Halo: Primordium (Forerunner Saga (Halo), 2)

Product Information

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. Enemy Civil War: Sorta. The Forerunners are fighting each other more than they fight the Flood (at least, on the one Halo); the Builders under Faber claim authority and abuse their power, while many Lifeworkers and Warrior-Servants still serve the Librarian and resist them. In the decades prior to the dismantling of their civilization, humans were technological equals of the Forerunners in many areas, likely placing them on Tier 1 on the Forerunner technological achievement scale. This was largely thanks to the efforts of Yprin Yprikushma, who encouraged humanity to study Forerunner technologies encountered in earlier conflicts with Forerunners. [9] Despite this, the Forerunners' technological achievements still overshadowed those of humanity in many fields, including megascale engineering and slipspace technology. For example, the humans were seemingly unable to construct megastructures on the scale of a Halo installation, [53] and their understanding of space-time reconciliation was inferior to that of the Forerunners, who were able to use their superior understanding of slipspace to an advantage by clogging the humans' slipspace channels and slowing their interstellar travel. [54]

Halo: Silentium is the third and last book of The Forerunner Saga. Released on March 19, 2013, [15] Silentium ties in directly with Halo 4, elaborating on the stories of the Ur-Didact, IsoDidact, the Librarian and the end of the Forerunner civilization as the Forerunner-Flood war draws to a close. Mythology concerning the Precursors and the origins of the Flood is expanded upon and clarified, along with a number of elements and locales touched on in the previous Forerunner Saga novels. Frieden • Insurrectionists ( Arcadia and Harvest insurrectionists • Bandusa insurrectionists • Freedom and Liberation Party • Galodew Emancipation • Gao Liberation Force • New Colonial Alliance • People's Occupation • People's Occupation Government • Secessionist Union • Sundered Legion • United Rebel Front • Venezian Militia) • Joyous Exultation Covenant • Koslovics • Neo-Frieden • Prospector Party • Stewards • San'Shyuum flotilla ( Dhas Bhasvod's Covenant • Tem'Bhetek's faction) If you'd prefer to pass the time with a Halo game instead, look no further than Halo: The Master Chief Collection (MCC). It includes all of the pre-Xbox One Halo shooters as well as Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and Halo 2: Anniversary, all for an amazing price. Also, the game greatly improved over the course of 2020. Having lived much of his life fending off for himself with his personal interests in mind, Chakas was not a particularly social person. He regarded Riser as his closest friend and the more social counterpart. [31] The two often used the Florian language to communicate with one another, something the cha manush rarely did outside of their own kind. [32] After being separated from Riser on Installation 07, he came to realize just how much he had come to depend on him. He was apprehensive of forming new attachments and despised responsibilities placed upon himself, such as Gamelpar having him promise to take care of his granddaughter. [33] However, over time, he also found himself caring for her, although he attempted to deny this even to himself; Forthencho's imprint dryly commented on the immaturity of this. [34] The series introduces multiple new elements and carrying themes which are explored as the story unfolds; one of the most prominent is the Forerunners' assumed legitimacy as heirs to the Mantle, a role of galactic stewardship they believe to have inherited from the even more ancient and powerful race known as the Precursors. The novels also introduce the Domain as the Forerunners' transcendent cultural and historical record and the perpetual mystery as to its true nature. These aspects are part of an overarching theme exploring the interactions and competition between various forms of life, encapsulated in the philosophy of Living Time.Greg Bear writing new Halo Forerunner trilogy". Joystiq. April 6, 2009. Archived from the original on February 16, 2011 . Retrieved March 21, 2013.

Leaving the now-inert compound, Vinnevra, Chakas and Mara were soon joined by Riser, who had observed them for some time. Soon after, Vinnevra's geas was roused again. Exhausted and having nowhere else to go, the group apprehensively decided to follow her lead. They eventually came across a rail transport and boarded it. They were fed during the journey, which took them to the central Lifeworker station. There, a monitor instructed them to board a boat-like vehicle. At this point, Vinnevra felt the influence of her geas clearer than before, hearing the "voice of a child" telling her that they were going to Earth. [13] However, they were instead taken to Mendicant Bias' core facility, deep beneath Installation 07's surface, alongside many other humans. The humans were provided with a dreamlike illusion that they were feasting around a table on Earth and they were filled with an euphoric sensation of safety and the feeling of being "home". [14] As she did not carry an ancestral personality imprint, Vinnevra was not deemed useful for Mendicant Bias' plan, but her life was spared nonetheless. She survived the Halo's passage over the failsafe planet and after the IsoDidact's forces reclaimed the ring, she was safely relocated to the greater Ark, becoming part of the Librarian's core population of humans. [15] Relocation to Earth [ edit ] The novel is dedicated to Claude Errera, a long-time Bungie and Halo fan as well as the founder of halo.bungie.org.Prior to the release of the novel, it was stated that there were "specific strategic reasons" as to why it would be released after Halo 4; [16] namely, story elements that tie in heavily with the game. As part of 343 Industries' decision not to reveal the appearance of the Forerunners until Halo 4, Silentium's full cover - depicting the Ur-Didact and the Librarian - was not shown until after the game's release. [17] A science fiction icon and winner of the field’s highest awards, Greg Bear has signed on to write three Halo novels set in the time of the Forerunners, the creators and builders of the Halos. Almost nothing is known for sure about this ancient race. Worshiped by the Covenant as gods, their engineering relics pepper the galaxy, and their connections to humanity remains unanswered. Devoted fans of both the books and games will finally get to delve deep into the era of these enigmatic beings, and discover for themselves the epic story behind one of the great mysteries of the Halo universe: the complete disappearance of the Forerunners from existence. World publication rights to Tor Books." — Tor Books Greg Bear. "Greg Bear: News". Greg Bear.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2013 . Retrieved April 15, 2013.

