Announcement Part 2
The second part of the draft I made in part one of the announcement.
Setting the Record Straight
Relieved that his long-lost friends are alive, Pallax asks for an explanation for their apparent survival.
Norik explains that after escaping the research base, they headed to Earth to hide from the Orokin. During the Great Massacre, the engineer is mistakenly identified as a high-ranking official and the trio are captured by GEMINI, the Orokin intelligence agency.
When they arrive, they find themselves in a large room filled with engineers and government officials. The GEMINI director explains that the Emperors have been killed by the Tenno, causing the crowd to panic. He assures them, saying that the former rulers created a contingency order.
He gives a brief overview of the Gateway, saying that they have discovered a way to travel through the multiverse. Knowing how valuable it would be, GEMINI sealed the information in a Vault and sent it to a random universe. He pulls out a modified Vault Key, which splits into numerous pieces. Each piece contained a coordinate, which leads to the next piece.
In the event of the Emperors' demise, GEMINI was tasked to round up the engineers and government officials involved in the Sentients and Warframe project. Each survivor was given a piece of the Key and they would be scattered to different universes. If anyone tried to access the Vault, they would have to travel throughout the multiverse to rebuild the key.
The director hands out the pieces and ushers them to their shuttle. One by one, they are launched into the Gateway and sent to their destinations. Norik's shuttle crash-lands into the Monolith, where they are taken to the Forerunner overseer. The overseer awakens from his Cryptum, a Forerunner stasis chamber, and is confused, asking how long he has slept.
After his question is answered, he introduces himself. His name is Spirit of Endurance aka Keeper, former Theoretical turned Builder. He was a scholar who studied energy phenomena. After his rate was forcibly merged into the Builders, he became known for his management techniques and was promoted as Vice Master Builder. He served as Faber's right hand man and oversaw the construction of the Halo array.
After making a mistake, he was sent into exile and became overseer of the Monolith, a Shield Installation that made Forerunner ships and armor. To prevent the Flood from infecting them, the Monolith was located at the southern edge of the galaxy. As such, they were protected from the Halo's effects when it was fired. Keeper went into his Cryptum until he was awakened by the trio.
Negotiations are made between Keeper and the stranded trio. In exchange for information from the Warframe Universe, the Forerunner would build artificial bodies for Norik and Oliver. Meanwhile, the two scientists try to help Theo unlock his powers. However, with each power unlocked, Theo gradually loses control of his Warframe. They stop their progress when he is overtaken by 'It' during an exercise and goes berserk.
An Insurrectionist cargo ship discovers the Monolith and attempts to land on it. They are captured by the drones and taken to Keeper, who questions them. The cargo crew that the year is 2545 and explain about the war. The interrogation is interrupted by the Everest's arrival, who had responded to the cargo ship's distress call.
Vice Admiral ( ) Cole demands that they release the captured crew or he will fire on the installation. Keeper refuses and activates the gravity well, dragging the Everest inside. Outnumbered by alien drones, Cole surrenders to protect his ship and crew.
Cole confirms that the war is going on by allowing Keeper access to the computer system, which allows him to connect to the UNSC communication grid.
Keeper explains that the Covenant's entire religion is wrong, stating they are not the Reclaimers. Instead, the Forerunners had chosen humanity as its successor. Unwilling to allow humanity to fall, he decides to manufacture new UNSC ships, upgraded with Forerunner technology.
Starting with the Charon-class cruiser, the Monolith increases its productions at a rapid pace. By 2553, he had produced nearly two thousand ships (500 Marathon-class heavy cruisers, 500 Paris-class heavy frigates, 750 Charon-class light frigates, 250 Epoch-class heavy carriers, 5 Orion-class assault carriers, 4 Valiant-class super heavy cruisers, 1 Punic-class supercarrier). When he uncovers the Spartan-III program, he sends the Orokin trio and a group of Marines to the asteroid K7-49, where Alpha Company perished. Keeper asks them to retrieve as many bodies as possible because he wants to manufacture SPI armor.
The group are disgusted by his request, arguing that it was unethical and morally wrong. However, he promises to create SPI armor for the entire UNSC military. After much wrangling with Cole, the former admiral reluctantly allows them to pillage the fallen soldiers.
The group returns with forty bodies, all of them equipped with broken SPI armor. Before stripping the corpses, they hold a mass funeral for the corpses, honoring them for their sacrifice.
