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Shadows of Archon II (part 12) - Twisted Fate
Posted By: Wado<wyamauchi@msn.com>
Date: 12 September 2002, 12:50 pm
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Note from Author: This chapter is a bit shorter than the last few. I recently found out that several other writers have ideas about the forerunners so not to infringe on their great ideas before they can publish, I'm trying to be careful about what I write in regards to the forerunners. So it goes that the forerunners may have had one dominant race, but my story focuses on a few of the many races that the forerunners comprised of -- The Nomdians and Archons mainly but several others also in more minor roles. The forerunners also left a bunch of other stuff around, for instance Halo, so mostly I will deal with other "things" the forerunners left behind. Good luck to all the other writers. Now on with the story...
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Aboard the scout ship Seeker 157, there is a small celebration going on in honor of the rescued comrades -- Commander Thom and Gunter the Hunter.
"It's good to be back among friends," said Thom, "and it would be a grand celebration if not for the loss of our fallen comrades. Let us pray in silence." All bow down in a moment of silence to honor the fallen.
There comes a time, maybe once in a million lifetimes that a group such as this comes together -- Catsandravalahundra the Archon, Valerie Sinclair the human, the Lady the Nomdian, Tak Musang the Gundarian, Master Covenstein the Grunt, Gunter the Hunter, Commander Thom the Elite, and the list goes on.
Forces are at work in this universe that you nor I will ever understand, at least that is how it stands for now. In John's life and death, the Master Chief has brought together the few and from them the many do spring in the eternal struggle.
We move very quickly now, but it starts small -- doesn't it always seem to start small?
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Twisted Fate
In orbit above Namera 6 on the outskirts of Gundarian free space, the crew of Seeker 157 take a rest as Communications Officer Tak Musung and Commander Thom secure supplies and gather the latest news at a near by space port.
The Gundarians have long been known as great duplicators. Gundarians can copy and build any mechanical object, quickly and with great accuracy -- Long have they supplied the Covenant with small jump engines and other items that would have been much more costly for the Covenant to produce by other means.
Destiny's Blade stays under cloak, docked to Seeker 157. Although the Gundarians are a peaceful race of cyborgs resembling grunts in appearance, the sight of an Archonian modified ship might alarm them. The Archons and Gundarians have a long history of distrust between them.
A few hours earlier, before leaving with Tak, Commander Thom told the group that while he was being help prisoner on the Covenant cruiser Divine Might, he heard rumors that the location of Earth had been rediscovered by the Covenant. The first time the location of Earth had been discovered more than three years prior, the only Covenant that knew the location were lost in slip space near Reach.
Thom's news has disturbed the Lady. She floats in her quarters, in communication with the Nomdian High Council. "Oh great Council of Elders, the restless spirits haunt our dreams," said the Lady, "and the time comes near to the darkness, what is ordained by all of this?"
The High Council speaks as one voice saying "It is seen that the Covenant has a great battle fleet in slip space, destination Earth. This is no surprise, it was expected from the start. As we know there are several races outside the Covenant that could intervene and stop the destruction of humanity, the Nomdians and Archons being two of them. However, neither the Nomdians nor Archons can afford to do this alone because doing so would not be without loss and the losses we cannot afford. Our home worlds would be left inadequately defended. The other races from the days of the forerunners will not help because they, like the forerunner races no longer around, have become corrupt with power -- choosing rather to play the role of gods to their servant races. This does leave on race, the Demons, but they are much too divided to ever mount more than a few ships to a common cause."
"What, oh great ones, is the course decided?" asked the Lady.
The one voice rings true to the point saying, "Logic does not serve us completely well, it only tells half the story. We have pondered the destruction of Jukan to destroy the Omega flood army that you discovered there. However that could also mean the destruction of Mira since they most likely share the same time and space with each other. Destroying Mira and the Master Portal could cause a backlash felt throughout the universe. There are too many unknowns for us to proceed with this plan; and again, we cannot afford the losses to conduct such an operation successfully as Jukan is protected by a planetary defense system built by the Old Ones. We are at a loss for ideas, except for one. The path is clear that we must act with the Archons."
"But the Archons do nothing, what could this mean?" said the Lady. "How can we do nothing?"
"Nothing is something to an Archon," replied the one voice. "Long have we disagreed with the Archons for they cannot see the ways of logic, but there comes a time when logic fails because we have feeling too. In our attempt to blend logic with feelings, we have chosen the middle path. The Archons, void of all but the simplest logic, have a higher sense of empathy than all other races we know of -- They can see patterns in nature that others cannot. They are one of the few peoples that see something in the human race beyond just an annoyance or a race to be subjugated. The Archons believe that the humans hold the key to the blending of logic and empathy, the only thing that has eluded all advanced races since the dawn of time. This could be the key to holding ultimate power without becoming ultimately corrupt or ultimately evil. In faith there is only one that has ever reached this, and that is God the creator."
"So we do nothing," replied the Lady, "and let the human race be destroyed."
"Perhaps," said the one voice, "but here within lies the Archonian Great Experiment, while the Archons care little about ultimate power, they do fear greatly those that do seek it, especially those that seek it without empathy, without compassion. The Archons are growers, they planted the seeds and nurtured the humans, but the humans must grow up on their own. We must let the humans defend themselves, but that does not mean we cannot help in other ways. Our path is to remove those obstacles preventing the humans from defending themselves."
The Lady speaks, "Then our path is to remove the forerunner influences, where do we start this secret war?"
The one voice speaks, "We start with three, a number of power. First, like what the Archons and Saurans did to create Destiny's Blade from the Terran Long Sword fighter, we shall modify the Covenant Scout ship Seeker 157 with Nomdian and Gundarian technology to create Fate's Reaper. Second, we shall clear the path starting with the elimination of the forerunner assassin on Earth. And third, we must bring back the legend to lead the humans to victory. The third we cannot do alone, only the Archons can achieve this."
So it begins, the secret war. Fate twisted, worlds divided, what will be the cost? What will be the ultimate cost? What of other forces, the demons and neutral forerunners for instance, will they intervene on one side or the other? Let us not forget the flood, still a menace, and with an army of Omega flood in stasis and untold number of worlds infected by the Alpha flood, they could spell the end of all known civilization. What of the flood creators, creatures of pure logic, they wait somewhere with their calculations and plans?
Too many unknowns to tell, this is only the beginning.
-- Next, First Strike --
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