LORC: RTS Act V Pt 1

One Final Effort I.

September 16 2555 0500hrs 
Areo Installation 01-1 [Inside Planet Standard IV]
Jeaso Sector 
SpecOps Major Ryau ‘Cinotee [MIA]  
_____________________________________________________________________________

A fine dust blew over a steep ridge. The sparking remains of Forerunner Sentinels littered the landscape, left over from the intense battles the night before. The ash remains of the installation's vegetation and animal population was lifted off the ground and met with the fine metallic dust in the updraft. The collection of dust and ash was lofted high into the air, and sat there among the clouds. However, a moment later it was scattered and tossed about in the engines of a black detailed Sentinel. Then a green detailed Gondola plowed through what was left of the forming cloud. Thousands of Sentinels, of all types, flew in formation alongside the Gondola. 

“Now entering Jeaso's sector.” A Sentinel announced. Fifteen of Marissa's Promethean Knight based armor platforms waited in the lower deck of the large Gondola. Many more of I-Forty-nine’s were on the ground already. 

Ryau and Naki stood at the front and watched the screen that appeared over the controls. It was detailing the structure that Jeaso was holding out in. As usual, it was mostly hallways and spare rooms. Marissa suggested that Jeaso was in to lowest room, behind all his forces. 

“Well this is it.” Ryau said. "I hope that when this is done, there will be a way off this planet.” 

“Yes, as do I.” Naki replied. “The others are ready to go, but this may be difficult.” 

“Oh it will be. There's nowhere else for him to go. He'll do everything he can to stop us.” 

“That is what I am worried about. These plans are from the construction of this installation, he has had over a hundred thousand years to alter the inside.” Naki changed the view to the topographical plan. 

“So we'll be extra careful.” Ryau said. All at once, the Sentinels broke off and dropped downwards. The sound of Forerunner sentinel beams echoed in the valley below. Ryau headed back to the passenger compartment of the Gondola. He and Naki took their seats besides the others. 

“Let's try to not break any bones this time.” Endesa said. 

The Gondola's engines cut and they began to drop. They entered a free fall, and one of Marissa's Knights floated off the floor for a moment before it activated its magnetic grips. “Brace.” One told the Sangheili. 

A moment later, the Gondola slammed into the ground. The Gondola's lower strut smashed through the roof of Jeaso's bunker, crumpling and breaking off. The main platform slid off the roof and ripped through the surviving forest. They came to rest four hundred meters away from their initial landing site. The restraints released and Ryau shook the impact off. 

“Is everyone alright?” Ryau looked down at the Device to be sure it was in working order. 

“Everyone's vital signs are reading normal. However instruments can be damaged, visual checking is always good.” Asau said, coming from the body of the Knight she was controlling. Marissa had wired up a control unit that would not disintegrate if the rest were destroyed so they would not need to worry about her.

Everyone acknowledged him and said they were intact. Ryka helped Endesa and Shan out of their seats and grabbed their weapons from the restraint fields behind their seats. 

“Very good, everyone move out.” Ryau said. A Knight pried open the dented doors, and Ryau slowly crept down to the smoking dirt below. Marissa's Knights hopped down beside him and charged into battle. Flashes of energy seared by as Jeaso's defenses came back online after the shock of the crash. 

Ryau and Naki took cover behind a downed tree as Asau's Knight slid in behind them. Above them, one of Marissa's Knights leaped over the tree trunk, only to be blown apart. The unfortunate Knight fell back over the tree and began to disintegrate beside Ryau. Its weapon had dropped in front of another Knight who quickly discarded its own weapon for the stronger cannon. Ryau got its attention and made a hand signal towards the heavy turret. The Knight acknowledged his order. The modified Sentinel AIs that the Scientist had created were working well as replacements for lost combat ancillas that normally drove the Promethean Knight battle suits.

The Knight leaned over and fired the large weapon. The blue energy beam separated into individual projectiles and cut through the large turret. Forerunner alloy boiled and melted, collapsing to the ground as a useless heap. 

On the other side of the compound, Endesa, Shan and Ryka pushed through with the aid of I-Forty-Nine’s Knight ground force. Small explosions ignited the trees that had been spared by the cleansing beam. 

“Ryka, status.” Ryau asked quickly after hearing the explosions. 

“We have made it around the back side of the structure, however we are unable to find a way into the interior.” Ryka responded over the radio. 

