The battle mankind endured from the Covenant suddenly turned into a one-sided massacre with unknown help from the enigmatic faction. The UNSC, all around the planet, was ordered not to open fire upon the faction. But after witnessing the unknown army's firepower and how easily they tore apart Covenant's seemingly technologically superior armies, a single gigantic ship destroyed even the fleet above the planet.
There are unspoken tensions between the two factions, but none dared to point their weapon at each other. With the entire command structure effectively destroyed, the last remaining highest officers would become Earth's representative to the unknown force.
Johnson, still in his suit, scanned his comrades. They give him a confused and alarmed look. He could not blame them, though, his armor was indeed intimidating.
Johnson needs to settle down the situation. He mentally commands his armor to lower his helm, revealing his face to the UNSC army.
"My name is Sergeant Johnson. I am a member of Miranda Keyes ship. You can check my DNA if you don't believe any of my words, and I dared you to try it. " Johnson challenged them, and one of the seeming officers made a closer distance.
"If you are indeed Sergeant Johson, how on Earth you earned that armor?" The officer asked.
"It's a long story to tell. But I'm sure the ma'am shall come here to support my claim." Johnson shrugged nonchalantly.
But before the man could respond, a man wearing a black-colored gothic-style suit appeared from the thin air. He smiled diplomatically, but guns raised by the UNSC army answered it.
"Hold it! He is with me. Don't any of you dare raise your guns, or we will have bloodshed with forces we could not comprehend." Johnson pressed further, his eyes glaring with danger.
"Greetings, UNSC. My name is 5A. Android served as steward of the section Delta-9813. I am here to represent Librarian on her duty to preserve mankind reunification." He started with a perfect tone that was seemingly flawless, rooted deep inside his programmed data.
However, it did not cease the tension. The UNSC gives the unknown man a glare that speaks of a threat. 5A only smiled warmly. His advanced sensors managed to read all of their biological readings, thus enabling him to formulate the perfect counter to any of their motives.
"We will peacefully introduce our own. But first, let's get civilized, gentlemen." 5A spoke fluently, allowing his words to sink deep into every soldier around.
"You hear the man? There is nothing to be afrad!" Johnson barked, his sound transferred across the air.
After the situation was under control, the android took a step forward as he had anticipated. "Now, we can start from the beginning."
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Here is your text with some grammar and fluency improvements while maintaining your original style and narrative direction:
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The Librarian watched the human and the ancilla before her.
Their curiosity was palpable, and when everything seemed to happen so quickly, it became her duty to explain it all.
"I assume you're in need of some explanations," the Librarian said softly, smiling in understanding.
"Well, of course we are. Everything seems to be flying in every direction without any sense, and what were those visions, anyway?" Cortana's sarcasm was evident, but it earned a chuckle from the ancient being.
"I did my best to explain my origins in the shortest time. Forgive my manner; until now, humanity's survival has been my utmost concern. But now, we have time to spare," the Librarian explained. "Where would you like me to start, young one?"
"How about everything?" Cortana replied instantly.
"Patience, young one," the Librarian said, amused. "This will be a long story, but I think it will suffice to tell you the entire origin of your race and how your cousins saved this reality."
"Cousins... You've mentioned them before. Who are they?" Chief asked, taking a step forward.
"They are you… but from a different reality."
"What?" Chief pressed further.
Instead of answering, the former Forerunner gestured, waving her hand. The construct obeyed her command, and Cortana watched as the magnificent process unfolded. She witnessed the impossible—a transfer of countless billions of independent data in perfect coordination, mirroring the human body's myriad of cells.
The entire room transformed; the flawless steel became a glass structure. Molecular manipulation at another level, capable of converting one material into another. The Librarian lowered her hand, and once the transformation completed, she turned her attention back to the duo.
"It began around one hundred thousand years ago, when our civilizations met in bloody conflict. A war that would become the first sign of the Forerunner's downfall," the Librarian began as the entire room shifted to a dark space. Ships of unknown design soon appeared, some dwarfing UNSC vessels, others smaller yet nimbler than the most advanced destroyer.
