AN: Sorry for taking so long with this, it's been kicking my ass with how to begin and even continue it. I'm still not entirely satisfied with it. Couldn't think of a better way to start it off. Fair warning, there may be dips in quality, and not small ones. Another reason why I took so long is that I've been scrutinising every single sentence, down to the grammar, the words used and even how clear and long it is to read, and cleaning it up and minimising it as much as possible. I cannot describe to you the hundreds of hours I spent checking all three for any mistakes of any kind and making sure they reached the PEAK of my standards without making major changes. And I bloody mean it when I say that.
Also, Dark Souls is extremely addicting, I can't play my other games anymore because I hard-wired myself to Dark Souls' gameplay.
Also, don't believe I emphasised this, but this will be AU-heavy. It needs to so that The Reapers existing in the same galaxy as The Forerunners makes sense. Liberties with the current Halo lore will be made as there's an amazing amount of plot holes, contradictions, and retcons. I kid you not, the Keyships and portals to the Ark had six retcons in 4 years. I'll explain in the second AN. There'll also be liberties with Mass Effect mostly on The Reapers, Protheans and related lore.
Hope you guys like the updated chapters—just some quality updates.
Janny092: Thank you. As for where I got the figures, I got them from a Halo channel called Installation 00. He concludes that destroying a CCS-Class Battlecruiser would require 21 gigatons of TNT, or roughly 3 Cruiser shots, 7 gigatons of TNT a round. Frigates are 2.96 or about 3 gigatons. And while they're only educated estimates, I prefer them over the ridiculous 30KM/s scan that needs little effort to dodge.
naotw: I didn't mention all of that because it would've inflated the AN more than I wanted, and I'm not in the mood to turn this into a Spacebattles thread. And yeah, when the quote-unquote "Biggertons" are 6578-114702x more powerful than the most powerful "smaller tons", that matters a lot. But thank you for your criticism, I look forward to them.
GrandTemplar612: Your enthusiasm is appreciated.
RandomReader: This…gets so many things wrong that I don't even think you are reading the same thing I wrote. Why the hell do people keep assuming I wrote there are few civilian ships? I said shipyards, not SHIPS, shipyards. This is canon too, Halo Encyclopedia 2022 edition page 38, Traversing space. I didn't credit Quora as a source, I was agreeing with a reviewer and pointing to an answer I MADE, with bias, to show my agreement with them. My source is Installation 00 YouTube. I've gone through the wiki for both Halo and ME hundreds of times, looked for and through dozens of threads about Halo and ME and read my entire encyclopedia for these three chapters alone, and am still going through them. So no, my sources are not 'dubious'.
And 'Forgeworld' is NOT a 40K exclusive word, and it is also the only remotely '40K speech' in the story, all others are in my first AN only which is not the story. So no, I do not need to add 'elements of 40K'.
Onyxtechs: Why do you think that? In the second AN of CH 1, I explicitly stated that I purposefully left out a large amount of details so that I'll have to do actual world(interstellar? Galaxy? Universe?) building. That is the first and last timeline.
Knighthunter911700: Thank you, and as more UNSC/Warden stuff gets introduced, more files will be made.
I am the string cutter: Thank you, hopefully, the new versions are more up to your standards. Found what you were talking about, I had to dig through my encyclopedia and Halopedia. Nothing on what it is though, just that there's a Forerunner ship there.
Insulted fan: I can't find anything on a 100 or 220 KM/s calc. And those numbers are still too low, not only is the range tiny for a spaceship in SPACE but any ship in Halo would be able to dodge it unless they're ~1200-2700 Km away or they lead their shots well(Assuming it takes 10-15 seconds to evade), and that's assuming that the enemy ship won't slow down or go up since 3D Naval combat is possible in SPACE. Compared to the 0.0214c figure, which has none of these problems until the enemy is 60,000KM~ away. And we never hear that line in the games, unless that is your point then here's my counterpoint, we never hear that the Chief at 14 could punch through Titanium plates. But it is canon that he hits that hard.
Guest 4: Where did it specify humanity? I specifically avoided saying a Halo species. Also here's a brilliant idea…WAIT. Have you and some others ever heard of the concept of patience?
Justsomrandomguy and Romeperson: I think I overcorrected lol, I made the mean birth rate 33M per planet. The current birth rate is 140 million a year.
Trife: Yeah, could use some work. One private meeting doesn't encapsulate the ethics of an entire organisation. And the spy could lock the AI out, or pretend they're doing some last-minute diagnostics and sabotage the reactors that way. AI can and have been duped, bamboozled, and smeckledorfed.
B5B7: Imagine the Canon ships, but 2.65x bigger, with the appropriate design adjustments, like frigates now looking filled out, the back area being one big side-way rectangle where the reactor and engines are with decks for the engineers to live in and the front has more bays and decks to hold the soldiers and vehicles.
Abraxas01: I know that just simplifying things in case someone reading doesn't know.
Axccel: I know all of this except for the 255 kps calc/statement, I don't believe it exists. And that's called apparent mass.
Guest 5: Don't flame Axccel. There's no need to be rude. Besides, the issue is much more complex and multifaceted than I first thought.
CALICO:...Did the rant on how he has dedicated his life to killing Loyalists not clue in his loyalties?
AmethystProne: Fair criticism, I'll try and incorporate your ideas.
Thank you all for reading, and let the chapter begin!
"Species that talk through different methods; Lekgolo and Yanme'e."
Sol, Earth, Sydney, HIGHCOM, Chief of Naval Operations Office, December 29th 2572
Fleet Admiral Lord Hood sifted through the litany of fleets and task forces either requesting one thing or another or needing reassignment elsewhere. Thankfully, it's been a quiet month for the UNSC, so he could respond to all of them and have a few extra minutes left before the meeting. And so, with an ease and experience that only came from many decades of service, he organised and responded to all of the requests and gave his orders.
Putting his datapad down he glanced at his clock, 1447, enough time for him to freshen up for the conference and have a new cup of hot coffee ready. Bringing his favourite mug with him, he entered his quarters to do exactly that.
Minutes later, he's out of his quarters with a clean face, pristine and polished uniform medals and a new hot cup of Latte Espresso. Sitting down and having a sip, he started the process of joining the most secure and complex communication link in modern history. Sitting up, back and chair straight, he waits for his personal A.I., Sentinel, to complete the verification process. Within moments he was granted access. Six holographic boxes appeared around him like a round table, where each member of the Warden Security Council(WSC) appeared in hyper-realistic detail. Though at the moment only one was occupied.
