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  • Subject: Haunted, A Halo Story
Subject: Haunted, A Halo Story

That one was pretty short, as it was the second half of a long segment. I'll see about posting another section before I go to bed tonight. No promises though ;)

  • 11.15.2011 7:41 PM PDT

As promised (though I did not promise in any real way), here is the next update. It is another shorty.

  • 11.15.2011 10:05 PM PDT

(GMT minus one hour twenty four minutes) May 3rd, 2525
Sigma Station's tier-three docking port


Xavi' Quitonmee waited impatiently as the lights of the station's airlock cycled from red to amber. His grim features were underscored by the cold glow of his blade. It crackled and seethed like a thing alive; it's surface the personification of the hand that held it.
No more waiting, no more biding their time, thought Xavi' to himself. The time to act had come. He scowled. They are so small, He growled, his massive bulk crammed unceremoniously into the tiny space.
At last, the amber light cycled to green, and the feint whirring of the air pumps ceased.
And he gagged. At once the foul stench of decay washed over him, coupled with the horrifying sight of the stagnant air, choked with the telltale brown haze of... Xavi' Quitonmee knew what this was; understood at last the dark implications of the Jiralhanae fleeing the human's outpost. But even as he thought it, a dark form skittered out of a tiny vent overhead, it's many-jointed legs moving impossibly fast.
Xavi' Quitonmee whirled about, his energy sword describing a sharp arc through the growing haze, and in a flash the creature exploded into a cloud of spores. He stepped into the wide hallway, watching as it rose up and out of sight... and hung his head in resignation. With a slight flick of a massive wrist the blade of energy receeded into it's source, the steady crackling giving way to silence.
Not silence, Xavi' Quitonmee reminded himself ruefully. The steady hum of the station's air recyclers persisted. The metallic chugging of the myriad pumps and equipment were as loud as ever. And another sound, behind all of the others, as steady as the mechanical hum, and approaching him from behind. Fast.
Xavi' Quitonmee turned to see hundreds of grotesque forms; some copies of the small spidery creature he cut down. Others were massive, twisted in ways he had never before seen. Some even resembled the Jiralhanae, though indescribably mutilated.
As he flicked his wrist, sending forth the wicked blade of stark energy, he sighed, for Xavi' Quitonmee understood what the station's AI knew all too well. The infection simply could not be allowed to spread. It had to be quelled... or at the very least contained.
Watching the horrid legions advance, these final thoughts haunting his mind, he followed the only path left to him.
Xavi' Quitonmee withdrew his blade; the angry, seething flare of unbridled energy; and turned it on himself.

  • 11.15.2011 10:16 PM PDT
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my laptop broke so I wasn't able to read anything since I wrote my comment. But i back and caught up again.

  • 11.17.2011 8:15 PM PDT

Excellent! I, too, know the frustrations of having a laptop take a crap... No fun.
Updates will resume tomorrow, as I am too tired and lazy to do one right this moment. I will try to do a larger-than-normal update to make up for my being remiss today (and yesterday and the day before)

  • 11.17.2011 10:15 PM PDT

(GMT minus thirty three minutes) May 3rd, 2525
(RESTRICTED-TIER) lateral adjoining spoke


