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Chapter Eight

The swirling vortex of white stars and grey planets that surrounded Colin Thompson came to a stop. A flash of white light blinded the Sergeant, until he couldn't see anything at all. However, when it cleared, he was no longer floating through the recesses of space. He was standing in the jungle. What planet he stood on, he did not know, but the group of humans approaching Colin from the darkness were familiar. The four members of Shadow Ops I materialized out of the darkness of the jungle and surrounded Colin, staring down at him. They wore old combat uniforms that were covered in bullet holes and burnt marks. Yet, there faces remained normal and shined with an odd bright light. This light was not best suited for them, since the four of them were glaring at Colin. Corporal Daniel Clarkson, First Sergeant Paul Howe, Master Sergeant Jonathan Henderson and Lieutenant Alan Pearson; these four men now stood before Colin, silent and shrouded in darkness. Time seemed to speed by and yet they still remained standing around the sniper, their eyes penetrating his soul. Suddenly, Clarkson, Howe and Henderson disappeared in a wave of heat and flame. Alan Pearson remained however. The Lieutenant began to approach Colin, his hooded eyes glowering at him. Thompson turned and attempted to run away. Although he pumped his legs up and down continuously, he progressed nowhere and remained rooted to the spot. The jungle began to disappear around him as Pearson continued to advance on him. Colin turned around and was blinded once again by a flash of light. He stood running and squinted, trying to make out the Lieutenant. Another wave of flame flew by and Alan Pearson was gone. He was instead replaced by Private Tucker. The marine was covered with flames and his eyes glowed yellow. He looked exactly as he did when Colin first laid eyes on him in the jungle. Yet, he was not grinning, and he was surrounded in flames. Slowly, the body of Private Tucker began to melt and disappear. A figure that was hidden by the shadows of the flames now stood where the pool of Tucker's body was. The same yellow eyes were glaring down at Colin, who couldn't help but feel deathly frightened. Without warning, the shadow disappeared, and through the flames, Flood combat forms leapt through them and attacked Thompson. The Sergeant screamed and was swallowed up into the flame.

Sergeant Colin Thompson's eyes opened first. He did not move and simply stared straight up at the ceiling. Slowly, his hearing returned and the sound of gunfire and explosions was processed to his brain. Colin first lifted his head to get an idea of his surroundings. He was lying on a stretcher inside a makeshift medical tent. He could only guess that this tent was inside Omega colony. Slowly, Thompson sat straight up, looking around him. Corporal Jacob Bishop lay beside him, one side of his head covered in bandages. The stretcher next to him was empty, but Colin guessed Corporal Aaron Dela Cruz had been there. Before Thompson stood up from his cot, his face felt extremely heavy and he then realized that a large bandage covered his nose. He poked at it several times to see if it hurt, but felt nothing. Slowly, he unwrapped the dressing and felt his nose that had been under it. He felt no pain, though he was sure that when Private Tucker had punched him, his nose had been broken. Colin knocked on his nose and felt his knuckles hit something hard. A piece of metal perhaps? He would never know.

Sergeant Thompson stood up out of his stretcher and walked to the far corner of the tent. His equipment and weapons were laid out along the grass. In a matter of minutes, he was fully dressed in his combat armour and was checking his ammo counter on the MA5B assault rifle he carried. It blinked sixty at him. Thompson turned and marched out of the tent, where his life was nearly extinguished by a plasma bolt. The sniper ducked to the ground and looked around the colony.

It was as if the ground had opened up and spilled hell's fire onto the colony. The main entrance to Omega Colony lay in ruins and was covered in the bodies of Covenant soldiers. Colin could make out the ten Death Walkers that had been supplied to them standing in a semi-circle around the entrance. Six of them were looking up along the colony catwalk, shooting at groups of Covenant troops that had climbed up and over the wall. The remaining Helljumpers of Bravo Company were gathered around the middle of the colony, fighting a hand to hand combat with several Covenant warriors. It looked as if victory was theirs in that battle. Thompson stood up from the ground and rushed over to them. As he approached, the last Covenant Elite fell to its knees after being stabbed continuously by four Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Colin stepped over the dead corpses that littered the ground. Humans and Covenant alike were scattered everywhere, blood flowing from wounds on them. Although the death toll wasn't that high for either side, the carnage that had been created was worse than any battle fought in the past. Sergeant Thompson eventually found the man he was looking for. Lieutenant Fredrick Owens was wrapping his blood soaked hands with a bandage, and wincing in pain as he did. He looked up as Colin approached and grinned.

