History Lesson
The corpse of the dead parasite lay smoldering at the feet of Half-Jaw. The elite stood tall, breathing deeply after exerting the enormous amount of energy required to execute his poetic maneuver. Flashlights glowed down upon the body and everyone stood in a nervous silence, anticipating another attack. However, none came.
Relaxing his pose, Sergeant Johnson looked around at the darkness and mumbled under his breath, "Now that the danger is gone, I bet that floating light bulb will finally turn on the lig…"
An audible click was heard just before Johnson finished his aside. The darkness was suddenly vanquished by a very welcoming glow from the top ceiling panels. Guilty Spark hummed down from a small opening far above the far wall and joined the group.
"I trust all has been well. I finally determined how to activate the lighting fixtures and let me tell you, it was much simpler than you could ever imagine. In fact-" A sharp ping resonated throughout the large chamber and the monitor, complete distracted, yelled out in alarm, "Help! I'm under attack!"
Johnson was glaring at the monitor with an obvious scowl on his face. He had picked up an empty BR55 cartridge and hurled it at the machine in disgust. While the oracle searched for the threat, the sergeant muttered, "That's right, you little bastard."
Searching around and finding nothing, the oracle calmed itself and took a pause to focus on its original thoughts. "As I was about to say, the control room to this facility is in the next chamber. I am very eager to enter and sequence all of the data stored in the mainframe! Who knows what we will discover?"
Looking at the Master Chief, the Arbiter asked, "Ready to move on?"
John smoothly cocked the rifle across his shoulder and faced the elite. "Yes, lets."
With the feeling of control over their current situation, the party moved on at a slightly quicker pace. As the troops passed the dead parasite, several of the marines decided to spit on it. A passing grunt watched and decided to try for itself. Leaning back, collecting his breath just as he watched the marines do, the grunt shot forward and made a wet 'splat'. It shrieked aloud realizing that its inner facemask was now completely covered in sticky blue goo. A group of marines nearby chuckled to themselves and some of the elites just shook their heads.
Due to the sheer size of the chamber and the still cautious approach, it took the team several minutes to completely transverse the room. As they reached the far end, Cortana whispered inside of the helmet, "Chief, I wonder what these huge chambers were made for." She paused for a moment and continued, "Wait, are those warthogs I'm hearing?"
Sure enough, the roaring engines of a half dozen warthogs grew louder. Looking back the way they came, the team listened to the sounds continue to grow. From the high pitched cries of the engines, the vehicles sounded as if they were pushing their engines to the max. White beams could be seen coming from the powerful front headlights. The warthog entering last ran over the corpse of the general with a sickening squish, but the engines easily blanked the sound.
Jumping down from the lead hog, Miranda Keyes raced over to the search team. "Are you alright? We received an emergency beacon from one of the team leaders."
Sergeant Johnson was the first to reply as he pointed behind her. "Yeah, we ran into ugly back there but luckily the Chief and that white elite managed to take care of him. If you wish to stay, 'mam, we're about ready to enter the control room."
Sending a new command back to the drivers, Commander Keyes ordered, "Marines, stay at your present position and we'll signal if there is a need for a quick evac or reinforcements."
All six drivers hollered in together, "Yes 'mam!" and put their engines on standby.
Impatiently humming above them, 343 Guilty Spark quickly flew over to the door at the end of the chamber. It didn't take long for the rest of the party to approach, and with the command from Keyes, the monitor accessed a control panel to the right side of the large doorway. Two triangles, inversely attached making a diamond on the center of the door, lit up and the door way opened revealing an ancient yet superiorly advanced control room. To the far left of the room lay an open hatchway with the cryo-tube that the flood form had used. Directly in front of them lay another sealed door and to the right stood an array of glowing holographic control modules.
The monitor gave a cry of child like joy. It raced into the room ahead of John and the Arbiter and sat itself in front of the controls. However, its happiness was quickly torn down. After several attempts to connect with the ark's network, which resulted in failure each time, Guilty Spark hovered back to the approaching party. It uttered sullenly, "There are security encryptions on it I can not terminate. I can not get into the system. How odd."
Whispering inside his helmet, John inquired, "Cortana, think you can crack it?"
She proudly replied, "Well, let me put it this way. Me not being able to crack this system has the equivalent odds saying that I'd kiss a brute."
John gave half a grin inside of his helmet and pulled out Cortana's data chip. He smoothly walked over to the holo display panels and placed the chip onto the holographic insertion pad. Cortana's essence was instantly infused with the ark's computer mainframe. Rushing through the data streams, she came up to the controls and smacked up against a solid firewall as she tried to enter. All attempts to crack the encryptions failed and she returned to the data chip. The glow of the chip signaled that she was ready to leave and John loaded her back into his own system.
