The Gallery
This topic has moved here: Subject: [Story] The Severance Chronicles. (Part 4 is Ready)
  • Subject: [Story] The Severance Chronicles. (Part 4 is Ready)
Subject: [Story] The Severance Chronicles. (Part 4 is Ready)

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

Nobody's Replying, but hell, I'm gonna post this stuff anyway.

Avery slowly, and carefully, slid a clip into his suppressed battle rifle. He slowly raised his hand to the charging handle, ready to pull it back. He was stopped dead in his tracks by a Huragok, or a covenant engineer. It raised a tentacle to Avery's battle rifle, trying to touch it. He'd seen this kind of behaviour before, aboard the covenant ship Ascendant justice; they were harmless yet inquisitive creatures, which resembled earth snails with their shells replaced with sacks filled with gas. They constantly tried to disassemble and re-assemble things, and could fix anything. With great effort, Avery pushed it off his gun. The Engineer emitted a disappointed huff from one of its gas filled sacks, and floated away.
He slid a micro cam around the door he was covering against. Three Jackals stood, backs facing the camera, tinkering with something on a desk. 'Whatever it was' Avery thought, 'they 'ain't gonna fix it' He switched the BR to semi-automatic, and aimed through the BR's SUSAT sight. Checking he could hit them all in quick succession, he swung through each one, squeezing the back of the trigger guard when he needed to fire. Once more he swung through, and then he moved his finger forward. Three silent coughs echoed in the corridor and three muffled thumps followed as the jackals hit the floor. Avery stealthed into the room, and checked the bodies; they were all dead.
He looked at what they were fixing; a jackal shield generator. But before he could pick it up, the Huragok he had just encountered floated toward it, and set to work. Avery's eyes couldn't follow the deft movements of the creature's tentacles as it assembled the shield gauntlet, and passed it to him. He used some of the sign language Loki had taught him during their long flight home from harvest. Jilan Al-Cygni had managed to pull some of Loki's core into their Freighter, before Mack had got to him. Avery had spent a long time absorbing the information that Loki had captured from the Engineer he had conversed with.
Avery put his index and middle finger together, palm first. <Thank, you> the engineer paused for a moment, surprised this human knew his sign language. It started flailing its arms hurriedly, trying to sign something to Avery. He hadn't learned that much from Loki, only enough to say he was a friend. <Stop, I, Don't, understand> the creature slowed its movements, its enigmatic gesturing ending in one simple motion: It was pointing. It was then he heard footsteps in the next corridor. He levelled his rifle, expecting more trouble. He heard voices. Not the guttural growl of a Grunt or the commanding barks of an Elite, but human voices. He listened as they got closer: "Damn Johnson. Why doesn't he ever turn on his IFF?" He recognised the voice as O'Connell, a young private who'd grown up on madrigal. "The old man probably thinks he'll give away his position" The reply came from Corporal Robert DeChant, a cocky little marine who had seen about as much action as O'Connell; almost none.
He flicked the IFF switch on his helmet and gave the two marines the shock of their lives. "And talk like that, Marine, will give away your position" He said keeping his voice low. "Sir... You... Heard that? Your hearing's superb for a man of your age" O'Connell aimed a kick a DeChant, a 'Keep your mouth shut' gesture. "Stow the BS, marine" he turned to O'Connell: "Sitrep, private?" "Well sir," He said, still glaring at DeChant, "We've locked down this area. ODSTs from the 105th are holding at the Palama Ridge, and A and B platoon have taken the shipyards back. Don't worry about the Midnight Echo; The covenant didn't get past the primary lockdown." "Hell of a job, marines, hell of a job. Now lets get moving; I need some food."
CHAPTER 2
0200 Hours 12/4/2539, ONI experimental ship building facility, Madrigal, Zeta Noverium system
"Why me?" James Thought, as he welded yet another of the active camo plates to the ship's skeletal structure. "Of all the welders on Madrigal, why specifically me?" It wasn't just the late nights, or the way he had to keep it secret from his wife, Just the plates themselves were so god damn hard to weld well.




[Edited on 04.10.2010 2:35 PM PDT]

  • 04.08.2010 1:02 PM PDT
Subject: The battle of Madrigal. (Part 1)

There once was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died.

The end.

SCFH

I love the story so far. Keep on writing the story. Can't wait for the next part.

  • 04.08.2010 1:33 PM PDT

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

Posted by: Halfa55al
I love the story so far. Keep on writing the story. Can't wait for the next part.


Really? Thanks. Im just doing Chapter two now.

