In this hour of victory, we taste only defeat. I ask why.
We are Forerunners, guardians of all that exists. The roots of the galaxy have grown deep under our careful tending. Where there is life, the wisdom of our countless generations has saturated the soil. Our strength is a luminous sun towards which all intelligence blossoms. And the impervious shelter beneath which it has prospered.
I stand before you. Accused of the sin of ensuring Forerunner ascendancy. Of attempting to save us from this fate where we are forced to... recede...
Humanity stands as the greatest threat in the galaxy.
Refusing to eradicate them is a fool's gambit.
We squander eons in the darkness, while they seize our triumphs for their own.
The Mantle of Responsibility, for all things, belongs to Forerunners alone!
Think of my act as you will.
But do not doubt the reality. The reclamation... has already begun.
And we are hopeless to stop it.