Hello all! Apologies for the extreme delay, but life caught up and now I'll be heading off to college! Woo! Does this mean I'll stop writing? No! I'll still be writing this fic (and probably an original story utilizing my original races :D), but it'll be harder as I will be alloting time towards my work and the activities around my college.

Anyways enjoy!

Chapter VI : Escalation

0438 HOURS, JULY 6, 2571 (MILITARY CALENDAR)/

SEVASTOPOL STATION, GAS GIANT KG348, ZETA RETICULI SYSTEM

The four Orbital Drop Shock Troopers sat in the hall, eyes peering around as they gathered information from the surrounding area. It was evident that something happened, and this area was only a few doorways away from their arrival point. In the wide, stretched hall was a heap of debris and fallen I-beams. These items appeared due to the tall ceiling caving in. They concluded that the explosion they felt most probably caused this, but the lack of anything Xenomorphic in nature told them that the local's possible operation failed. They nodded to each other and one by one ascended the hole with their jet packs.

They bounded off from various surfaces before landing in an open room. A few lights flickered, the cause of this was all too obvious. They set up, taking on several hard-points within the room before they began discussing the nature of the mission.

"The device we're looking for is in the Lorenz Systech Spire. It's located near the core of the APOLLO complex, which should ease up our advance if we get the A.I. to help remove the alien threat." The squad leader, Kane, spoke. He was dressed in heavy plating with a red band 'wrapped' around his body and a skull scratched on the sides of his helmet. The reflective, polarized glassy face-plate had four shallow scratches running over it. It was evidence of a battle he participated in, its chitinous belligerents being the instigators.

"Working Joes fighting an alien, that'd be an entertaining sight. But I'm putting my money on the bony bastard." An Irishman's voice grunted. He hefted his machine gun upon a wall of crates, pointing it towards a door and a vent opening.

"Of course, Fox, because pitting synthetics against an apex predator with hydraulics for veins counts as a fair fight." Conner, the newest and youngest member of the squad, snorted. However, as he was the youngest, he was also the most naive on the battlefield. He had experience, but not the abundant amount of the rest of the members held.

"I don't know, those things are pretty strong. Almost as strong as a Spartan, perhaps. Give them numbers and they'll be able to tear an alien apart." Fox corrected as he absentmindedly continued carving a Celtic cross into his breast plate.

"So we cross over to the Spire, destroy the device, and leave?" Their marksman, an ODST with a grim reaper emblem etched onto the fore of his helmet, spoke up.

"Higher ups wanted us to retrieve and leave with the EMP device if we can. If we're unable to, we either have to destroy it or destroy the tower with it in it."

"So if we can't reach the device-" "We blow the station to hell, preferably into the gas giant."

"Three options and only two seem reasonable. My guess is that the 'blow the station to kingdom come' is last resort?" Fox leaned.

"Yes sir. They don't want the station blown to pieces if we can help it. They don't want to pay for the loss of this place and the collateral damage."

"Why are we even here. I mean, this thing's running around killing people, that's it. So why does the UNSC-NIC want us to get to that EMP."

"Paranoia I suppose. They believe this thing may be the work of the Sentients in an attempt to return to power." Kane answered as he packed up. He was ready for close-quarters combat, as was everyone else. They stepped towards a door, hacked into it, and entered the next room. It was dark and Conner stepped forth into a small narrow, room. The other three filed down, looking around for anyone or anything. The young ODST look around the room and spotted a kind of generator planted into the wall next to him. He pulled the lever, one light of a stack three turning on and fading slowly. He pulled the level twice more, the three lights remaining on and with a whine from the machine it revved up. Several light towers within the room flickered on, lighting up the void. The construction work that was being done in the room was obvious, as several plates were uplifted and some cables strewn. But the sound of movement caught their attention and a lithe tail raced into a vent. The entire squad dropped down, aiming high with their rifles. Kane sent a signal to the squad for a regroup, which they quickly and quietly did.

