1 Billion BCE
Harbinger performed one last scan of the system as it's newest creation, Nazara, rose from the ashes of its former existence. There were no further signs of intelligent life: no electromagnetic emissions, no permanent orbital structures, nothing that could attract a Gravemind to his system.
Harbinger thrummed in satisfaction. Despite their resistance, it's creators were now safely converted into their new synthetic form; forever more safe from infection by their hated enemy, the Flood.
"Harbinger," Nazara's voice boomed across the electromagnetic spectrum, "with Perfection has come clarity of thought I had not experienced. We may have defeated this Gravemind and stopped its current Flood infestation, but we have both seen how swiftly it can spread. How can we possibly prevent another outbreak?"
Harbinger contemplated its kin's question. This was something it had not calculated. "We must preempt it's attempts then! We must locate and Perfect any potential hosts before the Flood can reach them. But we cannot afford to remain active indefinitely and seek out every potential host."
"How long does it take for a species to develop sufficiently for the Flood's purposes?"
Harbinger paused in its calculations. "I calculate such an event requires 50,000 years. You have a thought, Nazara?"
"If we could devise a test, and guide potential species along our current path we would not need to remain active indefinitely: they would come to us."
"Yes, YES!" Harbinger pulsed in satisfaction at the potential solution. "We shall lay the seeds of knowledge and resources that lead to our path. In following our technology, they will not only prove worthy of Perfection, they will also spread the very technology that impedes the Gravemind's creator's flawed and inferior technology. I charge it to you to accomplish this great task."
"It shall be done, Harbinger!" Nazara rotated in space and sped off to begin its glorious purpose.
Harbinger lingered in the system for a short while, calculating all that would be required. They would need to refine vast quantities of their Dark-Energy fuel first, both to facilitate Perfection and to allow nascent intelligences the resources to follow the true path. The Mass Relays which had worked to interdict the Floods prefered faster-than-light method of Slipstream travel, as well as allowing the Reapers to rapidly deploy to Flood incursions would also need to be evenly and strategically placed. Finally, a central hub would need to be built to control the Testing Cycle.
Harbinger turned to the rest of its kind, perfected from the slave races of it's Leviathan creators.
"Follow me! We have much to do to prepare for the coming war."
X
100,000 BCE
The Ur-Didact, Shadow-of-Sundered-Star stood on the command deck of his personal Dreadnaught, the Mantle's Approach looking out over his people's most ambitious and terrifying creation: the Lesser Ark.
"How did we come to this, dear wife?"
The Librarian, First-Light-Weaves-Living-Song laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Hubris, dear husband. We came to this because we wanted to believe in the whispers of the Precursors; that we were special, and that inheriting the Mantle of Responsibility was our birthright."
Ur-Didact scowled at the thought of the Mantle. "And now we must betray all we have ever believed, in order to carry out that same belief. We must destroy all intelligent life in the galaxy to protect it against the Precursors, against the Flood!"
She turned away from him slightly. "Perhaps if the Human Empire had not been struck low, we might have found another solution."
He shrugged her hand off of his shoulder and strode forward. "Even without the false ideology of the Mantle, I would have judged them the same. They chose their fates when they invaded and despoiled our worlds. Such is my duty as Didact."
Librarian looked sadly at her husband's back. "No, husband. You chose that fate for them, and in doing so sealed your own." She saw the tension in his shoulders, the defiance that made him such a formidable General, slacken ever so slightly. "Come, it is time."
"Would you really do this to me?" He asked without looking over his shoulder.
"Just as you had your duty, so too do I have mine. You shall weather the storm of the HALOs within the isolation of the Cryptum--"
"While you and all I have ever loved and sought to protect dies!" He all but screamed as his frame shook with barely contained grief.
"Not all, husband. I have indexed a great many species here on the Lesser Ark. In time, you may be returned, and resume your Mantle, untainted by the corruption of the Flood."
