The Gallery
This topic has moved here: Subject: The Halo 3 Epilogue Parts 1-21 (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
  • Subject: The Halo 3 Epilogue Parts 1-21 (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
Subject: The Halo 3 Epilogue Parts 1-21 (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Part 17

March 29th 2553, Cairo defence platform, orbiting Earth

Lord Hood calmly strolled along the observation deck, checking the repaired sections as he went. The Covenant Elite repair teams had done an excellent job with the limited resources that they had available. Even the corps of engineers had displayed an interest in their methods.
With the War now over mankind was finally able to start rebuilding.
The Arbiter had left a small fleet to maintain security, and to help with the rebuilding process. They had even managed to repair the majority of the UNSC fleet that had been crippled in the initial invasion.

Hood reached the main command cell of the station, which was still a mess.
The main desk, which had previously been covered in thermal reconnaissance images and satellite photography, was now a broken pile crumpled metal, and the rest of the room was no better.
Despite his own discomfort with his current abode, the welfare of humanity and the operational effectiveness of the fleet were far more important. He had insisted that the Elites concentrate on those areas instead of the small insignificant areas of detail.
The one thing that he was more than grateful for was a new addition to the stations defences. In this case Covenant shielding.

The Elites had gone out of their way to try and make up for the damage and destruction they had caused in the war, but more surprisingly was the news of terraforming and repair work on Reach. The Elites were doing their best to bring the planet back to its former glory, and to make it habitable again.
"If only the chief was here to see it." Hood thought to himself.
He sat down in one of the few available chairs, and stared at the main view screen as two of the newly repaired ships glided passed the station.
Despite the addition of shielding on the station, the Elites had refused to add any form of plasma based weaponry; one excuse was that the MAC guns were more than enough firepower. And in a way he had to agree.
The Covenant had initially gained respect for only two things in the UNSC arsenal MAC guns and Spartans. Both were deadly and had resulted in the deaths of thousands of Covenant personnel and equipment.
The other excuse had been that mankind was not ready for that kind of technology, and that only members of the Covenant were privy to that kind of technology.
"Sir," announced one of the operations officers "the lunar refueling depot and the 3rd fleet both report ready. The northern hemisphere defence grid should be online in just over six hours, and the surface recovery teams have gained access to the artifact."
"Good, keep me posted commander."
"Aye sir."
The Elites had been extremely accommodating with regards to the artifact. Hood had expected them to demand a share in the spoils of exploration and the Forerunner technology that was hidden within. Instead though, they had steered clear of the entire structure, simply leaving humanity to it.
To Hood, the news of gaining access to the structure had come too late. He felt that if they had discovered something like this when the war first started, then millions of lives would have been saved.
He shook his head, clearing his mind. A lot had happened and there was no room for thoughts of turning back the clock and repairing the damage.
Hood picked up a small red file from the desk in front of him. Contained within was the debriefing report from the Arbiter after his return to Earth without the Chief. Technicians had managed to recover a lot of the log and navigation telemetry, but the previous location of the now destroyed Ark was beyond the outer rim of not just this galaxy, but a more distant barred spiral galaxy, in this case NGC 1300.
NGC 1300 was a distant galaxy located over 61 million light years away, in the Eridanus cluster.
If the chief was still alive, which seemed incredibly unlikely, he was beyond the reach of any Covenant or UNSC vessel.
Hood thumbed through the rest of the document, stopping at the image of the Chief and Cortana. The photograph had been recovered from the security log on the station itself, during the initial invasion of earth.
The image portrayed a determined and resilient soldier, along with the ingenious Cortana and the late Sergeant Major Johnson.
Hood closed the folder and tossed it onto the table with a heavy sigh.
He looked around at the other officers in the command cell; all of them were busy with their work.
After another quick glance at the photographs of the master chief, Hood rose up from his brown cracked leather chair and proceeded to walk around the cramped command cell.

During the war with the Covenant, Hood had been an extremely busy individual.
He was constantly charged with the responsibilities of a more senior rank, but this was war and things needed to be done. If he wasn't out with the fleet he was busy planning for the next stage of an assault, or an attempt to take back what was previously human controlled space.
But the war was now over, and though he was pleased with saving of life, and the end to the destruction and carnage, he had to admit that he was now...bored.
His days were now filled with inspections of newly repaired facilities and ships, and an endless stream of situation reports all of them filled with the rambling words of over enthusiastic ONI commanders. The paperwork was relentless.
"Commander Richards, If you need me I'll be in my quarters, trying to fix my bed again."
"Aye sir. If you want I can get an engineer up to help you." Offered Richards
Hood turned, mid stride, "I think the engineers have more pressing matters commander, but thanks for the gesture."
Hood managed to walk another twenty feet from the doors of the command cell before the onboard COM channel crackled into life, it was Richards. "Sir I apologize for the intrusion, but there is something here that you need to see."
"Don't tell me, another ONI director wants me to spare him a ship and he's offering to show me the Intel." Replied Hood with some irritation
"No sir, there's a slipspace rupture forming about twelve thousand kilometres off to starboard, it appears there is a Covenant vessel coming through."
"I take it this is an unscheduled arrival commander?" bellowed Hood
"Yes sir, sensors indicate that it's the Arbiters flagship, but there are traces of recent weapons fire."
Hood's quick walk turned into a full on sprint, and he charged into the command cell with a new found sense of urgency. Finally he had something worthwhile to see to, instead of a pile of papers to be signed.

On the main display of the command cell were the familiar scene of a Slipspace opening, and the now visible prow of the Arbiters flagship.
"I thought the Arbiter wasn't expected back here for another four months?" questioned Hood.
Suddenly a disturbing thought occurred to him. What if the Brutes had gained an upper hand in the civil war? What if this vessel was not under the Arbiters control, but a group of specialised Brute commandos on a suicidal mission to Earth? He couldn't be sure, but he wasn't taking any chances.
"Damn! All hands, battle stations, possible incoming threat! He bellowed. "Commander activate shields and bring the weapons online!"
"Aye sir, shields up, weapons powering to maximum. Archer pods ready."
Hood stared at the image as the ship appeared in full before him. There was no visible damage, but the Covenant had always been more proficient at repairs than the UNSC.
"Sir there are several Elite vessels demanding a reason for our current alert status. What should I tell them?" asked Richards
"Inform them that it's protocol when there's an unscheduled arrival, and that we'll - ..."
Hood was cut off before he could finish his sentence by a familiar voice
"Lord Hood this is the Arbiter,"
"Welcome back Arbiter. I'm pleased to see you again, but we were not expecting you for another four months." Probed Hood
"I realise that my return is a little unexpected, but it is not without a valid reason. I bring an old friend. One that I am sure you have not forgotten." He replied with a smile.
Hood looked on as the image of the Arbiter on the view screen was replaced by an armoured figure, and a small but bright orb of precision and ingenuity: it was the Master Chief and Cortana.

Hood took a step back and gasped, whilst most of the staff in the command cell erupted into a roar of cheer and laughter. They were clearly elated by the relieving sight, but Hood knew that he shouldn't be seeing either of them.
"Chief, Cortana," nodded hood in respect "It's good to see you both again"
"Likewise sir. It's good to be back." Replied John
Hood suddenly remembered his duties and where he was, "Commander lower the shields and stand down. Feel free to dock at pylon alpha."

