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| {{Status|Canon}} | | {{Era|Forerunner}} |
| {{Center|For the UNSC's conflict with the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]], see [[Post-Covenant War conflicts]].}} | | {{Battle Infobox |
| {{Battle infobox
| | |prev= [[Forerunner-Precursor War]] |
| |prev= [[Forerunner-Precursor war]] | | |conc= [[Human-Flood war]] |
| |conc=
| | |next= [[Forerunner-Flood War]] |
| |next= [[Forerunner-Flood war]] | |
| |name=Human-Forerunner war | | |name=Human-Forerunner war |
| |image=[[File:H4-Terminal-CharumHakkor-Battle.jpg|350px]] | | |image=[[File:H4-Terminal-CharumHakkor-Battle.jpg|350px]] |
| |conflict= | | |conflict= |
| |date=c. [[107,445 BCE]]—[[106,445 BCE]]<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 131''</ref> | | |date=c. [[110,000 BCE]]-[[109,000 BCE]]<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 131''</ref> |
| |place=[[Orion Arm]] of the [[Milky Way|Milky Way galaxy]] | | |place=[[Orion Arm]] of the [[Milky Way|Milky Way galaxy]] |
| |result='''Decisive Forerunner victory''' | | |result='''Pyrrhic Forerunner victory''' |
| *Humanity's empire dissolved | | *Human empire dissolved |
| *Human civilization dismantled; species biologically regressed | | *Human-San 'Shyuum alliance dissolved |
| *Thousands of worlds devastated | | *Human forces completely annihilated, civilization wiped from the galaxy. |
| *[[San'Shyuum home system]] quarantined | | *San'Shyuum homeworld placed under quarantine |
| *Flood strategic retreat from Milky Way galaxy | | *Cure for the Flood lost |
| *Forerunner military resources exhausted | | *Forerunner military resources exhausted |
| |side1=[[Ecumene|Forerunner ecumene]] | | |side1=[[Forerunner]]s |
| |side2=[[Human-San'Shyuum alliance]] | | |side2=[[Human-San 'Shyuum alliance]] |
| *[[Ancestors|Humanity]] | | *Human empire |
| *[[San'Shyuum]] | | *San 'Shyuum |
| |side3=[[Flood]]
| | |commanders1=[[Didact]] |
| |commanders1=[[Ur-Didact|Didact]] | | |commanders2=*[[Yprin Yprikushma]]† |
| |commanders2=*[[Yprin Yprikushma]]† | |
| *[[Forthencho]]† | | *[[Forthencho]]† |
| *[[First Prophet]]
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| |commanders3=[[Gravemind]]
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| |casual1=Heavy | | |casual1=Heavy |
| *Loss of at least 50 star systems<ref name="c130">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 130''</ref> | | *Loss of at least 50 star systems<ref name="c130">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 130''</ref> |
| |casual2=Heavy | | |casual2=Heavy |
| *Loss of at least 1,000 star systems<ref name="empire">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 129''</ref> | | *Loss of at least 1,000 star systems<ref name="empire">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 129''</ref> |
| |casual3=Heavy
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| *All Flood forms and infected worlds
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| }} | | }} |
| {{Quote|Ten thousand years ago, humans had fought a war against Forerunners — and lost. The centers of human civilization had been dismantled and the humans themselves devolved and shattered into many forms, some said as punishment — but more likely because they were a naturally violent species.|[[Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting]]}}
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| The '''human-Forerunner wars''',<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 45, 47''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 236, 375''</ref> also referred to collectively as the '''Human-Forerunner War''',<ref name="HFW">[http://halo.xbox.com/blogs/Headlines/post/2012/06/20/The-Halo-Bulletin-62012.aspx '''The Halo Bulletin''' - ''6.20.12'']</ref> were a series of major interstellar conflicts fought between the [[human-San'Shyuum alliance]] and the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]] for over a millennium from around [[107,445 BCE]] to [[106,445 BCE]] across the [[Orion Arm]] of the [[Milky Way|Milky Way galaxy]]. Stemming from a [[Flood]] outbreak in the humans' dominion, the wars resulted in the dismantling of [[Ancestors|humanity's interstellar empire]] and in the quarantine of the [[San'Shyuum]] species.<ref name="cryptum">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 45''</ref>
