Darkness, that was what he found himself in as the young man stood in the center of the recesses of nonexistence. His eyes could witness nothing more than what the recesses of his mind could realize. He would feel nothing, pitch dark on a floor that wasn't his.
"Where... where am I?" Christian asked himself. The moment he would attempt to think that to himself, his voice would echo all throughout the darkness. His echoes felt like a vibration within an echochamber. Nothing could imply what he was feeling in the senses of his own imperception. No control, no use, no figment of imagination. Nothing. However, just as there was nothing, something came to the young man. He could not say what it was, but his skin chilled at its presence.
"I wonder that myself."
Immediately, Christian turned to face the source of the voice. What he saw this time drew him to side-glance the figure in question. Taller than seven feet, dark skinned with an undersuit and white markings on his face; Christian knew who he was.
"Forthencho..." Christian gasped. He looked at the ancient human's reaction to the recognition of his person. The man was shivering where he was located, observing the man that was the leader of Ancient Humanity in the Human-Forerunner war; a war that was started because of The Parasite and not for conquest. The man knew exactly what the human's position was, but not why they were in communication with each other... not since he...
"Not since he died..." The young man's voice would rumble through the chasm, causing the image of Forthencho to gasp in pain in the revelation of what was even happening. At the reaction of the Ancient Human's sense of pain and realization, that pain and realization struck into Christian; causing him to feel a pain that was searing and precise like a head wound. It screamed at him, causing him to fall on his knees as he clutched his head from the pain.
"Augh! What is this pain?!" Christian screamed, the stinging pain in his head made him spasm out of control. He wasn't himself, the emotions ran too quickly for him to understand what was happening. In his apex of pain, his eyes would open up and his head turned to look upwards. Standing in front of him, was Forthencho, looking down on him; observing him.
That was when Forthencho spoke.
"This pain you feel, that is me. Every thought you bring, any memory of me, I can feel it, remember it. We are the same, how we feel is... different." The ancient human spoke, walking over him and gleaming down at the young human. "How does it feel to be ripped from being... whatever it is I became and thrown into your head?" He asked, looking at Christian where he was.
"Painful... please, just make it stop." Christian begged. His facial expressions were that of a victim, wanting their captor to keep them from harming him.
"Then tell me. Why is it does a man like you, devolved from our once great past; know of the past, present, and future," Forthencho voiced in a commanding tone. Christian could see the command of such a human, once the pinnacle of humanity, taller than the spartans, and stamped with his armor; it compelled the man to trust in Forthencho. Whether he realized it or not, the feeling of trust brought an ease to the pain of revelation.
"I... I don't know. In all of what I know, a Forerunner artifact is the cause of it. We discovered it on Earth, our homeworld, approximately five-hundred years ago. Whatever it is, it activated; burned me and launched my entire being to this time period. All I know is that my knowledge of everything happening now is the result of a... video game. Now, I am uncertain what the future brings." Christian informed Forthencho of the knowledge, implying to the ancient human of why he was here and what had caused him to be here.
A hum would be heard from Forthencho, the knowledge of a man who had assumed the universe was a game merely left him up for debate. However, since he understood the implication that they were in his head, the knowledge spoken of in his mind was understandable. He had inquired much for a human, but in the end of the day, this... Christian was merely a boy in his eyes. This human was meant for nothing more to be a tech, a worker; now undetermined what to become.
"How unfortunate," Forthencho sighed. He would lower his great height and raised his hand to lift the human. "And yet, most opportune. I know you speak the truth because we can hear and sense each others thoughts and potentially experience memories of each past event. However, we may have the chance to change what you imply is recorded and destined, especially when the cost of these events leads to billions dead."
Seeing the Lord of Admirals giving him a chance to rise up, Christian instinctively clasped Forthencho's arm and let the ancient human get him up on his feet.