  • 03.17.2009 3:47 AM PDT

Hood sprinted as fast as his legs would allow him to the docking port on the northern section of the station.
In a period following the most destructive war in mankind's history, they needed something positive to show Humanity that all would be well. The return of the greatest hero in of all time was certainly that sign.

By the time Hood reached the docking port there was already a guard of honour assembled there. Each of the dressed marines were wearing more than just their elaborately decorated uniform, they were also wearing a collection of planet sized smiles.
Hood caught himself smiling in one of the many monitors that littered the deck. He was tempted to jump into the air, cheers loudly enough that they would hear him back on Earth and then head up to the officer's mess with the Arbiter, Cortana and the chief and get drunk beyond all belief. But much to his own dismay he was expected to exhibit a more commanding and responsible figure.
Hood cleared his throat, straightened his jacket and marched sharply over the honour guard.
The residing sergeant saluted him before turning the rest of the marines with the order to present arms. They responded in a typical manner of professionalism.
The watch officer suddenly appeared from around the corner, still fixing his ceremonial sword.
"Hurry it up Lieutenant. The last thing that our guest needs is wait a little longer."
The Lieutenant quickened his step and filed in front of the honour guard, "Sorry sir, I had to come via deck twelve; the gravity plating is down again."
Hood was about to reply with a more aggressive remark than usual, but the opening of the airlock doors changed his mind.
The honour guard snapped back to attention and presented arms a second time, but this time it was for the Arbiter and his guests.
Hood held out his hand, "Welcome back Master Chief, I owe you a debt of gratitude that cannot possible repay, but I'll do my utmost to try."
"Thank you sir." Replied John as he shook hands with Lord Hood.
Cortana jumped to the nearest holo-plinth, drowning the honour guard in a sea of blue light.
"Sir I know that a lot of people will be pleased to see us both, but we have more urgent matters to attend to."

Earth date: March 29th 2553, location unknown

"Master, the Reclaimer has reached the target. It appears we will be able to destroy both him and the species he protects."
"Good, send twelve ships to the planet and destroy everything in sight. If the Forerunners have returned, then we will make sure that there is nothing for them to return to."

To be continued...



[Edited on 03.17.2009 3:50 AM PDT]

  • 03.17.2009 3:49 AM PDT

Part 18

05:37 GMT March 30th 2553, The Office of Strategic Command, Frankfurt, Germany

John stood patiently in the dimly lit room, waiting for the line of officers to digest the information.
Cortana had been more than thorough in their collective debrief on the new alien threat, and Hood had been extremely supportive throughout the process, reiterating that he would have done the same, if the situation had presented itself to him instead of the Chief and Cortana.
Surprisingly though, the board of officers that now sat in front of him were unimpressed with the news of yet another threat. But what worried John most was the fact that they reacted with, not shock and fear, but almost a level of overconfidence, bordering on cocky.
They had obviously forgotten that the only reason why Humanity had survived in the end was because of the split within the Covenant. Not because the UNSC had delivered a killer blow, which is what these blind fools seemed to think.

John shifted his weight from one side to the other; he was steadily becoming frustrated by the lack of urgency, something which one of the silver haired officers noticed.
"Master Chief," He started.
John braced back into a more attentive posture. "Yes sir."
"Though we applaud your outstanding record in the war with the Covenant, and the sacrifices that have been made by the SPARTAN II program, we all feel that the situation with this new 'Enemy' could have been handled better."
Cortana jumped into the conversation, "Sir if I may remind you, the Forerunner technology was operating independently, with no interference from either myself of the Chief."
The officer leant back slightly in his chair, as though recoiling from the rapid verbal barrage.
"I understand thatCortana," the officer was reluctant to acknowledge an AI by their name. "But the Chief fired first, not the aliens. There should have been some attempt to communicate."
"If we had attempted to communicatesir!" blasted Cortana "Then we would not be stood here. The alien vessel fired on the facility after the planet based weaponry activated and fired autonomously. After crash-landing, the aliens then made their way into the structure using their weapons to neutralise anything in their path, and that would have included us."
Sensing that the main subject and purpose of the debrief was being lost, John stepped in to refocus the conversation. "Sir, if I may, I think that we need to concentrate on this new threat."
The officer relaxed. "Of course Master Chief, please continue."
"This new threat is obviously focussed on anything related to the Forerunners, or their technology. And as Earth is now host to a large Forerunner artefact as are many other present and former colonies, I think it's fair to say that we haven't seen the last of these aliens."
The officer shuffled some papers on his desk, thumbing through some of the images of the aliens in question before looking up at John. "Go on."
"The Arbiter agrees, as do Cortana and Lord Hood that we need to act quickly if we are to survive any attack from them."
"What makes you think they'll come here Master Chief?" voiced another officer with red hair.
John turned to face the officer directly, "Because sir, we are linked in many ways to the Forerunners. We are supposedly their descendants."
The red haired officer immediately interjected, "There is no concrete proof of that Master Chief."
"Perhaps not, but I don't think these aliens care. They'll still come regardless of the facts. And when they do, we need to be ready for them."
Another officer sat at the centre of the board, rapped his fingers on desk before speaking. "What do you propose we do Master Chief?" he said calmly.
"We need to coordinate with the Elites a suitable plan of defence. I suggest that every ship in the fleet has its MAC gun modified to operate at a higher rate of fire, and that all ground troops use high velocity armour piercing rounds, and where possible, Gauss weapons and ammunition."
The officer in the centre of the table quickly turned to look at the far right hand corner of the room, where a dark shadow was cast. John had noticed that someone was stood there when he first came in, so it was no surprise when the officer started speaking to a collection of shadows.
"General Moore, do we have anything in R&D that would help the Master Chief in any way?"
John's interest was immediately peaked with the mention of R&D. He knew what it stood for - Research & Development. Most of his weaponry, including the more recent Spartan laser, had come from this enigma filled arm of the UNSC.
The general in the corner took a single step forward. "The Master Chief needn't worry about what firepower he'll have. It's all in good hands." He said quietly.
The senior officer in the middle nodded in concurrence, and the general quietly disappeared into the shadows.
"I understand your point of view Master Chief, and I agree,"
Cortana immediately smiled.
The officer continued, "I believe I speak for us all and the rest of humanity, when I say that we fully support you. This new threat will no doubt present itself in the very near future, so I believe it is important for us to prepare for the worst, by selecting our best."
John tried not to read into the comment too much, but it was the last part of the officer's sentence that had caught his attention 'by selecting our best'. Did he mean by selecting John, or were there more Spartans to choose from?
He tried to resist the urge to ask, but his attempts for once, were futile. "Sir, am I the last? Am I the last Spartan?"
A huge cat-like grin creeped across the face of the officer, "I think there is only one person that can answer that question Master Chief."
John was puzzled. What did he mean?
The officer pressed a small COM switch on the desk in front of him and spoke, "Lieutenant Wellens, please show the good doctor in."
"Yes sir." came the reply.

The double doors behind John quietly opened, and a slender female figure with dark hair walked into the room wearing a white lab coat. In her left hand was a pair of glasses, which she was thumbing back and forth. In her right, a steaming cup of coffee.
John gazed in amazement at the person in front of him. She had a huge beaming smile, and was eye-locked to the point of paralysis. It had been so long since he'd seen a familiar face. A face that had helped make him the soldier that he was today.
"I'd know that rock solid stance anywhere." She said.
"Hello Doctor Halsey." John said nervously.
"I've told you before John, just call me Catherine." She grinned.
John offered her a hand to shake, but instead Catherine dropped the steaming coffee cup on the floor and tried to embrace him like a small child. The bulky armour made it difficult, but not impossible.
"It's so good to see you again John." whispered Catherine, before noticing Cortana standing patiently on the nearby holo-plinth.
"Good afternoon doctor." waved Cortana.
Catherine barely pried herself away from John's arms, "I hope you've been keeping him out of trouble Cortana."
"Actually doctor, he's been keeping me out of trouble." replied Cortana.