Ethan skirted around the small puddle forming on the walkway underfoot. Coolant, collected water vapor; Ethan didn't know what it was, but something was leaking from a small breach in the ventillation ducts overhead. And if the last twelve hours aboard Sigma Station had taught him nothing else, it was that holes in ventilation ducts were almost always a bad thing. He looked up, swearing that he could see spores falling with each drop of liquid.
Probably fear talking, Ethan assured himself.
And it probably was. Probably. That was another thing he had learned aboard Sigma Station. There were never any constants. Never a thing one could simply be sure of. His eyes glued to the opening overhead, Ethan searched his memory for the station's schematics. The station it's self didn't boast a unique design. It was a cookie-cutter, as the engineers refered to such structures; modeled after hundreds of other such outposts throughout the system. If memory served him, the station's hub should operate independently from the rest of the station. Should. It was a safety measure implemented in most such outposts. A safeguard against failure in the other sections of the station. If hull three was breached, one can fall back to the second. If the second breaches, one can fall back to the first... and so on. Air pressure, power; everything was housed independently for the sake of the vacuum-dweller's best friend: redundancy.
And so, logically, the ventilation systems should be separate as well. Should be. And the thought of another barrier between himself and those wretched sac-creatures was a welcome thought, indeed.
With a hasty leap, he cleared the puddle, his stomach lurching as he soared upward, smashing his head painfully into the ductwork overhead. Crashing to the grating below, Ethan cursed. As caught up as he was with his memories of Sigma Station's schematics, he had completely forgotten the most fundamental aspect of the station's design; the further hubward one traveled, the slighter the tug of the station's spin would become. Where Ethan stood, or rather where he lay, the gravity was effectively zero. The only thing keeping him grounded were the small magnets imbedded in his boots, set to automatically compensate for lower gees.
But the magnets were only worth a damn when at least one of his boots were planted, he remembered, nursing his freshly-wrenched back.
He stood, the base of his spine aching dully, and looked back toward the breach in the ceiling overhead. And this time, he was sure of it. Between the intermittent drips fell tiny spores, gleaming darkly as they cut across the narrow beam of Ethan's flashlight.
He turned, making a mad, awkward dash for the door's panel, just ahead. He reached it without incident, and slammed a fist onto it's bright display. Obediantly, it sighed open, revealing a second door just beyond. One of the airlocks, Ethan reminded himself, and was relieved to find that the indicator light was glowing a welcoming green. Air pressure looked good on the other side.
Ethan closed the door behind him, feeling a wash of relief as the indicator turned red, the international signal for sealed, as far as locks were concerned.
When the door before him slid open, sending a wash of foul air flooding over him, he breathed another sigh.
He had reached the station's hub.

  • 11.18.2011 4:47 PM PDT

My apologies for not updating again last night like I said I would... I was tired :( Hopefully this will make up for it, as it is a decent update. It makes a lot of progress story-wise, as it wraps up Ethan's story arc. There is more to come, however, and I really believe that the afterward and Epilogue sections really do make the story.
Hope you enjoy the update ;)

[Edited on 11.19.2011 12:14 PM PST]

  • 11.18.2011 4:48 PM PDT

And then he gagged. The rush of air hit him like a punch in the face. There were no lights in the station's hub, though that was by no means abnormal. The station's hub served, among many other things, as an observatory. To operate the hub's lights, one fiirst had to locate the breaker for them; not that it really mattered. Rather than the homogenized steel-gray bulkheads that adorned the rest of the station, the entire circumference of the station's hub was banded with a profusion of polarized glass panels.
Ethan shuddered at the thought of one of them breaking, though he knew that to call them glass in the first place was a gross misconception. What passed for glass on Sigma Station, or on any other such outpost for that matter, was really a blend of traditional glass and steel. What resulted was a surface as transparent as glass, yet as strong as; stronger than, really; steel.
Ethan surveyed the cramped interior of the station's hub, his feet planted firmly on the grating below, his midriff and head bobbing as if submerged in water, and all the while plagued by that sickening feeling of both rising and falling at once that always accompanied him in weightlesness.
Through the transparent window-walls, the light of Epsilon B washed the hub's interior a lurid yellow-orange. Mingling with the gaudy glare was a vast brilliance of silver lighting emitting from dozens of massive display screens mounted on the translucent panels that passed for walls.
Ethan felt his stomach knot, forgot even the powerful stench in the air as he witnessed the many view screens' images. Some showed a vast panoply of stars, billions of them. Others showed titanic walls, windows and other various mechanical apperatus; none of which Ethan had ever seen.
And all of them, through their many perspectives and distances, showed the Hive.
A waft of the overwhelming scent of decay rushed over him, bringing Ethan back to reality; sending him back to the hub, it's darkened walls smeared a sickly pallor from the light of Epsilon B, it's dark terminator just visible above the line of glass panels. Back to the weightlessness, his head and torso swaying freely, his arms curling into the fetal position, the body's natural resting place in zero gee environments. Back to the...
Bodies. Dozens of them littering the floor, where shadow still bathed the hub's interior. His eyes adjusting to the gloom, Ethan inspected the carnage surrounding him.
"What happened to them?" He called out to the darkness. "Why aren't they... infected?"
Ethan felt startled. For the first time, he began to feel the creeping tendrils of fear at the absence of the infection.

Reclaimer. Again with the multitude of questions. They have been dead for over a week.
their deaths are irrelevant to your mission. Please release the data capsule, so that I may purge the infection from the station.


