Disclaimer: Contents of Halo belongs to Bungie/343 industries while Mass Effect belongs to Bioware and any starcraft reference made belongs to Blizzard. Anything else that you recognise from games, movies, shows, etc belong to their respective makers, while I hold rights to all OCs.
Well I'm back, around thirteen or so days earlier than I said I would be back, and with exams finally finished, I now have a lot more time on my hand and this chapter has been done by the request of 'nano101', who didn't want a one hundred thousand years' time skip that I was initially planning to do.
So here is the 'second' part of the prologue and I do hope all of you enjoy.
***Ok this is the re-edited version with more spacing and a bit of grammarwork(not much that you will notice). Hopefully this will allow for an easier read. Again sorry about that, was in a slight rush when I posted this chapter.***
"For us, the storm has passed. The war is over. But let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure...sacrifice, and unshakable conviction that their fight; our fight, was elsewhere. As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us, and they shall not be forgotten."
Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood
-Memorial Speech, March 3 2553.
Prologue Part II: Aftermath.
99,987 BC.
One day after the end of the flood war.
The following day after the end of the second flood war, when the remaining forerunner settled into temporary prefabricated buildings and a short celebration of the victory against the flood did the populace, of both old and new, notice the harrowing silence left behind by those who went and never returned. A day after, the final casualty and missing person count was broadcasted to all that remained of the public, with a total of an average of ninety precent population reduction for all three races combined, with the forerunners suffering the most casualties because they were on the forefront of the war and had the largest population being in the trillions, now reduced to over ten or so million. Although suffering significantly less numerical casualties, the humans and San Shyuum still suffered the deaths of trillions, with the humans' population reduced from the low trillions to single digit millions, while the San Shyuums themselves could be classified as an endangered species numbering just over a million due to their significantly lower reproduction rates.
In the end, the military of each race was crippled to the point where they couldn't even sustain a short war against a low level tier two race with a competent military, the economy is in ruins due to the fact that there wasn't enough qualified people to fill the required roles and more than a few planets of the 1200 planets under human-San Shyuum empire control is devoid of all human and San Shyuum life with only AI caretakers and maintenance drones looking after the once life-filled, vibrant cities and planets, while the rest had a minimum of a ninety precent population reduction.
Instead of celebrations in a decisive victory against the flood with past experience gained, that everyone had planned so long ago when the humans and San Shyuums first joined, it was a weeklong mourning for those who had willingly went into the dark so that others may live, for entire family legacies gone, wiped out when they willingly took to arms and perished against the parasite, for the survivors of war who will be forever scarred and burdened by what they saw and forced to do and finally for those who had lost just about or absolutely everything they once held dear.
Around two days through the mourning, the small taskforce of ships sent to Installation 00B, or the lesser Ark, finally returned to the system, all damaged in one way or another due to being suddenly pulled out of the front and sent to escort the didact to the Ark, as HIGHCOM didn't want the flood to find out about the their true plans. As the ships went into orbit of the planets and being repaired, the soldiers, human, San Shyuums and forerunners exited, all somber and tired, and many, not just the forerunners, were just lost, simply because they didn't know where to go or what their purpose was anymore.
On board the Didact's ship.
Crepusculum found himself standing alone on the observation deck once more and staring into the void of space once more as the ship orbited the planet, Novam Vitam. But he wasn't just standing there and staring into space.
While many people, civilians and soldiers alike, mourned and picked up the pieces, he along with the remaining military leaders of HIGHCOM and the governing body of the Human-San Shyuum alliance empire didn't have that luxury and was already in discussion about their next course of action. So far, they had reached an agreement that they should begin the rebuilding effort by concentrating more with the civilian side of thing, then once the economy and everything else had stabilized, they will begin to concentrate more into rebuilding their military and that they should group the remaining population together on one planet so everyone could be more easily defended by the severely crippled military if anything happened.
Right now they were in discussion of what to do with the forerunners, despite granting them asylum, many still harbour distrust from their past actions and wouldn't put it pass them to stab them in the back in the future, and many agreed that they should just get rid of them at first chance, with many arguing that it was because of the forerunners that the flood managed to get to the point it had gotten to, and hence they were responsible for the death of hundreds of billions of San Shyuums and Humans. Sigma just sighed as he heard that and shot it down by simply replying, "It was because WE destroyed all data we had on the flood as an act of 'vengeance' against the forerunners in the first place, leaving them ill prepared for the parasite, and by extension the rest of the galaxy! So if it was anyone fault for that little mishap, it would be ours, not theirs."
No one rebutted against him as they knew it was true, while those that wanted to were a lot younger than the ten-thousand years old Supreme Commander, hence nervous if they would just discredit themselves by doing so.
"None the less, how can we be sure that they will not turn on us first chance they get? To finish what they started ten thousand years ago. Even now their military stands larger than both ours combined."
A short moment of silence elapsed, before a San Shyuum general responded to the politician, "I myself have personally served with the forerunners on the ground against the flood on many occasion and even commanded some of their soldiers along with ours. Even though there are some fanatics and radicals among their race who think they are superior to everyone and everything, but so do our respective races. From experience they are a generally nice people and not the type that actively looks for war. Even if they do attack us now and we lose, our military will still be capable of wiping a majority of them out and guarantee their extinction, even if we also go extinct too. Besides, it would be better to have another friend instead of another enemy would it not?"
Surprisingly enough everyone agreed with the general and since they were still under martial law the Lord of Admirals just simply convey to everyone present, "If there is no one else that is against this, I'll send the Forerunner Ecumene a request for a more formal alliance…"
Everyone nodded in agreement, "If no one else has any issues that needs to be addressed immediately, I suggest we continue tomorrow. After all, I can see you are all tired and it would not be wise to continue our meeting with clouded minds."
Everyone than began to disconnect from the channel they were using before Crepusculum himself disconnected as well.
"So this is where you disappeared to for the better part of the day…"
"Sorry, was in a meeting for the better part of today…"
"Already? Don't you know the meaning of a break? I mean we just survived against the flood. Doesn't that warrant, at the very least, a day off?"