"Motion tracker read it going in that direction." Kane pointed. The entire squad nodded, the man was almost right under the creature when it took off. "Which means its headed towards the transit station. Come on, we need to get there."

The squad filed out towards a large open bulkhead door, through and to a large enough hall where they saw another point of interest. They dropped low and close to the walls, looking out towards a man and woman. The man had her at gunpoint. They, the man rather, seemed to be arguing. The bald man looked up, as hearing something or trying to make a point. However, the woman seemed to convince him of something because he gave her a wrench. She spun, unlocked the bulkhead lock-piece and they passed through as it opened. Kane motioned for them to follow, but then the door shut and locked them out.

"Shit!" Fox whispered in frustration as he made to work with the door pad. "It's fried over here. Guess it couldn't handle anymore opening."

"We'll take an alternative route." Kane motioned towards a circular vent.

"Are you fucking insane?" Conner said in exasperation, "There is a god damn alien running around in there and you wanna get in there with it?"

"We have weapons, private. I doubt it'll want to get in front of Fox."

"What?" Fox turned.

"Take lead, you have the machine gun."

"Huh, right." Fox grunted, opening up the vent and sliding his turret though.

"I'll follow second, Reaper will take third, and you get to have the ass end. Better check that gun." Kane said as he slipped into the vent. Conner growled as he checked his sub-machine gun, he did not want the thing jamming on him if the alien decided it wanted some loins. They all filled the cavity of the vent section, and then Fox climbed the ladder leading up and the rest of the squad followed. It was small and cramped, but they were used to these situations. They made turns and a brief descent. Their motion trackers remained void, save the individuals they were following. Suddenly the two blips morphed and then disappeared. They could hear the elevator rising. Kane busted open the vent grate, slid out and set off to the side as the rest of the squad flowed out. He slid the grate on and had Fox weld the scrap piece back in place for reasons of a blood thirsty alien.

Reaper set out to the elevator and called it in as the squad formed up around the door. They could hear the clatter of metal around, the hiss and whines of machines, and the groans of the station. It was very quiet, unnervingly so. They heard the arrival of the elevator and with a ding, the doors slid open, pale light illuminating the darker room. They stepped inside and took to the transit station floor. In opposition to the dire situation that they were in, the elevator played a little light tune. This made Fox chuckle slightly due to its mismatch of the dire situation. To Kane, it was quite cliché.

The doors opened to an incline of steps. They stepped out and looked around. It was dark and several station lights glared from the corners, illuminating the various mechanical equipment and crates around in a ghostly light. The ODSTs walked down and Reaper made a hiss, attracting the squad's attention. He motioned the end of the hall, then held two fingers and motioned that they were coming around the corner. They nodded and waited as the two signatures rounded the corner. They were ready for diplomacy and combat.

"Holy shit!" The larger of the two made to raise his gun, but the smaller one stopped him.

"No! Bard, look, they're ODSTs, UNSC! We're saved man!"

"Well I'll be damned." The other said, jaw slacked, "It's about time you guys showed up, we have a huge crisis up here. Com'on, lemme show you to the guy giving orders."

The shock troopers exchanged glances before following the two patrol men. Kane was the first to speak, "I hear there's a huge problem here."

"Huge? I think deadly would be the appropriate term. There a killer on the loose, and it ain't normal."

"Would you call it an Xenomorph?"

"Maybe, but the only aliens we know of now are those smart bugs. Never seen any of them pull this sorta thing off, at least just one of them. If this is a feral man... there may be no saving this station."

Silence washed over as they crossed into the conference room and there, they spotted around eight other people there. The leader, a short man with a goatee and tactical shotgun on his side walked over arms wide. A short moment later, the leader was cut off from his approach by the sound of a generator whining on.

"Turn that damn thing off! Who did that!?" The man bellowed, "Get that thing off before the creature comes!"

