Author's Note

I finally found the time to continue this. I hope you're happy! Feel free to tell me how you feel about the story so far, or anything you really enjoy. Any ideas are free accepted as well.

LEGEND BELOW

"We've got a live one over here!" = Normal speech.

''What in the world?'' = Normal thoughts/communication system.

-(LOCATION)-

-(UNNAMED-PLANET)-

It had been over five hours since the team landed on the planet, and so far not a single hostile had been spotted. The most the squad had encountered was some stray wildlife that got a little too curious for their own good. As such, the day felt like it was dragging on longer then they wanted it to. But as soldiers of the UNSC, they weren't about to just leave their posts.

That being said, some of them tended to get a bit distracted when a lack of action stretched for too long. Of course, that distraction was exactly what any enemy would be looking for. They were lucky that anything that they'd end up fighting out here didn't have guns to fight back with. That being said, their lack of attentiveness was starting to irritate their extra protection.

"Sooo..? How'd the game go the other night?" Samus felt like rolling her eyes as he had the pleasure of listening in on the ODST's conversations. Very dull, and not what she expected, especially from the so called 'best of the best'.

The ODST in question turned to the other beside him, giving the question some thought. "What, you mean the war games?" He asked, getting a nod in affirmation. "I thought blue team would win for sure this time..." He seemed downtrodden, apparently annoyed by his quote un-quote team's lack of victory as of late. Just who and what they were talking about, Samus had absolutely no idea, and just listing to them made her want to turn her radio off and never turn it back on. But for the sake of the mission she left it on, even though she hated it.

"Yeah, it was real close there for a second. Blue had the lead right up until the end there..." The other responded back, giving his gun a once over absentmindedly.

"Right!? But then red came out of nowhere with that Spartan-Charge triple kill, ended the whole game..." The second guy said with a grunt, seemingly finding his SMG very interesting at the moment.

''A... a game..?'' She was losing it having to listen to these two unprofessional fools banter back and forth about something so trivial as sports, whatever kind of sports they may be. Did they forget that they weren't within the safe confines of their mothership, and instead on a known hostile planet? Were they really that careless, or were they actually being attentive in this situation? Samus's fiery eyes narrowed behind her visor, a little test forming in her head. Maybe this would teach them to pay attention and do their part of the job, especially since they had the privilege of her skills and firepower to backup anything they may come across out here.

The female Bounty Hunter turned to her arm cannon, altering a few settings. She dumbed the power output of the Power-Beam down to ten percent of its normal power. This wouldn't kill, not by a long shot, but it would offer quite the surprise when it hit you. She then proceeded to aim it directly at the two distracted soldiers.

"I know.. I didn't think red wou-" Whatever he was going to say died in his throat when two orange colored balls of energy slammed into both him and the other guy, knocking them both to the ground. Their shout of pain was more or less reactionary, as the attack did almost absolutely nothing to their armor.

"What!? What in the..!?" One of them shouted, grabbing at his chest where he was just shot, only to find chips of paint peel away, no blood. Heart drumming in his ears, he quickly got to his feet, checking his surroundings, same as the other guy. "The hell was that!?" He shouted, unable to find the source of the attack. That was, until the glint of a blue visor caught his attention. Both the soldiers turned to find their additional protection standing atop one of the tallest trees within a mile, with her cannon pointed right at them.

"What's your problem!? You could have killed us!" The other ODST accused, brandishing his silenced MAGNUM. The commotion managed to catch the attention of the rest of the squad, who were content to silently watch how it played out, but ready to interfere at a moments notice. The woman didn't respond at first, only tilting her head to the side in a way that unnerved the two soldiers.

"Consider that your warning." She spoke up loud and clear, lowering her weapon to the ground not twenty feet from the soldiers. She fired again, this time at full power. The blast struck true, killing a rather vicious looking alien that had been slowly creeping towards them in the grass. The two brought their gazes back up to the imposing armored alien. The meaning behind her words were clear to them now. They hadn't been paying attention, and it nearly cost them their lives. They messed up, and she wasn't about to have that continue.

The two soldiers turned to face each other, coming to terms with what just happened. Their pride had taken a massive hit, and there was nothing they could do about it. What Samus said rang through their heads again, further cementing their mistakes and the fact that she even bothered to correct them. And correct them she did. The two silently returned to their post, now more attentive to their surroundings then before. They wouldn't realize it until later just how thankful they should be towards her.

With the situation seemingly resolved, she turned her attention back to the surrounding area. Another thermal sweep with her visor confirmed that the area was all clear. Without the immediate threat of any surprise attack, Samus took it upon herself to relax a little. Bending down, she took a seat atop the strongest part of the tallest branch. Relaxing as she now was, her vigilance stayed, as it always did.

