TALES OF THE RECLAIMER DIDACT
-The Dark Knight Returns OST, Triumphant START-
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, or anything from Marvel that will show up from here on out.
Summary: This idea has been floating in my head for ages. Basically a What If? Kang the Conqueror was a good guy, but the character was still there. The Council of Kang's would never allow a Kang to be a good person, as they are all conqueror's, so I thought of a few ways to do such a thing. I've been wanting to do a Halo X Avengers:Earth's Mightiest Heroes crossover for a little while, and I wanted John to be much more then he was at the end of Halo 3.
So I thought, if the Didact, the Ur-Didact was composed, and imprisoned beside the Librarian on Requiem, he could teach John-117 his role of becoming the Didact of the new age. The Age of the Reclaimer. In Essence, he would become a Technological God of War. If the Didact and Librarian were together, instead of separated for the past 100,000 years, it would have abated his rage, and allowed him to see his role in preparing humanity for their role in guarding the Mantle of Responsibility.
Now I'm definitely taking a few liberties regarding canon. Requiem is a repository made to house the two opposing forces of Forerunner society. The Lifeworkers, and the Prometheans.
The Builders were cast down after the Domain was cut off, Mendicant Bias betrayed them, and the Halo's were fired at the end of the Forerunner Era. They are still a part of their society, but not a major part.
The Prometheans, and Lifeworkers are recognized as the two major driving forces necessary to Forerunner development. To make new life, and when necessary, to make war. The builders are spread throughout both parts in Research and Development sections. Of course, most Forerunners pursued a career in one of these options, as they viewed each of these choices as the most holy of duties. For when a Forerunner chooses to make war, it is a last resort, and the species that has done so, must be destroyed to preserve life, and the Mantle. That is the Retcon I've done for the Forerunner society.
As well, the Forerunners had more time, and were able to secure all artifacts in the Galaxy, sequestering them at their Shield worlds, primarily at Requiem, leaving Requiem as an Absolute Record. This is what gives John the ability to arise as the Reclaimer Didact, and therefore master all the technology left behind by the Ancient Humans, and Forerunner Empires. The Aria-Didact imprisoned the Ur-Didact in Requiem, but he made a decision to save his wife, and compose both of them. The Librarian welcomed this. At first, the Ur-Didact did not, but after a few thousand years, he accepted his judgment. Eventually they came up with a plan together.
And not just that. John ends up becoming something much more in the Marvel Universe, as he is arrives at an interesting time. This story was inspired also by What If?117 JLU Variant, by MandaloreRequiem. As well, it is also inspired by the event, Original Sin. Not the Wolverine, and X-men one, but the one involving all Marvel characters that happened Summer 2014 I believe.
The liberties I take will also include Marvel canon. This will be based in a specific Marvel Universe, but it will have a much larger role to play later on, trust me. There at least 3 major events I have planned. At I don't even think I will get into the main canon until chapter 4... 'Cause as it turns out, a specific part of Marvel happens to be part of the 70's/80's, and is VERY early on in regards to the universe itself...
Without further ado, I give to you chapter 1 of Tales of The Reclaimer Didact...
A shadowy figure is shown, in a background of various grey's. First as a small child, among others, on a small hill. He stands above them... He is playing a game.
Now, he is a little older. He is among other children. They are more serious, edgier, their faces marred with harsh lines, like rock. They are conducting an exercise together. They move in concert. The child is growing.
Now, he is taller, stronger, laying on a table. Many medical tools and instruments surround him. He looks at his commanders. There are two. One male, and one female. He views them as his mother and father. He asks what his mission is.
He is told to survive.
Bigger, faster, stronger. His first official mission as a soldier. Quick, clean, and effective. No casualties. He does not loose any of his brothers and sisters. This time...
Years go by. He is armed by his mother with weapons and armour to fight a new enemy. One on a crusade to end all human life.
His brothers and sisters. They start to die... Slowly, in the greatest delaying action in human history. He mourns them as best as he can, as best as they were allowed to in their own way.
They kill many more Alien Zealots. Hundred's of Thousands. Yet, Human losses continue to mount.
The soldier evolves. He becomes more. A symbol. Humanity rallies around him, his brothers and sisters, despite their growing losses. They see them as Cyborgs, Super-Soldiers, Robot's, Titan's, or God's...
Then, he discovers an ancient weapon, left by a race left to time. He battles the Zealot's for it. They discover a hideous forgotten horror inside. He destroys the weapon, the zealots, and the horror. He is one of the few to survive.
He returns to Earth, after destroying a massive Zealot fleet. He defends Earth upon it's hallowed soil. Enemies are everywhere, and his His duty to be the sword and shield of humanity takes him to another Halo, to the Zealot's home, and to beyond the Galaxy. To the birthplace of the Ancient Weapons. He fights the Horror, and the Zealots, with his new allies, the Honour-bound. They defeat their enemies, and save the Galaxy, but he is left behind, a monument to what humanity has given in this war. Gone, but not forgotten...
