The Gallery
This topic has moved here: Subject: [Story] 2610: The Aftermath (Chapter II Up)
  • Subject: [Story] 2610: The Aftermath (Chapter II Up)
Subject: [Story] 2610: The Aftermath (Chapter II Up)
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

This is the story of Jason Brandos, your average newspaper photographer who has led a difficult life. Born after the Human-Covenant War, he has run into a series of unfortunate events that have shaped him to be an isolationist alcoholic who barely clings to life in the post-war world. However, the scoop of a lifetime presents itself and makes him an overnight sensation. Unfortunately, his story causes a chain reaction of events that will spin his life like he never imagined. Some secrets are better left unreported.


Chapter I: New Dawn Over Humanity

New York City, November 27th, 2610

The shutter-bulb of Jason Brandos' camera flashed with white, hot intensity as it reflected off the museum displays glass. He was visiting The Museum of Humanity in New York City for his job at the New York Ambassador newspaper, his task was getting pictures of the museums interior. It was an amazing place, construction began in 2607 and finished in the early month's of 2610. The halls of the building were a shadowy black to symbolize the dark times of humanities past, but the deeper you got in the museum the whiter the walls became, a symbol of hope and perseverance. Pieces of human history decked the displays, it ranged from ancient tribal items from prehistoric times, to Victorian paintings, and even 20th century astronomical equipment.

However, the crown jewel of the Museum of Humanity was it's exhibit chronicling the Human-Covenant War. Guns, vehicles, everything war related made it's way to the building and now stood on permanent display. Jason snapped a picture of a Scorpion tank, armor from a Brute soldier, and a photo of the world-famous diorama titled "The John-117 Monument", a memorial to the fallen Spartan-II commando of the monument's namesake.

"Wow," Jason sighed in disbelief, "This is simply breathtaking."

Jason took multiple photos of the diorama as he felt were needed, gazed at it once more, and moved on. The Human-Covenant War still had far-reaching effects over 50 years after it concluded, numerous memorials, tributes, and, what it could very well be called, propaganda littered every major city left intact on Earth. All Jason knew about the war was what his parents, retired Marines, told him and the lessons he was taught in school. Born in 2584, Jason entered the world over 30 years after the war was over. Throughout his life he was told of the bold sacrifice the brave men and women of the UNSC gave to allow him the freedom to live in a world rebuilding from a devastating genocide that left numerous humans dead. He was raised to remember planets like Harvest, Jericho VII, and Reach, all destroyed by the monstrous Covenant Empire.

For a long time he accepted everything he was told, but some things he found hard to swallow. For instance, why was the significance of the Sangheili, known as Elites by most people, so downplayed by all historical sources? Jason understood that for the greater half of the century they had fought the Elites, among other extraterrestrial forces, in bitter conflict, but if it were not for the Elites, he knew very well he wouldn't be alive. Also odd was the amount of classified information that organizations like ONI, the Office of Naval Intelligence, still horded to themselves. Fifty plus years after the war they had still not loosened their iron grip on precious information. Why was the Kenyan city of Voi destroyed by allied-Sangheili forces? What was the purpose of a disc-shaped structure nestled in the charred remains of New Mombasa? Where exactly did the Spartan-II Project originate? That last question perplexed Jason the most, the Spartan-IIs were known during the tail-end of the war, but any information on them was vague, obviously fabricated, or censured by, you guessed it, ONI.

For now, he had no time to wonder about such post-war mysteries, he had a deadline to keep, these pictures wouldn't print themselves. Outside the museum, the sun was beginning to set over New York City. In the distance, a new statue stood alongside the famous Statue of Liberty, still standing after so many years. It immortalized a Spartan, sans the iconic helmet, staring off into oblivion with a heroic outlook. Below the great statute stood the miniature sculpted figures of children clinging to the sage colored Dues Ex Machina in hope. The sun created a vibrant gold color as it's rays reflected off the massive statue. Beautiful.

Remembering his deadline, Jason hailed a taxi and asked to be taken to the New York Ambassador building in Times Square. The building was an architectural dream and symbol of human pride, built from the metal of the New Mombasa Space Tether, the orbital elevator that fell during the Battle of Earth, it showed that humanity could rebuild. Now it stood as a monumental portion of New York's skyline and it's biggest supplier of news. Paying his cab, he stepped out of the car and into the building. Anxiously he ascended the elevator to the office of his boss, Jack Peterkin, to drop off his photos.