"Ahem!" coughed the officer at the desk. "Master Chief. Doctor Halsey arrived only four days before you did, and she brought some help."
John pulled himself away slightly to look directly at Doctor Halsey. "Kelly?" He enquired.
John had been worried about Kelly, after doctor Halsey had disappeared with her on a ship over a year ago.
"Better than that John. I brought a family of Spartans with me." she said excitedly. "Some you'll know, others you won't."
The doors to the room opened again and in walked a collection of Spartans. Three of them were wearing armour very similar to John's. Three more, smaller figures walked softly into the room behind the more familiar Spartans, but these were wearing an armour configuration that he was not familiar with.
Doctor Halsey pointed to each of the Spartans in turn. "This as I'm sure you know is Kelly, Linda and Fred. The other Spartans are from the SPARTAN III program, which was initiated by Colonel Ackerson. Ash, Olivia and Mark I'd like to introduce you to John."
The younger, smaller Spartans although in their armour could still be heard gasping with awe. But Fred, Kelly and Linda were, for once in their lives, far less restrained as they each grabbed John in a bone crushing bear hug that would have killed an ordinary man.
The officer coughed a second time, "Excuse me doctor, Master Chief. I know it's been a while, but we have a lot to discuss."
All of the Spartans, young and old, immediately braced in unison. "Yes sir!" they bellowed.
Kelly activated a secure COM channel to John, "Welcome back to Blue Team." She whispered.

To be continued

  • 03.17.2009 3:51 AM PDT

Part 19

March 31st 2553
R&D Field testing range, Otterburn, United Kingdom


John walked along the snow covered track leading to the firing range. The coarse, dark grey, gravel crunched beneath his heavy footsteps.
Kelly, along with the rest of the Spartans, had opted to walk the remaining three miles to the range compound. Whilst Doctor Halsey, Lord Hood, General Moore and a host of technicians had travelled ahead by Warthog.
Although the Arbiter was eager to train with the Spartans, he had the responsibility of overseeing the process of fitting as many human vessels as possible with Covenant shielding.
Based on the footage of the attack on the Brute's home world, the addition of shielding would hopefully give the human ships a second chance to fire their MAC weapons.

John was looking forward to trying out the new weaponry that the General had briefly mentioned, but he was mainly curious as to what had happened to Kelly and the others, and how they made it back to Earth.
"So what happened then?" he probed "What happened with you and the doctor?"
Kelly remained silent for a moment. She was just happy to be to making idle conversation with John again.
"Doctor Halsey took me to a planet called Onyx. It was a training facility. Similar in a way to Reach I suppose, but when we arrived we were greeted with a cloud of Forerunner sentinels. They crippled the Beatrice, and then we crashed," said Kelly kicking a large stone along the track.
"Then what happened?" pressed John.
"We met up with the younger Spartans, and then Fred, Will and Linda arrived via a Covenant ship they captured on Earth."
John became intrigued with the Spartan III's. They were the same as he was, but very different in the way that they had been trained.
"Who trained them? Who turned them into Spartans?"
"It was all down to Chief Mendez and ermKurt" stuttered Kelly.
"Kurt," Said John with surprise. "I thought he was killed years ago."
"So did we, but it turned out to be another one of Ackerson's stunts. He'd staged the whole thing just so he would have a Spartan under his command." She replied.
"What happened to him?" asked John, slowing his pace.

Kelly's ability to run faster than any other Spartan had some unusual side effects guilt.
Every other Spartan that had died either in combat, or from the effects of the augmentation on Reach, had been another reminder to Kelly that they had failed to evade whatever threat had presented itself.
Her speed and agility in combat had saved her life on no less than sixty seven occasions.
This meant there was a steady build up of guilt and regret over the deaths of her friends and comrades.
Fred sensed there was something wrong, and continued the conversation on her behalf.
"He was killed on Onyx after we evacuated. Doctor Halsey had discovered a subterranean chamber with a portal that lead to a Dyson sphere, but it was crawling with Covenant. Kurt stayed behind so we could make it through."

They all walked on in silence. Linda was tempted to join in on the conversation, but there was little that could be said without brining up another loss to the Spartan family.
John however needed to know more. He hadn't seen any of them for over a year, and there was a lot to catch up on. "I take it Will didn't make it either." He asked quietly.
Fred shook his head. "No. He fell fighting off the Covenant on Onyx, along with two members of Team Sabre."
"Pity, he was a good friend and an even better soldier." remarked John.
"That he was." said Linda softly.
"What about Mendez? Did he make it out? probed John.
"Yeah he made it thankfully. He was reassigned though, to an experimental ODST unit in Colorado." replied Fred, "As soon as he found out you were alive he tried everything to get over here, but the powers that be told him he had other concerns."

They all carried on talking as they walked along the track. The younger, newer Spartan III's walked quietly behind their older more experienced counterparts.
They were just happy to listen to the old stories that were being thrown around.
Then John mentioned the Halo structures, and all of them, including the Linda, Kelly and Fred immediately started questioning John as to what they were like.
John started by describing the initial encounter, when he was on the Pillar of Autumn with Captain Keys.
Of course, this was one individual that they had all known, as their primary mission to capture one of the Covenant Prophets would have been launched from the aging Halcyon vessel. But the Covenant assault on Reach put a stop to that.
Linda felt a cold rush in her back.
Her last memories of the Autumn were just before they left on a Pelican for the orbital station above Reach. Then she was shot in the back with a plasma rifle.
She shuddered at the thought.
John continued talking before he reached the one subject that was on all of their minds The Flood.
Olivia decided that it was time to jump into the conversation. "What were they like?" she asked.
"Thoroughly unpleasant." replied John in a calm voice.
The conversation returned to the enormous Halo structures.

After another five minutes of walking, they reached the crest of the track; before them lay the crater filled impact area of the range. Despite being only March, the entire area was covered in a thin layer of glistening frost.
On the horizon the morning sunlight was slowly climbing upwards, draping the cold landscape in a blanket of warm amber.
All of them stopped and gazed at the amazing scenery. It had been the first time since their Spartan training on Reach that they had all watched a sunrise.
They would have stood for a lot longer, but their collective peace was quickly disturbed by the crackle of the COM network.
"Blue Team this is Range Control, ETA over?"
John was about to reply, until he remembered that Fred was now the senior ranking Spartan.
"After you Fred." prompted John.
"You've always been team leader John. You make the call." Replied Fred
John had a great deal of respect for Fred. His combat abilities and leadership rivalled his own.
He nodded and activated the COM, "Range Control this is Blue Team. ETA - thirty seconds."
"Acknowledged Blue; Range Control out."