| | {{Quote|Ten thousand years ago, humans had fought a war against Forerunners — and lost. The centers of human civilization had been dismantled and the humans themselves devolved and shattered into many forms, some said as punishment — but more likely because they were a naturally violent species.|[[Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting]], circa [[100,000 BCE]]}} |
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| The [[Librarian]] considered the wars to have been the greatest threat to Forerunner power in their history and believed the conflict weakened the Forerunners enough to allow the Flood to emerge victorious until the firing of the [[Halo Array|Halos]].<ref name="h4reclaimer">'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Reclaimer (level)|Reclaimer]]''</ref> While humanity's defeat affirmed Forerunner dominance over the entire galaxy, the destruction of a major military power combined with the subsequent political schism within the highest levels of Forerunner society set the stage for the return of the Flood and the disastrous [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. | | The '''Human-Forerunner War''',<ref name="HFW">[http://halo.xbox.com/blogs/Headlines/post/2012/06/20/The-Halo-Bulletin-62012.aspx '''The Halo Bulletin''' - ''6.20.12'']</ref> often referred to as the '''human-Forerunner wars''',<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 45, 47''</ref><ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 236, 375''</ref> is the collective term for a series of major interstellar conflicts fought between the [[human-San 'Shyuum alliance]] and the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]] for over a millennium from around [[110,000 BCE]] to [[109,000 BCE]] across the [[Orion Arm]] of the [[Milky Way|Milky Way galaxy]]. Waged concurrently with the [[Human-Flood war]], the wars resulted in the dismantling of [[Prehistoric human civilization|humanity's interstellar empire]] and in the quarantine of the [[San 'Shyuum]] species.<ref name="cryptum">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 45''</ref> The [[Librarian]] considered this conflict to be the greatest threat to Forerunner power in their history and believed the conflict weaken the Forerunners enough to allow the Flood to emerge victorious until the firing of the Halos.<ref name="h4reclaimer">'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Reclaimer]]''</ref> |
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| ==Background== | | ==History== |
| ===Origins=== | | ===Origins=== |
| Humanity held less power in the galaxy than the Forerunners, and held the Forerunners' interference in the affairs of other species with contempt. Looking to escape from the Forerunners' dominion, humanity expanded throughout the [[Orion Arm]] and eventually built an impressive empire consisting of at least 20,000 worlds in a thousand systems.{{Ref/Reuse|empire}} The Didact had considered humanity to be the second greatest military power in the galaxy and the latest rival to Forerunner influence before the Flood. In their early history, humanity had allied themselves with the also technologically-sophisticated [[San'Shyuum]]; this alliance produced technology that easily rivaled that of the Forerunners. As they collected and studied [[Precursor]] technology at [[Charum Hakkor]], creating one of the largest collections of Precursor artifacts in the galaxy, humanity's rapid technological achievements made them increasingly arrogant and willing to challenge Forerunner dominance. This, coupled with their belief that they were the true inheritors of the [[Mantle]] from the Precursors rather than the Forerunners (which turned out to be true), made them ideological enemies with the Forerunners. The [[Ur-Didact|Didact]], commander-in-chief of the Forerunner military, saw humanity as one of the most contentious, bigoted, and self-centered species in the galaxy.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 112-113''</ref> | | Humanity held less power in the galaxy than the Forerunners, and so they held Forerunner interference with contempt. Looking to escape from the Forerunners' dominion, humanity expanded throughout the Orion Arm and eventually built an impressive empire consisting of at least 20,000 worlds in a thousand systems.