Or so many think...
-The Dark Knight Returns OST, Triumphant END-
Chapter 1-Prologue, Arrival
Cortana frowned as she looked at a strange signal emanating from the sensors. "What's left of them anyway..." She thought, as she studied the signal. It was coming closer. Suddenly, she got a message, on a Forerunner frequency.
"Hail Reclaimer! I am 4023 Resurgent Passion, of the Requiem patrol ship Mantle's Approach. Do you require assistance?" A blinking blue light appeared inside of the cyberspace she was situated in, indicating that a Monitor-class Artificial Intelligence was trying to contact her...
She was at first shocked, and worried. Another Monitor? Or Forerunner Ancilla? How far out were they? They had only been drifting for a few days, and she had been holding out hope, but no one had answered until now. She broke her silence, and answered.
"Yes! We definitely need assistance, our ship has been cut in half, and we don't have enough power left to go anywhere under our own power. Can you assist?" Cortana couldn't hide the desperation in her voice, even as an AI. Having already been isolated during the High Charity ordeal, she would grasp any chance to prevent that from happening again, even if it meant reaching out to a Forerunner Monitor.
"Of course! I would be happy to assist Reclaimer Ancilla! I will use my ships tractor beam, and pull you inside, so we may go to Requiem without to much turbulence!"
She sent an electronic burst, in the equivalent of a cybernetic nod of thanks. The Forerunner Ancilla disconnected, and soon, a strong force gripped the entirety of the Forward Unto Dawn. She then immediately began wakeup protocol for her longtime friend.
:UNSEAL_THE_HUSHED_CASKET:
John woke, vision blurry, his helmet frosted over, as his suit's reactor began to spin up, and the environmental protocol's took over. The gel layer took over, and started to warm him up, at a steady rate.
"Cortana, what's going on"
"There is a Forerunner patrol ship out there, operating by way of a Forerunner Ancilla, a Monitor of sorts. He is tractoring our ship into his, says he will be taking us to his planet, call's it Requiem." Cortana flew through a series of scans, while projecting her voice through the Master Chief's helmet speakers.
"Friendly, or hostile, like Spark?" John was hoping that they didn't run into another crazy A.I. That had a physical attachment to a genocidal weapon. Yeah, he had had enough of that for sure...
"Not so far, but from what I can tell, it has been friendly, and offered assistance. As far as what Requiem is, I have an idea, but that's only because the Forerunner database, and Mendicant Bias told me it's what they called a Shield World. Mendicant was the one who kept me sane while I was trapped on High Charity, alone with the Gravemind. An entire world that the Forerunners wanted to hide in Slipspace, when the Halo's were originally activated. It apparently is also called the Absolute Record because it is a Forerunner Repository, an Archive, or Forge for their, and get this, the Ancient Human Empire's technological achievements." The excitement in Cortana's voice was palpable.
John himself was surprised, yet kept his calm. This was the motherload. The one ONI had been searching for, for years during the Covenant War. A way to technologically surpass the Covenant Empire, throw them out of human space, and crush them in their home-worlds. Then the rest of what she had said caught up with him.
"Ancient Human Empire?" He mused, having been unimpressed as he had come across many secrets of the Cosmos, in the last five years. Then, a dull thudding resounded throughout the ship, and it stopped moving.
"Yes, apparently Humanity used to be an ancient spacefaring empire, and we were the first one to defeat The Flood! I'm just getting this information from the AI now, as it's answering my questions, and is confused as to why we do not know of our heritage... However, he is delighted to say that he, and she will enlighten us to what our inheritance is. As for who the AI is referring to, I have a clue, but I cannot be sure." John looked apprehensive at this, as he climbed out of the cryo tube, and started walking towards the rear launch bay.
Soon, he beheld the innards of the Forerunner ship that had... rescued them, and he could not find another term to describe it yet, since Cortana had agreed, and they had not been kidnapped, so, he jogged over to the terminal where Cortana was accessible, yanked her chip out, and inserted her into his helmet. Slowly he made his way into the Forerunner ship. There were many Huragok, and Sentinels that floated about, accessing maintenance consoles, and taking panels of, doing who knows what with the innards of the power conduits, and most were just floating about in packs, as if they were patrolling the corridors. There was a Monitor-esque AI waiting for them, as they exited the ship, and entered the deck of the Forerunner vessel.
"Greetings Reclaimer! I am 4023 Resurgent Passion! I am the Forerunner Ancilla, the last Contender Class AI, in charge of the Mantle's Approach. I hope you are finding your rescue to be suitable, for we will do everything for humanity to receive it's inheritance now that you have reached this point in spacefaring technological ability once more. For it is your responsibility now, to uphold the Mantle." John looked at the AI, as he fell into step beside it, as they made their way deeper into the vessel, towards the bridge area.
