Chapter 2: The end of the beginning..
The Forerunners were actually not that different from Humans. As they evolved over time though, they gained a better appreciation of nature. Their people were harmonious, rebellions and uprisings mere legends. They had, however, a single flaw.
Pride.
They created the Flood not as a species to combat their enemies, but as a species that would proclaim their technological advancement and harmony with nature. They did not know the true nature of the flood yet. But soon, oh very soon, they would.
These are the last hours of the Forerunner - They were fighting a losing fight. Let us take a close look at the last few minutes, but not too close.
Last moments.
The Flood had been a colossal mistake. They had swiftly spread from the research facilities and evolved. They had engineered the flood to be adaptive, but they had not known how much they would rue their decision.
They had engineered the Halo's in order to save themselves, and future generations from the Flood. They were at once more beautiful, and more powerful than anything the Forerunner had created.
He was charged with activating the Halo's. He would be the only one saved from the murderous light - For it was his fate. He knew this, and wondered about all he had done in his life. He would be preserved in a stasis cell, far beyond the reach of the Flood. The Ark of course rested on a backwater planet. It contained a very primitive ape-like race that had been infused with Forerunner DNA in the hopes that evolution would carry them on the same genetic path as the Forerunner. He hoped that they would find this place before they discovered the Halo's and the Flood, but he knew not of their fate.
He saw the timer counting down "00:00:14". He closed his eyes, imagined his beautiful wife and all he would leave behind to be the salvation of their posterity. He opened his eyes in the rapidly cooling cryo-pod, a single tear now frozen under his right eye.
"00:00:00"
He watched the single wall sized Monitor. The light was so bright.. yet so deadly. Anything it touched would instantly die a painless instant death. As his eyes fluttered and sleep descended upon him, his last conscious thought was this, "To all who follow - We're sorry."