Hopestar :Cp 5 pt 1 : Fear
Posted By: sam_fisha<sam_fisha@yahoo.com>
Date: 5 February 2005, 3:29 AM
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You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.
-Eric Hoffer
Trudy struggled under the weight of the had been Marine. He drew his pistol as the Flood began pummeling his chest. He was unable to turn the pistol to the thing as it held his wrist to the floor.
The abomination bared its teeth and closed them on Trudy's shoulder, ripping and tearing at his skin. He began throwing himself left and right in an attempt to get the thing off of him. It dislodged and stumbled to the ground, snarling and growling. He drew his pistol and fired, the bullets colliding with the creature and tearing it apart from the inside.
The thing seemed barely fazed by being shot and lunged at Trudy, throwing himself into him and knocking him over.
Trudy submerged in the thick liquid that covered the floor and struggled to get up, the weight of the liquid holding him down.
Food. The presence thought using his mind. Food. It thought again. The presence was stronger than ever, pushing him back, back into a hole in his mind. Kells was barely able to think, his mind taken over by this presence, this Flood.
His body moved against his will, completely under the power of the presence. Get out, get out, I won't let you, you can't! Kells yelled at the other inside his mind, trying with all his will to bring his body back under his command.
The Flood had infected him when he was unconscious, changing his body from the inside before taking over. Kells managed to fight the other just enough to see through his eyes, see the room surrounding him. Then he was hit with a pain like no other he had felt before, an icy pain, which throbbed and grew every second. A hunger, a hunger to consume.
The presence lashed out and pushed Kells back into the deep recesses of his mind, cutting him off from the outside world. He fought with all his strength and managed to once again see. Trudy had emerged from underneath the liquid, drawing a knife and lunging at him and stabbing. The pain rushed through Kells as his body was stabbed, but it was nothing compared to the icy hunger.
The presence was caught off guard by the sudden pain and withdrew, leaving Kells in control of his body. "You have to kill me!" Kells yelled through his real mouth. He could see that Trudy was surprised but took only a second to continue stabbing him. Kells turned his attention back to keeping the presence out of control, making sure he couldn't kill Trudy.
The other stopped fighting for a second then lashed out and pushed Kells back into the pit off his mind.
Hillers watched curiously as the Marines secured the civilian block. Something is happening they aren't telling us. His hand brushed against his concealed pistol. He stood and walked to one of the Marines guarding the main doors. "What's happening? Why are you locking the section down?" He asked as he watched the Marines unmoving gaze.
"Just calm yourself and this will be over before you know it." The Marine answered, trying to give as little information as possible.
"I have a right to know if I'm in danger." Hillers said, testing the boundaries of what would piss the Marine off. "Civilian, I have to ask you to go back to your area and stay there." The Marine said, moving slightly as he prepared to restrain Hillers.
"Fine." He said as he turned and walked back to his bags. He opened a small sack and pushed in what he had just stole from the unknowing Marine. He counted it quietly as he put the loot in his bag. One M6D with ammunition, one I.D. card, and a tazer. He thought to himself as he hid the bag. Not bad.
The Captain watched the situation screen; all the sections had been shut down and were being guarded. If there were Covenant stowaways on that Pelican they wouldn't get far. He turned to his communications officer. "Any response from it?" He asked, knowing the answer already. "No sir. But they are headed straight for docking bay one."
He activated a comm link to every Marine on the Hopestar. "Prepare for complete lock down, all units are ordered to report anything unusual. Begin patrols." He shut off the comm and relaxed in his chair. What am I doing? I'm letting an unresponsive Pelican dock with a ship full of civilians; my old instructor would kill me. He thought as he remembered his days in training.
The Captain sat up in his chair. I've made a bug mistake. He thought to himself as he realized how likely it was this was a Covenant trap. He opened a comm to all the Marines again. "I want five squads at docking bay one, now!
The group of misshapen, rotting, and generally disfigured Flood soldiers stood in the belly of the Pelican which had just docked with the Human ship. But one of the flood stood out from the rest. He was normal. In every aspect the Flood looked like a living breathing Human except that his face was slightly pale. Inside his chest cavity sat a new kind of infection form, happily controlling everything its newly claimed body did. The other Flood waited for the Pelican to be opened so they could feast on the tasty morsels that lay just beyond the small barrier of metal. Yes....Yes... The Flood heard their master beckon to them, telling them what they wanted and how they would get it.
The infection form expiremented with its body, stretching its fingers and kicking the bulkheads. Suddenly every Flood on the Pelican sensed a warm sensation wash over them. Food was approaching.
The Soldiers formed a tight box around the Pelican. In all fifty two Marines had been called to make sure no Covenant got off this ship. Sergeant Yare watched as his men raised their rifles and prepared to open the hatch. "Check your fire and watch who you shoot." Yare said as he watched his motion tracker. "We have one contact inside, blow the hatch and let see if it's Human." Yare said as he readied his Battle Rifle.
"Sir, the cockpit, something's coming out." One of the Marines guarding the front of the ship yelled. Yare began running to the nose of the ship as he barked orders not to open the hatch. He stood in front of the cockpit and watched a Marine crawl out. "You okay Marine? How many more in there with you?" Yare asked as he helped the injured Marine out of the cockpit.
"Jus...Just me." The Marine answered, speaking like he barely knew any English.
"He might have blood loss; get him to the med bay, squad one, guard the pelican, the rest of you get back to the barracks." Yare yelled orders as he observed the Marines wounds.
The Marine force escorted the survivor out to the sick bay, leaving the eight men of squad one guarding the Pelican. "Man, how long we have to guard this tin can?" Private Writ asked as he casually inspected his rifle.
"As long as the Sergeant says" Corporal Lyle said as he walked to the back end of the Pelican.
"Screw that, I'm leaving." Writ said as he made for the door.
A loud clack resounded throughout the bay. Private Writ stopped dead in his tracks. "What the hell was that?" The hot headed Marine asked rhetorically as he slowly tuned to face the Pelican.
"I'm calling it in." Corporal Lyle said as he flipped on his comm unit. "This is Corporal Lyle, suspicious sounds heard within vicinity of the Pelican, over." He waited impatiently for command to answer.
"Hey, the hatch is opening!" One of the other Marines said as the back end of the Pelican slowly cranked downward.
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