"The Mantle. What is that?" He wasn't to sure on what exactly the AI was going on about. John had never been a religious man, as he was a soldier and protector of humanity for three decades. He had seen enough to believe that any God did not exist, and had seen what zealotry did to a race. The Sangheili turned back from it, however it was so late in the war it didn't matter from a strategic standpoint. But, they for had begun to change and see what they had wrought was wrong. What some had done in the name of their Gods was inherently abominable, absolutely unforgettable. Humanity might forgive, but they would never forget. The AI looked at him as it bobbed along beside him.
"The Mantle of Responsibility was supposed to be passed to humanity with the death of my creators, the Forerunners, and the activation of the Halo Array. Once humanity reached the stars again, you were supposed to receive this inheritance. It is the guardianship of all life across the stars, the nurturing and preservation of every species. Through advanced technology humanity was to guard, and allow every species to rise up to prominence in the galaxy. You were to inherit the legacy of the Forerunners, since you inherited their powers through your DNA, which she will activate, and were supposed to mediate every conflict between the races, allowing life to flourish across the galaxy. With your advancement, everything would have been protected once more, and life would finally flourish again, to the level of what it had been during the Era of Ancient Humanity and the Forerunner Ecumene." Resurgent Passion spoke with conviction, circuits lost in a past that he would see come to be re-established for all as the future.
That explained a few things. Why John could access Forerunner tech, why Cortana could use the coordinates off the Sigma Octanus artifact to find Halo, and it gave an overview of exactly what the Forerunners believed in. Soon they reached the bridge, and John sat in the command chair, waiting for their arrival at Requiem. Resurgent Passion filled them on various facts, such as the original Forerunner-Human War, their alliance with the San'Shyuum, which Cortana still couldn't believe, and other historical facts, such as the Forerunner-Flood war.
They also were filled on various facts of Forerunner culture, lifestyle, and society. The roles of Lifeworker, and Promethean, the longevity of Forerunner lives, the various mutations they underwent during their lives, and how it would decide what they may choose later on in life. Soon, they arrived, as the Ancilla turned to John and Cortana.
"Behold, Requiem."
There it was, a massive shield world, right in front of them. Soon, it opened up, and started guiding them into it's interior, where it was bright as day, with a Dyson Sphere star at it's core. The ship was guided to the Absolute Record, and John was told to approach the facility by himself, along with Cortana. When asked why he would not be accompanied by the AI, it gave the equivalent of a blush, and almost stuttered.
"I am not anywhere important enough to witness an event such as the Reclaimer meeting the Didact and Librarian to claim the Inheritance, and Legacy of the Stars! I am just a humble Ancilla that patrols these local quadrant's!"
"Well, you take care of yourself, and don't go anywhere with my ship. It's been through a lot." Voiced Cortana, as John nodded, before giving the AI a reassuring pat on it's side, and walking up the stairs to the Absolute Record.
John felt almost naked without a weapon, but Cortana had convinced him not to bring one, so that he would appear to come in peace. It appeared that whomsoever existed in this facility would not be threatened by such small weapons anyways, as she had pointed out. Now, he beheld doors that were massive, and as he raised his hand to give them a gentle shove and open up, they appeared to disassemble, and slide into the walls as they walked up to them. Two figures stood inside the room.
"Look, Librarian. It would seem your Gene-Song did activate after all. A crude attempt, and put together with haste it, but a seemingly perfect weapon for the Wars you faced. I wonder what could cause humanity to do such things to a man, how desperate were they in this 'Insurrection War'?" For a second John and Cortana were stunned. How could the Didact know what had been done to John, to make him into a Spartan-II, and how could they know it had been in response to the Insurrection?
"Well my dear Ur-Didact, crude or not, it was bound to happen. The difference with this one, rather than just enhanced, is that he has a conviction of steel, a will to protect and win. All for the sake of Humanity. I fear if the other programs are not done as such, then they will merely be enhanced soldiers, that use their abilities as play-toys. I will enter his mind, and find out the cause, reason, and merit behind his existence and later life." The Librarian stared unnervingly at the Spartan-II, and with a slight push against his temples, he found that she had entered his mind. In a flash, he had seen his entire life, as she had leafed through his memories. Once it was over, the S-II made to glare at her, but when she looked sorrowfully at him, he became confused.
"You poor creature. What has been done to you is absolutely horrendous! And you have had to fight such Cosmic Horrors as the Flood, with completely ill-prepared equipment... I don't know if you will be ready for the coming trials..." She trailed off, looking down, as her husband laid a hand on her shoulder.
