Halo: Xenomorphs Rising

Chapter 9 - Jinxed

Quinn and his gang stared at the carnage before them.

“They will be here to kill the Queen Mother!” one of the other Sangheili exclaimed. Quinn glared at him.

“They’ll kill us too if they see us,” he grunted. “Which is why we’re getting out of here, ASAP.”

“Oorah!” the three other humans cried in unison, raising their weapons in the air (apart from the unarmed one that is). The Sangheili gave a war cry of their own, even Relu joined in. The two friends grinned at each other and readied their guns simultaneously. They leapt off onto the barren ground first, making the rest shake their heads and follow. Quinn stabbed left and right at anything that got too close to him, firing his SOCOM at Xenomorphs so as not to get their blood on him. Relu was firing her Carbine in every direction, finding it slightly more difficult with only one weapon. The Grunt screamed manically as it tried to stay close to Quinn, and even the unarmed soldiers were punching their enemies. With a ground-shakingly loud cry, one of the Sangheili went down.

“Keep moving!” Quinn urged to anyone who could hear him. Ahead, he saw the tree line. “To the trees! Take cover!” He dived under a blast of blue energy from one of the ‘Ancestor’s’ weapons. Quinn reached the forest and slouched against a tree ten metres in, out of sight from the battle. Relu came crashing through a shrub next to him, losing her balance and collapsing at his feet. The green-armoured Sangheili emerged, then the Grunt finally caught up with its favourite human. The helmetless ODST appeared mid commando roll. They all cringed as they heard, some saw, the regular marine get hit by a plasma blast and fall to the ground, dead. One of the Plasma Pistol wielding Sangheili made it. His red armour was stained with spots of his blood.

“No one... else... made it,” he panted. Quinn noticed a large cut from one of the Xenomorphs’ tail running down the back of his leg. It must have been a hell of an effort to escape alive with an injury like that. Quinn nodded sadly and retrieved his Assault Rifle from where it had landed after flying out of the marine’s hands when he died.

“More enemy!” the Grunt squeaked as he spotted movement in some nearby bushes.

“Keep moving!” Quinn yelled, sprinting off deeper into the forest, hoping the others would follow. Plasma bursts chased the small group of survivors, and Quinn could have sworn he could see Xenomorphs leaping in the trees above them. Quinn was surprised to see a Forerunner structure ahead, and made a beeline for it. Soon the whole group was huddled in the doorway, which was the perfect place to defend themselves from. Their enemies soon gave up and returned to the main battle. Quinn crumpled onto the floor, exhausted. Relu slid down the wall next to him.

“At least things cannot get worse than this,” Relu tried. Quinn laughed.

“Don’t jinx us.” Relu gave him a look.

“Jinx?” she asked. Quinn shook his head in a never mind kind of way. They sat there in silence, watching the green Sangheili tend to the red one’s wounds. The Grunt stood by the door as if unable to believe its foes had disappeared so soon. The red Elite sat down next to his two allies on the floor while the green Elite motioned for the female ODST to come over.

“We are going to search the facility for weapons,” the Sangheili announced. Relu gave him the go ahead signal and resumed her resting. Quinn watched him and the ODST disappear further into the structure.

“This is the ‘Dark Saviour’. Any UNSC or Sangheili forces please respond,” came an unfamiliar voice. Quinn’s eyes snapped open as he searched for the source. The red Elite stared at his small radio device magnetically attached to his chest plate disbelievingly. Quinn quickly snatched it up and pressed the button to talk.

“This is Corporal Quinn Hart of the Taste of Hope, who is this?”

“Corporal Hart, this is Shipmaster Ra’zac. I have orders to search for survivors that may be in this area. Are you in need of assistance?”

“Yes,” Quinn replied, although slightly confused as to how the shipmaster found out about the little alliance he had made.

“All right. I have locked on to your position. Sending a Pelican down now.” Pelican? Quinn was confused beyond words. Suddenly, the green Elite stumbled back into the main room clutching a shoulder injury. The ODST backed out after him, firing her SOCOM at something down the corridor. The green Elite stared at Quinn with wide eyes.

What now?