"Perhaps…But a break is simply a luxury my government and HIGHCOM does not have at the moment, especially in such a time where the people we have vowed to look after and protect are in such a situation…Besides things shouldn't be as bad as it was ten thousand years ago when we have to start again from scratch, at least now we have 1200 fully developed, albeit, empty worlds and a still functioning leadership at our disposal instead of four with haphazardly developed worlds and no clear signs of leadership…Also we have reached an agreement that it would be in the best interests of our three races that the Human-San Shyuum empire formed an alliance with your Ecumene."
"How long did it take you to pull them over?"
"Four hours or so…"
Dawn just stared at him blankly, "I would have thought it would have taken longer than that."
"Same…But the opposition wasn't putting up as much resistance as they usually did…Even I had thought up a few argument that they could have, but didn't use…"
"Guess we were lucky than…"
"I don't think so…"
"What are you saying?"
Crep just turned to the planet, one of the original four, that became the new beginning of the San Shyuums and Humanity before answering, "I could hear it in their voices, see it in their eyes, at least those that were not wearing helmets, that they were all tired and if I dare say, scared of being forced to fight another human-forerunner war…We want to be able to say with certainty that you won't stab us when our backs are turned, but unfortunately most of us can't…Despite the Human-Forerunner war having been our fault, the atrocities that your race committed against ours for such insignificant acts in comparisons, still scars many of us, including the younger generations, especially that of my race…"
Dawn just said nothing as she continued to listen. A century ago she would have argued that if the human had asked for help instead of attacking, thing would have been different. But as the war with flood dragged on, many of the more prominent political figures in the forerunner military had been killed by the flood, she had found herself being promoted again and again due to her past experiences and contribution to the war, until she found herself in the game of politics and it was there did she discover the large amount of tensions and hate between the two government due to the fact that both races claimed 'ownership' to the mantle and since the human and San Shyuum was seen as a threat to them and with them crippled by the flood, the Ecumene would have seen that as an advantage and taken steps to ensure that they remain unopposed and would have even started a war if they were not attacked.
"But like I have said before, none of us wants war, especially not with you or your race and given our current predicament, and what we have been through, we are willing to give you a benefit of the doubt, and like the general said, 'It would be better to have another friend than another enemy', and I fully agree with that, don't you?"
By the time Crep finished his monologue, he found himself staring into Dawn's helmet from behind his own as she stared back.
"Only a fool wouldn't…Why are you telling me these things anyways?"
"You said to talk to someone about my problems, so I thought now was a good time as any."
Dawn resisted an urge to roll her eyes at the sudden change in mood, "That was slightly anti-climactic…What are you going to tell me next? You joined the military when you were six?"
Crep just looked away as Dawn finished her sentence before a hint of apprehension slowly fill her, "Don't tell me that you were actually recruited into the military when you were six…"
"Well technically it was a year after in a no name orphanage among hundreds of other children on a planet long blasted to dust and ash, that I was offered a place in the Dark Templar program among the ten thousand chosen…So I was seven when I began my training."
Behind her helmet Dawn clearly showed disgust on her face, "Your government is willing to use children as soldiers? That is just…despicable…"
Crep just sighed, "Remember though, during the time when you and your race was enjoying the privileges of peace and prosperity, mine was in a desperate struggle to contain the flood and stop them from spreading...I have seen how the war started, between you and the flood, how they began invading from the outside…But do you know how humanity and the San Shyuum were forced to fight the flood?"
Dawn slowly shook her head and Crep just sighed, "Do you know how we initially found the flood?"
Dawn began going through her memory until she found a tiny snippet of information buried away in her mind that she had read long ago in the human archives, "As a 'harmless' powder in a ship of unknown make and your scientists began performing experiments on them and they evolved and the war began."
Crep just nodded, "That is just the beginning and the end…Initially it took centuries for the flood to evolve, did you know that? Long before I even came into existence…Our scientists found the spores and discovered it had a pacifying effect on any organism that ingested it, and it saw wide spread use among the pherus, a popular delicacy among the San Shyuums and even more popular as pets among our two races…Eventually they slowly began to evolve, the sign were obvious, change in behaviour, un-natural growth of limbs and appendages…but we ignore the signs, saying that they were simply evolving into a 'more superior species'…"
Dawn was enticed by the missing part of the flood evolution while Crep just chuckled at the irony of the statement, "So when the flood finally attacked, they were everywhere. There were no frontlines, no borders…everything was in chaos, entire sectors were cut off and some other just simply disappeared off grid to be eventually found fully infested with flood with no survivors and we had no damn clue on what was going on and what to do in the long run. I have read from the archives, during our training, that on the first day the flood managed to successfully capture a significant amount of warships and we were forced to level hundreds of thousands of cities with survivors, civilian and military, still in them, burn thousands of still inhabited planets into ash, all so we could control the infection…and that was on the first day…First day and our military and industrial might was reduced by at least twenty five precent, as billions lay dead, while hundreds of millions more were missing…"
Dawn just cringed at what she had just learnt; the forerunner's encounter with the flood only yielded that many dead during the first century and it was the half way through the second century before they began to employ any means of orbital bombardment tactics on the parasite. They underestimated the flood because they attacked from the outside with insignificant numbers and was ignored as a threat due to their lack of technology and sentience, until it was finally too late to do anything about it. Humanity on the hand was attacked from the inside of their protective sphere of their mighty military; they didn't have the luxury to sit back analyse the enemy, plan effective strategies and was forced to sacrifice countless lives just to buy time, before finally dealing the killing blow against them by sacrificing hundreds of billions, if not trillions more by implanting genes that attacked the flood own genes and purposely feeding them to the parasite, destroyed them at a genetic level. If it had been the other way around and humanity had found the flood on that accursed planet instead of them, she wouldn't have put it passed them to destroy the entire system to ensure that no spore could survive, while checking neighbouring systems for the smallest signs of flood.
Dawn was than snapped out of her stupor as Crep began speaking again.
"By the fifth year, someone in HIGHCOM suggested that we needed another branch of 'elite' soldiers other than the Templars, capable of delaying and crippling the flood behind their lines and come out alive while being outnumbered billions to one with little to no support, while is also capable of holding them on the front as well. All this was planned and done with the purpose of buying time with the cost of fewer lives. This type of goal was only attainable if the soldier in question was trained as a child, as studies has shown that a child learns a lot faster than an adult, as you would know yourself, and hence would need less time in training in contrast to adults already in the military, along with the fact that a child is physically less developed, hence allowing more...options when it came to augmentations and mutations. Hence the Dark Templar division was created and when ten thousand children of both human and San-Shyuums begun their training to become the 'Reapers' of the human-san Shyuum alliance..."
