[Singh]

Maybe one day, when someone stumbles accross this corner of the internet, someone will have the forsight, the determination, the interest and the skills to actually make this into a machinima. Till then, it remains just a piece of fiction, just a document that will remain as a newly-created work on my PC....

Written inspired by watching the intro of The Codex and it really pushed me back into the writing mood again.

Fade in:

[scene 1: Zanzibar installation gate control panel]
[The camera fades in, revealing the internal area of the structure inside Zanzibar installation, or more specifically, the upper floor where the control panel is located. The camera initially starts out to the panel's right, with the large pillar blocking out the view of someone who is standing in front of the console; leaving only the back of his foot and leg visible.]

[The camera slowly moves forwards, revealing the true form on the individual, as the voiceover starts. The individual is wearing a Mjolnir Mk. VII armor system, which is a drab grey in color all over. Strange elblems are present on his arm and legs; double lines moving in parralel and meeting at a single point. The individual is facing the console as he speaks, and the voice, although low, is clearly male. His tone is but a sad one, deep and filled with regret; one can almost feel the mental agony he might have been in. The camera stops just behind the person, looking over his shoulder at the machinery in front of him.]

[Dr. Gregory]: This is the final audio recording of Dr. Gregory Masen, field medic for the 402nd Black Hammers, the second and last batch of Spartans ever to be trained by the UNSC.  The supplies on the island is finished, and whatever medical stores I have left....it's all gone. I have nothing with which to save the others; or indeed, to save myself. In the end though, it does not matter, as it is but a matter of delaying the inevitable.....

[The camera starts to move slowly, panning out and towards the ground below, where the bodies of many more spartans lie. Each one's armor is a different color, each with a different symbol. As he speaks, the Camera slowly fades in and out, thrice focusing on each body in turn as he speaks out their names]

[Dr. Gregory]“Castro....Rachel....Julie.....”

[The camera tilts and pans, facing up towards the doctor as he looks down towards it before turning back to the panel. The camera cuts to behind him again, back on the upper floor]

[Dr. Gregory] “none of them will survive....not one....I wish I could say that I have some hope, some way of saying that at least one will have a one-in-a-million shot of survival; but this...thing...it doesn't even grant me that comfort.”

[The camera slowly follows the doctor as he slowly turns, walking down the walkway and into the corridor behind the ledges leading to the panel. He slowly walks down the stairs, speaking along the way. The camera follows him upto the stairs,before cutting to the middle floor and then tracking his descent downwards]

[Dr. Gregory] “For two years I have to find a cure; some means to slow it down till help can arrive...and now, I realize that for two years, I have done nothing but fool myself into having some semblence of false hope. And now, because of my stubborness, because of my sheer idiocy,we are all doomed.

[The doctor reaches the bottom of the stairs. The camera cuts to in front of him as he looks down at each of the bodies, as he strafes past each, stopping for a second to crouch at each one's side and examine them.]

[Dr Gregory] “And so now they lie innocently, unaware of the mistake I have made which has not only cost me my sanity, but their lives as well. Sadly, I must finally face the prospect that there is nothing I can do except to end this before their suffering becomes worse; before the pain and madness once again wakes them, setting loose upon this land a scourge unlike any other...”

[The doctor raises his weapon – a Covenant plasma pistol and points it at the nearest body. However, a seconds later, he then lowers it. His tone deepens, the sadness clearly forcing up tears and nearly causing him to choke.]

[Dr Gregory] “But I can't....although every moral fibre of my being tells me that this is the right thing to do, for the ultimate good of mankind....I just....I just can't do it.”

[the doctor turns, heading out the open gate to the left, stepping out into the sunshine. He looks up for a second, while continuing to speak.]

[Dr Gregory] “When we went through training; I took an oath, an oath that I would never harm another human being unless absolutely necessary, and that no matter the odds, I would try my best to heal my patients, and never kill them. Although the oath can hardly hold in this situation, and that in actuality, it went out the window long ago; I still cannot bring myself to do it. Everytime I try; I remember it, and it alone stops me. I finally realize why I am unable to accomplish the act; why I am unable to complete the deed.

