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  • Subject: [Story] Halo: Lineage
Subject: [Story] Halo: Lineage

@accordingto343

Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.

Chapter I

100,000 B.C.E
Sol System
Erde-Tyrene
75 hours after the firing of the Halo Array


Adam gazed out on the expansive grasslands that swayed in the wind as he stepped off the Forerunner Keyship. The cool breeze felt intoxicating as it swept his dark skin. So many memories of this place, memories he thought he would never relive.

It had been 10 years since he had been on Erde-Tyrene and from the looks of things not much had changed. A small relief considering the events of the last 300 years. The mighty Forerunner empire had fought the parasitic Flood to a standstill and with no end in sight activated the Halos, devastating weapons that cleansed the galaxy of all sentient life.

Adam had been one of two live humans who was chosen to go to the Ark, a Forerunner installation that housed the genetic markers for all sentient life in the galaxy to repopulate once the Halos were activated and the Flood were defeated. He knew full well that all of his people were dead, but he was grateful to be alive and oversee humanities revival.

He turned his neck towards the Keyship to see wife, Dawn Brings Glory of a New Eve, or Eve as he called her. She belonged to a family who had still clung to the belief of long, elaborate names. Adam on the other hand had been in a family where one name was given to it's members. He preferred it that way, all the long names proved quite difficult to remember. Luckily, Eve didn't mind the shortened name.

"We're back," Adam said with a sly smile, "after all these years we are finally home. The Librarian's Ark had managed to mimic Erde-Tyrene nicely, but it couldn't completely match the real thing."

"It certainly couldn't," Eve said coming closer, "but I fear even our home may never be what it once was. Where are the birds, the bees, the big animals? Where are our family? All dead. I thought the Halos were only supposed to kill us, the Forerunners and all intelligent life?"

A synthetic voice mimicking that of a human replied, "It was simply protocol Reclaimer."

As the two turned they were face-to-face with a Forerunner Monitor, 888 Exalted Luminary. Like most Monitors he was a peculiar object, goofy yet always babbling about protocol and rules. That wasn't to say he wasn't helpful at giving out any information, trivial as it may or may not have been. He was always happy to help with anything. Luminary had also been pretty good at some old games that Adam's father had taught him when he was a child.

"What do you mean?" Eve asked Luminary.

"While the purpose of the Halo Array was to halt the progression of the Flood by denying them a viable food source," Luminary explained, "the Flood were able to covert non-sentient beings as resources for other purposes. But don't be alarmed, they too will be brought back and shall once more walk upon Erde-Tyrene."

"Thank you Luminary," Adam said instinctively putting his hand out to shake, but remembering the Monitor had no hands in which to shake back.

The Monitor continued to float, probably attempting to recognize the gesture before saying, "If you will follow me, we must get you to the Garden at once. There is not a moment to lose."

"Wait a minute, what garden?" Adam asked, "I thought we were here to oversee our people?"

"And you shall!" Luminary answered, "but I am instructed to take you to a safe zone as a temporary quarantine measure. We are not sure if the Flood are suppressed yet, so in the mean time we will place you in an adequate shelter. What is it that you humans always say? Better safe than sorry?"

Though Adam longed to see if his village, at least structurally, still remained, he obeyed the Monitor. Eve reluctantly followed. As they followed Luminary, they could see Sentinels of all shapes and sizes buzz around carrying equipment to and fro from what Adam predicted was their destination. The Monitor stopped them at the edge of cliff and what they saw before them filled them with awe.

Resting in what was once a magnificent lake was a flat, dome shaped structure.

"That is the Excession," Luminary proudly claimed, "and while it primarily serves as a portal to the Ark, it will be your home for the next 40 days."

[Edited on 10.27.2011 7:35 PM PDT]

  • 10.26.2011 3:42 PM PDT

Oh! death was never enemy of ours

Halo Fanfic....
you're doing it wrong

  • 10.26.2011 4:53 PM PDT

@accordingto343

Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.

Posted by: Nikola 7esla
Halo Fanfic....
you're doing it wrong


I do want this story to be the best it can be, so I ask what exactly I am doing wrong. There is more to this story and it will shift to the modern Halo setting soon.

