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  • Subject: ONI: Semper Vigilans [Story]
Subject: ONI: Semper Vigilans [Story]

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Hi guys,
I'm taking a break from Honour of a Heretic to hone some new writing skills I want to include in both the prequel and other upcoming projects.
This is the story, starting from the Fall of Reach, following a special division of ONI who band together to help protect the other colonies from falling.

CHAPTER LIST
Prologue: Fall of Reach
Office of Naval Intelligence
Mina Harker
TBA

[Edited on 01.31.2009 2:12 PM PST]

  • 01.31.2009 5:05 AM PDT
Subject: ONI: Semper Vigilans

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

ONI
Semper Vigilans

PROLOGUE
THE FALL OF REACH

Epsilon Eridani System
UNSC Main HQ
Orbital Defence Platform
2552

“This is UNSC Pillar of Autumn, is anyone out there?” A transmittion opened on a secure communication link but there was only the sound of static as a response. The crew of the Pillar of Autumn were cut off.
There was only the dark sound of silence as the endless battle continued above the UNSC Colony World, Reach.
“ALERT ALERT! Multiple plasma torpedoes headin’ your way get out of there Gettysburg!” Another COM channel opened but it was too late, the UNSC Gettysburg was already crumbling from significant damage and when the torpedoes hit the ship, it literally broke into pieces.
“This is ONI Recon team 616, we are standing by and ready for attack.”
“What took you so long, it’s the god damn apocalypse down there! All free unit’s fire!” A Commander roared.
There was no noise in space; the dead silence made the battle a little calmer until the sound of a million sonic waves hit the Covenant Capital Ship, Infinite Euphoria which was in the process of travelling through slipspace. Though destroyed, the ship continued its journey and drifted slowly through the portal which closed around it and sent a massive EMP rupture through space.
“Deploy seismic bombs!” Commanded Admiral Roland Freemont.
Time seemed to slow down as everyone in space and on the surface of the planet looked up; a million ruptures were tearing their way through anything. Covenant Sangheili stopped fighting, as did the Humans as they all looked up at the beautiful arrangement of blue, orange, green and red. They all bowed their heads in honour but the battle quickly resumed, Humanity was fighting a losing battle in a war they did not choose.
“This is UNSC Pillar of Autumn, what the hell have you done?!” Captain Keyes shouted through the COM.
The seismic waves had reacted with the Covenant ships and formed a gaping hole in the fabric of space; it seemed to be a portal of some sort as nothing was being sucked in.
“Pillar of Autumn, this is ONI. Head into the sub-space portal, now!”
“Are you insane?! We don’t even know if we’ll survive.” Keyes said.
His mind blanked for a second as a hundred MAC strikes soared past the Autumn; the shockwave caused the ship to tilt to the side briefly before regaining stability.
“Keyes, whatever is beyond that portal is far more important than Reach. This is an order, sir! Flee whilst you can, we can’t risk losing Sierra 117!”
Keyes sighed and used the Autumn’s Artificial Intelligence, Cortana, to steer the ship into the maelstrom.
“Sir, we...”
“Don’t tell me the odds, Cortana. Just head for the portal.”
“Yes sir.”
The thrusters managed to propel the Pillar of Autumn through massive chunks of rock and wreckage and disappeared, the portal began to slowly disappear.

“That’s it. We’ve lost. Reach is going to fall.”

“All Covenant Ships, this is Supreme Commander Thel ‘Vadamee...Follow their ship, repeat, follow brothers!”
The Glassing of Reach neared completion as the planet was being cleansed, only some woodland appeared intact but would soon be swallowed up by the gathering storm below. Hundreds of Covenant ships vanished in an instant as they clawed their way into the diminishing portal. Leaving one final message to Humanity...

“Our Great Journey is at hand, rejoice Humans. Soon you shall all be gone.”

  • 01.31.2009 5:06 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

The first chapter is in the works, the story follows a man called Jonathon Tanner who embarks on a journey to keep threats at bay, with his new boss Rupert Galvin and another mysterious character I'll reveal later.
Please read, I put alot of effort into writing and any comments/constructive criticism is welcome.

