[GALLERY] TeeKup's Literature

I'll be using this thread for my writings here on out. I have a prologue available of my new story. I'd appreciate some criticism on it.

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From the Diary of Xahrra K'Taurn

The sky, all I remember is how the sky looked. For four hours, all I saw were covenant ships being butchered and massacred by volley after volley of particle beams, which made it hard to believe that for the passed few years they were annihilating the Humans without a drop of sweat.

No longer.

They didn’t believe us; they didn’t believe that we had returned. For over 100,000 years we sat in self-imposed exile of the galaxy, waiting until it needed us again. When we returned, we found a massive conglomerate that claimed to have worshiped us.

Worship?

They see genocide of our descendants and abuse of our technology worship? The Emperor; my father was outraged, he used negotiations at first calmly but sternly demanding for the disbanding and disarming of this so called Covenant. They refused, obviously, mistaking us for Humans and attempting to attack one of our new colonies; if only they knew better.

My father knew this planet, it is a planet of life; bountiful with forests and rivers. It was one of the few planets we were able to hide from the Flood. He was only a child when his father found it. They were so surprised to have discovered this planet, as it was in a barren area of the galaxy. A diamond in the rough if you will.

We call this planet…….Avalon.

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Proofread and edited for grammatical clarity, yo

Quote:

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From the Diary of Xahrra K'Taurn <---- lol katarn

The sky. All I remember is how the sky looked. For four hours, all I saw were covenant ships, butchered, massacred by volley after volley of particle beam fire. This, in particular, made it hard to believe that for the past few years, they had expended little effort in annihilating the Humans' forces.

No longer.

They said they didn’t believe us when we informed them of our return. They couldn't concieve of it. For over 100,000 years we sat in self-imposed exile from the galaxy, waiting until we were needed again. Upon our return, we discovered a massive conglomerate, which claimed to worship us.

Worship?

They see the genocide of our descendants and the abuse of our technology as worship? The Emperor, my father, was outraged. At first, he negotiated, calmly but sternly demanding for the disbandment and disarmament of this so-called "Covenant". They refused, mistaking us for the Human "vermin" upon which they had waged war for so long, attempting to attack one of our new colonies. If only they had known better.

My father knew this planet, a planet of life; bountiful, with forests and rivers, and it was one of the few worlds whose existence we were able to hide from the Flood. He was only a child when his father discovered it. The team was surprised to have found this planet, as it was located in a characteristically empty and barren area of the galaxy. A diamond in the rough, if you will.

They called it... Avalon. <----Never use more than three points in an ellipsis.

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I refuse to change his name. >_>

:awesome:

NO.

Don't even Andrew. >______>

who's that, obi-wan ka shoot-you-in-the-face kinobi?

Quote:

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From the Diary of Xahrra K’Taurn

June 3, 2562

Yesterday morning the shoreline was a crisp paradise. I would watch the waves lap against the beach as murloch crabs skirted across the sand. We cherish our creations and our sanctuaries above all else, if this Covenant truly worshiped us then they would know that. It’s a shame they do not recognize us as Forerunner, my father might have spared them even after the genocide they have committed.

The attack came in the afternoon; Xahnna and I were having lunch in the courtyard when we saw plasma torpedo’s rain from the sky. We didn’t run because we didn’t need to. They bounced off the planet wide Distortion Field and back into space.

It was odd, as there was a long pause before the Anti-Orbital Positron Cannons fired; their crimson lances craving a swath through the Covenant fleet. Five Battle Cruisers and one Assault Carrier were immediately destroyed.

I guess we startled them, as their fleet began to scatter. By the time we got to our carrier, the Harbinger, my father asked us and the Contender to launch. The Contender was a small carrier, she only held four A.E.G.I.S. units compared to our eight; she was powerful though.

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Grammar/Spelling/Criticism/Suggestions. You know the drill. :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TeeKup

From the Diary of Xahrra K’Taurn

June 3, 2562

Yesterday morning the shoreline was a crisp paradise. I would watched the waves lap against the beach as murloch crabs skirted across the sand. We cherish our creations and our sanctuaries above all else. If this Covenant truly worshiped us then they would know that. It’s a shame they do not recognize us as Forerunner; my father might have spared them even after the genocide they have had committed.

The attack came in the afternoon; Xahnna and I were having lunch eating in the courtyard when we saw plasma torpedo’s rain from the sky. We didn’t run. because We didn’t need to. They bounced off the planet-wide distortion field and back into space.

It was odd, as there was a long pause before the Anti-Orbital Positron Cannons fired; their crimson lances craving a swath through the Covenant fleet. Five Battle Cruisers and one Assault Carrier were immediately destroyed.

I guess we startled them, as their fleet began to scatter. By the time we got to our carrier, the Harbinger, my father asked us and the Contender to launch. The Contender was a small carrier, she only held four A.E.G.I.S. unites (units?) compared to our eight; she was powerful, though.

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Notes:

- Forerunners should not have lunch. Humans have lunch, and it degrades the mystique and reverence of the Forerunner to use such a common term with them.

- I broke up the "We didn't run" sentence, because it sounds a little more badass this way.

- I changed the "Distortion Field" to all lower case, and was tempted to change the "Anti-Orbital yadd-yadda" and other stuff as well, because I don't think names of technologies need to be proper nouns... your call, though.

- "She was powerful, though" isn't a really great way to end it. I can't think of anything to substitute right now, but I'd suggest revising it.

Hope it helps!

Excellent!

Quote:

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From the Diary of Xahrra K’Taurn

June 3, 2562

Yesterday morning the shoreline was a crisp paradise. I watched the waves lap against the beach as murloch crabs skirted across the sand. We cherish our creations and our sanctuaries above all else. If this Covenant truly worshiped us then they would know that. It’s a shame they do not recognize us as Forerunner; my father might have spared them even after the genocide they had committed.

The attack came in the afternoon; Xahnna and I were eating in the courtyard when we saw plasma torpedoes rain from the sky. We didn't run. We didn't need to. They bounced off the planet wide distortion field and back into space.

It was odd, as there was a long pause before the Anti-Orbital Positron Cannons fired; their crimson lances craving a swath through the Covenant fleet. Five Battle Cruisers and one Assault Carrier were immediately destroyed.

I guess we startled them, as their fleet began to scatter. By the time we got to our carrier, the Harbinger, my father asked us and the Contender to launch. The Contender was a small carrier, she only held four A.E.G.I.S. units compared to our eight; she was powerful, though.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by SnaFuBAR

who's that, obi-wan ka shoot-you-in-the-face kinobi?