"How will we go about stopping... that?" Christian asked. He would see Forthencho smiling at the question. Something posed such simplicities, yet the knowledge of the Lord of Admirals was a sight that not even the books could detail on the tall and muscular figurine of a man.
"Simple, you shall inherit my knowledge and memories. Your games may have given you a window into my life, but games do not expand on what made me what I was, nor what humanity was in our days of peace." Forthencho elaborated, going forth to pat the human on the shoulder and looking down to him. "You carry my thoughts and memories, yet I am allowed to speak to you directly. This is a question I would like answered, but you are not someone who would not understand. Maybe in time, perhaps, but for now, we learn and adapt."
"And adapt we will," Christian smiled. He would look at Forthencho and nod, accepting the beginnings of this relationship with stride. Knowledge and time would continue to help them, so he would move forth and await the call of awakening. "Just don't shock my head like that again... fuck that was painful." Christian grunted.
Soon, Forthencho would place his hand on the man's shoulder.
"That can be arranged." Humored Forthencho, letting in a humorless smile. It seemed now that ancient humanity held no humor when The Flood came... something that Christian immediately recognized. "Now, tell me what you know now, before we are awakened," The Lord of Admiral asked of the young Christian.
"With pleasure, so long as you tell me if the egg came before the chicken."
Griffin Phoenix
Circinius IV, CAMS
March 19, 2525
Alarms would shoot Griffin awake, causing him to rush upwards and nearly slam his forehead into the metal casing of his bunk. Now he remembered the sequence that was happening, inspection. In a foreword of his thought, Griffin grunted as he launched himself from his bunk and rushed ahead to the outside dorm. Already, he saw the rest of the squad bunked at the hatch, with Niko punching the terminal codes to get them into the door. Griffin was at the end of the hall, with Orenski looking at him with a death stare.
"Common Phoenix! Let's move!" Orenski yelled, just as the door opened. No longer hesitating, the young man bolted to the now clearing hatch opening into the armory.
While everyone cleared into the armory, Lasky was making his rounds through the center of the file; yelling to the squad to pick up pace. Being last of the entire squad, Griffin bore the brunt of Lasky's voice:
"Common Phoenix, get yourself together! Move-move-move!"
The moment he would reach his locker, the code that Lasky punched in from yesterday clicked in his memory; immediately he had access to his locker. Upon seeing how the sequence went and how the fast the squad was moving to put on their gear; Griffin wasted no time in putting on his gear. The vest, boots and the gauntlets were pretty simple to put on, his rate was just on par with Orenski. However, when he finished putting on his helmet on and started to cock his assault rifle; the weight of the object and the difficulty in using it took up his time before he got it together.
Seconds after he clicked the safety, Orenski and a majority of the squad already yelled their weapons check.
"Weapons check!" Griffin roared, standing in line with the rest of the squad as the room soon went green. The click of the AI setting the time was in place, with the entire squad positioned in gear and in line.
All that was left, was the silence of Lasky walking through the head of the line and nodding at Orenski. He soon turned to Phoenix and walked to his front, observing the straightforward presentation of the man's military bearing. "Looks like you're adapting well, keep up with your physical training and you'll make it by the end of the week." Lasky spoke, smirking before his face turned serious as he headed to the front of the formation. "I like the smell of outdoors in the morning..." Cadmon spoke, giving a long and deep breath. He walked over to his locker, grabbing and soon putting on his helmet; completing the rest of his combat armor.
"Axios!" Lasky roared, shouldering his rifle.
"Axios!" Phoenix, and the rest of the squad replied.
"Left...face!" Lasky bellowed, earning the squad turning their sides in unison. However, Phoenix would have a delayed foot stomp as he tried to follow the squad. He noticed this and corrected the squad by ordering them to go right-face, left-face, about-face, and then about-face. Once the squad was positioned to face the opening hatch, Lasky would walk over to the terminal, open it to the outdoors; then he ordered them one final yell:
"Double... march!" He commanded, causing the squad to start double-timing their march to the academy field.