"Good to have you back" he said, securing the dressing over his knuckles. Colin nodded.

"Guess we can catch up later sir. Are you all right?" he asked.

"Oh I'm fine, this is nothing Sergeant. The battle goes well so far. The Covenant launched a surprise attack and took out over half of the company instantly. The Death Walkers however have been able to hold them off. But, as we both know, it's only a matter of time before the Covenant break threw. There are at least six thousand of them outside the colony wall" Owens said sadly. Colin tightened his grip on the assault rifle he held.

"Well, let's make it hell for them trying to break through" he growled. Lieutenant Owens grinned and patted Colin on the back.

"I hear that. Grab some ammo, let's head back to the fight" he said, crouching to the ground and picking up another assault rifle. The two men rushed after a group of twelve ODSTs, who were firing up at the colony catwalk as a group of Jackals moved along it, shooting down at them. Thompson picked up a frag grenade and tossed it at them. As the grenade detonated and sent the Jackals flying, two Elites and four more Jackals appeared. One Helljumper took two plasma bolts to his chest and another to his neck. The man fell backwards from the shots, blood spewing from his mouth. Another Helljumper screamed and fell to his knees as fully charged plasma shot fired from one of the Jackals hit him square in the chest. The plasma melted away his armour and skin, exposing muscles and the man's rib cage. Colin dragged the marine back and fired up at the group of Covenant soldiers as they charged down the ramp, firing their weapons. Owens joined Thompson and the two men hunkered down and fired at the Elites. The combined firepower of the two assault rifles took out one of the Elites and wounded the other. Thompson finished it off with another frag grenade and they switched targets, focusing on the Jackals. The four vulture-headed creatures fired at them. Colin ducked behind a colony hut and reloaded, while Owens provided suppression fire. After reloading, Sergeant Thompson broke away from his cover and circled around the Jackals, Fredrick doing the same. The two Shadow Ops members flanked the Jackals and cut them down with the bullets that remained in their clips. As they turned to face a new threat, Owens's radio crackled in his ear.

"Shadow!" screamed the voice of Corporal McConnell, who was in one of the Death Walkers.

"Death, what is it?" Fredrick said.

"New enemy is here" McConnell screamed again. Thompson and Owens gave each other confused looks. Before any of them could speak, the sounds of barking and growling could be heard near the colony entrance. Both men's eyes widened and they sprinted back to the Death Walkers, reloading as they ran. The remaining Helljumpers that had been helping with defending the interior of the compound rushed after them, looking over their backs to make sure no Covenant came after them.

As Thompson and Owens approached the Death Walkers, there was a sudden silence over the battle field. Smoke rose from the craters in the ground and the barrels of weapons. The fires that were all over the ground continued to burn, giving off the only light. Colin crouched behind one of the titanium barriers that had been set up. Beside him, Sergeant Johnston, the marine regular the Shadow Ops II squad had rescued earlier on in the mission, was crouching up, holding onto a MA7B Battle rifle. He looked up at Colin and nodded.

"Good to see you sir" he said. Thompson returned the nod.

"Glad to be here Sergeant" he whispered. They then went silent as they scanned their surroundings, looking for the enemy. It was if the Covenant had just disappeared. Not a single Grunt or Jackal could be seen near the entrance. The Elites were also nowhere to be found. The battlefield was empty, except for the human survivors inside the colony. Thompson was about to relax and let down his guard, but the sound of footsteps made him snap awake. Through the smoke and mist surrounding the main entrance, a single figure walked forward, unchallenged and unarmed. Colin squinted and realized who it was.

Private Tucker came to a stop just inside the colony, looking at the heavy weapons pointed at him. He did not make a sound and simply stared at them, his hands hanging at his sides. Colin looked down the line at Lieutenant Owens, who gave him a questioning look. The Sergeant made a cutting motion over his throat. Owens nodded and disappeared. Sergeant Johnston looked up at Thompson.

"That's Tucker, what the fuck is he doing?" the marine demanded. Colin touched his nose and a quick flashback entered his mind. He shook his head.

"That's not Private Tucker" he whispered, cocking his assault rifle and aiming it at the man. Lieutenant Owens suddenly stood up, his assault rifle pointed at Tucker, who remained perfectly still.

"Private Tucker?" he called. The marine did not answer. Instead, he raised his arm into the air and slowly lowered it, until his index finger was pointing at them all. He held that pose for a few minutes, then dropped his arm. Several minutes passed and the same silence that had encumbered them earlier was still upon them.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Sergeant Johnston whispered. Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet began to tremble. Very slowly, the trembling increased as if the earth itself was going to split open and kill everyone with an inferno of fire. Something else happened instead. Something that was much worse than the planet exploding.

