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Halo: The Forerunner Chronicles Chapter 1 - The Encounter "Scanning ... just dust and echoes. We're all that's left. We did what we had to do. For Earth. An entire Covenant armada obliterated. And the flood. Halo, it's over." "No. I think we're just getting started." Hours had passed since this brief conversation. It had been a long, silent ride since the dramatic climax, which was the explosion of the ring-world Halo. Cortana had not spoken since their conversation. The Master Chief was as dead-as-a-rock. He had fallen asleep almost immediately, his M90 Shotgun with a full load lay at his side. Cortana couldn't blame him. It had been a long four-day battle on Halo. Cortana was piloted the craft to the nearest UNSC held planet, Outer Colony Pride. She estimated it would take at least two weeks to reach Pride, and the time would be longer if they used Shaw-Fujiwara as it had a tendency to be thrown off course by thousands of kilometers. The holopanel at the head of the Longsword interceptor bleeped three times. In front of Cortana's eyes, space dived, and three purple ships slid through the gap in space. "Chief, wake up! Chief, wake up!" John rose up instinctively, shouldered his shotgun, and scanned the room. False alarm. "Chief, wake up!" He heard Cortana's plea for help and rushed to her side. "Chief! Three Covenant frigates." "How much firepower do we have?" "Not enough Chief." "How much?!" "Four Archer missiles. Three Anvil II HE warheads. Two 60mms with two thousand rounds each." "How long before they get within range?" "Thirty seconds." "Arm all missiles. Aim the 60mms at the brid-" "Hold it Chief. These vessels appear Covenant; however, I'm picking up Human life signs. I'm not talking a few prisoners, the vessels are manned by Humans." "Cortana, charge the Shaw-Fujiwara. Just in case." "We have a problem Chief. We're not jumping." "Oh great." "Chief, they're trying to establish communication. Shall I put them on the forward view screen?" "Yes." A young face appeared on the forward view screen. He was young, real young. Perhaps twenty-five. He spoke: "Greetings. Are you the one responsible for the destruction of this fortress-world." "State your name, and where are you from." "I am Yamato. You are?" "Master Chief John-117. United Nations Space Command, United Nations Marine Corps." "Are you one responsible for the destruction of this fortress-world?" "Yes." John placed his helmet back on, tore Cortana's chip out of the databanks, and placed her in his helmet neuron emplacement. "John, I don't like this. These things don't make since. Covenant ship, Human life signs, and now I'm picking something up even more bizarre. They aren't even totally human." "Anything else you should tell me." "Just keep your wits about you." "The High Council demands that you answer for your choices. They also demand that you be taken aboard our ship." "I don't like this Chief. Stay ready for anything." "We are putting your vessel in a tractor beam." The Longsword interceptor shuddered, and its lights dimmed as it came under the power of the frigate. A transparent band of silver light could be seen as the Longsword interceptor was reeled in like a fish on a fishing pole. John disassembled his SPNKr, placed it in his pack, holstered a pistol with a full load to his right hip, ran toward a weapons locker, popped it open, strapped an MA5B to his back, and shouldered his M90 Shotgun. The small craft that sheltered the SPARTAN and the AI construct was entered the docking bay of the huge frigate. A tractor beam held it in place from moving. "Cortana, are the doors sealed tight." "Affirmative." "Can they be opened from the outside at this time." "Negat-" Interrupting Cortana's answer, the doors were wrenched off their hinges. A lone human form stood there, titanium-A door held over his head like an iron bar with ten pounds on it. "Oh shit," were the only words that John could muster at this sight. "They High Council will see you now," the human said. Halo: The Forerunner Chronicles Chapter II - The High Council The human gracefully threw the metal doors like a rag doll. A loud thud was heard as the eight-foot tall doors slammed into the purple walls of the ship. John was stunned beyond comparison; he had never witnessed anything like it. John star, open mouthed, at the hangar bay. Seraphs, Wraiths, Shadows, Ghosts, Banshees, Bandit troop transports, and humans bustled around the large half-kilometer by half-kilometer hangar. Rainbows of multi colored holopanels lined the walls, floor to chest high. "This way human." John followed, intelligent enough not to pick a fight* at least not now. John and the human walked past hundreds of humans. Not one gave a shit about them, and they didnÇt even acknowledge that he was there. As many Marines and UNSC personnel would do, these humans did the exact opposite. John was beginning to sense what Cortana was talking about not two minutes earlier. John walked; continuously checking twelve, three, six and nine. If he was going to live, he had to keep his wits about him. Just when they make fell comfortable, they strike. It had been proved many times in history, and again five days earlier. John trekked through the halls of purple. He noticed the same markings on the walls as on Halo and The Truth and Reconciliation. He smelt something fishy. They walked for what seemed hours, although only minutes. Through halls of purple, automatic doors, left and right turns, and security systems. The human in front of John stopped; John had to literally fall to stop from hitting him. John clumsily picked himself up, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. A cold gray door stood in front of the duo. Strange markings, resembling Aztec hieroglyphics, lined the door, as well as the same strange symbols on Halo. "The High Council." Cortana acknowledged. "Do not speak in their presence human." John had to hold himself back. He felt like ripping his head out. He followed orders, but only from superior officers. Hell, as far as he could see, this human was a civilian, wearing civilian clothes. The human tapped five translucent buttons on a nearby holopanel to open the doors. The large, dull gray doors unleashed a soft hissing noise. It was all too familiar for the Chief. Inside lay darkness, and a light in the middle. It was darkness so great that the light was a beacon, an abyss, in the pitch black void of the galaxy. "Sit," the human commanded. John foolishly disobeyed, and stood. Five hundred volts of Electro-magnetic lightning ripped through his body. He fluctuated. Within a fraction of a second John regained