Part 2 of Forerunner. Finally! I haven't posted anything in so long! Here it is, PART 2!

[b]2. To Boldly Go Where No Reclaimer Has Gone Before[/b]

As I stared out into the vastness of space, I recalled what home was like. Our shining silver cities, vast expanses of sleek architecture mixed in with humbling nature. Sounds of life echoed through the streets, and all was perfect.

Then The Flood came.

Shutting away those painful memories, I removed my helmet and checked my vessel's progress through slip space. We were almost to our destination. Soon, we would find the Reclaimer that somehow came to our world. Then we would address another, new threat: the resurgence of the flood.

Lost Innocence and the construct had detected small flood spores in the debris field left by the Ark. Nothing that could become a problem. But then there were the other installations. Something had woken up the dormant samples on all of the remaining Halos. Scans indicated that already Proto Graveminds were being formed. Where had the flood trapped on the Installations found the biomass needed for such a feat? And what had awakened them? Only further investigation could give us the answers we sought. And we had to focus on the matters at hand: The Reclaimer.

The tiny, silver and gray orb housing the construct flew into the bridge. Lost Innocence was close behind, studying the construct with a look that somehow showed a great deal of annoyance, even though the closest thing to facial features he had was a single pulsing eye.

The Construct rushed towards me, stopping a few centimeters from my face. The glowing blue-white orb in its center brightened and dimmed to mimic speech, as if it were a mouth opening and closing.

"Creator of mine! I bring news!" Though The Didact had built the monitors, I had personally designed the Monitor and Sentinels of my ship. "We have learned what awakened the Flood and granted them sufficient bio-mass to begin development of a Grave Mind. It is a coalition of alien races known as the Covenant. They seem to worship your kind and your technology. And they believe they are your chosen species to carry on The Mantle. Ignorant fools, the Reclaimers are your chosen species. Why, they even had the nerve to wage a "Holy War" in your kind's name, declaring the Reclaimers heretics!"

"By The Precursors." I brought my hand to my forehead, embarrassed and shamed by the actions of "The Covenant." "What toll did this war have on The Reclaimers?"

The Construct's glowing eye lost color, and it looked down in sadness. "Only about two-hundred million five-thousand remain, my creator," the construct whispered, his voice weak and tormented, "even after the six years since the end of their war with The Covenant."

A lone tear rolled down my face and dripped to the floor. How could creatures that claimed to worship us do such harm to The Reclaimers? It was unbelievable.

Suddenly, The Scribe and The Skeptic entered the room. With a heavy heart, I informed them of the state of the Human race. Their reactions were worse than mine. The Scribe burst into tears, as did The Skeptic, and though I did my best to comfort them, I too felt great sadness. So many dead. And all of it done in our name. How could we continue on knowing this atrocity had been committed by species that worshipped us?

"We're about to reach the Mother World, Archivist," The Construct chirped, and we all turned to face him. It was time to meet the Reclaimer who had found our world. I counted down the seconds in my head. 1…2…3… and then we blasted out of Slip Space.

John awoke to a loud noise. It sounded like heavy boots hitting metal. John then realized where he had just been. Cryo-sleep. Though he had not taken Cytprethaline, a drug necessary to stop fatalities from occurring while in the freezer, he had survived being frozen alive and thawing. But what had happened that he had been found, floating out in the middle of nowhere? Then John remembered Cortana, and his last spoken sentence to her: "Wake me when you need me." Did Cortana actually need him. And just where was he? Wherever he was, he was about to find out. The cryo-tube was open, and through the dense fog that spilled out of the pod, he could see three figures. John readied himself, and leapt forward into the air.