At first, Griffin would see that it was early in the morning. The slight glow of the morning sun and the shine of the concrete buildings would overshadow the concrete path they threaded across. At that moment, Griffin knew just how much he was lacking in his physical fitness. As the squad began to go in pace, he would feel his body starting to burn as his legs would ache from the excess weight of the combat gear and his arms lurching in the carrying of eight pounds of assault rifle. He would begin to lag behind, the feeling was nearly overwhelming with the excess of the nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere he was breathing in. However, when he looked at the squad and the look of Lasky's eyes; Griffin grunted and started pushing himself more and more.
In seeing the young man pushing himself to keep up with the squad, Lasky nodded to Griffin and continued cadence.
Doctor Catherine Halsey
In orbit over Reach, Medical Facility Endurance
March 19, 2525
"How peculiar," Halsey hummed in observation over the data she had observed from the information from Christian's phone. She could see the many red colorations that lined the deceased candidates and the deleted files of the research experimentations classified by Naval Medical Command. Her justifications over these moral questions and reasoning was exactly like the books described, and they proved to her that her actions were as such. However, the horrors Christian had warned her about had started to set in after her first readout of Halo: The Flood.
How was she going to survive, how were they going to survive from this? Ever since she read over what this... parasite could do and what brought a hardened man like John into a terrified mental state... she hadn't slept clearly over the countless hours of rest. Even while she was concerned for the children... what they were in for kept her attention focused on their survival. She needed to accelerate the program, get them combat ready before the UNSC command can even suggest their use in combat.
She was going to need to make use of every single candidate in the program, washout and Spartan alike.
Chronically going through the beginning phases of the series, there was an absolute mass of detail in this book that shook her to the core. The events that were currently happening on Harvest caused her to note Sergeant Avery Johnson's importance as an ORION Project candidate, but how he and John were going to be compatriots in this fight was not going to be an easy one. Every military action that was observed in these conflicts were terrifying on what The Covenant was capable of and why they didn't outright glass a planet with humans in it. The UNSC would be on a retreat-based strategy, fighting in engagements before the Covenant's naval dominance ruled the grid. They were persistent in her eyes, but she had yet to understand fully of what these Covenant were after other than these... Forerunner relics.
Another question for Christian when he gained his commission for service. She had so many more questions for him once when he was alive and well during this conflict...
If he survives it.
Griffin Phoenix
Circinius IV, CAMS
March 19, 2525
Griffin hurled as he was next to the latrines, the overextension of his body in the tour was a reminder of why he was needed to train himself harder. While he had the slight respect of his squad leader, he still needed to prove himself as a soldier to the squad. Many of the cadets were Juniors, whereas Griffin was a meager freshmen straight out of the boot. This was his first day in Corbulo, throwing up and drinking water to recover was a helluva start.
"Sounds like the freshmen is getting his first taste of the field." Niko chuckled after coming out of the showers with his towel covering his midsection.
"Hey, don't patronize the freshman, he kept up; I remember you were too slow for the first time Niko. We had to wait for your fat ass to catch up, last week." Orenski spoke up, causing some laughs to emerge as Niko shrugged and went to change his clothing.
"Well... good thing I'm making an impression." Griffin humored, soon heading over to his locker to change out of his combat armor and prepare to put on his fatigues for the shower. He felt slightly dizzy after the vomit, but he would head over to the shower and begin cleaning himself up. There, in the mists of steam and running water, the young man cleaned himself with the majority of the squad still getting washed up in their enclosed showers.
"If he survives the term, he'll give a better impression. Sagillius Squad will make a soldier out of you yet," Ramirez chuckled. He would pass by Griffin's shower and tapped on the wall next to him.
Griffin had much to catch up on; physically and mentally for the times ahead. The moment he was finished showering up, he would clean himself up and prepare to put on his uniform for the time being. The slight warm chill that overcame his body would soon bring the young man to bear. After putting on his uniform, he would see Lasky standing nearby the exit, waiting for Griffin to come to him. Walking up to the squad leader, he would see Lasky take a side glance, walk over to him, and made sure to zip up his vest fully and tug a few things correctly about his uniform.