As the Monolith churns out both armor and ships, Keeper halts his ship production when the Infinity appears. Tracing its slipspace-drive signature, he tracks it to the Oort cloud. Once again, he dispatches the Orokin trio to retrieve its blueprint.
Theo successfully retrieves the blueprint, but "It" suddenly asserts its control. Fearing a rampage, both Norik and Oliver manage to tranquilize the runaway Warframe and return to their vessel.
For four years, Keeper directs the construction of the second Infinity supercarrier, diverting most of his resources to it. As a result, his SPI armor falls short of its quota and Cole asks him to continue production. The production continues slowly due to a lack of resources. In May 2557, the second Infinity supercarrier was completed. The SPI armor production increases and is near completion.
Keeper receives word that the Covenant remnants are near Requiem, the first Shield installation. Fearing that they would awaken the sleeping Didact, he asks Cole to send a crewman aboard a Valiant cruiser with coordinates to the Monolith.
Pallax asks to see the piece and notices the coordinates inscribed in it. The group are interrupted when a drone alerts them that the Didact has awakened.
Time of the Essence
On Requiem, Roscoe is sent to patrol the alien jungle alongside Executive Officer Thomas Lasky and a squad of Spartan IVs. He spots several Forerunner enemies and hides behind a tree. He signals Palmer the number of enemies and points in their direction. Through hand signal, she orders the squad to spread out. Once they have spreaded out, Roscoe jumps into the open clearing and fires at one of the warriors. They converge on him, firing their weapons at him. Clad in Iron Skin, he slices at their hands, causing them to drop their weapons.
However, enemy reinforcements arrive and they retreat to a building. Outnumbered, Lasky tries to call for help, but the radio is having problems. Impatient, he leaves the building to collect the fallen weapons for ONI researchers. He carries an armload of weapons until he hears soft footsteps behind him. Dropping the weapons, he draws his twin revolvers and aims them at the Master Chief's face, whose assault rifle is pointed at his chest.
Dialogue
Roscoe: Good to see you, Chief
Master Chief: {Lowering his assault rifle} Likewise, sir
Cortana: What are you doing here, Roscoe? Where are the others?
Roscoe: Back at Earth, I suppose. Got somebody you might wanna meet. {Knocks on the door} Open up! Chief's here!
The door opens up and the Spartans greet him with a nod. Lasky is surprised and shakes the Chief's hand. The radio sparks to life, with Del Rio angrily ordering people around. Lasky tells Del Rio that the Master Chief is alive and requests an extraction; however, Del Rio tells them to shut down the Forerunner turrets.
Both Master Chief and Roscoe are able to accomplish this task and they return to Infinity, where it is under siege from Covenant and Promethean forces. The duo board Mantis mechs and destroy the jammers, allowing Infinity to launch a counter attack with its MAC cannons.
Afterwards, there is a short briefing session between the Infinity's crew and Master Chief. Del Rio states that Infinity will return to Earth to inform FLEETCOM of the coming threat. Baffled by his actions, both Roscoe and Master Chief insist that Infinity chase down the Didact. Del Rio ignores them and leaves for his private quarters.
A few minutes later, they and Gypsy Company are aboard a Mammoth transport. They are tasked with destroying the gravity well, allowing Infinity to leave Requiem. The gravity well is destroyed and they return to Infinity. Cortana has her rampancy outburst, causing Del Rio to order her termination. Master Chief refuses to hand her over and Del Rio angrily orders his arrest.
Roscoe has had enough and pistol-whips Del Rio in the back of his head, knocking him out. He then promotes Lasky to acting captain, stating that Del Rio made 'significant errors' during their Requiem campaign. Cortana tells Roscoe that he will be stripped of his rank, but Roscoe shrugs off the impending threat and tells them to chase the Didact. Infinity will head to Earth to inform FLEETCOM and mobilize the entire Home Fleet for battle.
Boarding a Pelican, the fugitives jump to slipspace and head for Ivanoff Station.
Yuzare's Tale
Meanwhile, back at the Monolith, Keeper immediately launches the rest of the ships to Earth and tells Cole to join the group. Turning back to Pallax and Rylan, who are now joined by an injured Carson and Jack, he leads the group to a separate room containing an unknown ship.
Along the way, the priestess AI reveals who she is and her story. Her name is Yuzare, an AI modelled after the first human leader. In her universe, her people had been besieged by various monsters and were saved by giant alien humanoid warriors. These warriors became known as "the Giants of Light" due to their abilities. The Giants sealed away a monstrous entity named Gatanozoa aka the World Eater, who was responsible for summoning the monsters.
