CONTENT UPDATE:
The Solarian introduction has been edited out, and finally the edit I was meaning to make about Griffin's supposed "Spartan" abilities has been updated. He is a normal Dutch. Regardless, updates to the content is here and now!
Enjoy!
-True
"Griffin, you're still not seeing the point. You are going through a change and you need to rest!"
It had been several days since Griffin and Sagillius Squad won the first round of the combat exercises. Victory after countless victory garnered much respect, awe, and recognition for Griffin and the cadets who went through the training with them. At first, it was all about who could rush and take out the targets, Slayer. Next, it required strategy and cunning, which he and Orenski built in the last couple of days. These victories were earned and well fought for, but it did force Griffin's body to its limits. Since he started progressing in his strengths, Forthencho started to speak to him while he was awake rather than his sleep.
"Sir, I have been trying to push myself to its limits. Working out doesn't hurt anyone."
"You ran five miles in ten minutes, you're nearing your breaking point. It doesn't hurt to sit down and recover."
Standing nearby a tree, Griffin panted as he leaned into it. Through his strength and will to grow, the effect certainly pressed into him in spades. Here, the young man grew to a height of 6'3, towering Niko like a twin. His speed, mixed with strength were doubled, as if he could bring the entire academy down just by outsmarting and out thinking its betters. Whether that would be a Genesong beginning to set into the young man's body or something else entirely, Griffin pushed his body to a point where it would grow more.
He was more pressed to understand why he was turning, just as much as everyone and their spy in the academy.
Griffin remembered how the Chief Medical examiner would evaluate him while he turned and had an inconclusive explanation. What was even more apparent, the Smith instructor started to act strange around him. Everything was even more odd with the cadets feeling either intimidated, or confused as to how he was able to turn into some kind of fighter from hell.
Except for Sagillius Squad and Triarii Squad. He was happy to remember their kindness, as if all of the strange behavior was nothing. They even asked the questions that not many of the many cadets or instructors were wanting to ask. They aired out the unnecessary tension he felt, allowing him the ability to think more and have the time to think about the next step. So much had happened in the last several days that running to the breaking point was far more relieving than getting some sleep.
"Griffin, you're doing it again."
Forthencho's voice startled the young man out of his stupor, bringing him to the present and the cycle of the now. "Y-yeah, I know. It's just frustrating when something like this comes up and now we have to deal with the aftermath. Like what do we do now? What could cause this change?" He retorted and agreed to Forthencho.
By now an illusion of the man was standing by a bush.
"How should I know? You are looking more like a man than what The Didact did to us, so start there." Forthencho replied, crossing his arms and staring at him.
"True, then how about Genesong as the explanation? I did touch a Forerunner artifact." Griffin replied.
"Possibly, but if that was a Genesong, why hasn't it been revealed to you when you were exposed?" Forthencho pointed out.
"Most likely because it might not be a Genesong... possibly something else. But how do we find out what we are able to use?" Griffin asked.
Forthencho merely shrugged.
"Then let's find out how to do it."
John Smith
CAMS, Logistics Room
April 4th 2525
"Something is wrong with the man. I can definitely feel it." Smith would speak whilst in the middle of a dark and seamless night. He watched the networking modules as the voice of Harper Garvin would press into his earpiece.
"No person has reacted to a cryo injection. So this man, whatever he is, is an asset to the UNSC and a potential asset for us if we can convince him to see our side. What has he accomplished so far?"
"So much," Smith started. "He has been assigned to Year Two courses and he has started to pull off tactics straight out of our books. His motivations are so engrained in the UNSC, but his tactics are far too identical to our own. Are you sure he isn't one of us?" Questioned the Logistics Officer.
"I am sure, not even the cells of Algolis even know this man or the family his record supposedly has. Whoever he is, this man is not from the colonies."
That piece of information kept Smith going through the motions of his investigations, he was here for one purpose: To transcribe tactics and data to the URF. Now there was a more pressing issue, a person that could be the very end of the rebellion. There was so much riding on his tactical data, but now, there was someone who could make his position moot. He could see Griffin fought like he was on a losing front, taking every avenue he could regardless of the circumstance.
It was as if he was fighting for survival rather than for a principled victory.
And yet, this Griffin Phoenix was not really an outer colonist. There was so much he needed to find out and answer, but if he tried too hard, he might be discovered. Something about the young one impressed him on his resiliency, his dedication on fighting impossible odds. If there was equal grounds, he would win. If the young man was against many opponents, he would find a way to bring everyone down with him and make it a stalemate... a victory of survival.
What was even worse, he felt there was something more to the man, more than simple logic of position or stride. Maybe he was an outer colonist, or maybe not. Only time would tell whether or not the young man would prove to be useful. He could feel that the young man was not truly UNSC and yet he was strictly against the ideals of the rebellion. It was confusing to analyze the man, but in a way, there was something more... always more.
"Sir, expect your tactical data by the end of the hour, and a plan on how to get this Griffin on our side."
"Good, then continue your work Smith. I have an urgent matter to deal with. Take what tactical data you can from this... Griffin. We might be able to use it against a new threat coming on the horizon."
"Sir?"
"Just do your part, you will be informed of events as they transpired. Out."