"There, now you look like a cadet." Lasky spoke, soon popping his neck slightly.
"What is next, squad leader?" Griffin asked.
"Return to your dorm and activate the terminal, your class schedule will be on the top right corner of the holo screen. If you have any issue with your terminal, call for the artificial intelligence to run any diagnostics on the device." Lasky spoke up, soon nodding to Griffin before motioning him to head to the dorms. "Now get yourself ready for courses, seems like you'll have a lot of catching up to do."
CAMS, Academy Lecture Hall
Entering through the front hatch leading into the lecture hall, Griffin panted as he entered; under the assumption he was late to the lecture. For five minutes, he went back and forth from the entrance to the academic center and then over to the class that he was supposed to be in. However, considering of his breakneck speed and rush to find the classroom, he forgot to account that he was earlier to the lecture hall than even the many freshmen cadets who were supposed to be there.
"Well look at that, the newbie has arrived," came from one of the cadets. A burly, dark-skinned freshman cadet looked at Griffin as he held himself against the door. He was flanked by two other male cadets, one being a lighter-skinned individual and the other being completely dark. "Look at him, so shiny that he looks like spit-shine!" Another cadet chuckled.
The moment when Griffin caught his breath, he would look at the three and merely stand straight. "Don't underestimate me now," Griffin implied as he would walk over to the holographic table.
"No need, sounds like you're playing tall game freshie, you have no other cadet in your squad that can support you in this lecture." Sounded the first cadet.
"You just arrived yesterday, the lecture today is not meant for you." Scolded the second cadet.
"Let's see, because it sounds like I will be the one who'll be front and center," Griffin pointed out; looking to Colonel Mehaffey who was seen standing at the entrance to the lecture hall. Most of the cadets soon started to file inside the chamber, while Griffin and a few others were motioned to the center of the room. As everyone was filing into their seats, the instructor would look to Griffin to see if he was up for the task, seeing as he was given no time to study for the lecture ahead. He could sense she was curious, wondering if he was as great as the aptitude test said it was.
Not long after every cadet was filed into the room, the colonel looked to the ceiling and called for the lights to dim in the room.
"The pincer movement, the strategy used in Earth's punic war against the Roman Republic; at the Battle of Kenny. Orlin, Begin." Colonel Mehaffey would speak, standing in the center of the dim assembly room. In a 'ding', the AI activated the terminal and spoke the familiar words. "Lesson Beginning." It would speak, initiating the holographic map of the area.
All Colonel Mehaffey could see out of Phoenix would be an interest, as if he was familiar with something.
Disregarding the initial perspectives, she would continue once the map displayed the holographic projections of the lesson. "Red, represents the Romans troops, blue-Hannibals; Hannibal placed his spearmen and slingers at the front. Behind them, he placed his swordsmen, flanked by calvary. When the Romans attacked, Hannibals swordsmen retreated. To the Romans, they thought that was due to their overwhelming forces, but in reality; Hannibal had ordered the retreat. As the Romans continued to drive the swordsmen back, Hannibal's cavalry galloped in from behind. Once the attacking pincers connected, the Romans were completely surrounded." Colonel Mehaffey spoke, letting the cadets observe the ancient roman battles of old display unit tactics on the table.
"This is an actual strategy?" One of the cadets asked, causing Griffin to blink slightly.
"The Romans outnumbered Hannibal's Cavalry by over ten thousand strong and yet... they were defeated... why?" The instructor asked, her face displaying a teachers interest which caught the respect of Griffin as he heard the question asked.
At that moment, it was Griffin who spoke up.
"Hubris," he answered.
Now that caught Colonel Mehaffey's attention. "Explain, elaborate." She spoke, a spark in her eye showed Griffin to continue.