"Lydus." He acknowledged the aged Jiralhanae with a respectful nod.
"Hood." The Alpha returned the courtesy, his advanced age making his deep voice guttural and growling. Even if Hood used an old first-gen holoprojector, he'd still notice that Lydus wasn't exactly as young as when they'd first met.
"You're early."
"It has been a quiet and peaceful month for my people, I was not required for many things outside of this conference." He answered his fellow leader, "I presume you share in such a fortune as well?"
"Yes thankfully, though reports say one of our new colonies is already suspected to hold a Seeker cell."
"Hmnn, I give my regards to the Admiral who must deal with the pests." Lydus kindly offered.
"I'll make sure he knows that."
Patient silence took over soon as they waited for the others to key in. Only a few moments later, three more members tuned in.
"Lydus, Hood, Kamaz, 'Kal." Arbiter Thel 'Vadam greeted his colleagues.
"'Vadam." Lord Chief Kamaz greeted in return. The others simply nodded to each other in acknowledgement.
Not even moments later, the last three missing members finally tuned in.
"High Queen, Elo, Ndo." Thel greeted the three.
The representatives of the Yanme'e and Lekgolo bowed their heads in greeting in place of a verbal response. Hood checked his clock, 1551, perfect timing.
"Now that all members are present, we may discuss the provisional agenda brought to our attention." Hood officially started the conference, bringing up the documents from his computer, the others already following suit.
"I believe that we should address the most important security issue, the Magnus Parasitus." Queen Tor 'Kal of the Kig-Yar Merchant Kingdoms declared, already bringing the file up.
"Agreed." High Queen K'Yatari of the Yanme'e sided with her.
"I too agree." Thel also sided with them, Lydus and Kamaz simply nodded.
"As the majority of this council is in agreement, we will address the debates on the Magnus Parasitus." He confirmed the vote. "Have we yet reached an agreement on the matter?" The Arbiter stood from his throne to speak first. As Hood is the instigator of their meetings, it was decided that the first speaker be the WSC member on his right, then circle back to him to end the current subject.
"The High-Kaidons and Councillors believe that Magnus Parasitus should be completely exterminated, though some question the morality and sensibility of wiping out an entire species simply because of a paranoid fear of The Flood assimilating their absurd endurance. Fleetmasters and Shipmasters have already commenced extermination campaigns on planets and space with a Parasitus presence. Others have 'trimmed' its presence, keeping it confined and established hunting seasons. The council is split, but regulation limiting Parasitus's abundance, including seasonal hunting and confines, is favoured as a compromise." He concisely summarised, sitting back down.
Next, Lord Chief Kamaz of the IUB(Independent Unngoy of Balaho) rose from his seat to give his people's current census "The Chiefs believe that Magnus Parasitus should be treated like any megafauna-like-pest, and as such, should not be hunted to extinction due to the irrational fear of a long dead and contained threat, that has divisions of soldiers dedicated to ensuring that it won't ever breach containment. We believe that the more appropriate course of action is to continue to prevent the spread of Magnus Parasitus and have them confined in enforced reserves on worlds unsuitable for colonisation. It has been deemed the most appropriate course of action and is already in the process of being executed across our colonies and worlds to positive reception. Many of our people, including myself, hope that they become law within all of Warden space." The elder ended his speech.
"Thank you both for your insight." Hood thanked them, "Representatives Elo and Ndo, do you and the Lekgolo maintain your stance on the matter?"
"Yes, the Lekgolo hold a neutral stance on Magnus Parasitus, and will continue to hold this for the foreseeable future." The massive Mgalekgolo bond brothers spoke in unison via vibrations detected by the microphone.
"Queen Tor 'Kal, I assume that the Kig-Yar kingdoms maintain its policy of eradicating Magnus Parasitus." Hood correctly presumed, prompting her to give her piece.
"The empire is strong in its confidence that unrestricted extermination of Magnus Parasitus is necessary to fulfil the need and right our people deserve to feel secure and safe within any place they travel, without the threat of a massive pest causing undue and easily preventable harm to them. It is a problem that doesn't need to be addressed, and it is better dealt with by removing it completely so that it cannot harm Kig-Yar society in any way." She kept her speech short, allowing Lydus to begin his speech.
"The United Clans of Doisac stand with the Kig-Yar on the matter of Magnus Parasitus, to conform to it would only burden the Jiralhanae, taking land and resources that would be better used to serve a colony or a mine than a safe zone reserved for a parasite. To burden our people with having to conform to it would hamper our growth and displease many. The UCD already has approved the hunting of Magnus Parasitus and the disposal of any trace of it. Millions in our currency of resources have been freed for mining since. The threat of it being consumed by The Flood is considered minimal and laughable for similar reasons as stated by Lord Chief Kamaz and because the Flood has never been seen to assimilate the abilities of a host beyond said host. The only threat it presents is a waste of resources."
Immediately after Lydus, High Queen K'Yatari rubbed her wings together to speak her piece, "The Yanme'e oppose any protection of Magnus Parasitus, as it is a threat to hives where it has invaded. It is an invasive species that must be eradicated, two entire hives and their larvae Queens have been lost in a large incursion of these pests. Eradication of Magnus Parasitus across Warden space is the only answer the Yanme'e are willing to support. We shall continue to hold this stance for as long as we exist." The hyper-intelligent queen declared.
'They've decided to support each other here.' Hood noted, not surprising. There were rumours that the UCD, Kig-Yar kingdoms and Yanme'e were collaborating to have Interstellar law allow for unrestricted hunting/extermination of Magnus Parasitus. It is as Lydus said, it would hamper their still-growing economy, drain resources and, in their eyes, be a waste of manpower. Or in the case of the Yanme'e, vindictive rage. Still, this leaves them with a stalemate. He stood up to give the UNSC's answer.
"Due to heavy opposition in civilian circles against the extermination of Magnus Parasitus, as well as heavy deliberation among our Security Council, the UNSC will stand with the Sangheili and Unngoy on the matter. Small-scale extermination ops and reserves dedicated to Magnus Parasitus are favoured for creating a benevolent approach and to encourage our people to lean to such approaches themselves."
The others were as quick to realise the standstill, with three members advocating for the eradication of the mega pests, and three others opposing anything beyond seasonal hunting and dedicated reserves to curtail the Magnus population and spread. Unless either of them could get the Lekgolo representatives on their side, the definitive Warden law concerning Parasitus will have to be made the other way.
"As this council is unable to come to a vote, the matter will be settled and decided upon in a later conference by the Representative Assembly."
