Chapter 8 NAME "Shit Happens" Part 4

(Dormii)
-I ducked under the swing of an arm and cut it off at the shoulder of the offending form. I shot it in the chest, breaking the infection form. I kicked the body back into two others and sliced another one in half, vertically. I split my legs, dropping under a shot from a form with a rifle. I fired my own shots at it and burned into several pieces. I rolled and picked up it's rifled, discarding my own. I turned, swinging my arm as another form ran at me. I heard an infection form jump at me, and I jumped into the air, causing the form to sail harmlessly under me. I landed on yet another combat form, which I promptly sliced vertically and jumped off, onto another one-

Such like old times...

"What did I just say?"

(Jason)
=we grew closer to the ground, our transport passing over monsters, and the corpses of monsters. We set down briefly, near the base of the Gravemind. We got off the transport, guns blazing. Two member, one for each team, had the Forerunner equivalent of a Plasma Launcher. Blue spheres of light, nearly 16 of them, covered the Flood when they fired, and they detonated soon after. Our weapons kept them back, but I activated my shield and sword. These things liked to rush, so I felt, what the hell? They want it? Let them try and take it. I screamed, an incoherent cry of defiance and rage, that these things came to my home. I charged forward, slicing through dozens of them with my blade, and pushing more back with my shield. Once or twice, I'd disable the blade, and pull out my gun, firing shots off at the combat forms as they came at me. Blue and Orange Team managed to keep pace with me, none of them losing a single man. As we drew closer to the Gravemind, I felt its presence press against my mind=

*Gravemind*
You are insects before me. Give up now, and surrender to peace.

(Jason)
=In answer, I fired another shot with my pistol, right into its face. It reeled back, stung by the shot, and a roar of incandescent rage sounded from its gaping maw. It swung a tentacle downwards, attempting to squash us. The tentacle was thin though, like a whip. I sidestepped the swing, and swung my arm, the blade coming to life in a flash, and chopped off the tentacle=

(Dormii)
-The roar stumbled me for a moment, but I righted myself quickly-

What the fuck was that?

"Shut up and fight."

-ducked and jumped backwards, using my hands to propel me a little ways farther. I lunged forward, firing the rifle. I impaled it in one form, and then jammed the trigger down so it kept firing. I kicked it away into the masses, where it caused more and more damage. I sliced to the left and to the right, cutting down more combat forms. I let out a yell of joy and rage and caught an infection form, popping it a moment later just by squeezing. I turned the motion into a slice into a nearby combat form. I drew the blade back and sliced the other way. I rabbit punched it in the chest until it caved in and promptly died again. I turned and started onto another form-

(Jason)
=I jumped from the fallen limb, only to feel something wrap around my ankle. I looked down, and saw another tendril, this one thinner, wrap tightly around my ankle, and I was lifted into the air. The Gravemind screamed as I rose=

*Gravemind*
Insolent little ant! You dare defy your betters?
=it opened it's maw wide, and swung me towards it. I swung my arm again, blade still activated, and chopped off the limb holding me. In retrospect, not my best move. While cutting off the tentacle may have moved me off target, I was still falling towards the things mouth. Well, one of the parts of it's mouth anyway--the thing had a mouth that looked like a sick, nightmarish flower, all petals and such. In a desperate move, I swung my arm blad again, and dug it into the side of it's gaping mouth. It screamed again, its head arching towards the sky, a bellow of fury and pain leaving it's vast throat=

=has the troph enter haven and hover above firing at the flood in the back cutting them off before having him and syaa heads to the ground and begin attacking=


zeru impact mode full force

syaa this should be fun


=they both activate impact mode and slam right into the flood masses tearing their way to dormi's postion=