  • 01.31.2009 8:21 AM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

OFFICE OF NAVAL INTELLIGENCE

Earth, Sol 3
Sol System
Old Mombasa, Kenya
2552

I was walking down a busy street; cars were driving past with the hubbub of hundreds of people trying to get to work. The Orbital Space Elevator was indeed a beautiful sight as I stopped to stare at it. It disappeared through the clouds leading to heaven itself, I’d always dreamed of a new world...
I was at the entrance of the Space Elevator, ready to join the Office of Naval Intelligence. The doors swung open and I emerged into a small formal office area, there was a front desk, currently unattended, and people were waiting in comfortable looking chairs. I walked up to the desk and pressed a bell, the call was immediately answered by a woman who walked through the back door and smiled.
“Name?” She set a clipboard on her lap and typed something in on a computer.
“Jonathon Tanner.” I said.
“Mr Tanner...Mr Tanner...” She flicked through a list of names.
“Ah yes, ONI head James Leister is on the sixteenth floor. He’ll be waiting for you.”
“Thank you.” I nodded to her and walked over to an elevator.
As I ascended to the sixteenth floor, I was able to look out on the massive city of Old Mombasa. There were hundreds of sky-scrapers, including the Traxus Facility and Army centres.
The Black Lake too divided this side from another which was currently being built to be a more “industrial” site than anything else.
I reached floor sixteen as the elevator stopped and the doors opened once again, floor sixteen was simply a massive office for the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence, James Leister.
The doors and windows were a delicate glass with sofas and a small television broadcasting the news, I sat down and listened intently to the newsreader.

“Constant reports of Reach are coming in every day, the Covenant and Humanity fought for control of one of our final colonies left...The outcome was unfortunate for us as the planet was Glassed, further reports are on hold as ONI records are being examined. It is also said that the UNSC ship called Pillar of Autumn vanished in a massive hole created by seismic bombs and a Covenant slipspace drive, on board was Captain Jacob Keyes with the UNSC’s most advanced Artificial Intelligence, Cortana...Further reports are classified, good day to all of you.”

I sighed, more and more soldiers were dying every day. This was like no war ever waged before, with a mere 200 million of us left, hope was running out.
“Mr Tanner?” A voice came. I turned and saw the person who I presumed was James’ Assistant. I walked through the door and was asked to sit down; there was a large table in front of me, another door behind James’ chair and two people on either side of James.
“Welcome, Jonathon Tanner...” James said plainly. He had a strong British accent, dark black hair and wore a formal suit with a tie.
“This is Helen and Marty, my personal assistants.” He said. They both smiled at me. “...And I am James Leister, the owner of this sector of ONI.”
I nodded.
“I’ve read your profile, quite impressive...” James said. He pulled out a piece of laminated paper which he handed to me.
“Now twenty three years old, passed most tests with flying colours...Could be described as a nihilistic person with a good sense of humour and a well-rounded person.” James scratched his chin.
“We’ve got just the job for you,” James smiled at me; he then directed his attention to Marty. “Call Mr Galvin please.”
Marty nodded and left the room; he took out a mobile phone and called my new boss...Mr Galvin.

It was only a few minutes later a black limo pulled up outside and a man in a grey coat that went down to his feet, black leather gloves and a top hat that gave him a mysterious appearance.
He walked in proudly and looked around the room.
“Hi James,” He said in his American accent. “So where’s this new recruit your assistant told me about?” Galvin asked.
James held a hand out at me, “Jonathon, this is Rupert E Galvin. Head of our ONI division we call the Septagon.”
Galvin took his hat off and revealed brown, blonde hair, he looked like he was in his late forties to early fifties.
I shook Galvin’s hand and several minutes later we were in the limo, driving around Old Mombasa.

Ten minutes later...

“We are a special group of people who deal with both alien and Human threats. Terrorists, aliens, freaks...We just grade ‘em and smite ‘em.” Galvin stated plainly.
“Smite them?” I asked inquisitively.
“Oh yes sir, with extreme prejudice. We always get the job done.”
The car parked up next to my house, “You know where I live?” I asked. Both astounded and amused.
“Yeah, we’ll catch up later. You and me, boy’s night out, eh...” I opened my mouth to speak but Galvin cut across me.
“Good, I’ll see you at eight. Good day, Mr Tanner.” Galvin said. I shook his hand and entered my house.
I sat down on the sofa, thinking of what the future held for me. Galvin seemed a little familiar, someone I’d seen before but just couldn’t remember...I hated when this happened, losing a memory was one step closer to losing a life, my life.
I’d had a long day; the clock read 5pm so I decided to get some rest.

Beware, Jonathan...Beware something nasty pretending to be something nice...

[Edited on 02.01.2009 3:16 AM PST]

  • 01.31.2009 2:11 PM PDT

Oh, a new story by Awj? I'll take the time to read it later.