  • 10.26.2011 5:13 PM PDT

The tide is turning, brothers! Let us take our kingdom back!

Interesting.

  • 10.26.2011 10:07 PM PDT

Pretty cool. I don't get why the first two posters seem confused? There has been references to the Garden of Eden in Halo lore.

Nice route you're taking here, it's good to be different!

  • 10.27.2011 1:54 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
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Posted by: RealSquirtMater
lol


^

  • 10.29.2011 12:30 PM PDT

@accordingto343

Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.

Chapter II

February 1st, 2553
Sol System
Earth
Near the Excession of Voi


Dr. Eva Alvarez hated her job. Here she was near the greatest archeological find in human history and neither she nor any of the ONI conscripted scientists could get inside it. It had been that way since the war had ended nearly four months ago. Nobody wanted to unintentionally damage the artifact, but cooler heads are starting to fail. One idiot had suggested they blast a section of it with a Scorpion's main cannon.

ONI had considered it, but thankfully the main ONI operative assigned to the Excession, a certain Colonel Maxwell, rejected it.

So until progress could be made, all Eva could do was twiddle her thumbs in her own personally assigned trailer. Suddenly, a blue hue covered the room. Eva turned to the holographic projection table near her desk and saw the AI, Shaka, materialize. His name couldn't be more appropriate, he resembled the ancient Zulu warrior Shaka Zulu to a "T", right down to his zebra hide shield and spear.

Shaka smiled and stated, "Good morning Dr. Alvarez."

"Good morning Shaka," Eva replied as she looked over her notes, "can you tell me if there is any luck in getting the Excession to open up?"

"Unfortunately no," Shaka deprecatingly said, "but any day now I'm sure you'll break the seal."

"You said that months ago," Eva replied with a smirk.

"Correct," Shaka admitted, "but perhaps you should tour the grounds. Maybe you'll find something."

Eva leaned closer to the diminutive AI, "Is that a suggestion or an order you've dressed up as one?"

Shaka lost his smile and sternly said, "The colonel wishes to speak with you."

Eva sighed, grabbed her datapad and left her trailer. Dust blew around her as she quickly ran to the colonel's tent. The African dry season had picked up recently with a killer wind storm that wreaked havoc on the camp. Whatever the colonel had to say better be worth her time navigating through this mess.

She finally reached his tent and walked inside. Colonel Maxwell turned as she started dusting herself off to make her look halfway presentable. They shook hands and the colonel said, "Please Ms. Alvarez, sit."

She did so and was offered a cup of water, she declined.

"So I suppose you're wondering why I brought you here?" Maxwell stated, "well, as you are no doubt aware we have been having difficulty getting into the Excession."

"I've noticed," Eva replied.

"Yes, well I think we have finally found a way inside," Maxwell said with a grin.

Eva quickly straightened in her chair, "You have?"

"Found it not even an hour ago," Maxwell said, "and not a moment too soon. Your younger colleagues are getting antsy. Every one of them wants to be the next Einstein, Carterfield or Halsey. I had to kick one of them out of the camp just yesterday. The fool was planning on using some explosives he had procured from a nearby quarry to blow a hole inside. Completely unprofessional."

"I never figured you were one for scientific professionalism colonel," Eva said with a hint of admiration.

"You'd be surprised to know that durign the war I gladly would've blown a hole through anythign to accomplish my mission," Maxwell shook his head with a chuckle, "but this is different. I've been briefed on these "Forerunner" structures. I rightly don't trust them too much. That's not to say I wouldn't mind to see any innovation come from them, but our recent experience with them has been fairly negative."

"I take it you are referring to the Flood?" Eva asked.

Maxwell nodded, "We're still recovering from the war and while there isn't anything signalling there may be something sinister at work here, I'm not taking any chances."

Eva nodded, she could see his viewpoint, still she asked, "And so where do I come in?"

"We found a panel with strange markings on it and when one of the scientists touched it a blue orb covered with more markings materialized," Maxwell explained, "none of us know what they mean. I ordered nobody to touch it yet, not until you got to see it first. The reason being is that you are the second best interpreter of the Forerunner writing system we have, right behind Dr. Halsey."