<ref name="empire"/> Humanity had allied themselves with the more technologically sophisticated [[San 'Shyuum]]; this alliance produced technology that easily rivaled that of the Forerunners. As they collected and reverse-engineered [[Precursor]] technology at [[Charum Hakkor]], creating one of the largest collections of Precursor artifacts in the galaxy, humanity's rapid technological achievements made them increasingly arrogant and willing to challenge Forerunner dominance. This, coupled with their belief that they were the true inheritors of the [[Mantle]] from the Precursors rather than the Forerunners, made them ideological enemies with the Forerunners.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 112-113''</ref> Preceding the final conflict in the wars, humanity made great advances in military and science technology on par with those of the Forerunners, thanks to the efforts of [[Yprin Yprikushma]] who encouraged humans to study Forerunner technologies from humanity's earlier conflicts with Forerunners.<ref name="pri238">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 237-238''</ref> |
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| During their colonization of other planets, humans discovered automated cargo ships of unknown origin, which had supposedly arrived from the [[Large Magellanic Cloud]], crashed on planets near the edge of the galaxy. The humans found no crew, with the ships appearing to be automated, but they did find millions of small transparent cylinders filled with an unknown powder. Initial testing was done in the strictest containment. These early tests showed the powder to be harmless and useless, being composed of lifeless short-chain organic molecules. Early experiments demonstrated psychotropic effects on some smaller domesticated animals, one of which being the [[Pheru]]. The powder tests on the Pheru proved to be initially harmless, and indeed appeared to encourage desirable traits to appear in their appearance and behavior. However, over time the powder began merging with and altering the genome of the Pheru in order to generate its own [[Flood Super Cell]]s. Soon, the infected Pheru began to infect others and even began showing some symptoms of the Flood mutation, such as fleshy tentacle-like rods. Close contact with the Pheru spread the infection to humanity. Some [[San'Shyuum]] were also infected as the Pheru were also kept as pets on the San'Shyuum worlds. Eventually the Flood began to spread, and the [[Feral Stage]] was initiated.
| | Driven to desperation after losing many of their colonies in their [[Human-Flood war|conflict]] against the [[Flood]], humanity invaded a Forerunner-controlled sector of space and annihilated fifty defenseless systems in which the Forerunners had resettled other species. After the indigenous populations were eliminated, humanity replaced them with human colonies to strengthen their hold over their new territories. Humanity looked to forcibly take new worlds anywhere, including those inhabited by Forerunners.<ref name="c270">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 270-272''</ref> However, not all of this seemingly irrational violence was driven by the will to expand; instead, human fleets were sterilizing planets with Flood infestations.<ref name="h4terminals">'''Halo 4''', ''[[Terminal/Halo 4|Terminals]]''</ref> The rapid expansion of human technology and power elevated tensions with the more powerful Forerunner empire, culminating in a war of retaliation against the humans.<ref name="c130"/> The [[Didact]], commander-in-chief of the Forerunner military, saw humanity as one of the most contentious, bigoted, and self-centered species in the galaxy. Although initially successful in destroying and conquering many Forerunner worlds and star systems, humanity was eventually pushed back to Charum Hakkor by Didact's [[Warrior-Servant]]s.<ref name="c270"/> [[Earth|Erda]] was one of the earliest worlds lost to the Forerunners, a tremendous blow to humanity's morale.<ref name="pri238"/> Over the course of the millennium-long conflict, humanity never came closer than 15,000 light years of the [[Orion complex]], the center of Forerunner power.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 311''</ref> |
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| ==War== | | ===Battle of Charum Hakkor=== |
| [[File:H4-Terminal-HumanShip-Bridge.jpg|thumb|250px|A human ship prepares to cleanse an infested planet by orbital bombardment.]]