Both human and Giant lived in harmony and enjoyed a symbiotic relationship between each other. Humanity gained knowledge from the Giants, evolving rapidly from an agrarian society into a pre-spacefaring civilization. In exchange for such knowledge, the Giants required vessels (human hosts) to live inside as they couldn't maintain their own forms for a long time.
Having adopted human nature through their hosts, the Giants formed their own nations and traded with the humans. By then, humanity became stuck in the middle between two growing Giant nations. That peace did not last when a group of Giants decided to cause a civil war between the two nations. A suicide bombing led to an excalation between the Giant nations and led to civil war.
Fearing the worst, Yuzare created a time capsule with an AI version of herself, which contained information on the various monsters ancient humanity faced and launched it into space.
The ensuing war generated so much hatred and anger that Gatanozoa's seal broke due to the growing darkness. At its climax, there was a battle at Ryloth Island, ancient humanity's capital. The Giants fought each other so viciously that humanity was nearly exterminated. In the end, it was too late for the Giants as Gatanzoa returned full power and wiped out the weakened Giants of Light. The few surviving Giants of Light escaped the island and left Earth, leaving stone statues of themselves in pyramids of light. Gatanozoa goes into hibernation and sleeps on the abandoned island.
Fast forward to the 21st century, humanity thrives without any monster appearances until the year 2009. An anti-monster defense team, GUTS, is created to protect humanity. The original time capsule lands into Earth and GUTS retrieves it. Following the AI's instructions, the team revives the last Giant of Light named Tiga. From there, both Tiga and GUTS fight various monsters until Gatanozoa is defeated.
Yuzare AI explains that the capsule contained the soul of a Giant who had tried to stop the evil group, but failed. With his dying breath, he transferred his soul into his Color Timer, the blue orb in Theo's chest. Having a second capsule on hand, her creator launched it into space.
The group arrive at their destination, where Yuzare presents a spaceship for the Tenno to use: the Artdessei, a huge battleship/carrier armed with an energy cannon. She explains that this ship was GUTS's greatest weapon in its arsenal. Modified with Forerunner technology, it has become more powerful than before. Inside its hangar bay, she presents the GUT Wing 1 and GUTS Wing 2, the defense team's primary fightercraft.
Both fightercraft have been upgraded and are capable of slipspace travel. She explains that they must join the Home Fleet on Earth and prepare for the Didact's arrival. Although she is unsure of their victory, Yuzure is confident that the Artdessei will protect them, just as it protected the GUTS team.
On Earth, the Home Fleet is augmented by a dozen Marathon-class cruisers and three Valiant class super heavy cruisers. The new ships are operated by skeleton crews and are led by Vice Admiral Cole.
After surviving the Composer's attack on Ivanoff Station and hitching a ride on the Didact's ship, the Master Chief and Cortana find the Home Fleet waiting for the enemy ship. Unleashing a barrage of MAC cannons, Mantle's Approach is unfazed as its shields activate. The Didact counterattacks, firing precision shots at the UNSC vessels and crippling them.
The Artdessei jumps out of slipspace and engages Mantle's Approach by firing its turrets at it. Once its energy cannon is charged, the Artdessei fires it at the ship, penetrating its shields and cutting the Composer in half. Enraged at the attack, the Didact focuses all firepower on the Artdessei.
Infinity fires its MAC Cannons, opening a path for the Master Chief. Roscoe follows him in a Broadsword and assists Chief in retrieving the HAVOK nuke from the Chief's damaged ship. They reach the Composer, where the Didact begins to fire the damaged weapon. Roscoe distracts the Didact, allowing Cortana to manipulate the hard light bridge and trapping the mad Forerunner.
The Forerunner attempts to destroy Cortana's exit, but he is tackled to the ground by the Rhino. Chief retrieves Cortana and plants a pulse grenade on the Didact's shoulder, which makes him fall into the slipspace rupture underneath the Composer. (This alternate action means that Cortana lives and never enters the Domain. In essence, Halo 5 doesn't occur)
Roscoe activates the HAVOK nuke and the duo escape just as the bomb detonates. They are rescued by a Pelican and taken back to Infinity. Due to her actions, Cortana is placed in an emergency stasis right before she falls into rampancy.