From behind Private Tucker, a cluster of shadows could be seen rushing at them. As they approached the light from all the fires that still burned, Colin could make out Flood combat forms wielding plasma weapons charging at the marines. The familiar sound of their barking and growling became so loud, Colin could barely make out Major Kerr, the Bravo Company commanding officer, give the order to fire.

The Death Walkers fired first again, spraying the area with chain gun bullets and Argent V missiles. Their torso's spun back and forth, sweeping the entire area as the Flood charged through the entrance and moved in towards the marines. Thompson switched to the assault rifle's shredder rounds and hung onto the weapon tight as it fired armour piercing bullets at a much higher rate. Flood forms fell to the ground, their limbs scattered around them. Dozens of them flew high into the air as grenades and rockets detonated among their ranks, yet they continued to charge. Thompson tossed all his fragmentation grenades frantically, before reloading and firing his assault rifle again. Sergeant Johnston backed away from the barrier he had been crouching by as a dead Flood combat form fell against it.

"What the fuck? What are the Flood doing on this fucking planet?" he yelled, firing his battle rifle hysterically. Colin had no answer and merely kept on firing. This had something to do with Private Tucker. He didn't know what, but something had a hold of that marine and was using its body to summon Flood forms.

"Look out!" Johnston suddenly screamed. Thompson dove to the left as a Flood form leapt high into the air and landed beside Johnston. The Sergeant raised his battle rifle, but the form smashed the weapon away with its whip. Colin stood up and levelled his assault rifle. He pulled the trigger and fired into the things back. Slowly, the parasitic creature fell forward after Thompson had emptied a full clip into it. Johnston stood up and nodded his thanks, before they were faced with a new problem.

Groups of Flood forms began jumping high over the twelve feet high colony wall and landing among the marines. They swept their wipes back and forth mercilessly, killing dozens of marines. Several forms were successful in jumping on top of a Death Walker. The pilot attempted to throw the creatures off; however, one of the forms wielded a Jackhammer rocket launcher. Without thinking, it pointed the weapon down and fired, killing itself and destroying the DW. Thompson stared in shock as the new UNSC "toy" detonated, showering the surrounding area with hot metal and flames. Several marines caught fire from the explosion and ran around in circles, trying to put them out. However, it was all in vain. Another group of Flood forms jumped over the wall and slowly began to descend towards another Death Walker. Without even thinking, a nearby Helljumper tossed a plasma grenade. It latched onto one of the falling Flood forms, which landed right on top of the DW. Quickly, the thing crawled down until it was looking at the pilot through the cockpit window. The grenade detonated, causing the glass that protected the pilot to shatter and explode.

A huge swarm of Flood infection forms suddenly crawled over the wall and through the main entrance. Propelling themselves forward with their little tentacle legs, they crawled inside the cockpit of the Death Walker and latched onto the pilot inside. Colin could hear screams coming from within, but could do nothing. Using what strength was left in him, the pilot destroyed the DW he sat in, killing the other infection forms that crawled around it.

"Jesus Christ" Sergeant Johnston whispered as he tossed his last frag grenade. Colin could only nod silently and keep firing his weapon. The tidal wave of Flood forms did not stop and more kept on coming into the colony. Four Jackhammer rockets flew out from this wave of Flood forms and smashed into another Death Walker, destroying it and knocking its wrecked hulk backwards, crushing and burning the marines who had been around it. Slowly, the remaining seven Death Walkers began to back off away from the colony entrance, firing whatever ammo was left in their guns. One pilot opened his cockpit ramp, since he was out of ammo. However, another wave of infection forms that had been charging in with the Flood forms jumped and latched themselves onto the marine. The man screamed and fell to the ground, holding out his hands and screaming for help from the Helljumpers who were only a few feet away. Yet, they could do nothing as the man was penetrated by one of the infection forms tendrils and slowly became a minion of the Flood.

