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The Seeping: Tales of 2 Pilots Pt. 2
Posted By: Gruntar<OtakuMage@aol.com>
Date: 21 August 2003, 2:27 AM
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Jagged rock and eroded pebbles skipped along the surface of the desolate moon Jim Lanervel and Richard Mernova had just set foot upon. They were steadily moving towards the massive structure in the horizon. Stranded without fuel and beckoned to aid a hostile alien race, both men were bewildered and perhaps in a state of shock. "Jim, are you SURE we should just trod along here on this God-forsaken rock without any knowledge of what lies ahead? Or what we are up against? Do you have any conception of the DANGER we are getting into? I mean, a head Covenant military official begging us for help? Shouldn't we just stay back on the ship and use the COM link to send an S.O.S.?" Jim turned abruptly with his hands resting on his hips. "You want the truth? Okay, then. The COM is busted." Mernova fell on his backside, causing the natural debris under him to crackle. Unknowingly, he held his head and looked straight at his comrade. "WHAT? Jim, how, how did this happen? It worked for that, that MONSTER to communicate. Why not now?" "You felt the landing right? You saw how we crashed. Smashed right into a boulder. Not only did it knock our communications offline, the power is cut. We were lucky as hell to get the blast door open, I'll tell you that." Rich got up from his partially crouched position and once again began to walk toward the gargantuan monstrosity. "I trusted you Jim. You helped me many times in the past, but you were never fully open. I'm going to find out the truth. I guarantee it. For now, let's collaborate to get out of this situation alive. We're still friends Jim, but I want to know why you can't just be honest." Lanervel stood and glanced back at his partner trudge along the grainy terrain. His conscious began to bombard him with reality once again.
The two finally came upon the monstrous sliding doors of the Covenant complex. Their luster reflected distorted images of the pilots. There seemed to be a camera in the upper right corner of the entryway. Jim continuously slid his hand in front of the surveillance equipment to and fro until a response came from within the structure. There was a thin, plated monitor dangling in front of the entrance. It began to show an image and the men viewed with speculation. Fear was beginning to grip their minds. A sudden voice then came from the monitor. It was from the same Elite that had previously spoken to the pilots back on the BlueRose. "Attention human castaways! I am Qudar, the leader of this outpost. We thank you for coming to our rescue. It is unfortunate that your vessel in turn was damaged. Sadly, that it is matter we can not control." Jim was eager to speak first, which he did, despite cutting off Mernova. "Alright, Qudar, let's get some things cleared up. First, how can you not control you're a member of your own fleet? Second, what's wrong with this place? Why are you in need of aid?" The Elite looked down for a moment, and then began to press certain buttons on the panel in front of him. "What the hell are you doing?" The Elite's image began to fade. "Look human, and find the answers yourself."
The monitor began to show gruesome images. Blood splattered all over, bodies piled on top of each other, horrible, grizzly, sounds echoing through the halls. It was too much for even an experienced pilot like Jim to handle. He began to shout. "PLEASE! TELL ME! WHAT DID THIS?" The screen yet again became filled with static, and Qudar stared down at the floor in silence for a few moments. He then brought his head up, and mumbled as he began to speak. "The story is very strange. We as Covenant, let alone a human, cannot understand its purpose. It began not too long ago when some of our fleet was ordered to fight on a ring world far from here. UNSC forces were combating us there. We were in the center of a ferocious battle. It seemed as if both the humans' and Covenants' bellicose tendencies were put to their full potential that day. However, a life form, unknown to us emerged out of the dark. Many brave souls remained there, and fought while others cowered away and fled. I am sorry to say our men were probably the first to escape. Although I and every other official here at this facility was not pleased with the consequences of the quarrel, it seemed there were larger hurdles ahead of us. The parasitic organism, now confirmed as the Flood, somehow seeped onboard one of our vessels. They have infiltrated our outpost and possessed almost all of soldiers and staff. A few bodyguards and I are the only survivors. We were able to escape their path of carnage, and barricade ourselves inside the innermost portions of the structure. The security system seems to be only working in certain sporadic areas throughout the building. Our location is one of the few in lockdown currently. However, thanks to their ability to control other organisms, the Flood were able to use our men as puppets to ward off or destroy nearby vessels by using the ship which attacked you."
Mernova began to pace while taking in this information. Jim paused and interrogated Qudar once more. "You're telling me that some tiny parasite attacked my ship via your armada?" The Elite began to become cross. "If you do not believe or accept my story, you will perish here, I hope you understand that. As of now, you have 20 minutes until the Flood are able to hack all of our security systems and infect us in turn. We need you to escort us out of the facility before this happens. Then we can use our newly discovered energy source to repair your ship and carry all of us to safety. Of course, our vessels are destroyed and there are no weapons in this part of the complex. There is an emergency armory located by the entrance. You will need to find that in order to free us."
Jim slammed his fist on the rigid door in front of him. "Cut the crap. Look, I'll help you. Just remember I won't hesitate to shoot if there is any suspicious behavior, got that?" The Elite laughed in a hoarse, deep tone. "Of course, fully comprehensible behavior, my human friend." Jim looked up at the monitor with a sarcastic and puzzled look on his face. "I shall open the entrance to the facility from here. Remember time is of the essence."
The massive doors began to slide open, while sounds of crushing rock and moving machinery came from within the structure. Rich rummaged through his belongings to find the last bit of food left to devour before the hell that awaited him. Lanervel grew impatient, and exploded. "You heard the bastard, time is of the essence! Let's go!" Rich threw his nourishment on to the cold, hard ground beneath him. Both men then began to march into what seemed like a black abyss.
To be continued…
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