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An Unggoy Life: Chapter 33: Deathtrap
Posted By: CrazyGrunt<thomas-hoskins@comcast.net>
Date: 30 October 2005, 7:49 pm
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Forerunner Moonbase, control room
Ghazghkull charged past Grievous, eager for a fight. A Juggernaut jumped down from the ceiling and landed in front of him, blocking the walkway. The Juggenaut had four tentacle-like arms, what looked like a Jiralhanae's torso, and legs that looked like they belonged on a Yanme'e. The Juggernaut stood fourteen feet high, but, unfortunately, Ghazghkull towered above it by a good three feet. Ghazghkull curled his Powerclaw into a crude fist, and slammed a devastating right hook into the Juggernaut's 'face.' The Powerclaw tore through the Juggernaut and came out the other side clutching the abombination's spinal cord. Ghazghkull yanked his Powerclaw out of the Flood form, and the Juggernaut collapsed into a pile of rotting flesh. Ghazghkull laughed, the adrenaline pumping through his veins.
The other Warlords charged toward the center hub, their minds filled with only one thought.
Kill anything that isn't big and green.
Grievous shrugged, and reached for his lightsabers. A trio of Carrier Forms leapt from the catwalk above him, attempting to render their prey defenseless against the Infection Forms inside their bodies. Grievous grabbed the first kamikaze Carrier Form by one of it's legs as it fell past the walkway with his left leg's claw. The Carrier Form began swelling, and Grievous knew he only had a few seconds. He hurled the suicidal Carrier Form at the walkway on his left of the central hub, where it detonated in front of the entrance, sending the Flood near it flying down into the abyss-like floor of the room. Flood grenades, Grievous thought, and laughed as he prepared to face the other two Carrier Forms.
The second one missed the walkway entirely, flailing wildly as it plunged toward the floor. The third Carrier Form landed on it's back three feet from Grievous, but it bounced off the walkway from the impact. Grievous selected a pair of green lightsabers, and charged into the fray.
Lovu fired her Carbine at an Ork Combat Form. The round went through the former Ork's left eye, and burst the Infection Form inside the Ork's neck. The sudden internal explosion severed the Ork head, and the Combat Form dropped dead. She began to search for another target.
Suddenly, a Flood Form dropped down from one of the catwalks above the central hub and landed in front of her. Lovu noticed that the 'Flood Form' didn't have any visible sensory appendages. In fact, it was about the same size as Lovu except a few feet taller, and had a methane rebreather exactly like hers. Most astonishing of all, it had an Unggoy's head.
"Lovu
" It said in a voice that had all the likeness of someone who had their vocal cords removed, but Lovu recognized it.
"Holi?" Lovu asked, and Holi nodded. Then Lovu looked up as a more Combat Forms leapt from the catwalks overhead. Holi grabbed Lovu and covered her as a Combat Form landed where she had been standing three seconds before. Lovu was surprised, but then again, finding a lost teammate that was infected by the Flood and regained their freedom didn't happen on a weekly basis.
Holi pulled out a twin-linked Ork Big Shoota from an 'incubation sac' on her back, which was about the same size a standard methane rebreather, and filled the Combat Form with ninety pounds of lead. It was a mighty Jiralhanae Combat Form one moment, and the next it was swiss cheese. Holi set Lovu down, and punched a Juggernaut in it's disgusting 'face,' knocking it off the edge of the central hub.
Lovu got to her feet and blew up a suicide Carrier Form as it fell toward them. The Infection Forms inside the incubation chambers burst from the unexpected detonation of their host body.
Suddenly, Sentinels began teleporting into the control room via their portals. Fifteen Enforcers floated up from underneath the central hub, while Lovu noticed five Enforcers missing from the twenty she had seen in the hallway. The Sentinels began slicing Flood forms to pieces with their Lasers. The Combat Forms began leaping at the Sentinels, while some of the Carrier Forms use kamikaze tactics on the Enforcers, which was basically jumping off a catwalk and hope to land on one of the Enforcers and detonate, which would destroy an Enforcer.
"Do have any short range weapons in you, Holi?" Lovu asked as she destroyed a Sentinel as it emerged from a portal below them. She fired two more rounds into the portal itself, destroying it.
Holi handed Lovu a Shoota, and continued firing at the endless tide of Flood Forms.
The Master Chief gutted a Combat Form with an Energy Sword as it leapt down from one of the many catwalks above the central hub. He switched to his Battle Rifle, and fired a burst into the 'face' of a Juggernaut that seemed to be covered in Lekgolo armor, with a pair of Lekgolo shields on it's two upper arms, while the lower pair carried two Plasma Rifles. The Juggernaut turned and faced him, randomly firing it's Plasma Rifles. The beast charged him, hungry for the kill.
