The Reclaimer Legacy
Chapter 5
By BrokenPoet12
X
Forerunner Planet Requiem
Relative Human year 2557
Location unknown
As the energy dissipated, the Master Chief found himself inside of a well lit room. Several platforms were raised out of the floor at what he thought would be sitting height, and there were several taller that would serve as tables. From where he was standing, he could see no visible light fixtures and yet the room was light brightly. Next to him the Forerunner Lifeshaper stood waiting. Catching the Chief's glance, he smiled and indicated that John should seat himself. The offer was ignored and the Chief remained standing, his arms crossed over his chest as his mind ran over the conversation moments ago.
"She is here." Lifeshaper spoke suddenly in the silence, and nodded his head towards a door that appeared against the far wall. "Forgive me Reclaimer, but I must go and speak with the Librarian. Something has happened." With nothing more than that, Lifeshaper disappeared once more and John was alone.
His vision tunneled slightly as he stared down the door. Straining his ears slightly, he could pick out the telltale hum of some sort of energy source but nothing else. Feeling an apprehension he was unaccustomed to, John mentally chastised himself. In the last few hours, or days even, he had no idea how long he had been here. It had been several months since he had stopped the Diadact. Several months since Cortana had said goodbye. In that seemingly endless amount of time, he had carried a heavy guilt with him. Every single person that he had sworn to protect was gone. And then his last single link was destroyed.
Grief and war went hand in hand. Loss was something he knew he didn't have a monopoly on. There will millions out there who had lost loved ones. Countless families had been torn apart and destroyed altogether. His suffering was no less painful though. Even as he continued to fight, continued to do the things he had lived his whole life doing, he felt her absence deep inside of himself.
Yet, if the Lifeshaper was to be believed she was just beyond that door. Steeling himself, Spartan 117 stepped towards it quickly, not even slowing as it slid open to reveal a room lit in faint blue light. For a moment he was reminded of her avatar. He could see the streaming blue glyphs scrolling across her body as she stood on her pedestal. Her voice rang in his ears as he looked around. And suddenly, it wasn't only in his mind that he could hear her. A soft pressure on his forearm and the whisper of footsteps pounded in his ears as he whirled around. Without warning, she was before him. Speechless, John took her in, eyes running over her face. Taking in her vibrant eyes that held the hint of a smile, he started to speak when she placed a finger against his lips to silence him. Standing on the tips of her toes, Cortana took a deep breath and pressed her lips against the corner of the Spartans mouth. After a long second she withdrew and stepped back.
"Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do that?" She asked him with a grin.
X
Forerunner Planet Requiem
Relative Human year 2557
Location unknown
The Librarian stood before the console in stunned silence. The few loyal Promethean Knights that remained were fast diminishing, and the one that had reported to her was gravely wounded. With little hope, she knew that she was running out of time to prevent the Covenant interlopers from discovering her location. Her hopes had rested on the human that Jul Mdama had tricked into aiding him. Despite the Sanghelli belief that the Forerunners were divine and had left them the promise of great power, it was the humans that would inherit all. However, this Covenant would not be so easily deterred.
Gambling, the Libraian had lured Jul and his devout followers into one of the inner warrens of Requiem. He had responded as she had hoped, first by bringing the human Glassman to the planet's surface. Glassman had been successful in activating the remote portal that allowed the Librarian to communicate with those present, but escaped before Mdama could force him to open it fully. And then Catherine Halsey had appeared and this was something the Librarian had been hoping for.
With the Janis Key, the humans would be able to ascend, to achieve the mantle, and unlock their future. All of the gifts left behind by the Forerunners would be theirs, and with them the Librarian hoped that they would be able to achieve all that she hoped for them. In truth, she wanted to prove her husband wrong. She loved him dearly, but had never forgiven him for his betrayal of her trust, for turning his back on the mantle. She had hoped in the hundreds of thousands of years of his exile, his mind would be changed, but she had been wrong.
Now she found herself wrong again. She had passed the key to the human, but it had been intercepted by the Covenant and split. The humans retained one half, and Jul Mdama and his followers controlled the other. Either would unlock powerful half secrets and hidden knowledge, and together everything the Forerunners had ever known would be revealed.
The potential for an unimaginable disaster was at hand and the Librarian was afraid she could not stop it. A door opened behind her and she was pulled from her thoughts. Without preamble she spoke as her son drew near.
"Jul Mdama has intercepted one half of the Janis Key. The human warriors have the other." The steps behind her ceased in and instant and she turned to face Lifeshaper.
"What have you done Mother?"
"I presented the humans an opportunity to attain what they have been denied. There has been a problem."
"A problem? You call this a problem?" Lifeshaper stormed forward and grabbed her arms in either hand, shaking her as he spoke. "Do you understand what you have done with your meddling? Do you have any idea what they will do if either side unites the key?"
"The humans would be reclaiming what is rightfully theirs, nothing more!" The Librarian shouted, shaking her son off and turning away. "This Covenant, these devout Sanghelli worshipped the Diadact as a God and see our entire world as their gifts. This is not to be." She spoke, her voice softening. Finally, she turned to face Lifeshaper and came to stand before him.
"Mother you are out of line."
"No. I am doing what we should have before. Your father condemned the humans to a life of primitive and deficient paths. I will rectify that."
"Perhaps he was right! These humans, these Reclaimers are dangerous. They always have been and they always will be. Do you forget your own history when they went from world to world and wiped out our greatest cities?"
"To combat the infection! To save the greater by destroying the few!"
"You go too far mother. You will be the end of us. That Key will bring nothing but destruction to all of our worlds." With that, Lifeshaper turned on his heel and stormed out of the room. The Librarian remained rooted to the spot, silent and still as his anger and rage echoed around her.
"You are wrong my son, you are wrong."
With that, she turned back to her console and called for the few remaining Knights. She would need all of the help she could get.
X
A/N I'm going to try and keep this in touch a bit with Spartan ops. I keep wondering where the next game is heading, but I am going to make my own ideas up too.
Hope you enjoyed. Sorry for the delay, had to fix my car this weekend.
Reviews are always fun. Thank you for all the follows and faves!