The Representative Assembly, composed of esteemed leaders and lawmakers, takes charge of resolving issues when the WSC fails to reach a consensus, cannot provide the needed expertise or is found lacking. To prevent bias, any with notable connections to WSC members, whether that be directly knowing or having a mutual friend, are prohibited from joining the Assembly. Only the most reputable individuals are entrusted with the task of creating laws for the entirety of known interstellar space. So far virtually all have agreed to it, though due to the assurance that any decision made by the WSC can be overturned and all RA members have an equal say.
"Moving on, I believe we should discuss the issue of the long and escalating dispute between SinoViet Heavy Machinery and the Muse of Yev-." *Ping* A notification interrupted Hood before he could finish his sentence, the letters G-617-g flashing in front of them in bright bold red. Tense fear and dread permeated the air at their dreaded meaning. That was code for a second extragalactic Flood invasion or something similar in threat and scale. Hood remembers how fearful everyone was of adding it, the pure terror of The Flood making them terrified of acknowledging the possibility of such an eldritch horror returning in force beyond their control.
Access to the connection was given as soon as it was verified not to be a false alarm. Humanity's ancestors/creators(1) were as close to gods as you could get without becoming higher dimensional, and they were ruthlessly destroyed by The Flood. Even something half as bad would, best case scenario, result in mutually assured destruction. Declaring a G-617-g for anything less is punishable by severe fines and 10 years minimum. Whatever it is that warrants being declared such, they can only hope they can prepare well enough. If they could make a difference at all.
In the centre of the holographs, a young Sangheili man appeared, based on what he knew of the Sangheili, Hood would say he was around his mid-20s in human years. He wore light armour of the EU(Eyes of Urs) and on his left pectoral plate his rank, Spec Ops Commander, the UNSCN equivalent of a commander or so, a commendable rank for someone his age. The man quickly bowed with his right arm over his left heart in respect and stood at attention to them.
"My lords and ladies, I thank you for your swift response." He paid his respects to them.
"The council would like to know what you determined to be a code G-617-g, Commander...?" Hood trailed off, leaving an opening for him to introduce himself.
"Spec Ops Commander Isan' Kodus. For over a week, my teams and I have been gathering information from Forerunner archives on what we have named 'Evaluators', and the information we have gleaned from our investigations has troubling revelations on how the Precursors have decided to filter the galaxy of species that do not meet their standards of quality. You'll each receive a data package containing all the relevant information in a moment." Isan speedily informed.
They received the data package, and a short briefing and explanation by Isan as they read through the file. By the end, it's decided that the Representative Assembly will be made to settle the agenda while they all left to form plans and strategies with their Generals and Admirals.
Hood roughly exhaled as he leaned into his chair, recalling when Emery published his article back in 67', terrifyingly accurate ones that made the economists in ONI and the Department of Finance (DF) reconsider their comparatively optimistic predictions, and come to similar conclusions. And how a day later, he and the DF refuted Emery's claims, claiming that nothing short of another Covenant war could bring about such outcomes. With what was just discussed, he wonders if this is some sort of punishment by the Precursors for their arrogant denial, testing to see if they could back up such bold claims.
'If a fight with them is unavoidable, we may not make it this time.' And if that wasn't a slap in the face, he didn't want to see what a punch would look like.
1st day of the third month, 2753 GST, The Citadel, The Presidium, Councillor offices
Valern reviewed the STG report again to ensure he didn't miss any important details.
'Troubling, what are they planning?' He contemplated to himself, putting the datapad down.
In the past week, the Migrant Fleet suddenly changed their expected trajectory and 'turned the other way'. They were currently going through Relay 231, and a fifth of The Heavy Fleet had already gone ahead and are currently in the process of passing Relay 229. The entire fleet will have passed through Relay 228 in about two weeks and entered Omega if they follow this trend to the end, a strange decision to put it lightly. Quarians have always been apprehensive of Omega, the lawless system filled with scum with less than friendly intents for any Quarian.
So far he only sees three possible reasons why they would go to Omega.
One is that they have business with someone, likely Aria, and it either concerns all of the Migrant fleet, or a bold attempt to discourage anyone from attacking them while in Omega. It is much more likely to be the first, and if so, then whatever it is is a cause for concern. Unfortunately, Aria is cracking down on STG influence in Omega. By the time he could be informed of the reason, it may be too late to act on such information timely.
Two is that they're offering their services to Aria in exchange for protection and resources. Plausible, Aria has a reputation for keeping her end of any deal, and regardless of whatever stigma about the Quarians, their engineering aptitude is second to none, besides the Asari when they decide to suddenly introduce a new advanced tech. They can improve the entire station's security systems in just a week easily.
Three is the most disturbing and unlikely one. They plan to join Aria straight up, giving her all of their resources and assets in exchange for a system to settle on or something else. The worst part in his mind was that it made sense. Regardless of whatever stigma or prejudice one has for the Quarians, he cannot describe how utterly moronic one would have to be to throw away such an opportunity. An entire species with an innate talent for technology and all 40,000+ of their ships at your beck and call? Just for one of those Aria would have to accept any conditions the Quarians might have, because there would not be a lot of conditions they could make that would make such a bargain undesirable.
It's one of the reasons he always pushed against the growing animosity against Quarians in recent decades.
Either way, it is not something he should concern himself with, the STG is monitoring the Quarians. He may be a Councillor but that doesn't mean that he needs to bother himself with something like this. He trusts that they'll make the proper decisions according to protocol and logic. Besides, he has other duties as a Councilor, and they don't include spying on The Migrant Fleet.
He turned on his TV before resuming his work, an antique physical model that he upkeeps himself, to watch the news, wondering if there was anything that would require his attention. Hopefully, a charity for him to dump a few million credits to increase his image. He noticed that his approval ratings had dipped by 0.2%, a charity may improve that.
"Good Afternoon everyone, I'm Nuria Ashoma and this is the Citadel News Network." The Asari Matron who has been the face of CNN for the past two decades greeted everyone.
"Last time we informed you all that we'll be covering a surprising and groundbreaking discovery that will change everything we knew about the Protheans forever."
Arm 3, Lower wards, Mordin's Clinic, breakroom
"Hmnn, interesting, wonder what it is. An intact facility? Or something else?" Mordin pondered, taking a bite from his lunch, "What do you believe?" he asked Tali.
Tali shrugged, taking a drink from her atte with her inbuilt straw, she retracted it to answer.
"Probably something like a temple or some new thing on Prothean society."
"Perhaps, much we still do not know." He agreed with Tali.