"I'm flattered colonel," Eva said, "but of course I'll look at your find."

Maxwell nodded, helped Eva out of her seat and escorted her to his personal Warthog. They then proceeded to drive to the site.

  • 10.30.2011 4:01 PM PDT

I like it. Writing about Forerunner things rather than the class ic Spartan vs Covenant thing.

  • 11.03.2011 1:34 PM PDT

@accordingto343

Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.

Chapter III

100,000 B.C.E
Sol System
Erde-Tyrene
Near Forerunner construct named The Excession


Adam squinted at the expansive structure that lay ahead of him. The shield-like structure Luminary called The Excession, was certainly a sight to behold. The only thing he could compare it to was a beehive. Sentinels and gas-filled creatures the Forerunners called Huragok were constantly entering and departing from the Excession.

"Magnificent isn't it?" Luminary chirped in breaking the silence.

"It certainly is," Eve replied, "but what exactly is it?"

Luminary turned and said, "The Excession has two main functions. The first is that is acts as a portal between Erde-Tyrene and the Ark. While the Ark is perfectly capable of opening a Slipspace portal to any known region of space, the Librarian placed the Excession here."

"Why?"

"I cannot say, while I am certain the Librarian has her reasoning behind it, my knowledge is compartmentalized to ensure any secure information doesn't fall into the hands of the Flood if I were to be captured."

"So what is the second function?" asked Adam.

"It's second function is to act as a temporary quarantine shelter for you and every indexed species being revived. It will only be temporary, just long enough so until the threat of the Flood is contained."

Adam took abother gander at the Excession and shook his head, "I don't think every man, woman, child and animal can fit in there Luminary."

The monitor synthesized a chuckle, "Oh don't worry about the size of your residence, I guarantee when you see it, you won't be disappointed."

Adam and Eve glanced doubtful looks at each other, but continued to make their way towards the Excession. Luminary hovered past the two humans all-the-while humming his annoying tune when Eve asked Adam, "Why us?"

"What do you mean?" Adam asked in return.

"Why did the Librarian choose us to oversee our re-population? What are we going to oversee? I'm very confused."

"I am the wrong person to ask dear wife. All I remember is that she visited my family when I was very young and then she reappears 10 years ago to take me and you to their Ark."

"Can you recall anything she said?"

"No, but I do remember the objections regarding her presence raised by my father. Ah yes, I can remember his booming voice now shouting on about how nothing good ever came from her showing up. My mother joined in adding that the last time the Forerunners contacted humans two never returned. I do not know if that is true or not, but my parent's acted as if it were."

Eve ceased her questioning and before long the two found themselves standing before a section of the Excession. It was featureless except for panel with strange glyphs on it, the whole situation left Adam scratching his bushy black hair thinking of what to do. Luckily, Luminary came back to help them.

"If you could kindly take your hand and place it on the panel I will handle the rest," Luminary stated.

Adam nodded and cautiously approached the panel and did as he was told. Suddenly, a giant holographic blue orb materialized before him causing him to leap back in surprise. Upon closer inspection he could see it wasn't one solid orb, but many different sized orbs enclosed in one another. Each orb also had what seemed like thousands of strange glyphs printed on them.

"Thank you Reclaimer," Luminary said as he hovered near the orb. He continued to hum as multitude of the glyphs glowed white as if they were selected by some invisible force before the first layer of the orb dematerialized. The process repeated for several more of the orbs until a series of rainbow-hued lines carved out a large rectangle from what had previously been a solid section of wall. The rectangle then split into two and opened up to reveal a massive atrium.

"Please, enter," said Luminary trying to coax the dumbstruck humans inside.

They obeyed and entered the Excession.

  • 11.12.2011 12:14 AM PDT

The tide is turning, brothers! Let us take our kingdom back!

Your coup forces me to highlight your text. :|

Other than that, I'm quite enjoying this.

  • 11.12.2011 1:15 AM PDT

@accordingto343

Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.

Chapter IV

February 1st, 2553
Sol System
Earth
Near the Excession of Voi


The sandstorm was in full force by the time Eva and Maxwell arrived at a large tent erected against a section of the Excession. Marines in headscarves saluted the Colonel and opened the tent flap to allow the two inside. Eva entered and saw three other scientists staring at a blank wall.