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Kyle Katarn, gosh. l2retro

Master Katarn looks a little pudgy... He been eating too many Nerf Burgers recently?

Quote:

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From the Diary of Xahrra K’Taurn

June 3, 2562

Yesterday morning the shoreline was a crisp paradise. I watched the waves lap against the beach as murloch crabs skirted across the sand. We cherish our creations and our sanctuaries above all else. If this Covenant truly worshiped us, then that should be apparent. It’s a shame they do not recognize us as Forerunner; my father might have spared them even after the genocide they had committed.

The attack came in the afternoon; Xahnna and I were eating in the courtyard when we saw plasma torpedoes rain from the sky. We didn't run, for there was no need to. They bounced off the planet wide distortion field and back into space.

It was odd, as there was a long pause before the Anti-Orbital Positron Cannons fired; their crimson lances carving a swath through the Covenant fleet. Five Battle Cruisers and one Assault Carrier were immediately destroyed.

I guess we startled them (reword, see notes), as their fleet began to scatter. By the time we got to our carrier, the Harbinger, my father had asked us and another carrier, Contender, to launch. The Contender was a small craft, and, while powerful, she only held four A.E.G.I.S. units compared to our eight.

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Notes:

• The Forerunners' language, even in diary-speak, should be sophisticated, as if they all were wearing top hats with a monocle and a cup of tea.

• This entry has a bad ending. I recommend you don't just stop here, but rather, elaborate on the battle, possibly explaining what an A.E.G.I.S. unit is.

• Small side note: The Covenant fell apart after Halo 3. If you listen to the dialog coming out of crashed Pelicans/Phantoms ingame, you can hear that Truth called ALL the Covenant forces from every corner of the galaxy to Earth. Most went through the portal and got pwned by the Elites, others stayed behind on Earth and got pwned by Lord Hood and some ODSTs. In the end, no Covenant species lived, save the Elites and any prisoners. The Covenant was disbanded, and the Elites went home to live in peace with the humans.

Thanks, but for that last bit. My story is a spin off of that. In my spin off of the Forerunners they are the direct ancestors to humanity, and the covenant was just splintered.

So chapter 3 is in.

Chapter 3
Duel
June 3, 2562

First officer Seirha had an anxious look about him. This was going to be the first time to serve with Commander K'Taurn. As a precautionary step, the moment the Harbinger slipped out of Avalon’s atmosphere he gave the order to launch all A.E.G.I.S. units. He was more than thankful he did this the moment a small Covenant battle group came into view.

“Order all pilots to their stations, launch A.E.G.I.S. units one through six on combat patrol. Have seven and eight on ship guard.”

Bridge CIC officer Didain began working quickly.

“All pilots to your stations. Repeat. All pilots to your stations. Launch crews prepare all Advanced Exoskeletal Guardian Interdiction Suits for immediate launch!”

A.E.G.I.S. units were the first line of defense against enemy fighters, however they were also design to perform utilitarian roles amid combat should they arise. The arms were design with grappler hands with a plasma projector in each palm, the legs and backpack unit were equipped with maneuvering thrusters as well as a generator for a local M.D. field.

The bridge door opened and everyone snapped to attention. Xarrha gave a salute back and everyone rested back to their positions.

As commander Xarrha K’Taurn stepped onto the bridge, the first officer gave a quick sitrep.

“Commander, a single battle cruiser and two destroyers are inbound, sir.”

“What’s the status of the Magnetic Distortion Field?”

“Ready to engage sir.”

“Hold off on activation until my command.”

“Yes sir!”

A flash of blue light shot out from the battle group ahead.

“Sir! Plasma torpedo inbound!”

“Drop the ship 500 meters and pitch the bow up 50 degrees! Charge batteries 1 and 3 and stand by!”
In that instant the Harbinger dropped closer towards Avalon, the golden great plains of the Aurelian continent in clear view. The bow aligned perfectly with the battle cruiser as two batteries along the bow and command tower hummed to life with a soothing blue glow; plasma torpedo clearing and missed.

“Fire!!”

Two blue lances of searing plasma raced across the stars, slicing the battle cruiser into 3 separate floating hulks.

“Commander! Their reactor is going critical!”

“Activate the M.D. Field!”

The sky was quickly enveloped in a small sun like explosion. The two destroyers too close to the battle cruiser were quickly enveloped and vaporized. The Harbinger however was safe inside her small gravitic pocket, the explosion distorted around and away from the ship. Thankfully the A.E.G.I.S. units were slow to launch, or they may have been destroyed as well.

“Good call commander.”

“Thank you, good job everyone, but we still need to kick them from our system. Status on the Contender?”

“She’s engaged with two battle cruisers near the Atlan trans-orbital space elevator!” Didain quickly snapped back.

“Take us to her, let’s show this…Covenant…just what we can do.”

The Harbingers engines roared to life as she banked towards her next confrontation.

Quick editorial notes:

- When describing the AEGIS, "back pack" should be one word.
- Second last line, inproper use of "too". Should be "to".

Other than that, your stuff has gotten noticeably better, TeeKup. While I doubt the logistics of deploying manned armoured-suits based on a pre-emptive concern, everything else seems to sound like a convincing Forerunner vs Covenant encounter. That is what the premise is, right?

Correct, those two mistakes have been corrected. "Suit" was taken from mobile suit, an AEGIS unit is roughly a little bit larger than a longsword fighter bomber.

Thanks for the read and review. :3

Silly TeekerMcTeeknheimer what have you been up to....

Chapter 3
Duel
June 3, 2562

First officer Seirha had an anxious look about him. This was going to be the first time to serve with Commander K'Taurn. As a precautionary step, the moment the Harbinger slipped out of Avalon’s atmosphere he gave the order to launch all A.E.G.I.S. units. He was more than thankful he did this the moment a small Covenant battle group came into view.

“Order all pilots to their stations, launch A.E.G.I.S. units one through six on combat patrol. Have seven and eight on ship guard.”

Bridge CIC officer Didain began working quickly.

“All pilots to your stations. Repeat. All pilots to your stations. Launch crews prepare all Advanced Exoskeletal Guardian Interdiction Suits for immediate launch!”

A.E.G.I.S. units were the first line of defense against enemy fighters, however they were also design to perform utilitarian roles amid combat should they arise. The arms were design with grappler hands with a plasma projector in each palm, the legs and back pack unit were equipped with maneuvering thrusters as well as a generator for a local M.D. field.

