Catalog is here to investigate the Battle of the Capital, which resulted in the deaths of the entire Old Council, and demands a testimony from both the Librarian and her husband - the IsoDidact, formerly Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting. However, a warning of an approaching Flood fleet results in the IsoDidact having to leave to defend the territory, so Catalog is sent off with the Librarian. While it accompanies her, she tells it about the events that led to her becoming a Lifeshaper, and her growing split from the original Didact due to their differing opinions about humanity.
Over a thousand years earlier, shortly before the Ur-Didact went into exile, he and the Librarian gathered together at their estate on the world of Nomdagro. An associate of Haruspis visited their home and helped guide the Ur-Didact in the Cryptum's preservation process. After the Didact's exile, things continued to deteriorate on the Forerunner political scene. To remain seen as an asset to the Master Builder, the Librarian proposed an expedition to a local galaxy known as Path Kethona to learn about the Flood's origins.
Legend dictated that 10 million years ago, ancient Forerunners journeyed to Path Kethona, but actual records detailing this journey had long since vanished. The Old Council approved of this venture and the ship Audacity was constructed for the long journey to Path Kethona. Arriving at Path Kethona, the crew of Audacity would find it seemingly completely devoid of life.
However, they discovered that Precursor architecture existed this far out of the Milky Way. Amongst the artifacts was a vast fleet of ancient Forerunner vessels of war. The Librarian and her crew scanned the Forerunner vessels and found nothing of true interest; any records inside had been destroyed thousands of years ago, as they were uploaded in binary.
Eventually, the Librarian, Keeper and Chant discovered a planet with a civilization of primitive Forerunners confined to the planet and lacking any form of advanced technology; however, the planet's ecology is completely based upon Forerunner genetics. The crew land on the planet to encounter the natives in person. As the Librarian meets the locals in person without armor, an old female, Glow-of-Old-Suns, suddenly bites her. However, this has a practical purpose: The Librarian queries Glow-of-Old-Suns about the origins of her people and is taken to a valley where she learns that the history of the natives is contained within a vast growth of moss - an organic Domain.
By accessing this information reserve, she would learn that Warriors drove the Precursors to Path Kethona during the Forerunners' genocidal campaign against their creators ten million years earlier, and that the planet's inhabitants were descendants of Forerunners exiled there as punishment for refusing to partake in the destruction of the Precursors. Back in the present, we are reunited with the Ur-Didact as he emerges from a stasis-bubble on a broken-down Builder hulk drifting in a Burn, the designation for a Flood infected star system.
We learn Sharp lost favor with Faber and Maker was going to give Catalog testimony against Faber, so all three found themselves on the broken ship as well. Their destination is a Flood-infested world called Uthera Midgeerrd. Eventually a Precursor artifact with slithering star roads appears and threatens to destroy the ship. The Ur-Didact, willing to confront whatever lies in the Precursor artifact, remains on the ship while the others escape; only Catalog stays to accompany him. The Ur-Didact and Catalog are captured by the Gravemind and the Ur-Didact's sanity is severely shaken by the resulting encounter.
The Gravemind then reveals the true nature of the Precursors. They did indeed reject Forerunners for the Mantle and intended for humans to hold it. The Forerunners did not accept this and drove the Precursors from the galaxy and beyond. Some Precursors survived by going dormant, others became powder that could regenerate their old selves in time, but time rendered it defective and it only created sickness and disease. The Precursors vowed that none of their creations would rise against them again and that all life would suffer and be in perpetual agony, through their new form as the Flood.
Back in the Orion complex, Forerunner defenses continue to fall as formerly dormant Precursor artifacts across the galaxy begin to reactivate, with their immense power bolstering the Flood's already enormous forces.
Follow the Author
The Master Builder is revealed to be alive and well. He rescued the Ur-Didact, who was given power once again.
Arguments ensue and the Ur-Didact reveals the Gravemind drove him mad and that he would not let humans attain the Mantle. The Flood arrives and ravages Nomdagro as the Audacity and Mantle's Approach leave towards the greater Ark, now the last bastion of the ecumene. On the greater Ark, Omega Halo is there in anticipation for a Flood assault.
Coming across the shores of a large lake, the three stumble upon a collapsing human city, in which Gamelpar and Chakas see a proto-Gravemind locked in a Forerunner cell. After crossing the lake, the three are found by a Lifeworker named Genemender Folder of Fortune , several Denisovans , and a large ape.
Strangely, Genemender and the humans cast off no smell and the insects are not interested in them. After being fed by Genemender and sent to sleep, Chakas awakens to see Riser, who warns him not to trust the Lifeworker and the other humans. Genemender then takes Chakas to a laboratory and explains what has occurred regarding the history of the Flood , the Halo Array , the devastation of Janjur Qom , and the battle of the Capital.
Frequently bought together
Genemender also explains that the Master Builder's attack on Janjur Qom caused a small civil war to break out among the Forerunners defying the Master Builder, of which Genemender was one. Genemender is eventually forced to reveal that he and the humans in his compound are not actually alive, but archived personalities manifesting as life-like hard light holograms.
Genemender, who is actually based within a monitor, is under orders to salvage the humans' genetic records to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Flood and the Master Builder. The monitor wants to do this to Gamelpar, who is dying, but Gamelpar rejects him and has Chakas accompany him in his final moments. Before dying, Gamelpar has Chakas promise to watch over Vinnevra.
Halo: Primordium | Halo Nation | FANDOM powered by Wikia
The systems in the area then power down, leaving Chakas, Riser, Vinnevra, and the ape, whose name is revealed to be Mara by Riser, who can communicate with her, to continue their journey. Riser then tells Chakas how he found them. During the battle over the Forerunner Capital, Riser and the Forerunners that were holding him crashed on Installation One of the Forerunners, who was locked up by the others due to him being on the opposing side of the small civil war caused by the Master Builder, told the others that Riser was valuable due to his geas , and thus the others protected him as they moved out.
