Hopestar : cp 6 pt1 : Failure
Posted By: sam_fisha<sam_fisha@yahoo.com>
Date: 9 February 2005, 10:50 PM
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There is nothing that fails like success.
-G.K. Chesterton
The vials clinked against one another as they were carried down the hall by Sherry, Doctor Hutu's assistant. She entered the examination room looking down at the several vials she carried. "I have the sodi..." She looked around the room. Its usually organized tools and implements were scattered about, broken and out of place. The pure white floor was covered in an inch of various liquids released from the broken vials and beakers which lay broken. "Doctor?" She called out, looking for any sign of Hutu. She turned to the intercom by the door and activated a link to security.
The had been Marine waited in its hiding spot behind a large cabinet, watching the Human which had just entered. It appeared to be using some device on the wall. The Flood didn't care what she was doing, it only cared that she was food. The Flood Marine crept into position behind the Human, slowly baring its teeth and preparing to leap.
Ensign Houghton answered yet another call. "This is security and coordination, what do you need?" She asked, thinking of the unresponsive Marine squads. "Hello?"
The other end of the line was dead, without any sound coming through. She quickly traced the call back to sick bay two. "Is anybody there?" The waited, hearing nothing except the typing from the others around her.
A sudden noise came through and startled her. It was a loud crack, followed by a kind of ripping, a tearing. The sound continued, somehow disturbing her. She canceled the link and opened another to an idle Marine squad. "I need you to get to sick bay two, on the double." She said.
"Yes ma'am, and whose orders am I following?" A Marine's voice came through the link. She disconnected the com, knowing the Marine would do as he was told.
Hillers waited among the other civilians, watching the door intently. Only a few minutes ago the Marines outside had dropped out of contact and a loud scraping could be heard on the other side. Suddenly the door began to shake, a loud slamming sound echoing through the civilian block. The Marines took up a position around the door and readied their weapons, aiming at the door. Another smashing sound was heard and the door began to buckle, its strong metal stretching and twisting.
A burst of static came over the intercom before it quickly became silent. The civilians became frightened as the Marines clutched their weapons, all of them staring at the door.
The Captain watched as the slip space gap opened and his fleet entered it, leaving the Covenant ships behind. "Sir, the reports I'm getting doesn't match anything the Covenant does." Ensign Hued said, turning in his chair to face the Captain.
"What else could they be?" The Captain asked, thinking about any chance of mutiny. He quickly dismissed that thought in favor of listening to his crew's suggestions.
"We could ask ONI." The Ensign suggested.
His vision slowly turned from a black fog to a blur, around him he could see red, and more red. He stood up and looked around him, all of his joints ached and he had a headache worse then any he had experienced. The sky looked as if it were on fire, and in the distance he could see roaring fires reflecting off of the glassy ground. But were he stood seemed almost untouched by the fire that had consumed the rest of whatever planet the stood on.
He began wandering, walking aimlessly away from where he had awoken. Where, what... He began to wonder. Suddenly all of his memory, all of what had happened rushed back to him, to fast for him to sort out, like a fire hose aimed at a tea cup.
The Captain sat across the polished mahogany desk from the ONI officer, waiting patiently as he finished his glass of brandy. "So, what else could be on my ship?" He asked, watching the officer greedily gulp the golden colored brandy.
The officer set the large quartz glass on the desk, creating a quite thump . He leaned back in his chair, casually eyeing the artwork that adorned the walls of the Captain's office. "Quit stalling Goldman, what's on my ship."
The officer leaned forward, putting his elbows on the desk and bringing his face uncomfortably close to the Captain's. "Flood." He whispered. The effects of the several cups of brandy taking effect on the usually secretive officer.
"Flood, I thought they were a rumor!" The Captain exclaimed, wondering if the officer had drunken too much brandy.
"No, that's what we wanted you to think, they're real." The officer stopped talking and started belching. He grew more obnoxious with each burp.
The Captain motioned and one of the guards escorted the officer out of his office.
"Seal all sections, vent the atmosphere from anywhere without people in it." He ordered his bridge crew through his com. "Now."
Hillers watched the door, clutching his concealed pistol. Whatever was on the other side of the door continued to throw something against it. The metal groaned and began to buckle, threatening to break. Pssshhh . A small hiss could be heard through out the room. "They're venting that section, seal the door!" One of the guards yelled. Immediately a group of people were working busily with welders to seal the small holes which had opened in the door. Even as they worked the door continued to break.
The squad of Marines entered the sick bay, taking in the wreck it had become. After the door closed the room was plunged into darkness, the Marines activated their helmet lights and cast a dim yellow glow on the room. They scanned the area with their eyes, looking for anything strange. A cloud clank echoed behind them as the door locked. "What the hell was that?" One of the soldiers asked.
"They're sealing the ship, I would guess they're gonna vent the gasses right out from under those split chins." The Sergeant said, still examining the room.
The Flood Marine hid behind a group of boxes along with a dozen of his fellow infection forms, watching the new food intently, knowing they had no means of escape.
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