The bridge door opened and everyone snapped to attention. Xarrha gave a salute back and everyone rested back to their positions.

As commander Xarrha K’Taurn stepped onto the bridge, the first officer gave a quick sitrep.

“Commander, a single battle cruiser and two destroyers are inbound, sir.”

“What’s the status of the Magnetic Distortion Field?”

“Ready to engage sir.”

“Hold off on activation until my command.”

“Yes sir!”

A flash of blue light shot out from the battle group ahead.

“Sir! Plasma torpedo inbound!”

“Drop the ship 500 meters and pitch the bow up 50 degrees! Charge batteries 1 and 3 and stand by!”

In that instant the Harbinger dropped closer towards Avalon, the golden great plains of the Aurelian continent in clear view. The bow aligned perfectly with the battle cruiser as two batteries along the bow and command tower hummed to life with a soothing blue glow; plasma torpedo clearing and missed.

“Fire!!”

Two blue lances of searing plasma raced across the stars, slicing the battle cruiser into 3 separate floating hulks.

“Commander! Their reactor is going critical!”

“Activate the M.D. Field!”

The sky was quickly enveloped in a small sun like explosion. The two destroyers too close to the battle cruiser were quickly enveloped and vaporized. The Harbinger however was safe inside her small gravitic pocket, the explosion distorted around and away from the ship. Thankfully the A.E.G.I.S. units were slow to launch, or they may have been destroyed as well.

“Good call commander.”

“Thank you, good job everyone, but we still need to kick them from our system. Status on the Contender?”

“She’s engaged with two battle cruisers near the Atlan trans-orbital space elevator!” Didain quickly snapped back.

“Take us too her, let’s show this…Covenant…just what we can do.”

The Harbingers engines roared to life as she banked towards her next confrontation.

Chapter 4

A Kings Anger

June 3, 2562

The Contender stood her ground. She was at a perfect distance so the incoming barrage of plasma cannon fire and plasma torpedoes warped around her AND the space elevator. She had been ambushed upon ascending into orbit by the Atlan space elevator; a covenant frigate hiding behind the station hit her primary plasma conduit on her belly before she could activate her MD field. Two battle cruisers proceeded to pin her there as the frigate retreated.

“We seem to be in a perfect position sir.”

Commander Ahctus sensed sarcasm in First Officer Sectum’s voice.

“…indeed…”

Ahctus felt ashamed. To receive a crippling blow this early in the fight was nothing short of embarrassing. Ahctus’ thoughts were interrupted by Contenders onboard AI, Limitless Serenity; materializing on the left arm of the commanders chair.

“Sir, I’m detecting a new signal heading our way fast…Ascender class, it’s the Harbinger.”

“K’Taurn? Great, just what I need right now, to be saved by a child…”

Commander K’Taurn had a since of agitation, ready to get back in the fight.

“Pitch the bow down 80 degrees, decrease speed to ¾ and charge batteries three and four!”

From the bridge of the Harbinger everyone could see small glistening particles rain from the bays of the two cruisers.

“Commander, the two cruisers ahead have launched fighters!”

“I see them Didain, have all aegis units intercept them, helmsman, plot a course to bring us up on the bellies of those cruisers!”

A small figure of a man wearing a priest robe and sash materialized on Xarrha’s chair console.

“You’re being a bit reckless aren’t you?”

Sanctus’ tone was that of annoyance. Harbingers AI often at times didn’t agree with Xarrha’s actions in battle. He believed they put too much undo stress on the relatively new ship.

“Relax Sanctus, the situation is under control.”

Without missing a beat the battle cruisers came into view, bellies wide open; the captain of the aegis squad alerted on the comm. channel.

“Commander, we have the fighters distracted, you may begin your run.”

“Excellent! Batteries three and four, fire!”

The two tear drop bow sections of the cruisers were carved clean off, one drifted deeper into space, the other into the gravity beam of the elevator. It subsequently collided with a cargo pod inbound for the station and exploded.

“…father won’t be too pleased with me for that…”

“Now didn’t I tell you that you were being reckless?!”

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June 3, 2562

Planet: Avalon, Laurentian Highlands

Location: Hall of Kings, Palace of the High Family

The emperor’s advisor was quick in step, normally anyone who traveled down the Hall of Kinds did so slowly to honor those who guided, protected, and served the Forerunner Empire. The walls of this long corridor were adorned with statues of many Emperors who ruled in the past, the last statue commemorated Ganrha K’Taurn…Xarrha’s grandfather. As the advisor approached the end, two large decorative doors slide apart.

“My lord, the battle above our planet is going in our favor, but it still continues.”

A large broad shouldered man, clad in ornate ceremonial armor, with a white cape draped over his back turned to face the advisor; his helmet visor glowing with a white intensity.

“…I tire of this.”

“My lord?”

The man hastily walked over to a glowing orb, surrounded by a single large screen. The orb was covered in many ornate keys. He lightly tapped 5 of these keys, the orbs glow began to intensify.

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June 3, 2562

Planet: Avalon

Location: High orbit near the Atlan Trans-Orbital Space Elevator

“Sanctus how many covenant ships are left above the planet?”

“138 ships remaining, they seem to be focused around a single super carrier.”

“It appears like this could take longer than expected, how many of our ships do we have in combat?”

“We have 322 ships in combat, all are making steady progress.”

“…sir…”

“What is it Didain?”

“Look ahead sir.”

All Xarrha could see were countless slipspace ruptures. Hundreds of carriers, cruisers, and destroyers coming into normal space. All Forerunner.

“…father…”

There was a flash, a short but incredibly blinding flash.

“…Sanctus…how many ships are there now…”

“Scanning…I count one-thousand eight-hundred and twenty-two ships all belonging to us, and 1 Covenant vessel.”

After a long pause there was another flash, this one was dimmer than the last.

“Make that zero Covenant ships commander; you also have a high priority message from the palace. The emperor has requested your presence.”

“Understood Sanctus…Seirha take us in, I’ll be in my quarters.”

“Yes sir.”

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June 3, 2562

Planet: Avalon

Location: Chamber of the High Council of Avalon

As Xarrha entered the council chambers he saw a lone creature being questioned by his father and several councilors, his confusion broke by his fathers anger.

“INSOLENT CREATURE!!”

Xarrha witnessed the frail creature thrown back by a gravitic shockwave emitted by the emperor’s palm.

“Do not attempt to defy me.”

The emperors words were long and drawn out, Xarrha have never seen his father in this temperament before.