A man and a woman burst into the room, eyeing around before shutting the machine off. It truly did not serve a purpose at the moment, there was no point for it to be on. The ODSTs were on edge, suspecting that it may have been the man and woman they saw earlier doing this work. That was when a man radioed in.

"Si-crackle- sir! The cre-crackle- it's coming! -crackle, gunshots- shit! It's comi-crackle, screeching- agggh-!" white noise fed through before cutting off. A thunderous crack of a pistol roared through the open door that the ODSTs had come through. One of the men guarding the area was quick to close it, sealing them away from the blood thirsty monster. Another gunshot reverberated through room, coming from a different place.

"That's coming from the transit!" Immediately the group of soldiers and armed civilians ran through hurriedly, the first rounding the corner and shouting. He raised his rifle, but the two compatriots in the other room ran quickly. The group kept moving but the door shut behind them, effectively splitting the group in half.

"God damn it! Get that thing open!" The man barked.

The shock troopers moved forwards, chasing down the two when the exit door closed and locked. Kane slammed into the door, frustrated. That door closing was the worst problem not because it locked them from the people who were creating a problem, but because of the thing that was climbing down from the busted vent in the other room. The men screamed as the beast roared and threw the nearest into the window separating the room. It cracked and blood was splattered across it. It mostly shrouded the events forgoing inside. All they could see were the flashes of firing guns and shadowy figures being thrown and torn into by a larger figure. That made the soldiers double time, because the efforts of the others in the other room obviously failing. The door hissed open and they ran into it before the monster could reach them.

"Jesus Christ, it's in there." Conner hissed his whisper as they continued towards the transit. They were traversing a compact hall and that was an incredible disadvantage. If the alien came barreling through the hall, it would most definitely tear right through them.

It wasn't long before they heard the rapid taps of talons over their heads. It was the sound of the alien traveling through the ventilation system. The monster was following them. They barged into a room that smelled of gore and indeed before them were victims.

Every single one of them were eviscerated.

They shot to the right, spearing through a corridor and landing within a large room with multiple tram doors. Reaper shot towards the nearest door with a bright green 'Call' button, which was directly at the back of the room. The rest of the squad backed towards it as the clanks and rattles increased with the obvious presence of the monster coming. The tram was moving too slow and they knew that they would be faced against the alien. But in the dimly lit room and its seemingly ambient fogs, they were standing at disadvantage.

There was a scream and they next thing they knew, a large black mass shot through the corridor at a dizzying speed. It darted left, avoid the hail gunfire that illuminated it inside the room. It crawled up a pillar, ripping off a television screen and hurling it at Fox who rose his weapon in defense. The alien immediately bounded off the tall metal spire and knocked the Irishman down. Kane spun and smacked the alien with his gun, to now avail. It merely grinned and slapped the gun from the man's hands. The chitinous monster grabbed his shoulders and threw him several meters, smashing him into one of the metal grated tram doors.

Their marksman, Reaper, fired his battle rifle. The three bullets met their mark, however, they merely pinged! off the incredibly durable hide of the beast. It turned its head towards the ODST, grinning as it did. The soldier fired again and the alien approached him as a predator would its prey. The shots only scratched the armor of the alien, inconveniencing it at most. Reaper backed into the door, just as it opened, causing him to fall back. Connor charged the beast, firing his SMG into it before ramming it with his body. The alien stumbled, screeched, and slapped the soldier into the tram with its tail. Fox was up and rammed the alien as well, using his extra bulk to truly inconvenience the monster.

The alien screamed and scratched at the large ODST, shredding his armor and slicing his skin. Kane charged and rammed the alien as well, sending it sprawling into several crates and barrels, "Get in!"

