Halo: Minorca Saga/Chapter Fourteen

UNSC COLONY WORLD MINORA, ALPHA CANIS MINORIS SYSTEM, ALIEN CONSTRUCT "THE LABYRINTH" / MAY 1ST, 2551

They had been walking through the large construct for quite a while now, and their biological clocks (now accustomed to Minorca’s time) began to tell that it was time to sleep. However, with the seemingly never-ending supply of light from their flashlights, the large group trekked on.

About fifteen minutes later, according to their mission clocks, they reached a large, cavernous room. On the right were these console-like panels, and on the left was a large door. Walking over to one of the luminous panels, Jamal tapped a glyph, seemingly off of instinct, and then watched as the door opened, and light poured into the room. The unit turned, weapons at the ready, and watched as a crystal materialized in their vision, seemingly too far away to reach. “Gabe, can you check the distance on that crystal?”

Gabe sighted through his SRS-99C’s scope, and watched as when he aimed the sight towards the ground, the distance was short, and when he aimed it at the crystal, the distance merely read as: "".

"What the?"

The unit’s attention turned away from the crystal and towards the direction of a strange whir.

It was anti-gravity. It had to be Covenant.

Jamal sighted through his BR55’s scope, and looked on as a strange manufactured machine came into view. It had three booms, all arranged in a "trinity" pattern. In the center was a glowing blue orb, and strangely, it didn’t turn red. The machine edged closer, then stopped right in front of Jamal, seemingly staring at him, trying to figure out who he was. It moved around Jamal’s head, and then moved towards Gabriel, Helen, and the rest.

Backing away, the Sentinel moved to reveal another construct, this one appearing as a hollowed-out box with an orb in the middle.

"More reclaimers? Magnificent!"

Jamal lowered his weapon, and then glanced over at Helen and Gabriel, who had the same reaction as him, one of surprise and shock.

"Come with me Reclaimers, there is much to be done!"

Jamal turned around, shrugged at the rest, and followed the construct.

“I am so happy to see that my maker’s have lived to reproduce! I thought they all died in the cataclysm!”

“Died?”

“Yes… didn’t you know?”

“Know what?”

“Ooh, here comes a conflict of protocol. Although I am to answer all of your questions, I cannot reveal that information until the time comes.”

“O…kay…”

“Now, Reclaimer… Reclaimers, I should say, why have you entered this facility?”

“There was something here that they wanted us to find…”

“They? Who is this… “they” you speak of?”

“The UNSC… my government… my commanders…”

“Ah, very well. It’s amazing to see how my makers have evolved…”

Jamal glanced over at the Marine commander, who shrugged, wondering what the construct was talking about.

“Why did you open the door to the crystal, Reclaimer?”

“I saw a panel… I touched it… so what?”

“So what? SO WHAT? Opening the door to the crystal is against protocol!”

“It is?”

“It is. However, I will let that incident slide, as you and your comrades seem to be absolutely oblivious as to what is going on here.”

“Okay, then. What is going on here?”

“This is Facility 0076-X, known in your language as “the Labyrinth”. I am the monitor of this facility, but you can call me “Archivist”, Reclaimer.

“Now that we have that out of the way, what is the purpose of this facility?”

“I cannot tell you, not yet, Reclaimer.”

“Okay. Now, why do you call me “Reclaimer”? Is it a title or something?”

“Most definitely, Reclaimer.”

“What is a Reclaimer?”

“You don’t know?”

“No…”

“No memories? No stories? No language?”

“Not at all.”

“Has the Reclaimer project failed? Oh my, oh my. My makers would not be pleased with this outcome!”

“Reclaimer project?”

“My makers designated your race, known as “Homo Sapiens” as Reclaimers! After they left this galaxy, they left it all to you.”

Jamal pictured a cheeky smile on the monitor’s face.

“Okay, then. Who are your makers?”

“The Forerunner? Didn’t you know?”

“Who were the Forerunners?”

“The Forerunners, my makers, were an advanced civilization that ruled this Galaxy over one-hundred thousand years ago. However, after a war with an extra-galactic enemy, they used their last known solution.”

“And that was?”

“I cannot tell you, not yet, Reclaimer. Protocol dictates my actions, and the time is not right.”

“Okay then, I’m guessing the same about this extra-galactic enemy?”

“Correct, Reclaimer. But, please, follow me, I found another one of your kind! He would be happy to meet you!”

''Another one of my kind… holy crap, it’s one of those guys who came in here to study this construct… I thought they died… Anyway, Jamal, what have you pieced together?''

''Number one, you, and all humans, are these “Reclaimers”, heirs to the throne, so to speak, of these Forerunners. These Forerunners lived a long time ago, and then, after a war, killed themselves.'' Where’d you get that from? ''Well, they’re not here… anyway, this thing, this monitor, is taking me deeper into this construct. He’s called the “archivist”. What does he archive? History? Species? Weapons?  What the hell is going on here?''

Jamal shook his head, held his rifle in his arms in a “battle position”, and followed the Monitor.

Behind Jamal, Gabriel and Helen weren’t faring much better at trying to figure out what the construct was talking about, but did figure out that these “Forerunners” were way more technologically advanced.

Between the three, somewhat unknown to each other, began to form a singular idea.

If these Forerunners were so advanced, and Humanity is there to claim all of their lost technology, how come they haven’t found a weapon, something so large, and something so destructive, that it could end this genocidal war once and for all. Jamal, thinking of what magnificent weapons could lay in the Labyrinth, began to remember that one weapon that Humanity had created, their one trump card, the one thing that could bring the Covenant to their knees.

NOVA.