STRING 35
Earth calendar – estimated 97,445 BCE…
(Compiler note: prior account was assembled from strings 24 to 30 of the file hitherto known as 'Silentium', which serves as a major source document for much of the battle that followed, along with some Lifeworker records from Omega Halo, and files apparently preserved by the 'reprobate' himself, with which we open…)
The vast armada descended upon the greater Ark, shaded in the umbra of hundreds of Star Roads, blotting out much surrounding light. Unlike moons and other normal objects, they did not cast recognisable shadows, and lit many things in a sort of ghostly, pale half-light. Tendrils of energy knotted and twined across their length, sometimes darting out like small tongues. Over one million Flood infected vessels bisected the ghostly tendrils as they swarmed toward their target. Nearby, a Forerunner dreadnought maintained position, housing the two architects of the enemy armada, preparing for hostile action.
"The Forerunners' shelter lies before us, Great One – and their forces have assumed a defensive screen between us and its surface. Shall I transmit terms for surrender?" Mendicant inquired.
"You may do so if you see fit, Contender – but I do not expect them to listen to your prudence, or wisdom, at this late juncture. If any are to yield to us, we must first break the resolve of this small, yet still dangerous fleet. And beware too, of that nascent Halo weapon – soon, I fear, to be turned against us, if they can direct and tune it quickly enough. Defiance is their fruit, and despair is the nectar we will harvest, in its place. Then sweet offerings, garlands for our march to triumph…"
"I shall do as you command. And… shall we try to absorb many of them, into the Flood's patient embrace?"
"Do not count upon it being so easy. Leave the stragglers to that… privilege. The rest shall likely rather torch themselves – so use a light touch, as we draw close…"
Small Lifeworker vessels hurried towards the surface of Omega Halo, to conduct evacuation or ferrying flights, depending on what use was made of the mega structure. Across its surface, Monitor machines, led by Chakas, in his new mechanical body, floated about, organising proceedings.
Even as they did, a frightening message echoed across the ring, and throughout the entire system, broadcast courtesy of Mendicant Bias, who had arranged for his present master to speak to all here.
"Forerunners, children of Ghibalb, and others who dare to resist the fruition of long drawn plans: I… am a Monument – to all your sins…
"You cannot hope to resist, but if you try, know that some among you will be kept alive, to witness the downfall and destruction of your brethren, sistren – your very children themselves.
"Destruction comes upon you as certainly as flood waters in a plain, or avalanches in the mountains – there is no outrunning it, no confronting it; all who stand in the way are swept aside, before us. If you wish to surrender and await my visitation, to decide what is to be done with you, I will accept it, for a limited time…
"For those that refuse, there will be great wrath: I shall not hesitate, nor turn aside.
"You brought nothing into this world – and we will ensure you bring nothing out…"
Many froze in fear and apprehension at the malediction placed before them – and then, seeing no alternatives, and still trusting faintly to hope, they continued their work, steadfastly.
Further messages periodically played whilst they worked. Then a shadow fell over the land, eclipsing the Ark's artificial sun. It was a great, towering metal shape, of perhaps the most powerful of the Forerunner warships arrayed in clouds above them – the Mantle's Approach, flagship of the original Didact. And it was descending upon them all, upon the workers and scientists, the protecting guards, and the scattered populations of regressed human beings, in various sub species and branches, that were gathered on this particular Halo.
As the giant warship, the size of a small moon, slowed to a halt above the land, a message was broadcast, in the resonant, sombre tones of the Didact himself:
"We stand at the end of civilisation as it has been known in this galaxy. Yet a victory can yet be snatched from this. I go from here to engage the enemy in new ways – and I shall take many of you with me. You shall fight again – know victory again. And also, you will know again… your place."
"What was that about?" one lifeworker asked Chakas fretfully.
"I… do not know – vexing, oh most vexing…"
Minutes later, the huge warship was above one of the major villages, and watches below saw the structure mounted in a cradle below the main weapons array, in the forward face: it was a finial metal tower, over two hundred metres high, and it was being tilted to point straight at them.
Without further warning, a yellow glow of energy flowered at the end of the structure, and then shot down into the landscape below, the yellow light spreading out like a pool of water, into the village and surrounding lands.
Primitive humans stood transfixed, looking up in terror. Many were rooted to the spot, whilst others fell over and winced in pain. In moments, many dissolved, and were funnelled up into the sky, towards their tormenter – ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Chakas watched in powerless horror, from aboard the Librarian's starship, the Audacity, as his already frightfully rare species became even rarer. From here, he easily recognised the familiar Composer weapon. In shocking suddenness, the Didact had betrayed them all.
