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Halo 3 ODST 2
Posted By: spartan shot<farfrompuken191@cs.com>
Date: 31 October 2009, 12:30 am
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"If this is what I think it is, we have to leave. Now."
Buck looks at Dare.
"Trust me. This is bigger than you know" she says.
Buck is about to speak when a voice comes over the COMM channels.
"Everyone, This is Lord Hood. I'm giving the order to all UNSC personnel to evacuate the area immediately. It is of the utmost importance that everyone within two kilometers of the town of Voi evacuate. And trust me when I say this marines, if it's not human, kill it."
Buck looks at Dare with a very confused look.
"You heard him" she says.
"What the hell is going on?" the pilot asks.
"We have to leave. Now." says Buck.
"Gunny, don't bullshit us. What's happening" says Romeo
"I don't know Romeo. If I did I would tell you" replies Buck.
"So we're leaving then?" asks Mickey.
"Yeah Mick, lets go" replies Buck.
The team moves away from the crash site. Before they get too far the pilot stops them.
"Hold up a sec. I forgot my co-pilot's dog tags" he says.
He then runs back to the crashed Pelican and enters it.
"Hey Rook, what do you think this whole evac's about?" Dutch whispers.
The Rookie shrugs. He has no idea. A scream is heard from the cockpit of the crashed Pelican. The team quickly turns around with their weapons leveled. The pilot is seen trying to run out, but he trips. He is then dragged back in by an unseen enemy. A few seconds later, he is thrown back out and hit's a stone wall, dead.
A Human Flood Combat Form exit's the passenger bay of the dropship and stares at the ODST's.
"What the hell is that?!" Dutch yells.
The combat form charges at them.
"Fire!" Buck orders.
The team opens up on the combat form, but it keeps charging them. The bullets do not even seem to be slowing it down. Thankfully, it drops only a few feet away from the team. It lay on the floor dead, but they keep on shooting it until their mags run dry.
"Reload" says Buck. He then looks at Dare again. "I'm guessing this is why we have to leave?"
Dare nods.
"Well, what is it?" asks Dutch.
Mickey kneels down and examines it. He turns it over to see that it is human, only not.
"The co-pilot?" he asks.
"We've seen them before. They're a parasitic species. They use spore-like creatures to infect larger sentient beings so they can control them in combat. They're called The Flood." says Dare.
"This seems like a pretty big deal. Why weren't we notified earlier?" asks Buck.
"It was classified. We didn't think they would ever reach Earth" says Dare.
Just then, a Flood Infection form crawls out from under the crashed Pelican and towards the pilot's body.
"What the?" asks Dutch.
"I'm guessing that's the spore form?" asks Romeo.
"Don't ask questions, just kill it!" orders Dare.
It was too late. The infection form dug into the pilot's corpse. His dead body twitched lifelessly as the spore dug into his chest and dug its tendrils into his spine. Within seconds, the pilot's skin changed color from tan to a greenish gray. Tentacles lashed out from his right forearm. It then stood up and charged the team. They opened fire and tried to take it down, but failed. It took Mickey in it's grasp and tossed him over to the crashed Pelican.
"Mickey! No!" cried Dutch.
Everyone surrounded the combat form and sprayed it with bullets. Slowly it collapsed. While everyone ceased fire, Buck continued to light it up with his Assault Rifle until his mag ran dry. He reloaded and then looked over to where Mickey lay lifeless. They all ran over.
Dutch knelt next to him and took his pulse.
"He's alive" says Dutch. "Just unconscious."
"Veronica, radio for evac, there's no way we're walking outta here" says Buck.
She didn't ask questions. She just tried to get a signal.
"This is Captain Veronica Dare. I have wounded and need evac from any Pelicans in the area!"
It took a few seconds but eventually someone responded.
"Captain this is Pelican G1991. I read you but am unable to provide evac at this time. I'm currently escorting troops to safe distances. ETA 7 to 8 minutes."
"Roger that pilot, advise you get visual on us before touchdown."
"Acknowledged. Out."
"You heard him, we need to hold off for at least eight minutes" says Dare to Buck.
"OK. We'll put Mickey in the passenger bay. The cockpit's compromised. Shut and barricade the door" says Buck.
As the team puts Mickey in the back of the passenger bay and barricades the door, they hear a shriek from the Flood.
"Gather what ammo you can troopers, this ain't gonna be easy" says Buck.