  • 01.31.2009 3:26 PM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

Thanks, like I said I am making this to hone new writing skills as to continue writing Honour of a Heretic. I might make something out of this though, the story in my head seems quite promising but I don't like the lack of comments and recognition for my hard work...

  • 01.31.2009 3:38 PM PDT

By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.

MINA HARKER
I was in Galvin’s car a few hours later, ready for the “boys night out” he’d said. We sat in silence as the car drove towards a royal hall, there was a large poster with a beautiful looking woman called Mina Harker next to the entrance.
I didn’t say anything, both to avoid embarrassment and to make sure I didn’t offend him. We entered the concert hall and within minutes we were sat in our seats, hundreds of people sat around us and then the lights went dim.
“Mina is a pianist, very good at what she does. But she’s also blind...” Galvin whispered.
“Blind? Isn’t it strange she can play piano then?” I said.
“Mina’s no ordinary Human, Jonathan. Quiet now, the show’s starting.”
The massive red curtains opened and a single spotlight illuminated Mina and the grand piano, she wore a red dress and her shoulder-length black hair seemed to dazzle us all.
Suddenly, I forgot the world around me as I was pulled into a completely new one of my own.

It was after the show that we were all lined up to either get an autograph or speak to Mina in person, me and Galvin approached the desk where she was sat at.
“Mina,” Galvin said. She held her hand out and Galvin kissed it.
“Rupert, you came.” She smiled.
“Yeah, and I brought a little friend with me. Mina, this is Jonathan. Jonathan, Mina.”
We shook hands; she put her second hand on mine and closed her eyes. I looked awkwardly at Galvin but he seemed quite unperturbed by it.
“Mina, your fans are waiting. We’d better move along.” Galvin said. Mina nodded and pulled out a golden fob watch. Mina took my hand and gave me the watch.
“Thank you, Mina. You look stunning, as usual.” Galvin winked.
The guard at the door allowed us to exit and Galvin’s car pulled up next to us.
“Beautiful girl, eh?” Galvin said.
I said nothing, which said it all. Galvin chuckled, “I didn’t realise she was...”
“British,” Galvin cut across me. “Yeah, not many British people live here. When did you come over here?” Galvin asked.
“’bout two years ago...” I replied.
Several minutes later the car stopped, Galvin got out and told me to hand him the fob watch Mina had given me. A small gate opened and we made our way down a flight of stairs, ending up next to a bulkhead door shaped like a giant cog but with seven arms.
“The watch,” Galvin showed me it. “is actually a key, beyond this door, Jonathan...” Galvin said dramatically. “Brave new world...” He placed the watch into a small hole and twisted it, there was a loud CLANK and the door opened.
“Galvin?” I started. He replied with an “Hmm...”
“What does KV stand for?” I said as the initials were engraved on the back. The front had a Glyph I recognized as a Forerunner mark.
“No idea...” He smiled. We entered the room which was actually a colossal library.
“I knew your father, Jonathan. I and he were good friends...Before his death, he too was a part of ONI. We couldn’t stay at ONI HQ so Mina invited us to stay here, Jonathan...Welcome to the Septagon!”
Galvin and I plodded into the library, thousands of stacks were lined perfectly on different rows and the place was brightly illuminated by the lamps atop the ceiling.
“This is a place with a history, it has existed for hundreds of years and every Septagon member has walked on these floors.” Galvin said valiantly.
I laughed, this had to be a dream...The place was amazing, Galvin began to laugh too but stopped after only a few seconds to pick up a small bottle of alcohol.
He downed it in one go, then led me over to one of the book shelves which housed an old, dusty television. Galvin picked up a tape and inserted it into the player.
“Jon, if you’re watching this...It means we never got to know each other, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am.” My father’s voice started up.
He was holding a small child, it looked no older than a 1 year old...It was me. “Dad...?” I whispered under my breath.
“It seems so strange to be talking to you here when I’m holding you now. Everything you see around you is yours, the world’s largest library...The time has come to act, Jon...I’m so proud of you, son...”

Galvin took the tape out and sighed, “What happened?” I asked. A tear slid down my face.
“The Covenant got him...” He replied softly.
“Were you there?”
Galvin only replied with a nod.
“I was told it was an accident on a business trip, by mum...”
“It was business...But it was no accident, Jon, we need you in this...After all that’s happened, I’m sorry but denial is not an option. You have a destiny, now you take your daddy’s place...Let’s get to work.”

  • 02.01.2009 8:56 AM PDT