John turned to face the rest of the squad.
"Let's move Blue Team. We've still got another mile to cover."
The Spartans responded to his command. Not by any verbal acknowledgment but by something he hadn't seen for a while.
The team roster suddenly appeared on his HUD, and six pin pricks of green light flashed in response.
"Kelly, you take point." Ordered John
Kelly immediately set off along the track, her blistering speed setting the pace for the squad.
The rest of the Spartans set off behind her, trying their best to keep up with Kelly. But she had always been faster. After only 28 seconds she arrived at the range compound, shortly followed by the John and the others.
General Moore was the first to greet them. Assembled behind his were several teams of technicians, all crowded around four large tables.
"Welcome to Oscar range Spartans," announced the general. "Here you will learn to use a variety of weapons, which I'm sure you will find extremely useful."

Several of the technicians moved a medium sized tactical container from the table on the far right, and carried it over to where the general was stood.
They quickly opened the container, before the general reached inside and pulled out an unusual looking weapon.
"This Spartans is the MK41A," instructed the general, as he pulled out what appeared to be some distant relation to the SMG, but a much larger version. "The MK41A is a short to medium range hand held gauss rifle.
All of the Spartans took a step forward to get a closer look.

"The MK41A or HHAG (Hand Held Advanced Gauss) rifle as it's also known, is a semi-automatic, magnetic fed weapon. Capable of firing up to 450 rounds a minute. The HHAG was initially designed to combat, and defeat the superior armour and shielding of both the Covenant Elites, and the Brutes, and when necessary to neutralise the Hunter threat on the battlefield."

John reached over and picked up another one of the weapons, feeling the weight and balance of the new addition to the Spartan arsenal.
"Have these been field tested sir?" he asked
The generals face quickly turned from a sly confident grin to a more serious and worried expression.
"They were tested briefly Chief; both in development and in the field. Unfortunately seven marines were killed when we encountered somecooling issues."
"Cooling issues?" remarked Kelly
Sensing that the Spartans needed a more reassuring voice, Doctor Halsey quickly intervened.
"The previous designs were somewhat flawed. But we did managed to reverse engineer the cooling system on the Covenant plasma rifle, and adapt it to suit the HHAG" explained Catherine, pointing to the unusual cooling fins on the side of the weapon
"You need us to test out the new design, don't you?"
"I'm afraid so Chief." replied the general, gritting his teeth.
Catherine took a step closer to the group, "The new design has been test fired, but it needs a more rigorous workout. Should the cooling system fail, I'd rather have a fully suited Spartan holding the weapon."
John nodded, "Understood."
"There's a CQB (Close Quarter Battle) range over to the east Chief, take your team over there and try out the HHAG's." instructed Moore.
John acknowledged the order, and all of the Spartans proceeded to make themselves more familiar with the HHAG.

  • 03.17.2009 3:54 AM PDT

Each weapon was fitted with a sound suppression system, an optical and thermal sight and a magazine filled with 40 of the micro-darts.
Each dart was effectively a small fin discarding titanium round. When fired, each micro-dart was accelerated to sub-light velocities making them highly effective against even the most heavily armoured of foes.
Covenant shielding on an Elite or the large bulk of the Hunters would be penetrated with ease immediately killing the target.
John had used the HHAG's larger, older cousin: the Gauss cannon, which was mounted on LAAV version of the Warthog. But even these could take several shots to bring down Hunters or Wraith tanks, never mind a new and even more deadly threat.
John just hoped that the HHAG was a much improved design to that of the Gauss cannon.

Whilst everyone was checking their equipment, John walked over to Doctor Halsey.
"Doctor...any news on Cortana?"
Cortana had been taken from the comfort of John's armour shortly after he received his formal debrief.
Her lifespan had been seriously depleted due to her permanent active status. When Doctor Halsey had performed a simple diagnostic of her system she had discovered that Cortana only had an operational lifespan of another 12 weeks.
Doctor Halsey had ordered that the technicians do all they could to increase her life expectancy.
Initially the outlook had been positive, but even with the addition of Covenant technology, extending Cortana's lifespan to a figure beyond the typical 7-year point would prove more than difficult.
Catherine tried to smile, but she had little news for John.
The technicians were still working around the clock to correct the inherent design flaw that every AI had. Almost unlimited processing power came with a significant price, an incredibly short operational life.
"I'm sorry John," she said with a sigh, "but I haven't heard anything that might indicate there's a solution."
John gave his trademark nod, and then simply turned and walked away with the rest of his Spartans, heading for the range.

The CQB range was a collection of naturally created lanes in the landscape. Each lane was flanked by two large walls of earth which, like the rest of the range, was covered in a mix of grass, heather and small tuft like mounds of hard mud.
Some of the lanes were small designed exclusively for one person. But most were large enough for two people.
Further along the lanes were a series of automated targets, which were staggered along at irregular intervals. Each target was usually a thin sheet of aluminum, but with the sudden change of weaponry and ballistics, the general had ordered an upgrade of armour on all of the targets. Each one was now covered in a skin of ablative armour that was more commonly found on the front of a Scorpion tank.
John told everyone to pair off and make their way up their corresponding lane.
The first run would be in slow time. So they could become more familiar with the HHAG's capabilities. After that each pair would be race up the range lanes, using cover, changing fire positions and generally being more aggressive in their assault.
Each of the newer Spartan III's was paired off with a Spartan II.
Kelly was with Olivia, whilst Fred casually strolled up the range with Mark. Linda crept along with Ash firing as they went.
John walked up one of the other smaller lanes on his own, followed at some distance by Doctor Halsey.
The first target had been fashioned into the basic outline of a Brute chieftain. Complete with gravity hammer and an elaborate headpiece that had been fashioned from wood by an obviously bored range warden.
John calmly raised the short barreled HHAG and aimed it at the target. The optical sight immediately adjusted to his armour variant, and an enhanced image of the target appeared on his HUD.
John switched the safety to fire and caressed the trigger.
The HHAG coughed and a single thunderous round flew from the barrel, heading for the heavily armoured target. A small puff of smoke and a single bright spark briefly danced on the skin of the metal before giving way to a hole almost four times the size of the micro-dart.
Beyond and through the smoldering hole, John could see a small patch of smoking grass immediately behind the target.
Still pointing the weapon at the target, John turned his head to look at Doctor Halsey. "Tell the general that I like his new toy."
Catherine simply smiled and then continued to follow John as he advanced along the CQB lane, firing as he went.

John like the rest of the Spartans, enjoyed another 2 hours of racing up and down the range. By the time they had finished, each target was almost completely destroyed.
All of them agreed that the HHAG was a dream weapon.
The other weapons that General Moore had laid out were simple upgrades of present weapons - Assault rifles that were fitted with armour piercing rounds and a more powerful version of the BR55 battle rifle, along with a magnum pistol with an improved firing system and rate of fire.
The General explained that there was more in the pipeline, but they need to ascertain whether the HHAG was a combat ready weapon.
But something wasn't quite right. John could feel it. He started to wish that Kurt was with him so that he could use his accurate hunches and premonition-like feelings.
The security around the range was quite significant, even with the possible threat of this new species that could arrive at any time. John felt uncomfortable.
He opened the secure COM and activated the one frequency that only Spartans used.
"Fred, did you notice anything unusual when we arrived?"
"No not really. Although this place is crawling with marines, and I keep seeing a pair of Hornets patrolling the line of cliffs to the north." Replied Fred
"Something's not right."
"I know what you mean John. But then again, maybe people are just a little jumpy after the war." Offered Fred
"No. It's something else."