“Understood, we're just now making it through the first line of defenses, but I do not see anything resembling a door. We may just have to go in the hole we made.” Ryau said. A grenade launched by Jeaso's forces detonated nearby, blowing a tree stump and Knight to splinters. 

“We will make our way there, see you soon.” Ryka cut the link from his end. 

Ryau popped up from behind the log and unloaded his Promethean rifle at Jeaso's Knights. Asau broke off and deployed a hardlight shield for Naki. Ryau changed his sights and eliminated the light turret that had threatened Naki and Asau.

“Let's go!” Ryau shouted. They hopped over their cover and charged for the structure. Marissa and I-Forty-Nine’s Knights formed up around them, taking any incoming fire that headed their way. A group of friendly Sentinels soared overhead and slowed to engage Jeaso's. The larger Enforcers arced over the treetops and fired their barrage of missiles at the remaining ground targets. 

Ryau and Naki slammed into the side of the structure. The battle was over around the structure, but the sound of fighting still echoed from the valley and in the skies above. 

“Major. Jeaso somehow managed to intercept my teleportation channels, reinforcements were diverted to the canyons thirty kilometers away.” Marissa said over the command com network. 

“That's fine, we can move in by ourselves. Plans do not show much room inside.” Ryau replied. 

“Very well. Good luck, Major. Kill the bastard for me.” She said before going offline. 

“Alright, up we go.” Ryau said. He grabbed the branches of a fallen tree, and climbed his way up to the roof of the structure. The turrets on the roof had been eliminated by the Enforcer rocket bombardment earlier and small fires raged from exposed conduits. 

The Knights jumped the distance. Asau carried Naki up in her jump, setting her down on the landing. Ryka and his group climbed up the other side, coming around the Gondola’s strut. They grouped up and made their way down the burning hole in Jeaso's structure. Ryau's shields flickered from the sparks and he dropped down onto a platform. Naki and the others dropped down as well. The floor was wet, and singed plants grew along the wall panels. It appeared very clear that Jeaso had not kept this place in pristine condition. 

Naki projected a map from a holo-drone, another item they had procured from the Glorious Retribution’s armory. “It does not appear that he has altered any of the original layout. Directly below is the teleporter nexus. It's online, but operating at minimal power. Just beneath that is the Sentinel control core, where Jeaso is,” Naki said, pointing to the corresponding locations on the map. 

“Well down we go, I want to rip his eye out of his socket I lost my other arm because of him.” Shan said. 

“Asau, take the Knights around to the left. I'll take the others down the right ramp.” Ryau said as he started down the other ramp down to the lower levels. 

Naki surveyed the area for any noticeable changes in the design they were given. Finding none, she quickly followed Ryau down the ramp. 

Conduits sparked and control panels attempted to flash back to existence, however they did not remain active long. The screens displayed the location of every active transmitter in Jeaso's sector before they faded away. Ryau crept down, there were pieces of Sentinels that had been crushed by the Gondola's strut. However, so far nothing attacked them.

The tip of the strut had pierced the ceiling of the teleporter nexus room, but the rest of the room was fine. Jeaso's Knights stood guard around the next ramp pair across the room. Ryau leaned back, out of view of the small view port in the door. 

“There are four Knights guarding the door to the lower level. Shan, you have the heavy weapon, as soon as the door opens, fire at the two on the right. Asau should get the two on the left. These new weapons are much stronger than what we've been using, they should work fine against the Knights, as we've seen so far.” Ryau said. 

“Understood, Major.” Shan moved up, hefting the large weapon over his shoulder and kneeling into position 

Ryau pressed the door control. The doors slid open, Shan leaned in and fired off two rounds. Marissa's Knights on the other doorway did the same. Four orbs of energy flew towards four of Jeaso's red pained Promethean knights.  The four knights turned and watched the orbs fly towards them for only a split second. A moment later, they exploded in blue balls of energy.

“Well they're dead.” Shan said, standing back  up. 

Ryau moved past him and headed through the door. “Good coordination. Well, here we go. Just below this floor is where Jeaso is holed up. Asau, you and half the Knights stand guard at these pads. He still has some teleportation capability. Everyone else, let's move on down.” Ryau opened the door to the final room, did a sweep and started to move into the hall. 

