What Lies Ahead

Greater Ark Debris Field

97,445 BCE

Every now and then we collided into a piece of rubble. I spent the first few times trying to avoid collisions and gave up. A mix of inadequate control and unpredictable debris trajectories contributed to my defeat at the hands of these inanimate objects. But at least there wasn't any more risks, for now.

With Enduring unconscious, I had no one to talk to, which left me bored out of my mind. The constant spinning didn't help either, I ended up disconnecting the armors optics, leaving only sensory capabilities. Nausea was nonexistent for me, but spinning around helplessly happened to be irritating.

An hour passed, then… two hours. Scrap and rubble floated by, distant signatures of energy discharges appeared every now and then. Some ships closely passed by us, but it was impossible to tell whether they were Flood controlled or not. Judging by the end result of the battle, they were probably Flood.

Why did I even agree to stand guard?

The hard part isn't dealing with dangerous situations, its waiting in them. The time spent looking into the void was proportional to my level of boredom. Nothing to do except wait for an unlikely rescue. Oh, and to watch out for any possible dangers.

After some debate, I came to the unpleasant verdict that I would need to power down partially. Staying fully alert at this rate would rapidly deplete what energy reserves the armor had. I hated having nothing to do, but I also hated being unaware of my surroundings. Which to choose..

Screw it, I'm taking the risk, if there is one.

If anything goes wrong, I'll find something else other than myself to blame.

Surprisingly, I felt serene as the world around me dimmed out.

(^*^*^*^*^*^)

A tickling sensation in the back of my mind brought me back to attention. Something was near enough for the sensors to have gone off.

I reactivated the armor's optics and took a good look at my surroundings. Some time during my power nap, we had gradually lost enough momentum to finally come to a stop. A thin layer of ice had built up in that time, obstructing most of my view.

To my shock, there was a large ship navigating slowly through the debris field. It was close enough for me to see that there was no sign of Flood infection on the ship's hull. A ship. An uninfected ship.

Rescue?

My slowed processes took a moment to comprehend what I was seeing.

A low powered communique was directed at our general direction. At us.

Survivors?

Any caution left in me evaporated upon hearing the single word. I needed to respond before the ship would be out of range.

"..Yes! Two of us!"

My message cut out partially towards the end, and I was reminded of the limited power remaining in the armor.

The ship came slightly closer at my response, its curved fish like hull now visible.

Identify yourselves.

"I'm an Ancilla for Enduring Passage."

Is the Forerunner alive?

"Yes, but he's undergone a form of stasis. I'm running low on power here."

…I will move the vessel closer

"Got it."

The joints of the armor were frozen, similar to the optics. It was a struggle to even move.

Luckily, whoever was piloting the ship seemed to take this into account. The large curved hull angled and presented what appeared to be an airlock. The ship then slowly shifted towards us.

Within moments, the smooth metal of the airlock opened up to a well lit interior. I could do the rest.

I grabbed an edge of the doorway and stiffly pulled us in. The door closed behind us as soon as the armor was fully inside. A hiss and the unwelcome introduction of gravity indicated that we were safe. Strange as it is to say, I had never felt so happy to be in a pressurized environment.

Can your wearer walk?

"Where does he need to go?"

The command center, I will deliver directions.

I decided against waking Enduring up, the status of the armor made it too risky. Guess I'll get more time with physically moving around I thought reluctantly. There was some charm with being able to physically move around, but the action itself was alien to me. The armor was still partly frozen as I carefully walked through the inner door. The sound of ice crunching was therapeutic because it meant that there was an atmosphere inside.

While I was examining the damaged exterior plating of the armor, the voice spoke again, this time in a more impatient tone.

Please hurry, there is no time to be wasted.

"I'm coming."

You?

I didn't bother to answer.

(^*^*^*^*^*^)

The trip through the ship was uninteresting to say the least. I saw no signs of any crew onboard. Empty access corridors and inactive lifts greeted me. I started to get some second thoughts about being rescued.

A ship of this size, being completely deserted? It screamed that something was off.

All of my doubts disappeared when the door to the command area opened as I approached. The armored doors opened to reveal a compact but sleekly built bridge. Some projections were scattered around with unoccupied seats. And to top it all off, no one was seated. I walked awkwardly inside and looked around.

"Anybody in here?"

We are.

The smooth, almost musical, voice of a monitor came from my left.

"We?" I said, turning to face the speaker.

There was a monitor, and a very tall being in scorched armor. I noticed the strange position the armored figure was in and concluded that it was unconscious. Just like Enduring, who could knew? I stared at the two for a minute before I attempted to speak again, and failed.