"He will, with a full awakening of his potential, maybe add all the traits of his ancestors, and more, if he is to guide them to defence of the Mantle. Without us, he must become one of the mighty, if he is to succeed." The Didact's stare also pierced John. As if he could see his every memory, and every battle. A commander recognizing a warrior.
"Hang on a second. If the caveman is getting an upgrade, what do I get?" Cortana popped up, as John raised his hand, allowing her to be seen. The Didact looked amused.
"Hmm, even as limited as they are, they have even come up with Ancilla. However, it must be suffering from degradation by now. Tell me Ancilla, what do you know of Rampancy?" A flash of red went through Cortana's structure, as if she flushed in embarrassment. They could tell, however, exactly what it was though. The Librarian came closer, and brushed a finger over Cortana's shoulder.
"Do not worry Ancilla, you need not worry of Rampancy now. I shall see to it that your core programming is upgraded, and the lines of code that are rampant, are purified, and provide you with a better crystal for a home. One that can hold far more data. Once we finish with your Spartan, his training starts, and the building of his ship begins. We must fully impart his gifts to him, so he may take his place as a leader." John raised his eyebrow's.
"And what will I become?" The male Forerunner gestured toward him.
"You will become the Reclaimer Didact, guiding light of humanity towards taking their place amongst the stars, and safeguarding all life."
Cortana was feeling much happier now, as she had the spectre of Rampancy hanging over her for some time now, and the promise of freedom from such a thing was very helpful in settling her overactive mind. Adding to her time with the Gravemind, where she was only saved a few times by Mendicant Bias, she had never been more scared. Now she truly had the feeling of hope, even as an AI. So, she decided to go along with whatever these two Forerunners had planned. John had questions though.
He didn't want to be a leader... Life was so much simpler when he was just a lowly Master Chief.
If humanity had been given another ten years, they would have likely been able to completely destroy the Covenant. Their ships had been leaning towards superior power-plants(The Pillar of Autumns boosted Fusion and Power-plant design, I consider superior to the Covenant), but did not have energy shielding, plasma weaponry, and even though they had the MAC guns it was a losing battle. And there were rumours that Dr. Halsey was working on breakthroughs with Zero-Point Energy generation that would have seen a Quantum Leap in ship technology alone, which would have easily eclipsed the Covenant War Machine... Unfortunately, fewer ships, inferior slipspace engines, and that's all she wrote when it came down to it./
They had always won on the ground. Never won a decisive victory in space. Excepting Keyes brilliant manoeuvres, who would have been the second coming of Admiral Cole if he had the time to grow into his command. They just hadn't had enough time. And now they were going to be given that and more?
"Well, first thing you should know Reclaimer, is that your species was much larger back in my day. Almost comparable in height and size to the Sangheili and Forerunners. Around 7 of your human feet tall, and on average 3 and half human feet wide. So if we awaken your biology fully, it will allow you to grow to a new size, and your enhancements will be brought to whole new levels. For example, the carbon ossification will now be able to cover your whole skeleton without backlash, due to your adaptable genetics. Not to mention, your bone density will be increased, and we can even improve the carbon with a polymer or alloy we can mix up on command that will supersede your old enhancement." John raised his eyebrow's in surprise. They had never been able to complete the carbon ossification process, because of the dangers of damaging the body beyond repair were far too high. To just replace it with something better... That was extreme in the biggest way.
"Your muscle density will increase from what it was to over 1,000%, at the least in my projected calculations. It will also promote growth, but not to detriment of movement. These will be like controlled Forerunner mutations, that will make you akin to the Ultimate Warrior. Your Nervous System will increase it's response time by the same factor to keep up with your muscles. You will also have a greater metabolism as a result of this, and a healing/regeneration factor. Your biology will activate to the fullest level, enabling you to gain the abilities of telekinesis, telepathy, and elemental-kinesis." Now John looked at him like he was joking.
"Your kidding right? Like... Magic?" The Ur-Didact snorted.
"Nothing so cheap in it's description. The fundamental forces of the universe and nature itself will bend to your will, but you will find that they are alive, that they are something that must be co-operated with. You will not be able to move planets, or destroy stars, but you will be capable of great feats, to demonstrate to humanity, that you can lead them to the next level." The Chief was actually at a loss.
"And that is just the beginning..." Whispered the Librarian solemnly.
"Your suit will make it so you can become something much more entirely... It will in effect make you into a technological God of War, just like I was, when I led the Forerunner Fleets against the Flood, before I was stripped of Command, and imprisoned here." The Didact detailed as he gave a sophisticated diagram of John's biology, the changes it would undergo, and details of his future role.
"You mean I will still protect humanity right? Because I don't want to lord over them. I'm just a soldier, and I follow orders. If someone tells me what to do, I will do it." The Didact looked ready to explode, but the Librarian took his hand, as Cortana popped up again.