| | {{Main|Charum Hakkor campaign}} |
| {{quote|Humanity hadn't been expanding. They were ''running''.|The [[Librarian]]{{Ref/Reuse|h4reclaimer}}}}
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| By the time the human officials discovered what the powder had done, it was too late. Entire planets were infected, and the Flood began to aggressively expand. Humans, in desperation, began forcefully taking worlds from other species to make up for the ones they had lost. Humanity annihilated fifty defenseless systems in which the Forerunners had resettled other species. After the indigenous populations were eliminated, humanity replaced them with their own colonies to strengthen their hold over their new territories. Humanity looked to forcibly take new worlds anywhere, including those inhabited by Forerunners.<ref name="c270">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 270-272''</ref> However, not all of this seemingly irrational violence was driven by the will to expand; instead, human fleets under the command of [[Forthencho|Forthencho, Lord of Admirals]] were sterilizing planets with Flood infestations. When Forerunner worlds became infected, they were immediately targeted for [[orbital bombardment]], killing millions of Forerunners in the process. As the Forerunners apparently did not believe the Flood a credible threat to their [[ecumene]], these actions only fueled their hatred towards perceived human aggression against other species.<ref name="terminals">'''Halo 4''', ''[[Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminals]]''</ref>
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| [[Earth|Erda]], humanity's homeworld, was one of the earliest worlds lost to the Forerunners, a tremendous blow to humanity's morale.{{Ref/Reuse|pri238}} Over the course of the millennium-long conflict, humanity never came closer than 15,000 light-years of the [[Orion complex]], the center of Forerunner power.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 311''</ref> The Didact came up with a "[[star-hopping]]" plan, wherein [[Forerunner fleet]]s would [[Slipstream space|jump]] to strategically important human worlds and simply skip other less important human star systems, allowing the Forerunners to conserve their resources and fight efficiently.<ref name="pri187">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 187-188''</ref> | | [[File:H4 - Charum Hakkor.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Human ships destroyed above Charum Hakkor.]] |
| | [[File:H4-Terminal-PreHuman-Death.jpg|thumb|250px|A human warrior falls in battle.]] |
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| [[106,538 BCE|40 years before]] humanity's last conflict with the Forerunners, an ancient being known as the [[Primordial]] was discovered by a human science expedition.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 236-238''</ref> Human researchers brought the creature to Charum Hakkor and attempted to ask the creature about the Flood. They received answers so traumatizing many of them committed suicide rather than live with the knowledge.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 268-271''</ref> As a last desperate measure, humanity's leaders decided to take a third of their population and genetically altered them. They then took this third of the human population and allowed the Flood to consume them. The new genes, it was believed, aggressively killed off Flood biomatter and destroyed the Flood until the few that survived were forced to escape. They would not reappear for another 9,000 years. In truth, however, the Flood had not been defeated, and the genetic alterations had not been effective at combating the parasite. Rather, the Flood willingly retreated, though the reasons why they did so would not become apparent until thousands of years later.{{Ref/Reuse|c270}}
| | Humanity had been forced to deploy the majority of their military against the Flood, sparing comparatively little to fight the Forerunners. By the time the Flood had been defeated, the human military was exhausted. Even their capital at Charum Hakkor was cut off from the rest of the empire by the Didact's [[Forerunner Navy|naval fleets]]. On Charum Hakkor, humanity incorporated Precursor technology into their own designs, constructing formidable fortifications capable of standing up to even the strongest fleets. Among them were [[unbending filament]]s that linked their orbital platforms' defenses. Despite having the combined Forerunner military at his disposal, it took great effort from the Didact to defeat the human resistance and capture the capital. Among the Forerunner casualties were all the Didact's children.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 138''</ref> |
| [[File:H4-Terminal-PreHuman-Death.jpg|thumb|250px|left|A human warrior falls in battle.]] | |
| The conflict with the Flood destroyed countless human-populated systems and cost more than a third of humanity's population and significant military resources. Despite the disadvantage of fighting a massive two-front war, humanity managed to prevail over the Flood and still nearly prevailed over the Forerunners as well. However, the Flood had taken their toll and, in their defeat, sounded the death knell of early human civilization at the hands of the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]]. While human forces were capable of dealing with the Forerunners on equal footing, the total forces they could commit were never enough to ensure victory. After the Flood began to recede from the galaxy, humans could allocate more of their military strength against the Forerunners, but the Didact's Warriors had already gained the strategic upper hand while humanity battled the parasite.<ref name="s34">'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 34-39''</ref>
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| While dying out, the Flood still maintained control over thousands of worlds across the galactic margin. The Forerunner Warrior-Servants under the Didact's leadership came into contact with the parasite at this time, resulting in the infection of hundreds of their battle fleets. However, once they understood the threat of the Flood posed, they adopted a policy of total extermination and were able to defeat the parasite via sheer firepower. From the few scattered specimens retained for analysis, the Forerunners first learned of the Flood's [[logic plague]], which had corrupted the onboard [[ancilla]]s on the infested fleets.{{Ref/Reuse|s34}}
| | Although cut off and unable to receive reinforcements from the San 'Shyuum, the humans held off continuous attacks for fifty years. The San 'Shyuum leadership surrendered to the Forerunners at some point during this time, leaving their human allies and the remaining San 'Shyuum on Charum Hakkor stranded. When the planet finally fell, a significant number of humans and San 'Shyuum committed suicide rather than being taken prisoner.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 118''</ref> |
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| [[File:H4 - Charum Hakkor.jpg|thumb|250px|Human ships destroyed above Charum Hakkor.]]