As the team gathered their ammo, a swarm of infection forms flooded over a large pile of debris and towards the crash site. The team fires upon the wave of spores. They discovered that when one popped, it caused a chain reaction which caused the others to do so.
The Rookie reloaded and awaited the next threat. He sat right behind the crashed Pelican, in front of the passenger bay. He looked to his right towards the Forerunner structure that they had tried to deactivate just minutes ago. Then, he looked left at the destroyed buildings of Voi. In front of him was the pile of debris which the spores had just come over.
"Movement left!" Dutch barked.
The Rookie brought his gun left and watched as several combat forms leapt on the rooftops.
"Wow! They can jump!" says Romeo.
"To the right!" Dare yelled.
Combat forms leapt from the crater in which the Forerunner structure was housed. The team fired at what seemed like an endless wave of Flood.
"Aim for the chest! Kill the spores!" Dare ordered.
"Now you tell us!" yells Buck as he fires.
Eventually, the wave of combat forms ceased. The team reloaded and scavenged whatever ammo they could from the Pelican's stores.
"They take Brutes too?" asks Dutch, noting the Brute combat forms.
"They take whatever creature is suitable for combat" says Dare.
"Watch it, I saw some carrying weapons" says Buck.
The Rookie looked a the countdown on his faceplate. It read three minutes to evac. He then looked to his left and saw several combat forms accompanied by what looked like balloons with legs. He fired on them and they exploded, shooting infection forms in several directions.
"What the hell are those things Captain?!" asks Romeo as he fires.
"Carrier forms, they transport the spores!" replies Dare.
The small Flood force was easily stopped. There were simply not enough in that wave. Ten seconds past before a new contact came into view. Then another. Then ten more. Combat forms were advancing in every direction one at a time. The team fired on whatever got close. On the pile of debris in front of the team, a strange new creature sat atop firing spikes into the passenger bay.
"Take cover!" Buck ordered. "What is that Veronica?!"
"I don't know we've never seen them before!" replies Dare.
Dutch looked to his right and fired at the advancing enemies. While shooting, he noticed a Bubble Shield Generator buried within the wreckage. He took down another combat form before running over to the generator and pulling it from beneath the rocks. He then ran under the tail section of the crashed Pelican and dug the blades of the generator into the ground, activating it.
The shield completely covered the entrance to the passenger bay. The team then stuck the muzzles of their weapons out of the shield and fired, allowing them to still defend themselves. The ranged Flood continued to fire, but it's spikes bounced off the shield.
"Ha! Let's see you get through that you ugly bastard" yells Dutch.
The ranged form then ceased fire and curled it's upper section down into it's lower. It grew legs and it's overall appearance changed greatly. It was now crawling to the left of the team's position.
"Oh, Lord, tell me you're not serious" says Dutch.
The new "Stalker form" then began to shake. It inflated into a tall solid mass which closely resembled a hunter. On it's right arm, it grew a curved blade. It then lumbered over to the shield.
"Yeah, you're serious" says Dutch. "Luckily, so am I!"
Dutch then withdrew his Spartan Laser and charged it. At the last second, he stepped out from the shield and fired. The laser beam knocked the new Tank form on it's back, dead.
The Rookie then looked at his mission timer. It read ten seconds. The Pelican was no where in sight though. The Bubble shield then went dead. After thirty seconds of fighting, bullets are shot from the sky. The Pelican had arrived.
"Sorry I'm late ladies" says the pilot.
"Just shut up and get us outta here!" yells Romeo.
The Pelican lowers to the left of the crash site where the dead Tank form lay. Dutch pulls Mickey from his seat and throws him over his shoulder. He then ran from the crash site and jumped into the Pelican before anyone else. Then one by one the rest of the team boarded. The Pelican lifted off and left behind a mob of combat forms.
"Glad that's over" says Romeo.
"How's Mickey?" asks Buck.
Dutch was sitting next to Mickey's unconscious body. He grabs his wrist and takes a pulse.
"He'll be fine."
"Good."
The Pelican flies over the wrecked buildings of Voi. A Flood Brute combat form on a roof was holding a missile pod. Upon seeing the dropship, it fired. The missile struck the nose of the Pelican and caused it to loose altitude. Upon the missile's impact, Buck yelled,
"OH, NOT AGAIN!"
The Pelican skidded along the rooftops on it's belly before falling into a small plaza. It crashed nose first into the ground and continued to skid along the street before crashing into a building.
"That's it I'm not flying anymore! I'd rather run outta this hell hole!" says Romeo as he lay on the floor of the passenger bay.
