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Reality/Control by kerrhalla
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Reality/Control Prelude
Date: 8 July 2005, 3:00 pm
prelude to a side story.
Transmission:
"Status!
.....
Status! Elite Intel Units..
..... Respond!"
"S..Sir..ssss..Elite Intel responding.. or, what is left of us. The troop was wiped out by a wave of the parasite. I had to kill two of our own as they turned. I'm all there is.
The battle scarred elite held the transmission unit close to keep quiet. He was tracking. Taardran was the leader of the EliteTech unit, sent to the Holy Rings to decode Forunner artifacts. He specialized in AI capture. It made things easy, having them do all the hacking for you. What the Elites had come to know of the years of these operations is that Artificial Intelligence feared for its "life" was much as any other entity, and Taardran used this to his advantage. He understood electronic psychology, their adaptability, their creativity. he knew where they felt safe, or more importantly, where they'd run.
"I'm sorry to hear that Taardran."Fleet command had been decimated as well. "We've suffered great losses because of this betrayal. All we can do is move onward in the Great Journey. Did your troop uncover any of the mission intel?"
"Sir. None until now. The bore hadn't picked up a scent at all until this transmission." The bore was a hostile program booted into the beacon mainframe to scour and corner Hostile intelligence. "I didn't expect her to make a mistake. She must have been... curious."
"We'll take it! Proceed with caution. This one is rather crafty." Command began to position the ships around the surviving posts after the hopeful news.
"Yes sir," Taardran moved forward. "Cutting lines. She'll not have much space to roam soon." This was what made Taardran so special. It wasn't that he was quick. He simply understood the AI. He knew what to do to pull their arms, to make them take a left or right, to holo-out or defend.
As he raced on blue corridors powered down, each with a shock and sparks streaming from sliced outlets. She was running out of road. He glanced down at his tracking assistant to view the path of the bore along the way. They aren't incredibly fast programs, but it seemed that she was holding back, as if she didn't care if she were caught. Was she playing? She'd earned such a reputation as untouchable and unblockable that this was so atypical.
All that lit his run was raging fires, flesh and glowing plasma. Empty suits of armor, hollowed out by the parasite onslaught, all of the power was cut off from the generator room. Taardran headed through the sentinel production chamber as machinery, powering down clashed against itself and remaining, partially charged sentinel forms worked hard to manage the crisis. The black clad elite slipped right by into the generator room.
There was a peircing blue light filling the chamber. Data streams reflected from wall to wall in an uncrackable code. Taardran held the communicator up. "I have her cornered."
"Great work. Finding an AI that really serves you no purpose anymore."A voice radiated from the electronic pulse of the generator."What are you even looking for on this dead ring? You've been shaken, betrayed and taken out of the picture. Is this some sort of consolation, or leverage to beg your way back into the prophets' lap?"
He held his tongue, "It serves the mission." He knew she had a response for every feeling, word, or sound he made. "You're trapped, and if you so enjoy your wit and reputation, I recommend you comply with this capture."
"And do you even know why you're capturing me? Is it to destroy me as I did so many of your inferior programs? Seems like spilled milk to me. Did you really want second rate AI guarding your precious intelligence anyways. I know everything about this uprising. More importantly, I know everything about your commanders' plans. Do you want me to pull up this mission log?" The room pulsed eraticly.
"You're bluffing. As anyone else would if their life was in danger." Taardran knew it wise not to take heed to any heretic accusations.
The pulsing paused. "Do you really think I need to 'negotiate'? An elites existence must be loathsome. Not ever questioning anything, living for the mission."
Taardran looked down at his tracking assistant, watching the bore move around the perimeter, holding her at bay. Then it simply disappeared. With a sigh He looked up at the main data screen in the chamber.
"You see," she said. "Certain things have come to light. Quite frankly a little system rat won't keep me from uncovering more. I'm really tired of trying to coax you elites to the truth. So, continue to be blind if you wish."
Enraged, Taardran spoke, "There's no way out of here. At the flip of a switch you're frozen! Don't give yourself a false sense of hope. Its not very becoming of the legendary AI that you've become."