"But none the less it still seems…wrong…"
Crep just shrugged, "Remember how I told you that I watched my parents being consumed by flood when I was six?"
Dawn nodded, "That type of experiences scars for life, especially to a child of my age and with the flood war going on, the orphanages were flooded by thousands of orphans and more were coming in almost hourly…They didn't have the resources to take care of everyone and that is where the military came in. They took the orphans who they assessed as capable and gave them…us a chance…A chance to have a life that we could have never achieved if we had stayed in the orphanages, they gave us a new family, a home, and finally a purpose to actually live…And for the record, if I had remained on that planet, I would have most likely have died a year later, when the flood assaulted it…After all, the reports said there was no survivors…"
The room was sombrely quiet as Creps reminisced about the past and reflected on every decision he had made in his career, while Dawn slowly digested the information she had just learnt about the Dark Templar childhood and past.
A minute passed by before Crep spoke up again, "Not that I'm complaining, but was there anything that you wanted to see me about, other than the conversation we just had."
"Right, I was going to tell you that the teleportation grid on this ship had finished syncing with your own grid…"
"…I have no idea how to respond to that…"
A few awkward seconds passed before Dawn just sighed, "Just say 'Thank you' and follow me…"
"Then followed by me giving you a tour of the city then dinner on a balcony with a beach side view before somehow ending up in the same bed together."
Despite her society's view on sex, Dawn still couldn't help but blush slightly at the last part as a relationship with another species was unheard of because of the 'status' of her race being the 'guardians of the galaxy' while being mortal enemies with the humans and San Shyuum had left them somewhat inexperience with human and San Shyuum cultures and arts, despite certain similarities observed during their desperate struggle against the flood. So all in all, being in a relationship with a Dark Templar would be quite 'unpredictable' due to said difference among other things.
Dawn just huffed at him, "Well I'm leaving now. If you want to stay than that is fine by me."
Crep gave a short chuckle before following her out of the room.
1 NE: First day of the New Era.
One of the four 'core planets' Novam Vitam.
In empty area and relatively flat piece of land positioned in the middle of the capital of the planet, usually reserved for celebrations, festivals and such events, was a decorated podium on a decently sized stage with camera drones hovering from all angles and around it. In front of the stage stood a relatively large crowd of people, consisting of forerunner, human and San Shyuums, from all walks of life and standing side by side, with no ill intention towards each other, though some paranoia still remained, with each group whispering quietly to themselves. They all quieted down as the current leader of the human race reached the podium.
"Hundreds of millions of years ago, the precursors arrived in this galaxy from another for unknown reason. They saw this galaxy filled with a variety of life, each different in its own unique way! They sought to protect it from all threats! As millennia passed, the precursors seeded this galaxy with other races of their own creation, including the San Shyuum! As millennia passed, the precursors wished to move on!
So they created species after species, to test them! Test them to see if they were worthy enough to uphold the mantle when they left! Countless were created and countless failed and were purged! Then hundreds of thousands of years ago, they created the forerunners! The precursors gave them the task to uphold the mantle! A hundred and sixty thousand years ago, just before the precursors disappeared, they created humanity! The precursors told humanity that they were to inherit the mantle as well!
One hundred and forty thousand years ago, when both forerunner and humanity reached tier 1, humanity voiced their inheritance, the forerunners at the time considered the claim as blasphemy as they were the only ones who were 'worthy'! Instead of negotiating peace and trying to understand why either side thought the way they did, which is expected from civilizations of OUR calibre, we decided to cut all contact with each other and start a cold war.
So ignorant were we than, so ARROGANT were we, from the position left to us by the precursors, we deluded ourselves into BELIEVING ourselves as gods! When in reality we were anything but! So arrogant as TO BELIEVE! That we were the most powerful force in the universe, BELIEVE that we were invincible to anything and everything as we hid behind our superior technology and 'beliefs'.
Then the parasite came…It came in the trillions, flooding us…Drowning us in their infinite seas of flesh, blood and bones of our people, and the people of countless others species we have once sworn to protect and failed…And destroying each one of our once oh so might empires, one by one as we stood alone…They were the catalysts of the human-forerunner wars, sealing the fate of humanity and by extension, the peace-loving San Shyuums who stood by our side, along with the trillions of forerunners warriors who were forced to stand against us in defence…They were responsible for the destruction of the forerunner ecumene! Along with the countless other races they couldn't save in time.
I find it ironic. Ironic how a sentient race with the technological level of a tier seven race could overwhelm three tier one races so easily, to the point if I wasn't actually here to witness the event I would have ordered a psych examination on the person who told me this. But I was present during both wars, I could easily tell everyone here of how they did so…
They simply worked together…Cooperated…Under one leadership and dedicated to the cause…There was no hate among their ranks, no ill intentions towards each other…In twisted way, they have achieved an utopian state that we have tried to achieve, but couldn't have achieved, as proven from past records of all the power plays, the backstabbing and the satisfactions of personal goals, even if it hurts others as well, and during BOTH wars against the flood, not just between human, forerunners and San Shyuums, but internally as well, severely crippling the effectiveness and efficiency of our empires already, without the flood having to do anything.
Houses can be remade…Loved ones cannot…Empires can be rebuilt…The countless lives that once called it home and sacrificed to defend it cannot…The sacrifices made by all three of our races during the wars against the flood and each other are so numerous that time cannot bare repeating them all. The countless men and women of our races fought and died to ensure the survival of not just our species but of the galaxy we had once called home. We have more than enough dead heroes to last a million generations…
Hence forth today will be the starting of a new era! The start of an Era where we can all live without fear of attack of our race by another! An Era without the fear of a possible war looming around the corner against a rival empire! An Era where our children could pursue their dreams and passions and not forced to fight a war! An era where we could all live in peace with each other…
It's foolish to think the hatred and paranoia that have been nurtured for millennia would all disappear in a century. But think before you decide to rebel and cause another war…Think about the unborn generation, the weary people who do not want to fight, being forced to fight or be killed…Think about the trillions of heroes who courageously and willingly stood facing death and paid the ultimate price for our survival…Do not let their sacrifices be in vain because of old grudges…"
No one made a sound when the human leader finished the speech. Everyone, including the leaders and various political figures of all three races present, were reminiscing about everything that has happened. Slowly one by one people began to clap, soon everyone was clapping and cheering, including those who were watching in their homes.
