Chapter 3: The Forerunners
One month, two weeks till Spartan2b arrivals.
Looking into what would be a barrel of the plasma shotgun the Master Chief was running simulations in his mind. Nothing would work. Any way, any plan, he would somehow be killed or mortally wounded by the Brute. Then, a thought came into his mind. He kicked his foot into the Brutes crotch hoping to hit something. A loud roar came out from the Brute as the Chief's metal boot did major damage. Doubling over on the ground the Chief grabbed the shotgun and put three shots into the Brute. His innards from the waste up were rocketed into the scorched dirt. Purple blood sprayed in all directions and hit the chief. This could come in handy, thought the chief as he tossed his rifle and held onto the plasma shotgun. Realizing that the gun had a built in wireless scope he had Cortana get a feed to him. "Just ask and it'll come up." "Thanks Cortana, this might come in handy," he replied. During his duel the marines had almost cleared the top of the installation. "Scope." Immediately a zoomed in image of the ground appeared on his screen. Better get used to this, he thought. Putting a bothersome Elite in the HUD reticule he pulled the trigger and sprayed brain matter into his fellow soldiers. Noticing a plasma grenade on another Elite he put a shot into it and cleared half the wall, and put about thirty Covenants out of their misery in an explosion of blood, metal, and plasma. "Nice shot," whispered Cortana. "Thanks," he replied.
Walking into the same corridor that the Brute had come out of the Master Chief was unusually tense expecting more Brutes. The batteries of his helmet lights ran out right when he needed them the most. Looking in what appeared to be a large laboratory like room he saw things he'd never seen before. "Go through that door, I want to see something." "You want to see something?" he replied. "A girl can be curious can't she?" The Chief didn't answer knowing she'd get technical with him and eventually win. The Chief walked to the door and put his heavy glove on the holo-pad. Large Covenant letters appeared then disappeared. "Be patient." When she finished the Chief put his hand on the pad again but this time the door opened. The room was cast in a blue light. The batteries had recharged by the time he entered. Turning the helmet lights on again what he saw amazed him. In sealed tubes it looked like skeletons of large creatures. "Those are. no way. I never thought." "Cortana?" She didn't answer. Suddenly the lights in the room turned on. The room was actually a cavern. He was just on the top level. He looked out and saw rows of the skeletons. Something caught his attention though; it appeared to be a large black shape in a clouded tube. Walking down the steps he kept checking his threat indicator. Nothing. It felt as if his head was being drilled into by some unknown presence. Arriving at the tube he paused. "Cortana, what should I do?" "Hold on I'm working through the encryptions the Covenant left for me." "What happened back there?" he asked. "Flashback to the Halo." "I thought AI's didn't get flashbacks, it's impossible." "I just remembered something," she answered sharply. "What?" the Chief demanded. "You know that the Covenant didn't create the Halo right?" "Yeah, I thought it was the Forerunners." "Well what do you think you're looking at." The chief cocked his head and saw an alien he'd never seen. The skin looked scaly, with no mouth. What looked like metallic hair was protruding from the head and put in a ponytail held together by a large layered carapace. The fog in the chamber slowly disappeared and revealed a large alien at least ten feet tall. It had an unknown metal on its oversized chest. In the middle of the chest there was a large red bulbous holo-projector that could project to eye level. The right shoulder pad seemed to have an early form of an energy shield. On the right arm there was a fully deployed energy sword. On the left pad there was a red robe that extended down to the wrist. On the left arm was another energy shield. The waist was very narrowed and covered in a silky white fabric. From the waist another red robe extended down covering most of the large legs. The Chief stared at the Forerunner for what seemed like hours. "It's in stasis freeze Chief." "What do you mean?" he asked. "It's frozen in time. I'm not sure who did it though, Covenant or Forerunner." The Chief walked to the info panel to see if he could bring it out of stasis freeze. But before he could touch the panel the glass next to him exploded into a million shards. The Chief was thrown back twenty feet. He sat up and saw the Forerunner looking into the Chief's eyes. The Forerunner's eyes had turned a deep blue color. Noticing that the Forerunner's hand was extended with its palm outstretched. He got up to try to subdue, but not kill, the Forerunner. But was hit by an invisible enemy again. "Master Chief be careful, it seems to have psychic abilities." "Great," he replied. The Forerunner had not moved during the whole period of time. The Chief pulled out his plasma shotgun and leveled it at the Forerunner's head. Pulling the trigger he shot three times, but in a flash the arm energy shield was deployed in front of it. The three shots ricocheted in all directions breaking empty stasis tubes. The Forerunner retracted the shield and pointed his sword directly at the Chief. The Forerunner then made himself levitate and thrusted himself at the Master Chief. Dodging the attack and sliding onto one knee and extending his other leg for balance he fired a constant spray of plasma shots at the Forerunners less armored back. Two shots hit where he wanted them to and knocked the Forerunner to the ground. Knowing he was still dangerous the Chief moved forward cautiously. "Don't worry, he's out cold."
"Thanks Cortana." Sure enough when he flipped the Forerunner over the eyes were their original creamy white color. He picked the Forerunner up and was surprised at how light it was. Carrying the alien he couldn't help think that it had awoken again but wasn't willing to show itself again.