"John, if ONI ordered you to hand me over for study because I was upgraded to a Metastable AI, would you do that?"
"Well... Uhh..."
"And if they ordered you into a holding facility to be experimented on to find out how to empower all of their operatives, just like Halsey said they would do with Johnson, would you do it?"
"Wellllll..."
"No, you wouldn't, because Halsey entrusted you and the other Spartans to do whats right when it came to the path that Humanity would follow. If ONI gets their hands on this, they will sequester it all away, never tell anyone, and try to assure humanities ascension by way of domination, and destruction. They would keep the secrets to themselves if they could. Not by way of the Mantle. Even though we have only been exposed to it for a relatively small amount of time, you and I know it's right. Their right, only you can do this. You, so often have saved humanity, and now you shall lead humanity into the future." She looked like she was taking a digital breath, as she paused and gestured to him.
"This role, was... Is meant for you. Because you lost your innocence. Because you were trained. Because you fought for so long. Because you saw so much. Because you have done it all. Because you understand. That is why you are the one to uphold the Mantle." John saw it in Cortana's voice, saw it in her eyes. She truly meant everything she said. Yes he had done all those things. So maybe he could become the new leader, or commander of humanity. He certainly had the qualifications. One thing was for sure.
He wasn't sitting behind no damn desk.
And so the awakening of the Reclaimer Didact took place, and he arose from the ashes of his old form, with the abilities he had been promised. Once his genetics were awakened however, he found that he had many telepathic, telekinetic abilities, and more than a few interesting energy manipulation abilities.
John's biological energy field increased to 100 amps, and he could do many things he never thought possible. The Didact, and the Librarian were not surprised however, as many in their society possessed such abilities, and the Didact himself had been a prodigy in telekinesis. Then they started working on his suit. His suit would be able to channel, and amplify his abilities. It would be incredibly advanced, combining the best in Forerunner and all-around Human technological achievements.
It was a beauty that was for sure. Able to amplify Johns strength to lift a 100 tons, his speed to over Mach 97, Instantaneous Teleportation, and his reaction-timings were off the charts. Latent energy projection abilities were off the charts as well, as John could now project different blasts, which was very useful to him as a military strategist. He could use EMP, Plasma for the splash effect, Fusion beams for the cutting/burning power, Kinetic Force Pulse Beams as constructs or physical blasts, and pure Disintegration rays.
One thing he loved doing, was emitting plasma arc's from sword strikes... He felt like a little kid playing Duke Nukem 3000 all over again(Yes, I went their, now deal with it.)
Of course, he had energy shielding of the highest calibre, utilizing the Hardlight Shielding the Forerunners used, and a Multiphasic Fusion Energy Shield, because he still liked to utilize stealth, and Hardlight was always visible, while plasma shields could be tuned to a frequency beyond baseline human perception. Beyond that, the armour was made of a beautiful composition of alloys, knit together on the quantum level, and overlay-ed in perfect geometric precision to be nearly impenetrable.
Called Reclaimer alloy, coined by Cortana, and the Librarian, it was made in the Matter-Composers that were installed in the Forge part of Requiem. It took the strongest of many alloys and bonded them at the quantum level, which made for a heavy but damn durable plating.
It took a long time to make though, due to the complexity of stitching things together at the quantum level.. As long as it was connected to another plate of the same alloy, it should never fail. The inertia caused by a hit might cause whatever is behind it to fail though, a concern that was noted in the project. Which is where the multiple field generators came into effect, each of them capable of amplifying the energy that John could summon which dealt with the kinetic effects quite handsomely.
As well, he had a phase cloaking system, which took him out of phase with the current dimension he was in, making him un-see-able, and un-hit-able as well. This was considered a massive breakthrough in one major weakness of cloaking, John thought, and many would happily kill to get their hands on it. Heat, and energy sensors could see the flare-up from normal cloaks miles away, and you could still be hit by random weapons fire with optical cloaking.
This new system took him out of phase with the regular universe, like he was in a stack of paper, one piece under everyone else.
As for pure weaponry, even though John could project energy and even though it was seriously amplified by the suit, he still opted for and wanted external guns, tools and melee implements.
So he started with Rail, and Coil tech. Which was combined to produce, the Helical Rail cannons he had, one heavy 75 mm cannons on each of his arms, and a 25mm 6-barrelled cannon on his right shoulder. These were for penetration, and fire suppression. For heavy duty, he had a last resort weapon on his left shoulder.
A teleport refill system, with a rack of twelve Hybrid Hyper-velocity Missiles with a variable Antimatter payload. They were shot out of the launcher at rail-gun speeds and then the missiles own ramjet-engine activates, boosting its speed to Hyper-velocity. Depending on John's needs, it's payload can wipe out anything from 500 meter radius, up to around 50 miles.
