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  • Subject: Path of Reclamation: Finale
Subject: Path of Reclamation: Finale
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5 great stories lai

thank you soul for days and days of great reading

  • 10.29.2007 1:02 PM PDT
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oh my, what a birthday present, i cannot wait...till tomorrow. woot being 18

  • 10.29.2007 1:57 PM PDT

Do you know what the best thing is? The thread managed to reach a round 100 pages at the end. That makes it all the more satisfying.

  • 10.29.2007 2:28 PM PDT
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Thanks for the wonderful stories. I cann't not wait to see how it ends. It's so rare to see an auther complete fan faction but, thanks for sticking it out. Please let us know if you ever get something plubished. I am sure we would all love to read it and good luck on what ever you do next.

  • 10.29.2007 2:31 PM PDT
Subject: Path of Reclamation: Level 24
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I am a Sangheili Bard.
Tomes of the History of the Mirratord
For the honor of the Mirratord!

Posted by: soulguard
Sadly Brutes, PoR is my final Halo fanfic. I'll be moving on to completing my published fic. But I am co-writing a story with Aardvark. Check out her signature for a link to her thread and give "Message in a Bottle" a read. It's good.

~soulguard


Such a gentleman! You honor me.
I will wait, and watch, for this grandest of all grand fanales, but if the company publishes me before they publish you I'll put in a few good words for you. You have truly inspired us all.

~Aardvark

  • 10.29.2007 8:30 PM PDT

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It has been posted.
"Path of Reclamation" Level 25: "To whom it may concern"

Post your comments on FF.net, but come back to this thread for open conversation and to debate your likes and dislikes.

Thanks again to all that have supported me for so long and those who just came aboard. It's been a blast and I eagerly await your responses.

~soulguard

  • 10.30.2007 8:31 AM PDT

Phoenix is dead, long live Phoenix!
Is it?

Wow. I salut you.

I think I'm going to have to read that again.

  • 10.30.2007 11:39 AM PDT

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thanks, Lai! :D
Glad you enjoyed it. Re-read the last chapter or the whole story?

~soulguard

[Edited on 10.30.2007 12:32 PM PDT]

  • 10.30.2007 12:31 PM PDT

Phoenix is dead, long live Phoenix!
Is it?

I think all of it.

Thanks Soul, you really brought it all together in a really twisting finale. I think you will need to do some short shorts, to clear up a few loose ends. (Letter to UNSC size)

  • 10.30.2007 1:17 PM PDT

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Haha... I think you mean the ship. There is a mentioning of an Incident at the Gatekeeper Facility while Eric and the others were on High Charity.... Rose says something twice about it.

I wanted to resolve this, but it didn't flow very well in the chapter. Actually, it created a huge rift in the flow of the story as it was basically a lot of dialogue and very little action. Just a bunch of people running... but I'll look the scene over and debate on what to do with it.

~soulguard

  • 10.30.2007 1:29 PM PDT

Phoenix is dead, long live Phoenix!
Is it?

Are you going to do a re-edit like in SFFH? If so you could add a level in like the politics levels.

  • 10.30.2007 7:15 PM PDT
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Ya know, I had a hard decision in actually opening this final chapter. Not because it was a spoiler and I am a slacker who has yet to acquire a 360, but just because I truly didn't want it to end. I do congratulate you, however, on your fine piece of work, as well as the other offsprings (GOTLK is still my favorite, don't know why). I wanted to say thanks for the mention on FF! Didn't see that one coming. I look forward to the Soul Guardian stuff.

I myself am in a bit of a writing lull due to just not having much time, and like you I am probably not going to write anything more for the Halo series, although I do still have some more "Flash Clones" ideas brooding around. Anyway, returning this thread to its rightful owner....

I really didn't expect Eric to survive the story, and was glad to see that he made it through. It did make me wonder though, as after his fight with Grimleon he was pretty much shattered by using the full power of the suit. I assumed he was a dead man walking at that point, but was still presently surprised to see him at the end. Rose's pregnancy was quite symbolic for me, seeing as how humanity was basically starting anew.

Wrapping up, I thank you for sharing your hard work with us, and look forward to reading future projects.