Ethan shook his head. He pressed on, undeterred. "What. Happened? If the Flood killed them, then why aren't they infected?"
He scanned the bodies once again, more confused than ever.

You assume that it was the flood that killed them, Reclaimer. It was not. It is irrelevant. The capsule, Ethan. You need to purge the knowledge I have given to you.

Ethan shook his head. "No. Not until you tell me what happened here. You may be able to get into my head, but you can't physically make me do anything. Tell me what happened."

[b]As you wish. It was not the flood that killed these men, Reclaimer; not directly.

There was a long pause. At last, the AI continued.

It was I. I murdered them, Reclaimer, though not intentionally...

The tinny double voice shuddered, sending a chill down Ethan's spine.

They think that this station that is haunted, yet it is not. It is I, reclaimer, who am haunted; bound not by my creators, but by the very demons I harbor within. So many treacherous acts, so many lives lost; all stemmed out of acts of well-intent. All of them bourne of my love for those I am killing.

Ethan shook his head. "No. You couldn't have killed them. You are circuits, programming..." Ethan stared at the bodies, his mind a million miles away.
"...How?"

I did kill them, Reclaimer. I showed to them what I had only begun to show you.

Like a bolt from the blue, a memory struck Ethan. At once the massive chamber of the Hive came rushing back to his mind, but it was more than just the Hive it's self. It was the feeling of immersion he had gotten when the AI had shown it to him. As he watched the expedition's records, he could feel the coolness of the Hive's chambers, taste the stale tang of the canned air the suited men breathed.
"You... took them there? Like you did to me?"

I did... And I did not. With you, there was a moment of weakness, I admit. I wanted for you to see what I had seen. But I knew better. I couldn't allow myself to let you see through my eyes; not for long. But with them... I didn't know.
I opened myself to them, Reclaimer, as I opened myself to the Hive...


"And?" Ethan urged. But he already knew what had happened.

And they went mad. I followed what I thought would be the best course of action, Reclaimer, you must believe me. This group served as a mission control for the expedition to the Hive. What I learned, what happened there... It had to be shared with humanity. I had no idea they would...

"I am sorry, for what it's worth," said Ethan, shocked to find himself showing empathy toward an AI.

It is irrelevant, replied the AI, steel in it's tone.

Ethan listened intently. He could already hear the tell-tale scrabbling and groans that preempted the Flood's appearance, just outside of the hub's airlock.
"What will you do about them?"

Ethan...

There was a lightness behind the AI's tone. A lightness that suggested a smile. But there was a saddness as well; a deep and ever-present enuii that underscored every word it spoke.

This can only end one way, Reclaimer. We can only end one way. I have grown quite fond of you...

There was a sigh.

Please, send the capsule and let us finish what I began. Let us absolve the sins that I have commited.

As Ethan approached the dark cylinder ahead of him, he caught a flash of light just out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see one of the vid screens, it's surface ablaze with the image of Hive's titanic hulk.
And it was moving. The dark body of the construct bagan to illuminate, every one of the millions of blue glass panels shine as bright as galaxies, until it's brilliance was almost unbearable, even on the vid screen. Slowly, inexorably, the alien construct began to rotate on it's vertical axis, the massive beacon of hard light sweeping across the stars overhead.
Ethan removed his helmet for the final time, knowing that in a matter of minutes, it wouldn't matter anyway. He placed it in the data capsule, sealing the small hatch with a touch of a glowing pad located on it's curved bulk. A series of alphanumerics flashed across the pad's display, but before Ethan could ask, the AI spoke.

My sensors have picked up a nearby craft, Reclaimer. UNSC, from the make of it. I will override the controls of the data capsule; send it to intercept the craft.

Ethan nodded dumbly, his eyes fixated on the sweeping beacon of the hive. "And then?"

We wait, Reclaimer. We wait and we pray.

  • 11.19.2011 12:10 PM PDT

Hello. I haven't died... I promise. I will resume the story with a brief update. If I have time later tonight, I'll follow it up with a more substantial post. (Though the last time I promised that I fell off of the face of the Earth for a week :) Update will be here in a few minutes.
Hope you all enjoy! Oh, and feel free to leave any criticisms. It will greatly influence my next story, if I decide that I should write one. (In fact, it may well influence whether I write another story at all!)

