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The Flood's Return
Posted By: Half-Jaw<alexbrooks5@btinternet.com>
Date: 10 May 2005, 6:52 PM


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The Flood were swarming all around the the In Amber Clad. The front end of the ship had sustained incredible damage after the Flood had piloted it into one of the massive walls of High Charity. The City itself had been abandoned, and basically, the Flood controlled it. I don't think so. From a platform far across from the burning, smoking ship, a purple shape watched with anger. On a small pedestal stood Cortana. She stood there, arms crossed, as the Flood went about trying to somehow repair the In Amber Clad. She had considered detonating the ship's reactors, but that would just culminate in her 'death', as well as the Flood's. This would just prove pointless, considering the knowledge she had gained from Gravemind... The Prophet of Mercy's grey and silent corpse lay on the platform next to her. Her face lit up. She had an idea. Suddenly, Cortana vanished in a blur of static. The podium on the ground that the Prophets normally float around on sprung to life. Small flashing lights appeared on the arm rests and Cortana's body reappeared. The Prophet's body flopped out of the podium and it slowly levitated through the air. It began to move forwards, towards the In Amber Clad. Slowly but steadily, the massive shape that was the ship began to grow as Cortana crept towards it, taking extra care that she wasn't spotted by the many Flood forms crowding it.
As she approached one of the many airlocks, she set the podium down carefully on the cold, metallic surface. She disappeared once more, and transferred herself from the podium into the small, flashing control panel beside the airlock door. She slowly and cautiously moved through the ship's system until she finally reached the Bridge. Her clever idea was to allow the Flood to repair the In Amber Clad, then encrypt herself within the system . She thought that, considering the Flood managed to reach High Charity, once they discovered the location of Earth within the ship's databanks, she could hitch a ride back to Earth. Using her knowledge of the ship's system, she opened all available exits to the ship, and restored main power.
2 days later...
The Flood had completed all external repairs to the ship and were beginning to swarm inside instead. Many used the Bridge as their temporary home, particularly infected Humans and Covenant. At one point, one of the Flood limped up to the ship's controls, and wrapped it's fingers/tentacles around the keys. A blue electrical surge travelled from the keyboard to the Flood, and Cortana suddenly sensed it within the system. It had withdrawn the location of Earth! Cortana immediately sealed all the exits and hatches to the ship, as the Flood warrior began shouting and barking orders( in an unrecognisable language) to the other Flood forms. One Flood form attempted to pilot the In Amber Clad, while the others spread themselves out throughout the ship. Suddenly, a loud groaning sound could be heard as the In Amber Clad violently shuddered. The ship slowly backed away from the gigantic wall of High Charity, and soared( rather ungracefully) into the black void...
Meanwhile, across Space, in the Control Room of the Delta Halo...
" So what now?", Johnson asked, as they clambered from the huge, circular platforms.
" We must locate the Ark, of course", the Arbiter replied. "And how do you propose we do that ?", Commander Keyes questioned. " The Oracle", the Arbiter answered.
"Unfortunately, I cannot answer", Guilty Spark said, rather disappointed. "WHAT!!", all three of them exclaimed. "For once, he's speechless", Johnson quipped, lighting a cigar. "After the Ark was stolen from the Forerunners, it became lost during a vast period of war and battle. All of this took place approximately 3 millennia ago", the Monitor continued. " How will we find the Ark then?", Miranda added. "I'm sure the Spec-Ops commander will grant us one of his Phantoms if I explain to him. If we are going to start looking anywhere, we need transport", the Arbiter said. " Wait a minute", Miranda spoke, "What if there's something in the Control Room's Archives?". she spun round and dashed back to the flashing panel. "Arbiter, do you know how to work this thing?", she asked. "Let me. A job such as this requires professional expertise", 343 said, pushing the Arbiter aside. The Arbiter shot him a very disrespectful look. A blue beam shot from the Monitor and connected straight with the panel. His 'eye' moved as it rapidly scanned each and every file as he went about his job...Whether he found anything, that's a different story...





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