A/N: I apologize for how long it has been since I last updated. I have lacked the time to type these fics, and lost inspiration for a short time. About the Titans' origins: I'll give you a hint. It's going to be horribly complicated. And involve ancient civilizations. Also, if anyone can actually guess the true origin of the Titans before I reveal it, send me a message and I will mention you on the page that I finally reveal their origin. It will probably be in another fic, and it will definitely have to be done before or during the Warhammer 40k fic I have planned.

Also, the language of the Blackfire Titans is extremely simple, but I had not actually planned any language for them when I made the first page. As such, the language is technically 'fake,' and I will edit it later, when I actually have a full language developed. When I edit them, I will also change many of the errors I have found/been told about.

Alright, I have made my unintentionally long Author's Note. Seriously, though, I don't plan for these to be horribly long, but they are.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Halo. I also do not own Warhammer 40K. Nor do I own Star Wars, but Kanos's name was not intentional. I named one of my chars that, and only later realized where it was from.

Also, two warnings:

I am currently suffering from both lack of sleep and minor blood loss, and have had 3 Monster energy drinks in the past 2 days. As you can probably guess, Im a little... off.

The Titan fanfic stories will not be in chronological order. In fact, they won't be in any form of logical order, at all.

Anyway, on to the fic!

Wrath of the Black Flame

Chapter III

Confusion

"Chief."

John heard Cortana speak, but something seemed odd about her tone. She seemed awed.

The last time Cortana seemed awed, John had nearly killed every living thing in the galaxy with Halo, believing it to be a bit less powerful.

Needless to say, he didn't like it when Cortana sounded awed.

"Cortana?" He asked.

"Chief, you need to see this. It's the Titans... I think I've found why they don't like Johnson and the others." She paused for a moment.

"They've encountered humanity before."

John was startled. "They can't have," he subvocalized, "records have remained intact since humanity first took to space. These Titans would have been recorded."

"Unless the UNSC wanted to keep them a secret. But if they did, why would they send a colonization fleet straight to them? I don't know when, where, or even how they encountered humanity, but they did. I've been in their files. They have a system based loosely on Forerunner, Covenant... and Human tech. Judging by the Arbiter's reaction when he first saw Darakathos, he's seen him before. That explains the Covenant tech."

"And there may be Forerunner ruins on the planet. Maybe they got the Human tech from salvage." John said, but he didn't sound completely convinced.

"We are going to have to watch them closely."

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Darakathos, Aulianas of the Dark Titans, looked across the table, directly at the green-clad one, the one that must have been their leader.

"Darakathos."

"Yes, Kanos?"

"The SPARTAN has an AI. It was in the system. It took a look at the Tier 6 information, and left in amazement. It seemed to be surprised at something in our system. I have checked her logs. She is a good hacker, but she doesn't exactly have our many years of experience. What she was amazed at was not any of the intel, it was something about the system itself."

"Go on."

"I took a look in their files. There's no mention of us, except the Greek legends."

"Greek?"

"You know, those humans on Earth. Thought we were gods of some kind."

"Ah, yes. How could they have no mention of us? The Second Betrayal may not have come from this group, but the First happened at a Nexus Point."

(And no, I am not going to explain what a Nexus Point is, or what they are discussing concerning location. That will come later.)

"It is possible that it was a gov cover-up. In the Second Betrayal, did you see any civilians?"

"No. Now that you mention it, all that we met with were people from the military. Generals, a few scientists, nothing low rank or truly civilian."

"Exactly. If the gov didn't want anyone to know about us, they didn't know about us."

"Hm. This explains why they haven't run in fear by now. The Third betrayal, we wiped out a full Chapter."

"That is another thing," Kanos said. "I took a look at the dates. It is possible that the last Gate we went through may have brought us through time, again."

Darakathos sighed. "When are we?"

"2258. Just before the Second Betrayal."

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Syrassaaan leaned back in his throne, content for the moment.

He had finally done it. An immense achievement. His name would be known for all eternity for this! All would bow at his feet!

He had finally built a pyramid of playing cards!

Oh, and he had also changed the destination of the Gate to just before the Second Betrayal Nexus, so that he could exploit the Blackfire Pretender's moment of weakness. But that was nothing compared to this!

It stood an amazing 5 cards tall, with 10 cards at the base!

He then laughed maniacally and curled up into the fetal position and fell asleep.

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The Arbiter wandered around the fortress-ship. It had been a full day after the meeting, and he decided to take a closer look at his surroundings. If he had to fight here, he wanted to know the layout of the ship.

A Sangheili officer ran up to him, and knelt.

The Arbiter recognized him. It was Tero Manalar, a minor Ship Master, and a bit of a recluse. His ship had jumped in-system soon after theirs, in response to the report the Arbiter had sent.

He did not like the Elite, nor did he like his crew. They were all recluses, and seemed almost berserk, even in a space battle.

If Manalar had sent him, then he must be needed immediately.

"Arbiter, the Titan has asked that you and the... humans... some to the meeting room. He says that he wants to discuss some things."

He said the word with disgust. Manalar had never been a supporter of the alliance with the humans, who had once been one of their most hated enemies.

The Arbiter sighed. He had fought beside them long enough to know that, even if they were physically, and culturally inferior to the Sangheili, there was a reason that the Covenant had almost never won a ground battle against the humans. They had numbers, and, surprisingly, skill. They also seemed to adapt to every strategy, weapon, and even armor the Covenant could throw at them.

The Arbiter had no use, nor patience for unwarranted bigotry.

He dismissed Manalar and began the long path to the war-room.

Only later did he wonder just how Manalar knew where he was.

By then, it was too late.

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Manalar watched the Arbiter's retreating back, and smiled. All was falling into place. The Master would be pleased.

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A/N: And there you have it. Treachery, plot, and general confusion. As I have said before, pay attention to the dialogue between Darakathos and the other Titans. I leave clues as to the Titans' past in most conversations.

Also, as for the people who have wondered what Darakathos looks like, I will post a set of instructions in my bio. Follow them to see what I imagine my chars to look like. If you have any suggestions about them, send me a message at even try to use my email to spam, sign me up for random magazines or services, or otherwise annoy and/or prank me. It won't work. I'll just ignore you and it.