| | ===Aftermath=== |
| Preceding the final conflict in the wars, humanity made great advances in military and science technology on par with those of the Forerunners, thanks to the efforts of humanity's Political and Morale Commander [[Yprin Yprikushma]], who encouraged humans to study Forerunner technologies from humanity's earlier conflicts with Forerunners.<ref name="pri238">'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 237-238''</ref> At the same time, the Forerunner [[Builder]] rate engineered numerous new weapons and vessels for the war effort, increasing their wealth and power by a tremendous degree.{{Ref/Reuse|s34}}
| | Once humanity was defeated, the tragedies of the war convinced the Didact and his fellow [[Promethean]]s that using the [[Halo Array]], like the destruction of humanity, would violate the Mantle. The Prometheans opposed and forestalled the construction of the Halo Array, succeeding in delaying the Array's activation for thousands of years. |
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| ===Standoff at Charum Hakkor===
| | The defeat was disastrous for both humanity and the San 'Shyuum. The victorious Forerunners decided to dismantle human civilization, causing the species to regress to a pre-technological state. In addition, they executed many humans for starting the conflict, seeing them as naturally violent and aggressive. Because of these steps, humanity's culture became splintered among their collective species, including the [[Chamanune|cha''manush'']], the [[B'ashamanune|b'asha''manush'']], [[Neanderthal|k'ta''manush'']], and the [[Florian|ha''manush'']].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 127''</ref> Even [[100,000 BCE|ten thousand years later]], many Forerunners considered this intraspecies fragmentation to be a form of punishment.<ref name="cryptum"/> |
| {{Main|Siege of Charum Hakkor}}
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| The human military was eventually pushed back to Charum Hakkor and a few other core systems by the Didact's [[Warrior-Servant]]s. Human forces continually lost star system after system. Eventually, Charum Hakkor was cut off from the rest of the empire by the Didact's [[Forerunner fleet|naval fleets]]. The Forerunners took advantage of their mastery over Slipspace greatly and strategically by cutting off reinforcements and supplies as well as isolating the fortified systems of the human empire. On Charum Hakkor, humanity incorporated Precursor technology into their own designs, constructing formidable fortifications capable of standing up to even the strongest fleets. Among them were [[unbending filament]]s that linked their orbital platforms' defenses. Despite having the combined Forerunner military at his disposal, it took great effort from the Didact to defeat the human resistance and capture the capital. Among the Forerunner casualties were all the Didact's children.<ref name="c138">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 138''</ref> | |
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| Although cut off and unable to receive reinforcements from neither the San'Shyuum nor other human systems, the humans held off continuous attacks for 53 years. The San 'Shyuum leadership surrendered to the Forerunners at some point during this time, leaving their human allies and the remaining San'Shyuum on Charum Hakkor stranded. The Forerunners offered San 'Shyuum a secret deal to soften their punishment by stripping them of many technologies before reducing and quarantining the population of San 'Shyuum to their home system in exchange for the knowledge and access to the security of Charum Hakkor's defenses. This allowed the Forerunners to breach the impregnable security and land on the planet. The siege might have lasted far longer, even indefinitely, if not for the betrayal of San 'Shyuum. The ground war lasted three years.