-dldaddy

  • 10.31.2007 5:34 AM PDT

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Lai- I doubt there will be a rewrite such as SFFH. SFFH was a nice medium novel. PoR and IIWYH are much bigger and would take a great deal of time. Time I would greatly like to devout to my orig-fiction. But I am still looking over the edited material from this last level and debating on doing something special with it. I actually started it last night, but the freaking ... uhhh.. never mind. I'd rather not say in case it doesn't work.

bbender.- I was considering that the suit was actually holding the man together. That scene, along with the ship, was also fulfilling in the long run. Much to my attention, I pushed the thought out of my mind and chose not to include any mention of the power level in his suit. Basically, I wanted it to be implied that Eric and Mathew knew that if they used the full suit's potential... they would die, and Eric nearly did. The battle on High Charity and the fall to Earth was a continuation of his already injured form. The fall was damaging, but not nearly as much as grimleon's beat down. The pain Eric was feeling when the suit lost power was the overall pain of both incidents. .... perhaps I should have added that? :-\ I hate it when I think of things well after the fact. Le-sigh.

The baby was very intentional, and I'm sure you remember when it happened. I wanted that to be almost exactly how you said... a sign of rebirth. That humanity was rebuilding and life would survive. There was also a huge chunk of explanation that was cut out during the edit. If you noticed at the beginning, Hood calls Rose by her full first name and gives her a hug, as if they knew each other. This was all involved during the Gatekeeper Facility incident. And the more i think about it, the more I'm regretting the edit.

But really glad you enjoyed it and the huge holes throughout. XD
~soulguard

[Edited on 10.31.2007 6:15 AM PDT]

  • 10.31.2007 6:03 AM PDT
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LOL I did. No worries on Eric's injuries. I assumed the suit was still holding him together. I tell you what I personally would like to see is a story on Kate. I actually grew fond of her character and her refusal to leave David behind. Reminds me of another Spartan *cough*Kelly*cough* that I love. *sigh* Anwyay, don't beat yourself up, the things you mentioned were really inconsequential and the story stands as is.

  • 10.31.2007 8:05 AM PDT
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oh my, amazing. it's as simple as that. the entire range of emotions from the initial memorial scene to the intense rising action and climax of high charity to the resolution of the story was amazing. you, my friend, soulguard, have a future ahead of you in writing. good luck. ill be looking for some novels at barnes and noble soon.

  • 10.31.2007 4:10 PM PDT
Subject: Halo Side Trilogy Wrap Party

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Thanks all. Well, seeing that everyone here has decided not to really discuss the story, or look for more meaning (bbender stands alone), then I guess I'll have to spew what little I can think of off the top of my mind.

The Side Trilogy Wrap party
Over All, the trilogy was focused on one true theme, "overcoming the odds". Since the beginning, way back in SFFH, we were introduced to characters who were relatively weak in form, but not in heart. Palab, the grunt who would be king, was not even the elder of his Pack. As we discovered in IIWYH, Palab was a ploy created by the Prophets to speed along the division in the Sangheili Academy. They "CREATED" Palab by fertilizing an unggoy female with the seed from the prior grunt king, the very King that started the Grunt Rebellion. The reason the Prophets did this was to convince the Sangheili Watchmen that the Elite's were doomed to fall... to the Watchmen, a grunt leader was a sign that the elites would not go on the great journey. This was of course a lie created by the prophets. Palab survived two assassination attempts on his life and found more strength because of it.

Palab overcame the odds, and the odds were that he would be killed and the grunts would be crushed with him, however.... The Mirratord caught wind of this ploy thanks to Gridolee, one of the young who also believed that Palab would lead to the elite outcast. The division of the Covenant was not something that the Grunts cared about, they simply followed orders, however, Palab was instrumental in keeping a small band of skilled grunts on the side of the elites during the civil war. It is because of Palab that the Grunts, in the end, remained on the good side of the Elites even though the majority of the Grunts sided with the Covenant.

Other key characters in the Side Trilogy were, Simyaldee (the Second in command of the Mirratord) and his dealing with the loss of his mate and his family due to the lies of the Prophets. Simyaldee had a deep hate that made him more driven to fulfill his duty as a Mirratord. There was also Wesley Williams (the young ONI spook that was assigned to shadow Roselyn Santos and their short but very s3xual relationship).

Kelly Spartan 087 story was one that I really wish I cold have fleshed out more. The role she played in Ghost of Onyx drastically changed the progress of her accounts in the Side Story Trilogy. I knew from the moment I introduced her into IIWYH that her character would haunt me, and I guessed right. As It stands I truly am happy that I included her. Having her connected to the history of the Reclaimers and being a rare "Pure Blooded" reclaimer seemed to add more life to Kelly. Her involvement with Major Rawlings added more humanity to the character and I really wish I would have had an opportunity to give it more light, but GoO twisted things and made it nearly impossible to give Kelly any real substance.