Day before. 
September 15th 2555 1440 hours
Standard IV
UNSC Decommissioned-storage Facility Bravo 
[ExCovenant] Weapons Master Kala 'Velamn
___________________________________________________________________________________

Kala and Williams hid below the computer console as the Parasite was engaged by a few Human fireteams holding them at bay a few sectors away. She sneaked a peek over the computer console and spotted the Sergeant and the others taking cover inside the other security bay.

A grenade detonated outside the room and cracked the safety glass. A few bullets flew down hallway and struck the Combat forms by the elevator shaft. With the Parasite distracted, Kala took the risk and pressed the button for the blast doors. With a creak the metal plates lowered over the glass and sealed them off from the Parasite. She sighed and stood out from under the console. Williams grabbed her assault rifle and watched the door. 

“Do you think help will come?” She asked Williams. 

“Don't know, but we're going to have to fight our way out.” Williams said. She handed Kala an Assault Rifle off the weapon rack. “Watch the door, I'll get on the COM.” 

Kala looked over the weapon, and aimed it at the doorway. Williams worked on the console and hooked the damaged wires together with adhesive tape. 

“This is Corporal Williams in security...” Williams glanced at the sheet of paper listing the proper call codes. "In... Checkpoint Seven. We're overrun and locked down in the guard post. There are others in the other post. Requesting assistance.” 

“Copy that, we've been in contact with Sergeant Foss and a squad has already been sent to your location.”  The command center said. “You and Gamma Squad were able to keep the Flood at bay just long enough for us to evac any civilians from the lower levels” 

A grenade detonated outside and cracked the safety glass behind the titanium shutters. The gunfire outside intensified. A burst of flame roared past the doorway. Human Helljumpers opened fire with flamethrowers and SMGs. The Parasite forms ignited and screamed as they burned and staggered back with every bullet impact. 

One of the Shock Troopers banged on the window with his fist. “Come on! Let's move, let's move!” 

Kala pressed the door release and the heavy gate slid open. She gripped the Assault Rifle and ran out behind Williams. She pulled the trigger and fired half a clip of shredder rounds into a group of Combat forms, blowing each of the parasite infection forms in their chest cavities to bits. 

“Transports in the hangar, straight back down the hall. Move now!” The Shock Trooper fired his flamethrower down the elevator shaft.

Sergeant Foss ran out behind the others. Kala charged up behind him, and down the corridor. Williams was right on her tail. She slid around the corner and into the hangar. Two of the human drop ships, the Pelicans, remained. A few Warthogs also sat beside the Pelicans. 

“Two minutes until detonation! Everyone clear the base immediately!” One of the base technicians announced over the PA system, likely from a transport that was already clear. 

Kala hopped on board one Pelican behind Foss and Williams. It was already half full of equipment. The Shock Troopers hopped on the remaining Warthogs and gunned it out of the hangar and into a cave. Her radio buzzed with a broadcast on her monitor of Human communication channels.

“This is Special Operations Major Ryau Cinotee. I am requesting assistance from anyone near my position. We have survivors, about eight hundred, and one requires a heavy lift system.” 

There was nothing for a few moments, but then the Humans responded to the Major's call. “Major this is Base, we've been attacked by the Flood and are unable to provide assistance. We are evacuating civilians and are going to detonate incendiary devices.”

“We copy. We're being assisted by the Glorious Retribution. However, we have specially designed shields given to us by a Forerunner. If you need them to build a safe zone, send a single Pelican to pick them up.” The Major replied. 

Kala listened to the communications until the humans went back to normal chatter. The Major that had brought her out of the small city that was built under the Glorious Retribution, had indeed survived where ever he and half his team had disappeared to. 

There was a loud rumble that overtook the Pelican's engines. Kala looked out the hatch window as fire erupted from the hangar opening and other shafts that fed the facility in the mountain. Dust soon followed that as the top of the mountain collapsed in on itself, crushing anything that remained inside. She looked down and saw the Warthogs from earlier, racing through the plains below. The massive parasite tentacles that had emerged at some point during the attack withered and fell to the ground.  

Something had happened at its source, and now the parasite core was dead or dying. 

The Pelican banked to the south and dropped above a convoy of the massive tracked transports they called Elephants. Turrets on the transports shredded the Parasite combat forms that swarmed them.

Kala gripped as the Pelican banked hard and released a trio of missiles at the Parasite on the ground.

Her radio buzzed again. “This is Captain Brown. All units fall back to grid four-three by one-nine. Fortifications have been set up and we are utilizing new technology to screen for infection. Repeat, all units, fall back to grid four-three by one-nine ASAP.”