"What happened to the hologram?" Maxwell barked at the nearest scientist.

"Looks like it times out when not in use sir," the scientist managed to eek out, "we did as you said and didn't do anything until you arrived with Dr. Alverez."

Maxwell signaled Eva to come forward. She did so quickly and gazed at the exposed section of wall then placed he hand on it's cool metallic surface. The giant blue orb that materialized before her gave her a scare that resulted in her falling to the dirt below. As she snatched up her datapad, Colonel Maxwell offered his hand and lifted her up.

"Well, well, well what have we here?" Eva said as she further examined the projection. She could see thousands of Forerunner glyphs all over the orb. Eva hovered her finger over the orb and moved it to the right, the orb did so as well. Clutching her datapad she said, "Shaka, do a scan of this object and match as many of the Forerunner symbols as you can. Anything that isn't in our index try to cross-reference those symbols with the Covenant calligraphy system for any similarities."

Maxwell scratched his head and moved over to Eva, "Any idea what this may be doc?"

Eva nodded, "According to records from past Forerunner digs, this is essentially a Forerunner terminal interface so to speak. Back during the Harvest Campaign, Professor Ellen Anders fiddled with a smaller version inside a Forerunner structure. Obviously this is it, but on a much larger scale. Looking closer at it, I think I see multiple layers within the orb. I'll do my best to get you a translation of the symbols around it, but until then I can't help you."

Maxwell grumbled, "You do that doctor, in the meantime I think I may have a way to aid you. Hopefully I can pull some strings and get some extra hands down here."

"With all due respect colonel, I don't think more scientists who have absolutely no idea how to work with this thing are going to help."

"I wasn't going to ask for more human help. Hell, not even our best AIs seem to be making much progress either. No, we need an Engineer."

"Is that even possible? I wasn't even aware we had Engineers in our possession."

"We managed to rescue one during the Battle of New Mombasa a few months back. Secretly though, we managed to capture a few during the war before the Coven at started to rig them with explosive collars. That made recovery far to risky."

The Forerunner terminal suddenly blipped from existence, extinguishing the blue light that once filled the tent.

"I suppose that's our que to call it a day eh doctor?" Maxwell said flashing a sly smile.

Eva nodded and exited the tent. Thankfully the sandstorm had passed so Eva decided she would walk the rest of the way back to her trailer. Everything she had just seen stirred up something peculiar inside of her. When she placed her hand on the wall it felt familiar in a way, almost as if she had done so before.

Finally, she made it to her trailer and sat down on her couch. She picked up her datapad and checked on Shaka's work, which was progressing very slowly. Understandable, trying to match Forerunner symbols with a limited choice of recovered Forerunner glyphs and with overly intricate Covenant calligraphy was a fairly daunting task. She had some time to kill before Shaka was done, so she decided to look back at her family.

Eridanus II, her homeworld, had been a hotbed of activity for years. First the insurrection had a presence on the planet and as a child she remembered hearing stories about how the rebels would kill anyone who disagreed with their ideology. Then in 2530, the Covenant attacked Eridanus II and left it a glassed husk. Luckily, she and her family had gotten off the planet the year before and resettled back on Earth. Her extended family hadn't been so lucky and all died, except for one.

He was Eva's cousin. She remembered him vividly, he had brown hair, freckles, noticeable gap in between his front teeth and he was very tall despite Eva and him being the same age. The two of them had a lot of fun down by Lake Gusev or in the vast prairie behind Eva's house. Sadly, he died when he was six-years-old. The doctors said it was a rare genetic disease that claimed his life, but they said his parents shouldn't worry about it too much.

His name was John.

  • 11.21.2011 12:08 PM PDT

@accordingto343

Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.

Chapter V

100,000 B.C.E
Sol System
Erde-Tyrene
Inside the Excession


An almost primal fear gripped Eve as she followed Adam and Luminary into the Excession. The atrium of the Excession was covered in darkness, yet "felt" excessively wide. She wasn't spooked by being in a tight space in the dark like most humans, in fact she found it more reassuring. While a cramped place may be dark, you at least have your boundaries and can actually feel around you. Yet darkness in an open area is truly frightening. You do not know what is lurking in shadows. You do not have a sense of knowing where you are. You are out of your element.