"Amen" says Dutch.
Mickey awakens and shakes his head. He is laying on the seats and is the only one not on the floor.
"What the hell happened" he asks.
"Mickey!" says Dutch sounding disoriented.
Buck gets up, takes off his helmet, and looks at the team. Except for Mickey, they are all on the floor of the passenger bay holding some injured body part.
"Status?" he asks.
"Alive" says Romeo.
Dutch is on his back in front of the door to the cockpit. He slides it open and looks upon the corpses of the pilots.
"Pilots are gone" he says.
"Dam" say Buck. "Veronica?"
Dare sits up against the seats and gives a nod.
"Good" she says.
A strange voice comes over the COMM channels. The beginning of the message is garbled by static but the rest is clear.
"This is the Carrier Shadow of Intent! Clear this sector while we deal with the Flood."
"What?" says Buck.
Just then, three Covenant pods land on the far side of the plaza. Three Elites burst from them. Two are wearing standard blue armor and one is wearing golden Zealot armor.
"You alien bastards. Die!" says Buck as he tries to fire his rifle.
He is out of ammo. Buck tosses the rifle and withdraws his knife. He holds it with the blade facing down. He then charges them.
"Buck! No!" says Dare as she tries to get up but is halted by a wound on her leg.
The two Elites in blue armor aim their weapons. The Zealot, however motions for them to lower them and withdraws his Energy Sword. He then charges.
As the two warriors near each other, Buck raises his knife and lets out a war cry. He had killed a Brute Chieftan with this knife, now he would have it's Elite counterpart.But just as they get close to each other and Buck tries to drive his blade into the Elite's neck, the alien grabs his wrist and tosses him aside. It then slashes a Flood combat form that had been sneaking up on Buck.
Buck watches this with shock and awe.
"No….." he says he says with great surprise.
"That's what I tried to tell you Buck! They're on our side now!" yells Dare from across the plaza.
The Elite Zealot shuts off his sword, reaches towards Buck, and offers to help him up.
"I am Cordo Kemdadlem" says the Elite.
Buck then takes his hand and Cordo pulls him up.
"And we've come to help you" he finishes.
Romeo emerges from the passenger bay of the crashed Pelican with his sniper leveled. In his scope, he sees Cordo's head.
"Gunny, I have a clear shot" he says.
Buck looks at him.
"Stand down Romeo!" he yells as he runs into the marine's view.
"You sure Gunny?" says Romeo as he lowers his rifle.
Cordo then kneels down and picks up Buck's combat knife. He get's back up and says,
"You may not trust me human. For this I do not blame you" he says as he offers to return the knife. "But to the Flood, we are all equal prey. You will need us if you wish to leave this quarantine zone alive."
Buck carefully accepts his knife and sheaths it.
"Agreed" he says.
The two Elites that Cordo landed with fall in behind their leader. The ODST's limp their way out of the crashed Pelican and get behind Buck. Dare steps to Buck's side and sizes up the Elites. They tower about a full foot over the humans over the humans.
"Not that I'm not grateful, but why have you come here?" asks Dare.
Cordo Kemdadlem looks at Dare and says,
"High Charity, our Holy City, was taken by the Flood. It now serves as one of their hives. We would've saved the city, but the Jiralhanae filth impeded our progress."
"Jiralhanae?" Mickey whispered to Dare.
"It's what they call Brutes in their language" replied Dare.
"Our fleet tried to quarantine the parasite, but the final ship got past us. Our remaining ten ships follow the infected vessel. Fate brought it here" says Cordo.
"We can discuss history later" says Buck as he accepts his helmet from the Rookie and puts it on. "Right now, I think we better leave before more Flood show up."
"Of course" says Cordo as he readies his Carbine Rifle.
The team of ODST's and Elites leave the plaza. They move through the buildings and take down small groups of Flood within. Upon exiting into the street, they find a group of marines desperately defending against the parasite.
"Let's give'em a hand!" yells Buck.
The team rushes to the aid of the marines. There are eight scattered about the street fighting for their lives. The team quickly eliminates the Flood threat.
"Whose your highest ranking officer?" Dare asked.
A man approached with a shotgun.
"M'am!" he says as he stands at attention.
"State your name" says Buck.
"Corporal Staten sir! We've tried to get an evac bird in here but they said there's not enough room with all these buildings. We were on our way out of the city when those mutant zombie things hit. We thought we were done for until you and your….." the soldier stares at the Elites, "friends showed up."