Time passed in silence now, but it was more comfortable then before. The last hostility they received was from the local wildlife, but nothing else followed up. The sun had begun to set on the planet, casting a rather beautiful color across the skyline. The danger of an attack at dark was a very real thing, but she refused to be caught off guard again. She was there to watch over those that couldn't watch over themselves, and that's what she currently found herself doing.

Damian, that strange purple haired alien researcher from before, had wandered away from the others, following a trail that his equipment had picked up. That trail had just so happened to have led him to the sniping perch that she was hiding in, unknown to him of course. The strange young man carefully maneuvered through the foliage, avoiding trees and the like without even looking.

"Interesting.. The readings are spiking again.." He mumbled to himself, tapping at a few buttons on his PDA. He had been searching throughout the forest for the last few hours now, chasing after a faint energy signature that he has been having troubles tracking to a single point. But now, it seems his systems have finally narrowed it down.

He stopped just under the tree she hid in, unaware of her presence. Yet she watched him like a hawk, never taking her eyes off him as he moved. His PDA beeped at him again as it suddenly lost the signal again.

"Ah, there it goes again..." He muttered, more in confused interest than annoyance. Still, he tried not to let the failed attempt get him down. He wasn't on a timed schedule here, he had as much time as he needed to find it. He just didn't want to keep the commander longer then they needed to.

His ears twitched suddenly at the faint sound of something moving. His body went rigged, afraid. Was it another one of those vile creatures from before? He shuddered at the thought. Those beasts were very dangerous, and hardy too. It took more then a few well placed shots to take them down.

He carefully, quietly turned in the direction of the sound, ears down and eyes narrowed. Where way his protection? The men that were sent to protect him? Perhaps leaving the group behind without telling anyone was a bad idea, and it seemed that he was going to suffer the consequences of his actions. Like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck, he froze up when the beast suddenly lunged at him.

Was this it? Was this how he'd meet his end? By the acid dripping maws of a vicious alien? Whatever may have happened was instantly decided for him, in the form of a powerful beam of green energy, as it practically vaporized the creature out of the air, leaving only a scorch mark on the ground below as a sign that there was ever anything there in the first place. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, blood pumping. That was too close, the second time he's almost gotten killed by one of those things.

"Trying to get yourself killed..?" A voice spoke up from above him. With a startled jump he turned to find Samus looming over him from atop her perch on the tree. From the tone of her voice he couldn't tell wether she was asking him a question, accusing him of something, confirming something she was thinking, or all three. Probably all three...

"O-Ogra! Iki-tume! Err- T-Thank you.." He struggled to find the right thing to say, just coming down from an adrenaline high, the words in his head were scrambled. If the Bounty Hunter was surprised by his little slip up, she didn't let it show, nor did she comment on it.

"Why did you separate from your group?" Samus continued, leveling him an accusatory stare. Damian for his part, felt like he was once again being scolded by an angry overprotective mother. An overprotective, super suit wearing, blue colored female alien creature, who had an aggressive motherly streak. Yes, definitely not what he or anyone else expected.

"I was following a trail...?" Damian responded a little slowly. He could feel that stare morph into a frown. Hmm, perhaps that was the wrong thing to say?

"A.. Trail..?" Now that she repeated it to him it did sound like a paper thin excuse. He had the decency to blush in shame.

"I-It's not that simple.." He defended, bending down to retrieve his PDA. "The Infinity has been tracking a stray signal across the last three planets. This planet seems to be the origin, but I'm having trouble isolating it..." He explained, bringing up a mission report for her. The Hunter fell from the tree top, ground shuffling below her boots as she landed. "It, I-I- The signal led this way, but I ran.. into some.. interference.. along the.. way..." His voice slowly trailed off as she approached him. He closed his eyes reflexively, for some reason afraid that he was going to be hit. Then he felt himself removed from the ground and placed upon her shoulders, thighs resting around her helmet.

"Where is this trail of yours?" Samus inquired, ignorant to his embarrassment. The young man fumbled with his PDA, bringing up the last known trail.

"The trail led that way..." He pointed in the direction the darker part of the forest, the energy trail quickly fading from his sensors. Samus narrowed her eyes, before activating her X-Ray Visor. To her the world turned into a mix of whites, blacks, and blues, everything becoming partially transparent. She slowly scanned the surrounding areas, searching for something only she could see.

Meanwhile, Damian was suffering an inner turmoil. Honestly, it was utterly embarrassing. He was being carried around as if he were the most fragile little glass doll, and it didn't help that she could throw him around so easily. It was one of those times that he hated being so small, with how Samus towered over over him quite literally. He was an adult damnit! Where did she get off manhandling him like that? His embarrassment at the fact was only just, and he was suddenly grateful that they were alone. He would die of embarrassment if word got out that he was being carried around like a child atop an almost seven foot super armored alien woman.