"Fall back, fall back god damnit!" Major Kerr shouted, reloading an assault rifle he held onto. Thompson shook his head and looked behind him. There was nowhere for them to fall back too. They were trapped inside their own colony, with no escape. Regardless, the remaining sixty-three Helljumpers of Bravo Company followed their Major, along with the six Death Walkers that still had ammo left in them. A Jackhammer rocket accelerated out of the Flood wave and smashed into one of the Death Walker's legs. The entire right leg exploded and the DW fell sideways, unable to move. Colin turned and watched as the Flood began to crawl over it and try to get inside. By chance, a loaded Jackhammer rocket launcher was lying on the ground beside him. The Sergeant picked it up immediately and targeted the disabled Death Walker. Saying a quick prayer for the pilot inside, he fired. The entire Death Walker erupted, blasting several hundred Flood forms away, killing them. Smirking, Thompson fired the last rocket that was in the tube and dropped the weapon, running after the marine forces.

They all gathered around the very back of the colony, pushing their backs up against the wall. This was it. It was time for them to die. Thompson couldn't believe that they had just only started serving the UNSC and they were about to die at the hands of the Flood. Growling, he cocked his assault rifle and shouldered it.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going down without a fucking fight" he yelled at the marines around him. This brought back some morale and they all fired their weapons.

As the Flood army continued to approach them, the marines and the Flood did not hear the roar of engines as ten Pelican dropships, escorted by five Longsword fighters soared over the colony. The Pelicans continued circling over the colony, however, the Longsword fighters strafed back and forth, dropping Devilhorn land bombs and huge missiles filled with napalm. The amount of Flood forces inside the colony slowly began to diminish. However, this did not stop them. A group of Flood combat forms reached the marine forces and hacked away at several of the ODSTs. Major Kerr rushed forward, smashing his boot into the screwed head of an infested Elite and fired his assault rifle at the Flood that surrounded him. As they began to fall from the bullets, the infested Elite beneath Kerr's boots stood up, knocking the Major to the ground. Kerr looked up and fired at the Flood form. As it fell, Private Tucker suddenly appeared out of the mass of Flood forms. The marine rushed to Major Kerr and picked him off the ground. Kerr resisted and punched Tucker in the face. The PFC bawled his own fist and smashed it into Kerr's face. The Major went limp in Tucker's arms. Several Helljumpers turned to target the marine, but Tucker swung Major Kerr over his back and ran back into the Flood tidal wave.

"Major Kerr!" Lieutenant Owens screamed, reloading his battle rifle. Naturally, there was no answer, but Private Tucker reappeared. The possessed human rushed towards Fredrick, dodging all the bullets being fired at him. Behind the private, the last group of Flood forms charged at the marine lines; firing the plasma weapons they held in their hands. Two Helljumpers immediately fell back from the plasma bolts fired at them. Following that, two more marines were killed. The Lieutenant watched Private Tucker approach him rapidly. He turned to face the marine and fired the remaining bullets in his battle rifle. Tucker strafed back and forth as he approached the Lieutenant. The bullets fired from the battle rifle slammed into the ground around the Private. Private Tucker reached Owens. Fredrick raised his fists and punched Tucker twice in the head and the stomach. The marine did not budge and started laughing at Owens. Colin rushed forward and tackled Tucker. The two of them fell in a heap on the ground, bullets flying over them as the marines continued shooting at the Flood forms. Tucker grabbed Thompson by the throat. Immediately, the air in Colin's lungs disappeared and he gasped, trying to fill up his body with oxygen. However, Tucker would not let go. He stood up, holding Colin above the ground. Slowly, it seemed as if he was about to die.

Corporal Dela Cruz ran from his position in front of one of the Death Walkers and held his M6D pistol to Tucker's head. Immediately, the marine dropped Colin and spun around, taking out Dela Cruz's feet, then smashing his fist into the man's stomach, knocking him onto the ground. Lieutenant Owens rushed forward and jumped on top of Tucker, stabbing him with his combat knife. The marine did not scream. He simply reached over his back and grabbed the back of Owens's collar. He lifted the Lieutenant above him and tossed him into a group of his Flood forms like he was a doll.

"Lieutenant!" Thompson cried, running towards the Flood forms. He could make out Fredrick being bonded down with odd tentacles that wrapped around his legs, hands and mouth. As Colin approached them, the Flood forms ran away to the far colony wall and with a simple push off the ground, they all jumped over the wall, running into the jungle. Colin turned to kill Private Tucker, but the marine was nowhere to be seen. The battle for Omega Colony was over...

"Incoming plasma torpedoes!"

"Helm, port emergency thrusters!"

"We're clear sir; the torpedoes are dispersing behind us."