As he said, a last resort. His weapons would surprise many enemies, since many enemies who had achieved certain levels of technology shed projectile weaponry. With his enhanced weaponry, he could blast through Promethean Hardlight Shield, and their Forerunner alloy with a few shots of his 75mm guns, and a 9 second burst of his 25mm cannon. Turn them to shreds...
His training continued, in and out of his armour, as the Didact did not want him caught unawares, from any enemy. He was adamant about him always staying in his armour when he left the station, but they trained as they would fight, and that was for every eventuality. Cortana was working with the Librarian on the plans for John's ship, and it's planned maiden voyage. John trained relentlessly with the Didact and his Promethean Warriors, and soon they began to respect and enjoy his presence, and the Didact began to see the spark in humanity that the Librarian had tried to get him to see over the 100,000 years of his imprisonment. He began to teach John earnestly, excited at having found a respectable equal once more, one who he did not hate, as he hated the Lord of Admirals during his time of life.
The ship designed was to be called the Inherited Legacy. It was based upon the 100km Fortress ships, but was probably destined to be larger, due to the scale of the task of the Reclaimer Didact. It would have Vacuum Energy Powered Nano-Matter-Foundries in it, which with the right resources, it could break down, and build anything. A complement of Prometheans, Sentinels of all classes, and Huragoks would accompany it to help defend it, repair it, and improve it if need be.
Powered by 4 Zero-Point Singularity Drives, 8 Pulse Phase Generators, with a field of Antimatter Fusion Reactors as backup. A precision pinpoint Slipspace Engine, able to navigate Slipspace far faster and easier than the Covenant, was designed from the ground up by Cortana, The Librarian, John, and The Didact.
The major weapons system on it was the incorporation-at John's insistence-of a Super MAC, or Big Stick from the UNSC. Suitably improved as a Helical Rail Cannon, able to propel a 2,5000 tonne slug at around 0.04% the speed of light, it was rated to possibly be able to core a planet. Helical Railcannon's were chosen as well as the large bore point defence in large turrets, reminding John of the Onager MAC guns. A Plasma Mortar turret accompanied this weapon emplacement, with a Hardlight Fusion Gatling Gun would get the things that would get in close. It looked like a stack-able weapons system, each with its' own bearing to rotate on, so they could each track incoming objects. Helical system wasted nothing compared to the expenditure of energy weapons systems, and, assuming the battle was won, the slugs could often be recovered and reconverted into raw materials by the ships Nano-Matter-Foundries. Along with the enemy ships
As well, the ship had ship scale Fusion Energy Projectors, 8 to be exact, spread out on the 'wingspan'. Plasma compressed to fusion level, then projected out delivered petaton's of damage, when the output behind them was so enormous, and the cannons were to scale, with the heat sinks to match. Most often John would prefer to rely on the Super-Helical, but he had energy cannons now, and he was glad to have an alternative.
His missiles, were basically larger, capital-class[look up BattleTech Capital Class Missiles, to give yourself a fair idea of what I'm talking about] versions of the ones in his armour. Hybrid Hyper-velocity Fusion Missiles with variable antimatter warhead. He also had upgraded the old Nova bomb idea, into a Hyper-velocity Missile with a Hardlight Shield. Wanting to keep it simple, he just called it a Super Nova missile. It was a planet killer, and he had over a hundred on board the Inherited Legacy. It could wipe out a fleet of ships, down to subatomic particles, and not even the Flood was adaptable enough to survive such a cataclysmic weapon. Although he wouldn't be willing to challenge that though. He would rather just... Light Fuse, and Run Away!
His most devastating contingency though... Was an innovation on Nanotechnology, combined with a bit of quantum mechanics. Designed to combat the Flood, and any other organic infection... Before it could reach the threat level of the Gravemind, and especially the Gravemind of the Ancient Past. One who would devour the cosmos, and could detonate suns, from millions of light-years away. The nanotech payload would not only eat any organic material it came across, but also emitted disruptive fields which were designed to make the ionic bonds of organics breakdown completely. A very scary weapon to even consider utilizing...
Defence Drones were incorporated into the massive new ship, as there were no pilots. The Sentinel's were more than happy to oblige, and he had allowed Cortana to... 'Converse' with them, to discuss what would the most appropriate class and designs he could use.
They had immediately tossed out the old Long-sword designs. While it was great for an interceptor, they needed a completely new class of aerospace fighter-craft. One that had fighter-bomber capabilities, interception, as well as the ability to deploy potential planet-side close-air support. Such a jack-of-all-trades craft had been theorized before, but had been discarded, due to insufficient power-plants, under-performing armour, and inability to mount sufficient armaments on the craft that could do the mission. Not to mention cost. The human race had definitely not been able to afford anything like this before.
