipped towards him, shattering the turret into pieces.

The ever-fearless 'Revumai roared a challenge at the massive Flood form. His energy sword blazed to life and the Sangheili charged. Even as plasma fire from the rest of the strike team impacted the upper body of the creature, failing to do any damage to its hardened form, the swordsman threw himself over one massive arm as it plunged toward him. Using the limb to spring toward it, 'Revumai plunged the blade up to its hilt in the center of the Juggernaut's body.

Thick green sludge gouted from the wound, and the monster screeched – whether it had actually felt the blow that had been dealt or simply out of anger Thel did not know. 'Revumai pulled his sword free and attempted to jump clear, but the Juggernaut scythed one of its arms up in front of the body, impaling the Sangheili straight through the gut, the sharpened appendage emerging through his back.

Purple blood showered the Forerunner alloy that comprised the lab's floor, and the energy sword slipped from the warrior's hand, splashing down into the mess and flashing out of existence. 'Revumai had a second to look into the horrific visage of his killer, before the Juggernaut swung its tendril again. The corpse of the Sangheili flew through the air, blood trailing in an arc behind it before he crunched to a stop beneath the upper gallery.

The beast paused, seemingly to assess the rest of the strike team. Stooping down, it suddenly charged forward at the Covenant warriors with startling speed.

"Scatter!" Thel shouted. "We must not give the beast an opportunity to kill us all in one attack!"

The Sangheili fanned out across the lab, continuing to fire all the while. Plasma blasts and carbine rounds continued to hammer the Juggernaut, but none of their attacks did so much as to slow it down.

The Unggoy fumbled for a plasma grenade and threw it as the behemoth thundered toward it. The glowing projectile soared over the two connecting tendons that connected the Juggernaut's arm to the rest of its body, a clean miss. The diminutive Covenant soldier only had a moment to realize its attack had failed. A terrified shriek rose from the Unggoy's throat… before its entire body was simply crushed under one of the Juggernaut's massive, horned feet. A puddle of gore, shards of armor and a cloud of methane was all that was left of the Unggoy's body as the Flood form continued to advance.

"It shrugs off our every assault!" 'Zolamee roared over the sound of his dual plasma rifles. "It must have a weak spot!"

The Juggernaut suddenly launched itself high into the air, using its powerful arms to propel it upwards. The Flood beast dug one of its arms into the side of a large, blocky protrusion that jutted down from the ceiling, before swinging itself like a gigantic primate down towards Thel.

Thel darted away, hurling himself over a supply case laying on its side as the Juggernaut dropped towards him. Determined not to suffer the same fate as the Unggoy, the Arbiter activated his armor's active camouflage and vanished from sight. The monster slammed down to the ground, pausing briefly in confusion. Thel scrutinized the behemoth, noting the strange opening that pulsated in the center of its chest. He could see a collection of the same, red-tipped ganglia that the infection forms had writhing and tasting the air.

'Zolamee seemed to have come to the same conclusion as Thel. "The eye, Arbiter! Aim for its eye!"

Thel reappeared halfway down the laboratory and unloaded his carbine's magazine into the seething mass that seemed to be the only real weak point that the Juggernaut possessed. The monster gurgled as several of the Sangheili's shots found their mark, slicing through a few of the strange appendages before it raised an arm to protect its approximation of an eye.

Keeping one arm in a defensive posture, the Juggernaut bounded towards Thel. He kept firing, trying to land more shots but was forced to roll to the side as the beast lashed out at him. 'Zolamee stepped forward, unloading his rifles into the damaged fleshy center of the Flood form's chest the moment it was vulnerable. The enormous creature stumbled back, viscous green goo dripping from what little remained of its sensory appendages.

"Grenades, now!" Thel barked. In a synchronized movement, both surviving Sangheili hurled plasma grenades at the wounded creature. Both explosives fused to the damaged portion of the Juggernaut and detonated in unison. The entire torso of the creature exploded, bursting apart in a shower of green bile, chunks of calcified flesh and clouds of spores. All that remained was the lower legs that were still attached to the remnants of the Flood form's pelvis and the severed appendages that had been the beast's arms.

The Sangheili stepped clear of the carnage, breathing deeply from the exertion of the hard-fought battle. They both stared around at the carnage in the laboratory. The air was heavy with smoke and insidious Flood spores, there was plasma scoring across much of the room's construction. Supply cases and discarded weaponry were strewn all over the place. There was blood and corpses everywhere; destroyed Flood forms, heretics… Covenant Spec Ops troops…

"Come, Arbiter," 'Zolamee said wearily as he examined the charge level of his plasma rifles. "Let us leave this accursed place."