John walked over to General Moore, tightening his grip on the impressive HHAG.
"General."
Moore smiled, "Yes Master Chief."
"What's going on?"
"I...don't know what you mean Chief," Replied Moore with an odd expression.
John grabbed the General by the scruff of his neck and lifted him effortlessly off the ground.
"Bull-blam!-! sir. You brought me and my team along for more than just a weapons test. What the hell is going on?" boomed John
The General tried to struggle from John's vice-like grip, but there was no way out.
"I strongly suggest that you put me down Master Chief," Moore continued to struggle, "Or you may be on the receiving end of a court marshal!"
John lifted him higher, "Sir I recommend that YOU tell me what the hell is going on!"
Catherine came running over along with the other Spartans.
"John, what are you doing? Put the general down." Pleaded Catherine
"I won't ask again sir" warned John as he tightened his grip again.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry Doctor, Chief. But there is more to this weapon test than a simple run along the range area."
John lowered the General to the floor. "Go on."
"When we were mopping up the Covenant resistance in the area around here, a small group of Brutes made a run for a network of caves along the cliffs to the north. We sent in some ODST's and marines to clear them out, but they were all killed. We need you to head down and clear the cave system."
Doctor Halsey stood there, wide eyed with shock and disbelief. Then she slapped Moore across the face, "Bastard!" she yelled.

John smiled inside his helmet. "Well blue team, you heard the General. We've got some apes to clear."
John and the other Spartans readied their weapons before marching across the range towards the cliff face to the north.

To be continued...

  • 03.17.2009 3:55 AM PDT

Part 20

Otterburn Firing Range, United Kingdom


John and the others made their way on towards the cliff face to the north. Each of them were brandishing the HHAG as though it was some kind of metallic child, holding it close to their armour.
Olivia had reclaimed her role on point with Mark close behind. He like Linda, were the only two carrying the reliable and deadly sniper rifle.
Mark was walking with his rifle permanently aimed at the distant cave entrance. Occasionally he would briefly stop to use the rifles powerful scope to check out the entrance as Olivia carried on ahead, blending into the knee-high grass and patches of heather that covered most of the area.
John walked alongside Fred in an almost casual manner, but this was far from the truth. Each Spartan was well prepared and determined to see out any encounter, no matter the enemy, or the weapons they carried.

About fifty metres to the left of John and Fred, Kelly moved along in a half-crouched walk, nimbly avoiding the large tufts of grass and earth with un-rivalled grace.
Each tuft of peat filled mud was the size of a large water melon. If this path had been walked by a marine with his usual pair of issued boots then the trip would most likely be brief, and filled with sprains or a fractured ankle.
The terrain, although green and pleasant, was littered with these so called 'Babies heads'. The British based military arm of the UNSC often referred to these irregular mounds of earth as fields of heads. All of which could break the ankle of any unwary soldier.

Since John's arrival on Earth he had received a brief upgrade of armour plating and software. Something which now enabled him to see all of his squad members military records, and he was impressed with the new additions to the squad.
To the right strode the confident and eager Ash. And despite his youth, especially when compared with the Spartan II's, he had matured into a proficient and capable leader.
Olivia was a well-proven scout and as quiet as the smallest of cats, whilst Mark was the younger version of Linda, and just as capable with a sniper rifle.
John could see that Kurt had performed admirably in his role as an instructor.

John was pleased that he had been reunited with his remaining Spartans, but despite this he was concerned with his constant absence from Cortana.
Her voice had provided sound advice since she had been installed into his armour all those years ago on Reach.
Since defeating the loyalist arm of the Covenant and the lie filled uttering's of the prophets, John had thought that his remaining time alive would be filled with endless conversations with Cortana as they glided in empty space.
She would no doubt discuss every previous encounter with the Covenant, analysing each combat scenario to a degree that a neurosurgeon would be proud of.
He had anticipated that her eventual descent into rampancy would be quickly followed by his own madness, something which he was content with. His role in the war with the Covenant had been fulfilled, and all of his enemies had been cut from their delicate grip on life.
John had finally relinquished himself to an eternity of silence, far from the sickening sound of screams and gunfire, and the bright blue light of exploding plasma.
But as he soon discovered, Cortana was not his only concern.

When the other Spartans had escaped the assaulting army of Covenant soldiers on Onyx, they had found themselves in an environment filled with wonder. All of it created by the Forerunners.
But Doctor Halsey had other priorities. In addition to the desire to escape the artificial prison that had protected them since their arrival, they needed to uncover the Forerunners advanced grip on technology to free another squad of Spartan III's.
Team Sabre had been imprisoned in a series of stasis pods, but their method of capture was presently beyond the abilities of Doctor Halsey and the full weight of the UNSC advanced research division.
He knew full well that mankind had an understanding of Slipspace, but it was only enough to send space faring vessels through to their remote and distant destinations.
It was simply a question of knowledge and experience in a field that mankind was quite new to. The Covenant were however, more experienced in this area. But even they had been at a loss to solve the Sentinel induced puzzle of Slipspace enveloped stasis pods.

John's other additions were also a concern. Lucy another of the Spartan III's, was currently receiving treatment for posttraumatic vocal disarticulation - a condition that prevented her from speaking.
John was unsure whether this was from any physical trauma, but whatever the case, he wished her a speedy recovery.
But regrettably his reasons for wishing this were not born from sympathy, but a need for more soldiers, soldiers that could give mankind another glimmer of hope against a formidable foe.
John was sometimes disappointed that he lacked the almost sympathetic attitude to his fellow Spartans. Unlike Fred he always concentrated on the objective. Achieving it was what he strode for. And unfortunately, that often came at a heavy price.

Tom was another of the Spartan III survivors, but his responsibility currently revolved around Team Sabre. There was little he could do apart from provide a presence in case the technicians were successful. Something which John thought was unlikely, at least for now.
The technicians also had another mystery to solve. Both John and the other Spartans had managed to get back to Earth by finding a Forerunner hangar. Now the UNSC was in possession of two advanced vessels.
Unfortunately these two craft were only shuttles, but they would hopefully provide some answers in the search for new technology.
John's return journey to Earth had been brief, but the other Spartans had had further to travel, in addition to carrying the doctor around after she slipped and fractured an ankle.
John refocused on their new objective. The Brutes would be desperate after the weeks that had passed since their defeat. Not to mention the initial bombardment of the cave entrance.
They were lucky that there was any entrance at all.
The bombing of the cave had been stopped after an orbiting Elite vessel had detected an unusual energy reading from beneath the cliff face.
The residing Elite fleet master at the time had offered his assistance to Hood in clearing the cave, but Hood's initial acceptance of the offer was quickly overruled for reasons that were unknown to him.
John was unsure where the order to deny assistance had come from, but he had a good idea that one of the senior officers from the debriefing yesterday had something to do with it.
What he did know, was the reason for the order, greed and power.
Whatever was lying beneath the cave was not only of interest to the UNSC, but to the Brutes as well. That was probably why they were even in Europe at all instead of strengthening the loyalist presence in Africa.
"How do you want to play this?" asked Fred over the COM
"Standard guerrilla clearance." answered John "We'll use grenades to clear the mouth of the cave and then throw in a flare for good measure."
"Linda and Mark?" queried Fred
"Outward flanking positions to provide accurate fire support. Then we'll call them in once we're twenty or thirty metres inside."
Fred nodded. He liked the plan. But more than that it was like how it used to be. It was like being back on Reach.
"Who's first in?" he asked
"I am," Answered John confidently "then you, Kelly, Ash and Olivia. Once I'm happy it's clear, Olivia can put her skills to good use, and take point for the route inside. GEO says the route narrows after the entrance, and the last thing we need is a bunch of walking tanks clunking around, giving the Brutes any idea of how close we are."
"They'll know we're here once we start throwing grenades." Noted Fred
"I know, but the route further inside the cave will be greatly in their favour. At that point we'll need stealth, not shooting."

