Location: Installation 04, Halo Ring
Time: Nightfall
The gravity lift descended with a mechanical hum, lowering me deeper into the Library. Every inch of this place felt suffocating, like it had been dead for centuries but was now waking up to something far worse. My boots hit the lower platform with a soft thud, and immediately, the dim green glow of the Index drew my eyes. It hovered there, suspended in some strange energy field, its light casting long shadows across the chamber.
"Finally…" I muttered under my breath, feeling the weight of exhaustion settling in. The constant assault from the Flood, the endless maze of corridors—it all felt like a bad dream that wouldn't end. But now, at least, the objective was within reach.
The chamber was eerily quiet, the only sound the faint hum of the Forerunner technology. The air felt wrong, heavy with tension, and I knew the silence wouldn't last. It never did. My grip tightened on my rifle as I advanced toward the Index, every instinct telling me not to let my guard down.
"Reclaimer, the energy barrier surrounding the Index will deactivate when we reach the ground floor," 343 Guilty Spark chimed in, his voice chipper and out of place. He floated beside me, still as cheerful as ever, despite the horrors we had fought through to get here.
As the platform lowered, I kept my eyes locked on the Index. Its green glow was almost mocking, like it had been waiting for me to get this close just so it could slip out of reach. But this was it—the mission was almost over. All I had to do was secure the Index, and then we could stop the Flood, stop this nightmare.
The platform came to a slow halt, and the energy field around the Index flickered before disappearing entirely. I stepped forward cautiously, reaching out to grab it. The metallic casing felt cold and heavy in my hand, and for a brief moment, I allowed myself to feel a sliver of relief.
But it was short-lived.
A flash of blue light streaked past me, and in an instant, the Index was gone, snatched from my grasp. 343 Guilty Spark hovered nearby, the Index now securely stored within his floating shell.
"Protocol requires that I take possession of the Index for transport," Spark explained, as if this was all perfectly normal. "Your organic form renders you vulnerable to infection. The Index must not fall into the hands of the Flood before we reach the Control Room and activate the installation."
I gritted my teeth. He was right, of course, but it didn't make the situation any less frustrating. After everything I'd been through, I couldn't even hold the damn thing for more than a few seconds.
"Let's move," I said, not bothering to argue. There wasn't time. We had the Index, and now we needed to reach the Control Room. But something still felt off—there was a nagging feeling at the back of my mind that none of this was as simple as it seemed.
As we prepared to teleport away, the silence broke. The Flood wouldn't just let us walk out of here unscathed. My gaze flicked to the shadows around us, waiting for the inevitable.
And then, it hit.
A low, guttural roar echoed through the chamber, followed by the familiar skittering of the Flood. Infection forms poured out from the walls, their tiny legs clicking against the metallic floor as they surged toward us. Behind them, combat forms stumbled forward, their grotesque, twisted bodies barely resembling the soldiers they once were.
"Reclaimer, wait a moment!" Spark urged, floating ahead as if we weren't in the middle of a massacre.
I fired a burst from my rifle, cutting down the first wave of infection forms, but the combat forms were tougher. They lunged at me, arms flailing, their movements jerky and unpredictable. I switched to my shotgun, blasting the nearest combat form in the chest. It flew back, its body crumpling into a heap of flesh and bone, but more took its place.
The Flood didn't stop. They never did.
A deep rumble echoed through the chamber, followed by the sound of something massive moving in the darkness ahead. I gripped my shotgun tighter, my heart pounding in my chest.
And then I saw it—a massive Flood form, far larger than anything I'd encountered before. Its body was a grotesque mass of twisted flesh and writhing tendrils, its eyes glowing with an unnatural light. It roared, the sound vibrating through the air, and began charging toward me.
"Reclaimer, it appears we have attracted some unwanted attention," Spark said, completely unfazed.
I fired my shotgun, the blast hitting the creature square in the chest. It barely flinched. The thing was a walking tank, shrugging off the damage like it was nothing.
I switched to my grenades, lobbing one at its feet. The explosion sent it stumbling back, but it didn't stop. The creature roared again, its tendrils lashing out, smashing through the walls as it charged.
I dodged to the side, barely avoiding the attack, and fired again. My rounds tore through its body, but the thing just kept coming.
"Reclaimer, I finalized the most optimal route and can now take us directly to the Control Room in just a moment," Spark called out.
What timing, I thought grimly as I held my shotgun.
With one final blast, the creature finally collapsed, its body disintegrating into a pool of oozing flesh. I didn't wait to see if it would get back up. I walked towards Spark, knowing full well that this wasn't the last time I'd face something like that.
A flash of light later and we were gone.