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Shadows of Archon II (part 18) - Humanity's Best Hope
Posted By: Wado<wyamauchi@msn.com>
Date: 27 September 2002, 9:24 am
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Stealthily, the original Cortana pilots Destiny's Blade into the comet's dust tail. Her calculations indicate that the cloaked Forerunner cruiser should not be far away. However, her scans have come up negative, it's as if the comet itself conspires against her.
It could take days to find where the cruiser went, provided it is still somewhere within the 10,000 kilometers long dust tail. In the meantime, moving through the ice and dust of the comet's tail could reveal Destiny's Blade to the Forerunners. It's a cat and mouse game and suddenly Cortana is feeling a bit mousy.
"Ambush, hang on Val," said Cortana as she pilots Destiny's Blade quickly out of the dust tail.
Plasma spheres track behind them exploding with proximity charges. The blasts bounce Destiny's Blade around. Inside the ship Val feels like a rubber ball hit by a freight train.
"Forming stargate," said Cortana but as the stargate forms, a strange energy torpedo flies into the gate and explodes, collapsing the wormhole. "Val we are in trouble, we can't escape by stargate. I'm trying slip space but I doubt we can out run their temporal interphased drive."
As Destiny's Blade zips through slip space, hyperspace bubbles appear and space condenses. The effects of gravity increase and gravity wells pose a real danger to the traveling ship. Cortana pays special attention to any sign of gravity wells; the slightest miscalculation could fling Destiny's Blade out of slip space and to their deaths.
Days pass and Cortana and Val begin to relax. They have traveled a good parsec from where they started -- the Sanctum system. It should be safe to come out of slip space and form a stargate.
"Coming out of slip space," said Cortana.
"It's about time Cort," said Val, "and I'm really starting to get sick of eating the same thing everyday. What do you say to gating over to someplace that makes nice greasy hamburgers?"
Cortana's holographic image looks at Val disapprovingly and says, "Val, that stuff will kill you, I recommend..."
The ship shakes.
"What is it Cort?" asked Val.
"We are caught in a grappling beam," said Cortana, "and there's a Forerunner cruiser coming out of cloak behind us. They have us."
Val prepares for battle in her Archonian Shadowguard armor saying, "I didn't think I would have to test this suit out in battle so soon. Oh well, Cort it was nice knowing you."
"Don't give up yet Val," said Cortana. "They've been tracking us this whole time. They could have blown us out of slip space with their weapons, but instead they waited until we exited slip space so that they could safely capture us. They want us alive."
"Cort, why would they want us alive?" asked Val.
"I don't know but it's just as I suspected Val," said Cortana. "I'm receiving an incoming transmission. Val, Forerunners consider AIs to be servants; it is best that you do the talking. Now Val, I highly recommend that you be nice to them, use caution when dealing with the Forerunners, our lives hang by a thread right now."
"Sure Cort, I'll be a regular angel," said Val.
"Translating incoming communication now," said Cortana.
Over the comm appears a statuesque figure fully covered in gold and green armor. The armor almost appears to be made of tiny plates the shape of feathers. The full helm is in the shape resembling an eagle's head and the shoulder blades fan out to the back forming the shape of small folded wings.
The figure speaks, "Explain yourselves! Why do the Archons meddle in the affairs of the Praetorian Elite?"
"We are on a mission of peace," replied Val, "and we did not meddle in anything. We were there first and then you showed up."
"The Archons are long time meddlers, saboteurs to the powers they could never be," said the figure in a condescending voice, "and you Shadowguard are the worst of the lot. Prancing around in armor not even of your own making, cowards that hide in the shadows while pretending to be honorable. You are nothing but spies for the meddlers -- Peons, servants, and slaves. Even now you are afraid to speak the truth, like a child with its hand caught in the cookie jar."
"Do you seriously believe all that pile of bull crap?" said Val, "and you have got a lot of nerve accusing us of spying. You're the ones sneaking around hiding in comet tails. Besides, I've seen what barbaric butchers you really are. Skinning the poor Covenant alive and leaving them to die hanging by their feet. You ain't doing that to me and if you were even half an Archon, you'd be a million times better than the scum Forerunner you are."
With that said, Cortana turns off the communication and says, "Val, what are you doing? We've had it now."
"There's just no talking to arrogance assholes like that," said Val.
The ship shakes some more. Cortana says, "Val, their bringing us in to their docking bay."
"Cortana, what are they going to do with us?" asked Val.
"I don't know Val," replied Cortana.
Long ago the Forerunners ruled most of this galaxy. The fall of their empire left many mysteries. Some of which are answered now; some of which remain still under the cloak of time.
Cortana and Val find themselves in Destiny's Blade outside the Sanctum system. They remember the encounter with the Forerunners more like a fading dream. A dream about an empire, perhaps the greatest this galaxy has ever known.
In the dream there was a young Forerunner -- An architect and builder. Great ring worlds were designed and built by architects and builders. The worlds were called Halos. The Halos served as research centers where the greatest minds gathered. On each Halo was a great library that kept the knowledge of the universe within it.