Yet he could probably never bring himself to speak up to her about it. That, and he was ashamed to say that he secretly liked it up there, despite the embarrassment it brought. It was primal in nature in the sense that he felt safe in the arms of someone much bigger and undisputedly stronger then he himself. He found the want to complain die in his throat, and took the new sensations for what they were. Guilty pleasures, they were.

"There." Samus's voice broke him from his train of thought. She was pointing to a rather insignificant looking part of the forest, a place that looked just the same as everywhere else. "There is a structure under there."

"What!?" He exclaimed in shock. "Our systems never detected anything underground!" He couldn't believe it. Something that significant hidden right under their noses.

"Your systems didn't." She responded, as if that perfectly explained everything. He went to speak up, but stopped when she raised her weapon at the rock.

"You're probably going to need a rocket. The troops back at camp have-" Damian's recommendation was cut off as the barrel of Samus's Arm-Cannon opened wide, and fired a missile. The rock was obliterated quite effectively, if not blown to pieces. "How did-!? I thought your weapon was plasma based..." He questioned, a bit lost. Had she switched it out before the mission? If so, then how did she fire that plasma shot earlier? That much weaponry couldn't physically fit into that much space. That missile wasn't small either.

"One is..." Came her brilliant response. He felt like he was being made a fool, and decided to drop it. So she had more then one weapon system, should have expected that to be honest. Besides, she destroyed the rock, so why was he complaining?

With the dust settling, Samus approached the location. Even with the block gone, it looked as if there was still nothing there but ground. But she knew better, and with her extremely advanced visor technology, she was able to pick apart the illusion technology that was hiding the entrance. Damian's eyes widened in shock when Samus, and he himself, literally walked into the ground. The second they passed the threshold, they found themselves inside the largest abandoned facility he had ever seen.

The walls were a light silver colored metal, with blue accents decorating the walls. Some of the supports had collapsed, wether due to age or an attack long over remained was unclear. But one thing was for sure. This was the certainly location of that strange signal that the Infinity had been following, and after passing into the structure, the signal became crystal clear.

"I can't believe this..." She heard him mutter in disbelief. He had already pulled his pda out and began recording all he could. "It looks abandoned, but... I'm detecting power within this facility." He was in business mode now, and it was all numbers. But, there was too much to safely explore on his own. He needed the whole team here. "Samus, could you radio Red team?" Damian asked, not tearing his eyes away from his pda. The Bounty Hunter nodded, before placing her fingers on the side of her helmet.

"Red Leader. Alert the research team. I've found their little mysterious signal's location..." Samus said, not elaborating any further. The man was confused, but decided against questioning her and simply did what she asked. Ten minutes later the entire research team alongside most of Red-Squad were mobile and on the move to her location...

Line break

When the people arrived, the researchers were quick to set up a small tactical station just passed the entrance, while the ODST's went to secure the immediate area. The men and women had been extremely surprised and relieved to have finally tracked down the source of their month long hassle, and expressed that to Samus herself.

While the entrance of the facility was secured, the rest of the complex was seemingly barricaded behind massive debris, and the soldiers weren't to eager to remove it. But the researchers insisted they explore farther inside. And if they were to figure out the reason of this facility's existence, that might assist them with tracking down others like it across the stars.

That being said, non of the troops were strong enough to move the debris out of the way, nor did they have a Spartan to move it. Explosives would work, but the researchers weren't going to have them blowing up half the facility just to get to the other half. Do they were at a sort of standstill, neither side willing to flex on the situation. At least, until Samus shoved herself into the situation and declared to solve this issue.

"Must I do everything?" The Bounty Hunter exclaimed aloud, moving towards the debris. Thinking that she was about to blow the whole thing up, the team leader moved to stop her.

"Now now, we're not about to let you blow this place up." He stated, blocking her path... That was, until he was effortlessly plucked from the ground and moved to the side by her hand. Surprised by the strength she easily displayed, he found his voice dying in his throat. Humbled and a little humiliated, he decided not to step in her way again. When the lasso of raw energy materialized from her hand, he felt the sudden urge to quickly move away.

It had been a little while since she had to use the Grapple-Lasso, and she had been waiting the for the next chance. Taking a powerful stance, she swung her left arm forward, the energy rope flying through the air before it landed on the debris. Then, much to everyone's surprise, she yanked her arm back. And the one ton support beam was ripped away, landing completely out of the way with a massive thud. The ground shook, and dust was kicked into the air. She repeated that for the rest of the main blockage, and soon enough an opening was formed to the inner facility.