"Damn, no luck. Sorry Chief."
John, in his classic apathetic tone replied, "I'll remember that when we run into another brute."
Cortana grumbled something to him that he didn't understand, but he didn't press the issue. The obvious signs of trouble were apparent to the Arbiter and he questioned the leaders around him, "So how do we gain access to this construct?"
Adam had stood comfortably protected in the middle of group during the whole exploration of the ark. Even during the attack, he reluctantly fell back. There was some kind of presence that drew him closer and closer to the control room, to the holo modules. Unconsciously, he squeezed by two elites and walked up to the controls. Everyone looked at him with curiosity while his eyes remained glued, unblinking, at the controls. The voice inside of his head was speaking to him again, guiding his actions, and showing him what to do.
Unlock the secrets of this place, show all the fate we suffered, the dangers of the flood … show them us, the forerunners.
With skills that'd make Cortana blush, Adam's hands rushed about as he punched in several long commands on the holograms. His efforts paid off as a great light filled the center of the chamber. The whole group turned around and their jaws hit the floor.
Standing tall on a glowing white pedestal, four figures in brilliant white body armor with golden insignias beautifully drawn throughout looked at the ark's new guests. The greatest shock, however, was the striking resemblance of the four white armored images. One looked almost identical to the Master Chief, one like an elite, one like a grunt, and one like a hunter.
The Spartan look-a-like was the first to speak. In a great voice which filled the chamber with a deep, strong sound, it greeted the party. "Welcome to the ark! Long have we waited for you. The time has come for you to fulfill your destiny."
The Arbiter stepped up to the front ranks. "What destiny is this which you speak of?"
Stepping up with the human warrior, the black clad elite stood tall and answered, "It is good to see that the elites, grunts, and hunters have once again joined the proper alliance with humanity rather than the prophets and their filth. Your destiny is to eliminate the flood once and for all. You are to reclaim the universe from our mistake, to return the galaxy to the glory that it used to be. But to learn how to win this fight, you must learn from our own mistakes, mistakes that doomed our great civilization."
The images of the four forerunner soldiers disappeared and the voice of the human echoed throughout the chamber. "You will learn all you need to know from our past. With our past, you will control the future."
The room grew quiet and the great glowing pedestal began to slowly enclose on itself. Before anyone could react, the shrinking ball of light exploded in a flash of white fury knocking every living thing in the chamber unconscious. As their bodies lay motionless, mysterious forces entered their minds as they began to enter the realm that was once dominated by the great and ancient forerunners.
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The Prophet of Truth slowly came to and his head throbbed of a pain he had never before felt. His thick chin hair lay flattened against his right arm and his once beautiful red robes were scarred by plasma burns and the blood of both the brutes and his own. As his eyes slowly became adjusted to the dim lighting, he recognized that he was lying down upon a rough bed inside a rather small cell. Strong metal bars lined the one opening across from him and the remainder of the cell was made of firm concrete. The dreary and drab environment was anything but ordinary compared to his previous life of indulged luxury to an unimaginable scale.
He instinctively rolled off of the bed expecting to hover off the ground in his own platform, but he was rudely brought to light as his bare feet touched upon the cold floor. Ages of neglect on his legs caused them to be little else but bone and flesh, completely incapable of supporting anymore than a kilogram of weight. His body quickly crumpled upon his pathetically built body and he squirmed for a moment in confused agony.
Realizing that anymore attempts were futile, Truth slowly traced his steps backwards to the last thing he remembered. He was on the forerunner ship and had just left High Charity. The flood had stolen the human vessel and stormed the city, quickly growing in strength from the numerous corpses from the civil war. Truth remembered boarding upon a phantom to leave the city and watching his brother sub-come to the infectious form without the feeling of either pity or remorse. The battle outside of the city was ferocious. Elite and brute controlled ships were engaging each other and fighting to the death. It was that fleet which he had hoped to bring with him to Earth and augment the already hundreds of additional forces which had arrived. By the time the brutes finally had control, the remnants weren't worth bringing. The elites were incompetent. They couldn't defend one of the scared rings, they couldn't protect their prophets. They were useless and disserved to die.
His thoughts panned back to when he entered Earth's system. To his dismay, much of their defenses lay intact and the fight was going to be much tougher than he thought. Then came the warning signal. Truth clenched is teeth together in anger realizing that it was the demon on the ship, and he had been to preoccupied in his own ego and glory to even bother to notice. The prisoners on his ship were to be a distraction. The humans were to go after them while he entered the ark unnoticed. But why hadn't the plan worked? A flash of green flooded Truth's vision and he remembered. The pain in his forehead erupted as he watched the demon slam his fist into the front of his skull. Truth's memory ended there, and looking about, there were no signs indicating where he was being captive. He assumed somewhere among those filthy humans, somewhere on that planet that should have been burning into glass at this very moment.