"So… humanity existed long before then," Chief concluded.
"Indeed. In ancient times, your species could rival mine—stronger, larger, and significantly more intelligent than humanity now. Even your gene plan could surpass mine. But this future never came to pass, as your species encountered a parasitic lifeform that nearly destroyed every living thing in the galaxy, sparking a massive war between our races." The scene changed. They saw a ship abandoned in space, where creatures resembling dogs lurked inside. Yet, these creatures only masked a hidden, insatiable hunger.
The seemingly tame creatures mutated, transforming into horrors beyond sane imagination.
The creatures consumed everything in their path, assimilating in rapid waves that defied all logic.
"What… are those?" Chief asked slowly, feeling an instinctive threat.
"The Flood. They are parasitic organisms that nearly consumed our galaxy thousands of years ago. We, the Forerunners, were blinded by arrogance when we finally waged war against them," the Librarian explained, her tone filled with grief. "That arrogance cost almost the entire galaxy."
The scene changed to the war between ancient humanity and the Forerunners. Massive ships laid waste to planets, tearing apart planetary crusts with single volleys, rendering civilizations to ruin. The transhuman and AI watched the doom of ancient humanity as their nations burned under the overwhelming power of the Forerunners.
After humanity's defeat, the Forerunners reverted it to a primitive state.
But this decision would later become a source of regret. During this devastating war, the Forerunners encountered the Flood. Despite significant losses, they managed to drive the horrors away.
"We thought that would be the last time we encountered the Flood. But it was only the beginning." The Flood returned, this time stronger, consuming all in their path.
The seemingly invincible Forerunners were now helpless against the endless tide of Flood infections.
Thousands upon thousands of worlds were devoured by these abominations. With their ability to adapt, the Flood became unstoppable.
"How did you manage to defeat them?" Chief asked slowly, his tone cold.
"We had several options. One was the creation of the Ark and Halo Rings, superweapons designed to cleanse all biological life from the galaxy." When the Librarian finished, silence filled the room.
"Wait." Cortana gathered her thoughts. "So you're saying your race killed the entire galaxy to stop them?"
"Initially, yes. Even though we eradicated the Flood, we brought shame upon ourselves. The Forerunners were meant to protect the galaxy, to bear the Mantle with pride, not to destroy it," the ancient being replied softly, her eyes descending but a hint of hope flickering within them.
"I think there's more to this," Chief said, implying the insight the Librarian had hinted at earlier.
"Indeed. When your cousins arrived, everything changed dramatically." The Forerunner waved her hand again, and the room transformed, revealing an armada of tens of thousands of warships of varied sizes, from kilometer-long vessels to continent-sized behemoths.
The ships' gothic architecture contrasted sharply with Forerunner and UNSC designs, and their weaponry hinted at unimaginable destructive power. At the fleet's center was a ship, the largest, more resembling a black moon than an actual void vessel.
"Those are our cousins?" Cortana blurted out. "A fleet that massive… ships of such scale… and, most importantly, how did they arrive here, in this reality?"
"I don't know the full truth. I only know they arrived here by accident. At first, we thought they were a remnant of your ancestors. But blood was spilled to prove us wrong," the Librarian said as the scenery changed again.
It showed a war—a massacre. Thousands of Forerunner vessels were rendered powerless before the mysterious fleet.
Ships exploded, crews turned against each other, and inexplicable anomalies tore apart the Forerunner fleet.
"I want an explanation," Chief demanded bluntly.
"They can bend the universe to their will, with power drawn from beyond our material world," she explained, her words hard for them to digest.
"Wait. There's something beyond our material universe?" Cortana broke the silence.
"Yes. But that's a story for another time. When we encountered your cousins, we made a pact. With this alliance, we found we didn't need to create the Ark or the Rings. Their power exceeded anything the Forerunners had ever known. Let me show you."
What they witnessed next defied sanity: stars across thousands of lightyears were extinguished, reality itself torn apart by golden light that incinerated all in its path.