Aftermath and Conclusion
At FLEETCOM HQ, the Tenno reunite with one another. Roscoe is shocked to hear that Theo and the scientists survived, thinking they were dead. At a convened meeting, the top brass are briefed on the Monolith and its abilities. Immediately, Serin recommends that they claim the factory as UNSC property. However, Cole states that it has already been discovered by the Insurrectionists and proposes it should be neutral to prevent escalation.
In a private meeting, Serin admonishes Roscoe for his actions, stating that while Del Rio was incompetant, Roscoe had broken military law for striking him. As such, he is stripped of his ONI commission but is allowed to keep his copy of ONI files. Lord Hood approaches him with an UNSC commission, allowing him to choose his own ship. After choosing his ship, Roscoe is promoted to Rear Admiral in recognition of his service. He is tasked to lead a joint Tenno-UNSC task force.
Following the battle, Keeper secretly arrives on Earth through a slipspace portal, teleporting himself from the Monolith to the Voi Portal. He is able to temporarily change the Portal's designated destination from the Ark to the Warframe Universe.
Pallax volunteers to go back first and the Voi Portal is activated. Pallax pilots his Railjack into the portal and arrives back at the Gateway. A stunned Teshin Dax greets him, asking where the others are. Pallax points back at the portal, where a Paris-class heavy frigate exits the portal.
For seven months, negotiations between the Tenno, UNSC and Insurrectionist representatives began in secret. Although both the Corpus and Grineer Empire notice the portal open, they are too busy with fighting each other. In order to distract them, the Tenno conduct hit and run tactics, prolonging the war between the two enemy factions.
An agreement is reached between the three factions. First of all, the Neutrality Strip is created and serves a buffer zone between the two factions. It begins in Estonia and stretches all the way to Yemen.
The UNSC will colonize land to the west of the buffer zone, while the Insurrectionists will colonize the eastern part. North America and South America are deemed to be unlivable, while Australia is considered semi-livable under extreme conditions.
Both the UNSC and Insurrectionists are allowed to send new colonists and their respective military to live in the Warframe Universe. However, there are restrictions on how many people they can bring. Both factions are allowed to bring nine million civilians and six million military personnel.
To balance out the military scale, the Insurrectionist military is given updated UNSC vessels without Forerunner technology. Both militaries are allowed to bring 1,700 ships with them. Among the UNSC ships going to the new world is Roscoe's ship. The day before they depart, the Artdessei goes ahead and jumps to the clan sector, where the Gray Sentinels await its arrival.
On the day of departure, the UNSC's Sixth Expeditionary Fleet and the Insurrectionists' Frontier Fleet leave their home universe behind and begin their new lives in a vastly different and dangerous world.
Miscellaneous Lore
These terms will be referred to be in my next story, so current and future readers might want to remember them.
Neutrality Zone - Starting from Estonia and ending in Yemen, the countries within this zone are considered neutral ground. No weapons are permitted within the zone and security is at an all-high status. It is the center hub for diplomats and ambassadors.
UNSC Europe-Northern Africa Colony - Aka Neo Europe. Home to seven million UEG citizens, its capital and military headquarters is located in Paris, France.
Asiatic Union (formerly Insurrectionists) - Home to seven million ex-UEG citizens, its capital and military headquarters are located in Busan, South Korea.
UNSC 6th Expedition Fleet (6-FLEETCOM) - Comprised of many upgraded UNSC vessels with Forerunner technology, they are both protectors and representatives of the UEG. It is led by Admiral Jacob Keyes, former captain of the famous Pillar of Autumn.
Asiatic Union Frontier Fleet (AUFCOM) - Comprised of UNSC ships without Forerunner technology. Despite this advantage, all ships have high-grade ablative armor and state-of-the-art slipspace drives. The fleet serves to protect the newly formed Asiatic Union and serve its interest. Occasionally, it aids its UNSC counterpart in small skirmishes with the Corpus and Grineer. It is led by Admiral Preston Cole, former UNSC vice admiral and captain of the Everest.
Task Force Juno - An experimental joint UNSC-Tenno task force commanded by the newly-promoted Rear Admiral Roscoe. The goal was to integrate select Tenno into the UNSC ranks and aid them in their battles.
And that's it, guys. Beyond the Void is officially over and I want to thank fellow readers for giving me a chance. I highly value your opinion, so feel free to comment on anything you liked or disliked. Before I go, I am giving you the option of choosing which ship Roscoe commands. Anything from the Infinity to a small Paris-class heavy cruiser, as long as its part of the UNSC Navy, it will do.
Until next time. Phantom out