Curse those vile creatures, curse them! Look what they have reduced me to, the Prophet of Truth!
Far down the dark hallway, the sound of a security door rushing open distracted the Prophet from his busy thoughts. The sounds of heavy footsteps rang down the passage way and the click of metal upon stone caused his headache to throb each time the sounds resonated through his head.
Two distinct human voices could be heard. One was young while the other was much colder.
"Is the vile worm in there?" the cold voice said.
"Yes sir, Cell B-3," responded the other.
"Very good. Leave us now."
"Sir!"
The conversation stopped and Truth could hear the sound of a pair of feet walking away from him as the echo of its steps grew quieter and quieter by second. The security door hissed shut and silence filled the area. The prophet felt a drop of liquid fall down his cheek and raised his hand to feel it. The single drop dispersed on his finger. It was his own sweat and was something he hadn't felt for millennia.
The sound of firm and calculating food steps suddenly began their slow march towards his cell. His head continued to throb from the sharp sounds, but the feeling of dread quickly grew in his heart. A flashback of a meeting decades ago now flooded his vision and his memory began to replay the very events …
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It was a typical day on High Charity. The politics with the high council bored Truth to death, like usual, and he wished to get rid of it all.
Rubbish, I am the power of the Covenant. Not that rabble they call a council. Without me, they would be powerless and collapse on a whim. How dare they act as if they hold influence over the true authority!
While floating off and preparing to preach another sermon with his brothers, an honor guard had approached. The unorthodox behavior caught him off guard and during normal circumstances, he would have made an example of it. But then again, this was not ordinary. The honor guard bowed respectively.
"Most holy hierarch, an unidentified ship has been detected on the far side of the planet."
His thoughts of punishment quickly disappeared. "Send them our blessing. I would wish to speak with the one in command."
"Your will is my command, holy one."
Truth hovered to the chamber housing his two brothers as they preached a sermon while his own mind raced with possibilities. It had been millennia since any new race had been contacted. Even he had thought that all intelligent life had already been found and assimilated into the Covenant.
If they are due in their respect and obey our sermon, then they too shall be graced by the Great Journey.
The doors in front of Truth lit up in the center and slowly slid open. Mercy and Regret were hovering in the middle of a great round platform and were finishing up their sermon.
"… and with the grace and blessing of your beloved prophets, you may worthy enough to meet your ancestors on the Great Journey."
Their sermon done, Mercy and Regret turned their attention to Truth and the lone grunt working the camera obediently hopped off the platform, bowed respectively to the prophets, and marched out of the chamber. Truth cleared his throat and was the first to speak.
"Brothers, I come with tidings in this uncertain time. It appears our Covenant is not as whole as we wished."
"What do you mean by this? Throughout the ages, we have brought together all those worthy enough to join us on the Great Journey!" Mercy exclaimed.
"It has just been brought to my attention that an unknown vessel has ventured upon our space. It may be best for all of us to meet this unknown race and see if they, too, are worthy enough to join us."
Regret responded as he began to move towards the exit, "Then it is settled. With proper grace and respect, let us meet them."
Moving through a narrow passageway and then traveling up a great distance on the nearest lift, the three prophets entered the communications chamber. The honor guard who had initially given word to Truth humbly walked over to them and respectfully bowed.
"Most noble ones, the foreign ship has just hailed us. We're establishing a connection now."
A brief pause ensued but the video link came to life. A man in a dark uniform stood tall and proud front and center. His young features and the numerous stripes and metals indicated that he was an exceptional soldier for achievement at such an age. The human's mouth moved but Truth couldn't hear what he said. The very fabric of reality around the prophet began to spin and he came back to in the dark prison cell. A man in a dark uniform stood in front of him. Truth's eyes opened wide as he snapped back into reality. Fear throbbed through his heart as the soldier introduced himself.
Truth gasped in terror. It's him!
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Master Chief's eyes slowly opened up and he looked around in disbelief and surprise. The last thing he remembered was the blinding flash of light inside of the ark's control center. Shaking his head to get the stars out, he slowly stood up with the rest of the group slowly coming to.
Cortana groggily whispered into the headset, "Chief, is it just me or did it feel like we took a hit by a sledgehammer?"
John abruptly responded, "I don't know." Gazing at the new room they were all in, he continued, "But I would sure like to know where we are right now."