  • 03.17.2009 3:57 AM PDT

Mark suddenly stopped and squatted down into a fire position. All of the other Spartans immediately stopped and crouched down.
"What is it?" asked Fred
Mark steadied himself into a statue and stared at the mouth to the cave. "I had some movement. Not much, but enough to tell it wasn't a deer or a sheep."
"What makes you say that?" said John
"Because sheep aren't eight feet tall," Chuckled Mark
John raised his thumb and fore finger to his faceplate the Spartan smile gesture. "Good eyes Mark. Keep them open."
They were all still a good eight hundred metres from the cave, and at that range John knew the Brutes had little in the way of weaponry that could hit them with any accuracy. But he was not one for complacency.
"Linda, Mark. Take up a stationary fire position fifty metres to the west. If you see any more movement from the cave then relieve whatever it is of their head."
Both of them quietly creeped off to the left; still maintaining their view on the cave as they took it in turns to cover each other.
John immediately motioned the rest of the team to move forward.
Olivia set off like a cheetah. The rest of them followed behind - weapons at the ready.

Olivia managed to move forward to within a hundred metres of the cave before two simultaneous high velocity shots rang out.
"Movement sighted in the cave." Announced Linda
Olivia dropped to the ground and immediately magnified her vision to see what they had been shooting at.
Inside the cave and barely visible, was the shadow covered shape of a brute soldier.
Although unable to make out what rank it was she could tell easily tell that it was minus its helmet and weapon.
The shape quickly slumped to its knees before keeling over onto its front.
Their was a brief scuttling sound like rapid footsteps moving over the hard wet rocks of the cave.
John and the others ran forward into a forward fire position.
Fred tossed two grenades into the cave, followed by two more from Kelly. A double pair of muffled explosions filled the entrance, and a small cloud of stones and dust erupted from the darkened hole.
John moved further forward and then threw in a flare. The small golden orb bounced around inside the cave before settling behind a trio of large rocks and exploding into a small sun. Its direct glare was blocked to the outside, but the intense light still illuminated the rest of the cave.
Another shot rang out from Linda. "That's two."
John and the others sprinted forward to the sides of the cave entrance before the flare had finished its display.
Another two grenades were thrown by Olivia. They exploded, filling the cave with more shrapnel.
Then John entered the cave.

John's vision quickly adjusted to the dim light, but to avoid presenting an obvious target to the brute soldiers he left his field light off.
He heard movement several metres off to the right, behind some more rocks. He quickly turned and raised his HHAG simultaneously.
Out from behind the rocks strode the large bulk of a Brute Chieftain. The large ape growled loudly before charging towards John.
John calmly pulled the trigger twice and the weapon coughed two, sub light titanium darts at the Brute.
Two large holes erupted in the chieftain's chest sending blood and gore in all directions. The brute, almost unaware of the injury continued its charge.
John sidestepped the bloody hulk, and the brute ran headlong into the opposing cave wall and then collapsed into a heap on the ground.
"That's three." Informed John

The rest of the Spartans moved into the cave before they descended into the darkness.

To be continued...

  • 03.17.2009 3:58 AM PDT

Part 21

Otterburn Firing Range Cave System, United Kingdom


Olivia carefully hugged the craggy wall of the cave as she quietly made her way deeper inside the subterranean maze.
The dull, dark walls were covered in a mix of algae and a thin coating of water, which filled the cave with a steady drumbeat of water drops as they splashed on the cave floor below. Olivia, despite being the ideal candidate for this kind of task, had to move slowly and cautiously. Any sudden or sharp movements could bring a storm of spiker fire, or worse still, she could slip.

Almost ten minutes had past since they entered, but the only thing that they had encountered was darkness and silence. If there were any more Brutes alive in the caves then they were doing their utmost to remain undetected.
"You see anything Olivia?" John asked.
There was a brief moment of silence before a quiet whisper fluttered over the COM. "I'm not sure. There's something ahead, but I'm not sure what. All I could see was a small amount of movement."
John weighed up the options-which at the moment were somewhat limited. Even with their night vision as an aide the route down in the cave system was just a wash of blackness. John hated the intense silence that came with this approach to fighting, but there was little he could do until they had cleared the caves.

Suddenly there was a loud burst of automatic fire, the familiar sound of grenades bouncing around on the hard stone floor and the bright yellow glare of another flare. The section of the cave ahead of John was illuminated by the intense light which now enabled him to see what was happening. Ahead were the glowing outlines of two brute stalkers. Both were stood rooted to the spot, half blinded, with their large heavy arms raised to shield their eyes from the light.
John could see that Olivia was already using her HHAG rifle to good effect as one of the brutes fell to the floor. The other, dazed and confused, attempted to run but only succeeded in colliding with the cave wall. John and the other Spartans followed Olivia's lead and peppered the remaining brute with a handful of HHAG rounds.
"It's down," Olivia announced.
John and the others moved forward to check the bodies. Unlike the methodical approach to combat that the elites had employed, brutes were always sloppy and constantly carried map coordinates, battle orders or even holographic images of their objectives on data pads.
"Ash, Mark, carryout a thorough check. I want to know why they were here. Kelly, push through and provide cover," John ordered.
Three of the status lights in John's display winked green in acknowledgement before all three of them cautiously moved ahead. The cave slowly descended into darkness again as the flare completed its short, fiery display.
"Everyone use your tactical lights-that should be the last of the brutes, but proceed with caution." John said.
Everyone activated their tactical lights and moved forward, sweeping the immediate area for any signs of further danger. Ash and Mark rolled over the brute bodies and checked them for any Intel, but there was little to go on. The only item of any interest was an old aerial image of the cave entrance and the surrounding area. This was obviously their drop zone.