Halos were more than just research centers; they were the great devices to gather information too. Each Halo could generate a pulse that could travel out to 25,000 light years. The pulse served as part of an information gathering system, categorizing stars, planets, and life forms in its range.
The Forerunners had fled their own galaxy to run from a nightmare -- A plague that consumed their galaxy and now threatened once more to strike in this new galaxy. A pulse from Halo04 was the first to find signs of the Flood in this galaxy. A primitive form of the Flood, sure they looked and acted different than in the old galaxy, but the Flood was still the Flood no matter how many different wrappers and disguises they wore.
The same pulse that was used to gather information, powered up to incredible magnitudes, could also be used as a powerful weapon to destroy life. So the cleansing began and with a deadly pulse from the Halos, all life in this galaxy was killed except for those protected behind powerful shields like the Forerunners.
The Forerunners then created many creatures to be their servants and to repopulate this dead galaxy. They also experimented with the Flood in research centers and found the ability to transfer knowledge from one body to another. This was very useful to the many Forerunners that had outlived their body's capabilities to regenerate.
They now could just create new bodies and transfer the knowledge from the old body to the new body thus gaining a form of immortality. Every race has a different way of handling immortality. Archons have immortal sleepers inside that only awake when needed; otherwise they go about life like a being of finite life, enjoying life as a mortal. Nomdians transfer knowledge from generation to generation, but each generation is mortal and with its own free will.
For the Forerunners that had no way of dealing with it, immortality did not come without a price, and the price was great. The Forerunners divided into seven types.
The first were the Insane -- those Forerunners that simply went insane during the many years. They believed themselves to be gods. By the actions of their own servants, they were driven into seclusion or death.
The second were the Linear -- those Forerunners who brain patterns became so set in their ways that they became like machines, only able to function through the aid of outside stimuli. They enjoyed watching the humans and otherwise lived a life seeking nothing but pleasure and emotions through others. It is said that they eventually became nothing more than machines.
The third were the Homebound -- those Forerunners who made the return voyage home. They were never heard from again.
The fourth were the Paranoid -- those Forerunners that became so obsessed with avoiding death that they were afraid to even get out of bed. No one knows or cares what became of them.
The fifth were the Reborn -- those Forerunners that became mortal in the hopes to relive the evolution of the species. Locked inside are the messages of the Forerunners. They are believed to be the humans.
The sixth were the Prophets -- those Forerunners that led a revolt against the others and liberated the slaves. It is suspected that they came to a most ironic fate. It is said that the same slaves the Prophets freed in turn enslaved the Prophets.
The seventh were the Praetorians -- those Forerunners that tried to keep the Forerunner Empire together. The Empire was doomed to sink and you might say that they went down with the ship. Not many survived, but those that did vowed not to be immortal because they attributed the fall of the Empire to the discovery of immortality.
So the dream went on and in the dream the young Forerunner architect became a Praetorian and many generations later his descendant became the commander of the Forerunner cruiser -- The same cruiser that captured Val and Cortana.
Now that the dream is over -- Was it all nothing but a dream? Val wonders as she hears movement behind her. She spins quickly ready to blast whatever it is.
Before her is a floating elongated sphere made of metal and with a glowing blue light coming from its middle. It speaks, "Do not fire. As part of the truce the Praetor seeks with the Archons, I have been provided to aid you in your missions. I am Galactic Survey unit 788 or 788GS for short.
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Humanity's Best Hope
Far away, back on Earth, the Master Chief stands behind a podium with Cortana's hologram hovering by his side. Before them are thousands of marines and members of the press. Beyond that is hundreds of thousands of civilians gathered just for a chance to see the Master Chief.
"Chief, this is quite a welcome to Earth," said Cortana.
"Yes Cortana, it is a bit overwhelming," replied John as he waves to the crowd.
"Master Chief," said a reporter. "Chris Jaeger of the Terran Times here, do you have anything to say to all the evacuees leaving the system?"
John looks up at the sky for a moment saying, "I was told that the evacuation of Earth has already begun. I have no special message for the evacuees; I wish them the best of luck. I have a message to all of humanity and all our allies." John then looks around at the crowd. "Be brave and follow your heart. It is not the time to be labeled evacuees or marines or civilians; we are human. In the thousands of years of human history, we have never met an enemy that wasn't one of our own, until now. We are not fighting for territory or resources this time; we are fighting for our right to exist. Do not lose sight of this, we may lose planets to the Covenant, but we will survive. Every hope for humanity depends on it. We might even lose Earth, but we will still survive. How are we going to survive? We are going to survive because humanity is not going to just give up and die without a fight. We can and will make them pay dearly for every intrusion into our space. We will scatter when out numbered and come back in force to kick some ass. We will make nothing easy for them. We are our own greatest and best hope. Each and every day from now on, we don't fight for ourselves; we fight for a chance for tomorrow. Are you with me?"
Muffled cheers from the crowd.
"I can't hear you!" shouted John.
"Hell yes!" shouted the marines.
"I still can't hear you!" screamed John.
"HELL YES!" screamed the entire crowd.
-- Next, What Another Guilty Spark --
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