his footing. "Sit!" John sat. The voice seemed to echo out of nothingness. Even with his rectified optics John could see nothing. He began to feel helpless. It was an eerie feeling, as he had never felt helpless but once, nor did he cry; the day he was taken from his family to begin the SPARTAN exercises. The lights began to turn on. The light revealed seven mystic figures. Only one appeared to be human. The others were different species. Elite, Jackal, Grunt, Hunter, and two others. One was a dark purple hue, with three eyes, large claws, teeth, and bloodshot eyes. The other appeared to be slightly less than two feet of height, red membrane skin, and devilish teeth, complimented with two arms terminating in three-fingered hands. John shouldered the butt of his shotgun. He was hesitant. If he pulled the trigger, the blunt of a ship with a thousand inhabitants would plummet on him in a heartbeat. "So you are the solitary warrior who destroys Installation 004. Do you know what you have done? You have destroyed a thousand worlds within the circumference of twenty-five light-years. Billions of people have died from that one catastrophic explosion." The human that spoke raised his hand. The remaining members of the Council, including himself, dematerialized into droids. They looked exactly like those in a holovid that John had seen titled "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones." It had been a classic in the early 2000s, and had virtually become non-existent. "You see, we are the Forerunner. We created the fortress world Installation 004, as well as I-001, I-002, and I-003. We created every universe, and planet in this galaxy. We are a peace-loving, curious people. We subdue our curiosity by experimentation. We created the members of the Covenant, and they used their wits to form a collective for their own safety. We also created the two beings you see beside them. The dark purple on is a Gea-Fur, and the red faired on his side is a Goa. We also created the human species. We also developed this cloaking device. We can turn into any species we wish to. Using this, we can infiltrate planets and access secret documents and files. You see, ten million years ago, we created the Covenant. The Covenant resided in harmony with us on our home planet. "The Grunts were used as menial laborers. Jackals and Elites as warriors, and the Hunters as personal guards, and scientists, as well, scientists. We also genetically enhanced two Elites. They became known as the High Priests to the people of the Covenant who had no written language, at the time and still to this instant. The High Priests led by example and worshipped their creators. We became a symbol of patriotism. The High Priests became fed up with their masters, and rebelled. Two million years ago, Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and Hunters, and scientists alike rebelled under the command of the High Priests. They broke in our compounds, and stole an armada of starships. One star ship, however, housed a laboratory. The scientists took to it, and began understanding the nature of the Forerunner. The stolen flotilla also had Seraph fighters, Banshees, Bandits, Ghosts, Wraiths, and plasma weapon technologies. The scientists studied them, and learned how to mass manufacture them. They used our advanced pinpoint technologies to jump to another universe. That particular universe sheltered four huge planets. Each race was designated their own planet, with scientists and the High Priests under the protection the Elite race. "They began mass-producing weapons and starships. Few Covenants disobeyed the High Priests and stayed behind on our home world. Our scientists were embarrassed by the fact that they had been tricked by their own creations. They gathered up the remaining Covenants and began tests on them to recreate servants for their own pleasure. These experiments went haywire, and the genetically altered Floor was born. They were somehow able to infect our mechanical bodies and sent widespread panic throughout the world. Mass evacuations took place, and one million Forerunners escaped to another universe. They had mistakenly left a fleet of starships on the planet undamaged. The Flood got control of the fleet and began jumping to random vectors of the galaxy, infecting planet after planet "The remaining Forerunners constructed the fortress worlds, capable of wiping out the Flood threat. We had incompetent leaders at the time, and they failed to detonate the ring worlds. The Flood and Covenant lived without war because they did not encounter one another. Then we come to future and the Covenant attack your galactic empire at Reach. You and your ship jump to Installation 004, and the Covenant encounter the Flood. Then you destroyed I-004, the Covenant armada, the Flood on that installation, and Flood within the radius of twenty-five light-years." "If you had all this fire power, then why did you not attack the Flood or Covenant?" John persisted. "We were fearful of the Flood. We could not locate the Covenant home worlds until recently." "So your saying you guys sat back and watched as the universe got overrun by Flood and the Covenant slaughtered billions of humans?" "Yes, I am afraid so." "Cowards. Why the hell would a people of great strength like yourselves sit back and watch hundreds of billions of people get slaughtered." "We are a peaceful people. We do not wish to interfere in interplanetary warfare unless it does not concern us." "The Flood concerned you, and you still didnÇt do shit." "My peoples are taking action against the Flood as we speak." "Oh yeah, great job guys. Its only about two millions late. Entire species have fallen to those ugly bastards and you just sat there and watched like the Gods of the Universe. What kind of bull shit is that?" "We gave you and your whole species life Earthling. Now be quiet or die." "Plenty of people have died already. From the Covenant and the Flood. Now youÇre going to kill me? The only hope for mankind? I hardly think so. Thanks for the history lesson guys. IÇve gotta run. After all, I do have a planet to save." John calmly got up and headed for the door. "Sit!" John kept walking. Five hundred volts of Electro-magnetic lightning cut through his flesh again. John sat again. "We have taken you in to help you defeat the Flood and the Covenant at the same time. Are you in?" "How much does it pay? If its more than UNSC gives me, IÇm in," John said jokingly. "It pays nothing." John grinned behind his visor. The seven members of the Council sat there bewildered, not knowing to laugh or to sit there. |
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