Johnson and the Arbiter walked over to the Chief and gazed at the busy motion whirling clouds and shapes surrounding them. A thick mist flowed around their knees and blanketed the floor. Rubbing the back of his head, Johnson muttered, "Man, not even my ex-girlfriend smacked me upside the head that hard."
Johnson couldn't hear it, but two of the waking marines overheard him. One looked at the other and commented, "Hear that? We'll save that one for later!"
As the rest of the group finally woke up, the shapes and figures around them finally began to take form. The whirling images settled down into the shape of a large control room, most likely the bridge, on a great forerunner battleship. Grunt, elites, and humans milled about the various posts fulfilling their respective duties and a pair of hunters stood at attention by the main doors. Each creature wore whitened armor, but the degree of decorations of gold, silver, and copper on the armor seemed to indicate their rank. Most of the grunts had a lone copper strike flashing down their chest, back, and arms while several of the humans, elites, and hunters had multiple bands of beautifully woven colors.
An elite, by far decorated the most, stood on a raised platform and surveyed the displays around him. Through the crystal clear displays covering the far side of the bridge, the sight of dozens of triangular forerunner capital ships and hundreds of smaller crafts flew about. Towards the bottom right corner of the viewing window, a great planet floated in the space. Its night-time face showed the glow of billions of lights and each sparkled like the reflection of light from the facet of a diamond.
Johnson cautiously walked to one of the passing humans asking, "Hey you, soldier, where the hell are we?" The human didn't respond. Noticing a few silver strips on his armor, he didn't know whether to salute or not. Shrugging his shoulders, he just stuck his arm out and attempted to push the human's shoulder. To his surprise and dismay, his hand passed right through the humans' body.
"We must be in some event of the forerunner's past. It's just like watching a dream, all we can do is sit back and enjoy the show," Miranda sighed.
Suddenly, a small blip of light flashed on one of the commander's displays. It barked an out an order to a grunt with two copper streaks on its armor. "Report!"
In its characteristic high pitched voice, the grunt replied, "Captain! Scans report disturbance far side of planet! Me think it's a slip space channel!"
The grunt was correct. A white light appeared far into the distance and a large, dark gray, diamond shaped ship exited slip-space.
The ship's personal A.I., with a female voice, gave the scan and diagnostics of the newly arrived ship. "Captain, this ship is of an unknown class but its weaponry and shielding are nearly identical to ours. Sir, it's hailing us!"
"Put it up," ordered the elite.
An empty holographic screen to the right of the elite flashed to life but a very dark image greeted him.
Clearing his throat, the elite warmly greeted the guest. "Welcome to Klitharia! I am the commander of this planet's fleet, and I wish you tidings and good will. Is there anything I may do for you?"
John and the rest of his group squinted to see who or what was in the display image. Even Cortana struggled to get a good look.
Although none of them could get a good look at the strange guest, they could all clearly hear its response.
In a dark, dreary, and chilling voice, it slowly responded, "Die…"
The elite captain took a step back in shock and the holographic display disappeared. A high ranking human hollered aloud, "Sir, they're firing their weapons!"
Four bursts of static light ran forth from the alien ship and contacted the nearest forerunner capital ship. Three of the energy beams hit the bluish aura of the activated shielding which absorbed the wave of ions, but the fourth passed through the weakened shielding and hit the engine cores. Explosions rocked the forerunner ship and it floated in space, disabled and tactically dead.
The captain punched a command on his command display and ordered, "Get the fleet into combat status! Discharge all ion cannons on the enemy ship!"
Other elites, grunts, and humans all ran to their battle stations and in a display of efficient mobilization, the remaining capital ships opened up their duel ion cannons on the enemy vessel seconds later. The first six blasts were enough to rip the enemy ship's shields and hull to shreds, but the remaining bursts of charged ionic rays made sure to decimate the alien craft and crew into the very basic fabric of atoms. When the light dispersed, there was nothing left of where the alien ship was except for the blackness of space.
"Send word throughout the galaxy that we're at war with an unknown foe. I want to speak with High Command immediately!" the elite hollered.
His crew obediently followed the orders and seconds later, the captain was face to face with the four soldiers that greeted John and his team back on the ark.
"Generals, we were just attacked by an unidentified and unknown ship with technology similar to ours. I lost one of my Beta class battleships during the battle. Sending you the audio logs and video relays as we …. for the love of God …"
The elite general responded urgently, "Captain, what is it? Respond!"
But the captain couldn't muster the air needed to reply. Its mandibles hung loosely and its body went limp. The very stars in front of him seemed to transform into the alien crafts. Thousands upon thousands of the enemy ships enclosed on the planet's position and the foremost opened fire as they got in range.