The Librarian teleported down to examine the aftermath, to find if anything was left, any survivors; the village stood pretty much untouched, with minor scorching from unleashed energies. Of the bodies, she found nothing but dust, and what might be organic ashes. All that was physical had been eradicated here, and on other sites. What was spirit, what was mind, had been – snatched, away.
"They were to be safe here. I ensured they would rise once more… better than before," she murmured, brokenly.
Alongside one of her aides, she turned at the unexpected intrusion of a holographic projection – this one of her own husband, the renegade Didact.
"Your pets… have a nobler purpose ahead of them," the now frightsome-faced warrior addressed her, mockingly.
"You do not face me in person after your deceit!" she snarled.
"I have an army to build from the raw materials harvested this day. The citizens of this Halo are my first conscripts," the Didact explained dismissively. "…And with them in my thrall, the Flood will meet its defeat. Humanity's loss of its biological form will serve as final payment for their crimes. It is a kindness… they do not deserve," he finished, making a sweeping gesture with his arm, a statement of finality. His image faded away before she could voice another sentence… or curse.
She stood there, for only moments, but what felt inside like torturous years, like the millennia of separation she had faced from the Didact long ago. Now, though he lay but an orbit away from her, a vaster gulf separated them than had ever before.
"What will be done?" asked her aide, still stunned.
"Move the other humans to safety. Ensure the security of their index samples; they must finish what we have failed to do." This stated, the laying down of still more far flung plans that would, that must, continue to bear fruit, she began to walk away.
"Librarian? Where are you going?"
"To stop my husband's madness…
The battle that soon raged in orbit of the large Ark was brutal, chaotic, frightening, and generally, confusing. Even those who had a an overall view of each side's forces, and continually updated tactical displays, struggled to process it all.
On one side, lay seventy-five spinning-top Fortress-class battle platforms, coordinating a fleet of thousands of other vessels, including many dreadnoughts, both the older versions, and the newer Sojourner-class, of the 'Dragoon' subtype. Each was a bladed shape, like a scythe, over nine kilometres long, frequently attached to a larger battle platform, shaped like an immense broadsword, thirty four kilometres 'high' - whist a second Sojourner was docked on the opposite side of the 'hilt', completing the formidable array of firepower. Beam cannons and pulse arrays studded the 'shoulders' of the battle cluster, like polished bolts on a great steam locomotive.
On the other side lay over one million assimilated vessels from around the galaxy, most Forerunner, both military and civilian – and impressive as that armada was, it paled before the ancient titans awoken from slumber to escort them, looking like bizarre knots of string, or nightmarish jellyfish tangles of tentacles and amorphous shapes.
Opposition to the immense enemy force was guided by Bornstellar, now in command of many major forces, and assisted by the Examiner, Offensive Bias, and a grizzled old female warrior named Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished, who had once served the original Didact; now departing the battle field – to the consternation of many. Elsewhere, many made ready to activate Omega Halo, and use it's directional weapon blast to take out as many enemy ships as possible in one blow – and, it was hoped, blunt the enemy advance for a time, to buy time for others to flee. For final activation, they must operate the ring's own control centre, though.
"Audacity says that the Ur-Didact's ship has conducted an unauthorised intrusion… and used a Composer!" Bitterness exclaimed. "The humans… they're gone; they've been composed."
There was no time to process this overmuch though, beyond shared grimaces, and reassurances that Audacity was escaping. They made landfall near the control centre, near a major ravine, and disembarked, ready to step inside the inner chamber.
"It's out there, your monster: Mendicant Bias. Can't you feel it?" Bitterness continued, sounding spooked. Bornstellar only nodded, tiredly.
"Faber is here," the Examiner said, indicating a familiar tall figure, in now soiled and neglected ceremonial armour.
The two old adversaries faced each other, silent for a moment, before Faber asked a robotic ancilla to hand over the coordinate data to the lesser Ark, and firing codes to the remainder of the Halo Array.
"These will enable you to trigger the entire Array, whether from the other Ark, or from one of the individual installations, theoretically. It has not been tried before; you have all I have, Didact. I share responsibility with the Warrior-Servants. No longer will I bear this burden alone."
And what once may have been seen as a privilege by him, now assumes its true weight, Bornstellar reflected, half sombre, half satisfied.
Within the large control room citadel, Faber strode onto the raised inner platform, activated the holographic map of the ring, and primed the firing controls, ready to lash out at the enemy horde, to spit defiance once again, with the tool he had himself devised.
