Mission Eight:
THE BEGOTTEN
Master Chief stands on a black
hill looking out helplessly as the UNSC Keyes drifts into a quaking sea as it
disintegrates into heaps of metal and flame. A dozen Pelicans and lifepods flee from the fire, as a cruiser in the
background is obliterated by another
controlled pulse from the Halo. Reconciled ships push forward as the Sangheilli
Corvette covers the retreating UNSC fleet.
Cortana:
"What can we do against that?" A shot of the Halo, as the rip in the
Shield World grows and distorts the fabric of the sphere.
Master
Chief: "Fall back; regroup. And find a way to strike back."
Cortana:
"There's nowhere to fall back to. And no way to fight back. I may still
have control of the Sentinel Army, but it is no match for a Halo. It's
destroying this world... Emergency procedures will use all remaining power to
retain gravity and atmosphere local to the surface, but that will only last for
a few hours. "
War
Sphinx: "My father, the Begotten, can help us."
Cortana:
"And where is this prodigal savior?"
War Sphinx: "Not far."
--------------
A
purple atmospheric light. The world slowly shattering above, the War Sphinx
touched down upon the peak of a small city of towers bound together by
hard-light walkways. A heavy fog infests it and Sentinel factories and
Reconciled sentry-ships drift between the towers, battling.
War
Sphinx: "The Life-shapers and Builders that created and studied this world
and its machinations lived here."
Cortana:
"The Forerunners are dead or gone. This place is nothing but a tomb."
War
Sphinx: "Yes, but death to my kind does not fit within your narrow
definitions. Follow."
Master
Chief disembarks from the War Sphinx as the two explore the Forerunner City, starting
from the high balconies and then weaving around the structures toward the dark
fog below. The Reconciled are present, arriving in dropships and sentry-ships
that drift between the skyscrapers.
As
mentioned before, Sentry-ships are basically massive dropships - a huge exposed
deck atop it carries a handful of plasma batteries. The ship can be jumped to with
boosters or reached with a vehicle. Banshees tend to populate the deck if you
need to get away quick after destroying it. It's sort of a flying Scarab. Or a
Covenant pirate ship...
Though
departed from the UNSC for the moment, Sentinels are still on your side and
will stop the large enemy forces from focusing solely on you.
You'll
explore a museum at one point, with a massive hall full of holographic
recreations of a number of sentient species from the galaxy: Ungoy, Sanshyam,
Sangheili, Human, and even a Drinol. Beyond this hall lies another grand room
where different forms of Forerunner life are presented on one side, and on the
other stand the various versions of the Flood.
Reaching
the ground, you'll exit out into a garden area. The fog is heavy here, but
above, you see that a storm is rolling in. Lightening is striking the towers
now high above. Beyond that, a web of cracks spread through the Shield
World’s structure.
That Is Not Dead
Which Can Eternal Lie…
This is a garden of tombs where black featureless wings
float a foot above the grass, marking the tombs of the fallen Forerunners. A
path between these monoliths lead you to a hill with a vault set into its side.
Stairs lead down into the ground until you hit a wall.
Upon
close inspection, there appears to be no door in the deep black metal-stone.
But after a few moments, the wall begins to change and adjust. A door is
outlined and a panel forms outwards. A holographic projection appears, indicating
a Reclaimer's hand.
War
Sphinx: "This Cryptum requires a Reclaimer to activate the waking
protocols. It is fitting that it is you, the one who brought him here in the
first."
As
the door opens...
Master
Chief: "I didn't..."
War
Sphinx (ignoring him): "Before my father's race took their Great Journey,
you entombed my dying father here, where he would serve
his penance under the eyes of the Monitor."
Master
Chief: "… Wait, the Monitor we just disabled?"
Silence. The War Sphinx is moving forward into the structure, into
darkness.
