Author's Foreword

This story is based off of the information from the terminals in Halo 3 as well as the story that was presented in the IRIS game over the summer. If anyone is intimate with those two sources, they'll know that the information given, while very informative and interesting for any fan of the Halo story, is very sparse and must be fleshed out. It's also all presented in the form of communications which give us an insight into the way the different participants conduct themselves and their views of the situation, but it doesn't give us any context about who they are in the scheme of everything. Because of all these problems, I'm forced to take a lot of liberties with what happens as I either have to create entire encounters from scratch or figure out the order of things and how all of it came together. Many of the names of the characters seem to be more of titles than true names, at least for the Forerunners themselves. Take, for example, Didact whose name means "Teacher." To me, that is obviously a title but because there is no other name attached to it, that is all I know him as so I've decided to make that his name, regardless of the meanings behind it. Something else to keep in mind is that the war lasted a thousand years, but that's impractical for the purposes of characters and keeping it interesting, so the time will be shortened to a few years.

We also have very little information about the Forerunners themselves other than their architecture which is obviously very geometric and, honestly, harsh looking. Based off of the game we've learned that the Humans and the Forerunners at the very least had contact between them and some dialog suggested that humanity is itself descended from the Forerunners or specific lines have Forerunner blood, such as John-117's constant reference to as the Reclaimer. I've decided that, in light of this and the fact that it's a much easier way to identify with the Forerunners, they will be essentially human in their look and mannerisms. Physically, I've decided that they will all be somewhere around a Spartan-II's height and physique, with others surpassing that. You may also notice similarities between certain characters in the story and those in the game. Not all of them are intended, but some are and they'll be a little more obvious as it ties into the entire story that I have in mind. I've also decided that the Forerunners aren't all perfectly good and they all have flaws in them and those flaws will make an appearance throughout the story in one way or another.

I hope all of you enjoy this story as this is something I've wanted to do for a while now and seeing as we've got a lot more information about the Forerunner-Flood war and the subsequent activation of the Halos. I've wanted to tell this story for a long time now and I've finally had the time to write what it is that I've had in my mind. So here it is where it begins and ends…

Chapter 0: Activation

"I am your lover...and your executioner. Here now I found myself surrounded by hell, and yet heaven is in my heart. Such a way to end all of this..." Silence filled the enormous Citadel as the small platform Didact stood on floated into the air effortlessly, the seven rings in front of him lighting up one by one as their corresponding Arrays fired. His armored hand, the silver metal caked in blood and burned from the battles before this single moment, was still resting on the now yellow holographic touch pad pulsing as if nothing was wrong with what had happened. He thought of his wife on her beautiful world watching and waiting for her death as her creations remained protected, the portal sealed and the Key Ship destroyed. There was nothing left to think or say, and it slowly hit Didact in the chest as he realized that he was the only creature left breathing and tears began to stream down his cheeks, pooling up at the bottom of his helmet. Lifting up his hands he took the blue visored helmet off and dropped it on the ground without regard for it's safety, rubbing his hands through his buzzed brown hair. The cool air from outside filled his lungs with each breath and each time he tried to take it in as much as possible. Gently wrapping his fingers around the cold metal of his pistol grip, he pulled it away from his thigh and lifted it up to his right temple. Pressing the split barrel against his skin, the arc of energy between the two sides instantly warmed the area and he took a finale breath before pulling the trigger. The single shot rang out throughout the vaulted chamber, followed by the clacking of metal on glass as the pistol fell to the ground. Didact's body remained standing for a second or two as his armor kept his body stiff, finally giving in as he tipped forward and over the edge of the platform and fell towards the abyss below.