"Fire all weapons at the flanking destroyer!" The Blade of Wrath shuddered as her three MAC canons and Devilhorn missile pods targeted one of the Covenant destroyers that had appeared in the system only half an hour ago. The destroyer's shields took the bulk of the attack, but the Devilhorn missiles that detonated along her hull, took out the shields and exposed her to open weapons fire. Immediately, the UNSC Daedrea fired her own MAC guns, which slammed into the hull of the Covenant ship. She listed to port, spinning completely out of control and venting plasma. The Daedrea followed up the attack with the launching of her Devilhorn missiles. They streaked through space, targeting the disabled ship and exploded along her hull. The vessel trembled as her hull disappeared and the resulting explosions reached the interior of the ship. She exploded, sending fragments of armour and other debris floating through space. Captain Brian Hayes grinned at this, and then turned to the major problem that floated several kilometres away.

The Covenant had sent six ships to Vivec; four destroyers, one carrier and one cruiser. So far, they had succeeded in destroying three of the destroyers, but had taken heavy loses. Both the Daedrea and the UNSC Carnage had been wounded badly. Plasma still burned along their hulls as they turned to target the last destroyer that was firing pulse lasers at them. Captain Hayes however had a bigger concern. The lone carrier and cruiser were avoiding the battle. They had flown over the North Pole of Vivec and it seemed as if they were about to assault the UNSC Wilderness, who was supplying the ground forces below with reinforcements.

"Lieutenant Scott, come to heading 5-9-2, declination zero, zero, six. Lieutenant Elliott, target all our weapons at that Covenant carrier. Alert the Carnage of their position also" he ordered quickly. Lieutenant Scott, the navigational officer nodded and marked in the new heading. Slowly, the Blade of Wrath turned around and headed back to the Wilderness, who was launching her squadrons of Stormwings and Longswords at the approaching Covenant ships.

"MAC guns charged and ready sir" Lieutenant Elliott reported.

"Give me a firing solution for that carrier, we'll worry about the cruiser later" Hayes ordered.

"Solution online Captain" Elliott said.

"Fire!" The single Super MAC canon and the two smaller MAC canons turned around on the hull of the Blade of Wrath and fired their depleted uranium tungsten shells at the carrier as she closed in on the Wilderness. The three shots immediately took out the weakened shields of the ship and scratched up her hull slightly.

"Recharge the MAC canons; target the carrier with the Devilhorn missiles and fire!" Hayes ordered again. The eleven operational Devilhorn pods launched several hundred of these plutonium filled missiles, which accelerated forward and smashed along the hull of the carrier. The detonations did not destroy the large vessel, but she began to vent plasma and slowly fall out of position. Hayes grinned as she slammed into the Covenant Cruiser that had been positioned slightly ahead of her. The cruiser's shields flared and protected the hull from scarring, and pushed the carrier aside. The disabled craft drifted away from the battle, her pilot trying to regain patrol.

The Covenant cruiser then realized that the Blade of Wrath was a problem. She turned and targeted the UNSC cruiser with her pulse lasers. While they fired at the ship, plasma energy began to gather along its hull. The Blade of Wrath shook violently as the lasers smashed into its weak armour.

"Starboard armour down to ten percent!" Lieutenant Campbell, the engineering officer screamed.

"Full axis rotation to port! Fire all Devilhorn missiles!" Hayes roared. The Blade of Wrath spun slightly, revealing the belly of the ship to the enemy. The Devilhorn missiles detonated along the cruiser's shields and did minimal damage. The Covenant ship fired her plasma torpedoes, but the Blade of Wrath's aft emergency thrusters saved her from the plasma inferno. The cruiser suddenly accelerated and rushed at the Blade of Wrath.

"She's coming straight at us!" Lieutenant Scott yelled.

"Aft thrusters?" Hayes asked.

"Still being filled up Captain" Scott cried.

"Fire our port thrusters, sound the collision alarm" Brian quickly ordered. Another Klaxon alarm blared throughout the bridge as the Blade of Wrath slowly moved out of the cruiser's war. The two ships both accelerated and went past each other side by side, with no more then a few metres in between them. The Covenant cruiser's pulse lasers fired rapidly at the Blade of Wrath's hull, while the UNSC cruiser fired her hull mounted 50mm chain guns.

"Charge the Super MAC round, fire when ready!" Hayes ordered.

"At this distance sir, we'll be caught in the blast" Lieutenant Elliott protested.

"Lieutenant! Fire the god damn MAC round" Hayes suddenly roared. Elliott's hands flew all over her data pad as she drew energy from life support to help charge the canon faster. The two ships were almost past one another.