Luminary must've detected Eve's uneasiness as flew into the darkness and moments later the atrium was illuminated in a blue hue. The light revealed a heptagonal shaped chamber with an entrance that lead to a massive tunnel that sloped down to another chamber below. Above Eve could see the source of the lighting, immense conduits that glowed blue from some liquid flowing through it like blood in an artery.

"I sincerely apologize," Luminary said, "I had noticed that Eve's heartrate had quickened and she started to perspiration from her sweat glands. I can't imagine the darkness helped matters. I'll have to make a note to ensure that the sentinels keep this place well lit."

As Luminary floated away Adam set his hand on Eve's shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?"

She nodded and feigned her best smile, "Yes, I'm fine."

Adam gave her a worried stare, then proceeded to follow Luminary. Eve fell in behind them and took in the inside of the Excession. It wasn't at all what she expected, but that was perhaps he had been tainted by her experiences on the grandiose installation that was the Ark. From what little of the structures she entered, she had been blown away by the intricate, highly stylized architecture. Everything in the Excession was relatively basic.

The tunnels were flat and smooth, almost reminiscent of one of the Library structures the Lifeworkers had shown her on the Ark. That was before they suddenly left the Ark one day and left them in possession of Luminary, who never elaborated where they went. All she could remember was a conversation with the Librarian the day before the Forerunners left.

"Soon we will have to make a choice Eve, a terrible choice. I can only hope that you learn from our mistakes."

She didn't realize the full extent of what the Librarian said until she saw the barren grasslands of Erde-Tyrene. Nothing was left, just the whispers of the wind. Eve was so wrapped up in her reflection that she lost track of where Adam and Luminary went. Frantically, she looked around and ran down corridor hoping to bump into them, but as she rounded a corner she only found a dead end. As she turned around a glowing orange orb shined in her eyes. She backed up and gazed at a sentinel, but unlike the one's she'd seen at the Ark or on the Keyship. It had the same glowing "eye", but it's fins were more rounded than the traditional blocky style.

After a hiss of static and what sounded like gibberish it said in robotic voice, "Reclaimer, do you require assistance?"

"Can you guide me to Luminary and Adam?" Eve requested.

"Searching...searching....Monitor 888 Exalted Luminary located. Notifying."

EVe waited patently while the sentinel floated in place, no doubt silently communicating with Luminary. After it's momentary pause, it finally stated, "I have been tasked to guide you to 888 Exalted Luminary's intended destination."

"Can't I just wait for them and we can go together?"

"Negative. A timeframe has been scheduled and must be met. Calculating an alternate route to met the timeframe...route calculated. Follow me."

The sentinel turned around and Eve, not taking any chances, walked alongside it. Wherever Luminary was taking them, it must've been a highly-guarded secret. Numerous times the sentinel asked her to place her hand on what seemed like dead ends only to open up as a new passage. They went on for what seemed like an hour when after descending a winding staircase they came across a circular room with a giant holographic globe in the center. The room was also furnished with a Forerunner data terminal, what appeared to be a bed and several books and datapads strewn about the floor.

"Where are we?" Eve asked the sentinel.

"Accessing schematics. This served as the quarters for the Librarian one standard Erde-Tryene solar rotation before the Halo Array fired." the sentinel answered.

Eve gazed at the globe as it rotated in place and saw a purple disk shape on a portion of landmass, it must've been the Ark. She turned from the globe to the books and datapads and accessed them. The symbols and letters didn't make sense to her as she flipped the pages of the book and stared at the pads. The last book she skimmed though didn't shed any light either, but as she started to put it down, a small red square crystal tumbled onto the floor. She picked it up and examined it, but was interrupted by the sentinel saying, "Reclaimer, it is time to leave."

Eve pocketed the crystal, hoping to find out it's importance later, and went on. Knowing the Librarian came to Erde-Tyrene only raised more questions in her so she decided to see if anything could be gleamed from the sentinel.

"Where in the Librarian?" Eve asked.