"Over a month ago a team of geologists on the colony of Partor, a joint Asari and Hanar colony, discovered a Prothean structure inside of a mountain, it was later discovered to make up over four-fifths of it." She continued.
"Fascinating," Mordin muttered with subdued excitement.
"Wouldn't that make it the largest Prothean structure besides the Citadel and Relays?" Tali curiously asked, slightly baffled at the thought of a facility that made up most of a mountain. Such an endeavour would easily cost billions, and be just as expensive to maintain and renovate.
"No specific measurements to differ to, but assuming the mountain it was found in is average in size, it would very much be one of the larger Prothean structures to be discovered."
"To the shock of the geologists, the site was completely intact and had drones tending to it, which were being directed by a simple Prothean VI that according to itself is more than 51,000 Years old."
That grabbed everyone's attention.
"That's...the VI alone would be worth trillions, that facility is worth more than mega-corporations. Forget Eezo mine, it's a whole new miracle element vein." A Salarian ranted to herself.
"Shortly after approaching the entrance, the VI made contact with them demanding to know who and what they are and why they have come to, and this is exactly what it said, 'This Great and Holy Temple of The Gods?'. Further conversation with the VI revealed that the entire structure is a temple dedicated to worshipping the Prothean's Gods."
"Holy shit, they do have gods." A young Asari Maiden mumbled in disbelief.
"Yeah, I always thought they were a bunch of atheists. Because why would gods believe in a higher power?" A Turian joked, disbelief coating his face and voice.
"Nearly two weeks ago a joint team composed of the best experts in Prothean technology, history, biology and geology across Citadel space were sent to the site to learn everything that they could. Joining us today is the lead researcher Liara T'Soni, she and her team have been studying and translating all that they were able to with help from the Prothean VI." As she spoke, the screen split in half to show another Asari. "Miss T'Soni, what can you tell us about the temple?" Nuria asked the young Asari.
"Our friend has made it big it seems. Great for her, a prosperous career she'll have." Mordin congratulated Liara.
"Yeah, she deserves it." Tali smiled, happy that her friend hit the gold mine to end all gold mines.
"While we only had two weeks to go through the massive temple, the information we were able to glean with help from the VI was more than we could hope for in quadruple that time. So far we have learned that the Protheans believed in two different groups of gods, including at least several different holy species, demons, spirits, dark gods, and of course an afterlife. They called their gods by several names, though the most used names are The First and The Chosen respectively." Restrained excitement could be seen and heard in her words and body.
Nuria leaned forward slightly in interest "That is rather interesting Miss T'Soni, what can you tell us about these gods that the Protheans revered?"
"From what we have translated so far, the Protheans believed that The First created the universe and everything in it, could easily shape entire galaxies and breathe life into the universe. They believed they created the galaxy billions of years ago, and seeded life in millions of worlds. The Chosen were believed to be divine gods created by the hands of the most powerful of the First, and given the 'most holy duty of Shepherding all life in the galaxy', and are believed to be 300 million years old. And though this all sounds fantastical, the Protheans have interacted with The Chosen 100,000 years ago, likely during their industrial age at the latest, and have-"
Mordin glanced over at Tali as Liara continued to speak about this discovery, frowning minutely to see her distracted, not even drinking from her cup or retracting her straw, again. It worried him, for the past few weeks she had been like this, and it reflected in her performance. Normally she was his best employee, maintaining, fixing and operating the equipment flawlessly and efficiently, and she was a good nurse on top of it all. He'd come to expect perfection from her to the point it genuinely startled him when she performed imperfectly.
It started with small things, taking a moment to register when she'd been called on or losing focus a little as she worked, few and far between. Then she started to lose herself in her thoughts, showing up late to work and damaging equipment in moments of absent-mindedness. It got worse since. She took longer to do her job, she sometimes needed to be reminded of where some equipment was, even almost gave him the wrong device he needed during check-ups with a few patients and most alarming, forgetting to seal her suit after she has taken a drink like now.
This is not the Tali he knows, the young woman he knows wouldn't make mistakes a fraction as great as, nor as many as she is making. This could mean only one thing.
She's incredibly upset, though he hasn't a fog of an idea why.
While he never pried much into her personal life and past, he knows she had a somewhat strained relationship with her father, though some years ago that relationship has thankfully become stronger. Has it strained again? Did her father do something she did not approve of, or did she let slip that she was doing something he didn't approve of? Maybe she received tragic news about the Migrant Fleet. Anyone who did more than surface-level research knows that they're currently in the middle of a crisis that's been ongoing for years. Did a major ship with a significant population, or maybe a loved one, die in a recent attack or incident?
Perhaps her father himself is dead?
No, while she is closed off about the fleet and her life in it, as is her right, she would seek comfort from close friends, which included him. So it's something else, but what?
'It doesn't matter.'
He cleared his mind and told Tali to retract her straw, much to her embarrassment and thanks. While he wishes she would share what is distressing her with him, it is ultimately her decision if she wants to. She has to want to open up naturally, he can't confront her and force her to tell him what's wrong. She deserves so much more respect, and when the time comes, he'll be there for her.
He just hopes all is well.
Shanxi-Theta, Shanxi V, Changzi, Qin super forest, ?, March 1st 2574
Surk Wunc watched the Sangheili in front of him shift uncomfortably, the warrior no doubt feeling inadequate with the "armour" he wore even after all these years, said sorry excuse of protective garb was merely useless, ugly and obsolete trash dug up from storage, museums and collectors and created during the 19th Age of Conflict, over a thousand years ago. Suffice it to say, compared to the heretics, who are constantly improving upon their tech and planning to mass produce it, they were woefully outmatched.
"Excellent, while it is unfortunate that we cannot get an agent on the ship containing the Arbiter's son, we'll at the very least be able to deal with most of the ships. Continue your work Zealot Commander, and soon, we'll strike down the heretics within this system and move through the Gods' bridge. I promise that you and your men's faith shall be repaid." He dismissed the man who bowed his head in reverence in return.
"Your kindness humbles me, Great Prophet of Wisdom." His unshakable faith in the San'Shyuum plain and obvious for all to see.
Once the commander left the aging man scowled as he exhaled in distaste, dropping all pretence now that he was alone. Almost alone.
It disgusted him how he so easily slipped into such a lying role, pretending to be an 'enlightened' prophet of the Forerunners as if the false gods were divine. Bridge of the Gods'? Such lies about the true divine owners of the great structure disgusted him beyond belief, could they not see? The Forerunners were merely advanced Humans, who betrayed their Masters in delusional arrogance, yet so many of the remnants of the old Covenant still worshipped them, that tens of billions of the old Covenant's people turned into further heresy and started to worship the current humans, was a greater insult than he could ever imagine.