These humans destroyed the Flood with weapons forged from abstract concepts given form, wielding tools of destruction that embodied their intended purpose.
A blood-red spear that rewrote causality, allowing the wielder to dictate how and when it killed its prey. Bound by causality, all beings fell, thousands pierced by a single command.
A scythe, made from the very concept of death itself, raged across battlefields with power unmatched by any conventional weapon.
Air, water, land, and life—organic and inorganic—were snuffed out in a single swing.
The Librarian shifted the room again, showing hundreds of ships hovering over a planet while millions of infected Forerunners approached the system.
A regal transhuman, encased in ornate armor, stepped onto a throne inside his continent-sized vessel. Beneath him, a towering crystal structure glowed with golden energy. With a wave of his hand, the entire solar system fell under his control, from the smallest atom to the entire conceptual fabric of reality. To counter, the Flood summoned impossible blue tendrils, manipulating space to rival humanity's reality engine.
Yet, what could rival the true essence of unreality? Where space and time could be created and destroyed at will?
The eldritch structure shattered, while the fleets turned to dust, their atoms split one by one.
He gazed across lightyears, seeing countless worlds devoured by the Flood. Reaching into unreality, he targeted the Flood's collective existence. And with a thought, the infected planet was cleansed, untouched by collateral destruction.
Then he turned his gaze to sectors tainted by the Flood, where ships proved more than mere vessels of war; they were tools of creation. With a command, he erased stars and planets across hundreds of lightyears, remaking the cosmos with cosmic dust and energy.
"I hate to say this," Cortana hesitated, "but the only word that comes to mind is… gods."
"No. Even their ideals reject the notion of gods," the Librarian replied.
"What kind of civilization could possess such god-like powers? Warping reality with ease—how is that possible?" the AI continued.
"You must find that answer yourself. My duty here is to provide a guide to your species' ascension." With a gesture, the room morphed into a real-time three-dimensional map of the galaxy. Dots appeared, each tagged with names.
"What is this?" Chief stepped forward to examine the map.
"I will assist your species in reaching these locations. Here, you will find the keys to your ascension."
The ancient Forerunner waved her arm, creating a device resembling a stone tablet. "Take this."
The Spartan reached for it, and as he touched it, the object disappeared, absorbed into his body.
"Chief, your biological readings are off the charts. What did you do, Librarian?" Cortana demanded, her tone alarmed.
"Do not worry. The key I have created is now absorbed into your Geass, becoming one with you. With this, you can access and operate their technology instinctively," she said as the room returned to its original state. "We have many things to do."
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-Earth's Orbit-
Katarina watched the entire scene with a calm gesture, her eyes fixed on the destruction Legate had left in his rampage. She found this amusing. Humanity always lost on every front, losing billions of lives in the process due to Covenant's brutal tactics. But now, the aliens are obliterated.
"Feeling amused, Katarina?" Legate's voice echoed in her head.
"You can say so. It was... Entertaining when those xenos are now in our mercy." She replied, using her mind to give a glimpse of her hatred.
"I do understand your sentiment. In our reality, humanity is besieged by xenos, horrors, and abominations beyond the veil of reality." The Ferrous Mind shared his sentiment, and Katarina found it amusing. It was more than a generation since the UNSC was capable of developing AI in the caliber of creating their own personalities; they are alive, kind of. Yet, when she met Legate, that was the first time she felt the man construct so much alive, even when he spoke inside her head.
"What you going to do?" Katarina asked out of pure curiosity.
"I will send the next protocol: The Reclamation."
Then, the command was sent all across the planet. Uncountable data is spiralling in an impossible pattern, connecting with the entire planet. Then, before her own eyes, Katarina witnessed the planet moving its crust. The researcher could not believe her eyes as structures resembling shells, and from the orbit, she witnessed the middle of the sea, a steel structure emerged, towering above any mountains, gleaming with an ethereal light that speaks glory.
"The Imperium will elevates you. But now, I think it's time for humanity's retribution."