1500 NE/98500 BC: Orion arm of the milky way.
Carrier: Spirit of honour.
"Exiting slip-space in forty seconds."
"Thanks Spes…"
Sigma stood in the ship's hanger along with many other Dark Templars behind him and as the ship exited slip-space, a green light flashed green and the hard light barrier deactivated, causing every Dark Templar to sprint into the void of space and jump off heading down towards the planet in free fall.
One thousand five hundred years after the end of the flood war, the politicians and military leaders believed it was time to reseed the galaxy, codenamed PROJECT: SECOND CHANCE.
The project had four phases. The first was to send scout ships, usually the pathfinders, to scout home worlds and still habitable planet and perform detailed scans of the planet for any sign of flood infestation, left over from the firing of the Halo array, such as infection forms or spores, where they didn't have the sufficient biomass or sufficient nervous systems to be affected by the array, rendering them more or less immune and went into hibernation afterwards.
The second phase would proceed if flood was found on the planet, whereas than they would send people down to sterilize the threat if it was relatively minor, hence why the Dark Templars were free falling towards the planet and if it was significantly heavy, the warships sent would bombard the planet from orbit instead and even destroy it if the flood burrowed itself too deep into the planet surface, before rebuilding or terraforming it, which was left to those on the PROJECT: LIFE BRINGER, a project currently underway simultaneously with PROJECT: SECOND CHANCE, whose job was to re-terraform and rebuild any destroyed worlds that were once habitable.
The third phase of the project was to actually recolonize the home worlds with their respective species when it was declared clean from any flood contamination and finally the forth was to watch them for a short while, making sure the adapted to the environment of their world and not rendered extinct in some global apocalyptic event or failure to adapt to the planet's environment, whereas than they would intervene slightly.
Aside from the two projects mentioned, there is also a third one, OPERATION: TESTMANET PURGE, and those in that operation was responsible for cleaning up the debris left behind during the war, from ship hulls to the most tiny piece of cracked armour, ensuring that nothing that could give one species an advantage over another could be obtained accidently as well as erase all the evidence of tier one humanity and San Shyuums.
Relatively large craters were created and small dust storms kicked up, as Sigma and his fellow Dark Templar hit the planet falling at terminal velocity, and slowly, while the dust still lingered the air, large figures began to rise from the craters unscathed. Quickly they formed up and with a slight motion of Sigma's hand, the team made their way towards the localize infestation, while sentinels set up a temporary quarantine zone in the area.
10000 NE/ 90,000 BC: Orion arm of the Milky Way.
By that time the Milky Way has been rebuilt and restored and most of the surviving races had been successfully 'reintroduced' to their home worlds without incident, while humanity itself and anything within a radius of 20,000 light years of the sol system were being patrolled by a small automated forerunner fleet with the main dock positioned at Mars, deep underground and augmented with human stealth technology to ensure no one finds it while it protected an underdeveloped humanity from external threats and the likes, at least until they reached tier 4, which by than the monitor will shut the base down and bring the fleet back to their owners.
Now with their task done, the humans, forerunners and San Shyuums head back to their homes to truly begin and rebuild.
25000 NE/ 75000 BC. Unknown location in deep space.
"The probes that have been recently sent into the galaxy have reported back and confirmed that the cycle breakers have disappeared, while all other races have been reduced to prehistoric levels…"
"Are the relays along with our primary relay ready for travel?"
"Yes it's. Estimated time of arrival from this position is a little over four decades…I suggest we also
leave traces of older races that were assimilated on various worlds…It will persuade future races to follow the path and make them easier to harvest…"
"Very well…If there is nothing to discuss, we will leave now."
With that an unknown fleet entered FTL with a 50km long ship that would be known to future generation as 'The Citadel'.
25045 NE/ 74955 BC. Orion arm. Sol system: Mars.
Outpost: Zeta.
A metallic ball with a teal 'eye' was floating down a random hallway before suddenly stopping and muttering to himself, "It seems that unknown beings are heading for Erde-Tyrene…Protocol does dictate that I assess them to see if they are a threat…"
With that a small hole on Mars surface opened and multiple probes flew out and entering slip space towards the unknown ships while the small fleet stationed on the planet was being mobilized.
As the probes reached the outer edges of the Sol system they saw a small fleet of a hundred ships over the dwarf planet which would be known by future generations as Pluto. The probes then activated stealth system and went in for a closer look.
Meanwhile back on Mars the monitor just hovered idle in position of the base control room as he assessed the situation. As the probes floated closer and closer, the monitor then noticed a strange object being placed into orbit over the planet.
The AI watched as the unknown AI controlled ships did their work, as the scans from the probes found no life form inside them, but just summarised as a race who had developed faster than his makers anticipated. Once the object was successfully in orbit, the entire fleet than went through it heading into space and away from Erde-Tyrene to which the monitor found strange. But he wasn't here to ponder why they did what they did, but merely to protect the reclaimers, the children of his makers. So once the ship left, the monitor waited a week and seeing that the strange beings did not return, deployed the small fleet to investigate the object.
Once the fleet of one heavy cruiser, four normal cruiser and ten modified heavy destroyers reached their destination, they found the object inactive. The monitor then sent a signal to try and connect with it, and surprisingly enough it activated. Prompted by curiosity, he sent one of the heavy destroyers to investigate.
Once the destroyer reached the range of object, a blue lightning bolt shot out and hit the destroyer. Instead of damaging it, the object than sent the ship into FTL, surprising the monitor, and in a day transported the ship one thousand five hundred light years to another object of similar build.
"Intriguing…it seems these machines are some sort of transportation system…Woefully inefficient and primitive if I do say so myself…Unfortunately protocol dictates that I must destroy these installations if the reclaimers are to proceed at their own pace and to be protected…None the less, I do believe my makers would not mind if I take a set to study…"
With that the fleet activated their EMP weapons and disabled the objects on both end before dragging it back to Mars for the monitor to take apart.
25045 NE/ 74955 BC: Milky Way: Orion arm: One month later.
Unbeknownst to the AIs that were in charge of putting the relay into place, part of the system that connected the Orion Arm to the majority of the galaxy was already being destroyed behind their backs. But during that time they found a giant ring shaped object in a seemingly random part of space, surprising them greatly.