Inside, John activates revival
protocols in an upper control room as the War Sphinx watches over the process
inside an inner chamber. Upon
activation, the lights in the lower room begin to brighten blue. A dome is
raised out of the floor as mechanical arms bend down from the walls. They begin
to unweave the dome. There is soon a bright light from inside as this casing
is dismantled; a figure as well. But it is too bright to see exactly what
it looks like. Tentacle-like wires inch towards the figure now suspended in the
air, wrapping themselves around the figure, becoming the figure. Metal armor
floats toward the Forerunner and encases him in a new, living
"casket".
A strange groan.
The process is failing. It’s been
too long. The Begotten is weak. The War Sphinx initiates an emergency process.
A hive of legeklo are released into the pool. Together they wrap about the
humanoid forming a parasitic hive, bounded in form my the living Forerunner
armor.
Forerunner:
"Why was I awakened? Does he wish to taunt me - embellish my
failure?"
War
Sphinx: "The Array was activated and the Flood defeated. Your swords
succeeded where the shields could not. And the Forerunners are gone. It is but
his echo that remains."
Forerunner:
"Only a geas? Then let him rot in his descendance." The armored Forerunner
leaves the lower room, though still struggling to move. The War Sphinx follows
him.
Cortana:
"Chief... I think we need to leave."
Master
Chief: "This is what we came for."
Forerunner
(over a comm system): “Your hopes to achieve a balance with the Mantle was in
error, old friend. It is either acceptance or obliteration.”
Cortana:
“This man, this Forerunner, I think I know who he is. And I don’t think he will
help us.”
War
Sphinx (over the comm system): "My father will want to meet his wakers. Do
not be frightened."
Cortana
(over the comm system): "You said he was serving a penance, Sphinx. What
was it for? What crime did he commit?"
War
Sphinx: "His crime was only confidence. He built the Great Array. He
showed us the way... But we would not listen. We could not grasp his designs
and we declared him 'traitor'. And then he was lost to Bias and the Flood. But
not long after, he was discovered and brought back here on the edge of life and
death."
Cortana
(pausing for a moment): " I know their history, John… This is the Master
Builder, the one responsible for the greatest weapons ever made. We need to get
as far away from here as possible."
Cortana
opens the exit to the control room and leads you back out through the darkness,
all the while voices enter your mind and disrupt your HUD.
War
Sphinx: "Lay down your will beside him, he will take the Halo from the
miscreant's hands. He will show humanity their place in the void."
Cortana:
"As slaves?"
Faber:
"Such harshness in your code, such trouble and anger in your core - an
ancilla should never be allowed so much freedom. I learned this the hard
way."
Cortana finds you another route
out of the garden of tombs, escaping through a series of dimly lit tunnels as
Faber continues to speak to you, declaring his intent on reclaiming his rings
and belittling you as if you were an old rival. Cortana takes this time to ping
the UNSC’s battlenet to try and find some remaining forces able to assist you
in your new mission: stopping Faber, along with everything else.
You resurface into the fresh air
some distance from the towers into a deserted field as a smoking Albatross
finds you. Inside, Buck and a group of ODSTs and Marines, falling back from a failed
skirmish.
Buck: “What the hell is that?”
A Forerunner ship launches from
between the weaving of towers, heading towards the Halo.
Master Chief: “Trouble.”
Buck: “Yeah, we really needed
more of it.”
Mission Nine:
FORERUNNER
The shot slowly fades in from
black. The Master Chief has returned to the Monitor’s core. Cortana displays
near the hard light ring. A few marines stand in the background. Lights are
coming back on in the room. The Monitor’s eye rises and awakens. By now, most
players have probably recognized his voice actor for sure: Tim Dadabo.
Monitor: “Faber has been
released. A Halo will soon be in his command. And the Shield World is dying… Oh
my, and I was only asleep for a day. You have been busy.”
Cortana: “We need your help to
stop him. You’ve been studying the Flood, studying his tactics and trying to
find a way around the activation of the Array. He’s been resting here under
your nose for thousands of years. You must know something we can use.
Monitor: “With the Shield World
inoperable, my… your Sentinel Army remains the only active weapon. But the odds
of mounting a successful attack on a Halo… are not in your favor…“
Cortana: “There’s something
you’re not telling me.”