Kelly pushed ahead of the remainder of the squad and glanced down the next section of the path. She was surprised by what she saw.
"I definitely think that's the last of the brutes," Kelly reported.
"Why's that?" John asked
"I think you should come and see for yourself."
John walked up to where Kelly was and peered towards the area she was looking at. Before him was nothing but a dead end. "I don't get it. The brutes were quite interested in this cave, and there was the energy reading; why a dead end?"
"Maybe they just wanted some protection from the Hornet's outside," Fred offered.
"I'm not so sure," John said. "They landed here specifically. That mean's that there's something here alright. The brutes just couldn't find it. If only Cortana was here."
"You called," said a familiar voice.
"Cortana?" John probed.
"The one and only, Chief," she replied.
"ButI thought," John began. "I thought you were being repaired. And how did you get back? Your chip housing is empty."
"You would be surprised by what they can do. I'm all better now anyway."
"How long do you have?" John asked. The idea of her only have a short space of time left was a disturbing thought, one that sent a cold shiver down his enhanced spine. He'd always thought that if she was to die as an AI then it be because his luck had finally ran out and he'd been too slow to move or duck. Not the AI equivalent of old age.
"Another four years, give or take," she replied calmly.
He was pleased to hear the time was in years, instead of months or weeks. With his concerns of Cortana's well-being all but satisfied, for now at least, he shifted his attention to their current dilemma, the blank rock face that stood before him.
"Any ideas Cortana?"
"Move a little closer. So I can get a good look at it."
John moved closer to rock face, extending his hand. Cortana suddenly appeared in her usual guise of blue and purple, in the palm of his hand. She stared at the dull slate-grey surface, lines and shapes flashing along the length of her holographic body.
The rest of the Spartans moved forward, watching Cortana as she analysed the weak power signal and the face of the wall. As quickly as her skin had turned into a flurry of striking blue lines and shapes, her glowing form slowed to a steady stream of light.
"Touch the wall Chief," Cortana said.
"Touch it?" John questioned. "I'm sure the brutes would've tried that already."
"Just try it."
John moved his hand even closer until he touched the dry surface of the wall. And that was the problem; it was dry and not dripping with moisture. There was also a distinct lack of plant life, such as moss. It was just a plain old cave wall. John expected something unusual or extraordinary to happen, but all he encountered was the hard surface of the wall, and nothing else.
"Well, what now?" John said with a sarcastic tone.
Cortana thought for a second--an eternity to her, before coming up with a suggestion.
"Try it again Chief, but take off your gauntlet. Use your bare hand."
Cortana's glowing face was strained with concentration and filled with hope. John assumed that whatever it was she was doing, it wasn't the standard way of operating. But he trusted her judgment and reached towards the wall.
The previous hard and dry surface had become soft and malleable, like jelly. But the resistance to John's hand only last a moment before the rock face disappeared completely, revealing a long, and obviously Forerunner constructed, pathway that descended steadily for two hundred metres or so. John immediately raised his HHAG, but no threat presented itself to him or the other Spartans. He pulled on his armoured gauntlet and began to walk along the pathway.
"John, there might be sentinels down there," Ash stated.
John pausedmid stride. "Something tells me we're expected," he replied.
Kelly walked up to him and nudged him in the ribs. "I see Kurt's sixth sense has rubbed off on you."
"It's either that or all the Forerunner stuff I've encountered. You get used to it eventually," John replied.
Olivia moved forward to take point, but John stopped her with an outstretched hand. "I'll take point this time Olivia, just in case."
Olivia nodded and followed closely behind.
"What do you expect to find?" Fred queried.
"Answers," John replied.

  • 03.17.2009 4:02 AM PDT

John continued walking along the path, busily scanning the area in front for any danger. Kelly followed close behind along with Olivia, Fred and the rest of the Spartans.

After a brief walk the path changed to an elevated position as it rounded a small corner section. The sight of the rock covered walls, were replaced by an open area of unbelievable size. They appeared to be on a Forerunner gantry of some sort with a colossal spire shaped structure within the centre of an excavated dome. All around the spire, on the ground level, were thousands and thousands of stasis pods.
"I'm getting massive life-sign readings," Cortana informed.
John heard the words but he was completely stunned by what he was looking at. The dome was so large that it's hollowed out walls were beyond the range of his enhanced eyesight. He started to regret his earlier statement to Kelly.
"Linda, just how big is this chamber?" John asked.
Linda raised her sniper rifle and zeroed in on the darkened end of the open area. "A little over seven kilometres in diameter," she replied.
Cortana appeared before them, projected somehow by John's armour, on the solid handrail of the walkway. "It appears to be some kind of storage or preservation chamber. I presume the stasis pods will be full of Forerunners. I'm also detecting another area to the left. It looks similar to the hangar we encountered on the shield world."
"How many ships?" John asked.
"I can't say for certain, but there are at least three battleship configurations and another sixty vessels or so, all different classes. There's some electromagnetic interference that's preventing me from obtaining an accurate reading," Cortana replied in an excited tone.
"What about the spire in the centre?"
"Best guessI'd say it's another type of energy weapon platform, but it's much smaller, and more recent in construction."
John quickly pondered their next move. Should they all head back to the surface for a specialised team, or make their way down to the stasis pods. Very quickly, though, he reached a decision. "We'll head down to the stasis pods; see if anyone wants a wake up call. But keep your eyes peeled, in case there are any guarding sentinels."
Six green lights winked in acknowledgement on John's HUD, before they moved off towards a nearby lift at the end of the platform.
Once they were down, John stepped out from the lift and onto the chamber floor. The rest of the Spartans fanned out into a line, each of them staring at the sight before them.

As John continued walking towards the long line of stasis pods, the darkened chamber was suddenly filled with soft blue light. All of the stasis pods sprung into life and the distant Forerunner vessels were now covered in the familiar slashes of blue light.
A soft hum began to emit from all around them.
All of the Spartans raised their weapons, scanning the area for any sentinels that might be sweeping in from above. But there was no movement from any direction, all except the stasis pods.
Six of the pods were now almost fully open and there were signs of movement from behind the thick transparent shell.
John continued forward, as though compelled by some unseen force.
"John!" Fred warned.
John carried on, almost oblivious to the concerns of his squad, until he reached the nearest section of open pods.
A tall slender male figure emerged from within, along with several more males and females from the other pods. He was dressed in a one-piece suit of white interlocking plates, similar to his sub-layer of armour--Flexible sections of protective material that enabled him to walk run and handle a variety of weapons. But the Forerunner's equivalent was much more refined and far more advanced. It almost looked like skin.
But despite John's amazement in seeing a living walking Forerunner in an advanced form of protective clothing it was the first words spoken by the Forerunner that surprised him.

"Welcome home John, we have been expecting you."

To be continued

  • 03.17.2009 4:03 AM PDT
Subject: The Halo 3 Epilogue Parts 1-21 (New Version)

Posted by: Dropship dude
No, acnboy. Spartain Ken 15 is a lesser being. Much like the bacteria that lives in your shi­t.
Posted by: mike120593
My shi­t bacteria takes offense to that comparison.

Don't make me lel. You won't like me when I lel.

So, is the other thread being disregarded? Or are you going to post in both now?
Anyways, makes this story far easier to read now, THANKS!

EDIT: Was that part 22? I've never seen that one before. EPIC!

whoops yeah i meant part 21

[Edited on 03.18.2009 3:37 AM PDT]

  • 03.17.2009 4:15 AM PDT
Subject: The Halo 3 Epilogue Parts 1-21

Yes the other thread will be sacked in favour of this one. I can't amend the title of the other one.

No that was Part 21, but you wouldn't have known that it had already been posted in the other thread due to the error/bug.

Part 22 is coming.

  • 03.17.2009 5:05 AM PDT

It's a shame you had to do this, you had over 1000 replies, that's the greatest number replies to a fan fic I've seen since the likes of Mr.Clark and SoulGuard. Don't let this unfortunate occurance deter you however, I'm sure this will be on the hot topic list in no time. However, Foman should just switch them anyway.

  • 03.17.2009 9:00 AM PDT

Yeah but none the less Wolverfrog think of it like this he gets to achieve the 100 post...again

  • 03.17.2009 12:00 PM PDT

-eddy!
huh! What? It was the other guy, honest! ;)
'it was a sniper!' looks down at my sniper
uhh yeah? hes got one too. XD

u should make a link to this thread from the old one

  • 03.17.2009 12:47 PM PDT

The other thread like this isn't a sticky, it's just a top forum topic. so if it's to get back as a top forum topic it'll have to be popular. Foman let me know it was not stickied.