The first wave of ion fire obliterated the entire front line of forerunner vessels. Bright red explosions engulfed many of their vessels, but the remaining managed to counterattack. Several of the alien crafts were destroyed, but hundreds replaced their fallen comrades. Hopelessly outnumbered and out-gunned, the forerunner fleet guarding Klitharia disappeared only to be remembered by history itself. As the glimpse of the past began to fade back into the shrouds of the unknown, Master Chief and all those around him managed to catch one last glimpse of the terrible nightmare. As the enormous fleet opened fire on Klitharia, the great discharge of ionic weaponry caused the surface to erupt in great wisps of ionized flame. The beautiful and sparkling lights and cities of the planet were instantly engulfed by the unrelenting wave of fire and energy leaving nothing but blackened earth in its wake.
John lunged forward reaching out with his arm to help the ailing planet but it was to no avail. The whole party was surrounded by the obscure and vague shrouds of the unknown. Behind John, several of the newer marines had tears fall down their cheeks after watching the extermination taken place. Even the battle hardened elites stood motionless and numb to the tragedy before them.
Johnson, his mouth agape, couldn't say anything but, "Well I'll be damned."
Inside their sphere of swirling shapes and figures and blanketing mist, the voice of the original forerunner human boomed out at them.
You have seen our malevolent foe. Now you will see our solution.
The swirling shapes surrounding them began to slowly take form again. To John's far right, a long purple carpet ran from a large doorway all the way to a glowing table in the middle of a great and spacious chamber. The holographic images of forerunner controlled space orbited far above the central table. The Chief heard Cortana mumble something about that being the Milky Way but his attention was focused on the four dazzlingly decorated armored soldiers sitting around the table deep in discussion. They were the four that greeted them in the ark.
The human began, "Analysis of their primary computer system is complete. The best that I can tell, our enemy is foreign to this galaxy."
Grinding his fist in frustration, the elite inquired, "Then we must determine where they are from and why they're intent on exterminating us!"
Punching in a command into the holograms on the center table, the grunt pointed up to the holographic display of the galaxy above them. "See there! We lose a whole quarter of our territory! We must combine all remaining fleets to fight big meanies. It is only way."
The hunter roared audibly and the computer translated. "Let us board their ships! We will grind them into dust!"
With a stern expression, the elite replied to the hunter's idea. "Then I guess you forgot watching your comrades fall to their ion rifles back on Polantus IV. They are just as strong at repelling boarders as we are."
"We were surrounded and already weakened from battle! We lasted longer than your units," the hunter roared back.
"Don't be stupid, let grunt special ops take out bad fleet!" the grunt squeaked out above them.
The elite, grunt, and hunter began to raise their voices to press their opinions, but the human raised his hands gesturing for silence. "Brothers, there may be hope left for us. This new strategy is impregnable." He punched a command onto his display board and a video clip played about the four of them. "Experiment A-104 has exceeded all expected results. The gene manipulation tests have led to development in the best soldiers the universe has ever seen. Through the mind of one of utmost loyalty, he'll use parasites to revive the dead! These, the infectious forms, will attack and chew through the enemy armor inserting their DNA into the host. The host will become incapacitated only to transform in a brief amount of time into a loyal, undefeatable soldier! Preliminary tests show enemy ion weaponry is only thirty percent effective against them."
The video showed the small infection form attacking its host and biting down into its neck. While the host screamed in agony, the form injected its DNA into the back of its spine. Seconds passed and the body and limbs began to transform into the combat forms that the exiled covenant and marines had feared the most.
The party, passively watching, gasped in disbelief at the events taking place before them. Marines, elites, and grunts all looked blankly at each other. None of them would have predicted how the flood had come to be.
The black armored elite inquisitively watched the videos and looked at the human. "But tell me, how do we know these beasts shall not turn onto their masters."
"Ahh, a good question. The DNA of these soldiers allow for rapid regeneration of cellular damage. But this trait comes at a deep cost. They must feed and feed often to have the biomass needed to sustain them. When they've destroyed our great enemy, we can herd them, starve them if necessary, and quickly control their numbers. I have nominated the Vice Admiral Trejak of the core fleet to become the gravemind. His devout loyalty to our civilization has been proven more frequently than any other. He will remain obedient to our command and will control these new soldiers. Brothers, we shall have victory!"
All four of the forerunner generals raised their fists in the air and yelled their fierce battle cries.
The swirling mist and the ambiguous shapes and objects began to once again encircle John and the rest of the party. However, they were more then used to the strange realm and took the time and opportunity to talk amongst themselves.
"It seems that our forefathers were responsible for this epidemic," the Arbiter commented.
"Yes, but what I'm curious about is how their plans were undermined. How did they lose control of the flood?" Miranda shrugged her shoulders in wonderment.