The pilots set a new course and turned back toward the coast. Kala looked over at Williams and Foss, their weapons and uniforms stained by the green fluids secreted by the Parasite. The Pelican itself was heavily beaten. Bullet holes and plasma burning pockmarked the bulkhead between the troop bay and the cockpit. Human blood was splattered across the crash seats and crates. Whoever had spilled that blood was nowhere to be seen. Kala closed her eyes for a moment, and rested for the first time in the last day.

She awoke as the Pelican bounced on its landing gear. The rear hatch was already open and a soft blue glow illuminated the troop compartment. She stood up and stepped out of the dropship. The light was being emitted from a glowing wall of energy that surrounded the valley they had landed in.

A group of Human soldiers in heavy gear walked down the line of Pelicans, they held a device that looked Forerunner in origin. They scanned the occupants of the drop ships and, one by one, they crews were released and had to pass through another energy barrier that she had just noticed between the landing zone and the rest of the camp.

A human standing atop an Elephant made an announcement through the vehicles exterior public address system. “Attention, everyone must remain in the vehicles until medical personnel have checked to make sure you are not infected. Repeat. Remain in the vehicles until cleared by the medical personnel.” He paused for a moment. “This is a quarantine situation. If you do not follow all directions, you will be considered infected and dealt with as such." 

Upon hearing that, Kala slowly backed into her seat and remained there until the Humans had arrived first. “Alright, you all look clean, but we need to be sure. So lets have the squid face up first.” A male Trooper said. Kala did not move, she had never heard the term squid face before.
“You Split-lip. Get up here and let us scan you.” He was visibly annoyed and pointed at Kala.

Reluctantly, Kala stepped foreword and was scanned by the device. There was a beep and he looked back up at her.

“She's good to go. Follow the others to the entrance, they'll let you in.” he said.

Kala waisted no time leaving the Pelican. She hurried down the line and was ten meters away from the gate when a smoking Pelican glided overhead. It listed from side to side before suddenly dropping into the ground inside the landing zone. Sensing something bad was about to happen, Kala sprinted towards the entry into the main camp. She passed the others that had been released before her, and passed through the shield before it was closed.

The crashed Pelican's rear hatch exploded outward. Fragments bouncing across the field. Then suddenly, Parasite infection forms spread out towards the energy barrier. The Humans that had cleared her of infection, turned their guns toward the wave and opened fire. Bullets tore through the Parasite, causing them to explode violently. Combat forms launched themselves out of the troop compartment and over the barriers. A female Army Trooper shoved an MA5C into her hands.

“Elite, go assist.” She said.

Kala nodded and hurried over to where the Combat forms hopped over. There were many, at least twenty that had made it out. She took cover behind a stack of crates, that had just been offloaded from a truck, and fired a burst at a former Sangheili, taking it down. In her peripheral vision, she saw Williams and Foss firing from behind the Pelican's landing gear. A Combat form jumped out and slapped her across the chest, taking down her shields. She shoved it back with her shoulder and tore it apart with the Assault rifle.

Kala crouched down behind the crates to let her shields recover. Another Combat form leaped through the air and landed on the crates in front of her, denting the cases. An M90 Shotgun was tight in it's grip. Time seemed to move slower for her then, adrenaline altering her perception. She raised her Assault rifle and pulled the trigger only halfway up the Parasites body. Bullets tore through the rotting flesh, but then she heard a click. The Parasite's weapon discharged. Her armor held, but the body suit could not withstand a point blank discharge from a human shotgun. Her chest was ripped open, her ribs breaking under the pressure. The Assault rifle continued upwards and the Combat form was ripped in half. 

Kala fell back, dropping the Assault rifle and hitting the crates behind her. Blood dripped from the hole. She didn't believe it, she couldn't feel anything. She sank to her side, her body going into shock from the blast. Her primary heart was torn to pieces and her second struggled to cope. 

A Sangheili ran out of the smoke. He knelt down and lifted her up into his arms and took her away from the battle. All she could see were the blurred lights that reflected off his white armor. Something pierced her arm and Kala's eyes closed. 