Many employees joked about Mr. Peterkin's office, his heavy Sweet William's Cigar smoke and shining crimson walls earned his domain the appropriate nickname "The Inferno". on casually walked into "The Inferno" and was immediately assaulted with cigar smoke. Still, he managed to reach Mr. Peterkin's desk.

"I got the photographs you wanted sir," Jason hacked, his lungs still adjusting to the smoke, "Do you like them?"

The ex-Staff Sergeant clicked through the camera's digital storage and gave the young photographer a warm smile.

"Brandos," Peterkin said gruffly due to his worn out voice after years of braking at recruits and smoking, "You did a damn fine job capturing the Museum. My boy these will do just fine for the article about the 58th Anniversary of the war coming up."

"Thank you Mr. Peterkin," Jason said pleased with his success, "Need me to drop these off to Scotty at the printing press before I head home?"

"Yes yes do so," ordered Peterkin returning to his grizzled veteran voice, "Oh and Happy Birthday."

Jason was shocked his boss remembered his birthday, "How did you know it was my brithday sir?"

"Oh word spreads around and I have everyone marked on my calendar," Peterkin pointed to the simple calendar pinned to his wall, "I'll slide you a little bonus in the mail Jason, get yourself something nice."

"Thank you sir I will," Jason said gratefully as he departed "The Inferno" and down the building. Hailing a cab once more, he headed to the Ivory Tower Apartments so he could finally get some rest. Entering his basic adobe, he collapsed onto his couch and left the lights off.

Glumly he said to himself, "Happy Birthday to me my ass."

Unfortunately, this was not a day to celebrate, at least not for him. His parents were dead, they were killed in a fatal bus accident on vacation in London and making him an orphan. It was the typically story, dead parents, abusive foster parents, kicked out of the system at 18 and forced to live on the streets. Only recently had his luck improved because of his photographer job, a decent living that helped him out plenty, but November 27th wasn't a happy day for him.

He got up, walked to the fridge, and grabbed a cold, pain numbing bottle of cognac and drank himself to sleep.

[Edited on 02.14.2010 2:04 PM PST]

  • 02.12.2010 11:01 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] 2610: The Aftermath

No one else has commented on this? It's brilliant, a wonderful idea, one with incredible potential.

Keep writing, I want to know what's going to happen in this story.

  • 02.14.2010 11:42 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Chapter II: Lies

The head splitting migraine awoke Jason at 11:43, the aftermath of the night before was ever apparent. Three bottles of cognac lay motionless on the floor, some things didn't add up. Before dozing off, Jason remembered only drinking one bottle, guess he drank more in his drunken stupor. Regardless, his hangover wouldn't be a great start for the day.

"Thank God I'm not working today." Jason struggled to say as he got off his couch. Making his way to the kitchen, he turned on his coffee pot and peeled an orange. He sunk his teeth into the orange's flesh and sucked down the juice that burst from the fruit. Within minutes, his coffee was ready to cure his hangover. With coffee in hand and the remaining bits of orange in tow, he moved back to the couch, sat down, and turned on his TV. Almost immediately he was greeted by government-sponsored commercials.

The threat may be over, but Earth and her remaining colonies need your protection, join the UNSC today and...

*Click*

The Global Water Campaign was a brilliant proposal by entrepreneur Joshua Mandeker of Kenya in the 24th century, but it quickly fell apart. Our analysis at...

*Click*

Who were the Spartans? Regular soldiers who went beyond the call of duty? Gods in armor? Myths? New information from ONI gives us a look at the famous commandos who fought the Insurrectionist movement and later the Covenant.

That last segment intrigued Jason with a jolt of electricity coursing through his veins. The premise was simply too good to be true. ONI releasing classified information? Did Hell freeze over? Were pigs flying? He had to see it to believe it. After five intense minutes, the report came on.

Began in 2517, soldiers were conscripted and chosen to participate in a series of tests to see if they could become Spartans-II commandos. What mysteries of the apparent Spartan-I program are sketchy, but it's groundwork built up the foundation for the Spartan-II project. The chosen soldiers were then pushed to the limits of their physical abilities until the final step was initiated, augmentation. Through consensual chemical treatments, these brave men and women achieved all the power of Hercules, the speed of Apollo, and he intelligence of Athena in one process. When finished, they were living gods.