[He looks back at the bodies, forever staring, unmoving.The camera catches the view from just over his shoulder]

[Dr. Gregory] “For these were not soldiers; nor ordinary humans....they were, and forever will be, my friends; my comrades. It is one thing to justify the death of a few, for the need of the many. Indeed, such a fact was drilled into our minds from the very first days of basic training. The greater majority always held the greater priority. But here, on this island, far from the rigours of basic training and indeed, anything human, such thoughts go out the window as quickly as my own oath. These are my comrades; those who have lived by my side, those who have protected me from danger and death, and those who have ensured the lives of many, many others. To kill them after all they have done for me....it is simply unthinkable. Although in the end, it is what they would want as well, it is not what I am capable of giving.”

[The camera follows as he walks out the front of the base, heading towards the centre windmill-like structure. He stands there, watching the blades rotate around the centre. The camera fades out to on the top infra-structure; overviewing the right-side turret. It slowly pans left, to include the central structure and then panning left to include the route to the turret. All this time, the doctor's monologue continues.]

[Dr. Gregory] “So I must resign myself to this fate, this damnation. Within this island's hidden bueaty, shall remain sealed the world's greatest terror. I normally do not pray; but now I pray, to any god, any higher being that cares to listen, to not let tha terror, that scourge once again be released upon the land. And now...now, I pray to you; to whomever may be listening to this log.

[Dr. Gregory once again appears, this time walking down the central rampway towards the spinning blades. The camera cuts to in front of him, watching as he walks towards it, and then cuts to behind it once he passes. He simply stands in front of the central spinning structure, watching and waiting for something. As he speaks, the camera slowly pans around him, till it his facing him from the left side]

[Dr. Gregory] “To whomever may be listening to this log; I beg upon thee; to spare some time to listen to the legacy of not only a dead man; but of one of the greatest units ever to roam the land; of how we reached the pinnacle of achievement....and of how we fell, one by one, to the scourge that now threatens all of existance. A scourge that we set loose upon ourselves in our divine ignorance, and of how we now pay the price to contain it. I beg upon thee; to listen to the story of the damned, and to learn from our experience, and to never let such a thing occur again. Examine my prior logs  and learn how our damned legacy began, and how it now ends. My final few moments have arrived....and with death's cold embrace, I hope to high heaven, that I will be finally free of the maddening choice that this situation has thrown at me. Perhaps, in the future, a better man will come along and make that situation. In which case, I beg that he never repears the same mistakes I made, and that for the sake of all existance, this Island returns back to the pits of hell from which it had sprouted. So now with my final few breaths; I bade thee farewell, and good luck in your journey. I hope that you learn as much as you possibly can from my own doomed one; and that at the least, the legacy of Earth's greatest and last spartans will never be forgotten. End log.”

[with the last sentence, the doctor leaps forwards as the hole in the central rotating structure reaches in front of him. He falls through the hole, the camera following him, just pausing before looking down the hole outright. A second later, a scream can be heard as several grunts and biting noises resembling the sound of the flood issue forth from the hole. The scene fades out to black. A second or two later, the words  “An untold eternity later....” appear on the screen before fading out completely. Then the camera fades back, viewing the control panel. The camera pans downwards, but the bodies that lay there before are now gone. Panning back to the rampway to the panel, we look to the ground, dirt-level almost, as a shadow passes by slowly. It is vaguely covenant in shape. It approaches the panel in shadow before we finally look up and see a Covenant figure standing above it. The covenant is entirely blue in color, and stands above the panel for a few seconds, examining it. Finally, he manipulates the control, and the begginings of the final audio log start to play back as we fade to black. The final scene has the following words appearing on it just before everything ends; as spoken by the high prophet of truth from Halo 2:]

“And so begins the great journey.”