After a while of traveling over a desert infested with Flood biomass , the group was covered in Flood spores , killing the Forerunners but not Riser, who continued traveling until he stumbled upon Chakas. Chakas and Riser then allow their spirits to converse with one another.
This interrupts the monitor's data stream, causing Forthencho to briefly take over Chakas as the narrator. It is revealed the Riser's spirit was a woman named Yprin Yprikushma , another high-ranking human who was responsible for excavating Precursor ruins and moving the Primordial to Charum Hakkor, which Forthencho disapproved of. Forthencho also recounts the events during the humans' war with the Forerunners, the final battle at Charum Hakkor, and their eventual defeat and the extraction of their personalities and memories via something called the Composer.
The group is finally found by a transport and they are brought to the lair of Mendicant Bias deep inside the Halo's bowels. Chakas, Riser, and all of the other humans from Earth are gathered and have their imprinted ancestral personalities removed and implanted into monitors.
Mendicant Bias promises them revenge on the Forerunners; however, they must first save the Halo from colliding with a planet , due to the ring being on a destructive course as a security measure should it fall under enemy control. The plan is for the Halo to position itself in such a way that the planet will pass through the Halo, which will suffer heavy damage but will survive. As the Halo moves towards the planet, Chakas is connected to the Silent Cartographer in order to interface with the Halo and help coordinate its movements.
A fleet led by the Bornstellar Didact then appears, and the Didact uses a failsafe code to disable Mendicant Bias. The Didact then enters the Cartographer and commands that the Halo be saved by moving it to an Ark installation for repairs. To successfully move through a portal , however, the Halo must shed a large portion of its constituent structure, thus reducing its diameter from 30, kilometers to 10, kilometers.
Though heavily damaged, the Halo survives and moves through the portal. The ensuing conversation reveals that the Primordial is actually a Gravemind, and that more Precursors may have survived their war with the Forerunners. The Didact claims that war happened because the Precursors resented any who might take up the Mantle , but the Primordial explains that the Forerunners had been deemed unfit for the Mantle. The Primordial asserts that "there is no difference" between the Flood and the Precursors, although it does not reveal the precise nature of their relationship.
It also reveals that no human was ever truly immune to the Flood, but the Flood can choose whether to infect or not infect. The Primordial states that the Flood is a test to judge a species' worthiness of inheriting the Mantle, stating that the Forerunners are to be eliminated and that humans will be tested next once they rise again. At the conversation's conclusion, the Didact kills the Primordial by activating a reverse stasis chamber that forces the Primordial to go through a billion years of aging in several seconds, causing it to disintegrate.
Back at present day, the ONI researchers reluctantly accept that the monitor telling the story is actually Guilty Spark , the monitor of Installation In the final segment of the story, Guilty Spark briefly explains what happened after he had become a monitor; he reveals that the Ecumene Council was reinstated and the debates on new strategies against the Flood renewed under the direction of the Didact.
He also notes that Riser and Vinnevra survived and were relocated on an Ark under the Librarian's care, with Riser eventually being returned to Earth. The book ends with the remains of Guilty Spark's monitor shell being ejected into space after powering down, but not before he injects his data stream into the ship's computer, subdues the shipboard AI and takes control of the ship. He then explains to the crew that he desires to resume his quest to find the Librarian and retrieve the old spirits of Riser and Vinnevra.
Later it is revealed everyone except the three of them are illusions cast by the monitors who are there to extract their spirits and store them as monitors. After breaking out of the illusion they are joined by Riser while Gamelpar dies due to old age. Forthencho converses with the spirit of Yprin Yprikushma within Riser who was responsible for excavating Precursor ruins and moving the Primordial to Charum Hakkor, which Forthencho has disapproved of.
The group is finally brought to The Palace of Pain by a transport, where they are greeted by Mendicant Bias. The spirits within all humans are extracted and Mendicant Bias promises them revenge on Forerunners. Those who oppose are killed. Forthencho lies to Bias that Chakas has agreed to help them and they are transported to the Silent Cartographer.
As Halo is on a collision course with a nearing planet they try to save it by interfacing Chakas through an infected Forerunner into Halo's system. A fleet led by the Didact then appears from the other side of the planet and the Didact purges Mendicant Bias from Installation Chakas then merges with the Didact to move the halo through a portal.
To do so, however, the halo must drop several pieces of itself, thus reducing its diameter to its current size. The Halo survives and Chakas and The Didact visit The Primordial, who has been imprisoned in a reverse time capsule which speeds up time experienced within enclosure. He reveals that Precursors have decided Forerunners are not meant to inherit the Mantle they have failed their test , but humans have been selected to be tested now instead; once Forerunners are eliminated, humans will be tested by Flood to check their worthiness for inheriting the Mantle.
Didact then disintegrates the Primordial by turning the time dial to full and Chakas is converted into a monitor and is pleased to learn that his friends survived. Shortly thereafter he takes control of the ship. It is then revealed that it was Chakas who was converted into Guilty Spark. He is now seeking the spirits of Riser and Vinnevra, for whom he seek the Librarian.. He puts the ship's crew to sleep and takes off. Hardcover Fiction for the week of January 7, at number seventeen.
- A Brooklyn Boys Stories.
- Halo: Primordium: Book Two of the Forerunner Saga: Greg Bear: theranchhands.com: Books;
- Faith Shaping Ministry;
- Turning Points.
- Twice Nightly?