"The Romans underestimated Hannibal and his army. Just because an army doesn't have equal numbers, it doesn't mean they would maximize their effectiveness with the right strategy and leader." Griffin elaborated.
"You are correct Cadet Phoenix, any questions?" She would ask of the class, nodding to Griffin of his perception of the battlefield.
"How do we apply this in today's modern warfare?" Asked one of the younger cadets.
"We don't have horses..." The prior cadet implied, causing a few smiles to emerge.
"True, we don't have horses, but what do we have instead?" The colonel asked.
"Orbital Drop Shock Troopers." Griffin spoke in turn, causing the colonel to nod again.
"Exactly, they drop behind enemy lines, attack from the rear, and neutralize." The colonel replied, her interests in the cadet confirmed by how on-point he was in regards to the lecture. Once finished with her lecture, Colonel Mehaffey would end the class session and walked away. At the reaction of those who put doubt into Griffin earlier, they showed little reaction at all as the entire class started to filter out of the lecture hall.
"Some things never change," Griffin sighed to himself as the pack of cadets left the hall. As he began to make his way out, Griffin would pick up a couple of approaching footsteps from the student section. He would stop and turn his head amidst a few of the cadets nodding and walking out of the room. Instinctively, there were two cadets that looked interested in him; one a young light-skin lad with orange-shaven hair and another a black-haired braided woman with tannish skin to her complexion. The male on the left he recognized as a redhead and the woman to his right he'd recognized as Chinese.
Not long after spotting them, Griffin let them know he was looking at both cadets with a nod of his head.
Once the two cadets were a few paces away from Griffin, the young man was the first to speak. "That was some incredible stuff you pulled out there," the male cadet spoke with a smirk on his face. "I'd say Colonel Mehaffey was surprised that a new-blood like you would outperform Kyle, Nick, and Fred on the map." He voiced in return to the perspective. "Names Jack and this ball of feline hair is Li, we're from Triarii Squad." As if on cue, the woman now known as Li punched Jack along his shoulder.
On the right of Jack, Li showed her interests in the new cadet after Jack winced out of her way. "Nice to meet you eh... Phoenix, is that right?" She asked, glancing at Griffin with a few stares along his nametag.
"Yes, you're right; but call me Griffin. You two have been friendly enough to me so far to regard me by the name," Griffin smiled.
However, Li would chuckle at Griffin. "Interesting." She noted, catching Griffin and Jack's attention.
"What is it?" Griffin asked.
"Your name," she answered; pointing out a couple things. "Your name, Griffin, the mythological Gryphon, and Phoenix; the ashen bird. A rising myth." Li voiced with an implicative smirk on her face. Jack seemed quite impressed with the name, whereas Griffin nodded in acknowledgment.
"That's... actually quite perceptive. Not a lot of people really get that far with my name nor understand its meaning." Griffin smirked, crossing his arms.
Now that made Li smile in appreciation while Jack tilted his head in puzzlement. "Now who was the parent that named you? I doubt they make a kid and expect him to be Jesus." Jack chuckled, causing Griffin to snort.
"Nothing of the sort, it was my mother. Many kids from Algolis are either given base names or wacky ones, I was lucky enough to get relocated to Reach before the Insurrection started popping up as quickly as they did." Griffin implied, causing the two cadets to look to each other.
"So you are an innie?" They asked, looking at him with a distant stare. Now, they were a little worried.
"No, god no... I may have been born on an outer colony, but I was raised on Reach. If anything, I hate innies. What they do to 'be free' from the UEG or the UNSC is far into deplorable, bombing civilian and military targets is not diplomacy; it is escalating conflict that may threaten our existence as a species. It was someone in higher places that sought for me to be trained here, otherwise I would have gone to be a Marine... or an ODST to fight them. Being here delays the inevitable outcome." Griffin implied, looking at the both of them with a change of tone and facial expression. There was something in Griffin's eyes, something that had showed Li and Jack that the man was serious and held his beliefs pretty closely.