[Singh]

You know....if its just plain crazy and sucks; you could always just say so. Constructive criticism or even just criticism can sometimes be better than none.

[Ulala]

I think it's pretty well written, it kept my interest.

[Singh]

Thanks.

[Scene 2: Inside Elongation, blue base, opposite red base spawn point. The camera starts off facing the blue base side opposite the red spawn point, where we see two spartans standing. One is completely blue, with the elblem on the arm being one of a steel color square with a white cross running from corner to corner. The second spartan is of different colors; with the main body being a faint teal and the elbow and knee patches being a bright blue. He has a similar elblem on his arm, except that it is a single red bar running from left to right on the steel square. The whispers of a conversation can be heard amongst the two, but it is not discernable. The camera zooms out a bit and pans to the left, stopping at the ramp. The spartan with the cross emblem turns and walks off to another pair of spartans nearby, both also blue – however their emblems are not discernable. Dr. Gregory's voice starts to play as the audio log starts off. His voice and tone is bouyant; full of energy that was not present in the final audio log we heard earlier.]

[Dr. Gregory's Monologue]: “Well, I guess this would be the first day's log, so may as well get started. As you may or may not know, my name is Dr. Gregory, the designated field doctor for the spartans. Although it may seem hard to believe that the spartans required field doctors, one must realize that my role here, although primarily to serve the requirements of the team, is also to provide support to other terran troops that we may encounter. Too often the previous group of spartans have been forced to leave behind marines due to severe injury from fighting the Covenant, and losses have been unacceptably high....which is where command seems to think I can do something.

[The camera starts to move up the ramp slowly as the Doctor's monologue continues. A spartan comes down the ramp, his armor teal in color and the emblem with one cross from the left top side to the right bottom side as opposed to the single bar seen earlier.]

[Dr. Gregory's Monologue]: “but that was several months ago. Our training was almost complete; we were onboard the UNSC Arcas and supposed to be heading to each for additional equipping with the new Mjnolir suits....these were supposed to be brand new and still in the prototype stage, with remarkable improvements over the already-new Mark VII suits. Well, at least that was the original plan.”

[The camera reaches the top of the ramp with the large space. Nobody is standing here. It pans to the left, revealing a panoramic view of space, and that of a nearby moon.]

[Dr. Gregory's Monologue]:”But then, Reach fell, and now, everything has changed. ONI called us back towards Earth immediately....we were supposed to jump immediately out once we got to Reach, and to an unchartered destination first....but, well, that didn't go exactly to plan – we did get in, we did jump out immediately, and for the moment, we are safe in the Triax system....the bad thing is....we're stuck in the Triax system. From the moment we exited, we encountered fierce Covenant resistance – to the extent that we are now the last ship left in the fleet that jumped here. All the others were destroyed in the initial ambush. Captain Raynolds has ordered us to go into silent running in an attempt to evade detection and it seemed to have worked so far..The Covenant haven't spotted us....yet, but I fear that this may change sooner or later. God know what they are doing though – the planet only has one usable system, Triax I; a planet of varying extremes. It has a small human presence, but for some strange reason, the Covenant have not destroyed it outright, like they have to every other human presence so far.]

[The Camera starts to move past the open space and down the hall, where we see two Spartans talking. One can be recognized as Dr. Gregory, while the other is an unknown spartan who's armor is a steel grey color. The elblem on his arm is similar to the cross seen earlier – except this one has a line running vertically in the centre as well, indicating seniority.]

[Dr. Gregory's Monologue]: “But as I was going to find out, peace never lasts for long. At the time, Senior Chief Sunder was briefing me on the modified armor the Arcas' engineers have made for me.”

[The camera focuses in to the Chief, freezing everything right there.]