"Will you escape with the Iso-Didact, Master Builder?" the Examiner asked, curiously.
"No. That is my Ark," Faber said with a sweeping gesture. "And this is my Halo. Throughout my life I sought power and profit for myself, for my rate. Now – at long last – I think I understand the meaning of a crime against the Mantle. After this, no need to seek balance: I will await my penance here," he finished, resignedly.
They looked at him with new respect, bearing witness to his new contrition, to his dutifulness – hitherto unexpected.
Still, time grew short as the enemy penetrated the perimeter of the fleet, and grew ever closer. The main concentration of ships was between them and any escape route to Path Kethona, the dwarf galaxy, and Faber emphasised that only a full, unmitigated discharge could guarantee destruction of the Star Roads, the main obstacle to a successful escape of any of their forces. And so, at Faber's prompting, the firing sequence began, even as more and more of the Flood drew within their figurative crosshairs.
At this power level and configuration, the wave of Halo energy would continue unabated, out beyond the galactic periphery, and likely to Path Kethona as well. Bornstellar dimly wondered, for a moment, if this was to be another covering up of past crimes, on Faber's part – on their whole part, as likely.
"Artefacts within perimeter – one million kilometres," Offensive Bias announced. Faber made the final targeting corrections.
"Forgive us," the Examiner said, and watched Faber hit the holographic activation trigger…
Like a searchlight beam, the Halo effect – carried upon a wave of neutrinos made to overlap in phase, until they actually acquired some tangible mass – screamed out of the weapon, from its focal point within the apex of the ring, and soared into space, slamming into Star Roads and enemy ships, and leaving them lifeless in its wake. Slowly, the affected 'roads' began to fall apart, disentangling into pale wispy threads, like a ravaged quilt – or a jellyfish savaged by piranhas. Undimmed, the beam continued on, faster and faster, reaching into slipspace as well, by a far off projected micro portal.
In due course, unswerving and un-haltable, it would reach Path Kethona, and that too, would be largely scoured of life, Bornstellar realised. All record of some of their most distant ancestors, and their own cousins – as well as the legacy they had left.
Spotting that the Mantle's Approach had activated a cloaking device and fled, and the Librarian's own ship was safely underway, Bornstellar summoned a vessel to evacuate them – but it was tardy in its arrival.
Moving ever faster, those Star Roads not in the path of the Halo beam descended onto the ring, and began carving into it, shaking it apart. The large control room even began to shake upon its cradle, and the ground below began to fracture. The rescue ship was swatted aside and crashed into the ring-wall, which held in the atmosphere – or would soon fail to, all feared.
As the ground gave way below him and the others, Faber made his peace with what he had and had not accomplished, on lives saved and safely evacuated, legacies lost and preserved – and how he would at least not have to live to see the galaxy he knew scoured clean of all life.
There, upon his mightiest creation, a tool of galactic scale, made in the image of the greatest tool makers – and as he sometimes saw them, his own creators – Faber the Master Builder fell out of history, and out of Living Time, seeking what solace he could in his last moments, and a place in the ledgers of the Domain.
Bornstellar, the erstwhile warrior recruit turned leader, would live to fight another day though, snatched up by one fretful Monitor who had once been a human being, repaying an old debt…
The Librarian's ship, Audacity, made its way to the historic shield world of Requiem, Shield 0001, foundation of the Didact's old warrior tactics – and his last redoubt: a place from which to lurk, like a trapdoor spider, and lash out at the Flood.
Having been granted access, she translocated onto the surface, to be greeting by a sturdy female Promethean warrior named Endurance-of –Will – and old colleague of the Didact, and, she also remembered, at one time, a romantic rival for his hand.
It did not fully surprise her, that said – that the warrior leader had summoned his most loyal and long-term followers to his side. Did he also plan to overthrow the Ecumene and take power, though? And if our own weapons were ever turned against us – long plans, certainly…
It was to be a battle of contingency plans, and of impulsive, canny moves – to gain access to his inner sanctum, to surprise him there, and restrain him – however possible.
So she swung into action, persuading Endurance as best she was able, a soldier already preparing herself to make the sacrifice of giving up her own organic body to the Didact's cause, to become one of the mechanised warriors he was stocking more and more of his fortress with – millions, perhaps. And then more: to wage effective conflict against the Flood would take hundreds of billions, perhaps. And having stolen human essences for that purpose, she struggled to think of where he would draw the line, ever cease his raids, whilst finding more and more ways to justify it.
So she feared – but she did not share all of that with Endurance. She had a more potent argument.