(Jason)
=As I hung there on the Graveminds' mandible, I peered down into its throat. It was a vast, dark thing, and I swear, the wherever the light shone down there, I saw faces of people this thing had taken. An idea hit me then. I reached for the grenades I had on my belt, and with one hand, primed and tossed them down, quite literally, into the belly of the beast. Four seconds later, I saw explosions in that darkness, and fire shot out of the bowels of the Gravemind, with nowhere to go but up. It was actually impressive, because the thing let out another scream of pain, greater than last, and combined with the plume of fire shooting out of its mouth, it looked like a dragon from age's long gone, And when that thought hit me, the irony was not lost: A Dragon's Tooth, slaying a Dragon=

*Gravemind*
Fool! I will kill you!
=it swung its head down, and it shook me loose, sending me flying towards the ground. I activated my shield, and it absorbed much of the impact, but it still hurt. I rolled as I landed, my shield deactivating after the initial hit. I got up, and saw the Gravemind move towards me=

I will crush you!
=it swung another tentacle at me. I dodged, and sliced it again=

(Fatet)

= I run out of the med-bay, my damaged helmet on my head, SMGs in my hands. I was still hurt but as my decision was to be less of a heartless bastard, I kept going.

As I left Gamma base I saw my first flood.=

What the fuck is that?

=I opened fire on the combat form and felt something near my foot.
An Infection form scrambled up my leg, causing me to drop my SMGs in panic. As it neared my chest I regained my wits just in time. As it prepared to burrow into me I drew my magnum and popped the little bastard before finishing the combat form.=

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

=I examine the combat form=

Is that a human? What happened to them?

=I hear more fighting and take off towards it, picking up the fallen SMGs as I go.=

(Dormii)
-I caved in a combat form's "skull" with the rifle and sliced the legs off in one fluid motion. It promptly died. I turned and impaled two more form on my blade. I sliced upwards leaving a large gash in them and even flinging the one closer to me up in the air a bit before falling back down and further splitting open. A small cloud of infection form leapt at me, and I simply fired one round into them, causing them all to pop. I heard a rifle being raised behind me, and I jumped over the nearest combat form in front of me, just as the one behind me fired, causing it to burn it's "ally." I returned fire with the rifle, dropping it-

(Random Post. Probably Contains nothing to do with anyone else.)

(Rover)

=The sky... The sky was an... Unusualy dark, 'purpely' colour. (However you spell it...) The sun was just beggining to slowly break through the clouds. Most animals were sleeping. Sleeping, in their warm, cosy caves, away from all the hectics of Human life. Yeah. Anima life sounded really great. A group of small birds, flying in an Arrowhead shape, flew overby, heading towards... Somewhere. Flying free. But nowhere was ever safe from Human life. This peaceful planet, had been 'invaded' by one of the most, shall we say, 'evil merchants' you'd ever have the bad luck to meet. Even shittier luck if you owed him money. I'd hardly call Mr. Yuliank a merchant though. Well, unless you counted selling illegal drugs, guns, and slaves as being a merchant. Yes. Slaves. You'd think that Humanity would be way past that stage by now. Things never change, I guess. I started walking again, following the small stream in an North Easterly direction. I was heading toward Mr. Yuliank's 'camp'. To... To put it nicely, free his slaves. And maybe spill some blood in the process. Tiny dart fish 'darted' down the stream, all heading in the same direction I suspose. The stream would lead to... A lake? River? Wherever it led, I would find the water pipes leading toward's Yuliank's camp. And well, 'removing' the pipes would all be helping nature in the end, right? And any person worth there salt has to atleast have some respect for nature.=

(Dormii)
-I swung my arm back and forth, cutting through limbs and bodies alike. While the my newly acquired rifle fired constantly as I was surrounded by flood forms. I stabbed the rifle through yet another form, and fired, burning a large hole in through it's back as it swung an arm at me, one of the few to actually get that chance. I blocked it and cut it off with my arm. I smashed my face its "head", caving it in and rendering the body useless. I ripped, quite brutally, the rifle through the side of the form, further rendering it useless. I turned and burned a long line through yet another form. I stabbed an infection form out of the air, and used the momentum to impale another form, quickly cutting it vertically so not to waste any time. I turned fired full auto into the mass of forms, dropping dozens. I ran forward, firing again, as a few forms with rifles opened up on me. I slide under the shots and cut their legs off, stabbing my rifle into another form and jamming the trigger. I picked up one of the fallen rifles, this time an SMG and continued to fight-

(Andrea)

Wake up Jeremy! Wake the fuck up! Something bad is happening!