With the main speakers on, Cortana joined the discussion. "Mam, I'm willing to bet that this experiment was more than they could have wished for. I remember in the archives for the SPARTIAN II project that the gene modification caused some of the soldiers to completely change in personality. They essentially went mad. Maybe something like that occurred. You know what tends to happen when you try to play God."
The computer is smart one. Next you shall see big battle and then you shall witness beginning of our end! Storytime is almost over, friends.
The voice echoing around them was most certainly that of the grunt general and the grunts with the exiled covenant forces appeared to take pride in that one of their own could achieve such rank.
However, before anyone could again take any comfort and adjust to the surreal environment, the mysterious shrouds began to take shape into something familiar. Johnson recognized it almost immediately.
"Damn, we're back on one of their command ships!"
The action going on outside of the ship, visible through the front windows, showed a battle greater than anything that had been witnessed by covenant or marine forces. The space before them lay littered with countless molten ship parts and thousands of forerunner and enemy crafts engaged each other with their ionic weaponry. Due to the discharge of weapons fire, the very fabric of space appeared to carry on a charge and bolts of lightning raced between the shielding of the ships.
Spreading out on the bridge, Miranda looked out and surveyed every detail. There was a central planet which sparkled like a sun. The best she could discern, the whole surface was covered with buildings and structures. Surrounding the planet in a tetrahedron shape, four distant suns glowed and radiated warmth onto every side of the planet.
Suddenly the ship shook violently and red warning lights flashed throughout the bridge. Armored grunts, humans, and elites worked the controls and the great human general stood at the bridge relaying tactical information. Standing tall and proud, he could have easily been an identical twin to the Master Chief. His shouts and commands worked to keep the forerunners in the battle.
"Have squadrons one through ten flank the enemy on the starboard side! I want Admiral Chromunee to have his fleet join with Admiral Jargunee and spearhead an advance into their middle. Their starboard side is to be obliterated and the port side of their fleet will make an acquaintance with our special friends. The capital will not fall while we can still fight!"
A low ranking grunt spoke out above the din, "General! Communication from the Gravemind."
"Put it up on the tertiary display screen."
One of the far right holographic screens lit up and the image of Gravemind greeted the forerunner general and the guests aboard the ship.
"I am ready to begin your brave new operation. My minions are at your disposal for the time being."
Nodding his head, the general replied, "Very good. We shall use your infection forms to disarm and destroy the leftward side of the enemy fleet. You are then to use the captured vessels, dock them in our shipyards for repairs, and begin to clear our galaxy of this abomination."
"They will soon pray for death when they run into my forces. May victory move towards us swiftly and gracefully."
The image of Gravemind disappeared and the forward windows showed the forerunner fleet in action. A cluster of hundreds of forerunner ships began moving in and concentrating their fire on the center of the enemy fleet. The rays of ions and brilliant flashes of exploding spacecraft lit up the interior of the command vessel like a sun. Outnumbered and outgunned, the forerunner fleet was holding out their own for the time being, but would become overrun if they didn't act.
As the two conjoined fleets began to spearhead into the enemy formation, smaller explosions at the far right side of the fleet became visible. They were splitting the enemy fleet in two successfully despite ever increasing loses.
The general frantically worked at his command controls. "Fleet Admiral Ubanee, complete the stroke and surround the remaining fragments. On my command, have your carriers release the boarding crafts at the other half of their fleet. Only until they've made contact do you have permission to withdraw all forces and retreat back to the remaining support craft."
Through the viewing windows, it was clear that the forerunners' spearhead had lost nearly half of their numbers, but the surrounded sphere of the enemy fleet was being wrecked by hundreds of flashes of light and explosions. The leftward side of the enemy armada was attempting to disperse the forerunner spearhead and was quickly making progress.
"Fleet Admiral, release the parasite and like a great flood of death, let them meet their own personal hell!"
"Sir! Flood filled boarding craft are on their way. Contact in thirty seconds."
Small while spores seemed to be emanating off from the forerunner carriers behind the primary fleet. As they raced by at incredible speeds, many of them passed near the forerunner command vessel. Similar to small needle like projections capable of holding around fifteen elites or marines, the boarding crafts moved at unbelievable speeds towards the enemy fleet.
Realizing that the forerunners were up to something and recognizing that their computer systems were going off the wall, the enemy began to shift its remaining fleet into a defensive position. The initial spearhead of forerunner capital ships were gone, floating in the dead and statically charged abyss of floating wreckage and debris. The half of the enemy fleet which was targeted lay nearly destroyed and the flanking ships mopped up the rest. The explosions from that sector of space quickly died down into nothingness and any remaining vessels lay quiet, destroyed, disable, or simply too exhausted to move.