"Erm.."

I forgot to introduce myself to you didn't I? Call me Monitor Chakas. This tall one is the IsoDidact, though some call him Bornstellar.

The strange height suddenly made sense. The IsoDidact was the one primarily in charge of the Forerunner effort against the Flood. With the current circumstances, there may not be much of a fleet left for him to command. I was standing before one of the most influential figures in Forerunner politics. Nothing to sweat about.. at all.

"Right.. Chakas. Will the IsoDidact mind if I just call him Bornstellar.. The title is a bit.."

Strange and unusual? The accuracy of the monitor caught me off. Compared to the other Ancillas I had conversed with, this one acted.. differently. I couldn't figure out exactly why.

"Yeah, basically."

He won't mind.

"It's the IsoDidact, you sure?

As a monitor, I am absolutely sure.

"Okay… So uh. Bornstellar looks a bit off."

I rescued him from a doomed Halo ring, it was expected.

I gave Bornstellar a glance. The scorched armor matched up with what Chakas was saying.

I believe there was a Forerunner named Enduring with you?

Oh right. I almost completely forgot about Enduring not too long after entering the ship. A quick check of his vitals reassured me he wasn't dead. Please stay alive for a little longer if you can..

If Enduring heard me, he didn't answer.

"Enduring is.. out right now. He entered stasis while in the debris field."

Are there any complications with reviving him?

"The armor lacks enough energy to revive him safely."

Unfortunate.

"Definitely."

In the corner of the bridge along Chakas, Bornstellar stirred slightly.

Not dead then.

"He looks to be in worse of a condition than I am."

I moved closer to his limp body and knelt down for a better overview.

Instead of being covered in thawing ice, his armor looked as if it had gone through an inferno. The originally silver matte color had been almost, if not completely, blackened out. If he didn't die outright, he would probably had the worst burns imaginable.

My light probe at the armor's Ancilla was returned weakly. The other Ancilla remained functional enough to provide a limited medical scan once I authenticated my presence. Not as bad as I originally had thought. A small number of contusions and a dislocated arm, injuries that tend to occur when going through the structural collapse of a Halo ring.

Standing back up, I turned to face Chakas.

"Nothing serious other than an arm. He should be fine."

Then I will revive him

The monitor hovered over to Bornstellar and waited there. Minutes passed by and nothing occurred. I took the silence as Chakas communicating with Bornstellar's Ancilla. Eventually Chakas finished and backed away as Bornstellar coughed and sat up. I subconsciously brushed off some of the remaining slush on my gloves. The now awakened Forerunner looked around, first at Chakas, and then me.

"Where am I?" His voice was raspy but clear enough to understand. Chakas spoke before I did.

You are onboard a Gargantua Class Transport.

"I thought that a carrier would be used for the evacuation."

I repurposed this one to save you and to search for any survivors.

"Are there any other survivors other than the one here?"

Regrettably… no.

"Very well.."

Bornstellar gave me a strange look. "Who is the one beside you?"

The Ancilla for Enduring Passage.

"The Ancilla?" There was some skepticism in his voice.

Yes.

He turned to regard me with a look of curiosity.

"You are.. manually controlling the armor then?"

It took a second for me to notice that he was speaking to me.

"I am"

His face was indecipherable to me, probably because of the polarized visor. If facial expressions weren't available, and they always weren't, then body behavior was the other option.

Sadly, that was unavailable as well. Bornstellar either had nerves of steel, or he was just normally unreadable. It was likely he had both.

I was beginning to grow uncomfortable under his scrutiny.

"Monitor Chakas, I have coordinates."

To where?

"The Ark."

I believe the Ark is.. in pieces currently.

"The Lesser Ark."

They have another Ark? How many massive constructions do they have?

I considered the Greater Ark, while it was still intact, to be a baffling example of large scale engineering. The sheer size of the massive installation rivaling that even of a Halo ring. A mind boggling amount of materials and time invested. And they had another one, in secret too. Ironically enough I suspected that the other one may suffer the same fate as the original.

Chakas shared my thoughts.

The Forerunners possess another Ark installation?

"The Master Builder, Faber, did. He gave me the location of the Lesser Ark prior to Omega Halo's firing."

Is he dead? There was an uncommon hint of anger in Chakas's voice.

"Presumably so."

Good.

Their conversation fell apart into silence. Chakas seemed to be bitter about something while Bornstellar was.. doing something. He continued to resist all attempts of analysis by me.

After a detailed examination of our current situation, I came to the conclusion that we were still in a dangerous environment.