(Jeremy)

Wha..? Huh? What's going on?

=I try to look at the window, but my armor was locked=

Could you please unlock my armor? I can't see a damn thing!

(Andrea)

Hurry, get up and see what's going on!

=I unlock his armor=

(Jeremy)

=I got up, it was a rude awakening though, to hear people screaming=

What the hell?

=I knock on the door to find out what was going on=

Uh, what the hell is going on out there?

=they arrive at dormi's postion=


zeruhaving fun i take it?

syaa i know i am

(Fatet)

= I sprint through gamma base,it is far from deserted though. I am forced to gun down alot of flood before I take a combats tentacled hand across my chest, before a swarm of infection forms scurry towards me as I lie on the ground struggling to breathe.=

sonofabitch! Guess this is it...

=A hale of blue energy erupts from the right, killing the infection forms before they infect me.=

"Where was the worst hit?"

soldier: "The capital, Osea.

Fatet: "How can I get there?@

= He sighs =
"You need teleporting if you wanna get there soon."

Fatet: "Shit, I guess Im stuck here then..."

=The Gravemind didn't swing another tentacle this time. It pointed four tentacles holding the Sentinel beams, and fired=

(Jason)
=I saw the beams fire, and I raised my shield in time to take three of the blasts, but the fourth shot hit the ground at my feet. The ground detonated, and I was thrown backward, sprawled on the ground=

(Dormii)
-I didn't have time to look at Zeru and Syaa-
Stay back, and don't get in my way.

-I didn't even try to hide the fact that I was not their Dormii. I just continued on with my fight with gleeful abandon. I turned and all but lit a combat form on fire with shots from the SMG. It went down a charred mess, so I think it worked. I swept the legs out from under another form, popping a score of infection forms along the way, and cut it in half while it was still falling, I then shot it's dead corpse with the SMG, just to drive my point home-

whatever you say


=him and syaa starts using combo strikes to cut down scores of flood before tosses several grenades into the crowd blowing flood to bits=

*Gravemind*
And so it ends.
=The Gravemind sent down another tentacle, as thick as a tree=

(Jason)
=I saw the blow come down, and I rolled, the tentacle barely hitting me. I got back up, and despite every damn warning in my head, I jumped onto the tentacle, and sunk my blade into it=


*Gravemind*
Why do you prolong the inevitable?
=it lifted the tentacle again, and swung it up towards the sky, turning it as it went up, angling Jason downwards=

(Fatet)

=I sit in the dirt and remove my helmet. I take a long drink from my water can and vomit.
I shake my head and realize I cant breathe.=

What the hell?
Whats happening?

=I struggle to get my helmet back on, seeing the small spores in the air.=

zeru so if your not domri then who are you


=syaa had gone off in the distance and had started slaughtering any unlucky flood in her way=

(Dormii)
-I opened up on yet another form, dropping it backwards. As it fell, I used it as a springboard to slice the next form in two. A whip-like tentacle hit me and sent me flying. It didn't break anything, gratefully, but it hurt like a bitch and sent me back a few feet. I rolled with it and landed on my feet just in time to see the same flood form jumping at me. I rolled away and cut it in two while shooting it as I rose. I turned and ran at the rest of the Flood forms. I sidestepped another tentacle and drive my blade into its chest in response, breaking the infection form inside it. I ripped the blade sideways and greenish blood flew in an arc, mirroring the ones I created earlier. I used the momentum to bludgeon another form to death with the SMG before turning on the other ones and cutting them down-

I am Dormii.

