Chakas

Chakas was a chamanune human living on Earth in approximately 100,000 BCE. He, along with Riser, was part of a collective of guides based in Marontik. Notably, his neural pattern was used to create the Forerunner monitor, 343 Guilty Spark.

Biography

Early life

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.

Chakas' family had a farm outside the city of Marontik, but after his father was killed in a knife fight with a water baron's thugs and the family's crops failed, they moved to the city. There, he took up several menial tasks to make a living while his sisters went to serve as Prayer Maidens in a temple dedicated to the Lifeshaper.

During his life in Marontik, Chakas enjoyed getting into fights and stealing, and was feared by many. He also began having dreams of meeting a Forerunner and then attacking and robbing him, in hopes of selling his "treasure" and using it to bring his sisters back from the temple to live with his family. Chakas, at the time barely twenty years old, was then visited by Riser, a Florian, who offered him work and guidance if he stopped getting into trouble, saying that he had seen someone like him in a dream. Chakas accepted, and Riser showed him various places where he could find useful work. Chakas also provided protection to Riser's clan, which in exchange fed Chakas' family.

The Manipular and the Didact

After the Forerunner Manipular known as Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting arrived in Marontik, Chakas joined Riser and the young Forerunner on an expedition to the Djamonkin Crater, where Bornstellar found the Didact's Cryptum. Here, thanks to a geas implemented by the Librarian, he along with Riser sang a pre-programmed sound code that authorized the opening of the Cryptum. This awoke the Didact, whom they later followed on his ship first to Charum Hakkor and later to Janjur Qom, the San 'Shyuum homeworld, in the hope this would spark a memory imprinted by the Librarian that could help the Didact. On the way, they also began discovering memories of their ancestors who fought in the human-Forerunner wars, imprinted as part of their geas. On Janjur Qom, Chakas was imprisoned by the Master Builder along with Riser and the Didact.

Marooned on a Halo

Later, the ship carrying Chakas was caught in the Battle of the capital. He successfully fled in an escape pod, which found its way to the surface of Installation 07, one of the Halos under control of the rampant AI Mendicant Bias. Injured, he was discovered and tended to by a human girl, Vinnevra, who was part of the Tudejsa or "the People", a group of humans of various kinds transplanted on the ring by the Master Builder's researchers. Once he had recovered, Chakas set out to find his companion Riser, and find a way off the Halo. Accompanied by Vinnevra and Gamelpar, Chakas then traversed the ring world, where they would face a multitude of obstacles, including the Flood, Mendicant Bias and its "new master", The Timeless One, along with its true nature and its plans regarding the Forerunners and humans.

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Rebirth as a monitor

Main article: 343 Guilty Spark

Eventually, Chakas was critically injured and his mind - still intact and bearing the memory imprints of his ancestors - was used as the basis to create the monitor known as 343 Guilty Spark. The monitor was tasked, among other things, with serving as the keeper of the ancient records of the human race. The primary incarnation of this monitor, assigned as the caretaker of Installation 04, would again encounter humans during the Battle of Installation 04 late to the Human-Covenant War. He continued to interact with the "Reclaimers" until his destruction in the endgame of the Raid on Installation 04B.

However, it was not until an unspecified time after the war that a "severely damaged duplicate" of Guilty Spark was discovered by a UNSC science team, when he revealed his nature as a former human being. The science team proceeded to query the ancient human on the Didact and the historical nature of Forerunner-human relations. The damaged monitor then told the humans the story of his life and how he was transformed into a monitor, before eventually shutting down. While telling his story, the monitor constantly made breaches through the ship's firewalls, in order to access the humans' historical and paleontological records. This greatly frustrated the ship's commanding officer, who had the monitor ejected into space after the interrogation was finished. However, Spark had inconspicuously transferred himself into the ship's system, and soon took over the entire ship, planning to use it and its crew in his quest to find the Librarian, who he claimed to know was still alive.

Personality

When first meeting Bornstellar, Chakas was apparently enthusiastic about mysteries and searching for treasure. Chakas did not seem intimidated by Bornstellar at first, but somewhat resentful for dragging him into the adventure later on. Inspired by his dreams, he actually planned to trick the Manipular and rob him when the opportunity presented itself, but later found that he and the Forerunner were much alike and could not bring himself to hurt him. On the long run, he did not appear to be upset with Bornstellar, and he was said to have changed very much since leaving Erde-Tyrene, especially after examining the memory imprints of his ancestors.

Trivia

Chakas is the protagonist and narrator of the novel Halo: Primordium.

List of appearances

• The Forerunner Saga
  • Halo: Cryptum (First appearance)
  • Halo: Primordium