"I'm sure this whole.. thing that happened can wait." I started and paused as both gave me indifferent glares. No turning back "We're in a debris field surrounded by Flood controlled ships. Can we please get moving before they notice us?"

Thankfully both of them sprung into action, Bornstellar going first.

"I have given the coordinates."

Thank you, the ship is ready to jump.

True to Chakas's words, the flooring shook slightly as the ship's drive powered up.

One thing was on my mind. Only one precise thing.

How in the universe am I going to explain this to Enduring..

(^*^*^*^*^*^)

Chakas took up residence at the far ends of the bridge, hovering in one place. While Bornstellar remained where he had woken up.

With the ship now moving far away from danger, I could finally relax. By 'relax', I mean preforming another check up on Enduring and the armor itself.

To my disappointment, there was no way for me to circumvent the power shortage. Unless the ship had the proper facilities to replenish the armor, I was stuck for now.

I was meticulously examining a unremarkable scratch on a wrist gauntlet when the noise of footsteps came to my attention. Only one of the other two used walking as a mode of transportation. Bornstellar then.

Probably with an astronomical amount of questions for me. If that was to be my fate for the rest of this short trip, I would go out on my own terms. "You have questions for me?" I turned to give him a fatigued look, and subsequently noticed that the helmet had a polarized visor. I resorted to fiddling with the same gauntlet to hide my embarrassment.

The Forerunner stopped at a fair distance away.

"Just making sure everything is alright."

"For Enduring or his Ancilla?"

"…For Both."

This caught my attention. I looked up directly at Bornstellar. Both?

"We're fine." The detached feeling of my voice seemed to startle him. I kept going. "How similar is this 'Lesser Ark'?"

"The Greater and Lesser Arks are quite close in comparison. Though a few physical differences separate them."

"Good to know."

The sudden lack of words coming from him caused me to look up. He was still there.

Definitely hadn't come to only ask how I was doing, how we were doing. I could get straight to the point, or just wait in silence. Easier said then done.

"It seems to me that you didn't just come over to ask me on how we're both doing. " My words seemed to release some previously unnoticed tension from Bornstellar. I continued on. "What do you want, just be thorough."

"I am.. curious about the way you behave." He quickly corrected himself. "Most of the Ancillas I have encountered lack the.. individuality that you possess."

"Not too surprising, they are just assistants after all."

"But they are like you."

"I doubt that."

We both were quiet shortly after I stopped talking. Bornstellar's answer left me uncomfortable.

"How did you two manage to survive the attack?"

"I was forced to improvise, after the effects of the Halo ring incompacited Enduring."

At the mention of the Halo ring, Bornstellar's posture slouched.

"The firing of the ring was a.. difficult decision to make."

"Difficult?"

"There was an entire system caught in the direction of attack."

"Oh."

The revelation was… saddening? I had payed little attention to the Halo ring aside from attempting to recover from the side effects. Said side effects were able to severely affect anyone even remotely close to the energy pulse.

And yet, despite the destructive power, it barely slowed the Flood's advance on the Greater Ark.

That reminded me actually.

What now?

The ship was headed to another Ark, but what of the Flood? The loss of the Greater Ark no doubt killed off most of what remained of the Forerunner population. However it would be foolish to assume that the Flood would stop there. With the last major point of opposition removed, the Flood would continue to consume the rest of any life still in the galaxy.

In short everything is screwed, unless one particular Forerunner could make a difference.

What is Bornstellar going to do? My thought was answered.

"The Lesser Ark is our only chance now. No other alternatives remain."

"What can one installation do against the entirety of the Flood?"

"It will wipe the Flood out. Permanently."

"If its that easy to do, then why have you been holding off on it?" From my observations of him, Bornstellar seemed to be conflicted. The solution happens to fall within the horrific sacrifice camp doesn't it.

I heard him barely audibly exhale.

"Eliminating the Flood is done not only by destroying them, but also by removing their source of nourishment."

It took me less than second to understand.

"…More Halo rings?"

"An Array. The Halo installations are currently with the Lesser Ark." Bornstellar stopped, only to be motioned by me to continue on.

"The Lesser Ark is situated far outside of the galaxy, where the Halo Array will be dispersed."

"Is this a major military secret or something?"

"The existence of the Halo Array is-" He paused temporarily. "was, kept a secret from all but the most important elements of the Encumene."

"Were any Ancillas informed of it's existence?" Bornstellar sounded puzzled when he answered.

"Only the most important of them all."