[Dr. Gregory]: “Senior Chief Sunder is the Spartan's overall leader. Whenever ONI or the UNSC have to give an assignment to them, they go through him. He is pretty much in command here; not that I am complaining. During our training and such, the chief earned his place at the top, and he uses his powers wisely and diligently. I haven't spoken to him much, but the chief mostly stays quite and reserved when there isn't much going on. But when the activity starts to flare up, I don't know which fires faster – the submachine guns he carries, or the orders that he can boom out across even the loudest battlefield. He's also a crackpot sniper; second only to Chris when it comes to accuracy. Sunder's led us through some tough times, and from the looks of it, he's not going to have any trouble taking us through whatever is going to happen next.”

[The monologue fades away as the camera zooms in to the conversation]

[Senior Chief Sunder]: Allright then, you understand everything I've told you, Doc?

[Dr. Gregory]: (looking around a bit and waving the Covenant plasma pistol he is holding]:Yes, I have...however, I have just one more question.

[Senior Chief Sunder]: Shoot then.

[Dr. Gregory] (looking down a bit and waving the pistol as well): Why a plasma pistol, of all things? Why not something actually effective; like a plasma rifle or a covenant carbine? I feel utterly useless with this!

[Senior Chief Sunder] (after sighing a bit): That's cause it's the only working Covenant weapon we have onboard. We're lucky this was an ONI ship, or it wouldn't have one at all. Anyways, I'd think it's worth it. Your suit now holds enough medical scanning and emergency equipment to allow you to do field surgeries and the like without having to come back to a proper medlab. But, as you know, the suit's power packs had to be removed to accommodate the equipment – we were lucky the engineers aboard managed to figure out how to use the Covenant plasma cells.

[Sunder pauses for a second, before continuing]

[Senior Chief Sunder]: Although it doesn't seem like much, you better keep a death grip on that pistol, otherwise all your suit's life support equipment, shields and just about everything will run out after just 2 to 3 minutes. As long as that pistol is plugged in through your arm's power cords, you should be allright.

[Dr. Gregory sighs a bit, but Sunder cuts him off again.]

[Senior Chief Sunder]: “look, I know it's not much, but realize this: once we get a plasma rifle or a larger weapon, you should be able to use it effectively. Although you will have to be carefull – excessive use -”

[Dr. Gregory cuts him off, his tone somewhat annoyed]

[Dr. Gregory]: “-will drain the total power avialable; yes sir, I am aware of that.”

[Senior Chief Sunder]: “Well then, other than that there isn't much. If there are no other questions, I have to get going to see the captain – he says he wants to see me ASAP.”

[Dr. Gregory]: “Yes sir.”

[Sunder turns and slowly walks down the ramp. The camera focuses on him till he disappears out of sight. It then cuts to face the doctor. For a second, everything is silent. Then we hear a low 'pssst' coming from somewhere to the doctor's right and behind. The camera turns right and focuses on another spartan wielding a sniper rifle, that walks up behind the doctor. The spartan is also teal in color, the emblem on his arms being that of two red bars running on a steel grey background.]

[Unknown Spartan]: “So Doc, how'd the operation go? You must be pretty annoyed that you didn't get to be the one with the sharp and pointy instrument this time.”

[The camera cuts back to Dr. Gregory]

[Dr. Gregory] (sighing, his tone conveying a general sense of annoyance): “That's not exactly very funny, Chris.”

[The camera cuts to Chris, and freezes for a second, and Dr. Gregory's monologue starts off again.]

[Dr. Gregory]: “And that would be Chris, our crackpot sniper. If there is one thing he loves doing, it's bragging about how good a sniper he is. There is litlte we can do to get back at him though – he IS a crackpot sniper. If you tossed a coin a hundred yards away and asked him to shoot it and hit the heads side, not only would he say ok, but also ask you which side you want hit. That, and he'd be able to pull it off as well. It's like he and that sniper rifle are inseperable – hell, he even sleeps with it, regardless if it's peace time or not. Almost always  But when it comes to any assault role though, he fumbles like ****. Although he's a master with the sniper rifle, he couldn't hit the broad side of a Covenant tank even with a damn shotgun! Give him a pistol, and there's a bigger chance of him hitting a team mate in the foot than him hitting anything else. I can't count the number of times I've had to extract a bullet from someone else when the combat came up close and he panicked with the pistol. Its bad enough that before we go into battle, we make sure to fill his pistol with blanks or at least empty the first clip, not to mention earned him the nickname of 'TK' on the battlefield as well.”