The Monitor stares silently at
Cortana, then turns to the Chief. Then, back to Cortana.
Monitor: “You must call for aid.”
--------------
The Signal Station from the level
“Broken Chord”, the Resonance Cascade, has been unearthed by the Shield World’s
destruction.
Monitor: “Inside the Resonance
Cascade exists the power to summon the Forerunners. It is the only resort you
have left. All of your ships and warriors will not be able to turn the tide
against the Master Builder and the Array without their knowledge.”
Zooming out, we see that the
Resonance Cascade is kilometers away, fragmented from a dozen or more shards of
the Shield World spinning away from each other. And the Installation’s sun-portal
is dying out (have I mentioned that it’s just a slipspace portal letting in
light from a real star lightyears away?).
Master Chief and Marines gear up
inside their Albatross as it flies towards the drifting island. Looking out the
window of the rear hatch, John sees a host of Sentinels trailing them. In the
distance beyond, more ship-to-ship battles rage on between the UNSC and Reconciled.
Even further, the Halo is spinning, charging for its next controlled shot.
Pilot: “Brace yourselves!!!”
Through the cockpit, John sees a
Reconciled Sentry-ship charge straight towards the Albatross. The pilot pulls
up in time but smashes alongside the larger ship’s hull. Marines are thrown
from their seats, floating in zero gravity.
The Sentinels engage the
Sentry-ship as Banshees unlock from the latter’s hull. The Albatross manages to
cross through the fray, but on the other side a wave of Seraphs ambush from
both sides in a pincer attack.
Pilot: “I’ve to got to set her
down! We can’t take on all this on our own!”
Cortana: “I’m in contact with
command. I’m trying to see if we can get air support.”
The Albatross, now smoking,
glides down to the surface of one of the floating shards. Three more separated
shards stand between this one and the Resonance Cascade.
The large dropship plops down in
a cloud of smoke. Just a moment later, the hatches of the cargo hold slam to
the ground and three Warthogs come barreling out.
Buck: “If we can’t fly there,
we’ll drive!”
Cortana: “We need to keep
pushing. When air support arrives, they me able to give us enough cover for a
pick up on the way. If they can’t… (looking at the massive gaps in the surface
as the shards tangle apart) well, I guess I’m going to need to figure out how
to make us fly.”
--------------
The first shard is populated by Renconciled forces encamped
on low Forerunner structures shaped like great arms stretched out over a small
canyon. Moving parts glide back and forth along the structures as the Warthog
convoy navigates between them, all the while Jackal Snipers try to pick them
off.
Faber: “I am your living god, the truth you have searched
for all your lives. This Covenant, these Reconciled, you were all waiting for
me.”
Passing through this gauntlet, dropships land Ghosts and
Wraiths to confront you. Past them, you’ll reach the limits of this shard, as
the land is wrenched upwards into a mighty ramp. Two of the Warthogs
successfully make the jump, landing on the next shard. It’s gravity is oriented
differently as the shard is almost at a 90 degree angle to the last shard.
Landing on it usually means you’re crashing on it!
This second shard is a beautiful green area with a lake in
its center. Mountain ridges rise on its extremities. With the Warthogs crashed,
you’ll have to go on foot, passing through another test of your abilities, this
time focused your gunplay. Brutes and Captive Hunters are dropping in all
sides. Defeating these enemies, you’ll need to allocate some of their vehicles
to make the jump to the next shard.
Faber: “I reclaim this ring in your honor, for you have been
faithful all these eons. The Forerunners will protect you and deliver you peace
and serenity. But first we must defend ourselves and our relics.”
The last shard before the Resonance Cascade is a hilly
desert. Passing through another vehicle battle, you’ll see Longswords and
Hornets arrive to meet the battle in the air above you. Which is good, because
the gap between this shard and the Cascade is enormous. You’ll need to line up
your vehicle with a Pelican as it flies down, grapples you with its magnets,
and ferries you over to the Cascade.
