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Writer's note: This is continuation of the previous series. To find it, simply search for The Crossroads of Fate, either here, or on fanfiction.net (whichever one suits you). The story is approaching it's end/climax and will be over soon. Hope you've had as good a time reading this as I've had writing it =)


Master Chief John 117 knew that to say that time had slowed would've been an utter lie. Even when his combat abilities had been at its best, time always seem to go by incredibly quickly. Every moment he lived seemed to have been too fast in a way. The moments when the he had watched the other SPARTANs perished passed by too fast to comprehend or act in any way to save them. The quiet moments between the missions had gone by too quickly as well, even though all they had done was train during that time. Training or not, it was a peace that ever warrior cherished, and knew would always pass by too quickly.

Funny I'd be thinking this at a time like this.

John thought to himself as he watched the doors open, ever so slowly. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, while his hands tightened their grip on the shotgun in preparation. His mind ran through a dozen possibilities of what may come in next, studying the room they were in. The area they were standing it was little more than an over-grandiose doorway. The walls were wide, yet the only feature on them was the single door that led to the bridge. Beyond the door were numerous hordes of Replicas – more numbers than John would've ever hoped to face.

Yet, now he had to get past them. As the doors opened, he gave a quick glance to Gravemind. The figure now had a grenade in hand, and his arm was already swinging forwards to release it. His other hand came up and the loud roar of the pistol filled the air as Gravemind fired. Without another thought, John's hand reached for the last plasma grenade on his belt. It was all he had left in terms of explosive ordinance – best to make it count.

"Look out,Grenade! GET DOWN!" The echo came again, once over his radio and then from in front of him as Gravemind's grenade went out. He was forced to duck back however, as the space he had been standing in was suddenly filled with everything from HV rounds to grenades and bullets. John was about to lean forward and toss his own grenade in, making use of the distraction when his eye suddenly caught something, forcing him to pause.

Clattered on the floor, not three feet away from his foot was the assault cannon. The memory of the explosive rounds suddenly played in his mind, as a plan formed.

"Cover me!" John shouted towards Gravemind, before quickly reaching down towards the cannon. He gave a quick glance at the figure; there was no acknowledgement of the fact as Gravemind ducked out of his cover, let loose a blast of fire with the pistols and then dived right back in again as several red beams lit up where he had been. John followed their trails, grimacing as he saw the red molten scars they left on the other wall.

"We've got them! Heavy armor to the front! Advance!"

The shout came out. John ignored it, instead focusing on the task at hand. A loud bang interrupted him however, as a nearby ventilation cover suddenly burst out from the wall to his right. His head snapped around to the source, fearing more of the melee replica. His fear was unwarranted however, as several flood forms leaped past him and towards the open door. Infection forms scuttled about below them, intent on following their larger cousins. The scraps of Replica uniforms on some of the larger bodies chilled John to the core though – regular Replicas were dangerous enough on their own, but flood infected ones? It was a thought that was better left unsaid.

One of them suddenly stopped in front of John, looking at him for a long moment. John could do little to stare back at the horribly mutated and rotted flesh. A blob of muscles and tissue was where the head used to be, but just by the way it seemed to move and turn, he knew it was looking right at him. It right arm had grown out; changed into several writhing tentacles; each of which seemed to have a mind of its own. The left arm was intact though, and John could still see the armored shoulder pad on it.

Something on the pad caught his attention. His HUD zoomed into it almost immediately. There were words written on the pad, in minute detail, along with a small symbol. It simply read "Property of Armacham". For some reason John couldn't really phantom, the words seemed eerily familiar. It was almost as if…he had read them somewhere before?

Déjà vu?
Before the thought could get any farther, the flood form shook suddenly, reaching out with the intact arm. Looking down, John noticed what it was holding out towards him: two thermal grenades and some wire. He glanced to his left, towards Gravemind, who was simply looking at him. The mask simply moved down a bit, in a slight nod. John just nodded back before taking the grenades.

"FUCK! Command, we've got Flood! All units, open fire! OPEN FIRE!"

John ignored the radio message, and the result hail of fire that quite literally ripped the front-most infection forms to shreds. The sound of a minigun charging up came just a scant second later as the entire doorway became full of bullets another second after that. John didn't focus on that either, though. With a single swift move he ejected the assault cannon's ammunition cartridge before throwing the cannon itself to the side. His hands seemed to move like a blur as he placed the thermal grenades to either side of the cartridge, tying them up as best as possible with the rope. Within a few seconds, he was done, hefting the somewhat heavy explosive device in his right arm.

"Is that the last of them? Echo one and two, recon in force. Bravo team provide fire support. Advance!"