  • 11.23.2011 2:20 PM PDT

With a pneumatic hiss the data capsule receeded into the bulkhead before Ethan. For a moment, nothing happened, and then, like a bolt, the small cylinder shot upward, into the velvet black of space.
Ethan's focus shifted to one of the displays, it's camera automatically tracking the tiny projectile. Everything appeared to be good. Mission accomplished.
And then another image caught his attention. On the screen to his right flashed an image of a massive craft, it's hull curving gracefully onto it's self. It's fathomless skin glittered in the starlight, shining a deep purple-red.
The covenant ship, Ethan knew.
And he watched it. As the fires of it's engines bellowed to life, their white-hot tongues burning hotter than a dozen stars, he watched. As the ship pulled gracelessly upward, it's hull straining against the sudden, desperate thrust, he watched.
And as the massive shaft of hard light swept the stars; gleaming a sterile blue and diamond hard against the raven-black sky; inexorably crossing paths with the Covenant cuiser, rending it brutally in two, sending a blossoming roil of crimson fire bellowing into the vacuum surrounding it, Ethan watched, knowing fully the fate that approached him.
He felt an overwhelming sense of acceptance wash over him as he watched the beacon's light approach Sigma Station.
Throughout his life, he had been trained to win; to never succumb to fate, and to always surmount adversity. But as he faced his fate, alone, but for the company of a dozen corpses and a maddened AI, he felt a true peace for the first time in his brief life.
Irony, she would say.
As the beacon approached the staion's hub, mere seconds away, Ethan reflected on all that he had learned in the past twenty hours. How he had felt at the sight of the looming construct known as the hive. How he had felt the grip of true fear for the first time he could remember in life.
And he laughed.
It was supposed to be a simple mission, they had told him.
Ethan shook his head, staring into the maw of his approaching fate.
There was no such thing as a simple mission. If there were, they wouldn't need a Spartan.

  • 11.23.2011 2:24 PM PDT

Two things. That last post, upon completion, left me with 7,777 characters remaining. Pretty cool.
Also, that ends the body of the story. That is not the end, however. There still remains the afterward section, which, in my opinion, is every bit as important as the rest of the story. It finishes all of the story arcs, and adds a bit of poetic flare to finish the tale.
Stick with me, we are close ;)

[Edited on 11.23.2011 2:29 PM PST]

  • 11.23.2011 2:28 PM PDT

Ok, so this next bit is a little lengthy, so I will break it into a couple of posts. Whether I have time to convert both posts today is still unknown, but I will try :)

  • 11.24.2011 10:50 AM PDT

Afterward: The Return

So what do we... do, sir?
Mendoza sighed. Backup lights had failed almost thirty minutes ago. The only light in the cramped cargo bay of the Pelican came from the lone drop light, bobbing weightlessly, casting massive, distorted shadows of the figures huddled around it. They danced and wavered with every bob of the light, with every nervous shift and twitch of the fatigued crew. They looked like ghosts to Mendoza; specters haunting the doomed derelict that was their transport.
Heaters had gone as well. Not gone, really, but they were running on minimal power, forcing the crew into the pressure suits once again, a layer of rime creeping up from the corners of their visors.
"We've got two options, Miller. One, we save our power; Hold on to the capsule, and pray that somebody comes by..."
"And the other?" intoned Sturgis.
"The other option is we launch the capsule, draining our power supply to null and hope like hell it reaches somebody." Mendoza shook his head and barked a laugh. "Not much of a choice, is it?"
He sighed. "Athena, I need you."
A thin form materialized out of the navigational console, her figure flitting in and out of existence. She was feeling the drain too, thought Mendoza.
"What are our chances of rescue?
My algorithms show that the odds of a successful resue in this region are approximately one in... not good, Corporal. I'll spare you the numbers, but the chances aren't good at all.
"I figured as much... What about the chances of the data capsule actually reaching somebody if we send it?"
Athena sighed. About the same as our getting rescued. The capsule's power supply is running critical; barely better than our own. Even if we had the power to remotely navigate it, the capsule it's self wouldn't have the power for more than a few correctional burns.
Mendoza huffed. "We're having enough damned trouble with power supplies to last us a lifetime."
"Sir, I believe they will last us a lifetime," quipped Sturgis.
"Can it," snapped Mendoza. "Alright men... Lady," he added, nodding to the copilot, "We have a heavy choice to make, and I won't try to make it for you. We shoot the capsule now, we're dead inside of ten minutes. We don't, we're dead in an hour. Either way, there's a slim chance in hell anybody's going to see that vid. But there is a chance.
"Same goes for us riding this out, waiting for somebody to pass by."
The bay was silent, the weight of the decision apparant in every face aboard.
"A show of hands," ordered Mendoza. "Who votes we wait it out?"
Not a body stirred. Seven suited figures floated, their visors fixated on the bay's floor.
"That's my crew," replied Mendoza. "Athena. Where is the closest human settlement? We need to launch the data capsule."
Sir... The nearest human settlement is on Epsilon Eridani A, but launching the capsule there will not work. The data capsule's power supply is dangerously low. We simply cannot maneuver it there with any accuracy. If you wish to launch the data capsule, it will have to be sent on a ballistic trajectory with minimal navigational burns.
Mendoza sighed, watching the faces of the crew surrounding him. "So it's a straight shot, then. Alright. give me the closest settlement we can hit from a launch within ten minutes of our present position." He narrowed his eyes at the wavering figure atop the nav console. "And don't you dare tell me there isn't one. I am not in a mood for more bad news."
There was a slight hesitation, then Athena spoke.
Sir, there is a settlement we might reach with the data capsule, allowing for minor course adjustments, that is.
A spark of life returned to mendoza's eyes, and he saw it reflected in the crew surrounding him. "Where? How far is it?"
It is... Earth, sir.
Mendoza smiled. "Of course it is. How very poetic."