  • 03.17.2009 2:14 PM PDT

If my purpose in life is to be hated, then I'll make a great boss

Did you say there was a side-story in the other thread?
If you did, could you kindly direct me towards it?
Great job so far...(needs a gauss sniper thought, just my two GB pennies)

  • 03.17.2009 3:52 PM PDT
Subject: The Halo 3 Epilogue Parts 1-21 (New Version)

It's the Diary of Survival thread that's connected to this one. I'll amend the title slightly to read:

Halo 3: Diary of Survival.

I'll also add a link in a mo.

Here's the link:

http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=31094794&v iewreplies=true

[Edited on 03.18.2009 1:28 AM PDT]

  • 03.18.2009 1:26 AM PDT

This is my Battle Rifle there are many like it, but this one is mine.

the space battle is going to be epic with the forerunner

  • 03.19.2009 1:57 PM PDT

International Army for the Liberation of Hotdogs.
" The Grunt " - Death Served on A Screaming Platter!
You lack the majestic curves of a ripe banana! YOU SIR ARE A PINEAPPLE
win
Justin Bieber sounds like two high-pitched walruses engaging in sex.

blah! I had wondered where these had gone! 21 is awesome. They should make this into a book! love the story, can't wait for 22 :D

  • 03.20.2009 6:18 PM PDT

Posted by: Dropship dude
No, acnboy. Spartain Ken 15 is a lesser being. Much like the bacteria that lives in your shi­t.
Posted by: mike120593
My shi­t bacteria takes offense to that comparison.

Don't make me lel. You won't like me when I lel.

I know it's being written, but can you give us a time for part 22?

  • 03.21.2009 11:15 PM PDT

It WILL be out this week. A fair bit to write, hence the delay.

  • 03.23.2009 12:33 AM PDT

Posted by: Dropship dude
No, acnboy. Spartain Ken 15 is a lesser being. Much like the bacteria that lives in your shi­t.
Posted by: mike120593
My shi­t bacteria takes offense to that comparison.

Don't make me lel. You won't like me when I lel.

Yay! All hail His Brilliance!
(reference to some guy when you got banned)

  • 03.24.2009 4:46 AM PDT
  • gamertag:
  • user homepage:
  • last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT


make a book of that

  • 03.24.2009 12:32 PM PDT
Subject: The Halo 3 Epilogue (The Finale-Part 1)

Part 22

Forerunner Subterranean Chamber

John took a step back, scanning his surroundings for anything resembling an ambush. But he was looking directly at a living breathing Forerunner. Ambushes didn't seem to be an element of their behaviour, and besides he was supposedly a reclaimer. But the statement made by the male Forerunner standing before him was unusual, and unexpected, to say the least.
"What do you mean, expecting me?"
"We have waited a very long time to meet you John. You are the pride and joy of our work, and the subject of much debate," replied the Forerunner.

Unlike the previous Forerunner on the shield world, this individual was younger, healthier and, apparently, better equipped. He had short blond hair, a fair complexion and was dressed from neck down in an armoured jump suit of some kind. It was white in colour, with interlocking plates that moved and shifted as he walked.
John lowered his weapon. "I think you're going to have to be a little more informative than that."
Cortana suddenly jumped deep into his mind. "Chief, I'm reading massive power surges in every direction. All of the stasis pods have been opened and the small fleet of ships are already powering their engines. I think we've just woken a sleeping giant," she said hesitantly.

The blond haired Forerunner slowly walked towards John, arms by his sides. "What do you remember of your parents John?" he asked.
"My parents, why do want to know that?"
"What do you remember John?" repeated the Forerunner.
"Not a lot, barely anything in fact." John answered.
The Forerunner took another step towards John and then, despite having his helmet on, looking him in the eyes. "John, what you know about yourself and your family is very different to the truth."
"What do you mean?" John answered impatiently.
"Your mother may have given birth to you but it was we that created you. You were designed, long ago, to be the soldier that we needed you to be."
The rest of the Spartans slowly walked forward towards John and the Forerunner, with their weapons at their sides. Cortana also appeared again, on a holographic plinth nearby.
"Chief, what does he mean?" Cortana asked.
"I don't know."
"Thousands of years ago, when mankind was barely able to start fire, we began an intense genetic displacement program called Destiny. Here we selected a number of individuals from your species and altered their DNA. They were changed in such a way that they would follow a pre-determined course of existence. Several of your distant ancestors were selected for this program."
"You...designed him?" Kelly queried.
"More than that, we selected his genetic line to carryout a specific role," replied the Forerunner.
"What role?" Cortana asked.
"To save every species in the galaxy, all except the Flood and, of course, the Scourge."
"The Scourge?" John asked.
"The species we encountered on the shield worldthe enemy." Cortana intervened.
"Precisely, Cortana."
"How do you know my name?"
"We know a great deal." The Forerunner returned his attention to John. "You were designed to follow certain pre-determined genetic markers. You were destined to become a soldier, the saviour of all. Your bloodline was created to grow in strength and, at times, to avoid trouble when necessary. Your brain works in such a way that you will always duck at the right time. You will always jump at the right time, and you will always fire at the right time."
"Are you saying...that I can't be killed, that I'm invincible?"
"Far from it, you are as mortal as those around you; you are as mortal as we are."
"So what stopped me from being killed as a child or my parents being killed before I was born?"
"Because your parents were meant to look after you, but...Catherine Halsey was designed to find you. She was another with a pre-determined path. One that would see her create some of your species most prized technologies, including your augmentations."
Cortana quickly realised the possibilities, the answers she could find. So she started with a simple example. "What about, Albert Einstein? Was he another one?"
"Partly, he was destined to set the foundations for human science and the knowledge that they would all be founded upon."
"So what now then?" Fred asked.
"We prepare for the coming war. The Scourge know of your existence, and they will try everything in their power to eradicate you. It is only a matter of time before they come to destroy both you and every trace of your species. We have a small fleet here, and more on the way, but it will be some time before we can muster all of our remaining forces."

All of a sudden the entire dome was enveloped in a bright red glow, all of the Forerunner vessels rose from their landing area in the hangar section and the tall spire in the centre began to rise towards the ceiling of the chamber.
"What's going on?" Fred asked.
The Forerunner quickly glanced at a small display on his wrist, and then up towards the surface above them. "They're here."
"Who? The Scourge?" John asked.
"Yes," replied the Forerunner with a hint of apprehension.
The COM crackled into life as the voice of the Arbiter pierced the tense atmosphere surrounding the Spartans.
"Spartan, it would appear that you infamous enemy has finally arrived and in greater numbers."
"How many?"
"Twelve ships, Spartan. And they are much larger than the one you encountered. They have assumed a standard line, but are holding their distance from our combined fleets. I am sorry my friend, but we were only able to equip half of the attending vessels with shields, the rest have only their hull armour to protect them."
"It'll have to do," voiced Cortana.
"I will do what I can, but I fear this battle may be our last. They outgun us in every way. The battle will be short."
"Sounds like good odds to me," Kelly said.
John nodded and made his way towards the lift in long deliberate strides..
"Where are you going, John?" The Forerunner asked.
John stopped and calmly turned around. "To finish this fight," he answered.

To be continued...

Four parts to go

[Edited on 03.25.2009 12:38 AM PDT]

  • 03.24.2009 2:38 PM PDT

My God, talk about a revelation....

Interesting theory you have their Max, I loved this part, it was well worth the wait. How do you come up with all these brilliant ideas? Downright amazing, this is the best fan fiction I have ever read, hands down. When you finish, I'll give a full review.

  • 03.24.2009 2:45 PM PDT