The Forerunner, Ancient Human, and other recovered Tech John had at his disposal, had led to a brainstorming session between Cortana, 4023 and it's Sentinel's, and himself. Soon they came up with a design. It looked like a triangle, with elevated sections and compartments here and there. The command and control nerve centre was just ahead of the engine's, in the centre. This way, when there were pilots, they would be well protected.
25mm Helical Rail-Auto-cannon's, 2 of them, 2 Fusion Plasma Lance Weapon's, and 2 batteries of variable yield Hyper-velocity Antimatter Warheads. Armoured with the new alloy that had been produced on his ship, and a full Hardlight Shield Array, it came in around 25 tonnes a pop... And he could easily host more than 3,000 on his ship.
John was also in the process of completely redesigning the entire complement of the UNSC's ground forces.
It might take a while, and he had to consider powered, armoured soldiers now. Tanks... Might just be obsolete... Mech's... May just be possible... Anyways.
Technically his ship was the combination of a Dreadnought, and a Super-Carrier. He could almost imagine Fred calling it a "Battle-Carrier". Cortana brought him out of his thoughts.
"So, what'cha thinking?"
"We need a designation for our ship class." John stared at a holographic screen, cycling through dozens of names of old ships from historical conflicts. Cortana thought for a few seconds, before chuckling and bringing John's attention to her form.
"Why not call it a Titan?" He looked over at her holographic forms face, motioning for her to elaborate.
"Well, the Gods overthrew the Titans, at least in Greek Mythology... But it was apparent that they were stronger than most of the Gods in the beginning. It actually some of the Titans siding with Zeus, and his Godly Host, for him to win. I was just thinking, this ship is far stronger than a Dreadnought... And Dreadnought's established an entirely new order of battle on the Sea when they were introduced. So something stronger would have to have an incredible legacy. And you wouldn't want to just copy the Forerunner name... So, hence, Titan Class." Cortana finished with a smirk, satisfied with her reasoning.
John smiled. It did make a lot of sense, and she was right. He wasn't just going to copy the Forerunner name. Fortress Class sounded cool, but not as good as a Titan.
"Alright... Sounds good to me."
Soon they were ready to leave. All the modifications had been done, the ship was completely assembled, and everything was loaded on board. The Requiem system had once again gone into complete lock-down, and this time, John had added a few countermeasures. He, at the Didact's urging, added DNA locks to everything, and doubled it up with Brainwave Verification, just to be sure. He was unsure if someone would come back, and try to steal the advanced tech that laid here, for the so-called "good of humanity".
Certain factions, once they found out what he planned to do, would fight long and hard against the new Reclaimer Didact, just to ensure their own supremacy within humanity.
And one of the sure things they would do, is try to backtrack his path back to where he acquired his new awesome knowledge and power.
However, as the ship began to move, and it's slipspace engine spooled up, there was a fluctuation of unique, and exotic energies in the system. Apparently, since most of the Forerunner artifacts had been sequestered away in Requiem, they had created an exotic field of attraction, allowing some very interesting energy particles to enter normal space from slipspace. And with such a large object entering slipspace, after the previous Ark Event, the particles reacted as they had last time, attracted to the ship, trying to energize it.
Though this time, the ship was not torn in half, as it was made of far sterner stuff. The Inherited Legacy seemed to glow bright molten gold for a split second... And Slipspace turned bright white.
"John! Something is up with our jump to Slipspace! I'm detecting a massive amount of exotic particles, and they seem to... Charging the ship up! The capacitor's can't handle much more of this! I'm using the ones from the Fusion Lances, and from the Helical's!" The panic was evident in the AI's voice, as she ran through dozens of scans, each going over an analysis of energies and matter.
John gripped his command chair, as he nodded, hoping that nothing bad would happen.
"Our ship is strong, and I know it can take it. We'll just have to hang on." Steeling himself, John mentally commanded the ship to push forward, on to Earth. With a huge exertion, he was able to streamline the excess energy, and the ship lurched forward into slipspace
~Earth-8097-Approximately 1 million Years Ago...~
With an Earth-Shattering boom, the Titan Class Warship ripped through into normal Space-Time, right around Pluto.
"Scanning... Well, the ship isn't damaged. But we got here a helluva lot faster than we should-" Cortana stopped abruptly, and from John's experience, that usually meant something was VERY wrong...
"Cortana, status report." Her Avatar looked worried, as she seemed to be running calculations.
"No... That is imposs- That can't be right!" She then looked over the Spartan. "John... Those aren't our stars!" John shook his head.
"Clarify!"
"From what my scans indicate... And from the stars position... The year is... By the Assembly! We are in an era that matches what I know to be almost nine hundred, ninety-eight thousand B.C! I don't know how this is possible..." John contemplated this for a few seconds.
"Activate Trans-Phasic Cloak." Cortana quickly complied while bringing up screens that had equations dancing across them.