  • 04.08.2010 1:41 PM PDT

There once was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died.

The end.

SCFH

Its very detailed, suspensful, and overall very good. It might be a little too early in the story to say that but otherwise very good story.

  • 04.08.2010 3:04 PM PDT

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

Part 2.

CHAPTER 1
0200 Hours 12/4/2539, ONI experimental ship building facility, Madrigal, Zeta Noverium system
"Why me?" James Thought, as he welded yet another of the active camo plates to the ship's skeletal structure. "Of all the welders on Madrigal, why specifically me?" It wasn't just the late nights, or the way he had to keep it secret from his friends, just the plates themselves were so god damn hard to weld well. ONI had placed impossible targets on him. They needed the Silent Running up and running ASAP, and were pushing and pushing for him to get more and more done. What was so special about this ship anyway? It seemed just like any other UNSC prowler, with angular, stealth coated surfaces, ablative baffles around the drive cores, and no single ships. But it was bigger. Much bigger.James didn't know how stealth systems could work on a ship this big, but hell, it was work.

He was snapped out of his thought train by a loudspeaker behind him. "Worker Two-Nine-One, Step away from the ship." It was the same person who recruited him: an ONI agent named Veronica. She spoke in a loud, commanding voice. "Veronica? What's wrong?" He asked. "One: do not call me Veronica inside work, James, its captain. And Two: We are testing the running's stealth system. I don't want you to get hurt. Or damage the system." He backed away from the ship as fast as he could. "But Ver- erm, Captain, we can't test the system when only half done, can we?" He said. "Well..." Veronica replied, hitting a switch on the control panel in front of her. "Too late!" She shouted, as the panels flickered into life. James turned, and watched as the ship disappeared in front of him.

The panels flicked on in sections, slowly progressing to the one James was working on. He was blown back by a burst of static and hit the wall behind him; blowing all of the air out of his lungs. "Oh god, I hope that didn't damage the tech" Veronica said, her voice as monotonous as the computer beside her; "Running system Diagnostic... All systems green" Boomed out of the speakers. James stood up, still winded from the blow. "What..." He said, coughing up blood "No sympathy?" She turned, and leaned into the microphone again; "Oh, Sorry James, I didn't notice you there. Need a medic?" "Nah, I'm fine, But... Wow. The Running, she's finally working!" Seeing the ship this way, all his long, hard hours of work coming together gave him new hope. He now wanted to finish the ship, get it ready for ONI, and watch her drift through the heavens, and give the covenant hell. "All right veronica... Turn it off, I want to get this thing finished" The loudspeaker crackled to life again; "I knew you'd come around. Alright, I'm switching it off." James turned, grabbed his gear and got to work. He'd finish this ship soon. Very soon.
CHAPTER 3
0900 hours, 12/4/2539, UNSC Carrier Severance, in orbit above Madrigal, Zeta Noverium system.

Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson stood on the bridge of the Severance, Looking down at the planet madrigal. "Great" He thought. "Another Outer colony paradise. And not too far from Harvest." Avery cast his mind back to harvest, the first contact with the unstoppable alien jugger-naught known as 'The Covenant'. He remembered the horrible slaughter of civilians in the city, the hard fighting against seemingly invincible 'Brutes', which took tremendous amounts of damage and just kept killing.
And now, confronted with this new world, they would presumably do the same. Avery turned from the viewport, to the captain, Jeremiah Wilcox. "We need to reinforce this planet. I can't let this colony fall like Harvest." The captain replied without taking his eyes off the Tac-Screen "Don't worry sergeant, we'll hold this position. The UNSC has never lost a fight before, and I'll be damned if we lose this one" That wasn't strictly true; they'd suffered a crushing loss at harvest, and the war against the insurrection wasn't going well.
"To tell you the truth, Johnson, the only reason we are defending this colony is because of a secret ONI ship building facility. Celeste?" A hologram of a dirt-side dock appeared "This" Said the ship's AI, "Is ONI Research Facility Selania. Inside is a new project, something we think may turn the course of the war." Another hologram appeared; an oddly angular, partially built ship. "This is a new, state-of-the-art stealth Cruiser. The Silent Running is equipped with two MAC guns, twenty oversized ARCHER Missile pods, and Multiple Point defence cannons." The hologram winked off, and returned to a tactical readout of the Severance. "Sergeant, we need you down there, planning defences around the dock. Get to the hangar, and catch the next pelican out." Avery snapped a crisp salute to the captain and marched off deck. "Lieutenant, bring us into Geo-synch orbit above the facility. Get everything we have to the surface. We're gonna need it." The young lieutenant typed in some commands on his console; the ship spun left in response. "Yes, sir, captain"


[Edited on 04.08.2010 3:28 PM PDT]

  • 04.08.2010 3:26 PM PDT

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

Part 3 coming soon, but I hope some more people read this.