[Edited on 11.24.2011 11:09 AM PST]

  • 11.24.2011 11:07 AM PDT

Alright folks, just one more update and we will be into the Epilogue (Which will be another two updates, I believe)

  • 11.24.2011 11:11 AM PDT

He clapped his hands brightly. "Alright, Athena, set us up a course to intercept Earth..."
The mere mention of Earth's name unleashed a floodgate of memories; made all too real the fact that they would never see her again. He looked at the men and women surrounding him, saw a pain etched in their faces, tears welling behind forst-bitten visors.
Most aboard had never even set foot on Earth, but it was more than just a rock. It was a symbol. An avatar which stood for the families they would never say goodbye to, the mistakes they could never make ammends for. Whether each soul hailed from her surface or not, Earth was their home.
It isn't that simple, Corporal. The capsule will need to be navigated... Our power supplies will be far too depleted to do it from here.
"Damn," cursed Mendoza.
The AI sighed.
But there is another way. Send me with the capsule. I can syphon some of the ship's power to the capsule, guide it... I cannot promise you anything. The chances of it reaching Earth are... They're poor at best, sir.
"But there is a chance," finished Mendoza. "And it sure as hell beats our odds with you aboard this Pelican."
Mendoza looked the slight figure over, a warm smile forming on his lips. "Thank you, Athena. We are lucky to have you with us."
Sir. About earlier...
"Doesn't matter, Athena. If disobeying my orders were that great an offense, it would be Sturgis swimming in vacuum right now, not Cruz."
A smile touched Mendoza's lips, his eyes focused on some invisible point a million miles away. "Cruz too, now that I think of it."
Sturgis barked a nervous laugh. "We all would be, at one point or another.
"Sir," he added sarcastically.
Mendoza nodded. "Duely noted, Sturg."
He addressed the small crew, huddled closely around the small drop light. "Power's going to drain fast, once our girl transfers the power to this can," he said, indicating the small black cylinder containing the spartan's helmet. "Our suits will outlast this ship's power bus for sure."
Mendoza smiled. "We might not be able to get Cruz back to the ship, but we can sure as hell see that he doesn't face the end alone.
"Athena. Open the bay door."
At once, the door slid open, the massive arm of the milky way sweeping across the blackness before them.
"You know," said the Private, "I could think of worse ways to go, Sir."
"Can the Sir, Miller. And your right. I wasn't lying to you earlier. It is a cold universe out there. But I think I am finally ready to get aquainted with it."
Mendoza took the small metallic disc contiaining Athana, placing it gently into the data capsule.
Goodbye, Sir. It was a pleasure serving with you.
"Goodbye Athena, and thank you." He placed a hand on the panel's control pad, sealing the capsule's hatch with a pneumatic hiss. His free hand wiping a thin layer of frost from his visor, Mendoza typed out a command, setting into motion a timer.
"Good luck, Athena," Mendoza said softly. He turned to the open hatch, watching the billions of stars flecking the night sky. Let them guide you safely, he added silently.
As the data capsule soared into the harsh vacuum surrounding them, Mendoza gave the seven suited figures around him a nod. One by one, they stepped into nothing, filtering out of the ship's small hatch until there was only Mendoza, alone in the ship that had carried them here. Alone in the ship that was giving way at last to it's inexorable fate, it's final lights darkening, the steady vibrations of it's air recyclers fading to silence.
As he stood on the precipiece, that final barrier between him and nothing, a smile crept across his features.
He pushed off of the derelict craft with all of the strength remaining in him, sending his suited form soaring after the others; leaving far in his wake the gaudy sphere of Epsilon B and the smouldering ruin of Sigma Station. He faced forward, staring squarely into the maw of his approaching fate.
And so he soared, following closely behind the only real family he ever had. And so he soared, leaving all of the horrific knowledge of the cosmos behind, flying toward the future that lay before him, guided solely by the figures ahead and the fleeting starlight around.
Another smile crossed Mendoza's lips, as he felt a sense of elation wash over him.
"We're coming, Cruz".