The Master Chief dropped his Battle Rifle and tossed a Plasma grenade on the Juggernaut's face. He ignited his Energy Sword and sliced an arm off of a Human Combat Form and killed it with the Ork Slugga it had been wielding with the skill of a novice.
The fighting continued for two hours, and when every Sentinel and Enforcer was destroyed, the numbers of the Flood began to dwindle. Soon, only two Juggernauts were left of the Flood, not counting the hundreds of Infection Forms. The Ork Warlords were all alive, their bloodlust satisfied. Grievous was standing in the middle of the central hub, his milk-white body covered with bits of Flood entrails.
The UWSC forces, on the other hand, had suffered quite a few losses. The Sangheili who had been on the bridge crew was dead, killed by the detonation of a Carrier Form that had landed on top of the Sangheili. Three of the Unggoy bridge crew were infected by the parasite. Both Humans on bridge crew had been vaporized by the Arch Maniac's Mega Blasta.
The remaining two Juggernauts charged Grievous, who remained where he was, his lightsabers deactivated.When the Juggernauts were two yards away from him, he struck.
He moved so fast that Nugga had trouble keeping track of Grievous' body in the white-green blur of movement. Grievous seemed to be using his lightsabers to fight the Juggernauts. Seconds later, Grievous stopped, and the Juggernauts lay in pieces on the central hub's walkway. Then Grievous turned toward Nugga and the rest of the UWSC forces. Out of the corner of his eye, Nugga saw the largest of the Ork Warlords aim his weapon.
BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM.
Ghazghkull fired a single volley from his Quad Shoota, which was a overkill. Bullets the diameter of Nugga's arm tore through Grievous' body like it was tissue paper. The force of the subsonic impacts knocked Grievous off his feet. The entire left side of his artificial ribcage was torn apart by one of the bullets, destroying his left lung. Another one of the bullets had blown a hole through his 'collarbone,' barely missing his trachea. The other two bullets had hit his left arm, but Grievous had been separating that arm when Ghazghkull fired. His lower left arm lay on the floor two feet away from him, still clutching one of his lightsabers. His upper left arm was missing a hand, which had been obliterated by the last bullet.
"Why-"Grievous wheezed, and a hacking cough erupted from his voice box, followed by blood erupting from his left lung.
"You were too powerhungry," Ghazghkull spat, "You figured you could control the most powerful Ork in the galaxy. Me. Then you expanded your power by gathering the other six Ork Warlords from the corners of the galaxy, and brought them all under your control." At this Ghazghkull spat a second time, and continued. "Then you expect us to follow you just because of you're ludicrous conquests against the UWSC forces. Your tactics lost you Unggo, and when the UWSC abandoned Armaggedon, you were too ignorant to notice that there were planet-killing bombs right under your nose. The planet blew up in your face, and it cost you a substantial portion of your fleet, and an even greater portion of mine. Your species died billions of years ago, and now it is time for you to join them." With that said, Ghazghkull activated the beacon for the Assault Boat to retrieve them.
There was a sound of breaking metal, and the Assault Boat crashed through the ceiling of the control room. The Ork Warlords stepped inside, and as the Assault Boat fired up it's reverse thrusters, Ghazghkull appeared in the airlock again, carrying a looted Covenant Anti-Matter Bomb. He set the timer for five minutes, and tossed it down to the floor of the control room. He shut the airlock door, and the Assault Boat flew away from the Moon.
"Can you teleport us to the Pillar of Autumn II?" The Master Chief asked Cortana.
"Yes," she answered, and teleported the group back to the ship.
Grievous rose from the floor and pulled out his holopad. He activated it, and sent a transmission to the Armaggedon Flame.
"Commander Jango Fett," Grievous said, "Order a retreat of all your forces. The Orks have betrayed us, and the UWSC will not aid you in your plight. Sadly, I cannot join you. You must go on alone. End transmission."
Grievous walked toward the teleportation platform located in the center of the control room. He stopped to pick up his lower left arm and continued onward. He set his destination for Alpha Centauri system, and the Forerunner facility that had given him this body before Halo was activated. He stepped onto the teleportation platform, and was gone in a flash of light.
Gravemind gathered his power and engaged the teleporter. In a burst of light, High Charity disappeared.
Two minutes later, the Droid Army Fleet made a slipspace jump, with the Orks in close pursuit, having gathered it's forces from Earth. Ten seconds later, the Forerunner Moonbase exploded, forming another crater on the Moon.
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