"Explosives, huh?" Samus questioned, the lilt in her voice giving away her amusement. Red-Leader tried to school his expression, but his slumped shoulders gave away his completely baffled state, and he knew that she knew. With the debris completely cleared, they were able to truly enter into the facility. But from that point forward, the only source of light was coming from the glow of her Power-Suit.

"Alright people, let's be careful. This place looks like it was left a long time ago. Who knows the reason why." Red-Leader spoke up, putting the surprise behind him. "Lights on." He ordered. Like a well oiled team, every ODST's tactical light turned on at once. Samus decided to offer some help as well, and turned her headlamp on, flashing the next fifty feet in bright white. It was only then that they realized that they were on a bridge placed over a chasm, one that they couldn't see the bottom of.

They carefully crossed the bridge, with Samus leading the charge. If anything was going to come after them, then it would have to get passed her first. That however, wasn't going to happen. Walking only a few paces behind Samus was Damian, gaze switching quickly between taking in his surroundings and going over some reading on his pda.

The bridge led them to a main room that seemed to splinter off into other halls and corridors, most of them collapsed. But in the center seemed to be a control room, and if her brief scans of the area were correct, then this was the main room to an ancient alien's massive subterranean cartography base. The Bounty Hunter had very little information on the creatures that created this place, nor did she know what it was really for in the first place. That was important information that she was seriously lacking, and now that she thought on it harder, she really needed to spend a little time doing some research.

But it seemed that it would have to wait until she got back, because she just picked up movement on her radar. She stopped what she was doing, her head watching through the walls, looking for something.

"Red-Leader, I've picked up movement." Samus warned, powering up her weapon. The squad leader nodded, and the entire squad stopped. Now that they were alerted, they definitely picked up the sounds of something moving within the walls, and the ceiling. Multiple things. Hundreds of things. Quietly, but firmly, Samus ordered everyone to retreat. "Red-Leader, get everyone out of here, now."

"Team, lets fall back." He ordered, not letting his worry show with his voice. Whatever was in here didn't know that they were, and that was good. Because it only really dawned on them just now, that whatever was down here was caged in. But they had removed that cage in their search for information. They could only hope that whatever they may have unleashed wouldn't spell their doom.

"Run." He called, quickly moving towards the entrance. And as the ceiling began to burst apart, his voice became desperate. "I said run!" Like the flood gates had been opened, hundreds upon hundreds of creatures colored in a decaying tan burst from the ceiling. By this point most of the troops had crossed the bridge, with only Samus staying behind to hold the creatures back. Try as they might, nothing was able to pass through the chokehold that was a rapid fire burst of Plasma-Beam.

"Samus!!" She heard someone behind her shout, probably urging her to them. But that couldn't happen, she wouldn't let it. Whatever this new threat was, her charges were deathly afraid of it. With that as her premise, she deduced that it was extremely dangerous. Adding to the fact that something else had already sealed them away once, she decided to do the same.

Once she was sure that her people were safely across, much to everyone's horror, she stopped shooting, instead turning her back to the enemy. And then, she charged a powerful attack. Before anyone or anything had the chance to stop her, she fired a barrage of Super-Missiles that sped through the air, before detonating violently on the middle of the bridge. The walkway gave a single shutter, before the entire thing collapsed into the chasm, preventing anything from crossing.

The people watched in shock as the creatures fell over the edge, never to be seen again. However, their victory was short lived. In the time it took for Samus to destroy the bridge, the enemy had built up an attack behind her. And before she could even turn around to fight them off, her legs her swept out from underneath her as she was dog piled off the ledge. Surprised and shocked she tried to fire a Grapple-Beam to the ledge to save herself, but it only got caught up in the hundreds of bodies that followed her over.

"Come on, we've got to get the hell out of here!" Someone shouted, and the group was forced to leave her behind, unwilling to let the enemy progress passed the entrance.

"We can't just leave her!" Damian shouted from somewhere in the group. But his cries fell on deaf ears, as he was forced to the entrance by the rough grip of an ODST.

"She's gone! We can't go back for her!" The Red leader shouted back. "Clear the hole! We're gonna burry this place!" He ordered, pulling out a rocket launcher. The rest of his squad followed after him, and fired on the doorway. Damian watched in horror as Samus was buried inside the facility, the rest of the creatures alongside her. With the bridge destroyed and the entrance once again blocked, everyone quickly made it to the surface. They proceeded to block that entrance as well. Nothing would be escaping this place. For it was a burial ground now...

Damian was left wondering why things had fallen apart so quickly. He knew that if somehow she had survived, then she'd be praying that she hadn't. No one, not even the Master Chief himself would want to be trapped with the Flood. No one would ever wish that hell on anyone...