 |
About This Site
Daily Musings
News
News Archive
Site Resources
FAQ
Screenshots
Concept Art
Halo 2 Updates
Interviews
Movies
Music
Miscellaneous
Mailbag
HBO PAL
Game Fun
The Halo Story
Tips and Tricks
Fan Creations
Wallpaper
Misc. Art
Fan Fiction
Comics
Logos
Banners
Press Coverage
Halo Reviews
Halo 2 Previews
Press Scans
Community
HBO Forum
Clan HBO Forum
HBO IRC Channel
Links
Admin
Submissions
FTP Uploads
HTTP Uploads
Contact
|
|
|
Halo: Rise of the Covenant by Jacob Grodman
|
Prologue: The Forerunners
Date: 13 July 2007, 6:34 pm
Here is a new version of the old story i posted here so long ago. I will also proceed to submit the next chapters in the coming weeks, though only because 16 people on 4 forums told me to.
Prologue: the Forerunners
Evolution.
A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form.
An adaptation that will help an organism better suit its environment.
Over millennia, a species with an unknown name evolved into what would be the most known race in the galaxy. They developed high intelligence, but this did not keep them from being prey. Their extinction seemed inevitable.
While this species was on the brink of destruction, a single individual discovered an amazing way to leave the chaos of their doomed planet. That individual discovered slipspace: a way to travel great distances by entering an alternate dimension. By building a large spaceship that could the extreme pressures during the transitions through slipspace, the individual was able to convince others of his race that this journey would be profitable to their entire species. He, along with thousands of comrades, embarked on a journey to find other intelligent life.
They destroyed their old city, so as to prevent anyone from following them, then left their planet forever. For hundreds of years, their legion roamed space; discovering other species, and attacking them out of fear. With superior technology, this species slowly wiped out dozens of races in the galaxy. They called themselves 'Huragok', which meant 'Supreme Rulers' in their native tongue.
Evolution continued its sometimes destructive path. The Huragok searched for races that would be a true challenge to their power. In their lust for battle, they changed. They mutated, shrinking and abandoning their vital organs so they may use their prey's. Their physique changed, from their normal purple pod-like bodies, to small beige spongy bodies.
The un-mutated Huragok fought against this threat, but were soon overrun. They retreated to the outer rim of the galaxy. With nothing to curb their hunger, the Flood went into hibernation. Generation after Generation passed, and the Huragok forgot about their mutated brethren. They began their quest to conquer once more.
Their lust for battle called to the Flood.
They awoke, seeking blood.
This time, the Huragok did not run. In the millennia they had been away, they had changed once more. Evolution had once again taken place. They became incredibly smart creatures, able to take apart and rebuild anything they came across. Their immense brain now took up the majority of the Huragok's body.
The Huragok fought the Flood infestation. But they did not understand the true nature of their enemies. For every Huragok that was killed, it added another soldier to the Flood's ranks. The Flood killed, then controlled the Huragok forces. The Huragok retreated.
A descendent of the 'holy one', the individual who had first discovered slipspace, had an idea. Upon a planet long forgotten lived a race of intelligent, eel-like creatures. After studying the Floods anatomy and tactics, the Huragok deduced one fact: the Flood control hosts through the spine. An organism without a spinal cord would not be controlled. These eels were abducted and tortured into submission. They were placed in thick sets of armour, with weapons affective against the Flood.
The Flood Hunters were placed into service. A highly effective weapon against the infestation, the Hunters were sent from planet to planet, destroying the Flood and all possible hosts for them. But the Flood adapted to this new threat. They learned how to kill the Hunters…and use their weapons.
The Huragok retreated.
There was no choice. The only way to exterminate these monsters was to do the extreme. The Huragok built massive ring-worlds, with every type of environment. Here they attempted to quarantine the Flood. The Flood put up a resistance, but were eventually subdued.
Upon these ring worlds, called Halos, the Huragok constructed small machines. Installed in these machines were strong, energy beam weapons that were affective against the Flood. These machines were called Sentinels, and were placed in the Flood's quarantine to watch over them.