The minigun's firing suddenly died down. John's head snapped to the door, realizing what had happened. In front of the door, in a bloody, gory green mess lay the remains of at least a dozen or so infection forms. His gaze went towards the far wall, which now lay shredded in pieces from the sheer volume of fire that had emerged from the door.

He glanced back at Gravemind. The figure lay crouched next to the wall on the other side of the door. Without a word, he quickly stepped forward and stuck the plasma grenade onto the cartridge, activating it and then tossed it with all his might into the corridor beyond.

"RUN!"

John shouted, turning around and diving for cover.

"WHAT THE F-"

The sentence was cut off by the sound of a massive explosion that was strong enough to shake the entire ship and rattle John's bones even in his armor. The doors that were beginning to close behind him exploded outwards; moving at such velocity that they broke through the already-damaged far wall with ease. The result was another secondary explosion, possibly a leaking fuel line or something similar. The wall exploded out, away from the inner room, but the only thing it revealed was the sound of air rushing past him.

Hull Breach!

The thought rang through his mind, only to be confirmed as he glanced back. Apperantly, this section of the wall hadn't been really thick or armored from the inside for that matter. The sound of rushing air sent a sick feeling down John's spine as he scrambled to the side, fighting against the surge of air that rushed out towards the breach, while at the same time looking for anything to hang onto. He managed to reach one of the fixed tables before being overwelhmed, grabbing onto the flat top and hanging on for dear life. Glancing back, he noticed Gravemind had found a place as well – a shaft cover that seemed to be fixed in the wall as well. As he continued looking on however, John realized the Replicas weren't as lucky.

"HULL BREACH! HANG O – YEARGH"

The cry of pain came through the radio sharply as John saw a figure suddenly fly forwards from the doorway and towards the breach in the wall. The dead bodies had already flown off, with whomever was left surviving hanging on. Another body went by – this time one of the larger heavy replicas with the shield. He seemed to abandon the shield and minigun, instead reaching out with both hands to grab onto a piece of the floor. He hung there for a brief moment, feet up and seemingly like he would be able to hold on. That was when a loud screechingsound could be heard, and it came into view.

The mere sight of it froze John's blood in place. The huge monstrosity that was being slowly dragged out of the corridor by the vacuum resembled an REV-6 in it's build and general shape. However, its size and grey outline dwarfed the smaller power armor significantly, while the rockets it wielded on each arm somehow seemed far deadlier.

Still, power or not, even it couldn't resist the force of the air pulling it towards the breach. It squatted low, trying it's level best to gain a secure footing on the ground – but the fact that the ground was covered in slippery flood remains helped little. John wasn't surprised at all as the thing suddenly slipped and crashed head-long into the heavy armored replica, ending up throwing both into the space beyond. For several moments, John could do little but hold on and watch whatever Replicas had survived fell into the breach one by one. His arms didn't give way one bit, but they were already tiring from holding the half-ton armor. The table was slowly starting to give way as well, creaking and groaning from supporting the chief's weight.

Where the hell are the force fields?

John thought to himself. A forerunner ship like this ought to have force fields to contain a hull breach…yet, there seemed to be none. The source became all to apperant however, as a sudden burst of static went across his HUD and radio. A short giggle came from his front where his hand was on the table.

His head shot up, looking at the source even as a shiver went down his spine. The time span had been less than an eye blink, but it had still been too slow. One moment, the lights were on and John could see Alma's form on the table. The next, they went off, before coming back and then there was only ashes left, that slowly drifted to the table.

The rushing of wind suddenly stopped as sirens blared out in the background. John hesitantly let go of the table, stepping back from it. He turned around to look at Gravemind, who now took an unsteady step forwards. John took a few steps forward towards the door and then peeked in. It was completely empty – any surviving Replicas had been thrown out in the breach. His radio crackled as a voice spoke up.

"All units, retreat to the bridge and barricade it; the commander is waiting there."

Looks like their on the run

John thought to himself. This would end at the bridge, one way or another.

Turning around, he looked for Gravemind, finding him standing just on the threshold of the breach. John's gaze wandered from to the…space…outside?

What…what in God's name is that?

His mind reeled back at the sight that confronted him beyond the threshold. The flicker of the force field did little to conceal the nauseating blue, black and white vortex that seemed to be present there. The swirling black clouds of thunder from earlier had gone, replaced by…this? Whirlpool? Space? John didn't know what to call it as he watched, mesmerized by the flashes of lightning that arced across the sides of the vortex. It was like a tunnel almost; the walls constantly turning around a center far away on the horizon. It rotated both ways and seemed to have many layers, the nearest being the brightest and most visible, while the outer ones being incredibly dark. Even in that darkness and distance though, John could see things moving back and forth; darting from his vision like living creatures.