  • 04.09.2010 12:30 PM PDT
Subject: [Story] The Severance Chronicles. (Part 3 is Up)

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

2 minutes later, UNSC carrier Severance, Hangar bay, above madrigal.

"Holy mother of..." Avery thought, as he walked into the Severance's cavernous hangar bay. He stood, aghast, at the sheer size of it, filled from end to end with every military vehicle and aircraft he could think of. They were all so new, so pristine too. The severance had only just rolled out of Reach space dock, and it showed.

He walked in further, between rows of Pelican Dropships. Each one had a line of Marines behind it, waiting to board. They looked agitated, itching for action, and none of them noticed the sergeant as he walked past. Scorpions manoeuvred in behind them, ready to latch onto the Pelican's versatile fuselage, and be transported down to the surface.

He watched pilots run to their aircraft; loaders hurriedly attach rocket pods and Chainguns, and petty officers carry ammo to them. Some pilots were already loaded and waiting for the order to go.

Avery cast his eyes to the end of the hangar. In a solitary corner, a crowd of marines and crew gathered around four Elephant mobile bases. He wondered how the hell they were going to get them to the surface of the planet as a huge shadow passed over him, and he snapped his head upwards. An Albatross Heavy transport. So that's how they were doing it. The Albatross could easily carry an Elephant, but they were rare. Most were moved to the inner colonies, for helping to build ships on earth and Reach. The Admiralty most really need this ship, he thought.

"Sergeant!" Called a voice from across the hangar. "Sergeant! Over here!" He turned to face the voice. It was a young flight officer, equipped in full flight gear. "I'm your ride to the surface, sir!" Avery walked over to him, and was beckoned to follow.

They weaved through the hustle and bustle of the hangar, in between Pelicans, Scorpions, and Warthogs. He bumped into a few people on the way, but they just carried on walking. Finally, they reached their destination: A battered pelican, close to the hangar doors.

The pelican had patches welded all over it, and Avery worried whether it would hold in atmosphere, but he guessed he'd have to trust it. "Hop in the back, sir, and we'll get under way in a few minutes."

Keen to show he was still up to the job, Avery leapt into the back, before the ramp had even lowered. "Jesus..." Said a voice next to him. "Didn't know the old man could do that..." He turned, astounded that a marine could make such a comment. "Name, Marine?" He asked, in a short, sharp command.

The marine turned to him, a pixie-like smile on his face. "Corporal Robert DeChant, Sir, fifth engineers. We can make you a walking stick from little more than a shower head and some bone." A larger, thicker built marine aimed a kick at him.

"Sorry sir, DeChant's always been a bit... Cocky." Avery faced this marine, and said "Don't worry about it. I'm sure we can get him into shape. And you are..?" The marine kicked DeChant again, and replied "O'Connell. Michael O'Connell. Sir." He was about to reply when he heard the rumble of a scorpion engine, getting closer to them. "Ah, here she is." Came a voice from the back.

He turned, and watched one of the ugliest Scorpions he'd ever seen roll up to the Pelican. It was heavily modified; the track covers had been taken off, and the tank had spares of everything strapped to the side of it. The turret had a large box welded to the side, presumably for extra ammo. "She?" he said, as two loaders attached it to the pelican using electro-magnets.

"Yes, she. Her name's Dora." An explosion of laughter erupted around the pelican.

"We brought her over from Charybdis IX, before DeChant and his friend here showed up." The pilot he'd met before radioed in from the cockpit. "Sergeant, we're moving out. I need you in the cockpit."

Johnson moved forward through a small door in front of him. "Sit down, strap yourself in." The pilot hit a button on the panel above him, and Avery felt a slight moment of acceleration as the dropship raised from the floor. The ship's AI, Celeste, appeared on the holotank.
"All ships, prepare for planetary descent. Checking atmospheric seals..." The AI paused. There were a huge number of ships in the hangar bay, and it obviously took a lot of runtime to check them.

"All seals read green. Hangar door opening... Now." A large hiss of air emitted from the bay, and the doors flung open, revealing a beautiful close-range view of madrigal. The Co-pilot gasped at the sight, his mouth open in awe. Avery just saw the tactical picture; they'd moved closer. Meaning the ships had taken up defensive positions already. Things were moving quickly. Very quickly.