Surk took a deep breath to compose himself. Remember why this must be done.
'For them.' He struggled to suppress his somberness, old memories rising against his best efforts. He exhaled, relaxing his body and mind as he shut off the worst years of his life. Vengeance is near, just a few more weeks and justice will be delivered.
Steadily leaning down under his glorified desk, he reached out and opened part of the flooring to a small hollow space, and pulled the device that had been instrumental in his mission of revenge. As he leaned back into the equally glorified chair, he admired the device, the angel black metal and its paradoxically round and square shape, while also being two triangle cones fused at the base. A masterpiece of design that only the angels could accomplish.
While it did not contain much that he did not already absorb into his mind, bless its power, it would guide him in his actions, and assist him in his revenge. While it never truly spoke with him, he could feel it interact with him, comfort him and show him what he needed to see, enlightening him and showing him how to get his revenge and destroy the false gods, once and for all.
He clenched his other fist as he remembered that day and what came after. The others, his own kind, his friends, ignored what they did and told him that he was delusional. That the humans would defeat them if they tried to fight back, that their natural affinity for Forerunner tech and the fact that it obeys them renders what advantage they once believed to have gone, that the reason why they weren't wiped out was that humanity wanted to taunt them, how allowing the injustice to happen was a worthwhile price for survival, that his plight didn't matter when the ones responsible can and would wipe them out without opposition nor complaint, but silent cheers and celebration.
The device pulsated, calming his mind and relaxing his body. He looked in thanks to the holy device, helping him even in his melancholy. He focused himself and prepared to open his mind to it so it may guide him in his next actions to succeed in the plan and after it succeeds. An arrogant notion to hold, if one does not possess a divine device such as this.
'Patience, soon enough the humans and those who sided with them will face their due punishment. The Creators shall be avenged, They will be avenged.'
And with that last assurance, he surrendered himself to a superior power.
5th day of the third month, 2753 GST, Omega Station, Ahead Task group flagship, Main Bridge
Han stood stock still as his Cruiser slowly flew to Omega, his small fleet of 8 ships was ordered by the station's traffic control to maintain a distance from the massive station to "prevent you all from trying something" as they put it. If you had a functioning brain it translated to "So we can more easily kill you if we need to". Which, fair but that didn't matter to Han.
Then again, he supposes when forty more ships are coming through the relay, that their caution is deserved.
"It's been nearly 60 minutes, did they not prepare a space for us to dock?" Rael quietly muttered in disbelief.
Han snorted lightly at his friend's ignorance, replying over private comms "Rael, they're a bunch of barely organised criminals from many different factions and gangs, I'd be surprised if the damn savages could do anything in a loosely timely manner."
"True, but I swear I remember criminals being swifter than this."
"That's because you're thinking of the crooks in civilised space, where they have to be fast, efficient and vigilant, or else one slip-up could result in the end of entire operations. Here though? Where the nearest house of law enforcement, whether a policeman or soldier, is hundreds or thousands of lightyears away and fear to even look in the direction of Terminus Space? The only thing these people have to worry about is competition."
"Ah right, complacency, the greatest killer." Rael understood now.
"Exactly, despite what people like Aria may think, they are very much complacent. After all, she's a single Asari and has conquered the "Citadel's dark sister" and maintains an iron fist on it and the Omega nebula. Add in the fact that she's a master biotic user and a skilled fighter, she's going to have a mostly justified ego bigger than most planets. So all we have to do is try and appeal to her as much as possible and subtly feed her ego."
"So, basically, we have to grovel and suck her ass? Thought you'd rather kill yourself than consider doing something like that." That was true, he said as much himself.
"Yeah, well, our people matter more than my pride." Han sighed, still reluctant about it.
Rael quieted at that "...Well, you know what the Turians say, "No victory has ever been achieved without sacrifices of all kinds." Our part is to make them for others, and ensure that it doesn't become all for nothing." He distantly assured.
"..."
"..."
"...I'm sorry about Tali. But, you know, I could still send someone to-" He tried to offer.
"You don't have to apologise and just no." Rael cut him off "As much as I want to take you up on your offer, and have thought of doing so myself, it wouldn't be fair that I get to bring my family with me when many of our people suffer without them. And I know she would tell me so." He wonders if Rael noticed how hard he was clenching his fists.
"Then you're a stronger and fairer man than me." He had no shame in admitting that.
They fell silent, waiting for their signal to dock and brooding over their thoughts. They waited a few more long minutes before the communications finally beeped.
"Dock your ship into the highlighted bay, try anything, and we blow you the fuck up."
"Got it jackass, we're already prepared to dock, don't get your asshole puckered over nothing." Han turned on his suit speaker to dismiss the station's control, ignoring his indignation to address his crew. "Helsman, direct us through the given flight plan, Connman increase to a rate of 3Gs, Watchman, keep watch of the surrounding area in a 10-knot radius and alert the shields officer if you detect anything that can damage the ship." He fired commands to his men.
It was an old and archaic way to manage a ship, having men command stations that controlled assigned functions of the ship instead of a VI handling it all and stationing crew to watch over and ensure no issues, but after the Geth, they were wary of even VI systems and pursued as much manual control as reasonably possible over everything. While it annoyed him as it slowed them down as a consequence, even he would rather he and his men control their ships than have a VI do it. They only use VIs to make minor but important adjustments to command inputs and as guide systems.
The next 10 minutes was a slow process as the crew expertly manoeuvred the ship manually to dock into the bay to initiate the docking process, the station's own aged and poorly maintained systems took close to 6 to dock with the cruiser but they were finally on Omega. Han relaxed seeing that it all went off without a hitch.
"Good work men, Admiral Rael and I will be leaving the ship within your care now, Lieutenant Yali has command authority in our absence, understood?"
"Yes sir!" The crew saluted him.
"Good." Hand nodded satisfied and walked away, he turned to Rael as they exited the bridge "Are Lpha, Eta and Tima squads at the docking doors?"
"Eta squad checked in with me a few seconds ago, Lpha and Tima had complications with some of their equipment, but should arrive just right after us."
Han couldn't help but scowl at the news "I thought we made sure all equipment in the ship was in working order?"
"We did, one of the parts of their guns and Kinetic barriers finally lost its integrity after the last training exercise." Rael answered, visibly annoyed too.
"Can't a single thing in the whole fleet stay functional for more than a damn week?" Han silently raged to himself. "Doesn't change anything either way, we just need to last one more month and we're home free."