“100,000 years ago we ruled this galaxy; our empire was peaceful, and just. When we chose to use the rings, we spared several species that were not yet affected by the flood, species we thought had potential. We left countless other worlds, worlds we left for you because the flood had ravaged everything else! This is how you repay us? By casting genocide on our descendants!?”

The emperors voice boomed through the chamber as he slowly walked toward the horrified creature. Xarrha held his voice, too nervous to interrupt, he had asked around and found out this creature was called a “San ‘Shyuum,” a leader of the covenant. Its name was Atonement.

“Prophet of Atonement, I have many questions for you…”

Xarrha could see the prophets eyes filled with pure terror.

“…and you WILL answer them.”

Chapter 5

First Contact

August 1, 2562

Planet: New Eden, Sigma Ceti II, UNSC Fringe Space

New Eden shone in the bright blue light of her parent star Sigma Ceti II, her oceans and planes glistening from the soothing celestial guardian. This peace would not last however.

The small task force of USNC ships above New Eden was surprised when a relatively small group of covenant ships entered normal space near the moon, what was most peculiar though, was the fact they seemed to be fleeing from something. Commander of the group and captain of the Valley Forge, Marathon class Cruiser, Captain Henry Archer began analyzing the situation.

“Stargazer how many covvies do we have?”

Valley Forge’s AI materialized in a gold mist of holographic particles.

“Captain I count 30 covenant ships, 25 CCS-Class battle cruisers and 5 assault carriers, all of them hastily moving towards New Eden, but the planet does NOT appear to be their actual objective sir.”

“How strange…”

Archer’s task force only had 10 ships, 2 heavy cruisers including the Valley Forge, 6 frigates and 2 carriers; not exactly the wanted strength to face any covenant force. Normally Archer could utilize the frigates speed against larger covenant vessels, but this time he was too out numbered.

“Sir…”

Communications officer Harris had a sense of intrigue in his voice when alerting the commander.

“What is it Harris?”

“I’m detecting abnormal communication bands coming from slipspace-“

Harris was interrupted by CIC officer Hernandez panicked tone.

“Captain!! Slip space rupture directly off our bow, between us and the covenant fleet!!”

“What!?”

A massive rupture formed 50 kilomters ahead of the Valley Forger. A Covenant ship did not exit the rupture, the design was angular, stream lined and very aggressive; above all it was big, twice the size of the Valley Forge. Even further ahead the covenant fleet began to scatter.

“Captain the lead assault carrier is firing on the unknown vessel!!”

“Harris run that unknown ships energy signature with all known contacts in our database!! Helmsman back us off ten kilometers!!

Two plasma torpedos raced towards the unknown vessel at alarming speeds.

“Captain it’s going to make contact!!”

On the ships view screen everyone saw both torpedos violently shutter and warp around the ship and off into space.

“Stargazer! What just happened!”

“The plasma torpedoes appear to have been…deflected sir…”

“Captain I have a match!!”

“What do you have for me Harris?!”

“Sir that ships energy signature matches perfectly with the Prophet of Truths Dreadnaught encountered on Earth 10 years ago!! That ship is Forerunner!!!”

Harris was quickly broken by Stargazers alert.

“Captain, that ship is charging weapons.”

Out ahead of the Valley Forge, the Forerunner ship banked towards the Covenant fleet, 4 batteries on the hull hummed a deep blue, then fired. Four searing plasma lances sparked across the sky, making contact with four carriers. Six battle cruisers too close to the lead ships were vaporized in the ensuing explosions. Captain Archer stood from his chair in awe.

“…my god..”

“Captain, that ship is broadcasting a message to that fleet, I’ve intercepted it and am able to put it on speakers.”

“Do it.”

A young but stern voice boomed over the speakers:

“You claim to worship us, yet caste genocide on our children,

You are our enemy.

You abuse technology which you have stolen,

You lay false judgment on the chosen of the galaxy,

You have forsaken the guardians of the Mantle,

You will be swept away by our unforgiving Wrath,

For we are your enemy.”

For a few moments Archer was speechless, attempting to fully understand the situation, but his concentration was quickly broken by another alert from Stargazer.

“Captain! Ten more slipspace ruptures are forming around the Covenant fleet!! Two ruptures directly in front of our task force!!”

“Give me FLEETCOM…”

“Ready Sir”

FLEETCOM//Directory -Valley Forge-

“This is Captain Archer of the Valley Forge, all ships hold fire and stand-by, I repeat, HOLD FIRE.”

The ships that exited the ruptures look very similar to the original unknown, Forerunner but smaller, Archer had guessed they were Cruiser and the original was either a Carrier or a Battle Ship. Ahead of the task force the two Forerunner ships closest to the task forced banked around and join the formation, behind Valley Forge. Farther out, the entire Covenant Fleet was consumed in a series of blinding flashes until they were no more.

The first Forerunner ship turned around and quickly approached the Valley Forge stopping a few hundred meters off her bow.

“Captain that ship is transmitting a message to our fleet, audio only!”

Again the same voice came over the comm.

"It seems the guardians...need guardians...you have much to learn."

And with that all the Forerunner vessels quietly enter slipspace and disappeared off the fleet’s sensors.

“…Orders sir?”

“Take us into low Orbit helmsman…HIGHCOM needs to hear about this…Stargazer?”

“Aye sir?”

“Prepare a detailed report, audio and visual accounts included please.”

“Aye sir.”

Chapter 6

Wrath of the Forerunner

August 5th, 2562

Location: High Charity, Covenant Holy City

The Prophet of Vengeance was hysterical, it had been over a month since he sent out a small fleet to deal with the humans impersonating as the Forerunners; he hadn’t heard anything.

Around High Charity orbited his new fleet, The Fleet of Unyielding Faith. 500 ships strong, she was even stronger than the fleet belonging to the Prophet of Truth when he first invaded Earth, and began the civil war. It was almost time for the Covenant to take its revenge on the Sangheili and the humans, that is, until the humans forged this new treachery, claiming themselves as Forerunners.

“Enough of this, I need to calm down”

The prophet began to re-compose himself, he would leave soon to look over the dig of a new Forerunner ruin site, supposedly the largest one discovered in this age. He would have to worry about the missing ships later. The prophet pulled out a tea globe and activated it, and began inhaling its herbal fumes. When he was finished he left his chambers and slowly made his way to his super carrier, Holy Destiny.

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August 5th, 2562

Location: Kehndall Fleet Yards, Septimus System

Xarrha turned a corner and came to a long hallway; on the left were view ports where he could see out into space. All he saw however were countless Forerunner ships. Long Dreadnaughts armed to the teeth, plasma batteries along its dorsal hull, its trademark ventral spire stretching out and down of the bow. Cruisers, battleships, and carriers marked by their low command towers, sleek port and starboard wings; battle ships looking more like cousins to the dreadnaughts though.

