Human-Forerunner wars

"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, c. 100,000 B.C.E.

The Human-Forerunner War was a major interstellar conflict fought approximately in 110,000 B.C. in the Orion arm of the Milky Way galaxy. This was the first recorded war in human history, and was fought against overwhelming fleets and armies of the Forerunners.

Aftermath
The defeat was disastrous for both Humanity and the San'Shyuum. The victorious Forerunners decided to dismantle every piece of pre-historic human civilization, causing the species to devolve on their own. Because of this cataclysmic event, humanity splintered into many species, including the Florians. This was noted as being a "punishment" by a young Forerunner pre-Builder known as a Manipular, Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting ten thousand years later. Humanity's defeat affirmed Forerunner hegemony over the entire galaxy as one of the only few powers capable of competing against it was utterly defeat. However, the destruction of Humanity sets the stage for the return of the Flood and the disastrous Forerunner-Flood War as the Forerunners proved totally inadequate to deal with the Flood. Didact later regretted the complete destruction of Humanity as he was unaware the Flood as the reason for Humanity's aggression during Human-Flood War.

The San'Shyuum homeworld was placed under quarantine with a Forerunner military fortress orbiting the planet. When the Librarian attempted to index the San'Shyuum during the early stages of Forerunner-Flood War, the San'Shyuums mistook her intentions and rose in revolt against the Forerunners. Later, Faber took this opportunity to test Halo's effects on living beings on the San'Shyuum homeworld, which surpassed all expectations. The genocidal act led to the near extinction of the San'Shyuum as a species and Faber's removal from power, and subsequent trial for on charges of treason against the Mantle.

List of appearances

 * Forerunner Saga
 * Halo: Cryptum

Internal

 * Humans
 * Forerunners
 * Erde-Tyrene

External

 * Tor.com — Halo: Cryptum chapter one excerpt