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The revelators started walking again, making the pilgrimage to the brig to see what evil lurked there. Wallace was struck by an intelligent idea. "Hey, earlier on, I referred to the 'battle' that you guys were in, but that you denied. Maybe it's all of those things in the brig. We know that they can send thought messages to specific people. Maybe they can also make the noise of gunfire seem far away. Whatever is in the brig is definitely a force to be reckoned with." The minute or two it had taken to rest was also a time of preparation. Whatever was behind those brig doors were definitely powerful beings, and they would have to find out. As they neared the brig, the dimly lit hallways provided just the perfect effect to make almost everybody nervous. Even Jersatil and the Master Chief were on the edge. They had never come into contact with something of this power, and they were ready to take action on whatever it was. The brig doors slid open, and the revelators immediately began to search the area. "Why do you seek us?" the voices seemed to moan "Look over here." The brig cell doors split open to reveal what looked like flood combat forms, but much more dangerous. "We are the flood" said one of them with a voice that sounded like a Covenant elite, "We are called cerebral forms. The flood developed us as a commander for their forces. As our old lives as elites, we were the highest priests, capable of mind alteration and persuasion. We can read minds, and we can alter reality. We are the reason the flood will become the dominant race in the galaxy." The impulse to shoot these things was great, and each of the four reached for their long range weapons. They could not move their hands, though. They seemed dead, they stayed in one place. "Ah, so now you can see our power. Our control of your mind does not allow you to move your hand. All six of us can easily take any of your minds." The cerebral form that was talking came forward and took the forerunner subduing device. "Ah, this is the device 'for subduing flood. I guess it works on humans, too.' Do you have any idea what happens when this is shot at close range to the head? The tissues of the brain start to decay. This contains the flood enzyme. The human that you shot, Richard Smith, is now one of the flood. The two marines guarding him are dead. They will soon become the flood. Our minions are now cleaning up the mess." Dersoa all of a sudden recognized who the cerebral forms were. They were the half-flood Covenant that he had met when they boarded the Truth and Reconciliation. But he had killed them. The cerebral form that apparently had control of his mind said, "We were just figments of your imagination. We really did not exist there, we made the image straight on to your mind, and then we made an image of the dead version of us. It is that simple." Wallace and Jersatil were horrified also. The cerebral forms had found everything in their heads and proclaimed it. "Do not worry, though," they had said, "We knew all of the secrets of every one of you the minute you walked on to this ship. "Now, onto John-117. You thought it was strange how none of the flood had attacked you when you were going to the armory. We were planning to do that, and now you will see why. All of our armies are fortified, and we will release them soon. Notice that we only called in the species that had shields, the ones that could provide protection against an attack. Of course, Peter Matthew Wallace could not, but he was one of the important figures." The Master Chief thought but shields are only good against one type of flood and that is... "Release the infection forms!" yelled the head cerebral form. The doors all over the bridge exploded and thousands of bloodthirsty infection forms raced across the floor. The remaining groups one and two fired their fuel rod cannons desperately, but since they were unshielded, they were hopeless. After about a half an hour, the four would be facing about 50 new flood. "Ha ha ha! That was wonderful! All right, now onto phase two of our glorious plan" said the cerebral form. It took out the "forerunner device" and pointed it at the Master Chief first. "John-117, you will now feel what it is like to become a flood. Let me describe it for you so you can anticipate it all the more. The first feeling you get is that of intense burning. It feels like your skin is going to come off, and it does. The second is that of your neck snapping, and all of the bones in your legs crunching. The last sensation is that of your skin rotting and falling off. This is unfortunate, because that gives combat and carrier forms only a few days of life. This is your punishment for killing so many flood. We are giving you the express invitation to become one. Although you will only live a few days, you will at least be with your friends! Ha ha ha! I will give you ten minutes to think this over before I ruin your lives." The cerebral form and his minions vanished, and the four were left alone in the brig. "Hey, we can move again!" said Wallace. "I don't know how long it will last, though. We need to devise a plan. This is going to be extremely tough, since the cerebral forms can read our minds and hear our plans. We need to think of a way we can distract them for a second. As soon as they know something is wrong, they will freeze us, and we will be virtually helpless. We need to blow up the Truth and Reconciliation. I know it is the compromise of our diplomatic vehicle, but it is the only way to kill the cerebral forms. The four allies started to think of a way to carry it out. TO BE CONTINUED... |
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