In the rear was his ship, the Harbinger. The Harbinger was an Ascender class Assault Carrier armed with 4 plasma batteries, 2 on her forward hull and 2 on her command tower. She was also armed with a single artillery cannon behind the two forward plasma batteries which she had never used before. It was a twin barreled plasma cannon which was directly link to the primary plasma conduit in the core of the ship; the plasma this cannon projected was twice as hot and dense than Harbingers regular batteries.

Aft of the ship on the back of the command tower were a series of ports for slower firing “plasma missiles.” Another weapon the Harbinger has yet to take advantage of. The artillery battery was nicknamed the “Apsahlus” cannon and the plasma missile ports the “Nova” array. Xarrha wondered if they could be used in the upcoming battle, he doubted they would because of the sheer size of the fleet.

“Sanctus, are you with me?”

“Always, Commander.”

“What has my father named this new fleet?”

“He’s named it, The Fleet of Eternal Freedom, commander.”

“Hmmm…somewhat appropriate considering our past…Sanctus transport me to the bridge of the Harbinger, it’s about time to begin the operation.”

“Of course commander.”

And with that Xarrha was instantly teleported to the bridge of the Harbinger, upon arriving he looked around, everyone giving him nods of confirmation of what’s ahead.

“Sanctus, take us there.”

The Harbinger and the Harbinger alone entered a slip space rupture, leaving the rest of the fleet behind…for now.

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August 5th, 2562

Location: High orbit above High Charity, Covenant Holy City

The Prophet of Vengeance was on the command bridge of his super carrier, Holy Destiny when an alarm rang out.

“We do not have time for any distractions, what in the galaxy is going on?!”

“Noble prophet, we are detecting a slip space rupture 100 kilometers off our bow, unknown signature.

The grunt’s voice was quivering with fear and confusion, the fact that the Jiralhanae ship master began to approach him didn’t ease the situation.

“On the main screen!!”

The Brutes orders were heavy and annoyed. Out of the rupture came the Harbinger, calmly easing forward out of the inter-dimensional gateway, and stopped.

“Your holiness we’re being hailed by that ship.”

“What!? Fine open a channel.”

The prophet came face to face with what he thought was a human, this one however seemed…different…its eyes aglow with a blue-grey tint, his disposition was that of anger, a calm but stern anger.

“Noble Prophet, that ship is transmitting this across local space!”

“But why!?”

“My name is Xarrha K’Taurn, Sovereign heir of the Forerunner Empire; I wish to make a declaration to The Covenant Empire. For the past 37 years you have been at war with Humanity, the Reclaimers. When we left this galaxy 100,000 years ago, we left it in the hands of our descendants to protect it; when we chose to come back we fully expected them to be slowly growing their own fledgling empire across the stars. Instead we found a massive conglomerate casting a war of genocide against them, a war of genocide cast in our name. This war must stop here and now, this is your final warning. Disarm and disband this Covenant, your leaders will be taken to our Emperor and they alone will be tried for the horrendous crimes they have committed. If you do not surrender I cannot guarantee the freedom of the rest of you.”

Outraged the Prophet of Vengeance hovered close to the screen.

“You insolent vermin, how dare you impersonate our forefa-“

“We are your forefathers you fool!! Your species was the first one my grandfathers recommend we spare when we activated the Halo Array!”

“I will have no more of this!”

The Prophet quickly closed the channel

“Fire on that ship immediately!!!”

A single plasma torpedo shot out from a port plasma battery on the super carrier, quickly making its way to the Harbinger. Xarrha however stood his ground.

“What a fool, will he not try and evade it?”

The Shipmaster voice chuckled in confidence as the torpedo homed on to its target. To the surprise of everyone the torpedo was instantaneously deflected away from the harbinger.

“What just happened!?”

Xarrha once again opened a video channel.

“We have given you fair warning, because of your foolish actions you will now all suffer.”

The screen went black; a Kig-yar sitting at a command station squawked a new alert.

“Ship master, were detecting massive Gravitic distortion across local space!”

On the main screen the Prophet saw slip space ruptures slowly open around the Harbinger and throughout local space. The first ones to open let loose massive Forerunner Dreadnaughts, their hulls glowing with intensity. The prophet was expecting a flew of perhaps a few hundred, but he was wrong.

They kept coming.

It would be a full half hour until the ruptures stopped appearing, the local space was covered in a massive cloud of forerunner vessels, all of them staring down High Charity and Holy Destiny. The prophet nervously looked over to the Kig-yar.

“…How many ships are there…”

“T-ten thousand vessels!!!!”

The ship master walked backwards towards the prophet.

“..By the rings!!!”

“Were also detecting hundreds of thousands of smaller attack craft!!”

The Holy Destiny’s main view screen activated, only this time there was a large figure, clad in heavy armor, his visor angrily staring at the prophet.

“You have been warned time and time again. Your presence will no longer be tolerated. You have thrown the galaxy into an age of darkness it has never seen since the Great Infection, you slay our children in our name; you defile and abuse our technology and relics. You have no one to blame but yourselves for such insolence. You have invoked the wrath of the forerunner; your end will be swift and absolute.”

On the bridge of the dreadnaught, Infinite Resolve, Emperor Harken K’Taurn gave the final orders as the Fleet of Unyielding Faith hastily organized in front of High Charity, his voice booming over FLEETCOM.

“All ships….open fire!!”

The Fleet of Eternal Freedom glowed an angry red, and then countless plasma lances shot out, vaporizing a few hundred ships instantly. The Covenant fleet began to scatter in terror.

Thousands of cruisers and destroyer flotillas raced forward slicing apart covenant ships as they surrounded the Prophets super carrier. Covenant seraph fighters, phantoms, and boarding craft were vaporized by the hellish angry swarms of AEGIS units and forerunner fighter craft.

With their weapons bouncing off ALL Forerunner vessels, the fleet tried to transition to slip space, but was quickly stopped by the Forerunner dreadnaughts guarding the edges of battle with their Gravitic Well Generators, quickly stopping all attempts at slip space. In a matter of seconds the Fleet of Unyielding Faith was totally and utterly annihilated, leaving only the Holy Destiny and High Charity.