The remaining forerunner fleet began to regroup in turn. All eyes on the command flagship lay glued to the progress of the boarding craft. Once the flood filled vessels were within range of the enemy armada, their fleet opened fire in a dazzling display of firepower. Instantly, nearly one quarter of the boarding craft met their oblivion. The rest, however, pressed on.
A second wave of ionized fire destroyed yet another large percentage of the boarding craft. Small orange explosions continued to light up the realm of space surrounding the enemy fleet. The hopes of many forerunners on the command flagship began to sink at thoughts of the failed attempt, but more boarding craft survived than thought.
The first boarding craft to hit the enemy shielding exploded on contact. However, in a feat of engineering genius, these crafts resonated an EMP throughout large sections of the shields effectively shutting them down. The remaining vessels easily passed through the empty shielding and made contact with the ship's hull.
Their enormous momentum and razor sharp front nose allowed them to effortlessly punch through the exterior hull and snuggly implant themselves securely inside of the enemy ships. To the horror of the soldiers prepared to fight off the boarders, they wouldn't be greeted by the easily targetable lumbering hulks of armored hunters, but by thousands of small infectious flood forms more than eager to pounce and transform their bodies into rotting masses of the living dead.
From their view on the command vessel, the Chief, his party, and the forerunner crew could see were the small orange explosions dissipate and quickly disappear. The enemy armada stopped firing and all went quiet.
One of the grunts with John and his party spoke out, "Did they beat the meanies?"
John turned around and calmly replied, "I don't know. I guess we'll find out."
A moment of uncertainty went by until the Arbiter gasped, "By the prophets, look what's happening!"
Simultaneously, the tertiary holographic screen lit up and Gravemind's mutated and gigantic face filled the screen.
"My forces now have control of many of their spacecraft. Soon, their strong fleet will be under our complete control."
Explosions began to light up the blackness of space surrounding the invading fleet. The flood controlled vessels began to open fire on the ones they didn't control. In a matter of minutes, the remaining enemy fleet lay devastated and several hundred ships lay under control of the flood and its infected soldiers.
The signaling of victory sent the crew of the command flagship into open cheer. The human general began to speak to Gravemind, but amid the rejoicing, none of the ships guests could hear.
As the shroud-like mist of the unknown and mysterious began to surround the party, the flight of hundreds of remaining forerunner capital ships began to collect around the victorious battlefield. The flood had finally been released, but questions of the forerunner's demise swirled through every mind.
The voice of the human general again rang out through the cloudy shroud.
You have seen the war begin to turn in our favor but we have no more for you to witness. Now we shall talk and bring the final conclusions to this quagmire. Listen not to who answers your inquiries, but to what our answer is…
Silence filled the area and the mist continued to flow by the knees of the troops standing around in a nervous wait.
With the Spartan's external speakers activated, Cortana asked the first question. "Excuse me, but you won the battle, the tide and momentum of the war must have shifted to your favor! What happened afterwards?"
You are right in suggesting that the war turned to our favor. After the battle above our capital planet, we began to press our malevolent foe further back to the edges of the galaxy.
"And after that, what happened?" Cortana pressed on.
As the war pressed on, the flood grew stronger and stronger. It eventually even surpassed our control. Gravemind was engulfed with the power that surged through his veins and after each passing day, our control over him waned.
Before Cortana could press even further on the issue, Johnson pressed into the conversation. "I've heard from the Chief that this Gravemind is some butt ugly son of a bitch that looks like an overgrown Venus fly trap. What the hell gives with that?"
Your jargon amuses me Sergeant. Vice Admiral Trejak was human before genetic modification. Human DNA is most easily manipulated of our four species, so a human was hence forth needed for the changes. We discovered on a planet on the fringes of the galaxy a plant with rapid regenerative properties. It was that DNA which was infused with his.
"Ahem, if the Sergeant will be so kind as to not interrupt, tell us about the rings you built. You know, the halos," Cortana stated with a slightly irritated tone.
Near the end of the war, the four of us realized the predicament our civilization faced. Gravemind was becoming uncontrollable and the flood would easily overpower us if provoked. The ones you call engineers, they existed as a neutral race to us and we often purchased their services for construction needs. At our request, they mobilized their entire species to hastily construct the fortress worlds. In mere months, they were completed. We could focus all of our resources towards the project while the flood dealt with our enemy.
Miranda stepped forward to the Chief and politely asked, "Excuse me Cortana, there is something I must ask as well."
Required to let Commander Keyes speak, she promptly replied, "Go ahead, mam."