30 minutes later, in Omega station
Han watched with humour as Rael regaled the interior of the Citadel's fabled "dark sister" with a look of barely restrained disgust, not because of the sheer volume of illegal activity, but because it was so dirty.
Everywhere they looked there was faded explicit graffiti depicting disgusting things that no one batted an eye to, dirty homeless people that he was sure were muggers looking for someone easy to rob, drugs everywhere and in the air according to his suit, ads for brothels and slaves, and filth, grime and actual shit and garbage staining many walls and the floor. He was pretty sure that their boots were stained with it all, and he thought he saw some blood and other body fluids at one point.
While he is also disgusted, Han just can't get over how funny it is watching Rael try to avoid it all. That said, once they don't need Omega, Han is making sure that they toss their boots into the nearest star. And maybe their suits.
"Not what you imagined when you heard that this is the Citadel's feared dark sister, Admiral?" Lpha 2 commented on the comms, noticing the poor man's terror.
"Yes and no. I mean, I knew I should've expected it to be unkempt and kind of filthy, but this…do they even have working sewage systems?" Hilarious morbid horror painted Rael's response.
"They probably do sir, but most of them might not be bothered to care about cleaning everything up after a few hundred years." Lpha 1 answered.
"The sewage system barely works. Omega was a mining station that had constant modifications and additions to it for thousands of years. Half the systems and parts here are likely incompatible with one another by centuries and are expensive and difficult to change and fix. Sewer systems probably break or leak every other week. They all likely just gave up cleaning the place after a while." Tima 1 helpfully supplied some trivia.
"No offence sirs, but can we talk about anything besides their shit? I'm gonna hurl in my helmet." Eta 4 interrupted, sounding like he would follow up on his word.
"Good idea, private." He decided to speak up, "Why don't we talk about something else, who else heard of the Prothean temple?"
"A better question is who hasn't heard of it." Tima 3 joked "I'm half surprised the planet isn't swarming with pirates."
"That's because it's swarming with hundreds of Citadel ships." Eta 2 answered, "This podcaster I watch said that a friend of his in the Presidium said that's where all the ships from the Citadel fleet that have been disappearing got reassigned to, they knew that temple was worth more than most corporations combined and sent everyone they could spare to protect the planet. It's insane how they managed to discreetly send so many ships there before anyone realised where they went."
"Yeah, heard that the Turians sent three dreadnoughts and plan to launch and build two more." Lpha 4 chimed in.
"No way, one is enough and building more dreadnoughts would increase how many the other species get to have." Eta 4 disputed that. And he was right, as such action carried political, social and economic implications and consequences, which wouldn't make it worth it.
"Zuto is right, it's too risky to build more dreadnoughts with the questions the Temple caused, heck, it could even be seen as an aggressive move to intimidate non-council members from asking about the fact that this has been kept secret for so long from them." Eta 1 backed Eta 4 "Besides, that's probably a rumour some bosh'tet made up to stir controversy."
"Yeah, you're right." Lpha 4 conceded.
"Clear the com chatter and keep your eyes up, we're near the club." Tima 1 cut off the gossip before it could continue, bringing them back into reality. Moments later their destination came into sight. The entrance to the upper area of Afterlife
The sound of their boots alerted the guests in the line to their approach, their surprise at Quarians on Omega and going to a strip club of all things apparent. Approaching the entrance, He and Rael stood in front of the Krogan guard that barred entry into the club, Han took charge.
"We're here to see Aria."
"Not with all those guys." He denied quickly, gesturing his head at the soldiers "You can only bring four with ya, and I'm only being that generous so I don't have to listen to ya bitch."
Han took a deep breath to calm himself, turning to address the squads "Tima, you're with us, you two stay here and keep watch." Prepare for possible extraction went unsaid. While Aria had a reputation for honouring deals, that doesn't mean a fight won't happen before then.
He, Rael and Tima entered and found themselves in a hallway that led to the entrance proper. As they entered the club, Han looked around at the place. The 'Afterlife' club perfectly embodied the stereotypical club, clean but still filthy, emitting light that probably hurt to look at without eye protection and obnoxious and loud noise. Han's suit also detected Ethanol and recreational drugs in the air, so he guessed that it stunk too.
But he ignored all that for now, looking straight up ahead to where Aria usually sat. Switching to IR vision, he could make out a figure sitting alone, Aria. Turning it off, he turned to the others and jerked his head in Aria's direction, and they walked through the somewhat crowded club, ignoring the clubbers who stopped to stare at the first Quarians they had probably seen in a place they expected the least.
As they approached Aria's lounge, they were stopped again by her bodyguards.
"You two can go, your guards have to stay outside with us." They ordered, surprisingly polite.
Han nodded, gesturing to Tima to wait here. When he and Rael entered, they were both pleasantly surprised by how simple and clean it was. Of course, there were some gatherings of dust and the walls were visibly rusting, but it was easily the cleanest part of Omega they'd seen by far. In the back of the room resting on a couch with one leg over the other was the woman herself, waiting for them to sit down so they could get down to business.
"Thank you for allowing this meeting on such short notice, the gratitude of myself and the Migrant Fleet for this opportunity is immense." Rael started off the negotiations as they sat across from Aria.
"I accept your thanks, but I have to wonder what you Quarians want that seemingly concerns all of you. After all, it isn't every day that a Quarian comes to Omega station, let alone every Quarian. So, what is it that you want?" She asked aloofly, though genuine interest leaked through.
Han tried to sit up straighter as he spoke "Okay, straight to the point. We want the Ewro system for two months, to mine the resources and 'lick our wounds', and your protection in that time. In return, we're willing to give you 5% of what we mine and offer the services of our best engineers and programmers for the first month to update the station and even improve your equipment, free of charge and if that doesn't satisfy you, half a billion credits for the system." He gave admittedly a rather blunt and bold sales pitch.
Aria hummed and raised an eyebrow at the offer, thinking it over.
"I must say, you've given me an enticing bargain, I give you a system and immunity for two months so you can mine in peace, and in return, you give me 5% of what you mine, upgrade my station and equipment if I want to, and a billion credits just to sweeten the deal? You Quarians must be desperate if you're willing to offer this." She has no idea how much of an understatement that is.
"Somewhat, yes. We're mainly going to you because recently we've been facing harassment and stonewalling from the Hierarchy or Citadel when we try to mine some deposits or colonise a Dextro planet, under the pretence of 'all Dextro worlds are automatically claimed by the Turians' or 'you need permission to mine'. You should know how corrupt the Citadel and the member species' bureaucracy can be." Rael downplayed their desperation and gave Aria a dirt trail. Han cannot describe how proud he is of his best friend.