The frightening part was not that though – but the fact that it seemed to call out to him. It was like a symphony, calling out to him…calling out for his voice to be part of their own. It was terrifying, yet so beautiful at the same time. He walked forward towards the threshold, coming up next to Gravemind.

"What is that?"

John asked, his voice full of awe as he looked on, mesmerized.

"Death. We are in its realm now…" Gravemind replied. There was an echo in his voice; again striking that feeling of Déjà vu in John's mind. It was maddening in a sense.

I've been here before…but I don't remember ever seeing this anywhere in my entire life.

As he took another step forward, his radio suddenly became active. His HUD immediately identified several radio signals; coming in at a variety of frequencies and origins. There were hundreds – no thousands from what he could see. There were probably more, but his HUD could only list so much. It automatically picked up on the nearest one, and a voice broke through, static-ridden. The tone was incredibly panicked, the person speaking clearly in distress.

" Mayday, …day! This…Kappa 3 of the 107th Ravens, GTD Aquitaine! Do you cop…"

The signal suddenly cut out in a burst of static that made John wince a bit. His mind swarmed with questions, but before they could get much thought, the Radio pitched in again as another voice spoke up. This time this one was female, and again there was a distressed tone behind it.

"This is Dr. Marie Dalcroix of the UNN Von Braun. We have…hijack…by an unkn…source. Ship's security has been compromised Do not…., I ……..do not let this...leave under any circumstances. I do…."

Again, the source cut off in a burst of static. Before John could do anything though, a third transmission came through. Even before it could finish, others came through.

"Oh God someone help us! This is the cruiser liner Valley. We're under attack and being boarded by Reavers! Someone, please he – OH GOD THEIR HE-"

"Mayday, mayday! This is the USS Pensacola, we're under attack by Dominion forces and request immediate assistance. Is anyone out there?! We're under at-"

"Valley Forge, this is Echo squad. The bugs have got us pinned down – we need immediate assistance! Valley forge, can you read me? Can ANYONE rea-!"

"Someone get us a goddamn transport! GDI forces have swarmed all over Ayer's rock and we need extraction on the doub – Oh God… ION STRIKE INBOUND! Everyone get to co-"

"This is UEF Colony delta to anyone that can hear us. We are under attack by Aeon forces and have no defenses online! We need assistance immediately otherwise we'll be overrun! Can anyone hear me?"

"This…is Captain Keyes....someone…someone help me please. The flood…I finally figured them…I kno - "

Keyes! The thought rang through John's mind. But Keyes was dead – how could he be receiving the transmission here? Before he could listen any further though, a hand reached out and yanked him away from the threshold. John spun around immediately, coming face to face with Gravemind once more.

"Answers are a rare resource. You don't get your share just yet."

The voice seemed different this time; more determined and edgy…as if there it was anticipating something close at hand. He was about to give a sharp reply, but then thought the better of it. Instead, John simply gave a slight nod, and sighed internally. He shook his head towards the threshold and the vortex beyond. The messages he had received…none of them made any sense. He didn't recognize any of the organizations or names. None of them were UNSC at any rate…or from this universe – save Keyes' transmission.

"What were those messages I picked up? Who were they?"

Gravemind simply looked at John for a moment before replying calmly.

"This is death's realm – it connects to many, many others. The voices you heard were the echoes of the dead or dying. There is nothing we can do for them – their fates are sealed as far as we're concerned. We must go to the bridge."

Gravemind simply turned around, and began to walk towards the doorway and the corridor beyond. John glanced at the Vortex one more time, before turning back and following. It was then that a thought occurred to him: how had Gravemind known about the voices? Although he had a radio too, some of the transmissions had been on bands that only his armor would've been able to receive – especially the last one, with keyes. It was an interesting point to note...one that he kept in his mind for later.

They walked through the corridors leading to the bridge; it seemed almost like a maze to John, forcing him to follow Gravemind, who at least seemed to know where they were going. His mind longed for Cortana's reassuring presence. Unfortunately, she was many worlds away from the looks of things.

They came to a corridor with an intersection to the left that seemed to lead to the bridge. But at The junction had a large pool of blood, one which would've sickened him any other day – but now, after all that he had seen thus far? John barely even blinked as they turned the corner to see the pile of skeletons that could only have come from Alma's doing.

The pair didn't even give it a second glance as they walked through the corridors, and finally came to the door leading to the bridge. Gravemind paused just before the threshold though, leaning a bit to the right, as if listening for something. He turned back to John finally after a moment and spoke. His voice had tenseness underneath it; an excitement that John found disturbing in a way.

"This will end here. It will finally end."

He raised both pistols and nodded. John simply nodded in reply, placing a shell into the chamber and raising his shotguns.

"Let it end then."

With that, Gravemind simply turned around and stepped forward. The doors opened, and they charged in.

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