The fleets of the Thokt Dynasty spread across the Halo universe like a metallic plague.
Guided by the knowledge extracted from 000 Tragic Solitude, hundreds of hybrid warfleets emerged from slipspace simultaneously across distant sectors of the galaxy.
Each fleet carried a singular objective.
Recover the Halo Array.
Slipspace ruptured violently near the first installation.
Installation 04 floated silently in deep space, its massive ring structure illuminated faintly by nearby stars.
Ancient Forerunner systems still operated across the megastructure while dormant Sentinels patrolled its surface endlessly.
Then reality tore open.
Dozens of colossal Necron vessels emerged from slipspace in perfect formation while transformed Cybertronian-Necron constructs deployed immediately toward the ring.
Forerunner defenses activated within seconds.
Sentinel swarms poured from hidden compartments while defense beams lanced through space toward the invading fleet.
The response was overwhelming.
Yet the Necrons had already adapted.
Hard-light shielding technology integrated into their ships absorbed the first wave of attacks while Blackstone fields destabilized local Forerunner systems directly.
The battle lasted less than an hour.
By its end, the ring had fallen.
Necron glyphs burned across the installation while corrupted Sentinels replaced the originals one by one.
The first Halo belonged to Mike.
And many more remained.
Across the galaxy, identical battles unfolded repeatedly.
Installation 05 resisted fiercely, using automated containment protocols and ancient war constructs left behind by the Forerunners.
Installation 03 attempted emergency slipspace displacement before Necron gravity-lock systems pinned it in place.
Installation 02 deployed entire fleets of defensive craft hidden within its superstructure.
None succeeded.
The dynasty advanced relentlessly.
Slipspace had fundamentally changed Necron warfare.
Without dependence upon the Warp, fleet movement became terrifyingly efficient.
Entire armadas could emerge without warning across impossible distances while dimensional gates allowed immediate reinforcement.
The Halo installations were isolated one after another.
Captured.
Assimilated.
Mike personally oversaw the conquest of Installation 07.
The ancient ring carried unusual historical significance even among the Halo Array.
Its systems dated back to the Forerunner-Flood wars and contained vast quantities of preserved combat data.
Mike stood upon the ring’s surface while battle unfolded around him.
Forerunner constructs emerged endlessly from beneath the installation while hard-light fortresses activated across entire landmasses.
The resistance impressed him slightly.
But only slightly.
Mike extended his hand.
Then the sky darkened.
A swarm of nanites larger than continents descended upon the ring like a metallic storm.
Hard-light systems began failing instantly while AllSpark-corrupted Sentinels turned against remaining defenses.
Entire mountain ranges reshaped themselves under Mike’s control.
Then he reached directly into the installation’s core systems.
The Halo ring trembled violently.
And submitted.
Months passed.
Then years.
The campaign continued methodically until the impossible became reality.
Every surviving Halo installation had fallen under dynasty control.
The full Array now answered only to Mike.
Within the Ark’s core chamber, enormous holographic projections displayed the Halo network spread across the galaxy.
Each installation now carried massive modifications.
Necron glyphs lined their surfaces.
Blackstone amplifiers enhanced their effective range.
Slipspace drives had been integrated directly into the rings themselves, allowing them to reposition if necessary.
Most importantly
The firing systems had evolved.
Crypteks and corrupted Forerunner ancillas worked together continuously to refine the Array’s capabilities.
Biological hive networks
Psychic resonance fields
Organic neural synchronization
Warp-sensitive organisms
Synaptic command structures
Perfect weapons against the Tyranids.
Potentially devastating against Chaos-corrupted populations as well.
Mike observed the projections silently.
The power now under his command exceeded even many weapons from the War in Heaven.
And still
He continued evolving.
Meanwhile, another operation progressed quietly in the background.
The retrieval of Catherine Halsey.
Necron infiltration units had already entered human space using stolen identifications and corrupted communications systems.
Entire ONI facilities were being monitored without detection while the crypteks studied human military development carefully.
Mike had little interest in most humans.
But Halsey was different.
A creator.
A scientist.
A mind capable of envisioning evolution beyond limitation.
Such individuals were always valuable.
Especially when properly controlled.
Within the Ark, specialized chambers were already being prepared.
Transformation chambers.
Neural preservation systems.
Nanite integration arrays.
Mike intended to preserve Halsey’s genius permanently.
Just as he had preserved himself.
Outside the Ark, the fully assembled Halo Array rotated silently through space beneath the control of the dynasty.
A galaxy-killing superweapon network now belonged to an immortal machine empire from another universe.
And Mike had only just begun to understand its true potential.