Thel acknowledged his comrade's words and moved towards the solitary door that was on their level of the lab. He stepped over to assess the holographic panel that hovered beside the door but before he could press anything, the door's mechanisms shifted from red to white and slid apart.

Thel had already rolled behind one of the floating islands that flanked the doorway as it opened, and a pair of heretic Sangheili charged through along with their Unggoy subordinates. As the group moved into the room, the two Covenant warriors unleashed a barrage of plasma fire from their hidden positions. The first Sangheili's energy shield was overloaded in moments, obliterated by the merciless assault and he fell backwards, his torso obliterated by plasma rifle fire and with a pair of carbine rounds in his elongated forehead.

His companion reeled back, his own shields flaring and tried to scramble into cover behind a supply case, but Thel was quick to prime and throw a plasma grenade, expertly landing it next to the container, right beside the heretic. With plasma fire from 'Zolamee's rifles continuing to hammer his position while simultaneously tearing into his entourage of Unggoy, he was unable to do more than widen his eyes in horror before the explosive detonated, obliterating the Sangheili and his remaining troops.

Thel warily scanned the small airlock from which the heretics had arrived. Satisfied that no foes were hidden in the darkened corners, he directed 'Zolamee to replace his depleted rifles with a fresh one from an opened supply case. Thel took the other plasma rifle and stowed it next to his energy sword's hilt. He still had two spare canisters of ammunition for his carbine but knew that he was likely to expend all of it in the coming skirmishes so the additional weapon would be useful. He was also able to locate a satchel of plasma grenades, splitting it between himself and 'Zolamee.

Now sufficiently rearmed, the two Sangheili exited the laboratory into the airlock. Thel felt a surge of relief as the door sealed behind them. As the airlock cycled, the voice of one of the strike team's dropship pilots crackled through his helmet's speaker: "Leader, the storm is about to hit! We cannot maintain our position!"

Undaunted by the pilot's concern, 'Vadumee spoke next. "Bring the Phantoms close to the mine. We are not leaving until the leader of these heretics is dead." The commander's voice did not betray any emotion besides calm confidence.

Thel was gratified by his former subordinate's words, but at the same time he felt a small sense of discomfort. He did not wish for 'Vadumee to lose his life on the station. With the maelstrom closing in, Thel would prefer to tackle 'Refumee alone while the rest of the team departed from the mine, ensuring that they survived to continue to serve the Covenant while his own life was claimed by the vortex, as the fates decreed.

If there was any way that the Arbiter could save his fellow warriors before they all found their deaths, he would do it.

The airlock cycled open, revealing a wide exterior bridge that stretched across to the heart of the installation. The platform was lined with the familiar engravings of their gods, as was the case with much of their creations. Plasma and needler fire crossed the air as a multitude of Flood forms attacked a group of heretic Unggoy at the opposite side of the walkway.

Just as Thel raised his carbine towards the distant battle, three streams of red plasma began to fire down at the combatants as a Phantom dropship swooped into position of the bridge. Thel and 'Zolamee quickly added their own firepower, and within moments, the final Flood pod was popped, and the only sounds were the ever-increasing noise of the brewing storm below the station and the dropship's own impulse drive.

The gravity lift in the Phantom's belly came to life, and a pair of Spec Ops commandos dropped down along with a trio of Unggoy in matching armor. Thel greeted the new arrivals and assessed the path ahead. The walkway on which they stood branched off into two separate paths that winded their way up and around the gas mine's central structure. Huge support pylons and braces lined both sides, forming a latticework that provided dozens of cover points where their foes may lurk.

Wary of these potential risks, the Arbiter opted to split the team into two groups. Thel, a warrior named 'Kelsamee, and one of the Unggoy would take the right path while 'Zolamee and the others took the left. This would ensure that no threats would be able to attack them from behind.

As Thel's group moved forward, careful to check every potential hiding spot for their enemy, he couldn't shake the feeling of disconcertment that bubbled away in his mind. These strange whisperings of an Oracle here on the station… in league with these traitors… sentinels aiding the heretics…

To say nothing of the rampant Flood outbreak that threatened to overrun the entire facility, and indeed, spread beyond it. How had the parasite been unleashed? The Arbiter had so many questions.

He would be sure to get answers for all these questions, before he drew his last breath.