One month, two weeks till Spartan2b arrivals.
Looking into what would be a barrel of the plasma shotgun the Master Chief was running simulations in his mind. Nothing would work. Any way, any plan, he would somehow be killed or mortally wounded by the Brute. Then, a thought came into his mind. He kicked his foot into the Brutes crotch hoping to hit something. A loud roar came out from the Brute as the Chief's metal boot did major damage. Doubling over on the ground the Chief grabbed the shotgun and put three shots into the Brute. His innards from the waste up were rocketed into the scorched dirt. Purple blood sprayed in all directions and hit the chief. This could come in handy, thought the chief as he tossed his rifle and held onto the plasma shotgun. Realizing that the gun had a built in wireless scope he had Cortana get a feed to him. "Just ask and it'll come up." "Thanks Cortana, this might come in handy," he replied. During his duel the marines had almost cleared the top of the installation. "Scope." Immediately a zoomed in image of the ground appeared on his screen. Better get used to this, he thought. Putting a bothersome Elite in the HUD reticule he pulled the trigger and sprayed brain matter into his fellow soldiers. Noticing a plasma grenade on another Elite he put a shot into it and cleared half the wall, and put about thirty Covenants out of their misery in an explosion of blood, metal, and plasma. "Nice shot," whispered Cortana. "Thanks," he replied.
Walking into the same corridor that the Brute had come out of the Master Chief was unusually tense expecting more Brutes. The batteries of his helmet lights ran out right when he needed them the most. Looking in what appeared to be a large laboratory like room he saw things he'd never seen before. "Go through that door, I want to see something." "You want to see something?" he replied. "A girl can be curious can't she?" The Chief didn't answer knowing she'd get technical with him and eventually win. The Chief walked to the door and put his heavy glove on the holo-pad. Large Covenant letters appeared then disappeared. "Be patient." When she finished the Chief put his hand on the pad again but this time the door opened. The room was cast in a blue light. The batteries had recharged by the time he entered. Turning the helmet lights on again what he saw amazed him. In sealed tubes it looked like skeletons of large creatures. "Those are. no way. I never thought." "Cortana?" She didn't answer. Suddenly the lights in the room turned on. The room was actually a cavern. He was just on the top level. He looked out and saw rows of the skeletons. Something caught his attention though; it appeared to be a large black shape in a clouded tube. Walking down the steps he kept checking his threat indicator. Nothing. It felt as if his head was being drilled into by some unknown presence. Arriving at the tube he paused. "Cortana, what should I do?" "Hold on I'm working through the encryptions the Covenant left for me." "What happened back there?" he asked. "Flashback to the Halo." "I thought AI's didn't get flashbacks, it's impossible." "I just remembered something," she answered sharply. "What?" the Chief demanded. "You know that the Covenant didn't create the Halo right?" "Yeah, I thought it was the Forerunners." "Well what do you think you're looking at." The chief cocked his head and saw an alien he'd never seen. The skin looked scaly, with no mouth. What looked like metallic hair was protruding from the head and put in a ponytail held together by a large layered carapace. The fog in the chamber slowly disappeared and revealed a large alien at least ten feet tall. It had an unknown metal on its oversized chest. In the middle of the chest there was a large red bulbous holo-projector that could project to eye level. The right shoulder pad seemed to have an early form of an energy shield. On the right arm there was a fully deployed energy sword. On the left pad there was a red robe that extended down to the wrist. On the left arm was another energy shield. The waist was very narrowed and covered in a silky white fabric. From the waist another red robe extended down covering most of the large legs. The Chief stared at the Forerunner for what seemed like hours. "It's in stasis freeze Chief." "What do you mean?" he asked. "It's frozen in time. I'm not sure who did it though, Covenant or Forerunner." The Chief walked to the info panel to see if he could bring it out of stasis freeze. But before he could touch the panel the glass next to him exploded into a million shards. The Chief was thrown back twenty feet. He sat up and saw the Forerunner looking into the Chief's eyes. The Forerunner's eyes had turned a deep blue color. Noticing that the Forerunner's hand was extended with its palm outstretched. He got up to try to subdue, but not kill, the Forerunner. But was hit by an invisible enemy again. "Master Chief be careful, it seems to have psychic abilities." "Great," he replied. The Forerunner had not moved during the whole period of time. The Chief pulled out his plasma shotgun and leveled it at the Forerunner's head. Pulling the trigger he shot three times, but in a flash the arm energy shield was deployed in front of it. The three shots ricocheted in all directions breaking empty stasis tubes. The Forerunner retracted the shield and pointed his sword directly at the Chief. The Forerunner then made himself levitate and thrusted himself at the Master Chief. Dodging the attack and sliding onto one knee and extending his other leg for balance he fired a constant spray of plasma shots at the Forerunners less armored back. Two shots hit where he wanted them to and knocked the Forerunner to the ground. Knowing he was still dangerous the Chief moved forward cautiously. "Don't worry, he's out cold."
"Thanks Cortana." Sure enough when he flipped the Forerunner over the eyes were their original creamy white color. He picked the Forerunner up and was surprised at how light it was. Carrying the alien he couldn't help think that it had awoken again but wasn't willing to show itself again.