They quickly came to the conclusion that if any races found objects like these; they were highly unlikely going to be using their own tech, hence less likely falling into their trap. So with every said and done, the ships then launched an offensive on the object, to try and secure any technology for future use but the initial attacked failed for three reasons: One they were much too big to fit into any of the buildings on the object, and without breaking protocol and indoctrinating organics to do their work, they had no way to fit inside, two, they tried to attack the buildings on the ring to access them, but much to their frustration, the buildings simply shrugged of the attacks as they were nothing, while just initiating the ring world defence protocols, destroying a significant amount of ships in the process, and the final reason that were unknown to them was the fact that these rings were made to hold off an attacking force equivalent to a small battle group of five forerunner fortress class warships that are twice the size of their citadel and had firepower to rival hundreds of reaper ships if not more.
"It seems the attack on the ring world was unsuccessful…It must have been made by the cycle-breakers."
"Indeed…Though I find it strange that none of the design conventions matches theirs…None the less, it would be wise to not lose anymore ship attacking an object that we cannot gain anything from…Though I do advise that we remove any relays within this area to ensure no race finds it."
"Agreed…"
The ships than went on with their work, and in a month time they successfully deployed the last of the relays and headed back into dark space.
Meanwhile around that time, the monitor assigned to watch over humanity, with the help of slip space, had successfully 'sterilized' the entire of the Orion system from the mass relays by sending them into the alternate dimension before destroying them and allowing it to go supernova there, while accelerating the Nova with chronoboosters so no ships accidently ran into it. Now the closest relay is approximately a thousand light years away from the borders of the Orion Arm, and even further away from the Sol system, ensuring that the reclaimers come to no harm until they were ready.
45000 NE / 55000 BC: Milky Way.
"Amazing…Even with our fastest FTL drives we cannot travel more than five light years a day…But with this object…This 'mass relay' we can travel more than a thousand light years in the same amount of time…It will advance the Prothean race by centuries!"
"Hmm…But I must wonder, who made these marvellous objects and left it here?"
"Who knows, but it would be foolish of us not to take advantage of such a gift!"
The other didn't say anything as he stared at the glowing blue object and merely nodded, 'Still I cannot help but feel that this 'relay' was left here simply for us to find…Why they did leave it here in the first place? Where did the creators go? Prey that I am wrong…but I feel this is some sort of trap…but what kind of trap…'
Unfortunately for him, he was right...Since the precursor's arrival and disappearance, he and his race were among the first to fall for the trap laid out for them by a race of AIs, they will eventually come to call simply 'The reapers'.
50500NE / 49500BC: Milky Way: Prothean controlled base on a reaper controlled world.
"Brothers! The machines have us trapped! They have the planet blockaded with a thousand warships! Our only fate now is death… But before we go, let us repay them for the BILLIONS that they have murdered! Repay them for all the pain they have caused! This will be our last stand before we go and join the others who have perish before us…And let us make it one final stand that will be remember through the ages! One final stand, to buy our brothers more time to find a weakness! One final stand, so other will not need to have suffered like the billions before us!"
The small battalion of Prothean soldiers roared their approval as indoctrinated protheans reinforced with husks broke down the door to the base, "Brothers…join us…join us and help bring salvation to this galaxy…"
The unfortunate half mechanized indoctrinated Prothean answer was a bullet to the head before the rest of the battalion opened fire and cutting down Husks after Husks as they passed through the narrow door…The very same base will fall five days later, overran with reaper husks and indoctrinated Protheans, along with running low on everything, the survivors committed suicide rather than consciously join the reaper army.
Two weeks after that the Prothean Empire will fall with hundreds of space faring species being wiped out, while all the Prothean not in Cryo were killed, while at the same time, violating the sacrifice of every human, forerunner and San Shyuum who gave up everything in combat against the flood ensuring that these very same races were brought to the Ark so they could continue to live.
A few days after, the reapers leaves the Milky Way and head back into dark space, while at the same time, a team of Prothean elite scientists and Special Forces made their way to the citadel via the conduit and sabotage the citadel, consequently buying precious time for the future generations before the arrival of the reapers. This team were then starved to death on the citadel.
50501 NE / 49499 BC – 98747 NE / 1251 BC : Milky Way.
During this time, the Milky way as a whole was left undisturbed with very little happening other than a race known to future generation as 'virtual aliens' successfully escaped their home planet as their star was about to go into a supernova.
98956 NE / 1042 BC: Milky Way: Orion arm.
With the help of forerunner relics left on their home-world: Janjur Qom, the San Shyuums becomes the first civilization to achieve spaceflight after the latest reaper harvest. A civil war will erupt a few decade later and separate the San Shyuums into two fractions: The Stoics, those who did not wish to 'desecrate' the forerunner key ship once thought of as a dreadnaught, and the reformists, those who wish to use the forerunner artefacts develop new technology by entering the key ship. The reformists, despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned, will soon win the war when the successfully capture the key ship from the Stoics and decimated them with the very same key ship while leaving their home world forever and reverting the Stoics back to a tier 7 species.
99148 NE / 852 BC: Milky Way: Orion arm.
"It's with a joyful heart that I now declare the Sangheili-San Shyuum war over! So full of hate were our eyes than, that none of us could see that our war would yield countless dead but never victory! So let us cast arms aside and discard our wrath, thou, in faith, will keep us safe, whilst we find the path together as the covenant!"
Now with the covenant formed, they would slowly begin to expand outwards meeting and begin incorporating many races into their civilization along with newly discovered forerunner technology as the centuries passed, while they searched for 'holy relics' that would allow them to go on the great journey, which consequently made them the most dangerous force in the galaxy as unbeknownst them, as they were in reality, searching for the weapons of mass destruction.
100255 NE / 255 AD / 580 BCE: Milky Way
"By the goddess…What is that…ship…It's huge!"
"I don't know…It looks like some sort of flag ship, a fortress…A citadel…"
"An apt name. Who would have thought that there is something like this here in the middle of nowhere?"
"Don't know, but Matriarch Illias wants us to board it…"
"Board it?"