Present
September 16 2555 0658hrs 
Areo Installation 01-1 [Inside Planet Standard IV]
Jeaso Sector 
SpecOps Major Ryau ‘Cinotee [MIA]  
_____________________________________________________________________________

Ryau pressed the button to open the heavy door. It slid open, revealing Jeaso's Sentinel control room. Banks of command consoles displayed thousands of commands and information about the battle going out outside. He motioned for Ryka and his group to flank left while he and Naki headed right. Moving at a crouch, they moved just below the line of sight in the room. Ryau glanced up over the consoles, the damaged red monitor that they knew as Jeaso hovered silently connected to a terminal at the back of the room.

“Naki, see if you can interface with the console right here, try and turn off the systems.” Ryau whispered.

Naki nodded and pried open a seam in the alloy. She connected her data-pad to the circuit and went to work.

Jeaso blinked and looked over. “Vermin, there is nothing you can do to stop my army. But it is a shame. Just a case of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. My campaign did not involve your little group.” His voice scratchy, in poor Sangheili.

“You involved us as soon as you started imprisoning the others of this planet.” Ryau replied “Now!” Ryau popped up from behind his cover, as did Ryka, Shan and Endesa. Asau and the Knights ran down the ramp and everyone opened fire on Jeaso in the center of the room.

Jeaso activated a shield much like the kind used by Enforcer Sentinels. It took all the bolts of energy and plasma like it was nothing. “Ha! Failure again. Nice try. My Knights should be here to eliminate you, very soon. You see, you all made a major tactical mistake. There is only one way out of this room. You are cornered.” Jeaso's eye flashed with every word.

“Not for long.” Naki said from behind the console. One after another, command prompts went offline.

Jeaso looked around at them frantically. “No! How did you do that!? Our superior systems are uncrackable!”

“Not anymore.” Naki said. “We as a species came this far by breaching your, so called, superior systems.”

Ryau fired as he crept closer to Jeaso, his shield absorbing the damage, but the others drawing his attention. Ryau held fire and waited for Jeaso to turn all his attention to Ryka and Asau. Jeaso charged his eye and fired a beam of red energy at Asau, who ducked and dodged the beam. However one of her Knights wasn’t so lucky. The beam sliced through the Knights armor, and it fell forward before disintegrating.

Ryau ran from behind the consoles and jumped on the Jeaso's back. He activated his wrist blade and jammed it into the Monitor core. Jeaso screamed and sparks flew. Ryau jumped off, and gripped the core with his hand. He over powered Jeaso's hover systems and slammed the core into the wall.

“No! Noooo!” Jeaso yelled.

Ryau grabbed the casing with his other hand and yanked at the core. Jeaso's lights dimmed and then went dark as the core was ripped out of the Monitor sphere. Sparks shot out as it experienced a catastrophic system failure. By then, all the control consoles displayed a single blinking message. Sentinel Systems Disabled. It was over. Jeaso was dead.

Outside the structure, Jeaso's turrets winked off, his Knights collapsing into stand-by mode. In the sky, thousands of  Sentinels closed up and shut down. They all fell to the ground, no longer receiving any command signals. 

The casing clattered to the ground and Ryau tossed the eye to Shan. “Hope that makes up for your arm.” He said.

Shan caught the eye and looked at it. “Mostly.”

“Good job, Naki.” Ryau walked over, and placed his arm on her shoulder. “Good job everyone, let's get out of here.”

They headed up out of the structure and into the now quiet battlefield. Marissa and I-Forty-Nine's Knights stood about, also in stand-by mode since there were no more hostiles to deal with.

Suddenly an announcement echoed throughout the installation in the Forerunner language, it was not from Marissa, or any of the others they knew. “Attention, Aero Installation control has been restored to Installation Ancilla effective immediately. Connection to entity Jeaso and entity Aurora of the Night lost. Connection to Drift of True Sands and Marissa stable. Evidence of large scale conflict detected. Dispatching repair Sentinels. Estimated time to optimal efficiency- Unknown.”

A black pad appeared under a layer of dirt and Marissa appeared. “Well, it's finally over isn't it. Jeaso is gone.”

“Yes he is,” Ryau said and nodded to Shan, who showed her the eye.

“I believe that shows the truth more than anything, and it appears that Jeaso didn't kill the Ancilla, only deactivated it.” She said. “However, my mother requests that we join her in her sanctum.”

“Very well, let's go.” Ryau moved onto a now exposed teleportation pad. The others did the same, and they were teleported away.