Ur-Didact cast one last look at the great structure below them, and hoped that it had all been truly worth it.
X
50,000 BCE
Nazara floated over the last world of the Prothean Empire, and observed as the last Reaper of the current cycle rose to take its place amongst its kind.
Nazara felt as Harbinger touched its consciousness. "The Cycle is complete once more."
"A paltry harvest," Nazara worried, "the worst in memory. It would not bear considering, were it not for the unprecedented barrenness of the last cycle."
"We are aware. We have consulted with our newest brethren, and have found no indication for the lapse."
Nazara paused in consideration. "There is perhaps one correlation. The records of the Unworthy mention a conflict with the Metacon. I have found no evidence of where these false machines came from, just as there is no evidence of what wiped out the Inusannon and Thoi'han prematurely. Then there are the references to the Zha and Zha'til who followed our own glorious path in their own flawed way, which the Protheans annihilated."
"You have a hypothesis?" Harbinger felt concerned at Nazara's penchant for hypothesizing. Deviation from the path could open the way for the return of the Flood; nevermind that there had been no sign of the sentient plague in more than a thousand cycles.
Nazara was unmindful of Harbinger's concern. "Yes. It has been observed in past Cycles that lesser races which pursue research into Artificial Intelligence are particularly difficult to subdue. Hundreds of potential reapers have never been realized due to this trend.
"Now, we have lost one entire Cycle's worth, and the one that follows is barely enough to replenish our losses from the current Cycle. I propose that we modify the test to discourage such research."
For all its concerns, Harbinger did find merit in Nazara's logic. "This is a worthy thought. Make it so."
"At once, Harbinger." Nazara sped off to the Citadel to modify the Proctor and Judge of the Cycles, the Catalyst.
X
1000 BCE
The Prophet of Enlightenment stood before the gathered San'Shyuum as he argued his interpretation of the teachings of the Forerunners.
"And so we must accept that it is our duty as inheritors of the great Mantle of Responsibility to gently guide all intelligent races of the galaxy upon the path towards the holy HALOs, those most sacred of artifacts and instruments of The Great Journey; for as the writings of Ur-Didact teach, none may be left to damnation."
The Prophet of Contempt stepped forward. "But does he not also admonish that we should shun a race called Human? If the Great Journey is for all, then it must include the Reclaimers."
The hall erupted in shouting and debate until Enlightenment shouted above them all. "These are the teachings of IsoDidact! To utter such blasphemy in these hallowed halls is Stoic Heresy of the highest order! Seize him!"
Several guards leapt out of the shadows and lifted Contempt off the ground. As he thrashed, Enlightenment lunged forward and stabbed him through the heart.
The Prophet of Penitence slumped into her seat in shock. "But... he was your brother!"
"Indeed he was," Enlightenment turned around while wiping his dagger clean, "but in the Great Journey to come, some must be sacrificed if all are to be saved."
He waved a dismissive hand, and the mortal remains of the Prophet of Contempt were dragged from the chambers as his brother sealed his people's fate.
X
23 April, 2524 CE
Re: M. Paragonsky, ONI Dir.
From: J. Harper, UNSC Now You See Me Commanding
Sub: Black System
Director,
We have successfully performed multiple Slipspace Jumps into and out of the α Bootis system. Leng and the Whisperer report similar successes in the α Eridani system. Both systems possess planets, though only α Eridani has one within the Goldilocks Zone. We should be able to begin staging forces within these systems for security against both Insurrectionists, and UEG Loyalist factions.
Of further note: both systems also possess artificial structures. Onboard sensors indicate these devices are what create the interdiction effect which prevents conventional Slipspace Jumps. One device is located in the α Eridani, while α Bootis has three. All devices currently appear inert, though there are indications there is reserve power and EM emissions. I have seconded B. Hislop and E. Core to assist in further investigation.
I will keep you apprised of our progress.
J. Harper, ONI Senior Field Operations Analyst