Halo 4: Midnight

by SPARTAN-IV A061

ALTERNATE UNIVERSE! In another time, the Master Chief's grenade that he had planted on the Didact didn't detonate. Because of this, the Didact rid of the Master Chief and proceeded to Compose the rest of humanity. However, all hope for the rest of the galaxy may not be yet lost, and the solution is in the form of a Sangheili, Thed 'Nbek.

Prologue

July 24, 2557 1240 Hours

Mantle's Approach, In Orbit above Earth

"So misguided." The Didact noted as he held the Master Chief within his constraint field. The Master Chief, however, couldn't respond due to the constraint field choking him. He moved the Spartan above the slipspace portal below, and as he increased his constraint field's strength, he told him quite plainly "Humanity's imprisonment is a kindness."

Then, he heard a whispering, as if there was somebody invoking the ancestors, and he saw many versions of the human's ancilla rising from the light bridge.

"In that case, you won't mind if we return the favor." The collective of the increasingly-rampant ancilla stated, and the Didact attempted to calm it.

"Your compassion for mankind is misplaced." He stated.

"I'm not doing this for mankind." The collective stated, and then they jumped into his armor, which started to be held down by hard light beams. As the Didact struggled against his restraints, the human climbed up onto the bridge and ran up to him, seeming to place something onto his armor. The Didact broke free of the hard light restraints and held up the human in his constraint field once again. As he started moving the human towards the edge of the bridge, he heard a clinking noise, and looked down to see a pulse grenade rolling away. The Didact realized that the human must have attempted to use it as a final hope of defeating the Forerunner, and in the back of his mind, the Didact felt grateful that the grenade had not functioned properly. He moved the human above the slipspace portal, and threw him down into it, and proceeded to walk back towards the Composer.

The human had bought mere minutes, but it would not matter. Within the next day, the Didact used the Composer on all of the Earth, and after obtaining coordinates for other human systems, set off on his duty. By the end of the week, there would be no living specimen of humanity left in the galaxy.