Major Rawlings, Gridolee, Melanie Peters and numerous other side characters all had their inner turmoils and deeds that needed to be overcome. I think this was one of my shinning points. The trilogy is full of characters that people could relate to.

Hopefully this will spark some conversations amongst you all before the side trilogy really dies and sinks to the depths of the forums. I'm listening... :D
~soulguard


[Edited on 11.02.2007 10:52 AM PDT]

  • 11.02.2007 8:07 AM PDT
Subject: Path of Reclamation: Level 24

“We are the Mirratord. We strike with speed and stealth. Our enemies will not see their deaths. They will not know their fate. In darkness, we will see light. In light, we will see darkness. No matter the location, we will see victory. If we fail, no one will know. Like a ghost, our presence is a mystery. For the honor of the Mirratord" Join the Mirratord here

Hey brah, I just wanted to ask, WHY? Why did you kill off Melanie? I was hoping she and Eric would be the last ones left!

  • 11.02.2007 8:25 AM PDT
Subject: Halo Side Trilogy Wrap Party

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Posted by: RAG3 ON3
Hey brah, I just wanted to ask, WHY? Why did you kill off Melanie? I was hoping she and Eric would be the last ones left!

Oh Melanie, I still get a little teary when I think about her.

Mel was a character living in the shadow of her big sister, Kim. Mel was the brawny, blow stuff up until you can't blow it up anymore, type. However, like any good character or story, their had to be a sense that anyone in the story could die. What I hate, and I mean HATE, is a story that present invincible characters. There is no moment of suspense, no fear that these characters could die. They are immortal and I hate that. For me, a character is only as good as your connection to them. Mel, unfortunately, was the reminder that no one is safe in a war. After that chapter I began to get the responses that I wanted from you all. There was this sense from all the readers that at any moment someone was going to die, and rightfully so. I believe that Major Rawlings surprise death also added a bit of shock to the story, but she was different case.

Mel had reached her limit. With the arrival of the Spartan III's I needed to fit them into the fold a little more without adding too many side characters. Mel had spent some time with Eric, her best friend-big brother type role, and in the heat of doing what she does best she she was beaten. The pain off that loss created an emotional swell in all the characters and showed yet another side of humanity, grieving. Had it been an unliked character they would not have reacted the same.

Mel's death served three purposes in writing:
-evoking a response from the reader
-creating an opening for another character, and
-showing character emotion in the story

Though it hurt to kill her off, it added a great deal more depth to the story.

~soulguard

[Edited on 11.02.2007 10:52 AM PDT]

  • 11.02.2007 9:03 AM PDT
Subject: Path of Reclamation: Level 24
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Totally agree with your GoO comments. It was funny because when I was reading it I was thinking "well great, what the hell is Soul going to do with this mess.." LOL That is what I think sets your stories apart, in that we are really focused on characters BESIDES the MC. It is true that GoO was a departure from that as well, but them putting Kelly and Halsey in there with the rest just really left me wondering where there story would go. Do they make a mention of them in H3? I haven't heard or played it so I don't know.

The killing of Mel was shocking, but I think it was necessary for the very reasons you mentioned. Stories HAVE to have some element of the unknown. I think one of the best parallels I have read was Stephen King's "Cell". I won't put a spoiler in case anyone happens to be reading it, but suffice it to say NOT to become too attached to some of the characters. Another good example of this to me was the Movie "Deep Blue Sea" where Samuel L Jackson is giving his speech. After that you fear no one may survive to the end.

For me, the inclusion of Kate actually replaced Mel pretty rapidly, to kind of soften the sting, if you will.

It might have been nice to flesh out Rawling's death a little more, have her really repent for things before she ate a bullet. To me Wesley's death was much more upsetting, even though I didn't really have a connection with his character, you really brought out a side of humanity from him as he was dying.

I really wish I remembered more from SFFH and IIWYH, but it has been a while. I will probably go back and read them again soon. I STILL don't understand Bungie's logic with not having the grunts and Hunters dissent as in H2, but whatever. The whole "It was too hard to tell good grunts from bad" was just silly. Guess what? Sometimes in war it IS hard to tell who is FOF, and I think it a perfectly reasonable jump in logic to say that there would have been species on both sides of the conflict.

I think the things I would personally like to know is the process you went through writing this trilogy. It just amazes me how this thing gelled together when I can't make anything longer than a one-shot seem cohesive.

Anyway, I hope others jump in as the side trilogy is definitely worth discussing. Shoot me an email or PM when you get back to work on SoulGuardian.