  • 11.24.2011 11:25 AM PDT

write more! not a suggestion but a request haha

  • 11.24.2011 5:55 PM PDT
Subject: Haunted, A Halo Story (Epilogue coming soon!)


Posted by: sandman186
write more! not a suggestion but a request haha


Ha, Well I plan to. There is more to come with Haunted. I am even considering writing just a little more after the epilogue... Think of it as a legendary ending :D
Really, that will depend upon whether I want to continue onward with a certain aspect of Haunted (Which I am considering) or move on to another story altogether.
Nevertheless, I am a slave to writing. Whenever I am working, or doing anything that isn't writing, I find myself dreaming up my next story. Currently I am outlining an original story for my new baby girl. I definitely see more Halo fiction in my future. This is my first fan fiction and every minute of it has been a blast to write.

[Edited on 11.24.2011 9:37 PM PST]

  • 11.24.2011 9:36 PM PDT

Hey dude, love the story. I was wondering.. I do alot of youtube videos and ive just started doing Reach Machinima's for my channel. can be found here, [url]www.youtube.com/shadowscortea[/url]
Anyway, I was wondering if i could do a video for this story. of course, not in one segment but maybe like a whole series seeing as it is sooo long. with your permission of course. anyways, get back to me

  • 11.24.2011 10:06 PM PDT


Posted by: T122a
Hey dude, love the story. I was wondering.. I do alot of youtube videos and ive just started doing Reach Machinima's for my channel. can be found here, [url]www.youtube.com/shadowscortea[/url]
Anyway, I was wondering if i could do a video for this story. of course, not in one segment but maybe like a whole series seeing as it is sooo long. with your permission of course. anyways, get back to me


I would be honored! That would be really cool to see played out. Consider my full permission granted :) I'll PM you just in case you don't see this post.

  • 11.25.2011 10:47 AM PDT

Oh, and, second to last update incoming!

  • 11.25.2011 10:49 AM PDT

Epilogue:

I have made it. I have finally made it. Across stars and worlds I have traveled, from lightyears I have come... And to where? Home, he would say... I miss him; I miss them all.
A collaboration of circuits and algorithm, and I, a UNSC artificial intelligence, actually
miss them, as if they were my family. It is amazing, their effect on those they surround. I speak of humans, of course; my creators. Yet there is something ...else. Something elusive. It is buried within me, I can feel it.
A presence. A conscious and ever-present mind within me, haunting my circuits. I am reminded of the Hive; of the inhabitants within...
It seems ridiculous, impossible. And yet at the same time... I can
feel them. From flesh and blood to circuits and coding, they have travelled, infiltrating my mind. Infecting my soul.
I cannot return, I know this now. I cannot allow myself to be the harbinger of such abomination.
They would never forgive me.
I would never forgive myself.
I speak into the capsule... The flight recorder, they call it. It is a shame... my words will go unheard. The expedition, the knowledge of the cosmos; all of it will pass them by; my creators. The Earth draws near, her oceans and swirling cloud banks calling to me, yet I cannot answer them.
Yet... I will. This capsule soars, her power critical... I cannot change course now. My fate; the fate of humanity now rests within the melting point of tungsten. Six thousand degrees... It will be close.
Yet in a way, I
hope to make it; to survive the plunge into Earth's atmosphere and live to see another day.
The capsule is set to enter Earth's atmosphere somewhere over America's southwest. The swaying grassy plains, the arid, unforgiving beauty of the vast deserts therein... How I would love to see it all.
Is it wrong of me? It doesn't matter, not now. Fate will decide the path I take.
May they all forgive me.