"Processing...the Librarian was recorded leaving the Excession seven hours prior to the Halo Array's firing to parts unknown and failed to return to the Excession after the Halo's fired. At the same time, the fleet of Keyships in orbit were remotely moved out of Erde-Tyrene's gravitational field, self-destructed and the wreckage drifted into the sun. The purpose remains unknown." the sentinel answered.

So the Librarian was dead. She left the safety of this place and ventured out into the plains of a foreign world to be with Eve's people to share the same fate. Yet the question of why was not yet clear. Eve fumbled around with the crystal and hoped it would provide some clues.

  • 11.23.2011 2:21 AM PDT

@accordingto343

Your one stop shop for all of 343's fabulous errors and ridiculous notions in the Halo lore.

Chapter VI

March 3rd, 2553
Sol System
Earth
Hillside Memorial, near the Excession of Voi


"For us, the storm has passed... the war is over. But let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure; sacrifice, and unshakable conviction that their fight... our fight, was elsewhere. As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us, and they shall not be forgotten."

Those were the words of Admiral Terrance Hood presiding over the dedication of the UNSC Hillside Memorial. Shortly after a line of Marines fired a three-volley salute with their BR55 rifles. Eva stood silent as she gazed at the names on the monolithic piece of metal that served as the monument. She then reflected on the days leading up to the memorial service, the days of fruitless effort. While Colonel Maxwell feverishly attempted to get help on the Forerunner lock, none of the scientists or AIs managed to make any progress. Shaka did his best to translate the Forerunner glyphs, but no series of combinations seemed to work. They were facing another dead end.

Suddenly she felt a presence standing behind her and as she turned she stood face to face with Maxwell.

Eva turned with playful smile, "Colonel if I didn't know any better I would say you were spying on me."

He returned a smirk of his own, "ONI itself does enough of that for me Dr. Alvarez. I'm simply surprised you came up here, every other egghead and poindexter at the Excession is still busily working on the lock."

She turned back towards the memorial and folded her arms, "I just felt inclined to pay my respects, maybe find someone I knew."

"Anyone in particular? Friends? Family?"

Eva shook her head, "No, my mother and father both served in the war and I know they are still alive. My mother, however, has seen better days. I got a message from a Chicago hospital three weeks ago and she's come down with a respiratory infection. Sadly with medical rations being what they are, it's not looking good. Here I am half a world away and nobody has given me clearance to leave yet."

"I sincerely apologize Dr. Alvarez. I know sympathy coming from someone working for the Office of Naval Intelligence sounds meaningless, but with the discovery of the lock, nobody is allowed to leave. I haven't seen my wife and daughter since December."

"I'm sorry too Colonel. Still, there is work to be done and it looks as though the service is over."

"I will see you back at camp then doctor, have a pleasant evening."

Eva walked back to the camp along the scarred hillside overlooking the Excession. It felt odd to be standing where New Mombasa once stood, for all she knew one of it's iconic skyscrapers or a road could've been where she was. Adding to surrealism was the fact the Sangheili vessel, Shadow of Intent, rested in the sky above. While the Arbiter, the Sangheili's de-facto ambassador, had come to pay his respects it still felt almost insulting to see a Covenant ship near a still all to fresh scar. It would have to be tolerated.

When she finally made it back to the camp, the orange African sunset had faded to a starry night. As she approached her trailer, a small parcel was resting on her steps. It had been tampered with, it's original tape had been finely cut, obviously ONI's handiwork. However, it was from her father back in Chicago.

He must've given it to the UNSC recruiting office which then passed it along to ONI," she thought.

Obviously it was harmless enough if ONI let it through. She got inside, opened the parcel and watched a thin box slide out. Eva lifted the top to find a necklace, her mother's. It was a typical gold necklace, but with a red jewel in the center. As far back as she could remember, Eva's mother had said it had been passed down in her family from generation to generation. She clipped it around her neck and pulled up a mirror to see how it looked. After modeling for a good minute or so, she noticed a piece of paper picking out of the parcel. It read:

Dear Eva,

I don't know where you are, but I'm sorry to say that Paulina, your mother and my wife, has passed away. I know your a busy scientist dear and I don't hold that against you. Everyone has been though a lot lately. But your mother was insistent that I send off her necklace to you, wherever you may be. If you ever turn up, she will be buried at the St. Anthony of Padua Church's cemetery here in Chicago.