"Would Mendicant Bias fall within the category?" If Bornstellar was uneasy before, his mood quickly changed to something of anger. One important thing that I had learned over the short duration of my existence, was that Forerunner personal armor physically changes based on the mood of the wearer. If there was excitement or possibility of danger, the armor would harden up. For combat skins, a specialized type of personal armor, the exterior plating may bulk up in preparation for battle. Bornstellar's armor had gained additional plating on the outside, leading me to conclude that he wore a combat skin.

He tensed up before forcefully relaxing. "Yes."

"Then you'd best hope that Mendicant doesn't reach the Ark before we do."

I turned away to look through one of the large viewports.

(^*^*^*^*^*^)

We have arrived at our destination.

The 'destination' turned out to be a derelict station. Some Chakas assisted clarification revealed it to be a portal station. The 'station' was more of a large cluster of partially corroded structural support beams. A few docking ports were there with a barely functional Ancilla, but that was it.

The Ancilla caretaker of the station reports that have been no recent attempts to access the portal.

So something is going according to plan, huh.

"I will authenticate our arrival, let us proceed."

Very well.

A few transmissions were exchanged before the ship moved closer. Through the large viewports, I saw the previously inanimate structure begin to move. Portal travel can't be too different from slipspace jumps. I think.

The concept was simple enough, go in at one place, and come out at another. A 'straightforward' method of travel when compared to jumping from system to system. Pretty simple.

Unless the current state of the portal being used is potentially unstable.

"What are the chances of the portal just collapsing?"

For the remainder of the trip to the portal station, I reverted to communicating with Chakas with a more unrefined way. For Ancillas, large conversations take only a couple of seconds. And for the most part, the communication remains private.

The possibility is negligible.

"Uh huh.. and the old caretaker told you this?"

The 'caretaker' is relatively new by Forerunner standards.

"Of course it is."

Worry not, for we will soon be near the Lesser Ark.

"Doesn't sound like much of an improvement to me."

Avoiding the Flood is not an improvement?

I didn't have the heart to tell him the reality.

"Just go through the portal."

I walked to a pair of displays not too far away from Chakas. A bright ultraviolet glow was emitted by the portal structure. To my confusion, we remained stationary for several more minutes. During this wait Chakas gave me a 'basic' overview of a slipspace portal. Basic in Ancilla standards.

I was beginning to notice an unusual personality in the monitor. Quirky, even sarcastic?

The portal is ready, we may leave now for the Ark.

To my far left was Bornstellar. He stood close to one of the windows, intently looking ahead.

"Then we leave now."

(^*^*^*^*^*^)

Entering the portal was not too different from a slipspace jump. Both shared the abyss like quality of staring into nothingness. What separated the two was the time required for travel. And some other differing qualities. To name one, the lack of the usual 'disturbances' experienced while traveling in normal slipspace.

The trip through, if it could even be called a trip, was extremely short. A few minutes of abyss and we were transitioning back to normal space.

Chakas was the first to comment.

So like the other, but different in its own way.

Chakas was not too far off, they were both similar in shape and size. But while the Greater Ark used plasma as a means to enact a day and night cycle, the Lesser Ark made use of an artificial star in its center. One had six 'arm' like structures jutting out while the other had eight.

Do you have a specific location to dock at?

"The nearest location to the central control room."

Docking port CR5 then.

All that mattered for me currently was to get the armor replenished and Enduring back with me.

"Does the control room have any kind of facility to service armor?"

..There are places nearby which can do so.

"So I'll have to walk."

I suppose so.

As the ship descended down towards the surface, small drones flew out towards us. Sentinels. No doubt to make sure that the incoming ship wasn't infested.

A light grey colored platform connected to a larger geometrical structure seemed to be our landing area. Snow and ice coated the terrain around the platform, however never directly on the metal.

We have landed, what do you intend to do IsoDidact?

What.

"I will meet with the personnel on this Ark. Then, we will place the plan into action."

I will go to my posting then?

"You may."

Understood..

The monitor hovered across the bridge to join Bornstellar. Chakas gave me one last look.

Good Luck to you. I predict you will need it.

"…Thanks."

The two left the bridge in a hurry, leaving me alone.

I took some time to establish a connection with any local Ancillas. Less than a second later, and I knew where to go.

A short journey through the ship and I was outside.

The sound of crunching snow never felt so great until now.

A/N: This chapter ended up killing me halfway for some reason. Took me way too long to write, in my opinion.

I'll have a short Q/A for those who have questions, feel free to post in the comments.

No spoilers.

Later.

Q/A:

Azaire - No need to worry at all. The memories will return.. eventually. Part of my inspiration on not having the SI OC being able to immediately remember anything from before, is inspired by the traits of Smart AI's. I also did not want to mess with the early timeline until much later on.