Halo: Xenomorphs Revenge

Chapter 8: Fight for the Control Room

Tzing. The bullet bounced harmlessly off Troy’s apparently energy shielded armour. He instantly raised his Light Rifle and prepared for another fight. Troy was confused when he saw a group of Spartans there, the same ones that he had rescued along with the two ODSTs.

“Oh! I forgot to mention: your friends requested to come along as well.”

“Thanks Scotty.” Troy slid into battle. There were about four hundred Xenomorphs there, most of them outside the structure on a snowy hill. The marines were holding position just inside the doorway. There were several more soldiers there than he had started off with. They and the combined forces of Prometheans and Sentinels made up about one hundred. And that was inside the structure. Outside there were several Hornets, Banshees, Phantoms, Ghosts, Pelicans, Scorpions, Wraiths, Revenants, Warthogs, Mongooses and about one hundred more UNSC / Sangheili / Promethean forces. This was it, the final battle. Scotty materialised a small glowing green cylinder in Troy’s hands.

“That is the key to this world’s defences. Once you activate it, this world will be quite devoid of life.” Troy nodded.  Two gloved hands covered his eyes from behind.

“Guess who!” Troy knew that voice in a heartbeat.

“Calsu!” he yelped in joy, tearing away from her hands and hugging her. She chuckled and slipped her arms around him, then they kissed intimately. Troy’s helmet pieced itself back together on his face. He hadn’t even realised it had come off. It seemed to be linked to his brain, guessing what he wanted without him even thinking about it. He resolved to ask Scotty later. Then again, he would probably fall asleep during the explanation due to the excessive amount of technical talk. He shrugged and charged over to where a Praetorian had broken through the line of defence. He shot it seven times in the head before it finally dissolved into ash. There were a few whoops and laughs when the soldiers there saw him, especially in his new armour.

“Shit Sarge, how much did that cost ya?” Troy laughed and gunned down a Lurker that got too close. A rocket flew over his head, and the Warrior Xenomorph that fired it appeared to snicker. Well, that didn’t last long. One Incineration Cannon later, there was no trace of him apart from some black powder floating in the air. Two minutes later, they were starting to lose troops, yet the Xenomorph ranks didn’t seem to be thinning. Troy realised if something didn’t happen soon, they would all die. Time seemed to slow down as the UNSC and its allies started to fall. He watched as a Pelican spiralled slowly towards the ground. A bomb dropped, showering everyone below with embers and snow. Orange streaks of light flashed past everywhere. It was hard to block out the sounds of screeching and screams. Troy turned towards the Control Room. He knew what he had to do. He slowly walked up to the console and held out his hand. The Activation Key lay loosely in his palm. He glanced over to Scotty.

“Get everyone out of here,” he commanded. Scotty looked shocked.

“But-but... Reclaimer!”

“Now.” Scotty sighed and to their bemusement, all of the soldiers disappeared in a flash of orange. Xenomorphs flooded into the room. Troy slid the small device into its slot in the console.

“Urgh!” Adam pushed the person off of him. Calsu looked shocked.

“Wh-what?” she stammered. She looked around. They were back on board the Flagship. “No!” She knew what Troy had done. The ship lurched and started speeding out of the planet and into space. Calsu saw every other ship do the same. They stopped at a safe distance and Calsu stared as a blue pulse encased the planet for a few seconds. Then it faded slowly. She sobbed. Never again was she going to see her mate... She saw a Pelican speeding towards the planet.

“They will tell us if it was successful or not...” Adam explained. Kate tapped his shoulder and shook her head slowly. Adam understood. Calsu needed some alone time. They left the room silently, allowing the Sangheili to stare into space, hoping the Great Journey did exist, and Troy was in it.

“Something tells me that being on that ship all the time is not good for your health,” Relu commented. Quinn stepped off the Pelican and shrugged.

“Wouldn’t hurt to go somewhere nice for our anniversary.” Kyle hopped off after them. “Ah, lieutenant, good of you to join us. Now, about the Troy thing...”

“Dead.” Quinn reeled back slightly.

“Damn. He would’ve made a fine Spartan.” Kyle nodded. He had been working undercover in Fireteam Topaz to look for possible candidates for the Spartan IV program. Troy had been at the top of the list. As they walked towards the deserted control room, he decided to keep the conversation going, to avoid awkwardness. “I thought you retired.” Kyle shrugged indifferently.

“The quiet life wasn’t for me. Besides, if I hadn’t rejoined, than I would’ve felt guilty for not taking part in the effort to save mankind.” Quinn nodded, this was very true. They reached the doors and peered inside. The floating eyeball was there, and it turned to stare at them.

“Oh, hello,” it greeted. There was a suit of armour lying limply next to the control panel. “I’m afraid I won’t be-be-be-be around f-for much l-l-l-l-longer,” it said, malfunctioning. It sounded at peace though, as if it were happy with its choice.

“Why?” Kyle demanded.

“Oh, I-I-I-I-I just n-n-needed to – dsufhjfewjiedj – errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.” Well, that wasn’t helpful. “Fire-f-f-f-fire... Guilty Spark! We-we-we-we were not programmed for s-s-s-such t-t-task... Protocol 19 i-i-i-initiated! I wa-wa-wa-wa-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” it wailed, sparking slightly. Kyle, Relu and Quinn all shared a look.