To no one's surprise, Anders had plenty of questions. I expected Serina to have some as well, but I'm sure Mendicant and Tragic Solitude had already given her the relevant information.
"Wait, you kept talking about humanity as if we were there?" She sounded puzzled.
"You were, just not you." I nodded, then explained further.
"Humanity as it is now is the result of the reseeding I mentioned earlier. Since the Librarian held humanity close to her heart, you were the first species to be indexed so that she could preserve some of you for later.
I continued her work with hundreds of other species across the galaxy, for as long as I could. Regardless, once the rings were lit, everything within the galaxy was sterilized and killed to starve out the Flood.
Once we'd done another sweep, and another thousand years of burning what remained of the Flood, we reseeded the various species we'd indexed. Humanity was one of them, which is why you are here today."
I let Tragic Solitude explain a few things as the Gacha pinged twice.
[Gift from beyond the veil, 1x Random Gold Ticket] (Gang_Goose)
[Gift from beyond the veil, 1x Random Gold Ticket] (Shadow_solder7)
With the humans currently listening to another lecture from Tragic Solitude, I rolled the tickets to see what I'd gotten. Hopefully a clone ability so that I didn't have to suffer doing this again.
[Spinning, spinning, spinning, done!]
[Hygienic]
|Common Trait|
You are almost always hygienic; no bad breath or germs for you.
[Lol, you got old geezer breath after so many years!]
[North Pole]
|Elite Item|
Terraria - A crystalline spear forged from what remained of the shattered Ice Queen. Allows the wielder to produce blasts of frigid energy from their own energy by using the North Pole as a catalyst. Amplifies the power of Ice-based abilities when using the North Pole as a focus.
Sweet, I don't need this or have a reason to use it, but ok.
I returned to reality and found myself following behind the group with my helmet back on. I guess my ancilla had put it there for some reason. I stayed silent as Tragic Solitude explained the more minute details of Forerunner history.
Getting bored, I decided to go back to where the Spirit of Fire was undergoing a refit. I'd half expected the Builders to raise a revolution for having to work on such an alien vessel, but they'd actually been excited to work on something that wasn't part of my fleet.
As such, they'd been hard at work the last few days as Serina made sure they didn't change too much. Once there, I simply conjured a hard light recliner and watched the Builders and sentinels go about their work. I was alone for a few minutes until Captain Cutter joined me, standing, of course.
"I guess you're not one for history?" I asked the Captain as another recliner formed, and he sat on the edge. "I understand if it's not. Tragic Solitude enjoys what he does, but not many enjoy sitting through his long lectures."
Cutter's mouth quirked up into the ghost of a smile as he gazed upon his ship. He was silent for a while until he finally asked, "Why are you helping us?" I was silent for a long moment and found myself wondering the same thing.
"To be honest, I have no reason to help you and your ship. I have everything I need. Troops, supplies, a fleet, a stable home base. I do nothing but risk everything I have by bringing you here."
Cutter nodded; it seems he'd been thinking the same thing. "So why help us?"
"Boredom, really. I've been in stasis for the last few millennia since I've explored every inch of the Ark. Sure, I could go galivanting around the galaxy, but that would expose us as being alive before the time is right.
Besides, it would do wonders for the local populace. Not to mention helping your ship regain its numbers. You'll also have to be retrained on how your ship works. Serina is making sure not much changes appearance-wise, but the Builder refuses to do anything other than the best.
Your ship will be one of, if not the most advanced human warships by the end of this war. There is another ship later on that might knock you out of first, but she's a long way from us."
Cutter looked surprised. "You know how the war ends? How?"
I lightly patted the sentinel that brought us drinks as it floated away. "As I'm sure you've noticed, I'm not a Forerunner, nor am I a Human. Despite that, I am one of the few beings who remember the Ecumene at the height of its power.
I alone command the Ark and the last Forerunner fleet in this galaxy. I can fly through the void, slipspace, and tear through any ship's hull with my bare hands. Covenant, Human, Forerunner- none of it stands a chance.
I am a Viltrumite. I am not from this galaxy at all; hell, I'm not even from this universe. I come from another reality where all of this is fiction, and where Earth never formed the UNSC, never expanded to Luna and Mars, never left Earth itself.
I know a good portion of the future, and I have the power to change it."
Cutter looked shocked. He didn't touch his drink for nearly ten minutes before gulping it all at once. I smirked when he choked on the last drop of it, lightly patting his back as he nearly fell from his seat.
"If you know everything, why aren't you helping us?! Why let millions of people suffer and die while the Covenant throws more ships and soldiers at us? Why not help us with everything you have here?"
I ignored his tone of voice, despite how easy it would be to correct it. I mull over his question for a moment, then answer.
"Because I don't have to. I'm not responsible for Humanity; you are. The stars and galaxy they reside in are literally your species' birthright; the Covenant is but a test to see if you have what it takes to claim it.
No, I did not send them at you. I will not, however, hold Humanity's hand as they do their best to kill themselves and others with their arrogance, greed, and ignorance. The galaxy is a cold, unforgiving place.
If Humanity cannot band together in this time of crisis and come together as a species to overcome the Covenant, then they will have failed themselves. It's not my job to baby you; it's to make sure you understand what it means to have power and wield it responsibly.
Cutter calmed down as he sipped on another drink a sentinel brought. I set my glass down and held up my hand where he could see it.
He winced as bright light burst in my palm, I brought my other hand to keep it under control as he averted his eyes. "What is that?" He asked.
"Nuclear Fission, fusion, sorry." I clarified as the bright light grew slightly less violent. Cutter paled and backed away as I looked him in the eye.
"What I hold in my hands is about the same as two Shiva warheads. I can withstand the radiation of a star, so this is nothing compared to what I can actually do. Sit."
Cutter shakily sat as his ancilla wrapped his body in a protective coating to keep him safe. My ancilla did the same as I kept speaking.
"Humanity's potential for greatness is like this nuclear bomb within my hands. If directed correctly, I can vaporize an enemy, clear out a planet for mining, or further research into clean energy.
I can also just as easily destroy your ship. I can level colonies, dismantle shipyards, turn every meeting of senior admirals and officers to ash. I could also poison water, kill the earth so no more crops can be grown, a multitude of horrific things.
Likewise, humanity had the potential to terraform worlds into paradises. Eradicate disease in both the inner and outer colonies. Bring the standard of living up for all humans, and fight the Covenant to a standstill so no one else dies.
They also violently put down insurrections, though some get out of hand. They keep people poor and hungry so they buy what they can to live only another day. They plot and scheme to control the people while genocidal aliens are coming to burn them all.
If humanity cannot overcome their greed, hate for their fellow man, need for control and power, and come together to face the existential threat that is the Covenant. You might as well nuke every colony now, before the Covenant come to glass them."
I left Captain Cutter alone with his thoughts as I stood and shot into the air. I was going to visit the Foundry.