"Well then we'll join you. What's the quickest route out of this town?" asks Buck.
"Well the quickest route is past that traffic gate, but it's jammed and those mutants have been crawling over the wall. But the safest way out is back through these alleyways" says Staten as he points down a thin dark alley. "On the other side, about a few blocks down, is a Coyote APC that we used as an entry vehicle on our last op. The road connects with the Tsavo Highway. Or at least what's left of it. That's where we were headed when we were ambushed."
"Then we'll follow you. Lead the way marines!" says Buck.
The marines led the team down the alleyways. They made their way across several streets. There, they encountered small groups of Flood. After running down a few blocks they reached the Coyote.
"There it is Sergeant. Doesn't look like it's been touched" says Staten.
"Roger Corporal. Mickey take the wheel!" says Buck.
"On it Gunny!" says Mickey.
Mickey runs up the ramp and enters the Coyote. He moves to the front of the vehicle, sits in the driver's seat, spins around to face the controls, and starts the engine. Once all the marines, ODST's, and Elites are in the vehicle, the ramp door lifts. Just as this happens, infection forms try to enter the APC but the marines shoot out the door before it closes, killing them. Mickey then peels out from the parked position and drives away.
(Author's note: The Coyote APC is my own creation. It is completely non-canon by the Halo universe. But at this point in the game, the player will make the switch from the Rookie to Mickey and take control of the new vehicle. The Coyote has the capacity to carry twenty passengers, one driver, and one gunner. The forward wheels would control steering. The four back wheels would provide power. The forward of the back wheels would be the same size as the front. The most backward wheels would have twice the diameter of the first two sets. In front of the driver's area is a solid Titanium-A plow that would crush anything. Next to the driver's area are small GAUSS cannons on both sides that can soften a wall before crashing through it or simply blow up an enemy. Just under these cannons are the headlights. Topside, just behind the driver's area is a hatch that gives access to an external .50 cal cannon. The back door drops like a ramp to allow troopers inside. This vehicle is resilient enough to take a dead on hit from a Wraith before being destroyed.)
Mickey fires the twin GAUSS cannons and softens the brick wall he is driving toward. Using the plow, he breaks through the wall and comes out the other side. The Coyote runs over several infection forms and clears a path in the street.
"Sarge! Can I get someone on the fifty?" Mickey yells back to Buck.
"Negative Mickey. We don't want any of those spores getting in here!" replies Buck.
They continue through the streets, crushing whatever Flood get in their way and picking up stray marines. Shortly after they take control of the vehicle, they exit Voi and get on the ruined Tsavo Highway. Cordo makes contact with a Phantom about ten minutes after they get on the highway.
"We need escort from the infected area. My brothers have a Phantom in the skies above us and will take us to a safe distance so the Shipmaster can complete the quarantine,"
"OK. You heard him Mickey!" says Buck. "Head across the canyon. Then we'll board the Phantom."
"Affirmative!" says Mickey.
They continue towards the pickup area only to find that the bridge across the canyon has been destroyed.
"Dam!" Mickey yells at seeing the destroyed bridge. "We can't go any further Gunny."
"Shit!" replies Buck. "Cordo, can your friends pick us up here?"
"They will have to" replies Cordo.
The team exits the Coyote and forms a perimeter around it.
"Brothers! We need immediate retrieval from our location. Make haste!" says Cordo to the pilots.
"We will move at best speed!" says the pilot.
Buck and Cordo look at each other. They then hear the shriek of the Flood. Combat and Infection forms rush down the road and leap on the highway from the canyon below.
"Take'em Down!" Buck yells.
Cordo withdraws his Energy Sword and awaits the parasitic wave. The other Elites and all the humans begin firing. Mickey is still in the Coyote, firing the top mounted .50 cal cannon. Just as the first combat form falls to the fire of the weapons of the humans and Elites, the Phantom appears in the sky. It sprays the Flood with its plasma cannons. One by one, they all fly up the gravity lift. Starting with the humans and ending with the Elites. Mickey was the last to board. He stayed on in the gunner seat of the Coyote until the grav lift pulled him out. They Phantom then flies out towards the carrier. The soldiers watch as the other ships glassed the surface of the planet.
"What the hell!? Why are they glassing it!?" Corporal Staten shouts.
"They're making sure no Flood survive" replies Dare.
"Let us hope the parasite does not breach quarantine" says Cordo.
The Phantom flies away as the cruisers glass the earth below.
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