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History part one
Posted By: Menno Eelkema<m.eelkema@student.tudelft.nl>
Date: 15 March 2005, 10:34 AM
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About a million years ago (there's still much debate on the exact era) an alien race known now as the Forerunner, achieved the civilisation-landmark of venturing into space.
Much like us humans they lingered in the vecinaty of their homeplanet for about a century. But when their scientists discovered ways to battle the vast distances between the stars, the Forerunners went on to colonize nearby planet-systems.
After twenty years of interstellar flight, a recon-vessel discovered a planet with sentient life. Only, this life was in a very early stage of evolution, about the stage where one species started to be the dominant life-form, but long before anyone could speak of 'civilisation'.
As the forerunners moved further, they discovered that they were in fact the only species in our galaxy-system with such a high level of technological advancement.
Aparently, the forerunner home-planet was ecxeptionally good for the development of sentient life.
Nothing stood in the way of the Forerunners to colonize the entire galaxy-system, and they almost did. On the new colonies they often encountered indiginous species.
The Forerunner-scientists acknowleged that it was important for the planets and for their own health, to leave these species untouched, that is to say that they were never to be extrminated and replaced with forerunner-lifestock.
This is because bio-diversity prevented outbreaks of diseases, which could decimate planetpopulations which consist of only a few species.
As the Forerunners grew closer to colonizing the entire galaxy, both their civlisation and technology spired to a hight still unmatched by current day species.
But the sheer size of their vast empire started to work against its own advancement. As it grew bigger and bigger, the empire suffered more and more from internal disputes, often caused by local dignitaries, seeking more power.
At one point, these disputes culminated into the break-up of the Foreruner-empire. But the disputes didn't stop there. Neighbouring dominions battled eachother continuously, often resulting in the destruction of one, and the subsequent advancement to meet a new neighbour by the other.
This civil war, which raged for about five centuries, reached its peak, when there were only two adversaries left. Each one controled roughly one of either sides of the galaxy, and couldn't stomach its opponent having the other side.
They battled eachother for two centuries more, until one side mannaged to obtain the advantage over the other. The advantaged sides army got more and more momentum, and started to bulldozer over the other.
This other side realized its days were numbered if they wouldn't come up with other means to defend themselves. And so in deepest secrecy they started to work on a weapon of mass-destruction: a bio-engeneered parasite, known now as the Flood.
They understood, that this weapon couldn't be set loose on the enemy without an antidote. Else the parasite would probably wipe them out as well.
For years the scientists tried to make or find a way to stay immune to the flood, while the opponent would perrish, but their attempts were futile.
Meanwhile, the other side got closer and closer to their capitol-planet. Finally, when the juggernaut-army was on the brink of destroying their home-world, the losing side commited the ultimate act of spite: they released the Flood, without having anything to arm themselves against it.
And so yet again was there only one empire, only one dominion ruling our galaxy. And yet again, the integrety of this empire was waning. But this time, it were not internal disputes that were at the cause of it. This time it was the Flood.
The Flood ravaged colonie after colonie, decimating planet after planet. The parasite mannaged to upholt an astonishing speed, at which new planets were infected. This is because the Flood-infected Forerunners remained capable of operating ships, while their minds were severely corrupted by the parasite.
The remaining Forerunners tried to battle the flood with containment- and quarantine-methods, but the parasite was much too cunning for these methods to be effective.
Facing annihalation, scientists and engeneers thought up a new tactic: to rid the galaxy of bio-mass, the Flood would be starved to death.
To achieve such galaxy-wide extermination, they neede an array of no less than seven weapons. These are the weapons we now know as Halo.
Each weapon actually consisted of two parts: A detonator, that could fire a wave of energy into space, that would rid planets of all life in a 2500 lightyear radius. The other part was a artificial habitat, that could support the Forerunners while and after the rings had fired.
It was of paramount importance for this plan to work that all the rings would fire simultaniously. This could be done from a central command/communicationrelais-station, known now as the Ark.
The construction of the ringshaped weapons and habitats were constructed just in time before the Flood would have whiped out the forerunners completely.
And so they withdrew to the ringhabitats and fired. As six rings detonated, and whiped out all life in their vacinaty, one ring malfunctioned, although the inhabitants didn't know that. While to them it looked as if the ring detonated, it actually fired a blank.
After this event, the Forerunners living on the seven rings had grown very affraid. Troubled by doubts of the rings effectiveness and fears of the Floods resilliance, they stayed on the rings.
Their doubts were justified in retrospect: one ring didn't fire. Their fears were not: All the Flood were whiped out, and luckily, the ring that didn't fire was in a part of the uninfected galaxy.
The ringhabitats were not designed to support their populations for longer periods, and those populations were still troubled by famine and pests other than the Flood: the Forerunners became extinct. All they left behind were the ruins of their colonies and the seven Halo-rings.
Tus ends part one of the history of our galaxy. In part two, I will dissertate on the rise of the Covenant, and thei first encounter with the Human race.
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