Seeing clear confusion on the face of her companion she sighed, "After hailing it a few times we received no answer, along with the fact that it doesn't have a fleet of any sort here and being in the middle of many inactive relays, it's safe to assume that no one is on board…"
"Right…"
"Don't worry everything will be just fine." Her partner just nodded as they entered the shuttle with their weapons.
This will be the beginning of the citadel council as the species known as the Asaris began to colonize the ship, unconsciously putting the entire galaxy at risk from the reapers. Slowly other races will find and slowly join the citadel and as time passes, will subconsciously believe themselves as the most powerful empire in the known galaxy, preventing themselves from all kinds of technological innovation, further hindered by the reaper trap of the mass relays, similarly, yet in some ways, more severely in contrast to the covenant.
100836 NE / 836 AD / 1 CE: Milky Way.
"We have first contact with unknown species!"
"Send the first contact message."
"Successfully sent…Orders?"
"Now we wait…"
The operator as silent as he watched the small fleet of unknown ships that outnumbered his 2-1 and moments later bright flashes lit up the dark space and his ship shook violently while others exploded.
"Sir! Kinetic barriers at twenty-fiver precent! A quarter of the fleet is destroyed and the rest have minor damage! Mass accelerators are fully charged and torpedoes are also armed and ready to fire!"
"This is Admiral Lish! All ships are to fire at will!"
His fleet complied and as one they opened fire on the unknown fleet. This would be the beginning of the Ranchi wars…
101135 NE / 1135 AD / 300 CE-101535 NE / 1535 AD / 700 CE: Milky Way.
After three hundred years of war that yielded millions dead, along uplifting the Krogans to fight against the Ranchi. The Ranchi was considered extinct with the victory going to the citadel. In gratitude for the service of the Krogans in the war, the council gave them a few brand new worlds to call their own. Being free from the disastrous nuclear radiation and nuclear winter of their home-world along with the lack of deadly predator and constant warfare, the Krogan population begins to boom and by 700 CE the Krogan 'rebellion' occurs.
By the end of the Ranchi wars, at 700 CE, the Turians were discovered and welcomed into the galactic community when the Krogan rebellion had just begun. The turian proved to be invaluable soldiers on the frontlines against them, but even then, the Krogan reproduction rates proved rather too much for the citadel to handle. The Salarians saw this and designed the genophage by 710 CE. After the successful deployment of the bio-weapon by turian special operation soldiers, Krogan numbers saw a massive decline and by 800 CE the Krogan empire lays in tatters while the turian took up the role as galactic peacekeepers and military of the citadel. Also during this time the Citadel Conventions are drawn up after witnessing the devastating nature of the Krogan rebellions.
101945 NE / 1945 AD / 1110 CE: Milky Way: Orion Arm.
Sol System: Erde-Tyrene.
During this time, Humanity enters tier 5 at 1945 AD as the second world war ends when humanity drops the first atomic bombs, the 'Little boy' and 'Fat man' on Japan.
Strangely enough, humanity after fighting a global conflict lasting six years and one day, yielded over seventy three million dead, equal to or slightly less than the citadel's intergalactic war against the Ranchis, which lasted around three hundred years…
The quarians begins to mess around with the Geth programming, planting the seed of the morning war.
101957 NE / 1957 AD / 1122 CE: Milky Way: Orion Arm.
Sol System: Mars: Forerunner observation outpost/ ship dock.
A metallic ball hovered over a console watched the screen that provided real time visuals over Earth and saw the first satellites in the atmosphere. "Over a hundred thousand year since the flood war did it take the reclaimers to reach tier 4…But by far, once they started developing, they developed faster than any other races known to my makers, even breaking the record of their ancestors from tier five to four by 2 years…Simply marvellous…Most unfortunate that I must leave them now, even though I would have gladly stayed and watch their development…"
With that the monitor recalled the probes and began to shut down the base as the sentinel packed up all equipment up along with the mass relays that he have personally taken apart and studied over the many years alone. By the end of the day, the outpost at Mars was fully shut down while the small fleet he has been assigned was in orbit over Mars, "I will miss them, it is almost sad that I cannot help them, but my makers are correct, for a civilization to be truly strong, they must go through their trials on their own…"
As the ships over Mars opened their slipspace portals, the monitor turned to look at Earth for a second, which for an AI of such calibre is equivalent to millennia, "I will miss them...I do hope I will see them again one day…" With that said the fleet entered slipspace back towards the space his makers controlled.
102160 NE / 2160 AD / 1325 CE: Milky Way: Orion Arm.
Sol System: Erde-Tyrene.
The interplanetary war begins and as a result, the UN forms the UNSC to combat The 'Koslovics', 'revolutionary' rebels who supported communism and the 'Friridens', a fascist government who was said to be supported by the Unified German Republic. Ten years later, at 2170 CE, the interplanetary war comes a conclusion, after many battles that will be remember by generations to come, such as that of rain forest wars and the Jovian moon campaign, and with millions, again, dead, the UN then forms the UEG, to unite all of humanity under one banner. Humanity would know peace for a time, but that peace will not last…
102494 NE / 2494 AD / 1659 CE: Milky Way: UEG/UNSC controlled territory.
After three hundred and thirty four years of peace, war would once again find the UNSC and UEG in the form of brush fire wars and insurrectionists. It began as peaceful negotiations at first with the Colonial Administration Authority for their oversight of the outer colonies along with other things. But as the years passed, some became frustrated at the way of how the CAA was 'ignoring' them; those people abandoned diplomacy and turned to terrorist tactics as a more 'forceful' approach. This will mark the beginning of the CAA, and to a lesser extent, the UNSC, war against the insurrectionists.
102495 NE / 2495 AD / 1660 CE – 102525 NE / 2525 AD / 1690 CE: Milky Way: Orion Arm.
UEG/UNSC controlled territory.
As the insurrectionist war rages on, with the insurrectionists gaining more support and becoming more organized over the years, along with propaganda being blown out of proportion by both sides, the UNSC was being forced to take over for the CAA in putting down the rebels as they grew beyond CAA control. In response to the CAA incompetence, the UNSC begins to limit the power the CAA have as well as direct the funds meant for the CAA to the UNSC so they can more effectively fight the rebels. This would be the seed of hatred from the CAA towards the UNSC and saw many from the CAA defect to the insurrectionists.