"You said that the flood grew beyond your control, so you ultimately fired the rings. What was the purpose of the ark?" Cortana openly asked.
Some of the flood controlled vessels followed the retreating foes out of the galaxy and are still assumed to be battling them to this day. The enormous returning force returned victorious, but with the desperate need to feed. Gravemind's connection with his minions grew far deeper than predicted. He would not allow the systematic starvation of his armies. They were his children, and he would not watch them die. He eventually discovered our ultimate plan of containment and did not approve. Regardless of the loyalty Trejak once held for us, there was nothing of it left for us now. His armies waged war with our own and it was a conflict we were not to win….
The voice stopped and the eerie silence returned. The Arbiter, growing nervous, calmly asked into the vast openness, "Please, continue."
I apologize, this brings us great pain. We, we lost planet after planet. Our families were consumed to the unquenchable hunger of the flood. We built the ark on your planet, Earth, as a haven for our civilization. Two were protected from each race similar to your Adam and Eve. One thousand years after we were forced to activate the halos from the ark, four ships launched from the facility. The first three flew to their new home worlds on the least devastated side of the galaxy and the last landed further above the continent to start anew and to hopefully atone for our great sins.
The Arbiter, watching the swirling mist and listening in awe quietly asked, "What sins?"
Sins? The flood is our great sin to this galaxy and if they did successfully follow our great foe, our sins may have spread to countless others. Your job is to join together and forge the alliance that was once held so dear. You must destroy Gravemind! With his death comes the incapacitation of the flood and the promise of the revival of the forerunners! We lay dormant in secret colonies throughout the galaxy waiting for you, our saviors, to reclaim our realm so that we may one day walk freely in it.
Surprising the whole crew of humans and covenant, Adam Mitchell walked up to the front and took an opportunity to ask his own question. "You speak to me in my mind, you tell me what to do. Why do you torment me?"
Adam, you are of our direct genetic line. Of course, lacking the general genetic modifications that we all endure, you're designed to fit in with humanity. Nevertheless, you still carry on humanity's trait of telekinetic abilities and creative intelligence. You goal was to work with the humans on Earth and help ensure their survival against the tainted ones. You have done well and we are proud.
Pushing aside Adam, Sergeant Johnson butted in, "Wait wait, super intelligence, telekinetics? And what the hell are the tainted ones? You don't mean these elites next to us right?"
Don't be facetious. Yes, Adam is a forerunner, but technically, you are all one too. In time, humanity will learn how to use their gift of neural communication. The forerunner is a union. Humanity provides wit and creativity, the Sangheili share their gifts of tactical brilliance, the Unggoy contribute their sheer numbers and willingness to work together, and the Lekgolo provide sheer strength and muscle.
As for your second inquiry, it displeases me to say that our foes created an ark of their own before the flood drove them out. In it, they left behind subservient species you call the prophets, brutes, drones, and jackals. Over time, they forgot about their previous allegiance. As the prophets interacted with each different species, the Sangheili being the first, they spread lies and deceit to only increase their own power and influence.. We were powerless to act against them and still are. I assume that when they met humanity, they were reminded of the creators of the forerunner and sought to destroy them once and for all.
Everyone shook their heads in shock and even Cortana was temporarily without words. Finally, Miranda spoke.
"What is it you want us to do?"
Go now! Your job is to protect the rest of your races and ensure that the flood do not take them. When your worlds are secured, you must find and destroy Gravemind before he too, destroys you. Go, time is of the essence! Remember, two of our fortress worlds are destroyed. They are ineffective now and can no longer be relied on. This time, failure is not an option!
As the silence once again returned, the shroud of mist began to abate. Darkness took over the minds of everyone and their consciousness was slowly returned back to their own realm. The mysterious forces that had taken control left their thoughts and the light slowly returned as they opened their eyes.
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Authors' Notes
I deeply apologize for the long wait in the development of this chapter. This is my freshman year in college and the school work has been kicking my rear-end to say the least. I have papers and finals to prepare for now, and I wanted to get this chapter finished before the real grind began. Please take my sincere regret in delaying any progress in chapter 8 for a few weeks at worst.
Regarding this Chapter, I hope you all enjoy. It was surprisingly hard to create a tangible history for the forerunner and flood, and I hope that you all think that it's something that could have possibly happened. As for the conversation between the forerunner and the search party at the last part of the chapter, I chose the forerunner comments to be italicized only because they were not directly speaking, but through the minds of each individual. In the actual re-enacting portions of the dream, they the forerunner are speaking directly to the marines/exiled covenant so there was no need for italicization. Sorry about any confusion about that. Please drop a review if you have a chance, but most importantly, I hope you enjoy this addition to my story!