The Final Hour
Posted By: DrNegative<dr.negative@hotmail.com>
Date: 8 October 2007, 8:45 pm
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"The Final Hour" Part 1
Many Millennia ago
The Ark, Installation 000
Inside the control room there was an eerie silence contradicting everything that was going on around him. Didact's mind was racing, contemplating the inevitable.
Didact was a slender being of average height. His attire was that of royalty, a long blue robe with ancient glowing hieroglyphics on it. You could tell the robe was a token passed down many generations. He had long, silver hair that went down to his shoulders. His piercing blue-eyes were that of a beam of light shining through a crystal. He was younger than an average heir to the throne of his empire. His father's unexpected death thrust the responsibility upon him sooner than he wanted it to be. He was now faced with an unbearable choice for the fate of his people. For a second he wished he was a just a commoner.
"How did it come to this?" he thought.
His fleet commanders were hailing him through the secure communication channels, begging for instructions, hoping maybe he would have an answer. Some were cries of distress as the parasite entered the ship's control rooms to finish off the pilots and navigators. Others were sounds of retreat. Out of all of them, only 50% of his battleships were still accounted for and still under his command. The rest were presumed to be destroyed or captured.
All he could think about was his love, Librarian, and that not even she could escape what he was about to do, what he had to do.
The control room doors made a soft whir and hiss as they opened. Admiral Golok entered and the doors closed behind him.
Golok was a very tall being with broad shoulders. He had very short silvery hair. He walked proud and firm as a man of his rank should. His uniform was solid white and covered with decorations from being the victor of many wars. He was a natural leader in the arts of naval war and consistently proved the dominance of his civilizations technology, even when outnumbered. Though the loss of his past leader had saddened him greatly, he harnessed that sadness and hid it away as he took on the responsibility to raise and teach the king's only living child, Didact. Now it was different though, for the first time, he had lost. He knew Didact had a decision to make that other leaders before him never had to contemplate. He had a look of regret on his face and tried to compose himself as he informed his commander of the horrible news.
"Didact, the line is falling and I cannot reinforce it without weakening the remainder of the defensive fleet." Golok said softly.
"Mendicant Bias has deactivated our fleet shields and locked us out of our own control systems. I can only promise you another hour, maybe two before the line falls. After that, you must activate the weapon."
"What is the status of the Sol system?" Didact asked.
"The parasite is arriving there as we speak." Golok said, "We lost contact with Librarian about 30 minutes ago. Our communications beacon there has been destroyed. I believe one or two ships made it into the slipstream before Mendicant closed it, I can't be sure though."
"Continue monitoring all channels for any sign of her Admiral." Didact said. "I will contact you again soon. That will be all."
The Admiral nodded and made a fist on his heart, the typical Forerunner salute only to a commander in chief. He then exited the control room leaving Didact alone at the main terminals.
Didact placed his hand on the blue orb. It turned red as a sign that he was authorized to use it. With his other hand he pushed a series of keys that were projected though a hologram interface. Two quick beeps and a steady beep were made and a familiar voice greeted him.
"Greetings my leader." the voice said, "What is your concern?"
"343, what is the status of the ring installations?" Didact asked.
"All living personnel have been consumed by the parasite; however, the index key on installation 004 was activated before loss of life occurred per your instructions." said 343.
"The others installations were brought online remotely and have now powered up to 93%. The firing sequence will be armed and ready in approximately 46 minutes and 12 seconds. At that point we will await confirmation from Installation 000 to activate the weapon."
"Very well 343," Didact said, "After the weapon has fired, you are to secure the index in the library. I will upload further instruction to you and the other monitors as to who will be allowed to access the index in the future. This will be protocol."
"Orders confirmed," said 343. "We will be standing by."
Didact closed to communication channel and released to orb. The hologram blinked twice and disappeared. Didact knew the parasite was monitoring the channels now and had to make his conversations quick. The monitors were performing their duties well amidst the chaos and he was relieved Mendicant had not gotten to them yet.
He began uploading his final orders for the monitors into the network grid. He wondered if the humans were competent enough for such a burden should it ever be needed again. He stopped himself and remembered how Librarian felt about them. She told him in one of her final messages to him how unique they were out of all the indexed species she had encountered. Their compassion for life, love, and sacrifice made them one of the rarest species ever encountered. He thought to himself that if anyone shall inherit what was left of their empire, he wanted it to be the them.
"It has to be them." he said to himself. "She is right."
The brief moment of silence was broken by an alarm notification of an incoming distress message. Didact activated the holograph and looked at the source identifier. He couldn't believe it, it was Librarian contacting him on an open channel. He quickly opened the channel and answered it as if it were the last time he would ever speak to the love of his life. He quickly placed his hand on the orb and the hailing beep stopped. He knew it was foolish answering knowing the parasite mind was listening in, but he didn't care anymore. He wanted to hear her voice again. He wanted to see her face.
"Lib," he said, "Can you hear me?"
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