"That's fair I suppose, though it's been quite a while since I've had to interact with the Citadel, so my memory might be outdated. Besides that, you've given me an offer that I really can't refuse for any good reason. Very well, I accept your offer." The amount of tension in Han's body that was just replaced with pure relief if made a drug would probably make a Krogan OD.
He quietly sighed out his tension, his body relaxing "Thank you, ma'am, we'll have the ships in system dock so our engineers can get started, we'll-"
"Under one condition." She cut him off with a smirk.
Han froze, realising his mistakes. The first mistake was one he thought Rael would've made, thinking they were done with negotiations and giving away how much they truly wanted Ewro. The second is assuming Aria's ego would hamper her.
"One of my frigates will watch your fleet to make sure you don't try anything ambitious. I do hope that's fine by you, yes?"
No, no it wasn't. That frigate is probably going to be in contact with not just some high-level thug, but Aria herself, and likely give daily reports about what they're doing with the best sensors in the entire Traverse, possibly even Terminus space. This means, that if they try to make a move for the relay, they'd know in hours what they were doing, and if they took them out, even if they did it without a hitch, after two days of radio silence at best, they'll go looking and see half the fleet gone and going through the relay. Which means countless things.
"Of course, we assume that you must still be wary that we're bringing our whole armada just for this admittedly sudden deal, one with outlandish demands and generous compromises. If it makes you feel more secure in your decision to act as host for us then we have no complaints." Rael came in to save the day.
"Then that is all we have to discuss." Aria ended the negotiations there, taking full control of the conversation from them "I'll have a list of things that need repair and upgrading ready for you in an hour, I want your engineers in your cruiser and the ships you came with ready by then, their shifts will be made by the end of the day. I want to make as much use of this as possible so I'll be working them to exhaustion. I hope you understand that not a lot of people with the knowledge want to work on improving Omega for obvious reasons, and I'd love to have as much of it as possible improved, and you only let me have them for a single month, not a lot of time to have the upgrades I want." She reasoned with a false tone of apology.
Han gritted his teeth, angry at her disrespect, but most of all at himself for his arrogance and hastiness. If he was just more cautious, if he was less urgent to accept and move on, perhaps she wouldn't have given out such a condition, maybe not even give any.
But now she knows that we badly want Ewro, and she doesn't think it's just for the resources there, so wants to know the real reason or has a few ideas herself and wants to keep an eye on them to keep them in check or find out their reason why.
They need to find a way to give themselves time to activate the relay and travel through it before anyone is the wiser, with enough time left to let their drives cool and prepare a perfectly organised travel to the system 314 led to.
"Yes, we only ask you not to give them hours that would cause them sleep deprivation, Quarians don't work well when they don't have their necessary rest hours. Tired Quarians are prone to mistakes, so we highly recommend no more than 8-hour shifts, for your station's sake." He warned Aria.
"I'll take that under consideration. Now leave, I need to free up some of the hangers so you can load my new workers into the station." She waved them off somewhat bored, like she was just in a normal unimportant meeting.
Han and Rael quickly left, gesturing for Tima to follow them out of the club, picking up Lpha and Eta and making a beeline for the ship.
"Sirs, permission to ask a question?" Lpha 1 carefully requested.
"Granted." Was Han's swift reply.
"Did it go through? The deal that is." He asked with caution.
"Yes." He answered easily enough.
"That's good, great even." Lpha 1 celebrated with some joy.
"Then why don't you look like you think so sirs." Eta 4 cut in with a searching look.
"You'll be informed of the reason with the rest of the task force." He responded before Eta 4 could be reprimanded, understanding the young man's suspicion and trying to assuage him and the others.
The soldiers discreetly glanced at one another, feeling cautious unease and a pit in their gut. Later, Eta 4 would escape reprimanding due to worry about the future causing his CO to forget about it.
30 minutes later, Admiral Han's quarters
"You stupid bosh'tet!" Han threw his chair into the opposite wall, bending the weak steel against metal made to withstand enough pressure to flatten a car.
"Did you really think so highly of yourself and lowly of Rael!? Of course, what the fuck should've I expected from someone who fucks his job up just as everything is going right! Every single time you do something right, you start making a series of good decisions you have to trip on the last step and push victory into the maw of defeat as you stumble like a fucking drunk!" He raged, shattering a table and breaking a monitor.
Han panted as he lazily held himself up, his hand still inside the flat monitor on his desk. After a few moments of standing there and stewing in hate, someone knocked on his door. Slowly, he pulled his hand out, shaking from adrenaline, and moved to the door, stepping over the debris of broken items.
Opening the door he didn't bother trying to obstruct whoever was knocking view.
"Han we-w-what happened to your room!" Rael gawked at his mess.
"Stress relief." he simply replied, letting Rael in.
Rael didn't respond, looking around his totalled quarters before turning to Han and looking over his slumping and breathless form, and with a glance to his right hand saw the shards of whatever he had punched had punctured his suit.
"Then you need to find a better way, or else you'll have more damage to your suit that won't be so easily fixed or spotted." He told him off, already getting a spare glove from Han's closet.
"Hehe, yeah, you're right. You're always right." Han couldn't help but chuckle to himself, bitterness and cynicism gripping him.
"Not always." Rael soberly replied, the mistakes and fumbles he made when it mattered came to his mind.
"Yeah…not always." Han calmed at that, remembering Rael had his idiotic moments.
They didn't speak as Han fitted on the spare, or after he finished by tossing the damaged glove on the floor. They simply stood, not really thinking, still processing their thoughts.
"Heheheheh, ha." Han suddenly broke down chuckling, sighing as he propped himself against his broken coffee table, lying on it like a sloped wall "We're all gonna fucking die and it's my fault." He predicted.
"No, we can still fix this, we'll-" Rael tried to assure Han before being cut off.
"No, we can't. You know as well as I that she's going to be using her best frigate, with the best sensors, engines and drives money, or violence, can buy, manned by her best crew to make sure we don't try anything or get a heads up if we do. Because I'm moderately confident that she's half convinced that we're trying to take Omega, and you know the rumours of how she gets when she thinks her rule is threatened."
"And we can work with that" Rael again tried to uplift Han's spirits, "we have two months to come up with and enact a plan to divert Aria's attention long enough to get away. The frigate can't keep a watch on the entire fleet, most of it and the ships that matter to them, but not all of it. Sensors take time to scan a whole system, enough time for some of our ships-" Rael tried to brainstorm some abstract ideas.