| | Hoping to understand how humanity drove back the Flood, select humans had their memories extracted via the [[Composer]]. These memories were implanted by the Librarian in the genetic material of future human generations, designed to awaken when the right circumstances were met with the plan of utilizing them should the Flood return to challenge Forerunner power. This achievement spared humanity from extinction, a fate that had fallen on many species that challenged Forerunner control over the ages.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 234-235''</ref> While humanity's defeat affirmed Forerunner dominance over the entire galaxy, the destruction of a major military power combined with the subsequent disbandment of the Forerunners' Warrior rate set the stage for the return of the Flood and the disastrous [[Forerunner-Flood war]]. The Forerunners were unprepared to deal with the Flood, as the humans had destroyed every piece of evidence about the parasite and the cure they had invented, possibly as a final act of vengeance. The Didact later regretted the devolution of humanity, as he had been unaware that the Flood was the reason for humanity's earlier aggression. The threat of the Flood would also lead to the rise of the [[Builder]] rate led by [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]] in Forerunner society over the Warrior-Servants and the banishment and execution of the Promethean leadership.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 238-239''</ref> |
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| When the planet finally fell, a significant number of humans and San 'Shyuum committed suicide rather than being taken prisoner. With the planet's fall, whatever remained of the human empire eventually fell to the enemy forces in the coming years as an effortless mop up.{{Ref/Reuse|c138}}
| | The San 'Shyuum home system was placed under quarantine, with the Forerunner {{Class|Fortress|vessel}} ''[[Deep Reverence]]'' orbiting the species' homeworld, [[Janjur Qom]]. Access from outside of the system was blocked by a [[quarantine shield]]. When [[the Librarian]] attempted to index the San 'Shyuum during the early stages of Forerunner-Flood war, the San 'Shyuum mistook her intentions and rose in revolt against the Forerunners. Master Builder Faber took this opportunity to test Halo's effects on living beings, by testing the weapon on the San 'Shyuum homeworld. The test surpassed all expectations. This genocidal act led to the near extinction of the San 'Shyuum, as well as Faber's removal from power and his subsequent trial on charges of treason against the Mantle. |
| {{Clear}}
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| ==Aftermath==
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| ===Humanity===
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| The defeat was disastrous for both humanity and the San'Shyuum. The victorious Forerunners decided to dismantle human civilization, causing the species to regress to [[Erde-Tyrene civilization|a pre-technological state]].{{Ref/Reuse|cryptum}} Remnants of the human species were gathered from across the galaxy by the Forerunners and their subject species,<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 156''</ref> to be exiled to their homeworld and forced through a process of biological devolution.{{Ref/Reuse|s34}}
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| Due to the Flood's sudden retreat in the final stages of the war, the Forerunner leadership had come to believe that humanity had found a cure for the parasite.{{Ref/Reuse|c270}} This achievement spared humanity from extinction, a fate that had fallen on many species that challenged Forerunner control over the ages. Although herself skeptical of the existence of a cure, the [[Librarian]] appealed to the [[Ecumene Council]] so that humanity would be spared, as only with humanity's culture and civilization-wide exchange intact the Forerunners could hope to unlock the cure to the Flood. The Council agreed, but only in part: as opposed to maintaining the humans in their organic forms, numerous humans on Charum Hakkor had their [[Mind transfer|minds extracted]] via [[Composer]]s and subsequently cycled through a rate of interrogation for thousands of years. Copies of these memories were also implanted by the Librarian in the genetic material of future human generations, designed to awaken when the right circumstances were met as part of her own plans.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''pages 234-235''</ref> However, the Librarian and her Lifeworkers remained highly skeptical of whether a cure really existed. Their projections showed that the Flood should have been able to completely overrun the galaxy in several centuries, and suspected that there was something else at play with regard to the Flood's retreat.{{Ref/Reuse|s34}} It was later discovered that not only had humanity not found a cure for the Flood, but that the Flood's retreat had been a feint, undertaken both for the purpose of preserving humanity from destruction at the Forerunners' hands, and for the purpose of wasting Forerunner time and resources on a dead-end hunt for a Flood cure that had never existed.
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| ===Forerunners===
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| The threat of the Flood would lead to the rise of the corrupt [[Builder]]s led by [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]] and eventually the banishment and execution of the [[Promethean]] leadership and the marginalization of the [[Warrior-Servant]] rate. Once humanity was defeated, the tragedies of the war convinced the Didact and his fellow Prometheans that using the Halo Array, like the destruction of humanity, would violate the Mantle. The Prometheans opposed and successfully forestalled the construction of the Halos for thousands of years, until their defeat by the Builders.
