- Rare_Spartan
- |
- Exalted Legendary Member
Well, here it is, people; the final chapter of Part 1. I'm glad that all of you took the time and patience to read through all o' these. Thanks for readin', and I hope that all of you continue to read these as I continue into Part 2 later this year.
: )
Chapter 24: Time to Skedaddle
After leaving not only 'Latume behind, but Moshpit as well, the squad continued their path down the ship's ruined corridors. As the troops moved onward, they finally reached what looked like a dead end. Infront of them stood a busted blast-door.
"Argh, there's no way through." the Grunt sargeant sighed.
"Wait, Unggoy. I have an idea.", 'Masta said, as the silver-clad Elite stuck his head through the small space in the middle of the door. Just as he was about to peform his next act however, an flood-infected Elite appeared just infront of him. 'Masta moved his head backward, as the door began to open even wider.
"What the hell was that?", Fisca exclaimed.
The blast-door opened, and have a dozen of flood infection and combat forms alike began pouring through the entryway.
"Stand back!", 'Rtay said, as the Sangheili drew his energy sword, slicing through every last one of the monstrosities.
"Ooh, nice one.", Silco said, giving 'Rtay a wink. The squad then continued onward, stepping over the corpses of both Elites and Humans. Approximately six minutes later, the troops entered a suprisingly silver-coated hallway. What wasn't too suprising, however, were the number of dead Covenant soldiers lying on the floor. Sitting right next to Pillow were two dead Lekgolo (Hunters).
"Whoever performed this act should be somewhere down that corridor.", 'Rtay said, pointing towards the entryway near the far left side of the room.
"How can ya tell?", the Grunt sargeant asked, "Can you smell 'im out or somethin'?"
"No.", 'Rtay replied, "There are foot prints just next to the corpse."
"Oh.", the Grunt sargeant said, now feeling a little embarrassed. The crew followed the orange-colored foot prints until they reached yet another blast door. Thankfully, this one was in perfect condition; the six of them head through, entering one of the Autumn's largest chambers. Alarms were chattering above their heads, due to the high temperatures.
"Man, is it hot in here or what?", Pillow asked rhetorically, as a large rectangle above them began to slide out of the wall, revealing a filterlike opening. Pillow moved several feet to the side, looked back up, and saw the demon himself doing his dirty work.
"Guys, look!", Pillow exclaimed. The Master Chief took hold of a fragmentation grenade, tossed it into the opening, and caused a large amount of debris to spew outward. The ceiling above them all began to crumble.
"Damn, we're too late! He's already tryin' to set off the bomb.", the Grunt sargeant said frustratingly.
"And that is why we cannot remain here any longer. Quickly, we must find a vessel that will help us escape!", 'Masta exclaimed.
"And how do y'all expect us to find one?", the Grunt sargeant asked, his temper boiling.
"Well," 'Rtay said, "during the battle above the ring, I remember visiting the launch bay near the upper end of the ship. If we could just simply find a service lift to guide us there, we may have a chance of survival. Follow me!"
Three minutes later, the squad entered a small chamber, with the heat beginning to increase. They each moved forward, and entered the elevator. A few moments later, the blast-doors infront of them closed tightly, and the elevator took off. Thirty seconds later, the elevator stopped, and the passageway infront of them led to a group of warthogs, with six parked on the ends of each side of the corridor.
"You go on, Unggoy. 'Masta and I shall remain here.", 'Rtay said, as the four Grunts stepped out of the service lift.
"What? Yer stayin' here?", the Grunt sargeant asked.
"Incase the demon tries to make his way up here, we'll buy you some time. You haven't much time now. Move!"
"Thank you.", the Grunt sargeant said softly, as the service lift headed downward. As the lift descended, he heard the words, "Good luck.", coming from the two silver-clad Elites.
"Well, nice knowin' them. They're gonna get their asses chewed up.", Silco said.
"Put a sock in it, soldier. Now, we just need to find somethin' that'll get us to the launch bay in time.", the Grunt sargeant said.
"How about that?", Pillow asked, pointing toward the Warthog parked left of the Grunt sargeant.
"But there's only three seats.", Fisca said, "We can't fit all four of us in there."
"Nonsense.", the Grunt sargeant corrected, "Fisca, you'll sit next ter me. Pillow, you sit on Fisca's lap."
"Ah, son of a-"
"And Silco, you'll take that gun turret.", the sargeanted interupted Fisca. Eventually, all of them were seated, and the jeep took off, mowing down legions of Flood strolling the highway. With not even time to describe all of the details of their drive, I'll just break it down into these two elements: a restroom break and one broken needler.
Finally, after nearly ten minutes of driving, the squad finally reached their destination, with only three minutes to spare. The Grunts leaped out of the Warthog, running as fast as they could down a long, Flood-infested passageway. With Elites being thrashed together and Jackles being used as chew-toys, there was little time for the Flood to attack the Grunt sargeant and his men. The troops made it to the end of the passageway, and climbed up the steep ramp leading into the black-coated, crowlike UNSC Longsword. Once each of them entered the ship, Pillow threw himself into the pilot's seat, trying to understand the controls.
"Hurry up, Pillow! We need ter get out of here, now!", the Grunt sargeant barked.
"OK, ok. Just hold on a sec.", Pillow said, with sweat running down his face, "Got it."
With only one minute left, the engines of the Longsword roared, and the ship took off, leaving the Autumn behind. Fifty seconds later, the ship was out of the Halo's atmosphere, and now rested on the space of Threshhold.
The Master Chief's Warthog rumbled down the streetlike pavement of the Autumn, until he received a message from Cortana.
"Chief! The ship! It's gone!", Cortana cried.
"What? What do you-"
"The longsword! It's gone. We were too late...."
The Master Chief stopped the Warthog, looked from side to side, then placed his head on the steering wheel.
"Oh, son of a bit-"
Exactly one second later, the Pillar of Autumn began to burst into a one, orange flower of fire and debris. Afterward, one large chunk of the ring chipped off, colliding into another section of the ring. Halo was destroyed.
The Grunts looked through the window on the bridge of the Longsword, watching the ring fall apart. As they watched this, they remembered each of the Covenant troops that gave their lives during those last few days: 'Latume, Moshpit, 'Rtay and 'Masta, and even Hackle, whom they've known for years, were gone. Once they got that out of their heads, however, Pillow turned toward the Grunt sargeant and asked, "So, how are we gonna get home?"
End of Part One
[Edited on 05.26.2007 4:48 PM PDT]