Forum Thread

"Yes, the Cryptum also happens to be required to bring the Mantle's Approach up to full power, the Approach being something of a world killer. All things considered, I could hardly have wished for a better prison. Except the then put me on a Shield World. And those can also function as a prison surprisingly well. So I was trapped in a prison ship on a prison planet." Didact said.

"Sounds fun." Jack said.

"It was. Especially once I got the Prometheans back on my side."

---

"See?" Copper said, waving her hands around. "Modified design, sister. I don't know what they've done to it. Honestly, though, I'm more curious to know how you were deemed guilty of such an extreme punishment, seeing as you're a Warrior-Servant. I can't comprehend the crimes you would have done to warrant the length of imprisonment you were given."

---

"My crimes..." Didact said in an exploratory tone, head tilting thoughtfully to the side, "...are currently irrelevant?" He ventured.

Jack scoffed. "Oh, out with it, I doubt there's any single entity in this room that hasn't done much worse."

"Well, excuse you." Beowulf muttered.

"No, they really aren't anything of note." Didact shrugged. "You wouldn't be interested. Can't this thing go any faster?"

Beowulf caught Jack glancing at him and shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure when he went crazy, but I'm certain it happened."

---

Copper, too, unabashedly stared at Beowulf, as if expecting the AI to know. She all but deflated when she heard him admit his lack of knowledge.

"Well, we currently have nothing else to discuss." She pointed out, trying to get him to talk about it.

Sliuril rolled her eyes. "I don't believe you could have done much worse than any one of us, but by all means keep it to yourself if that is what you wish."

---

Didact sat down heavily and grabbed a small disc from next to one of the displays. After a moment, he began spinning it between his fingers.

"I was the Commander of the Forerunner army." He began. "In a time of war, it was me that people looked to. And so it was, I found myself in conflict with the Parasite after a long war with the humans. It was in that age that Forerunner superiority was tested. Never had we faced an enemy so relentless, so powerful. But we succeeded in pushing back the Flood. And then we needed to find a way to fight them should they ever come back."

The disc began spinning faster between his fingers. Beowulf was writing a file. This was all new to him as well.

"I proposed the Shield Worlds. They would have protected the Forerunners from Flood and all. The Master Builder, however, insisted not of protecting the Forerunners, but destroying the Flood. He proposed a weapon of monumental proportions, one that would change the galaxy if ever used. For thousands of years, I struggled to stop him. However, in the end, he received permission to begin construction. It was demanded that I hand over all my research, all my resources and the codes to the Contender class AI to the Master Builder. I refused. Therefore, I was banished in a meditative state."

The disc was but a blur now. Jack had sat up and was listening intently.

"For millennia, I slept. Then, I was awoken by a young Manipular. We escaped from the fleets that pursued us when they realised that I was awake and I laid my imprint on him to allow him to access the Domain. In the long run, however, it would make him almost exactly like me. Through trial, we realise that the Primordial had escaped, a creature that-"

The disc slipped from his grasp and clattered to the floor. Didact sighed and picked it up again.

"The Primordial had escaped. In our search, we are ambushed by the Master Builder and his fleets. He had all the Forerunners believe that I was executed when, in fact, he left me for dead in Flood infested space. After some time, the Flood find us. They take me to the Gravemind- the Primordial. And I..." He paused, closing his eyes at the painful memory, "go insane."

"The Gravemind sends me back to the Forerunners as a warning if what was to become of my race. I'm interrogated and, more out of pity than anything, restored. However, the Manipular had already taken my place as Commander of the army, so I was shunned. I go to Requiem and discover the Composer. It would make a being digital, immune to infection. Transferring this to the Promethean Knights would give a formidable fighter. Me and my Knights pushed off a force of Flood, proof of concept. But, in my madness, I needed more."

There was a sizeable pause. The Forerunner was deep in thought. Jack was just about to prompt him to continue when he resumed speaking.

"And so, I turn the Composer on the humans. Nearly all of them. They were reduced to nothing. I had my army. I took it back to Requiem. I was betrayed, or should I say 'rightfully stopped', by my second in command. I was imprisoned in the combat Cryptum from the Mantle's Approach and trapped in the Shield World of my own creation, my very on Prometheans assigned to assure I did not escape. Eventually, I was reawoken. Since then, I've seeked to atone for my actions."

The Forerunner fell silent, staring at the disc spinning in his fingers. Jack glanced over at Beowulf. The AI was looking at the ground, processing the new data.

---

Sliuril and Faith listened intently to the story, Sliuril for the most part wondering why she had never noticed this. The answer was obvious - she had avoided Copper's creations like the plague after the Sundering. Didact's crimes didn't bother her, however. That would have been hypocritical of her, given that the wars she and her siblings had waged over the years had consumed a million times more lives.

The ship soared over UNSC-occupied space. They were near.

---

"Blood Gulch on the horizon." Beowulf hissed. Didact stood up and grabbed a gun.

"Well then. Let's see what this is all about." The Forerunner said. Jack nodded. The ship swung in for its final approach to the box canyon.

---

The Balvron looked up towards the box canyon, shuddering as he felt Sliuril's energy signature accompanied by that of the Jack, Glaurug, and- he narrowed his eyes, before glancing towards the command center where Copper was. His senses hadn't lied - there seemed to be two Coppers. He snorted. Was a part of her planning to betray Sliuril at the last moment? A fitting strategy. He turned, and retreated into the forest. His loyalty to Copper was thin at best. He would wait and see. New recruits to his spawn were always welcomed.