The path they followed was largely uneventful. A small group of heretic Unggoy attempted to spring an ambush, but Thel's keen hearing had allowed him to hear the subtle noises of his opponent's methane rebreathers ahead as he crept forward. The Unggoy, hiding in the shadowed cervices along the walkway with needlers raised in anticipation, had no chance as Thel and 'Kelsamee's cloaked forms closed in, hoisted them into the air and launched them off the catwalk into the swirling clouds below.

They did not even have a chance to yell in surprise.

Even as the first two Unggoy suddenly found themselves falling to their deaths, Thel brought the stock of his carbine down hard on the third heretic's head, fracturing its skull and causing methane to spurt out of its broken mask. The final Unggoy jammed its hardened finger down on its needler's firing stud in panic, but before it could fire any more than two projectiles, the heretics head violently snapped to the side, audibly breaking as 'Kelsamee broke it with his long fingers.

The two pink crystalline rounds bounced off the path and ricocheted harmlessly away into the orange clouds beyond the walkway.

As they moved up a sloping ramp, following the path around the central structure, a trio of sentinels wobbled into sight, rocking in the winds that Thel noticed were growing increasingly stronger. The lance was quick to put the constructs down as the machines struggled to focus their own weapons on them.

Finally, they reached a door leading into the heart of the gas mine and regrouped with 'Zolamee and his group. Together, the Covenant troops moved inside, passing through several more doors before entering a large, tiered room that had walkways spiraling their way upward and a large conduit of yellow energy running between the upper levels.

"Heretic boss! You see? You see?" squeaked the Unggoy closest to Thel, firing a flurry of shots from his plasma pistol. Thel spotted Sesa 'Refumee running across the room, past a floating holographic representation of the gas mine towards a door on the opposite side of the room from the Covenant troops.

Thel fired several rounds from his own carbine, but the heretic's shield held and as he passed through the doorway, a pale blue energy barrier flared to life in the space, on which Thel's remaining rounds dissipated harmlessly upon.

More sentinels drifted down from above, targeting both the Covenant soldiers, and the numerous Flood combat forms running around. A vicious three-way melee developed, but Thel and his lance were soon victorious, with only the loss of one of the Unggoy.

With the chamber now clear, Thel approached 'Refumee, who stood beyond the open doorway protected by the translucent energy field.

"This will save me from the storm, but you will be consumed." 'Refumee said mockingly.

Anger boiled up inside Thel, and he pounded the barrier, but the door had already closed. Growling softly, he turned as he heard footsteps behind him.

"Arbiter, where is he?" Commander 'Vadumee asked as he approached, with two of his warriors flanking him.

Thel jerked his head irritably towards the sealed door, but he had already moved past the new arrivals and was studying the nearby holograph that showed the entire facility as it slowly rotated. His eyes trailed up, towards the apex of the facility, where only a single long cable kept it anchored in place…

"Stinking Floodbait boxed himself in tight," the Half-Jaw muttered as he scrutinized the energy barrier that the heretic had erected.

"We'll never break through this!"

"Then we shall force him out." Thel said, deciding on his next course of action.

"How?" 'Vadumee questioned, turning to face the Arbiter.

"The cable," Thel said plainly. "I'm going to cut it. Get everyone back to the ships."

Thel's eyes met the commander's for a moment, and for the first time since before Halo's destruction, he saw respect in the white-armored warrior's gaze.

Thel stared thoughtfully at the schematic for a quarter of a cental longer. The plan was clear in the Sangheili's mind; if he could make his way upwards, he could sever the cable anchoring the gas mine to the greater megastructure above, plummeting it into the maelstrom below. In doing this, Thel would guarantee the deaths of all still on board the station.

The Flood outbreak would be stopped before it could spread any further, but most importantly to Thel, it would ensure the successful completion of his mission to put down the heretic leader and all his followers.

It was suicidal, but this was to be expected of any mission conducted by an Arbiter of the Covenant. His death may well restore some of his lost glory and would perhaps save the entire Vadam legacy from an otherwise unavoidable fate.

Of equal importance to Thel was the knowledge that no more Covenant blood would need to be spilled on this station. The brave warriors of whom he had fought alongside during the past several units could survive to be of further use to the empire.

Perhaps Rtas 'Vadumee may yet see Thel's sacrifice as some form of atonement for the mistake that he had made, not just in his own eyes, but those of the entire alliance of which they had both served for most of their lives.

Whatever the outcome, Thel's path was now set.