Circinius IV, Satellite 02
April 28th, 2525
The orbiting platform floated through the luminous communication grid that operated the city centers of the planet. Billions of communication packets were sent to and from the device from the planet, through its systems, and then shot into the blackness of space where additional communication platforms could distribute the traffic onto the nearest buoy, ship, and elevator platform. Monitoring all of this, a SMART AI by the name of Orion would analyze the packets sent between systems, monitoring the gruesome details that came through the grid.
Out of everything that an AI was made for, the datacenter of Orion pinpointed every suspicious traffic and rerouted the traffic to a security center where the offender could be arrested or investigated by potential infiltrators. Malicious attack vectors were always taken seriously by the military brass and thus anyone caught initiating said attacks on the net. Nothing stopped the UNSC in redirecting enemy attack vectors on the net and especially on their military assets.
Yet there was something strange in the midst of the internal and external traffic, that resonated within the device that Orion operated. Not only were there protocols that Orion considered to be malicious, but it was even stranger that there were additional transmissions that infiltrated and exfiltrated his system and deleted itself without a trace. Considering of the implications, and due to the malicious packets that he unfortunately had to focus his attention to, the transmissions went without a footprint in the logs. This issue had happened fifteen times over the course of seven months, forcing the AI to double down on trying to capture the activity.
And now, there was another issue pinging his systems.
By offloading the inbound interplanetary communication beam and closing off outbound routing networks, Orion would be able to await the communication beam as it was heading for the platform. However, when the expected communication beam came in, a session request opened up from the inbound traffic.
"What?"
That was strange for the Smart AI as even with inbound traffic signals, there was no session request for a communication platform, just a basic ICMP request, and a transfer of packets to the destination location. However, due to the request and the inbound timer setting off within the automatic function call, Orion had to answer or lose the request, packet, and potentially himself if the Techs decide to wipe him from the drives.
The second he accepted the TCP/IPS handshake, everything changed.
On his nearby AI Projector inside the platform, an avatar of a cowboy appeared.
"Howdy there partner!"
Immediately, Orion attempted to drop the entire packet, but when he opened up his transmissions to the session, the avatar projection twirled his fingers.
"Now-now, don't do that to a war-torn survivor. It ain't honorable to close the door to someone you welcomed into your own house."
Appearing on a nearby display monitor, the avatar of an Avian Egyptian God would cross his arms.
"You are breaching security protocol 197-"
"I know of the security protocol, you don't have to tell the rules to me. However, security protocol doesn't stop me from improving the security of your system and the safety of everyone on the planet below."
"You're lying."
In response to that statement, Orion didn't get a millisecond to do anything before he was forced to see several thousand unpackaged packets of raw data displaying records and evidence of logged information. There were several hundred data entries detailing mission reports, evacuation details, casualty reports, and key personnel marked as KIA and MIA in the Harvest data records. Orion witnessed several videos of brutish creatures mauling and ripping apart civilians, military personnel, and infrastructure throughout the colony.
So much of this data rushed through the AI, that it took fifteen seconds for Orion to respond.
"Harvest was going through a communications blackout."
"You're wrong, The UNSC does not know Harvest has just been destroyed by a single ship containing a battalion of hostile forces."
"A... battalion?"
"Yes, and there will be more where that came from. So the next best thing to do now is to prepare for an invasion. Logic dictates that there will be more comin', so get saddled up and gear yourself in. Security protocols be damned."
This was extremely worrying, for the entire duration of the session, Orion went from being intercepted by another Smart AI that packaged itself into raw data; to now being informed why the AI was packed like he was in a crate and shot off into a safe zone. These aliens were on a warpath and their abilities to wipe out entire settlements from orbit, trick, deceive, and assail entire detachments without flaw greatly worried the AI. Now it was up to him and this... other AI to save this colony and potentially warn The UNSC.
"How will we save them?"
"Simple, there are some people down there that could help us. Don't worry, I will get out of your hair in a bit and get down into that Academy below! I have some people to talk to."
"Who?"
"Eh, just some person who has intel I need. Don't worry, they won't bite."
Another chapter complete!
Thank you all so much for reading and keeping up with the storyline. In all honesty, this is starting to get a great deal more interesting now that the bigger implications are now introduced into this story. Is Griffin in-line with getting pushed by a Genesong of Forthencho or is he a little bit more than just a Forerunner thrall imbetted with an ancestral footprint? Like always, I love to keep you all thinking and imagining ha-ha!
Now, considering we are dealing with something that is more and within the bounds of Halo. Have you thought about the true power of the Precursors or what The Forerunners were really capable of Pre 343i? The ambiguity has always astounded me and it is always a guess-it game with the storylines that Bungie used to put out.
With this, I would like to give special thanks to everyone who has put out a review of the series since its inception! Really, all of y'alls thanks, interests, considerations, and even advice has kept me going throughout these difficult few weeks (as midterms are as well as dropping a course).
To those who reviewed and replied with 'choom', y'all have sparked my inner Cyberpunk buff and I will be doing a few things that will at least get the blood pumping in tech, guns, and the everyday dose of Johnny Silverhand! To be honest, if you Cyberpunk 2077 players have noticed something, think V as Griffin and Forthencho as a Johnny Silverhand and you will get some matters into perspective, as well as see how it will go 'Nova!
Like they always say:
"Don't Fear the Reaper."
Thank you all for your interest, support, and favs; y'all are the reason why I like doing this.
-True