"Do you know what makes this ring so sufficiently operative? It's the fact that even with every defense protocol in place, it sticks to schedule." The generator began to pulse dramatically. Ten giant Earth-mover Sentinels jacked into the generator or energy. The room then went dark and one sentinel immediately pulled away and opened fire on Taardran. She'd invaded its circuitry.
How could she become so aquainted with this Halo so quickly? The covenant had been posted here for months and not discovered any schedule to speak of. He took cover behind one of the deactivated earth movers as a hailstorm of needles broke in and around his area. He noticed a beaten up shadow close by, took a deep breath and darted toward it as needles cut into the ground below his every stride. Taardran inserted an AI disc into the auto-drive slot and then manned the plasma shock turret. The shadow boosted away into retreat mode. Taardran knew what he was doing. A defensive AI was a very dangerous AI, but it was also isolated. Out in the open with no circuitry to be found she could only fight, and the Elites were born to fight.
He concentrated on her shields, taking them down with a few well placed shots to the plasma drive. The hostile construct began to deliver a barrage of anti-vehicle missiles at the shadow. The shadow AI narrowly maneuvered its way through. Taardran encouraged it along the way suggesting directions and plans of action. After depleting its missile payload, the earth-mover took a high speed low hover, and fired thousands of needles at the hovering shadow. Taardran Ducked into the cockpit as they sparked across the boady of the vehicle, hitching it back and forth. He felt a large crunch of metal and a complete change of direction as the sound of screeching metal and crunching polymer penetrated Taardran's senses. He'd been clamped by the Sentinels gargantuan arms and was being lifted high into the air. Right before the huge bot let the shadow fall to a grand explosion of plasma and purple he hopped onto the Earthmovers arm. It began to spin uncontrollably trying to shake him away, needles streaming outward in a brilliant display of color and danger.
Taardran maneuvered himself around to the operation core of the electronic giant. He knew that as the AIs nature was to stay alive, that's where it would be. He pulled a small plasma cutting tool from his gauntlet and began cutting, all the while she is slamming into things, trying to break free and preserve freedom.
Finally it's loose. Taardran grabbed it, rising to his feet and pulling, as the earthmover began to power out, losing the hostile life the AI brought to it. It slid on the snow covered earth as He made one final pull jerking it out of the control center of the Sentinel. The giant construct-made-snowboard came to a halt and Taardran hopped to the icy floor and opened radio communication again.
"Sir?.. Command.. Mission success."
"A complete Success?" Command questioned.
"Yes Sir," Taardran said as he pulled a piece of shrapnel from his arm. "I have captured Cortana."
Reality/Control
Date: 8 July 2005, 3:28 pm
The commander was growing tired of war, searching every space in the galaxy for artifacts, enemies, and things he didn't understand. After many years as an Elite Guard, the floor was ripped from beneath him. He was confused as ever and intent on following the leader until he got a solitary ship.
"The Councel Is expected to deliver the address tomorrow. Have we sufficient information for our journey, Taardran?"
Taardran had delved deep for weeks, picking out every peice of stray code only to find a few small important peices of information. But nothing that would reinforce an independence bid. There would be war, and everyone knew it. The information was far too unbelievable. Even Taardran had trouble swallowing the fact that the relationship between the covenant, the humans, the forunner, and the Demon predated all of the annals and writings ever recorded. There are indeed many other secrets and functions on these rings.
"It hasn't been easy, but I have found the Ark coordinate," Taardran spoke. "The descriptions of it are incredible, Commander. Cryptic, but amazing."
"Very well, assemble your men and give Cortana some roaming room. She has proven, after all, to be very cooperative." The old commander walked slowly through the rusting coridors. He hesitated and looked back at Taardran. "I would have never thought we would be delivering the 'banner of peace' to these humans. And I'm sure they'll be waiting with open arms.."
Taardran had noticed some time ago that the commander no longer walked with his head high. Song since gone was his sense of honor, great battles seemed to be fading as nothing but trickery and illusion filled thier place. It was rumored that the Commander had fought the Demon hand to hand when the humans invaded a reconosance ship. The Demon survived unfortunately, and the crew isolated itself to a tear-pod, leaving the ship in orbit. He commanded so much respect without saying a word, yet now was simply tired.
"They need all the help they can get, Commander," Cortanas voice pulsed and skipped.