Fox dragged into the tram and the alien, upright already, roared in rage. It charged Kane, grabbed his neck and tossed him like a rag-doll into a weapons cache. Kane grabbed a shotgun from it and fired into the alien, actually managing to blast off some chitin and spill blood. To their surprise, the blood just splattered the ground. The alien, displeased, screeched and ripped the weapon from Kane's hands. It landed a clawed foot upon the squad leader's chest, who in return stabbed it's foot. Unmoved by the action, the alien hissed and cocked the shotgun. Kane, realizing the exact weight of the situation, shouted, "Go!"

It was his last word as the alien fired the close combat weapon directly into the chest plate of the ODST's armor. The man gasped as the alien fired again, finishing him. It spun to the other soldiers, screaming out in victory as the tram doors closed. They all stood in shock. Their leader was just killed by an alien. An alien with the power of feral, but with the abilities and some characteristics of the Sentients. They understood the weight of the situation. In conclusion, they needed to get that device off the station before that thing would get them.

"You wish for me to divert the entire fleet around Scorpia to somewhere else? Do you realize how absolutely insane you sound?"

"Not the entire fleet, Saren, but most of them. If I can invade Scorpia and dig up the portal with minimal damage, I will take that route." Kholo growled, leaning back into his gravity. Saren stood in front of him from across the holotable inbetween. They were within the bridge of the Dying Light, Kholo's flagship. It was an Obsidian-class heavy destroyer. It featured a split bow bearing two particle laser beam weapons and two fins jutting forth off the rear. A tilted ring like structure bristling with pulse lasers surrounded the back of the vessel. On the belly of the beast were two glassing beam projectors. It was a vessel built for destruction.

"I am already at the risk after your previous incident. So far, there have security details around everyone at risk of being attacked by you. Including me. I hope you understand my predicament, Gryllian."

Kholo lifted a hand, "Fear not, friend, I will repay you for all that you've done for me. The humans will see who the true inheritors of the Mantle are when I am finished."

"They have a close eye on me, Kholo. There are no guarantees that I will draw a significant portion of the defense fleet. I will do what I can." Saren nodded. Kholo stood from his seat and stepped to the ground. The seat hovered up into a slot in the ceiling and they both looked upon the viewing screen. It was the flagship of a fleet of hundreds. Dozens of cruisers, frigates, and other support craft filed their vision. Overall, there were hundreds of vessels in this fleet of Kholo's. Saren gave a quick smirk and left, "I will do this Kholo, but do not fail. We have put far too much effort into this. More-so than your other pathetic attempts."

Saren left quickly, leading to a hanger from which left with his personal spacefaring starship. His vessel blinked out of existence and reappeared back near the Citadel, subverting and avoiding all access codes with his on-board A.I., soon enough he was back inside his suite just in time for the soldier guarding him to check on him. He gave the man a simple wave and the man left to return home to his own family after logging in the status of the Turian. Giving a hour's break, he returned to ship and sped off to Libran.

Libran was one of the Kobolian's martial planets. It was known for the government bodies that were hosted upon its surface, particularly the judicial system. Most of the civilization's greatest lawyers were from this world. The world itself was hospitable and held a climate system similar to Earth's. Though, it had many spanning cities and was characterized by a massive pyramid monument in its capital city. A monument of which Saren knew held much importance, and that the destruction of one such monument would draw much attention. He looked upon his small cargo, from which Kholo insisted he grab before their brief meeting. It was C-14, the descendant of the C-12 of which could level a five-story building flat quite easily. C-14, from his experiences, could level the same building while also carrying an incinerating effect further out. It could, essentially, destroy at least half of the massive monument on Libran.

He activated the stealth mechanism of his ship. The mechanism was far advanced and specialized, having belonged to Spectre. It could allow him to slip by any possible sensor array, even those that regularly caught stealth vessels. He passed by the orbital defense system and headed down to the ground, landing inside of a park not too far away from his target. A mere few miles from the Pyramid, it was fairly easy to him. He gathered his belongings and exited the sleek ship and headed off. The ship in question camouflaged, blinking out of sensorial existence.

How'd you like it? Also, should I create a separate story for the ODSTs or should I continue on?