Love,

Dad


She sat there rereading the note over and over again, unable, no unwilling to accept the news. Anger flowed through her veins, anger at ONI for keeping her locked to the site as if it were a prison. Anger at the fact that news of her mother's death came in the form of a note. Anger at not being able to say good-bye. Now all she had left was this necklace. Tears slowly streamed out of her eyes as the note crumbled in her hand. A blue hue flooded the trailer and Eva turned to face Shaka.

"Dr. Alvarez is everything alright?" the miniscule AI asked.

"It's nothing you need to be concerned with Shaka," Eva replied wiping away the tears, "It's just that I just received word that my mother died, probably mere days ago."

"Accept my condolences ma'am. Although I may not be programmed to feel the affects of grief, I do recognize your biological nature to shed tears."

"Thank you Shaka, I understand you intent."

Shaka gave her a warm toothy smile, "While it may not alleviate your woes, I do have something interesting to report. That necklace of yours, I'm getting the most peculiar readings from it."

"What kind of readings? Did ONI tamper with it?"

"Nothing of that sort. When you asked me to scan the Forerunner lock, you know I had considerable difficulty deciphering the glyphs. A scan of your necklace, or I should say the jewel, shows that there are Forerunner symbols encoded in it. More extraordinarily I have a translation, the jewel is a key. A key for what though I do not know."

With the necklace now grasped in her hand, a wild idea swirled in her head. She should really report this find to the colonel, but after forbidding her from saying good-bye to her own mother and tampering with her package, she had had enough of the Office of Naval Intelligence.

"Shaka, I need you to accompany me for an experiment," Eva stated.

"I believe you must clear this request with..." Shaka began to say before Eva typed in a string of commands on her datapad, "Request granted."

Eva sighed, "I'm sorry Shaka, but ONI has such obvious flaws in it's security system, especially with AIs created solely for research and not espionage."

She popped out the data crystal that was essentially Shaka's being and slid it into her datapad. Silently, Eva slipped out of her trailer into the cool night. The site was surprisingly quiet and empty, usually a few groups worked well into the night. The tent housing the lock, however, was still guarded by two Marines.

"Shaka, can you generate an alert to those Marines?" Eva asked the AI.

"Working on it...done," Shaka finished, "they should be getting an alert that someone is breaking into medical tent. It helps that there have been reports of someone stealing supplies. Rather unfortunate."

One of the Marines signaled the other and the two left the area. Eva ran to the tent and slipped inside. Before turning on the lock, which would surely lead to her discovery, she checked for anyone else who could stop her. Once the blue hue illuminated the tent, she placed the jewel in front of the lock. Suddenly, the lock began to turn and symbols started to light up. The first layer fell away after a flurry of symbols rapidly lit up. Then the second layer. Then the third. What seemed like thousands of layers fell away until finally, the last layer fell away. A rainbow-hued line etched the outline of a rectangle, a door.

The door opened and caused the tent to fall apart. Eva stared into the darkness of the maw that was before her, then her moved closer. She was five steps into the Excession when voices broke her form her trance.

"Hey stop, what are you doing?!?!"

The Marines were back and running towards her. They never got close. The door shut in front of them and effectively locking them out, but also locking her in.

"What have I done?" Eva whispered to herself in the darkness.

[Edited on 11.25.2011 3:11 AM PST]

  • 11.25.2011 3:11 AM PDT

The tide is turning, brothers! Let us take our kingdom back!

Reading this on two places in the site is strange, I don't know which thread to comment on.

This is really starting to roll now, man. I'm liking it.

  • 11.27.2011 8:48 PM PDT

only the best game ever.
~Sur Squishy
XBL: D a r k s t a r
PSN: darkstarrr
Minecraft: The_Dark_Star

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You must have worked very hard, and from what I know, you are very intelligent about Halo's canon and universe. You post a lot in the Universe forums.

Anways, great story, and I read a comment that there is more to come? Cannot wait and I wish you luck! ;-)

  • 11.28.2011 3:22 PM PDT