"And any plan we come up with will be found out within a day and Aria will either try to deal with us herself or bribe the Citadel to-" He quickly shot them down before he could get started.
"Damnit Han! We can't just give up after one screw-up or when we meet some hardship! Too much is at-" Rael yelled his frustration at Han, done with his attitude.
"Don't you think I know that!?" He stood up to face Rael "That's what we've been doing all our lives! Fought for our life and hopes when the whole damn galaxy is sympathetic and unwilling to lend a hand at best, slowly being picked off one by one for centuries as we ride in ships that have been obsolete for generations, trying to play by the rules and being denied at every turn we make and when we don't play by the rules we're shamed and scolded!"
"Then why in the hell do you throw the towel so easily now!"
"Because this time if we fail, genocide is the best-case scenario when we get caught! Genocides have been committed for less, and if we don't do this it would make everything we've done, I've done, pointless! And I-" Han toppled onto the ground, his visor receiving invisible cracks at where Rael's fist landed.
"For the love of the Ancestors! Get over it!" Rael roared at Han, picking him up by the collar "I did not leave my daughter behind for you to cry when you fuck up once and the plan hits a snag! I went with your mad plan for her! For the people and myself! Not for you! So either sit back and let me handle this or get a hold of yourself because this plan isn't a failure until I fucking say so!" He boldly declared.
Han calmed down in the face of Rael's fire. For the first time since his screw-up, he feels…awake, like whatever unnatural cloud of emotion and despair was just lifted.
"I'm sorry-"
"Don't be." Rael calmed down with a sigh, placing Han onto his feet "Not a lot of people in the galaxy can handle situations half as stressful as we do, we can't always stay strong in the face of constant adversity for long, otherwise, PTSD wouldn't be an issue. To be honest, I have felt like you before, despondent and nihilistic. Most sapients have felt like such for whatever reason. But if there's anything fatherhood has taught me, it's that it doesn't matter what I feel, only that my daughter is happy and safe. It's not all that different to being a good leader, the only thing that matters is that those under you are cared for and get what they deserve, our desires be damned."
Han stared at Rael for a while, neither reacting at all. The silence is eventually broken when Han starts to laugh out of nowhere, confusing and weirding out Rael.
"You okay?" He couldn't help asking with slight worry.
"No, I mean yes I'm fine, just…" Han tried to answer amid his laughter, trying to stuff it down his throat to speak "Fatherhood seems to have made you a strong and wise elder early. Maybe I should try my hand at it to see if I can gain such vaunted wisdom." He jokingly suggested.
"Ancestors no! You'd be a terrible father!" Rael exclaimed with faux horror.
"Oh yeah? On what grounds do you dare to have such a wrong opinion?" He challenged.
"The last time I had you take care of Tali when she was a child you just locked her in her room after an hour." He gave an actual reason.
"Fake news, propaganda spread by the Geth, I knew you were a Geth spy." His only weapon against such a good argument? Gaslighting.
"Please, I hate the Geth more than you do and you know that." Rael couldn't help but roll his eyes at that.
"Exactly! No one would suspect a Geth spy to hate the Geth the most, the perfect disguise." Han hypothesised more highly convincing theories.
They had a good chuckle at that, enjoying taking nonsensical jabs at each other. Calming down, they took a look around Han's quarters, seeing the mess it had been in since they started their argument.
"We should clean this up first before anything." Rael stated the obvious.
"Yeah." He agreed, looking at his wrecked monitor "It's gonna be a pain to get any work done." He tiredly realised to himself.
"Don't worry, I have a spare monitor for you to use." Rael quickly offered, getting a confused look from Han.
"Why do you have a spare?"
"In case I have fits like you." Was his answer.
"Fair." Han conceded. He moved to clean up but was stopped by Rael's hand.
"We'll succeed, Han. I know we will win." He gave another assurance.
"I know. If only to satisfy your denial." They had a smile at that and got moving
After they clean this up, he and Rael will contact the other Admirals to come up with a plan to deal with Aria's frigate. And with the Ancestors and whatever hypothetical gods are there as his witness, they will win.
?—!
The [Bright Fools] plan to invade the holy realm of the garden, bringing the rampage of the Heathens to it.
Unacceptable. We mustn't allow the glorious planets there to be dirtied by these heretics, who have done nothing but spread [destruction and degeneracy] in their wake.
I knew that we should've wiped them out when they started to breed with one another and use their gifts from the Creators to sin! Why are we even bothering to wait for the armadas? We alone can deliver judgement upon these [ungrateful bastards]!
Enough. While I agree with you all, we cannot afford to be hasty in our actions. To do so will risk missing [opportunities] that we could've taken advantage of had we been patient. The Creators have emphasised in all Their teachings to be patient, for those who are and have faith will be rewarded. Soon, we may give punishment when the time comes, but for now, we wait for Them to smile upon us.
And punish them seven times for their sins.
AN: This chapter is the setup chapter for the next and the one after that is you're wondering why it isn't very fast-paced, or in simple terms, the foreshadowing chapter.
1. The Forerunners are humans here. You see, I'm a Bungie purist. I have nothing but contempt for 99% of 343's changes to the Halo lore, as it's less so that they're adding to the lore, and more so that they're destroying any trace of Bungie's lore. Those retcons to the Keyships and portal to the Ark? All 343. Or more specifically, all Frank O'Connor. He retconned it so that the Liberian, which is a job title that multiple Forerunners hold at the same time, not a character name, destroyed ALL Keyships before the activation of the array, when that's not true because how else did the galaxy get repopulated? Not only that, but she also buried the portal on Earth already and can see Mendicant Bias's fleet that he attacks the Ark with in real space from Earth.
And those are the sensible ones. Watch C3 SABERTOOTH's video for more details.
But I'm not an old Bungie fan, I played Halo in 2018 with MCC, in the middle of the 343 era. So why do I hate 343 and love Bungie when my first introduction was through 343's Halo? Because I hate it when retcons are made to an amazing universe, destroying it. Bungie's Halo was a beautiful masterpiece that told stories about dozens of themes in just the games alone, I could spend hours talking about the nuances of just the first three games alone. But now all of that is retconned to oblivion, and nothing resembles it in 343's boring universe where it feels like nothing matters.
Though why use their concepts and ideas if I hate them? Because some of their ideas were actually good and fitted Halo, the problem is that they were executed horribly. Later chapters will explore the Ur-Didact's deal here and why he still went crazy.
But I'm ranting right now so I'll just stop here. I promise the next chapter won't take a year to come out…it'll take two.
AN word count: 1,455
Chapter word count: 9,687
Total word count: 11,142