(Jason)
Oh crap.
=I cut deeper into the tentacle, digging through it. I came out the other side right as it came crashing down to the ground, the side I had been in impacting the ground. When I got my footing, I ran up the tentacle. Hey, it seemed like a good idea, and lets face it, would have been cool as hell to look at=

*Gravemind*
Do not presume you can defeat me.

(Jason)
=I got to the base of the tentacle, and jumped off it, onto the Graveminds main body. I lowered my shield, and activated both energy blades, slicing my way into the Gravemind. It screamed=

(Dormii)
So?

-I impaled yet another flood form, and burned off its arms before kicking it off and away from me. A combat form flung a few infection forms at me, and I shot them all out of the air, running forward. I reached the offending combat form and promptly cut it's limbs off before stomping on the infection form in its chest. I turned, dropping to one knee before firing again on another form. A carrier form waddled forwards, probably the first one that I've seen, and I jumped backwards before shooting it, causing it to explode, sending a dozen or so combat forms through the air-

(Dormii)
Guess again.

-I continued on my rampage, cutting through another two combat forms in one swing-

(Jason)
=it must have been several minutes of cutting, before I reached what could only be called the center of the Gravemind. And it was a nightmare: turns out, that nearly all the bodies the Flood take, combine into the Gravemind. I saw arms and legs sticking out of places, faces with vacant expressions, and even whole torsos. They all moved, and I felt as if I was moving through the bowels of Hell itself. Some of the faces even came alive, and screamed at me=

*Gravemind*
You are within me, Forerunner. You stand at the center of my power.

(Jason)
Oh do you ever shut up?
=I whipped out my pistol, and began firing off shots, the energy bolts the size of armored fists=

(Dormii)
What makes you think anything happened to him?

-I stabbed another form, this time several times, before shooting it. I turned, ducked under an infection form, and then sliced another combat form. I jammed the trigger of the SMG and threw it into the larger masses, so it would devastate others. I picked up another weapon, this one a pistol, before turning and continuing the fight-

=Without warning, the walls began to boil and writhe, forms moving beneath. Combat forms and Pure forms, Tanks, clawed their way out of the wall. They dropped to the ground, and slowly approached Jason=

*Gravemind*
You cannot hope to win.

(Jason)
Bring it.
=I activated the blade on my left arm, and raised my pistol in the right, and fired off a shot at the nearest Flood. It set them all off, and dozens of them charged at me. The first one, a bulky Pure form, swiped an arm down at me, and I raised my blade, slicing off the arm, and finished it with a shot from the pistol in the face. Two Combat forms came at my side, and I stabbed one in the chest with the blade, while I jumped up, blade still in the chest, and kicked the other one away with both legs. I landed, and swiped the blade across, cutting the thing in half. More came, and I spun in a circle, almost a dance, pistol holstered, and both blades out. I cut through them all, a whirling form of blueish blades. Another Tank appeared, both arms raised for a shattering blow. I raised both my arms as well, the blades cutting off both arms at the shoulders. i sidestepped just before another Tank charged into it, a failed ambush

(Dormii)
That has nothing to do with this.

-It was a lie, and I knew it, but he didn't-

Nothing in our deal about telling the truth, now was there?

"Just shut up and fight."

Hehehe...

-I continued fighting, stabbing, shooting. It all turned into one big blur-

=picks up a fallen pair of weapons of a haven soldier combat form and starts firing at the flood=

=they're running out of combat forms=

(Jason)
=they just kept coming, wave after wave. I punched, kicked, sliced, and shot, but they still came at me. I noticed I still had five grenades on my belt=
There's an idea.