Through the early years of the year 2517 and up until 2552, they were given assignments that were extremely dangerous, assignments that even the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers could not complete. However, they served on the battlefield where their mere presence raised the moral of those around them. After the war was over, they slowly sunk down into society and assimilated amongst the civilian population.

Where are they now? As mentioned before, the Spartans blended with society and now work in diverse fields. Maria-062, as her military ID called her, retired from the program to start a family. Tracking down other former Spartans has proven elusive, but ONI claims it is all for the best.

An official statement from ONI spokeswomen Veronica Dare, former ONI agent, said,

We don't want to disrupt the lives of the Spartan soldiers now that they have adapted to the world around them. Blowing their cover after 50 years is not something they deserve.

This has been a news report from Good Morning Earth, up next, an announcement from...


His mouth agape, Jason could only reflect back at what he had just heard. Over the years he had crafted his own theories about the origins of the Spartans, but now he was told. However, a new question popped up in his head, why had ONI released the information now? It didn't follow their characteristics of secrecy and deception. Could the report be another fabrication? Perhaps it was, but perhaps it wasn't either. Either way, Jason knew that within minutes the buzz all around Earth would be about the Spartans.

He was right. Only seconds after the news report, a pounding on his door signalled the arrival of one person, his best friend Roger Guyver.

"HEY JASON OPEN THE DOOR WILL YA?" asked Roger outside, "DID YA SEE THE NEWS, HOLY MOTHER OF JESUS DID YOU SEE IT?"

Jason opened the door to allow his loud friend inside his apartment and said, "Jeez Roger I heard you knocking, I could do without the yelling."

Roger was obviously excited about learning more information about the Spartans, for good reason. Unknown to most people, Roger was one of the biggest conspiracy theorists regarding the Spartans and operated the website Spartanmyths.com. His devotion was so great that he even got a cease-and-disses notice from the UNSC to, bluntly, shut his damn mouth. Of course that only fueled his devotion even more.

"Yeah man can you believe it?' Roger asked once more, "Can you believe the lies?"

"Lies?" questioned Jason, "What makes you so sure it was fake?"

"C'mon dude," Roger said with a smug look on his face, "ONI releasing classified info, that doesn't send up red flags?"

"I know it's odd Roger, but you can't jump the gun on something you don't know about," Jason tried to convince his friend, "You aren't Sherlock Holmes."

"Are you kidding me?" Roger said in disbelief, "This is the Office of Naval Intelligence for God's sake! I'm telling ya my BS detector is ringing like a car alarm man, you'll see."

"Yeah yeah yeah, go tend to your flock of nuts," Jason chuckled, "Go fight the good fight."

Jokingly, Roger said as he walked out of the apartment, "You my friend are blind and being rode on by the government."

Silence now filled the room with the departure of Roger, sweet silence. Jason decided to go out in the city and enjoy his day off. The only place that was on his mind was his favorite cafe, The Roast. Getting a red sweatshirt and his vintage Converse All-Stars, Jason was ready to face the day.

[Edited on 02.14.2010 2:04 PM PST]

  • 02.14.2010 2:03 PM PDT

Some parts of the report contained spelling mistakes and sentences making little sense, but other than that, good.

Also, wouldn't the Spartans be what, 95? I suppose they'd be a little younger due to cryogenics.

Good work, keep it up.

  • 02.14.2010 4:11 PM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Posted by: Wolverfrog
Some parts of the report contained spelling mistakes and sentences making little sense, but other than that, good.

Also, wouldn't the Spartans be what, 95? I suppose they'd be a little younger due to cryogenics.

Good work, keep it up.

Maria-062 family was hinted in Armor Testing which was roughly before Halo 2 began, so I went with that. Seeing as she is the only real Spartan confirmed to be alive, I went with her. As for a the report making little sense, I had to think of a way to keep it vague, but believeable in their report of the Spartans. Needless to say I was at a lose.

Thanks for the support.

  • 02.14.2010 5:28 PM PDT

http://www.bungie.net/fanclub/obelisk/Group/GroupHome.aspx

Check out my group!

[normal person] Its cool. [Crazy fanboy] ZOMG dis iz da B3ST

  • 02.14.2010 5:34 PM PDT