"MAC guns charged, firing now" Elliott said. The single Super MAC turret fired at the Covenant Cruiser which was still moving past the Blade of Wrath at a dangerously close distance. The impact the three thousand ton shell destroyed the cruiser's weakened shields and exploded along her hull. A huge hole was blown right through the Covenant ships armour. The resulting explosion however blew away what armour remained on the Blade of Wrath's starboard side. Both ships flipped over in space away from one another, fires burning along their hulls. Captain Hayes was thrown out of his command chair and into a bulkhead. Lieutenant Elliott's console sparked and exploded, blasting the Lieutenant to the other side the bridge. Ceiling tiles exploded, showering the area with debris. A row of consoles along the far wall exploded, blasting three crewmen backwards. Hayes was nearly tramped by them as they smashed into the bulkhead and fell to the floor, covered in burn marks. Brian stood up, ignoring the pain in his shoulder.

"Stabilize the ship! Fire port thrusters!" he yelled. Lieutenant Scott was the only bridge crewmember who hadn't been flung from his console. The Blade of Wrath trembled again and slowly straightened out as her thrusters exploded. The forces of friction from both starboard and port side allowed the Blade of Wrath to completely set herself straight.

"Bring us about!" Hayes yelled again, sitting down in his chair that was covered in debris. The Blade of Wrath made a long turn in space and came behind the UNSC Wilderness, which was firing her Devilhorn missiles at the wounded cruiser. The Covenant vessel returned fire with what pulse lasers were left. The Wilderness's hull boiled and burned as she took each blow. The Blade of Wrath accelerated past her and moved in for the kill.

"Full stop" Hayes said quickly. The forward thrusters went off, bringing the cruiser to a complete stop.

"What weapons do we have left?" Hayes asked Lieutenant Elliott, who although was bleeding from the head, was still typing at his console.

"We have three Devilhorn missile pods left and one MAC turret, but there isn't enough energy on this ship to charge it" Elliott said. Hayes hung his head. They were a defenceless ship again. The Cruiser seemed to realize this as its pulse lasers began shooting at the Blade of Wrath's already damaged hull. Suddenly, two huge MAC rounds fired from the UNSC Carnage slammed into the Covenant cruiser. The twin tungsten shells detonated inside the huge hole that the Blade of Wrath had created with her own MAC round. The cruiser split in two, internal explosions and fires eventually destroying the two halves that drifted in space. Hayes leaned forward in his chair, holding his head up with his hands. They had won again, but just barely.

"We're getting word from planet side sir" Lieutenant Nixon said from communications. Hayes looked up at the officer.

"And?" he asked him.

"Omega colony secure, Gamma and Alpha colony destroyed" Nixon said.

"Fuck..." Hayes whispered, his voice trailing off as he stood up and walked to the Lieutenant's console.

"How, how did we lose two colonies?" he asked.

"From what I understand sir, the marine forces in those two colonies were holding just fine against the Covenant. Although the entrances of both colonies were breached, the Covenant couldn't get inside. However, the arrival of the Flood changed all this" Nixon said. Hayes's eyes widened and he looked at the Lieutenant.

"What?" he asked, even though he knew what the man had said.

"The Flood sir. They destroyed Alpha and Gamma Colony. They almost destroyed Omega colony, but reinforcements arrived just in time" Nixon said. Hayes stood straight, looking out into space as the wounded Carnage and the crippled Daedrea moved back into orbit around Wilderness.

"Jesus" he whispered shaking his head.

"Also sir, Lieutenant Owens of Shadow Ops II and Major Kerr of Bravo Company were reported missing, presumed dead. Seems a possessed marine named Private Tucker captured the two of them and gave them to the Flood. A strike team is being assembled to try and rescue them" Nixon said. Hayes nodded. There wasn't much he could do with the condition his ship was in. Communications were barely operable and the Blade of Wrath had no weapons she could use to defend herself with. Sighing, Brian straightened his posture.

"First things first. Get some repairs going on this ship; I want at least some additional Devilhorn missile pods ready and one of our MAC guns. Restore the armour and prepare to take on wounded from Omega Colony. I'll be in my ready room if anyone needs me. Lieutenant Nixon, you have the bridge" he said, turning and walking out, hands behind his back. Things we're getting confusing now. The battle group were fighting a war on two fronts. Captain Hayes planned on discussing things over with the other Captains. A plan of action would have to be created, if they wanted to survive out here.

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

~*Author's note*~
      Just so you guys know, I wrote this extremely quickly, since I'll be gone for the next few days, celebrating Christmas and what not. Sorry about the mistakes. Cheers and Happy Holidays...
~*End note*~

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