The same time, Longsword 213, Convoy Sierra, Above Madrigal.

James felt the explosion before he saw it. The shockwaves rippled through his longsword, the Bat out of Hell and knocked the ship spinning. He finally regained control, and watched as the troop transport TT-94 burned neon blue against the pitch black of space. -blam!-, he thought, as he cast around for the source. Nothing. "What the hell?" Another explosion and another ship burned. "Jesus Christ!" He shouted out loud.

A covenant ship de-cloaked to his starboard, and the comm. Channels flooded with reports. Some screamed as the ship fired upon them, others shouted damage reports, and others called for orders. "-blam!-... -blam!-... -blam!-!" He shouted, as he slammed the control column to the left.

A point laser blasted past, burning part of his wing, and causing air to hiss away. "Computer, Lock it down!" He heard some clunks through the fuselage, and watched as the air levels returned to normal.

He spun his ship around, and fired what missiles he had left at the ship. The missiles exploded against the ship's shield, doing nothing. "Ah. -blam!-." He said, as the ship turned to face him. It looked bigger now, more menacing. Blue plasma collected at it's side, and discharged at him. He screamed, throwing the ship into a diving turn. Of course it was hopeless. Covenant plasma tracked a target with deadly efficiency.

The plasma dived after him, twisting, boiling and bubbling blue death.

James kicked the thrusters into full speed, and closed on the nearest ship.

He cried out on the Ship comm. "Help! God Damn it! If anybody can hear this! I have a covenant ship on my tail, I need assistance!" He clicked it off, desperately waiting for a reply. Dodging and weaving, he tried to shake the plasma off his tail. "Roger, Longsword 213, hang tight. We're coming. Cruiser Red Dawn, out." A sense of relief pulsed through James. Someone was out there, looking after him. But it wasn't over.

He headed straight for the cruiser, feeding more power to the already red-lining engines. The cruiser before him turned to face the covenant frigate. A blinding flash of light emitted from the cruiser, which recoiled from the shot. James spun the Longsword, Just in time to watch the round pummel through the frigate's shields, and into it's hull. It spun, and the plasma chasing James seemed to stop in midair. James kept moving however. He didn't want to be caught short by anything.

He darted toward the cruiser, charging straight toward its open shuttle bay."Oh god, stay open. Please stay open!" Another laser shot past, clipping his tail. He spun, but the ship kept going, due to it's momentum. He recovered from the spin as another laser shot past, hitting the rocket pod on his left wing.

The pod exploded with tremendous force, knocking James senseless. He shook himself, trying to regain his composure.

It took him a moment to realise he was rolling, and rolling close to the Red Dawn he tried to regain control; found the controls slack to the touch. He yanked hard on the stick, to counter the roll. Again it wouldn't respond. What the hell had happened? Looking around, he saw the worst sight a pilot could see; he was missing both wings. Thinking, that was the key. He had to think about his situation.
He cut the throttle, and the spinning slowed, then stopped.

Saying a silent prayer, and turning in his seat, James watched as the Red Dawn finished off the enemy frigate. "Erm... Captain? I could do with a pick-up." He waited. Five minutes ticked off his clock. Finally, the comm. unit crackled to life. "Don't worry, son, we'll help you out." The comm. clicked off again. "And remember: This is two you owe me." James enjoyed the banter with the captain. After being alone, spinning off into space, calling out for help, having someone to talk to reassured him. James lay back into his chair, turned off the lights in the cockpit, and fell asleep.


[Edited on 04.10.2010 2:28 PM PDT]

  • 04.09.2010 1:49 PM PDT
Subject: The battle of Madrigal. (Part 1)

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

Nobody's replying. Hell, nobody's reading. But still, here's part 4

Same time, Pelican Bravo-372, Convoy Sierra, Above Madrigal
They were half way to the surface when it happened. A bright blue flash in Avery's peripheral vision, then it appeared; the covenant ship. Another plasma shot, and another troop ship went down. Things started to get crazy after that; the whole convoy broke formation; ships flew in every direction, trying to get away from the fighting.

The pilot next to him turned, and said; "Don't worry sir, It's my mission to get you dirtside, and I'll be damned if I fail." Avery tried to take comfort in these words, but he couldn't. This pilot was an unknown quantity; Avery didn't even know his name, much less his flying ability. "Initiating burn... Now!" He shouted.

The pilot slammed the throttle forward, and the ship accelerated toward the planet. The pelican hit the atmosphere, causing the hull to burn a cherry red. He knew they were coming in too steep; but the pilot didn't seem to care. They accelerated further, charging toward the planet.