"The exotic particles. The energy we absorbed must have torn a hole in the Space-Time continuum... Or maybe even more that..." She said, stunned.
"For now, remain in orbit around Pluto... But send cloaked drone's, to see what we are dealing with." Cortana looked stunned and confused. John looked over at her."I want to ensure that this is our Earth we are dealing with. The energy we absorbed was stupendous, and if it could allow us to traverse time, then it is not a far off theory that it could punch a hole into an alternate universe..."
Cortana nodded.
Soon, he began to observe this new Earth he had been brought to.
And hoo boy, was he right to observe before making an approach. The first thing they saw was a host of titanic armoured beings, descend upon Earth. They then watched as they created two different species of humanoids.
One that was almost Goblin-Like, with green skin, ridged chins and yellow eye denoting their appearance. The others were humanoid, and completely seemed to fit the description of the paramount of physical perfection. These two societies lived in dissonance with each other, and established two major Superpowers on the planet.
"Atlantis... Lemuria... They actually exist here! This could still possibly be our timeline John... All we know from the Forerunner data-banks about the Precursors is that they were extremely powerful, capable of creating life, among many other things. To truly think that these beings were the Precursors..." Cortana's rambling brought John's attention to her, and he thought about what she was saying.
John frowned.
"I don't think these are the Precursors..." Cortana quickly brought some calculations up, trying to ascertain exactly who the aliens might be. Sensors for such things had been thought up by the Didact, Librarian, and Cortana, in case they met someone... Or -thing that could potentially rival the Didact's ancient enemy.
And whatever these things were, they each cleanly and clearly outclassed the Ancient Gravemind, their power readings completely off of the charts.
"Although there powers rival what the Gravemind of the Forerunner-Flood War Era could do, my sensors cannot realistically measure beyond that... And from what I remember... He blew up a star that was millions of light-years away as a demonstration of his power when the Iso-Didact and his troops tried to negotiate with it." John nodded, acknowledging the recollection.
"And from what we discovered, the Precursors were The Flood. These beings look totally different, technological... More like extremely powerful energy beings... Good thing, that we are out of phase with this universe right now, or they might have discovered us if they decided to look..." Cortana mused.
"Still, we are looking at Atlantis, and Lemuria! This is amazing! To think that, even if this is not our universe, we would witness the birth of such civilizations..."
John looked over at the excited A.I.
"You sure you're entirely stable? You are sounding a little too excited and stimulated..."
Cortana laughed.
"Oh John, of course I am stable. I'm just enjoying my newfound abilities, and the room that comes with it. It's like I'm inside the core of a Halo all the time now. So much room, and so much knowledge is processed. So each time new stuff comes into my sights, I get really excited, especially since it cannot harm me anymore!"
"Alright." He looked at the Earth again.
"Well, it is interesting to see what the Earth was like this long ago, and that Atlantis and Lemuria existed... But I think we are going to have to hang back, and establish our presence on other worlds first... Those beings might not be friendly, and with what they just displayed... I don't want to get on their bad side. I do want to prepare though." Cortana stated while nodding her head in thought.
"Yes... We will need to get humanity ready for such a conflict, should it arise. It looks like those robot's could wipe us out in the blink of an eye, advanced tech or not..."
John nodded.
"Chance favours the Prepared Mind, and Those Who Dare Win." Two phrases he had learned by heart from the lessons of Chief Franklin Mendez. He continued to think aloud.
"Well, they look like freaking robots, what else do you want me to call them..." Suddenly, a presence filled John's advanced sense's, as he looked around, expecting something to appear.
"They are called, The Celestials." A tall, robed figure appeared before the Spartan-Didact, with a long blue cape. He was completely bald, and had pale white eyes with no pupils, that seemed to shine with luminescent light.
"And who are you?" Questioned the Spartan, as he made to point all of his arsenal, and considerable powers at the intruder on his ship. The being held up his hand, in a universal sign for peace.
"I come in peace. I, am Uatu. I, am of a race called The Watchers. Since the dawn of time, we have ever watched the races of the cosmos develop, climb their way through evolution, and often inevitably die... You, are not known to, and neither is your ship. I spotted it, as you appeared in this system, and was wondering your intentions." He nodded towards the Earth.
"Since the Celestials were concentrating on creating those two races, and their new cities, I was able to come aboard, and hide you completely from their view. They do not take kindly to anyone watching their work. Luckily it is not a far jump for your technology to hide from them, so I had hoped to make an ally of the Watcher Race, and may-hap gain some insight into your origins. I hope you are not going to attempt to take on the Celestials, because if you are, you will lose."
~Chapter End~
So, what do you guys think? Read, review, and please question my sanity!
I am relaunching this story now, after editing it and re-watching Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Hero's, the 90s X-Men and Spiderman series, and watching/reading all sorts of Classic Marvel stuffs.