Despite the advanced nature of Precursor technology, Yprikushma and her research team managed to find a way to communicate with the captive for brief periods of time. They came to regard the creature within the cell as an oracle of sorts, asking it questions in the hopes of gaining greater understanding. Most of the time, the prisoner's answers were confused or unintelligible. When asked about the Flood, the answers given to the humans present were so deeply horrifying that many of them committed suicide. [16] [17] Gammel Par" is Danish and Norse for "Old Couple", which is likely the origin of his name and a reference for Gamelpar and his "old spirit". "Gammel Far" literally means Old Father in the same languages. Hilary Williamson. "Halo Primordium: The Forerunner Saga #2". Book Loons . Retrieved April 15, 2013. Having presumably evolved and achieved civilization on Earth, originally known as "Erda" or "Erde-Tyrene", [9] humanity first became a spacefaring civilization at some point prior to 1,100,000 BCE. These early humans settled on numerous worlds along the galactic margin; these regions would be targeted by the Flood's initial assault over a million years later. [10] Early in their history, long before encountering the Forerunners, humanity underwent a series of technological dark ages, which left their populations scattered across many worlds and resulted in the loss of most of their records, including the knowledge of Earth being their potential original homeworld. It was not until much later when scientists led by Yprin Yprikushma traced humanity's potential origin to Earth. [9] Around 150,000 BCE humanity moved their civilization outward along the Orion Arm, possibly to flee Forerunner control. [11] They first settled in and built up population centers in two star systems dozens of lightyears away from Sol before stringing outposts together across nearly thirty thousand lightyears toward the galactic margin of the galaxy. [12] At first, the monitor describes his childhood and youth as Chakas, and how he met his companion Riser. He then recounts the events of Halo: Cryptum from Chakas' perspective and explains how the Librarian's geas caused "old spirits", or genetically imprinted personalities of humans who fought in the human-Forerunner wars, to surface within him and Riser. After the Didact, Bornstellar and the two humans are captured by the Master Builder at Janjur Qom, Chakas is separated from the others and is put into stasis.

I Know Your True Name: Spoken verbatim by the Didact when he arrives at Installation 07 and uses Mendicant Bias' "true name" as a shutdown code. Curiously, the same name worked only momentarily in Cryptum.

The sequel to Halo: Cryptum was released on January 3, 2012. [5] Primordium is centered around Chakas, one of the two humans who accompanied Bornstellar in the first novel. After being captured by the Master Builder during the events of Cryptum, Chakas finds himself marooned on an embattled Halo installation, where he is joined by two humans on a quest to find his companion Riser. During their journey and its eventual conclusion, revelations are made as to the nature of the Flood, the rampant AI Mendicant Bias and the mysterious Primordial, as well as the far-reaching plans of the Precursors. After crossing an ocean, the trio are found by a Lifeworker who accompanies them with several other humans and a giant ape named Mara. While sleeping at night in the refugee center, Chakas is greeted by Riser who warns him not to trust the Lifeworker; the others are revealed to be illusions run by Forerunner computers called monitors, who are there to extract their spirits and store them as monitors. Gamelpar dies due to old age. The imprints in Riser and Chakas converse and recall the discovery of the Primordial. As an infant, Chakas was imprinted with a geas by the Librarian, who sought to use the humans in her plan to reunite with her husband, the Didact. A primordium is an aggregation of cells that is the first stage in the development of an organ or tissue. It is also a derivation of the term Primordial, which is a title given to the last Precursor. Richard Mitchell (October 18, 2012). "Halo: Silentium concludes Greg Bear's Forerunner trilogy in March 2013". joystiq . Retrieved April 14, 2013.Vinnevra was born on the Halo ring to Gamelpar's daughter while they still lived in the old city. [5] After the Forerunners began to abduct humans more frequently, taking them to the " Palace of Pain", the Tudejsa abandoned the city and became disorganized. Both of Vinnevra's parents were also taken to the Palace of Pain, leaving her grandfather Gamelpar to raise and watch over her while they lived in a small village. [6] Growing up to be a young woman, she became a worker like her mother had been. During her life in the village, she was constantly the target of aggressive sexual advances by male Tudejsa; however, Gamelpar did not give any of them permission to mate with her, and protected her to his best ability, although she was capable of defending herself as well, being forced to do so frequently. [7] Eventually, the men of the village banished Gamelpar for protecting Vinnevra, although, out of superstition, they also feared to kill the old man, as he knew the ancient way of daowa-maadthu. [8] Journey with Chakas [ edit ] Owen Good (February 3, 2012). "Hear Five Minutes of the Latest Halo Novel, Narrated by Guilty Spark". Kotaku . Retrieved April 15, 2013. a b c d e Charlie Jane Anders (October 26, 2010). "Behold the cover to Greg Bear's first Halo novel in its full glory". io9 . Retrieved March 20, 2013. The Didact and company travel to Charum Hakkor. Many of the Precursor structures on the planet, thought indestructible, have fallen into ruin. The Didact also discovers that a prisoner, protected by Precursor and human containment methods, has escaped. They travel to the nearby planet of Faun Hakkor to find it stripped of all sentient life. The Didact sponsors Bornstellar's first mutation—a vital part of Forerunner growth—and imprints his personality and memories upon the young Forerunner.