Halo: Friend Or Foe

Chapter 2

It was a bright green planet, filled with vegetation and greenery. The Chief analyzed the planet's surface as he descended down onto it. He could see that there was a ruin or temple that went deep into the ground below. He felt heavier as the planet's gravity pulled him down. He needed to get moving. And with quick strides, he was off. Heading towards the temple, he searched the surrounding area as he ran.

His head swiveled from side to side as he used his armor's sensors to check for enemies. His motion tracker wasn't picking up anything, so he kept running. As he approached the structure, he saw many vines and leaves creeping, growing out from cracks, as if it was reaching out toward him. He stopped at the entrance and surveyed the opening.

The brief map of this world showed the abandoned facility with resources a few hundred kilometers from this place. He inhales, deeply, before clutching his weapon and entering inside. The first he sees of the temple as his eyes and screen adjust to the darkness is a long hallway with arches and broken columns. The ceiling collapses at the end, but there's a hole big enough for him to squeeze through. On the other side, he emerges into the corner of a hallway.

Turning the corner, he sees the passageway has many openings from the sides, so he treads carefully as he passes them. With his gun up at his head, he whips around the openings for signs of enemies or movement. There's nothing on his sensors or where he can see, so he moves quickly. Very quickly, the halls start to split this way, and that. He's not worried because he has a map, but even so, it gets harder and harder to traverse through this labyrinth.

Occasionally, he can hear the rustling of plants and the fall of pebbles, but never any actual creatures. It's almost...eerie. Like, he's being followed or watched. He can't help but feel threatened by this place. Like it's taunting him. As he travels deeper, he reaches a certain point and stops to rest, as he's been walking for a long time. The Chief, silent and deadly, proceeds forward. He turns on the light from his assault rifle and investigates the pit. It's almost pitch black, aside from a few glowing vines on the sides of the walls. He kicked a rock down, and it was a few minutes before he heard it hit the bottom.

Then he jumped to the other side and kept moving. All of a sudden, his sensor starts going off, beeping for each enemy that approaches.

Seconds later, he feels the rumble of a hoard he'd rather not deal with. He spins around toward the hole, and he sees thousands upon thousands of Flood infection forms jump at him, tentacles whipping and lashing out. One nicked a soft spot in his armor and scratched him. A quiet grunt is released from the Chief as a wave of dread flowed through him as he ran to the end of the hall, dashing through corners and turning to shoot a few that got too close.

That might give him a head start, but the Flood were fast and closing in on his position. The Master Chief reaches a dip and quickly descends down the slanted floor. He arrives at the corner of the hallway below and starts collecting and throwing debris, piling it up at the corner and blocking it off. The Chief is cautious and whips his assault rifle every direction he hears a sound.

Then suddenly, the cave begins to shake and rumble. He comes into a large area when a large chunk of debris falls behind him. He turns around to see another blur of white vanish from vision as a giant column falls on top of him. He's able to dodge the debris fast enough not to get completely squished, but his foot gets caught under it. He lets out a grunt of pain before he looks back as the dust settles. His sensors are beeping again, and he still has his weapons, but the column and floor aren't made of normal rock or dirt, so when he tries to shoot his way out, he realizes he's stuck and with a few bullets less for protection.

He tries to analyze his situation, but before he could come up with a plan, the Flood bursts into the room through a small opening made from the sudden tremor. He starts firing at the repulsing creatures. Running low on ammo, he throws a couple of fragmentation grenades until those also run dry.

When his gun and grenades are used up, and the Flood gets closer, he switches to his knife, able to cut a few away before the big ones get up close and personal. He fights a couple off but eventually gets entirely overwhelmed, practically using the knife and his arms to keep the tentacles away and block the hits from the combat forms.

He is able to take down a Human-Flood form, but it isn't enough as more and more pile on. As if trying to bury him alive. Many little knives cut and slice into his body, but he pushes those pains aside for now. Not like this. He thinks. I'm not dying to these things. If I can't finish my mission, I won't let these guys finish theirs, either. His arms grow weak and tired from the weight and blood loss.

A tentacle, from one of the infection forms, manages to pierce his suit and stab into his spine. He feels helpless. He can't defend himself. He feels the thing squirm down his spine. A shudder of unease escapes his mouth as he can't do anything but lay there and struggle to fight back. He can feel it release the paralyzing agent as his mind slips away until there's a loud commotion. The weight lifts from his grasp, and his vision goes fades to black.