On the bridge of the Holy Destiny, the Prophet began to break down in panic and terror, unggoy and Kig-yar fleeing. The prophet looked up as the Emperor teleported onto the bridge in front of him. Vengeance quickly fell out of his chair crawling to the door. The Shipmaster brought his gravity hammer to and attempted a swing at the Emperor; Harken quickly grabbed and snapped its handle without even flinching. He turned to the Jiralhanae and kicked him into the hull platting, utterly crushing the Brute.

Harken grabbed the prophet by his robe and held him up, the prophet mumbling a small phrase.

“Y-you are…Forerunner…”

“Join the flood in extinction.”

The Emperors words were cold and final as he teleported the prophet out into deep space with his belt transmitter. Vengeance instantly imploded due to the lack of oxygen and pressure. Harken quickly teleported back to Infinite Resolve.

“Aim the ship directly at that station, activate Impact.”

Impact was the aptly name positron assault cannon that laid the majority length of the Infinite Resolve. Its massive charging rings glowed an intense gold in open space as sections of the ship spread to let the gun charge.

“Your highness, we’re at 94% capacity, were approaching the critical mass mark!”

“…FIRE!!!”

A massive beam of red and orange particles glowing with the intensity of a small sun raced across the starts towards High Charity. As it made contact, the station began to disintegrate from the epicenter out, until it was out matched by the station detonating in a beautiful stellar display of blue and green.

“Open a comm. Channel with my son.”

“Understood my lord.”

Xarrha quickly appeared on screen with a calm but nervous look about him.

“That was a bit….hot don’t you think?”

“Indeed….sorry you didn’t get much of a chance their my son.”

“It’s alright father, let’s head home, we need to plan how we’re going to make proper contact with Humanity.”

The screen dematerialized as the Emperor stood from his chair.

“Helmsman take home…”

“Right away your highness.”

The Fleet of Eternal Freedom slowly but surely slipped away leaving the local space with small traces of particle debris from the battle.

Unrenowned to the Forerunner fleet however, in polar orbit above the planet high charity was near…was a stealthed human Prowler, who had been observing the entire event….

3 Chapters. Get to reading people.

Can you make an audio book :S

Read >:O

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Originally Posted by TeeKup

Read >:O

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They should read it out loud for a podcast filler. :D

That would be a rather beneficial for my story...Although I would prefer someone with a good reading voice.

Does it take place like a traditional podcast, in Teamspeak or Ventrillo?

No, it takes place in skype.

While reading your story I found that I could imagine the characters being human just as easily as forerunner. I know you want to make the connection, but you're portraying the forerunners in a very human way that doesn't do their mystery and their lore justice. I expected more from them, and your story didn't deliver. They just seemed immature for lack of a better word; ready to start their own genocidal war, which certainly doesn't help the galactic biodiversity that the forerunners practically sacrificed themselves for. Forerunners would have other, better ways of doing things. This wasn't helped at all by the lack of descriptive language.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by TeeKup

That would be a rather beneficial for my story...Although I would prefer someone with a good reading voice.

Does it take place like a traditional podcast, in Teamspeak or Ventrillo?

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If you or someone did read it, they would probably record with something like Audacity, as opposed to doing the regular skype stuff.

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Chapter 14

Those Who Fight

October 34, 2562

Planet: Avalon

Location: Laurentian Highlands, Sigilum City, Heimdall Military Base.

It was unusually quiet in the Heimdall Military Base, particularly since the Forerunners recovered a Reclaimer "artifact" a few days ago. Down a long ornate hallway, in a room labeled "Artifact Reclamation" Forerunner lifeworkers and engineers tended to their prize. The highest ranking personnel were Vectum Cahsval, head Construct Engineer and Arihanna Lantum, head Lifeworker of the facility. Arihanna was a Lifecrafter, only 5 lifeworkers on Avalon were that rank, and the only higher was the Librarian herself.

Vectum was working on the female construct recovered a few days ago, while Arihanna on the cryotube. As Arihanna was reviewing readouts from the cryotube, Vectum called out to her.

"Lady Arihanna, I have something!"

She quickly made her way to his side.

"What is it?"

"I've finished reconstructing her memory and control matrices, I'm about to bring her online."

"Really, is she stable enough?"

"She should be, are you ready?"

"Go ahead, bring her online."

Vectum moved a control slider sideways on the holographic panel; energy began to flow into the AI chip on the pedestal. A small ring of light began to glow around the chip, slowly a hologram materialized on the pedestal. A young woman covered in basic line structures, with medium length hair slowly looked up to them, she was holding her head as if she were experiencing a migraine. What the small woman saw astounded her. A man in ornate dress wear, complex geometric symbols covered his over coat and pants. A small holo-visor fitted over his left eye, under his bright blonde clean cut hair. The woman next to him wore a dress in similar styling only it was a dull grey with red linings. Her forest green hair was wrapped into a ponytail.

Vectum began to speak to her.

"Hello there, would you mind telling us who you are? I am Vectum Cahsval head Construct Engineer at this facility, my associate is Arihanna Lantum head Lifeshaper."

The small blue woman crossed her arms and raised her left eyebrow.

"My name is Cortana, UNSC serial number CTN-0452-9, an Artificial Intelligence."

"My what a mouthful."

Vectum chuckled as he pushed his equipment away.

"We'd like to ask you some questions pertaining to you and your companion we found."

Cortana immediately seemed startled.

"John!"

She looked across the room and saw his cryotube against the wall; ice still covered the inside of the cabin.

"Is that his name? What can you tell us about him?"

Cortana looked back at the two with a look of confusion and wary.

"You aren't human."

"No….we are not"

Arihanna responded calmly.

"We are Forerunner, I am not at leeway to explain the situation just yet, our Emperor will do that, but before we continue we need to wake, John, his name right?"

"Why is that?"

Cortana responded curtly.

"Orders from our Highness and the High Council, we were told to wake him, reinvigorate him and make sure he's completely healthy. We haven't made official first contact with the Reclaimers yet, so my guess is to return this one in prime condition as a token of goodwill and respect."

"I…see. Well, just go with the flow they always say. What do you need exactly from me?"

"We need you to wake up John."

"You can't wake him Arihanna?"

"No, we've tried most applications other than directly opening his cryotube, we don't want to injure him. From what Vectum analyzed from your damage memory Matrix before rebuilding it, he concluded the two of you were particularly close, maybe stimulation from you would wake him."

"Guess it can't be helped you peeked into my mind…"

"Sorry, but it was necessary."

"Very well, bring his cryotube closer if you can."

Vectum hovered his hand over a holo-panel and the cryotube lifted off the floor and slowly made its way in front of Cortana. Cortana thought for a short while how to do this, until it hit her.