Faith stretched, and Sliuril and Copper climbed onto her. Galuruh simply activated his wings, ready to make the jump down. The box canyon was eerily silent, not a soul in sight. Many of the fortifications had been destroyed. Sliuril had expected to see soldiers rebuilding, but that wasn't the case.

---

"Doesn't seem right." Didact muttered, looking at the displays. "Bring guns to ready."

"Guns ready, aye." Beowulf said.

"Open up the hatch."

Beowulf didn't bother check with the Didact before opening it. The ship hovered over the canyon silently. Through the hatch, Jack could make out a small base at either end. And that was more or less it. He glanced over to Sliuril.

"After you."

---

Faith snorted, leaping off the ramp with a single beat of her wings. Glaurug followed. Balvarines in the trees. Sliuril told Jack. All of them could sense the Balvarines in the trees, and with a muttered curse Copper summoned her Knights. They dropped onto the ground, creating miniature craters. Faith tucked in her wings and brought them into a dive.

Despite their obviously hostile intentions, no guns opened fire. Sliuril scowled.

There was no one in the base, only the Balvarines. A howl sounded in the distance, and even they retreated with their tails between their legs.

---

Jack landed on the ground, looking around "This seems... off." He muttered, looking around while charging up a Vortex spell. He silently put a small shield around himself. After a moment's consideration, he decided that the others were probably capable of taking care of themselves.

"Any idea what we might be looking for?" He asked.

Didact watched the readouts on his displays, ready to open fire the moment something went wrong.

---

"It is." Faith agreed, landing. Copper nearly fell off with the G forces brought to bear against her.

"Easy!" Copper squealed.

"Then don't ride on me." Faith growled, head turning to glare at Copper. The Mech scowled back, eyes narrowed.

"Anything that might be of interest to Cortana." Sliuril answered. "We're looking at objects of massive power, ancient artifacts, you know." She kept one of her freeze spells ready, approaching the command structure of Blood Gulch cautiously. She couldn't sense Cortana inside. What could the AI possibly want from this base?

---

"Ah, yes, those pesky objects of massive power and ancient artifacts." Jack muttered, walking towards the base. The Vortex spell was charged and, just because he wasn't one for half measures, he'd summoned the Sword of Aeons as well.

"Any movement in either base?" Didact asked. Beowulf shrugged.

"None that I can detect." The AI replied.

---

"Nope." Faith grunted. "Not even any sign of life, as far as I'm aware. Sliuril?"

The Elf shook her head. "None as far as I can tell. Let's go in."

She opened the door to the base with a telekinetic push, seeing if it would trigger any potential traps. It didn't. A quick scan of the entryway yielded no further hidden mechanisms, and so she stepped in, Faith tailing behind her. "The coast is clear." Sliuril decided, looking up at a single security camera. It was offline. Everything in the base was offline, from lights to heating. The entrance led to three identical hallways, each branching off in a different direction after a few meters. One went down, one left, and one right.

"Jack, would you do the honors?"

---

Jack nodded. He stepped forward and his eyes glowed briefly. "Well, I have been told that you can never go wrong going left." The demon said. With that, he set off down the left path, leading the way while using a fireball to throw some light in the darkened hallway.

---

Sliuril shrugged, and followed Jack, Glaurug and Copper trailing behind her. They were indeed an odd bunch, walking along the cramped hallways of the UNSC base. Faith shrunk and bounded alongside her master.

"I think I sense something." Sliuril muttered, as they reached the end. There was a single door, marked as the Commander's Office. She stepped forwards to open it. The stench of blood and decomposing matter filled her nose, and she grunted. The commanding officer sprawled lifelessly on his desk, his body torn into two. A message was written in blood above him.

This is the price for your weakness.

"Can I eat him?" Faith asked.

---

"Patience." Jack muttered. He walked forward, watching his step. "I'd certainly say that life has... expired." He said, looking at the writing on the wall. "Sliuril. What do you think?" He asked. His eyes strayed to the corpse. With a sigh, he leaned down to get a better look.

---

"Definitely dead." Sliuril shrugged. "I would say that it has been a few hours, from the stink. There's no doubt that this was Cortana's work."

"The Balvarines took part." Copper cut in. "I can see that this isn't an AI's writing. It must have been one of them. Also, you can tell from the way the body was torn apart. Knights would have used energy based weapons, and so would have Cortana. The chassis she took isn't capable of this much physical brutality. You were meant to find this, sister."

Glaurug scowled up at the message. "A warning for how you dealt with the Balvarines, I think. Cortana's trying to get you to regret sparing them. Or maybe she's trying to say that we aren't strong enough to confront her."

"Either way. There's nothing here." Copper said. "We should try the right tunnel, see where it goes to."

---

Jack nodded. "Seems reasonable enough. Fine, you can eat him now, if you must." He said, striding out the door and back down the hallway.

Didact paced up and down the deck, feeling fairly useless. Beowulf had promised to tell him if anything came up on his sensors and, after much deliberation, the Forerunner had decided that he was probably telling the truth. That left him with nothing to do but wait.

---

Faith grinned. She dug into the corpse with gusto, while Sliuril quickly left the room. Eating sentient creatures tended to make her slightly sick, although she couldn't really get herself to try and stop Faith. Dragons would always be dragons, after all. Copper raised an eyebrow - What's gotten you into such a state? But Sliuril couldn't answer. Faith exited a few minutes later, smelling distinctly of charred flesh.

---