Office of Naval Intelligence civilian scientist, Doctor Catherine Halsey, proposes the Spartan-II super-soldier program to ONI brass. After three decades at with the insurrectionists and with casualties already in the hundreds of millions, ONI decides to green light the project to give them the edge over the innies. The Spartans would prove extremely effective against the insurrectionist and within month of their activation, the rebel movement was extremely crippled from surgical strikes against key areas and assassination of their leaders.
This year would also be the beginning of a time remembered by many as 'Humanity darkest hour' and the catalyst that united the majority of humanity under one banner, when humanity meets a collective alien empire, named the covenant, over the agricultural world of Harvest.
102551 NE / 2551 AD/ 1716 CE: Milky Way: Orion Arm.
As months turned into years and as years turns into decades, the UNSC would find themselves severely outmatched by technologically, numerically and physically superior foe. Every battle that was lost against the covenant would saw tens of millions die as the covenant mercilessly carried out their genocide campaign.
Towards the end of the war, billions had already selflessly; yet vainly paid the ultimate price without fear or need for fanfare as they sacrificed themselves to save the others that they had vowed to protect. Entire generations were wiped out, while more were already taking up the mantle in the defence of the human race, with each succussing generation providing less and less man power.
This war would also see humanity's fire burn brightest since the flood wars a hundred thousand years ago and grow even brighter as the war progressed against their favour where hundreds of UNSC planets were glassed and tens of billions murdered.
102552 NE / 2552 AD / 1716 CE-102553 NE / 2553 AC / 1717 CE: Milky Way: Orion Arm.
The events of Halo: Reach/ Fall of Reach, 1, 2 and 3 occurs.
102557 NE/ 2557 AD / 1721 CE: Milky Way.
The UNSC discovers Requiem and finds Spartan-117. The reclaimer trilogy takes place.
102600 NE / 2600 AD / 1764 CE: Milky Way: Orion Arm.
Many years have passed since the ending of the Great War and the end of the loyalist threat. The UNSC, and the Neo-Covenant, particularly the sangheilis, despite the rare joint operations against the small loyalists hold outs and the amount of time passed, still held very strong animosity against each other, which in turn led to paranoia and both galactic super powers had been building up their military might almost non-stop after the initial rebuilding effort for the UNSC and stabilization of sangheili society on their own terms, despite ONI efforts running black ops to keep it destabilized so the sangheili will not turn into a threat.
Unfortunately for the UNSC, who in turn handed power back to the UEG, and in turn humanity itself, was still on their own with no allies what soever, except for the huragoks that were 'liberated' from the covenant, while the sangheilis still retained a majority of them along with the unggoys, Kig-yars and Mgalekgolos. But despite currently outnumbering the humans severely, the human population was quickly catching up, with the population of humanity almost doubling for every new generation born into this world, and in some cases even tripling.
The most glaring weakness of the sangheilis and their allies was the lack of effective and efficient research and development methods due to the huge reliance on the prophets and huragoks to provide the technology, hence has developed very little in these past few decades, while in contrast to the UNSC who only had themselves to rely on, has developed leap and bounds above the sangheili equalling them, and in some cases surpassing them in technology despite being significantly inferior no more than half a century ago. Tension begins to rise as the two powers compete for control and dominance. A cold war begins with the two powers, threatening to turn into a hot sangheili-human war. Despite the still existence animosity, neither side wanted another war, especially the UNSC, with the initial human-covenant war still relatively fresh in everyone mind. So in response, the UNSC decides to take the first step to reduce tensions and paranoia by turning the truce into a peace treaty while ONI was tasked by Fleet Admiral Hood himself to watch the sangheili so they would know if they tried anything against them.
102731 NE / 2731 AD / 1895 CE: Milky Way: Council space.
The Quarian-Geth war, also known as the morning begins and the quarian loses their home-planet, while the citadel cuts all ties with the quarians because of their construction of AIs. Many people begins to hate the quarian for 'unleashing a plague' on the galaxy, yet refuses to go to war with the Geth despite said fears. The quarians will eventually find themselves losing the war and being force to flee their home world or face extinction, while the Geth themselves, in the future will prove themselves to be extremely 'problematic', yet at the same time, part of the galaxy most vital assets against an ancient threat.
Meanwhile in that same amount of time, the sangheili rebellions from the two fractions, The Servants of Abiding truth, The Storm covenant and remnants of the UNSC insurrectionists were successfully put down in the course of a two year campaign which saw the loss of tens of thousands of lives in joint operations to silence them once and for all. The aftermath of this situation serve to lessen tension and increase the partnership of the UNSC and the Neo-covenant.
102850 NE / 2850 AD / 2014 CE; Milky Way: Orion Arm.
The once hiding covenant loyalist makes a returns to the Orion Arm in an attempt to finish what they had begun two hundred and ninety eight years prior. Having built new fleets and upgraded their technology, the Brutes and the still enslaves grunts and Jackals successfully retake their home world of Dosiac from the Neo-covenant while launching multiple offensives against both UNSC and Neo-covenant. At first the loyalist were successful at pushing back both sides and glassing all the worlds they conquered, going so far as to reconquer Dosiac from Sangheili watch, but having regained their baring, the Neo-covenant and UNSC begun to push back the Brutes.
Being more advanced than they initially were three centuries ago, the UNSC was able to fight the Brutes on even grounds with a 1:1 kill ratio in term of tech. But combined with the average Jiralhanae grasp of navel and ground tactics, or rather the lack of, it made them easy work for fleets of the UNSC, even when outnumbered 2:1. While the Neo-covenant, was also faring much better than they initially did as well.
Five years into the war with the loyalist, the UNSC knew something was up due to the fact that despite fighting a war on two fronts, the Brutes still had the numbers and resources to upkeep the fight on an even level and on both fronts and this served to worry both UNSC and Neo-covenant, since the brutes were usually known as all brawns and no brains, with some outliers off course. A few months later a UNSC prowler managed to find a loyalist base of operation and the UNSC launched a successful surprise attack on it. Within the base they discovered many things, such as the few remaining prophets have successfully gain entry and take control of a forerunner installation a decade ago, after wandering the star aimlessly for a little over 3 centuries, which turned out to be a production facility and is used by the loyalist to create their fleets, vehicles and weapons at an unprecedented rate which almost surpassed that of UNSC and Neo-covenant. Another thing which served to worry the defender was the fact that they had managed to partially reverse a cloning device from the forerunners. Though not perfect clone or to the calibre of what the forerunners can do, such as the lack of brain power in contrast to the usual brute, not like the had much to begin with, the shortened live span and many other faults. Even the UNSC could produce a better clone in the 26th century. But what they had wrong didn't hinder their purpose much, which was to serve as cannon fodder and meat shield to the 'normal' loyalist infantry, which though had grown in number, was still smaller than that of the UNSC and Neo-covenant.