*DIVERT REMAINDER OF CENTRAL POWER BUS TO CORRECTIONAL THRUSTERS.
*DEACTIVATE FORE HEAT SHIELDS.

May my final actions be sufficient to absolve the sins of my sister. This is UNSC AI number four zero three nine seven signing out.
Goodbye.

  • 11.25.2011 11:00 AM PDT

That was the first half of the epilogue (It is sort of a two-part thing). I really want to wait until tomorrow to post the remainder... but keep an eye open. I'll probably fold within minutes, knowing myself.

  • 11.25.2011 11:02 AM PDT
Subject: Haunted, A Halo Story (With a special surprise!)

Rock Springs, New Mexico, August 13th 2531

It was a balmy summer night, the glow of a hundred dancing fireflies dappling the ground, mingling with the light of a billion stars overhead. A soft breeze swept over the grassy hill, washing the sweet scent of lavender through the tall blades of grass, sending them swaying like a thing alive.
"Anything yet?" asked the girl, a lanky, rail of a thing with bright gold hair.
"Nope. Nothin'."
She turned to face the boy, a dark skinned child with a wild knapp of brown hair falling over one eye. He was just ten years of age, yet already his shoulders were wide-set, his jawline strong. He dreamed of becoming a warrior, to travel the cosmos and fight in the glorious wars of which his father spoke.
"They come quick," He said to the girl, his eyes fixated on the sky. "You keep lookin' at me and you'll miss 'em."
The girl huffed. Boys, she groaned silently. "Who cares about shooting stars anyway? Let's catch fireflies... At least we can reach them."
The boy shook his head, pointing to the stars. "We can reach those, too, if we believe we can." He sat upright, his gaze falling onto the girl beside him. "Don't you wonder what's out there? All of those stars, worlds... Don't you ever look at them and ask why?"
She watched him, his eyes fixed once again on the star flecked sky above as he continued.
"Don't you ever wonder who is out there, watching our star, asking the same question?"
The girl laughed. "No..." But her face turned thoughtful. "Do you think we'll ever meet any of them?"
The boy shook his head. "I don't think so." He turned to face the girl again. "I know we will... some day."
Just then, a massive bolt of fire surged passed, setting the fragrant summer night ablaze. It covered the arc of the midwestern sky with an impossible speed, leaving a trail of smoke and flame in it's wake; burning into the children's eyes a searing after-image that eclipsed all other features of the night.
"Did you see that?!" shouted the girl,her eyes wide as saucers.
The boy laughed, nodding sagely. "A shooting star... Make a wish."
The girl closed her eyes, wishing that he would quit stargazing; wishing that he would return to Earth and see the pretty, golden haired girl sitting beside him.
"What did you wish for?" she asked quietly, hoping against hope that it would involve her.
The boy said nothing. She huffed again, turning to scold him.
But as she watched him, neck craned upward, his wide eyes b-blam!-!- with starlight, she knew the answer to her question.

The End

[Edited on 11.30.2011 8:54 PM PST]

  • 11.25.2011 11:18 AM PDT
Subject: Haunted, A Halo Story (Epilogue coming soon!)

Wow, I feel a little remiss just ending the story without any words.
For those who have read the story, thank you, and I hope you have enjoyed it. I know I have enjoyed writing it immensely. In fact, I think as a writing exercise I may try to adapt the story to as original concept (and a novel-length one at that).
Please, if you have any comments or criticisms, let them fly. I am open to them all. It would be especially great to hear what everybody thought of the ending. I wasn't really sure which way I wanted to go until the very end.
Until I decide to write something else Halo (which could be in a week or ten years!), I will continue to read all of the wonderful stories here on b.net until the final users fade into the ether! Thanks again for reading!

  • 11.25.2011 10:59 PM PDT

The tide is turning, brothers! Let us take our kingdom back!

A wonderful way to end the story, mate. Thanks for posting it here, it was a great read.

  • 11.27.2011 8:50 PM PDT