"Sure they do. Deliver the datafiles to the Councel, Taardran. There are many elites who wish to quell this change of guard, to pick up the peices and beg thier way back into their old positions. We must convince them that such a betrayal can not be overlooked, especially in light of these new findings." The Commander quickened his pace and left the chamber.
"The Eve of Change, The Eve of the blindfold being removed from your eyes. This is the Eve of you returning to your far, far former masters.. The people you've fought for years. Strange, Taardran?" Cortana was looking faint and corrupted, flickering around the electronic podium.
"Very strange indeed," Taardran responded. "It was much easier before we found these rings, when it was just beliefs and a way of life driving us. Nothing concrete, nothing real. Only training, the Great Journey, and the Tablets mattered. But i supposed things change faster than we could ever keep up with."
"I've always wondered. Do Elites have families? Are there children, mothers, any sort of sentamentality?" Cortana seemed for quisitive than usual.
He paused. His race did know love. It did have families and society. Families are required to have 3 offspring if any, and keep only one male. The excess are taken from birth to train their entire lives. "I'd say it's much easier to take children away from thier mothers or take fathers from thier families when you have no grasp on the subject."
"So.. No?"
Taardran stood up, "Aren't I the one probing you, no more questions." He started pacing around the interrogation chamber, noticing the deterioration of the ship, the exposure of the wires, rust overcoming the once pristine covenant ship. Thoughts started to trouble him. They began to eat at him like an infection. There are a great many who still believe in the great journey, yet feel they've only been excluded, his findings would seem like heresy, like the seperatists they'd destroyed on Halo. What was his proof.. a human construct? The air was very heavy indeed.
The Elites would be truly free the next day, to do what they'd lost focus on for many millenia, or whatever they wanted really. A warrior race may not survive on its own, just as mmany years before, a slave race couldn't. Taardran was afraid. Knowing as much as he did, he'd have to lead. He'd have to interact with many people that the Covenant had long since burned bridges from. An Elite in politics. Stomach churning.
Reality/Control
Date: 16 July 2005, 5:04 pm
The Heirarchs could have never build something more beautiful. Everything the Covenant built, produced, and aquired was for the gods. The Book of Favor was the Covenant's map to appease their holy ancestors.
Taardran read slowly, skipping around. He looks over at a flickering Cortana. "I don't suppose there's anything in this book you don't already know. That ship you invaded some time ago told you everything, didn't it."
"The Book of Favor? Haven't picked that one up. Wanted to. But I'd already checked out my limit." She seemed strange, like someone growing old far too quickly, yet diagnostics were still stable. "To tell you the truth, I only read what's relevant to my mission.. anything else.. probably writes in accidentally."
"Do you understand what it's like to listen to the enemy.. to actually listen? It makes this book.. everything we do seem so relative." Taardran studdered and spoke. "Are there books like this for earth?"
"Oh.. yes. Many. The Torrah, the Bible.. but those are all beliefs. Just like your Great Journey.. just like who you beleive the Forunner to be," she explained. "But what there is to respect about your great journey is the majority of your home world is united in one cause, one sweep of action. One government. Earth is at feud with itself always. Granted, we've united the world economy, but there are separatists, terrorists.. It's sad really, but the Parasitic Flood we left down below puts Earth's idea of a Union to shame."
Taardran let out a low growl. "No need to compliment the Flood in any way. They are but a disease. We need only find a cure."
"They aren't so far different than you, you know?" Cortana Questioned.
"They're mindless! Minions of a doomed idea. Nothing good, or intelligent has ever come from the beasts." Taardran recalled battles against flood, commanding rescue and reconosance missions on the Holy Ring. They Elites shook so violently while they turned. Then they took more with them.
"Are they.. Do you really beleive your own words?" Cortana raised her tone. "Put down your Elite legacy for a moment and think. The Flood was your mistake. You released it. No.. The Covenant created it!"
"I don't understand.. what you speak of is impossible. The Flood was created in the time of the Forunner." Taardran defended himself, confused and bewildered.