"The Primordial: an experience so traumatic he kept the facts hidden from me for nine thousand years. (Compiler note: in Forerunner calendar) Such a creature, with such a dark brilliance, would play upon his oldest fears, twist emotions made fragile during a lifetime of war and hardship and politics. Twist, intensify – and distort them."
"Torture has never broken one of our rank," Endurance had protested.
"The Didact has been subjected to the examinations of something so very close to a god… one related to those who we assumed had passed the Mantle to us, but most definitely have not."
"Enough, Lifeshaper! I will not listen to blasphemy, even from you…"
And even in death, we shall hold it still, she mused, recalling a discussion with the Didact about the Mantle, millennia ago.
"Has he brought you into his plans? Made them clear?"
"Clear enough: I serve, I do not judge. He believes he will defeat the Flood with these new Prometheans, that the scattered remnants of Forerunners will survive, and that they will eventually reunite. He will summon them, then govern and reorganise. Requiem will become centre for the Forerunner resurgence, the foundation upon which we will rightfully claim the Mantle."
More madness, the Librarian reflected sadly - a desperate clinging to the past. And it was to be worse: with humans to be contained, then other potentially hostile or disruptive species would be suppressed, or eradicated altogether. That never again would opposition rise against the eternal fount. The Forerunners would become a luminous sun; and an impervious shelter to all lower lifeforms – if they committed to total subjection and loss of autonomy, of even future growth - a diamond hard ceiling.
She suspected that had been how the Precursors had seen things as well, during that previous terrible war and sudden revolt by her ancestors, and wondered how many permutations of this same poisoned chalice of a philosophy was being spread by agents throughout the galaxy – and may yet, in future, be.
"And does that mean that all life deserves to suffer, to be extinguished – leaving only Forerunners? Is the rule of the Mantle without meaning?"
"There is meaning – and there is duty, Lifeshaper…"
"Which duty foremost?"
"The Mantle – always…" Endurance said, sadly, doubt growing in her eyes; the Librarian's points were beginning to sink in.
"Then the best thing we can for the Didact… is to stop him, force him to reason. The Cryptum…"
And in the end, her words had the desired effect.
"…He has insisted I be armed and made part of his protection detail," she informed a low ranking Monitor, later that day.
"A weapon shall be procured, Lifeshaper. Shall I announce you to the Didact?"
"He is aware of my presence…"
In time, she was brought a Promethean sniper-carbine, a smaller version of the feared binary-rifle, with a variety of settings she began to investigate. She relied on his complacence, here in his inner sanctum, surrounded by the most loyal subordinates, on his own desperate need for sanctity and trust: it was almost cruel.
She feared he might never forgive her.
In his chambers, he barely turned his head to her.
"The gathering was necessary," he said, in response to her queries on the humans.
"What do you plan for them?"
"The human essences will go where all but one of my Prometheans have already gone. Their loyalty is now past question. They are only hope against the parasite…" his confronted her, face gaunt, withdrawn, eyes colder and crueller. "Your humans will find immortality as a new kind of weapon. They are now Prometheans – an honour I have granted them, though they do not deserve it."
He spoke of how they retained a tremendous capacity for ferocity, for tenacity, perhaps courage, if she reads him right. He remains distracted. "They brought the parasite to our shores, now they will serve to cauterise it…"
With his back to her, the Librarian open fired, unleashing a non-lethal round from the Forerunner carbine, but enough to seriously hurt and cripple the Didact where he stood. He toppled like a mighty tree hit by lightning, leaving an alarming thud behind. Concealed from view inside his armour, his suit's systems begin working to heal the damage and restore neural functions. During that time, he would be powerless…
On another level of the command sector, she oversaw his installation into a bronze, metallic Cryptum shell – a combat Cryptum, that was also mobile when fully reactivated, and capable of command control functions – for now, locked down (Compiler note: some 81 metres in diameter, larger than most other Cryptum models indicated).
Endurance of Will completed her transformation into a Promethean Knight, and agreed to watch over the Didact, whilst Requiem went into lockdown and isolation – it's occupants to rest in peace, the tranquil deceased – until such time as they might be needed again. Intruders and those with unwelcome intent toward the Didact would be repelled, contained or eliminated as necessary. The Librarian passed on her authorization codes and other crucial data she felt they would require, and at her touch, Endurance's armoured carapace shifted to a blue glow, followed by all the other Prometheans. Within the planet's computer systems was also left a digital essence of the Librarian, a duplicate of hers, to greet the Didact upon awakening, if she was not able to do so herself – as well as to guide any who came here, including humans, in some future time.