  • 11.02.2007 9:36 AM PDT
Subject: Halo Side Trilogy Wrap Party

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Posted by: bbender

I really wish I remembered more from SFFH and IIWYH, but it has been a while. I will probably go back and read them again soon. I STILL don't understand Bungie's logic with not having the grunts and Hunters dissent as in H2, but whatever. The whole "It was too hard to tell good grunts from bad" was just silly. Guess what? Sometimes in war it IS hard to tell who is FOF, and I think it a perfectly reasonable jump in logic to say that there would have been species on both sides of the conflict.

I think the things I would personally like to know is the process you went through writing this trilogy. It just amazes me how this thing gelled together when I can't make anything longer than a one-shot seem cohesive.


It was very sad to see the grunts returning fire at me in Halo 3. A nice touch would have been if you could kill only the Brutes, and if the arbiter was in your team, the grunts would turn sides and start following you. But once again, Bungie gave in to the masses where, easier is more fun. I enjoy the game, but the continuity of the series simply was ruined. I mean think about it, if you are really into the game and follow the story closely, a nice feature would be to spare the grunts and have them follow you. Sure the grunts can talk aggressively about killing you, but that's makes it all the more awesome for them to join you... just like in Halo 2. Suddenly the brutes went from killing grunts to using them. Wicked switch, but it's easy to point an mock at the final results, as we can not have it our way. It's Bungie studios, not Burger king.

That aside, there is no mention of kelly or any other spartans in Halo 3. As for how I put this trilogy together? Well, that would take thesis about as long as SFFH. But I'll summarize...

The trilogy first began as a one shot story about the grunts... it then hit me that people really liked my view of the Halo verse and they cried scream clawed and gave me money to do more. So I started IIWYH.... with the idea to tell an even bigger story with more characters and on both sides of the dispute. This story started from the human perspective and then carried back into the adventures of Palab. However, since palab was a well established character there was no need to make him the major focus of the story. Intead the focus would be the humans and Palab would be the side character that would be guided towards his ultimate conclusion. In my head I had an idea of how this story would flow, but as I began to write it down it began to take shape on its own. The need to expand on the Forerunners came to mind and so I threw in Halsey and Kelly. I began writing notes and directions for the story, but every day they changed as the story took life. Soon, IIWYH was over and the break between Halo 2 and 3 was getting thinner, but no clear sign was made as to when 3 would be graced upon us.

Looking back through IIWYH, I saw that I could do certain things to the last chapter of the trilogy and filled a few pages with cryptic plot points for the future book. This allowed me to have a general idea of where the final story would go and who the main players would be and what they needed to do. During this plot notes phase I found that there were smaller stories i could tell. So I did the Side Side stories. lol. The mirratord was a lot fun as it allowed me to explore Simyaldee the same way I explored Palab in SFFH.

The final book was a jumbled heap of every story I've done in the Halo verse. Combining elements from every book I've written and answering them or expanding them. Notes notes notes.... and those notes changed daily depending on my writing mood. That, my friend, is how the Side Trilogy fell from my bowls in a steaming heap of .....

~soulguard

[Edited on 11.02.2007 10:53 AM PDT]

  • 11.02.2007 10:40 AM PDT
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goodness? wonderful storytelling? something Bungie should have used? I couldn't agree more.. LOL

  • 11.02.2007 12:34 PM PDT

Phoenix is dead, long live Phoenix!
Is it?

The thing I like the most is the cohesiveness of your stories, the way that everything fits together in one huge mass of goodness. One thing about your above paragraphs though, you forgot Etah's death, that was amazing. The thing that I liked more in the side stories, was the focus on a character, you could tell the story was about a certain goal or ending. I think the same could be said on a smaller scale about this story and IIWYH, but i think i didn't read them together enough.

  • 11.02.2007 1:23 PM PDT
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While I love the ending I still have a few questions. What happen the ship that was forged during the second Grimeleon fight? What role the Queen of the Elities government? In "The Mirratord" even through their was a Queen the High Council seem to be charge.

  • 11.02.2007 3:17 PM PDT

It was a good story, but it has evolved into a small community of its' own, and that is what makes it great!

  • 11.03.2007 3:48 PM PDT
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Semper Fi
Perry USMC-My Gamertag
The GRAND poll/thread "We want online co-op for Halo 3": http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=8204108

Support it and you will support online co-op for Halo 3!


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Great story man as I said on my FF.net name UNSC S117 it was a great story and I hope you can carry on stories with the Black Ops and The Mirratord,I mean we'd hate it if you ended them here!

Thanks much Bro,

Masterchief456

GT:Perry USMC

  • 11.03.2007 8:14 PM PDT