There's a reason we codenamed it Halo

This is where the action happens!

Moderator: Moderators

ISitInA
Data [Conditional]
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:26 pm

There's a reason we codenamed it Halo

Unread post by ISitInA »

To: Cpt********.1465.UNSC.THESEUS
From: ISitInA.ERROR DATA UNAVAILABLE
Origin: ERROR DATA UNAVAILABLE
Received:
Sent: ERROR DATA UNAVAILABLE
Classifications: Captain's Eyes Only, Message Archival Allowed, Neural Net Upload Permissions Denied
Attachments: 3 (UEM-F484-U.MP.S-2276A6-A, UEM-F484-U.MP.S-2276B1-A, UEM-F484-U.MP.S-2276B1-E, 31 Mb total)
Subject: There's a reason we codenamed it Halo

Captain,

I just got the transcript from your speech to the crew and... Wow! I wouldn't be half surprised if a couple of ONI agents show up during your debriefing to make you an offer or two. You showed a great deal of political savvy in that speech. I know it probably just comes with being a Captain, but I'm impressed!

The way that you bent the truth impressed me. This coming from a woman who used to infiltrate Insurrectionist cells when she was young. If that doesn't make the crew at least a little more at ease, then I don't know what will.

I'm also told that your XO was impressed as well. High praise from a woman who turned down several offers to work for ONI.

Honestly, Captain, be proud, and know that you made the right decision. With the crew being twitchy, you're doing a great job of keeping them calm. You've more than earned your rank.

Also, I'm told that Helen made a request for some classified information on some old projects. I pulled some strings. She'll get the information tomorrow. I don't know how good it'll be to you (all of it admittedly is too technical for me to understand) but I hope it helps somehow. It's the least that I can do for your patience.

I find it funny that I can ease into a related subject: highly classified, and beyond my comprehension at times.

Part of the reason why Halo is so highly classified is because of the true nature of the artifact. At least, what F484's reports say about the true nature of the artifact. Even he admits that it might be compromised information. His source isn't exactly considered 100% reliable, even if everything else she said is true.

It seems that the aliens who built the structure discovered a parasitic race which consumed its hosts. (Details are sketchy at best, but I'm trying to explain as best I can.) This race, apparently, were of a great threat to the aliens, infesting multiple planets. A single “spore” (the use of that term is a source of great concern amongst scientists in the know) could cause an entire world to fall surprisingly quickly. Even worse, this race, referred to as the Flood, could operate Forerunner starships. And somehow the aliens, who could create slipstream effects that are still considered the realm of science fiction and Dyson spheres and Ringworlds, were losing the war.

The Halo array system was their final scorched earth answer to the war. A final, most drastic solution. A way to defeat the Flood, but at a terrible cost: All intelligent life in the galaxy.

And their final act was to use that weapon.

Yet, numbers don't quite check out, initially. Initially, it appears that from the reported time of activation of the Array, Humanity's ancestors should have been wiped out. For a while, this caused the entire thing to be dismissed as nothing. Indeed, I wouldn't even be bringing it up except for what happened later, and one bit of scientific evidence that actually supports this theory.

The Ross-Ziegler Blip, as it's known (who the hell names things a blip?) shows that there is a small, almost unnoticeable gap in fossil records across multiple worlds. Such a gap may have been caused by the Halo array firing.

Needless to say, even if it were false, one cannot blame F484 for wishing to ensure that something along those lines would ever be repeated. I can think of a few Admirals who would have thought Humanity safe and tried firing the array. Fortunately, they would have been talked down, but...

Sincerely,

Chair

*************
Note by Hive: Captain, I have encountered additional encrypted data within this message. The encryption keys are old enough to be added to my own databanks upon my creation due to our frequent status in the outer regions of humanity's occupied zone, in case we encountered any of the number of missing ships from the war. It uses the third set of encryption protocols. Below is the unencrypted message.
*************
Was that your real reason? I cannot believe it to be the only purpose you had behind it. What went on in your mind?
*************
UEM-F484-U.MP.S-2276A6-A wrote: Myung: Just a second. I have to open these doors.
(PAUSE, 22.8 SECONDS)
F484: Why does it take so long to open these things anyway?
Myung: Three things. Containment protocols and safeguards, in case the Flood ever overran the ring; the fact that these doors haven't been used in millennia; and the fact that they're only supposed to be opened by a Monitor so it takes me a little bit, alright?
F484: Hacking your way in?
Myung: Not quite, but it's a close analogue.
F484: Fair enough.
(PAUSE 97.2 SECONDS)
Myung: I showed you mine, how about you show me yours?
F484: (SURPRISED) Excuse me?
Myung: I guess it's more accurate to say you forced yourself into seeing mine.
(PAUSE, 1.8 SECONDS)
Myung: (FLATLY) Your face, idiot.
F484: (UNCOMFORTABLY) Why?
Myung: Because I like to look people in the eye.
F484: Later.
UEM-F484-U.MP.S-2276B1-A wrote: Myung: So, where are you from?
F484: Classified. (PAUSE, 0.9 SECONDS) Check your corners.
(PAUSE, 9.7 SECONDS)
Myung: How about your name at least?
F484: Foxtrot four-eight-four.
Myung: Your real name, I mean.
F484: I just told you. Foxtrot four-eight-four.
Myung: (ANNOYED) That's not- (INTERRUPTED)
F484: Light up ahead. This Index thing supposed to be in there?
Myung: Right.
F484: Say 'Affirmative.' You stay here, watch my six. I'll go collect.
Myung: There's nothing out here!
F484: Unless that Monitor thing wakes up from its cycle and decides we're mucking everything up and unleashes the defenses on us. Relax, I'm not running with it or anything. (PAUSE, 2.4 SECONDS) There's nowhere to go.
UEM-F484-U.MP.S-2276B1-E wrote: Myung: Aren't your superiors worried about you?
F484: I've got another three days before they become concerned. (PAUSE, 4.2 SECONDS) My orders were to seek out information about the ring and bring as much data as I could back for analysis. (PAUSE, 1.5 SECONDS) We learned that I operate best when my orders are vague.
Myung: So they gave you a five day leave to get it done?
F484: Mostly.
(PAUSE, 5.3 SECONDS)
Myung: So, when are you going to rest?
F484: Excuse me?
Myung: We've been at this for over a day now and you haven't even paused. When are you going to rest?
F484: My stims will last me another two.
(PAUSE, 8.2 SECONDS)
Myung: (ADAMANTLY) I am not going any farther until you at least sit down and rest for a few hours.
F484: Why?
Myung: Because you can't keep pushing yourself like that all the time!
F484: (OFFHANDEDLY) I do it all the time. It's not a problem.
F484: (DETERMINEDLY) Besides, I still don't know what your deal is. You're an Innie. I already surmised that before you said squat to me about your past. You haven't told me how you got here, I can't be sure of your intentions, and I can't be sure that you aren't going to take this railroad spike of doom and run the moment I fall asleep. You're asking me to do a lot on just a story that sounds straight out of science fiction, and you haven't given me a single thing in return. So if you don't mind, I just want to analyze all the data I've collected while we get out of here, send a pulse back to base camp, and figure out what I'm going to do from there.
(PAUSE, 97.4 SECONDS)
Myung: (CAUTIOUSLY) What if I give you a way to get food here?
F484: (PLEASANTLY) You have my attention.
Carver
Data [Conditional]
Posts: 42
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:35 pm