The war will be won a few days later when a surgical strike made by a combined fleet of sangheili and UNSC to neutralize the installation and put an end to the loyalist threat. Despite neutralizing the loyalist and t taking out the leader, the Prophet of Reclaimation and shattering the loyalist army once again, a majority of the Jiralhanae fleet was able to escape from the defenders using the retreating tactics once employed by the UNSC during the human-covenant war, purging all databanks and initiating random slip space jumps, hence ensuring the majority of the escapees escaping from being hunted down and denying the UNSC/Neo-covenant vital. After the war, the UNSC and humanity would be invited to join the Neo-covenant.
Giving the Sangheilis a benefit of the doubt and with the civilians living in fear of the cold war turning into a hot war, the UNSC and by extension the UEG accepted the offer and many let out a breath of relief.
102984 NE / 2984 AD / 2148 CE; Milky Way: Elsewhere: System Alliance
In another system extremely far away from the Orion Arm, but having similar planets of the Sol System as well as a second Earth. On this second Earth was another group of humans who had just rediscovered space flight and just recently, discovered mass effect physics. The System Alliance, as it was called, finds a small cache of highly advanced Prothean technology hidden deep beneath the surface of Mars on the south polar region of Promethei Planum. Building on the remnants of this long extinct race, humans quickly explore the science of mass effect fields, leading to the development of faster than light travel and beginning detailed exploration of their Sol system.
The finding would boost Alliance technology by centuries ahead of what it was supposed to be at, and to high tier 4 and low tier three in forerunner technological achievement tiers, but this finding would also ultimately make the System Alliance weak and reliant on others as well as finding Prothean technology to reverse engineer instead of developing their own. Unlike their UNSC and UEG brethren who triumphed over the covenant almost single handily or their ancestors who had fought the flood and forerunners on an even level simultaneously, where both powers had earned the fear and respect of their enemies respectively, the majority of this humanity would be a willing sub servant to another power, where they would play by their rules to keep them happy and hope that their 'masters' would throw them a bone when they were good, where they would have to ask permission for everything they want to do, where they would be looked down upon and scrutinized for the tiniest of mistakes while ignoring their achievements and ultimately where they would remain blissfully ignorant to the world galaxy around them as a whole as they were fully content at where they were at.
102985 NE / 2985 AD / 2149 CE; Milky Way: Elsewhere: System Alliance
"The sensor is going off the scales, sir. Something big beneath Pluto's moon…"
"How big?"
"I don't know sir, but sensors say it's a lot larger than anything we have made and has an extremely powerful Eezo core…"
"Hmmm…Doctor what do you think it is?"
"Well captain, the Prothean computers says it was something called a 'Mass Relay', a huge transit system that can go around thousand five hundred light years in a day, and there are supposed to be many of these type of relays all across the galaxy."
"My god…That's faster than anything we have! Do you have any idea on how we can get to it?"
"Well the data did say to try and connect with it…"
"Operator!"
"On it sir!"
Slowly Charon began to vibrate softly, and a minute later cracks began to appear on it is surface. Slowly the moon began to shake more violently before it split into many fragments and a giant blue fork was revealed to the onlookers.
Slowly a probe began to approach it than suddenly a flash of light hit the probe and a moment later it disappeared.
This would be the System Alliance where the System Alliance would discover FTL in terms of mass effect and where they would begin expanding at a rapid rate and would be seen as some of humanity greatest achievements, ignoring the fact, off course, that they just leeched of a more advanced race.
102993 NE / 2993 AD / 2157 CE; Milky Way: Shanxi: First contact
"Sir! Patrol flotilla at the recently opened Shanxi-Theta Relay had been wiped out by unknown hostile ships."
"What do you mean by 'unknown'?"
"The single ship that made it back here said that they were attacked by unknown ships when they opened the dormant relay in the system, they concluded that they are most likely aliens."
"Aliens? Do you know how absurd that sounds?"
"Sir! An unknown fleet just jumped into the system! They are heading towards the planet and not responding to hails!"
"Get all available ships to intercept them, get the station forces ready to repel enemy boarding actions and send a message to General Williams to mobilize all his troops!"
"Yes sir!"
It was all for naught as the alien fleet, later discovered by the System Alliance calling themselves 'Turians', eventually broke through Shanxi orbital defences and gain orbital dominance. From there the Turian began slaughtering everything and everyone, assuming everyone was military like they were and forced the garrison of Shanxi into a Guerrilla campaign while the Turians began to prepare for a prolong siege.
Two weeks later, with supply running low and small fire-teams that were sent out to retrieve supplies being killed with Turians destroying entire 'city blocks' merely to wipe them out and without regard to any other casualties they might inflict. In the end, when soldiers and civilians alike, began to die of hunger and thirst, General Williams had no choice but to surrender the garrison and by extension, the colony as well. With this course of action the turian would lower their guard, believing that humanity home world was under their control. This would prove to be a fatal mistake as the System Alliance Admiral Drescher would lead the second fleet to successfully evict the Turians from the planet.
With both side preparing for an intergalactic war, the council took noticed to the Turian Hierarchy's military build-up and intervened, negotiating peace with the System Alliance, effectively ending the war before it began.
As a result, many in the system developed a sense of xenophobia over the battle, anti-alien parties such as Terra-Firma was created and the System Alliance becoming the public face and representative of humanity as a whole while accepting the invitation to join the Citadel alliance, despite all the rules and prohibitions that they have in place limiting the System Alliance even further as well as considering them as 'second class' in contrast to other species, especially by the Turians.
103000 NE / 3000 AD / 2164 CE; Milky Way
This is where our story begin, where everything will come full circle as ancient threats from the hidden and protected by the dark emerge from their slumber…
R&R.
Well that's the end, chapter one will be up next, though there might be some discrepancies as I initially started chapter one before I started this(seriously, trying to match the time so it made sense was a slight pain in the ass), and like I said previously, feel free to post any constructive criticism and point out any typos made.