Cortana paused. "Was it? Or did your clumsy, easily purgible, gullible, low level AI do a shit job of archiving that information? The Flood was the Covenant's doing. How? A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..ha ha.. You were slaves.. hard working, laboring slaves.. to your Masters, The 'Holy' never-do-wrong Forunner. But you revolted. They were caught off guard when you turned all thier systems against them. You eradicated nearly all of them save a few stragglers who fled to other solar systems."
Taardran was totally perplexed. "But what of the flood?.."
"Let me finish.." She was rolling and couldn't be stopped.
"The Sangheili tried to set up their own society, government. But lo-and-behold.. They failed. They were unable to support themselves without the skill and know-how of the Forunner. And hey.. I don't even understand this one.. But you tried to bring them back. Your scientists dug through medical DNA banks for clonable strands.. but for the longest time the geniuses that be couldn't figure it out.
So you got help. You called upon a very intelligent race, formeraly at war with sections of the Sangheili, The Prophets. They came close.. very close.. but created what you see, 'mindlessy' ambling about on the Halos.. The Flood."
Taardran sat down. "How is that even possible? It would have to be tens of thousands of years to change the perception of those events."
"Bingo.. this was seventy-seven thousand years ago, give or take a hundred years, 10 months, 12 days, 2 hours, 27 minutes and 13, 14, 15 seconds." Cortana was anything but breathless. The room grew brighter and brighter as she flexed her knowledge.
"And how did we get to what we beleive now?" Taardran soflty asked.
"Well.. the Covenant simply fled.. Unwilling to engage the old forunner defense systems, which they.. by the way created as a failsafe for epidemic bacterial infection. The Oracles were created by the Forunner to protect these facilities. They were then reprogrammed to suit your needs. They were aware enough.. however, to not be wholely loyal to the ones who overthrew thier creators, Longing for a reclaimer to come and let loose the intergalactic bug-bomb that is the Halo System."
Taardran murmured,"Your... Master Cheif?"
"I'm not really sure about that part.. we'll come back to it another day. But.. when your ancestors fled, they felt broken.. and over generations, events became lore, lore became religion.. you know how it goes. Yet somewhere along the lines. You began to think that the Forunner were gods.. Instead of the Race that enslaved you.. that you destroyed.. that you tried to bring back.. then you created a Hive-mind parasite, and then began to devote your lives toward pleasing these unworthy dieties." She laughed.. "Weird huh!"
There was a bad taste in Taardrans mouth. His throat tensed up, confusion and revelation attack him at all angles. She'd already told him of the plotting of the Covenant, the unraveling past.. but not to this extent. It was breathtaking.. shocking and unreal.
"But you know what's even more weird.. those stragglers.. the ones you missed seventy-seven some-odd thousand years ago.. they landed on the planet that they had.. thousands of years before that, created a Galactic Ark on."
"Earth?" Taardran was numb. "They fled to earth? The Forunner are the Humans?"
"Did I not make that clear enough. It's like some big.. screwed up, dysfunctional family you know.. kinda sweet. Kinda Sour. Happy, Sad.. I can see some real sitcom possibilities here. Must-See-TV." She was joking as if he understood.
Taardran squinted, the air in the room ever heavier. "Whatever you mean by that. So the Forunner.. the Humans simply lost track of their origins as well?"
"It's strange what happened to the Humans. Instead of moving forward, becoming more advanced.. The Forunner set up an earth-salting system in the atmosphere that delivered the proper Materials for rapid evolution. After Humans were created with sufficient enough intelligence, Nature took over and started the knowlege cycle again. The forunner died with age.. or maybe when it was okay to let the systems work on their own." Cortana was extremely happy to get all that out.. it had been brimming since she was on Delta.
"Enough talk for today," Taardran pleaded. "You've filled my head with enough confusion. I'll return in the morning."
"Big day tomorrow!" Cortana said with zeal. "Got a LOT to explain."
Taardan left the Containment room and walked to his quarters. He lay down.. looking up at the intricacies of the ship. It really was a miracle, a genius bit of engineering and creation. But who did he really owe his gratitude for these advances?
The Commander was right, the humans would not welcome them with open arms, they'd fire before they heard a word. Up until today, Taardran would do the same to them. Nothing but smoke and fog for thousands of years. Misunderstanding, misread history. Everything changed for Taardrand in an instant.
Tomorrow was going to rock the ears and hearts of the remaining Covenant.
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