"…Wake me…when you need me."

John's voice echoed in her head.

"John! Wake up!"

The cryotube continued humming with no change.

"I need you! Chief!"

"I got something…"

Arihanna began to scroll through the holo-panel.

"His hearts beating, his pulse and neuron activity is up!"

"Wake up John!"

The Master Chief began to move his head, his flashlight helmet sparked to life.

"CHIEF!"

The cryotube burst open, and John leaped out, landed his hands on the pedestal.

"Cortana!"

"John…"

There was a sense of relief in Cortana's voice. Master Chief looked up at the two oddly dress humans staring at him, he stared right back.

__________________________________________________

October 34, 2562

Planet: Avalon

Location: Laurentian Highlands, Palace of the High Family, Recreational Garden.

Xarrha stepped out of the transport that had brought him and his mother to their palace, he turned around and gave Xahnna a somber smile and nodded his head, Xahnna returned the gesture as the transport quickly flew away, back into the heart of Sigilum City.

"You're bond with him is strong, he cares for you deeply."

"He is one of the reasons why I fight, mother."

"I see. A bond like yours is something precious, like a single diamond in a quarry of coal. Don't ever let him go my child."

"I don't intend to mother."

As they approached the main entrance to the palace, they took a side path around to the rear. Here, there was a small lake which looked deeper into the Laurentian mountain ranges, their snowcapped peaks glistened beautifully in the afternoon sun. At the edge of the lake stood Xarrha's father, Harken, he wasn't wearing his ceremonial armor. Instead he was wearing ornate dress garments, with green geometric lines running across his shirt and trouser. He stood staring into the mountains, his blue grey eyes transfixed. The wind blew against his smooth medium length beard; he brushed his large hands through his silver clean cut hair. Xarrha remember as a child he used to compare his fathers hair with that of some mountains on their original home world.

He wished happy days like those never had ended.

"You two need to have a long talk, I have duties to attend to."

"Farewell mother."

The two embraced once more, Morgahna then left for the palace. Xarrha calmly approached his father, and stopped a few feet short.

"…Father…"

"Speak your mind, my son."

Harkens voice was very smooth and gentle.

"I...I failed. My ship is lost, I no not how many of my crew I sacrificed, I-"

"None."

"What?"

"When the Contender and her fleet returned, we did a crew review. Surprisingly not a single crew member of the Harbinger perished. Some were severely injured but they are recovering."

Xarrha fell to his knees and let out a loud sigh of relief. Harken walked over and grabbed his sons shoulders, and gently lifted him up.

"Xarrha, why do we fall?"

"So we may rise?"

"Indeed, I've read the reports. You and your ship single handedly held off Covenant forces long enough for the Reclaimers of the New Eden colony to escape. Yes damage was done to the planets surface, but we can repair that. What matters is there was VERY low loss of life for us and our allies, despite the overwhelming odds. You exemplified self sacrifice that is evident of our beliefs and our families' ideals. I have never been more proud.

Xarrha was speechless before his fathers humbling words.

"Come, we have guests in the palace that we need to attend to."

"Guests? Who exactly?"

"Those we could have once been seen as enemies, trying to receive redemption."

Harken and Xarrha quickly made their way to the Council Hall, located in the palace.

__________________________________________________

October 34, 2562

Planet: Avalon

Location: Palace of the High Family, High Council Hall.

A Sangheili warrior was on his knees in front of the High Council, one hundred members on their pedestals in a large ring like structure that over looked a central platform where the warrior stood. Behind the warrior were 20 more Sangheili, the High Council from Sangheilos. The warrior in front of them was The Arbiter, the acting leader of their race, Thel Vadam.

As The Arbiter sit on his knees, his hands sat crossed on them. One of the councilors had just finished grilling him about his races involvement in the war with the Reclaimers. With the expression on his and the Elite Councilors faces, they all felt unimaginable shame. Blinded by faith and the manipulative prophets, they caste a genocidal war against humanity in hope to achieve a false "god-hood." They committed unspeakable atrocities to billions of lives. As Arbiter, Thel felt every single ton of responsibility that now lay on his shoulders.

As the councilors calmed down, Harken and Xarrha made their way to an ornate pedestal and sitting area for the emperor. Harken look down at Thel with a stern look on his face, Xarrha stood by and merely observed.

"Warrior, do you know who I am?

"I do not, I have not the honor nor power to assume."

"My name is Harken K'Taurn, Sovereign Emperor of the Forerunner Empire."

Being in the presence of the Emperor, Thel bowed his head in deep respect, his body began to tremble. While the story of the rings may have been false, and the promise of god-hood a lie; the Forerunners were still considered Lords of the Sangheili. They did after all spare them when they re-seeded they galaxy, sheltering them from the onslaught of the Flood.

"My Lord, I will accept all responsibilities of the actions my Race has committed against the Reclaimers. My blade alone slew countless in my blind fury and faith. There is neither excuse nor call of mercy for me."

Harken teleported right in front of Thel, had in his possession a platinum longsword covered in ancient Precursor runes. As Harken unsheathed the blade it made a distinctive ting throughout the hall.

"You instigated and started a war of Genocide against the race of beings we chose as our descendants, those who would have inherited the Mantle of Guardian ship. You set the galaxy ablaze, burning world after world. You not only obliterated entire populations but you scorched and glassed countless garden worlds, an act that can be consider the most sacrilegious thing in our society!"

Harkens voice boomed and echoed throughout the hall, his anger poured into Thel's heart, and sorrow emptied out.

"Yet, when the war came to a climax, you found you had been betrayed, manipulated into a suicidal attempt of become a demi-god. You retaliated with a ritualistic fervor that was unbeknown until then. You even managed to form an alliance with the enemy you fought so hard to annihilate. You even charged head forth into the Flood in order to set things right, to correct the sins you had committed. You are a Warrior, battle is all that you know; but your heart can guide you well."

"Please my Lord, there is no other obvious punishment. Please end this!"

Harkens sword slashed at the air, and found it laying on Thel's shoulder, Vadam could feel the cold metal laying on his body. Harken raised the sword, twirled it, then placed it on Thel's other shoulder; bringing the hilt to his chest and then re-sheathed the sword. A look of confusion ran across Vadam's face, he looked up and spoke.

"Your majesty!"

"Rise. Thel Vadam, Arbiter of the Sangheili, Knight of Avalon."