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| While opposed to the complete destruction of humanity advocated by the Council,{{Ref/Reuse|s34}} the Didact blamed humanity for taking the Mantle of Responsibility upon themselves, believing it was their reckless actions that brought the sickness into the galaxy.{{Ref/Reuse|terminals}} In truth, the Forerunners had even less success in battling the Flood than their human rivals. The Mantle, holding that all life was sacred, hamstrung Forerunner attempts to combat the infection, allowing the parasite to exponentially expand until no force could stop it. The Didact later regretted the devolution of humanity, as he had been unaware that the Flood was the reason for humanity's earlier aggression.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 238-239''</ref>
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| ===San'Shyuum===
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| The [[San'Shyuum home system]] was placed under quarantine, with the Forerunner {{Class|Fortress|vessel}} ''[[Deep Reverence]]'' orbiting the species' homeworld, [[Janjur Qom]]. Access from outside of the system was blocked by a [[quarantine shield]]. When the [[Librarian]] attempted to index the San'Shyuum during the early stages of Forerunner-Flood war, the San'Shyuum mistook her intentions and rose in revolt against the Forerunners. Master Builder Faber took this opportunity to test Halo's effects on living beings, by testing the weapon on the San'Shyuum homeworld. The test surpassed all expectations. This genocidal act led to the near extinction of the San'Shyuum, as well as Faber's removal from power and his subsequent trial on charges of [[treason]] against the Mantle.{{Citation needed}}
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| ===The Didact's Revenge===
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| In the year [[2557]], during the [[Battle of Requiem]], the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]] was reawakened on the Forerunner [[shield world]] of [[Requiem]] where he intended to finish the destruction of humanity.<ref>'''Halo 4''', campaign level, ''[[Forerunner (level)|Forerunner]]''</ref> While on Requiem, a present-day human, [[SPARTAN-II]] [[John-117]] encountered a personality imprint of [[the Librarian]] who showed John visions of the war and explained the events. The Librarian called the prehistoric human civilization the greatest enemy the Forerunners had ever faced and explained how they had been running from the [[Flood]]. The Librarian warned John that the Didact intended to destroy humanity to end his ancient enemy once and for all. To protect John, the Librarian activated an immunity to the Composer she had placed in the ''[[geas]]'' of humanity when she indexed the species.<ref>'''Halo 4''', campaign level, ''[[Reclaimer (level)|Reclaimer]]''</ref>
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| The Didact subsequently [[Raid on Ivanoff Station|retrieved]] [[the Composer]] from [[Ivanoff Station]]<ref>'''Halo 4''', campaign level, ''[[Composer (level)|Composer]]''</ref> and attempted to compose the human homeworld of [[Earth]]. In [[New Phoenix Incident|the subsequent conflict]], John managed to destroy both the Composer and the Didact's flagship ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'', foiling his revenge plot, but not before seven million people were composed by the Didact.<ref>'''Halo 4''', campaign level, ''[[Midnight]]''</ref>
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| ==List of appearances== | | ==List of appearances== |
| *''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{Fm}} | | *''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{First mentioned}} |
| *''[[Halo: Primordium]]'' {{Mo}} | | *''[[Halo: Primordium]]'' {{Mo}} |
| *''[[Halo 4]]'' {{Mo}} | | *''[[Halo 4]]'' |
| **''[[Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminals]]'' {{1st}}
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| *''[[Halo: Silentium]]'' {{Mo}}
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| *''[[Halo: Escalation]]'' {{Mo}}
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| *''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]'' {{Im}}
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| *''[[Halo Mythos]]''
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| *''[[Halo: Fractures]]''
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| **''[[Promises to Keep]]'' {{Mo}}
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| *''[[Halo Wars 2]]'' {{Mo}}
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| *''[[Halo: Renegades]]'' {{mo}}
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| *''[[Halo: Point of Light]]'' {{Mo}}
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| *''[[Halo Infinite]]'' {{Im}}
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| *''[[Halo: Epitaph]]''
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|
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| ==Sources== | | ==Sources== |
| {{Ref/Sources|2}}
| | <references/> |
|
| |
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| {{Human wars}} | | {{Humanwars}} |
|
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| [[Category:Wars]] | | [[Category:Wars]] |
| | [[Category:The Forerunner]] |
