I know that some people have been wondering about some of the ends of the chapters and how they piece together with what's going on in Retribution, so I'm doing something that I find useful: FLASHBACK TIME!

Year: Unknown; Location: Left Spiral Arm of Milky Way Galaxy

Three Years after the Great Cataclysm

"Mama, when can I go outside?"

The white-robed woman turned to stare down at her young child, a pretty young Forerunner with golden-tan fur on most of her body save for a mop of messy blonde hair on the top of her head. The mother, sleek silver hair tied at the back of her perfect head in a slender bun, knelt down to meet her daughter, blue eyes to green eyes.

"What do you mean, outside?"It still amazed the Librarian how her child had so quickly mastered the art of speaking; she was a natural in nearly every language she was tutored in by the other Life Workers on board the Resolution of Prosperity.

"When can we leave this place? Can we go home?"

"But this IS home, sweet one. Where would you want to go?"

"Mother, this is not home. The Life Workers and the Warriors and the Builders all talk of our old homes, and…I would like to see them."

The Librarian froze. "They talk of our homes in the Orion System?"

"And in the Sol System, by Erde- Tyrene, yes," the small child affirmed, nodding her head resolutely. The Librarian exhaled slowly and loudly, wondering what to say to her curious child.

"You know of our purpose with the Mantel, correct?" The small girl nodded again.

"Well, we had to destroy some life to help it come back healthier."

"The activation of the Halos, right?"

This child's intelligence and understanding was truly a marvel. "Yes. They were activated to sterilize a disease that threatened all life."

"And you have all of these creatures in jars…to start life again?"

"Yes. I was actually planning on starting that Project very soon, Courage."

A gleam of excitement caught in the child's bright green eyes. "Can I help, please? Please, can I?" she asked eagerly, bouncing up and down with anticipation. The Librarian chuckled as she stood to her full height again and took her daughter's hand.

"Yes. Together, we can bring life back to our galaxy, Courage through Eternal Night. It will take all of us to help repair the Mantle and restore these creatures back to where they came from."

Year: Unknown; Location: Third Planet of Sol System

Twenty Years after the Great Cataclysm

"Alright, Courage. Do you have all the specimens marked to be released on this world?"the Librarian called to her daughter from her position on the edge of the crack in the ground. She knew, from this planet's tectonic movements, that this tiny crack that spanned less than her arm width, would one day become a great valley on this prosperous continent. Already, trees were beginning to grow away from the edge of the fracture.

On the gangway of the large metallic vessel, Courage through Eternal Night scanned her carefully taken notes, marking each one off as Prometheans gathered the specimens and placed them in points all across the planet. "Almost done, mother!" she called back, pulling her blonde hair into a tail at the base of her skull with a tie. Her blue robes nearly camouflaged her against the bright blue sky above them. With a final mark, Courage drew one final set of panels out of the ship and set them in a cluster on the volcanic soil. Carefully, she took a package of plant seeds from her satchel and dug a small hole in the ash, depositing the seeds in the hole that she had made and covering it again.

"Are you sure that you want to release humans onto THIS world, Manipular?" a young Forerunner male, entering his second mutation phase and with an impressive thatch of black and white hair around his face, finished setting the codes on the panels that were timed and ready to release the humans when the Forerunners were safely away from the planet. Courage gave a hum of affirmation and stepped back to admire her disguised work.

"Yes, this will do. I hope that I can come back some day and visit, just to see how everything will repair itself," she murmured, pressing a handprint deep into the earth.

They congregated back onto the Keyship again, which began to lift off in a cloud of soil, ash, and other particulate debris. Courage through Eternal Night pressed her hand to the window as they left the large green and blue planet behind, the life that they had Reseeded into its surface not knowing of its salvation or sacrifice.

"Time to say goodbye to this world, daughter," the Librarian said encouragingly to her child, but Courage uncharacteristically flinched.

"Please, don't make me say it," the Manipular whispered.

"Say what?"

"Don't make me say goodbye," Courage through Eternal Night whispered. "I hate goodbyes."

Well, that was certainly interesting.

Thanks to all of you for your wonderful reviews and words of encouragement. Chapter 15 will be up this weekend, and the next few chapters after that will be posted during Thanksgiving. See you all soon!

anna1795