A sense of honor and righteousness that Thel had never felt before surged through his body. Forgiven and uplifted, this was possibly the greatest honor ANY Sangheili could receive, the Sangheili councilors bowed to Harken and Thel, recognizing his new authority.

"My Emperor, what would you have your Knight do?"

__________________________________________________

October 35, 2562

Planet: Avalon

Location: Heimdall Military Base, training grounds.

The Master Chief stood before a massive training gauntlet the Forerunner had constructed for him, it reminded him of his training on Reach, long before the war with the Covenant had started. His sense of nostalgia was interrupted by Arihanna.

"John, we need to make sure you're still fit, hopefully this won't be too stressful, are you ready"

"…Always am."

"Stoic as ever I see."

Cortana's dry humor found its way into the conversation.

"Very well, lets begin."

John dashed straight forward into the maze of challenges.

It was good to run again.

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It's been forever since I posted this here, I would like to think I've gotten better since then. Reviews and Crit please. If you need catching up to do, the link to the story is in my signature.

King Harken and his Knights of the Geometrically-shaped table! :v:

In all seriousness, though, I always pictured the Forerunner to be more like the Minbari from Babylon 5; they don't have a central ruler, but they are not really a democracy either. What they have are three castes: Worker, Religious, and Warrior. They are not rigid, and if a member of one caste finds that the calling of his heart is in another caste, he can change. Each caste has its own ways of selecting three individuals to sit on the Grey Council, so you have nine individuals guiding the race as a whole. Among the Religious caste, following the calling of one's heart is the most prestigious act. Among the Warrior caste, skill in battle and self-sacrifice are the prevailing motifs. Don't know much about the Worker's caste, though. I just find the idea of a literal Forerunner empire to be anachronistic given how advanced they are.

Now on to actual critique:
The descriptive sections feel a little bit too staccato. A bit more sentence variation wouldn't hurt. You also seem to reuse the same descriptions: "geometric" appeared twice rather close together. Thesaurus get!

Another issue I see is a misuse of certain words. When you used "unbeknown," you should have used "unknown." That, or you need to finish the sentence. Try "...unbeknownst even to you." You also use the word "ting" which is fine, but it seems a bit sloppy. Try "...reverberated through the air with a blessed ringing" or something like that. The onomatopoeia was just awkward where it was; usually, it's most effectively used as a special form of dialogue.

Finally, I like it when references are made to other material, but it was too much and too obvious. Save that stuff, man. Don't use it just because you want to use it, use it where you can get the most bang out of it. And if you can camouflage it a bit, it is so much more rewarding when the reader spots it. Now, if this were taking place in the far future or past with different characters that were in similar situations to the Chief and the Arbiter, then you could blatantly use it and still have us go "haha, that's fuckin' awesome."

Just re-read it with what I said above (critique, not the Forerunner speculation) in mind, and changes will be easy to make. Interesting story, was a bit annoyed when it ended on an action sequence...:gonk:.

Thanks for the input, I actually had tried "unbeknownst" but for some reason spell checker said it was wrong...

Taking what you said to heart I'll make sure to refine my further chapters. :D

Pfff, I ignore spell-check. Call me old-fashioned, but I like to use a dictionary.

Been reading through the various pages, I enjoyed the portion where the forerunner fleet attacked the prophet of vengeance but the portion about the Gundam just seemed way out of place.
"And suddenly a golden gundam appeared with two ai either side of the pilot"

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Chapter 15

Boots in the Mud

November 4, 2562

Planet: Avalon

Location: Laurentian Highlands, Sigilum City, Heimdall Military Base.

A warm summers day at the Heimdall military base, but it was hardly quiet as it was hours earlier, several key personnel had moved to observation room overlooking the training complex Lady Arihanna had constructed. What they were watching had them particularly intrigued.

The ground thundered as the Master Chief charged ahead, dirt sprayed behind him as his boots begged for more ground. Directly ahead of him were three large hurdles, unlike the ones used by Olympic events back on Earth, these things were clearly the size of Warthog LRVs. As he reached the first hurdle, John leaped in the air, landed on it, kicked off and jumped onto the second one. He jumped toward the third hurdle, the air screaming past his helmet visor. As he landed, the kinetic energy and weight of his Mjolnir armor took hold and cracked the massive log. Right as the log was about to snap, John dropped and rolled away as splinters and chunks of wood ricocheted off his energy shields.

“Nice job, I think there’s one lodged in your neural lace.”

John gave a small chuckle in return to Cortana’s sarcasm; he actually missed her being inside his head after all this time. The Master Chief did an about face and sprinted off again, this time a large rock wall stood in his path. Kicking himself off the ground, John leaped onto the structure and began to claw his way to the top, as he reached the precipice he stopped. What he saw in the distance had him at a loss for words.

“Wow, and some people said New Alexandria was the most beautiful city in the galaxy.

Sigilum City shone bright gold in the high afternoon sky, rays of light beaming onto the city and wilderness around it. Transports and vehicles were meandering their way through the city, Forerunner civilians getting on with their daily lives. Behind the city were three long angular ships, Fast Attack Cruisers of the Forerunner Navy, they gracefully flowed past the city, their downward angled wings leaving contrails behind them. Even farther back was the Laurentian Mountain ranges, great snow capped peaks dredging into the sky, mist and fog coalescing near their bases.

As John stood on top of the rock wall, his sight seeing was interrupted by Arihanna.

“Now John, you see what WE fight for, it’s not just this planet, but every garden world across the galaxy that can support life. We must restore the balance of power to this galaxy, it is the only way everyone can prosper and survive.”

John understood; he understood every time he shot a Brute with his Battle Rifle, every time he threw a fragmentation grenade into a squad of grunts, every single time he faced off against Elite in combat. John knew why the Forerunners, a race known for their pacifism and sense of peace, had to take up arms again. He understood all too well, the faces of each one of his fallen Spartans flashed before him. As John dropped and landed onto the dirt, a small crater and shockwave echoed away from his boots. As he made his way back to the training ground, Arihanna crackled over his headset.

“Well done John, but we need to know how well you can face off in hand to hand combat, we’re sending a Sparring Sentinel to face off with you, get ready.”

“I’m assuming it doesn’t have a particle beam, those tend to be unhealthy for Johns already ragged armor.”

“Don’t worry Cortana, we use this against all military recruits, it’s safe.”

John looked down at his legs and gauntlets, observing the dents, pock marks, and plasma burns across his armor.

“Maybe I could use an upgrade…”

“We’re actually addressing that now.”

Vectum seemed cheery with his little interjection.

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Started Chapter 15. Thoughts so far (clearly not finished)?