During the short flight, you see the Sangheili Corvette rise
up from behind the shard, joining the battle as drop-pods are launched. By the
time the Pelican drops you off, you’ll have ODSTs and Spec Ops Elites at your
back. Can’t ask for a better team!
As you make your way up a mountain side to the unearthed
Cascade, the Monitor arrives.
As you draw close the peak of the Cascade, Faber’s ship
returns from the Halo ring.
Continuing forward, you find a room broken free of the structure. The
Monitor informs you that this room holds the machine you need to summon the
Forerunners. But Faber and the War Sphinx have touched down, curious to see
what you’re trying to do against their new army.
Cortana: “We trusted you. You manipulated all of us to
revive Faber.”
War Sphinx: “I gave you all the answers and services you
required. I cannot be blamed if they are not what you expected.”
Faber steps around the Chief and the Monitor.
Faber: “My kind is done. Their era past. There is no one to
call for. What are you trying to accomplish with these communication machines?”
The Monitor raises a series of hard lights around the Chief.
The Monitor: “It’s quite simple of course. My old friend has
stirred in his sleep too long, manipulating events only in the shadows. It is
time to give him control.”
And then the Faber realizes what the Monitor is attempting
to do.
Faber: “You will not awaken him. Not yet!”
Faber pulls apart the War Sphinx and wraps it around him,
engaging its weapons and abilities of flight, and tackling the Chief.
They are launched off the side of the Cascade’s peal, down
to the surface of the shard. On this beach on the tide of space, you’ll fight
your last battle of the game against the War Sphinx–Faber. You’ll need to
engage your thrusters continuously as Faber goes from the ground to the air,
moment to moment.
Once you’ve beaten him down enough, Cortana and the Monitor
will lead you back up the Cascade from another side. But Faber is not defeated,
and he is moments behind you.
Reaching the room at the peak of the Cascade again, you’ll
need to activate the Monitor’s hard light terminals before Faber can destroy
you. Doing so, you’ll start the ending cutscene.
-------------
The Halo ring spinning behind him, Faber halts as the Chief
falls to the ground. Voices rise up inside of John’s head. Not just Cortana’s,
but the Didact and his many facets.
The voices begin to converse, to unify. Cortana sees the
knowledge and the code becomes reality. She infects Faber’s armor, breaking it
down. Faber falls to one knee as John rises.
The spinning Halo slows down.
Didact (voices combined): “You are outdated, Faber”
Faber: “I needed more time.”
With the Halo out of his control, Faber sees only one
alternative. Over the battlenet, Faber calls for aid from his faithful. He
stands again, face to face with this rival, on the edge of the room looking
over a ruined Shield World. Reconciled ships muster behind him, as dropships
draw near.
Didact: “Go then. And be ready for war. But the Array is
mine now. You were never worthy of them.”
Faber leaves in a dropship and heads towards his ship as the
Reconciled turn and dive into slipspace.
The enemy defeated for now, the Halo ring reclaimed, and a
Forerunner returned, the Master Chief falls to the group, incapacitated.
Epilogue
Timestamp: "24 hours later,
onboard the UNSC New Mombassa"
The Master Chief is under observation in a guarded cell.
It’s not just the Reconciled who are afraid of him anymore…
There is a sliver of movement, a ripple in the air past the
guards, and inside the cell the Arbiter materializes.
“Spartan, I have need of you.”
--------------
THE FUTURE
What will Faber do with his covenant? What weapons will he
use against the UNSC and their rings?
What will remain of the Master Chief? Will the Didact
consume him? Will the Didact be able to be tempered by the will of Bornstellar
and John?
(Maybe it wasn’t just “luck”… Maybe the Didact and the
Librarian’s will moved John 117 through his life, to every moment of great
importance that he faced.)
Will Cortana become the new Gravemind? Will she rule over a
new form of cybernetic Flood? Is the Flood more of an idea than a species? A way
of thinking? Maybe the Precursors, the Forerunners, the Humans are far more
related to the Flood than we realize.
-------------
Well, that's what I was imagining Halo 4 could be about year and more ago. Just took me a while to explain all the details to you! Thanks so much for reading it all! :D