When Ryau reappeared in the Scientists dome, her hardlight form was standing a mere half meter away. However a moment later, Ryau realized that it was not her hardlight form at all, she was standing in front of them, solid, and organic.

“The machine was a success.” She said simply.

“Mother? You mean you fixed it. Already?” Marissa asked, if she too had been in her organic form, her face would have the look of surprise.

“Yes, it is fully functional. We can have you and Jeaso's victims fixed within the next few hours.” The Scientist said.

“That is great news! Can we begin at once?” Asau blurted out.

“Of course. Follow me.” The Scientist turned back towards her corridor. “After the process is started, Naki and Ryau, I would like to speak to you alone. Once you're finished Marissa, you may join us.” The Scientist started down the corridor and everyone else followed her.

“Yes mother,” Marissa said, floating along beside her organic mother.

They entered the main chamber of the structure, in the center of the room a machine sat where the operating platform was the last time Ryau was here. It looked like two pods on their sitting on the ground horizontally.

“Asau, Marissa, go into shutdown mode and I'll insert your cores into the machine.” The Scientist said, waiting for them to do so. Marissa's eye went dark and Asau's Knight armor began to disintegrate around her core. The Scientist picked up Marissa and removed her centeral core. She then grabbed Asau's from the dust that was the armor and pluged them both into the machine. “Now Ryau, the core that holds the others you recovered from Jeaso.” The Scientist held out her hand.

Ryau nodded and took off his pack. He pulled out the data core and handed it over to her. “Where are we going to talk, ma'am?” He asked.

She hooked up the data core for the next round of transfers. “This way, follow me.” The Scientist walked over to small door in the back wall. “We need to wake someone.”

The door slid open and they followed her downward. It was a long walk, that deposited them into a large open room. Naki brought up the Installation schematics and saw that this area was not on them.

The Scientist continued forward, without looking back. “It was an after thought, Naki. I added it after the program began to decline.” She placed her palm on a wall and another passage opened, only this time a pod slid out.

Inside was a large male Forerunner. “This is my husband and my body guard. If you had read our daughter's log entries, you would know him as the Soldier. We were both orphans and no one knew who we were. No family, no lineage. We weren't related but everyone remembered us appearing on the planet together. I received a Scientific imprint, and he became a Promethean. We were similar to the Librarian and Didact. My real name is Misheelle... his is Nek.”

Ryau and Naki exchanged glances, unsure where this was going, but they knew those names were familiar. The Scientist pressed a button on the side and the lid slid up. Air hissed around an actual Forerunner Promethean, and his eyes fluttered open. Nek stood up and looked around the room. He stopped on Ryau and Naki, then looked to his wife. Promethean Knight armor appeared around him, an eerily similar emblem to Ryau's was on the chest piece. “Hmph. I thought he'd be taller.” Nek said in the Forerunner language. “Do they know yet?”

“No, I decided to wake you first. However Ryau does speak our language, so unless you want to spoil it, I'll continue.” The Scientist responded. “So... I will just go right to the point. Ryau, Naki, we are you.”

“W-what?” Naki asked, not fully understanding what they had just been told.

“When you two, the originals, came into this reality, you fractured. Something went wrong, you two split into different copies that were dropped over time and space. Nek and I, we are just one by-product of that accident.” The Scientist said. “The installation that houses the machine that brought us here was sealed off a millennial before we entered this reality. However, from what research I was able to find, it is a hybrid of Forerunner and Precursor technology that was created to manipulate reality and time. Its existence out of the planes of time and space is what likely shielded it from the destructive paths of the Halo array.”

Ryau sat down on the floor. “So Nek and I are the same and Naki and you are the same. But how are you sure that Naki and I are the originals?”

“I procured a log of the Machine's activity. The equations on the page were complex and it was incomplete. However dates matched with when you and Naki should have entered.” The Scientist said. “It also makes sense considering the circumstances surrounding the event.”

“Can I see this information?” Naki said. “I'd like to understand it better.”

“Yes, it is stored on an isolation system in this room.” Misheelle and Naki walked towards another doorway that eased open.

Nek reached down and helped Ryau up. “So... Ryau.”

“Nek...” Ryau responded in the Forerunner language. Nek and Ryau were almost the same height, but Nek was taller. “I don't remember much of what happened during our travel into this reality, it has been a while.”

“Longer for me, Misheelle and I are four thousand years old. Young for Forerunners, but very old for your kind. However it is entirely understandable. So, what is your story?” Nek asked, a chair forming below him as he sat back.