=I spun in another circle, blades extended, slicing more of them in half. It gave me some breathing room, for what I had in mind. I stripped the belt off me, and primed all the grenades, and threw them away, back towards what must have been the center. Then, I raised my shield again, and ducked. Those were Forerunner grenades, and they packed a huge amount of force. Bright, blue white light, filled the space in there, and fire and force surged through, going into every empty space, and burning through the center of the Gravemind. Whatever scream it gave off before, was a whisper compared to the sound it let out. It sounded like thunder from a hundred storms, and a million voices cried out in pain=

(Dormii)
-I was knocked over by the force of...something. I couldn't describe it, but it was very real. I righted myself and continued the fighting-

BRING IT YOU FUCKING FREAKS! DIE LIKE ALL THE REST!

(Jason)
=I stood up once the explosion ended, my shield still up, bits of burning flesh clinging to my armor. I saw the sky, and Haven's sun, through a massive, gaping hole above me. Charred corpses littered the ground around me, some of them still twitching. I walked, slowly, out of burning corpse of the Gravemind, and into the field of battle still being waged=


=Blue and Orange Team miraculously managed to hold out against the Flood. They were able to take a superior position, and only lost one man. They kept firing into the Flood, assault rifles firing bursts of plasma=

=Xazhi had taken off in the Eirav Wing, and jumped back to the Obsidian Wolf=

(Dormii)
-I continued fighting, creating a swath of destruction around me-
DIE! DIE! DIIIIEEEEEE!

-I smiled as the bodies, broken and burned, piled around me. I laughed in glee as the destruction rained down around me-
Just like old times...

=the troph moves over the area destroying countless flood=

when was the last time we were able to go all out?

=With the Gravemind dead, the Flood lost their coordination. What was once a deadly army, became wild animals, feral. No tactics, no group effort. Sentinels continued to swarm around the Flood, containing them, while the Silver Hawk continued to fire it's weapons=

(Jason)
=I commed Blue and Orange Team=
Blue Team, Orange Team. You guys still alive?

*Blue & Orange Teams*
Affirmative sir.

(Jason)
=I tagged their location, and began to make my way there, firing off shots from my gun, and slicing Flood with my blade=
Shepard to Silver Hawk, maintain fire on the edge's of the Flood swarm. Push them tighter together, then hit them with the plasma beams.

(Dormii)
How the fuck should I know?

-I started laughing again-

(Dormii)
I ho estly couldn't give anything resembling the distant genetic cousin of a fuck what you do.

=What was once a battle, became something akin to pest control. Sentinels worked with fighters to bombard the edges of the Flood army, pushing them back, containing them. The Silver Hawk fired more of it's point defense turrets, leaving small craters in the ground=

(Jason)
=I broke into a run, intent on reaching my men's position. Flood of all forms came at me, and I ended up abandoning my gun, and going back to the energy blades. I cut a swath through them all, and within minutes, I reached my troops, a trail of carnage behind me=
Status report!

*Blue Leader*
Sir, we lost one of our guys, but so far, we've managed to hold them off here. They lost coordination right when that big one blew up.

(Jason)
Understood. We stay here, while I radio for transport out of the hell hole.
=I heard a noise, turned, and saw several Tank forms moving towards us=

Crap.

(Dormii)
Speak for yourself, kid. What are you, twelve?

-I continued stabbing and slashing-

(Jason)
=I ran at the Tank forms, arm blades extended and out, and I cut them down, while my men fired into them, their weapons accurate as hell=
Shepard to Silver Hawk, we need transport, now!

*Bridge*
Understood sir. Sending transport now.

=a transport shuttle launched from the hangar, and descended down to Jason's beacon. It came down over their position, a cloud of dust forming from the thrusters=

(Jason)
Everyone, pile on! Let's move. Go go go!
=we all climbed aboard the transport, and it took off. I sent out another comm, before we got too high=

This is Jason Shepard. Is there anyone else down there? We have safe transport!

(Dormii)
Or, and I think this is a better idea, you simply shut that hole on your face you call a mouth and simply stop making noise. That work, kid?

(Jason)
I repeat, I have transport out of this hell hole. Anyone still alive and uninfected, speak now, or get set to become glass!