It was not as if they could dispute the claims, he was right about the truth on the Insurrection, why they were all here in the first place.
However, Li was quick to pick up on his claims.
"What caused you to be recommended for CAMS? It is not common for a cadet to be admitted and entered into the latter half of the academic term." She asked.
Stifling a deep breath, Griffin would nod and speak up. "My aptitude test had the highest possible score on Reach. Less than five percent of raw recruits could pull it off by what was mentioned. If I was the highest on Reach, then I was a rising FNG. So, here I am." The young man smiled.
"And it is easier to explain the possibility of politics wanting him to be trained in an outer colony would be safer than having a rising star from the outer colonies outclass their potential officers in the Inner Colonies. Easy bait in the event someone asks." Griffin thought to himself.
"Huh, interesting." Jack murmured. He took a breath of relief before walking over to Griffin and clasping him on the shoulder. "Then word of advice for you, just say you're from Reach." He smiled, soon motioning Li to come with him. "Now common Griffin, let's go get chow. I bet your upperclassmen are more than willing to mess with a new blood." He chuckled, causing Li to roll her eyes as she started walking out of the room.
Griffin merely smiled warmly to the two new cadets who would motion him to follow, quick friends whom he could get used to in the coming weeks. As he took a few steps forward, he was reminded of the reality that would come if he stayed.
That was when he remembered all of those cadets who would die in the coming Covenant Invasion. All of the bodies of the young men and women dropping like flies from a destroyed space elevators, all of the innocent men and women collapsing to the ground by glowing plasma, and many more impaled by the glowing sword of a Sangheili flashed into his mind.
Only three cadets in that memory of the movie survived by the presence of the Master Chief: Thomas Lasky, April Orenski, and Michael Sullivan.
Three survived that battle that had yet to come, Griffin decided he was going to save as many as he could...
Or die in the attempt.
Watching the young Griffin and his new friends moving out of the building and into the concrete path into the cafeteria; a pair of calculating eyes dawned upon the young man whilst he walked and moved with the cadets. The shape of a man looked upon the departing folk and observed their outlook. Cladded in a uniformed and decorated outfit, the figure of an instructor watched the three move away in the halls.
"The Phoenix you picked up in the registry has made quick friends already," the uniformed man spoke. He was speaking through and into a coms device of some kind, discreet to speak through as well as hide in plain sight. "He has been seen gaining the interests of the colonel, and he seems to be improving himself regardless of his body mass. I do believe he is a prime recruit, major general."
"Good, you have the task of seeing where he stands. If he is with us, then he will join us."
"If he is against us...?" The instructor asked.
"I will handle it, you will need to keep your status above reproach. He might be a potential asset, but you are the mission; and you will be needed to ensure our success. ONI will not see our infiltration coming."
"Indeed, General Garvin."
That is another chapter complete! Thank you all for the feedback that have commented, favorited, and followed the series to this point. To be honest, writing this out was difficult regarding the implications and long-term effects this move will have on the plot ahead. However, since this is a story with interest and struggle, there must always be something to provide a shift and interest between the reader and the writer!
What does this mean for Griffin and Forthencho? How is this allowed to happen? I will let the reader guess what exactly is going on ha-ha-ha!
As for those interested in this Sub Plot: General Garvin is the BBEG of the Insurrection in case y'all want to know.
Either way, considering we all have lives, it is taking a little bit more time to deal with Cyber Security lab assignments for my Senior Coursework. Life is really going well, but it is busy as everything else is. In the event I am delayed on my chapter publishing, just know that I am doing labwork, project proposals, and preparing for graduation in Spring of 2023.
In case you find this series to your liking, please invite the follow/favorite buttons to a football game and then leave them alone when the game is over.
Feedback is always appreciated and lore corrections are encouraged, especially when I make a chapter with three hours of sleep 0_0
Thank you for your time and enjoy!
-True