Forerunner: The Next Generation
"We were relentless. We had unified together with the single purpose of beginning our Great Journey… a mission that our Prophets had told us when in truth, they themselves had no idea of what the rings were for. But our enemy found out. They discovered a greater evil than either factions could have imagined, a parasitic race the Forerunners had died trying to destroy. But in the end, it was the new generation of Forerunners who put an end to them. He was one of the bravest… and he set a path for the new generation."
June 3, 2561 (Military Calendar) 1232 Hours
New New Mombassa, near the remains of the Ark
UNSC Memorial of 2552New New Mombassa was, in a sense, completely futuristic compared to Old New Mombassa. The remains of the Ark were put to use as a planetary Slipspace escape system in case of another attack. The city was redone. Hovercars and other vehicles zoomed around the city, blurring in the orange sky. On the ground, all the signs of a massive invasion had vanished. There were Brute Chopper pieces lying around, but otherwise, everything looked completely normal. Except for the large amount of people gathered near the memorial of 2552.
"To this day, four years ago, we lost several thousand lives to the cause of defeating the Covenant. Their sacrifices were greater than any could ever imagine. Let us honor those who died: SPARTAN II-034, SPARTAN II-051, SPARTAN III-A092, SPARTAN III-A287, SPARTAN III-G188, the SPARTAN IIIs of the Beta, Gamma, and Alpha Companies, Miranda and Jacob Keyes, Avery Johnson, and our greatest loss, SPARTAN II-117. Though they are no longer with the living, they will always be with us in spirit." Lord Hood said grimly.
The marines aimed their rifles into the air, and fired. Hood looked farther down at the crowd and saw four large, bipedal aliens with strange mandibles standing near a tree. One was wearing silver armor that gleamed in the sunlight. Next to him was another one of his kind with dark blue armor and reddish eyes. Behind him was one with snow-white armor, missing two of his lower mandibles. The fourth had purple armor that covered the top of his head and his upper mandibles with orange eyes.
Hood stepped away from the crowd and walked towards the aliens, taking off his hat and massaging his bald head.
"I'm surprised you came, Arbiter." Hood said.
"We are only here to honor the death of the de… I mean, John. He was one of your finest soldiers." The first alien said.
"We are also here to talk about something that you might find important." The third alien muttered.
Hood turned to the other two aliens, who remained silent.
"My apologies. Lord Hood, this is N'tho 'Sraom…"
The third alien bowed.
"And Usze 'Taham."
The fourth alien raised his head.
"You have already met Rtas 'Vadumee."
Hood shook hands with each of them, smiling. N'tho looked at the people gathered around the memorial, a look of pity strung across his face.
"From what I heard, this John was a fine warrior. I only wish that I could have seen him in action." N'tho said, trying to find the right words.
"So why are you here?" Hood asked, cutting to the chase.
"We have reason to believe that there will be another attack on this planet. The Yanme'e have heard of an interdimensional enemy seeking to rebuild the Ark. We don't know why, but—"
BOOM!
The New New Mombassa buildings crumbled, falling to the ground in seconds. The people ran for the Slipspace station, looking in horror as it was destroyed. From the sky emerged four aliens with black skin and green spots all over. A large scar ran down the top of their heads to the bottom of their chins.
"People of Earth! We are the Dark Forerunners… and we have come for the activation of the Sacred Rings." The first one yelled.
The four Elites charged, taking out Energy Swords. The Arbiter struck at the first one, roaring. N'tho, Rtas, and Usze attacked the other three, swiping quickly.
"The Sacred Rings are destroyed!" Arbiter cried.
"Not those Sacred Rings! The Sacred Rings to open the portal, you foolish choir boy!" the Dark Forerunner snapped.
"What is this portal that you speak of?"
The Dark Forerunner grinned, then opened the top of its head. A burst of dark energy erupted, knocking the Arbiter back.
June 3, 2561 1429 Hours (Military Time)
UNSC/ONI Base of Operations, In Amber Clad II
Hood and the four Elites stepped into the council room, looking at the other brass there. Part of the brass was Doctor Katherine Halsey, Chief Mendez, SPARTAN II-058, SPARTAN II-087, SPARTAN II-104, SPARTAN III-B292, and SPARTAN III-G296.
"Okay, I'll be brief. Nearly two hours ago, during the memorial service for C-Day, a ship attacked New New Mombassa and destroyed the Slipspace escape system. This ship revealed aliens that call themselves the Dark Forerunners." Hood said.
"They also mentioned something about activating the Sacred Rings." Arbiter piped up.
"How can that be? SPARTAN II-117 destroyed the Halos." Fred replied, shocked.
"True, but they said the other Sacred Rings that would open a portal."
"A portal to what?" Chief Mendez asked.
"We don't know. I would categorize this as a stupid prank, but I've got the feeling that these guys ain't bullshitting us. If that's the case, then we'll need all the men we can get to take them down." Hood stated firmly.
"What are you suggesting?" Kelly questioned.
"A new line of SPARTANS. Like the past three versions, only with new armor, better senses. With them, we could blow these bastards straight to hell. But to do it, we'll need to find children—not kidnap them, but convince them to join us."
The brass thought for a moment, letting silence take over the room.
"Very well. Give Dr. Halsey here a while, and I'm sure that she'll find us some candidates." Linda smirked.
I find it kind of funny that I managed to come with all this one the fly while looking at the new Halo 3 armor for multiplayer. Anyway, give this story reviews, tell me what you don't like about it, and maybe I'll include the return of Chief. Maybe.