Re: There's a reason we codenamed it Halo

Unread post by Carver »

Chair,

Ok, back up a minute. If these...'Forerunners' were trying to stop the 'Flood' and save the galaxy and such, how was killing off all intelligent life supposed to accomplish that? I mean, didn't they just do the Flood's job for them?
ISitInA
Data [Conditional]
Posts: 47
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:26 pm

Complicated

Unread post by ISitInA »

To: Cpt********.1465.UNSC.THESEUS
From: ISitInA.ERROR DATA UNAVAILABLE
Origin: ERROR DATA UNAVAILABLE
Received:
Sent: ERROR DATA UNAVAILABLE
Classifications: Captain's Eyes Only, Message Archival Allowed, Neural Net Upload Permissions Denied
Attachments:
Subject: Complicated

Captain,

See, that's the part that I never fully understood. Before I explain, I'd just like to make something perfectly clear. I hate that name with a passion. It's a rough translation of the Covenant name for them, and honestly, I'd prefer to give them a title that sounds more scientific than religious. Myung never said the proper name for the race, though somehow I doubt they called themselves "Forerunner" any more than we call ourselves "That Awesome Race From Long Ago What Made Pennies Appear From Behind Your Ear" right now. Last I checked, we're humans. If we ever find out the proper name for them, I will be a happy woman.

Sorry. It's something that just gets me.

As for this flood thing, like I said, I'm not completely sure. Apparently, the Flood require a sentient being due to some sort of nutrient quota, though this doesn't quite seem right to me. I remember reading a report where scientists were amazed that Elites and Jackals were able to breath and eat local food while on UNSC worlds without dying. Maybe the Flood evolved around infesting these ancient aliens (Don't make me say the F word again) but could it jump species onto other worlds? Species that might have a completely different biological makeup than the aliens in question?

And why sentient beings? I honestly don't know.

From what little I can understand before I decide that I don't want to know, the aliens had some sort of master plan. Part of it included starving the Flood to death, I think. Why? Because they were losing the fight. How insane is that? A race that can singularly target any creature in the galaxy that might be a host to this parasite, who can create feats that we can't even imagine, was losing a fight against something that turned you into a mindless husk.

I don't know if that's funny, sad, or the most terrifying thing I've ever heard of.

I may not understand it, but F484 asked a ton of questions about it. The very technical kinds of questions that said that he thought it crazy, too. But Myung answered them. Unfortunately, I don't understand half of what she said. The occasional mention of calcium or nervous system or the like is about all I can keep up with. I'm not a biology major, and those that I've talked to that have access to the data... They are either as skeptical as I am, or have taken up hunting with a shotgun and refuse to talk about it, other than to advise that I do the same.

Now, I'll admit that it might have something to do with my security clearance for that matter, but still... After working with ONI for as long as I have, when a bunch of the spooky scientists suddenly take an interest in becoming proficient with one type of firearm? Yeah, you'd better believe I make sure I know where one is.

In the end, F484 was convinced, and that's good enough for me. Though he mentioned something about using some sort of acid as a weapon (I can't find the comment at the moment) we're still not sure if that was a joke, an insult, or an honest suggestion.

Anyway, the plan was, if I understand it correctly, to starve the Flood until it died out, then come back out of hiding and resume being the awesome force of the universe. All that I know is that for some reason they decided to skip the hiding part. Maybe they viewed it as penance, maybe something went wrong, or there may be a piece of the puzzle that we still are missing. I honestly don't know. That's what really frightens me.

Sincerely,

Chair
PsycoJoe
Data [Authenticated]
Posts: 76
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 4:26 am

Re: There's a reason we codenamed it Halo

Unread post by PsycoJoe »

Chair,

Perhaps there are certain chemicals in the brain that a thinking being releases which these 'flood' things need, as well as calcium. (An uneducated guess, applied biology isn't my field.)

Maybe I should consider a new weapons purchase. What gauge do you recommend?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hive,

Encrypt the following as before and include with the message:

Even the best servers need help recovering, sometime.
Post Reply