Finally, she connected up the Cryptum to the Domain, hoping the Didact could peacefully commune there, and find some of the answers he had once sort, and the voices of those who had gone before – perhaps even their own blood and kin. She left a message for his ears to dwell upon, before she departed:
"My dear husband… I know your crimes: I have found forgiveness. I know your reasons – I understand them. I know you, perhaps better than you could ever hope to know yourself. I ask you… forgive my transgressions. Like yourself, all I have done, I have done for the greater good.
"Our time as the galaxy's caretakers is passed. The Flood have overrun us. In the days to come, the Halo rings will fire, eradicating the Flood - and all other life, for a time. I have worked hard to index all species in known space. When the time comes, these indexes will open, and once more, the galaxy will breathe and grow... Blood will pump, life will claw its way out of the oceans and through the mud. Babes will be born, grow old under the warmth of a thousand suns. Civilizations will rise in our stead, and our job as caretakers will at last bear fruit. Until then, I leave you here, my love. The only living thing in this galaxy, sealed safely away.
"Spend these ages ahead of you in meditation on your choices. When you wake, you will find the humans. I have ensured that they will grow strong and vibrant... they will be our rightful heirs. Their gene plan dictates that the galaxy will be theirs to care for by then. I beg of you – find the strength to help them learn from our mistakes. And my husband? Let them teach you something. Please…
"May you find peace in the Domain – and never forget the love I bear you. May it endure, even if I do not…"
And with her work done, she wistfully departed aboard her vessel, to complete the last of her work involving the humans. She used secret Slipspace routes, and called whatever loyal workers were available to support her, even as the Flood's armies closed ever more tightly upon them and their fields of labour.
Elsewhere, aboard a Gargantua-class transport, Bornstellar and Chakas began their journey toward the so-called 'lesser Ark', now the last repository of rescued species, beyond those few still kept on Halo rings or awaiting pick up. It was also to serve as the final control hub for the last battle against the Flood, to buy time until they were ready to hit as many enemy forces at once with the Halo Array. A large portal, one of the earliest ones built, during the Ark project, now led to their destination, and allowed them to bypass enemy blockades or roving death squadrons – as well as the warped eddies and barricades they were now somehow erecting into slipspace itself.
When they emerged, an impressive sight greeted them: a huge, artificial world shaped like a massive flower, or a coronet, with eight massive 'arms' sweeping gradually up from a dish-like main body, encircling a small moon in its hollow centre. In total diameter it stretched around ten times as wide as the entire human homeworld the two of them had visited and then been swept far away from; and in parking orbit around it, tilted at various angles and orientations, as if they were clumsily thrown quoits landing haphazardly across as playing ground, were six Halo rings – the newer, smaller ones, now theirs to command.
Soon a seventh was hoped to join them, and once all the rings were dispersed to their target sites around the galactic disc, the most powerful weapon in galactic history would finally be primed to fire – whatever the cost. They had gone too far to turn back from that now.
A message from the Librarian slightly altered their plans, though.
"She's on Erde-Tyrene, but not just to save humans: she's requested a ship! This one, actually – if you are willing to part with it," Chakas said excitedly.
"It has carried us well, but we will need to replenish the slipspace core before we send it to her," Bornstellar decided.
"May I travel to Erde-Tyrene and assist the Lifeshaper?" Chakas said, with much longing – both to see his people, and the virtual goddess who had protected them.
"No – she says she is trying to draw off the Flood. I believe her, but I think she has other motives. Besides, there would be no hope of your return – and I need you. We have to disperse the Halos as soon as possible: I need you there to ensure success. Will you do this for me, friend?"
Chakas reflected on Bornstellar's words, and in short order, agreed.
"I will do as you command, and aid you in this final, and most desperate duty – protocol demands it, I gather. And I have begun to summon our remaining military forces to us, to operate under your command. To them, you are now the Promethean – apparently, the original remains interdicted at Requiem, and the Librarian has instructed all our forces to refuse to take command from him. As of this moment, you are now the Didact, in title, role, and actuality."
Bornstellar bowed his head fitfully, in acknowledgement of this news –and the grave responsibility that now fell upon him, to oversee the final, possibly pyrrhic battle – that might see the end of the remaining Forerunners, even should they prove victorious.
"Aya – so acknowledged: I will do all that I am able to. And I am glad that one friend remains here with me, as we reach the end of everything we have known.
Now examine the Halo rings, consult with the other Monitors – and we will prepare to relocate them to their target systems. Our hardest task will soon fall upon us, Chakas… be ready for it."