“Well, when I woke up, I was in the Spartan training camps on Reach. Er, you remember that right?” Ryau asked.

“Yes, I made sure those memories were maintained by my personal Ancilla. However, even she didn't know what they were.” Nek said.

“Alright, well I woke up and just accepted the life that I had. I had memories of a past in this reality. What finally broke that facade, was that I was captured by the Covenant and the scientist in charge was Naki, or Michelle. They turned me into a Sangheili using this device.” Ryau held up his arm. “The one your Michelle had created. She recognized my Human self and that broke her memories. Fought the rest of the Human-Covenant war, survived it all. Got knocked back a few years because of the Device again and then ended up here.”

“Fate is crafty like that. You two, separated for half your life as different species. Then reunited with a device created by another version of you. Only then to end up saving and meeting your other versions.” Nek said. “My story is different. Misheelle and I didn't have lives pre-made for us. When we appeared, we only spoke the language, thankfully. We didn't know what happened, but two families took each of us into their homes. The planet had both Warrior-Servants and Lifeworkers, we were taken by one of each family. I received my adoptive father's physical imprint, Misheelle, her adoptive mothers. Our lives went on, we received our titles, The Soldier, The Scientist. Yes, very general, I know.” Nek chuckled.

“We Promethean's weren’t so respected anymore, but then the Flood attacked. The Didact assigned me to protect the Scientist and her research in this Shield World program. But then something changed. The Didact called us all back to his personal Shield World. He accepted my refusal and sent this armor to me, the systems to construct it and a number of combat Ancillas to this installation. The Halo array was activated by the Iso-Didact, we managed to find an opening in slipspace and were in it when the waves passed.” Nek's face turned sour. “Months after we landed here, we found out the combat ancillas were actually fellow Prometheans that had been composed using the crude, older version of the machines that were used on my daughter.”

“I am sorry, Nek.” Ryau said. “That must have been a horrible revelation.”

“At the time it was, but it is too late now.” Nek sighed. “And that is it. I went into the stasis pod and woke up in the room with you.”

“Are there other Forerunners here?” Ryau asked.

“Yes, there are four more in stasis. Two male, two female.” Nek responded.

Before Ryau could ask another question, Naki and the Scientist returned from the other room. “...So the Generator is a constant in time. It will never go off, and always exist.” Naki said.

“Correct, it appears that way.” The Scientist responded.

“Enjoy your investigation, scientists?” Nek asked them with a chuckle.

“Yes, we did. It was good to have a conversation with someone as smart as you.” She responded.
Out of the small corridor, Marissa walked in, fully Forerunner, and clothed in a similar garment as her mother. “Mother, Father.” Marissa said, acknowledging them.

“Hello my daughter, it is good to see you back to your organic self.” Nek said with a nod.

“And it is good to see you two Father. It has been a very, very long time.” Marissa returned his nod.

However Ryau butt into the conversation. “Sorry to interrupt, but we need to figure out how to get you off the planet. I severely doubt that the Humanity's Office of Naval Intelligence will allow you to leave this planet. They'll probably cover it all up and dissect you.” 

“That is... unnerving...” Nek said. “Should we hide ourselves in this installation?”

“ONI was down here before the Covenant attacked. They already know.” Ryau said. “They'll be back some time.”

“Your estate, it is a restricted area on the planet. However, that would be for after we get you off the planet.” Naki added. “Though it depends on who get's here first. The Scientist told me that she monitored a distress signal being broadcasted two weeks ago. If it is Sangheili, we could ask for assistance, but if it is Human, they likely have ONI operatives in the crew.”

“So that means someone should be arriving any time now.” Ryau said. “Either way, I should take my squad and the survivors back up to the surface in case something does come.”

“Yes you should. If some help comes along, send a message though the teleportation console.” The Scientist suggested.

Ryau stood back up. “Then we should be going. How many have been restored by now Marissa?”

“Almost ten percent, if I remember correctly. I can no longer just look up information from the network.” She said. “It will be a few days before all have been restored.”

“I see, we'll wait at the old camp.” Ryau said, starting towards the ramp. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Nek. We'll have to share stories some time” Ryau chuckled.  

“That does sound like a good idea.” Nek said with a nod.

Ryau and Naki headed up the ramp to the pads, ready to head back to camp.

To Be Continued.
End One Final Effort Part 1