A dull 'Thump' emitted through the pelican, and Avery heard someone mutter "Oh, hell, there goes Dora" The co-pilot emitted a small giggle, then shook his head and got back to the job. The pelican shook with friction, and started shaking itself apart.

"Are you sure..." Avery said, in between shudders, "That this is gonna work?" The pilot turned, a smile across his face, "Sir, I honestly don't know." He paused to increase the angle of descent. "But Madrigal has a thin Exosphere. If we through quick enough, we'll decrease damage to the pelican. Hopefully."

Someone in the back was obviously listening, because one shouted "That didn't help Dora! You God-Damn crazy flyboy!" Ditto, Avery thought. This pilot certainly was crazy. Almost Hell Jumper crazy.

"Erm... Pilot? I don't want to die without knowing the name of my killer" The pilot turned round again, the smile still lighting up his face. "What, you don't believe in me?" He said. "Like hell I do, pilot. Like hell I do."
"Okay. It's Mickey. Mickey Crespo. I'm still training. Think of this as my... Initiation."

A feeling of dread pulsed through Avery as he heard the words 'still training'. What the hell was command thinking? Sending a rookie pilot, not even out of training, to transport him? He hoped that this kid wasn't his full time transport pilot.

Another bump shook him from his worrying. "How long 'till we're out of here, rookie?" Mickey's eyes narrowed as he turned to the sergeant; he obviously resented this title. "Not sure. We should be out by- another bump rippled through the pelican, and the vibrations stopped. "Ah. There we are. Now, let's get you home."

"Thanks, rookie." Avery said. He obviously hit a sore spot, as the pilot dropped his pelican to the floor, and rolled it inverted. "This what you'd expect from a rookie? Huh? Is it?" Avery wasn't the type to be scared while flying, but this was pushing it to the edge. Mickey wasn't even looking; he was glaring at the sergeant, his eyes wild with rage.

"Okay, pilot. You've proved yourself. Now can we please, just, get home?" Mickey's face drained of colour; the rage in his eyes disappeared, turning into sorrow. "I'm... I'm sorry sir. I just... over react sometimes, you know?"

"It's fine. But could you please look where you're going?"

"Wha- Oh! Yes. Sorry." He replied, spinning the ship back upright. "Now lets get home."

  • 04.10.2010 2:23 PM PDT

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

Come on, Guys! At least give me some constructive crit.!

  • 04.11.2010 3:15 AM PDT

It's too generic. It lacks strong characterisation or a sense of what's going on. Action is all well and good, but a story isn't good when that's all it consists of.

  • 04.11.2010 3:29 AM PDT

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

I get the rest, but explain why it's generic.

  • 04.11.2010 3:40 AM PDT

I meant that the story has been done to death. No specifically that of Madrigal's, but just of a planet which is being attacked by the Covenant which the UNSC must defend.

Try something unique. I say this a lot to people, but for good reason. Don't just go along with what others are doing, think long and hard about a plot which is interesting. There's much more to Halo than the UNSC and Covenant. Forerunners, Precursors, ONI, Insurgents, Flood, or the deeper intricacies of Covenant society.

What you're doing now is boring and overdone.

  • 04.11.2010 3:58 AM PDT

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

ah. well, thank you. Has anyone done what happened between Halo 2 and 3, specifically between gravemind and Cortana?

  • 04.11.2010 4:11 AM PDT

Posted by: davidfazz243
ah. well, thank you. Has anyone done what happened between Halo 2 and 3, specifically between gravemind and Cortana?


Yes, there's a short story in the newest official Halo novel, Evolutions named "Human Weakness" which chronicles that.

Sorry.

  • 04.11.2010 4:18 AM PDT
Subject: [Story] The Severance Chronicles. (Part 4 is Ready)

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

Feck. Maybe how Insurrectionist leader, Robert (Was it robert) Watts came to power? His life, his origins, his evrything?

Or govenor Jiles?

[Edited on 04.11.2010 4:29 AM PDT]

  • 04.11.2010 4:24 AM PDT

And so, Achronos lifted the banhammer high above his head, exclaming "You shall not sully these forums again!" And with one, deft blow, he brought the banhammer down upon the offender, and slew him.

Bah, what's the point? You're only goingt to troll, flame or E-raip me.

There doesn't seem to be alot about either, and I think how Jacob Jiles took over from Watts would be quite Interesting. As long as no one else has done it, I'll start that.

  • 04.11.2010 4:49 AM PDT