The Huragok left these Halos, confident that they could continue their journey in peace. They traveled throughout the galaxy, destroying dozens of planets, and billions of lives.
Huragok, lovers of riddles and puzzles, placed hundreds of clues leading around the galaxy and eventually to their Halos. One of the places they built these clues was on a planet called Earth. As they built upon this planet, they chanced upon Homo Neanderthalensis. The so far undeveloped species was strong and intelligent. The Huragok took this species and placed them upon the Halos, in hope that they would confront the Flood.
The Neanderthals adapted quickly and fought the Flood for many years. Confident that the Flood would soon be extinguished, the Huragok left Neanderthals for many millennia. After discovering many uninhabited, but habitable, planets the Huragok headed for their Rings once more, and took the Homo Neanderthalensis away. They split them up and placed them upon different planets.
Some went to Earth. They continued their normally planned evolution, and became Homo Sapiens.
The Huragok built Oxygen Breathers for the Neanderthals and placed them upon a Methane filled planet. The Methane was obsorbed into the skin over thousands of years, and the Neanderthals eventually adapted to living on the planet. They grew blubber and sharp teeth to hunt. They are called Monachus Sapiens.
Some went to a mildly cold planet. They did not abandon their thick hair, but instead grew more. They became Ferinus Sapiens.
Some went to an Earth-like planet, but an adaptation in speed was required of them. They evolved digitigrade legs, and became Canis Sapiens.
Some went to a docile planet. They developed intelligence, and deceit. They became Secuutus Sapiens.
The Huragok, confident that they had positively affected the galaxy, receded to the outer rim of the galaxy. Waiting for the day someone would come looking for them.
Year 0001 of Third age, Age of discovery, unknown location, home of the Forerunners/Prophets,
A young male of an unnamed species was digging for a new well in the mountains when his shovel hit what the male thought was a stone.
It was dozens of years later that the species discovered that it wasn't a stone. They found a giant technologically advanced city, which had been deserted by its former civilians.
In this city, they found an ancient legacy that told of an amazing race that traveled the galaxy on a journey of conquest.
They also found technology: the original prototype slipspace generator, primitive electric weapons that the Denarkine used before they found the Huragok, and schematics for a large spaceship.
After spending hundreds of years building spaceships and the slipspace generators, the species set out to follow their "Forerunners." The species thought that the forerunners had left their planet to embark upon a "great journey" to the "divine beyond," but the truth was that the forerunners had left to conquer the galaxy and died out in the process.
As the species was searching through the forerunners city, they found a structure that held all the information of Forerunner conquest and the halos. Although the structure only mention the Halos briefly, not noting their cause or what they looked like, the species interpreted the halos as Holy Constructs. Unfortunately for the species, but fortunately for all life in the galaxy, the structure did not house the locations for the halos.
The species left their home planet to follow the Forerunners, which they worshiped as gods. They searched for Halos, which they thought would send with the forerunners to the divine beyond.
But unforeseen complications arrived. A small group of the prophets; or will of the gods, which they called themselves; stumbled upon a giant ring which they could not identify. The ring had its own nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere and gravity, but as the prophets landed upon the ring, half their number was captured by a terrifying parasite.
The prophets assumed that the parasite was put upon the rings to protect the forerunner secrets; but some thought that the parasite was on the ring by accident, and that activating the ring would send them into the divine beyond as well as destroying the parasite.
The non-parasitic prophets left the ring in a hurry, and set out to find a way to destroy the parasite, which they discovered was named Flood.
They settled on the idea of using deception finding other willing civilizations to use as a weapon that would land upon the sacred ring and clear a way, or rather, lead the Flood away from Prophets, so that the prophets could activate the ring and send themselves (but not necessarily the other species) to the divine beyond.
The prophets changed their names to "The Followers" and chose their most intelligent and respected spiritual leaders to govern their race, and lead them to the forerunners:
The Prophet of Truth
The Prophet of Mercy
The Prophet of regret
The Prophet of Wisdom
These four prophets commanded the Followers into scouring the galaxy looking for races that would do their work for them.
|