[The Camera unfreezes and cuts back to Dr. Gregory]

[Dr. Gregory]: “Uncomfortable engineering procedures aside, what are you doing here Chris? Don't tell me you shot someone with that pistol again!”

[Camera cuts back to Chris, who simply laughs nervousely and then pauses.]

[Chris]: “Ummmm.......Nope....at least, I hope not.”

[Camera cuts back to Dr. Gregory, who sighs and looks down before cutting back to Chris.]

[Chris]: “Relax Doc – I think my pistol was filled with defective ammo or something – at least I didn't notice any holes in the walls. Anyway, that's not the reason I was here. I was hoping to ask – have you heard anything recently?”

[Camera cuts to view both men from Dr. Gregory's right side.]

[Dr. Gregory]: “Hear anything about what?”

[Chris]: “Oh...you know....any rumours or news about our current situation...basically anything.”

[Dr. Gregory]: “.......Something's going, isn't it?”

[Chris.]: “Maybe. I've just heard from a reliable source that the Captain picked up a signal coming from the planet below – a human signal. From the looks of it, there are survivors down there.....”

[Dr. Gregory]: “What the....? Survivors? So thats why the Captain called the Chief up.”

[Chris]: “He just called him up? Now that's kind of late.”

[Dr. Gregory]: “Maybe, but maybe not – I bet the chief already knows about this, but just needs to confirm it. If it is true, that means we'll be headed down in a rescue mission, assuming we can launch the Pelicans without being detect-”

[The scene turns red as sirens begin to blare, cutting off the doctor mid-sentence. The camera cuts to face chris, before cutting to the doctor. ]

[Siren]: “Attension all hands! The Covenant have detected us! Now making a crash landing on the planet – everyone, hang on, this is going to be a rough landing.”

[The camera cuts to near the centre belts where several Spartans are seen running around and crouching nearby, bracing themselves. Before cutting back to Chris and the Doctor as they speak in Unision.]

[Dr. Gregory, Chris]: “hoooooly ****!”

[The Camera fades out as the Sirens blare out louder. A whining sound can be heard, before a few seconds later, a large explosion issues out from somewhere.]

[achtung]

I was considering getting into machinaima if I can get the staff for it.  I mean I need some sort of artisitc outlet for myself I guess.

Story sounds interesting though:drevil:

[Singh]

Originally posted by Swantz
I was considering getting into machinaima if I can get the staff for it.  I mean I need some sort of artisitc outlet for myself I guess.

Story sounds interesting though:drevil:

The issue is almost never one of getting into it - but of continuing one. Starting anything is easy, finishing it is the tough part

Thanks anyway

[Singh]

Next bit; apologies for the long delay.

[The Camera fades out as the Sirens blare out louder. A whining sound can be heard, before a few seconds later, a large explosion issues out from somewhere.]

[Scene 3: Camera fades into Gemini, facing the giant prophets statue. There is a grey and white elite standing to either side of the short ramp in front of the statue. On their arms is a strange symbol. It is of two half-spheres to the left and right, with the curves facing each other. The hemispheres are are not complete, for a quarter arch splits the top and bottom of both hemishpheres, while a small white circle breaks the pinnacle of it's central curve. Both elites are wielding plasma swords and stand at the ready. They stand still on guard for a few seconds, before the one to the right slowly turns in the Camera's direction and slowly walks towards it. Around 3 or so seconds later, or when the Elite comes too close, the Camera cuts to view the guard from the right. Two more elites come into view from the left . Both are gold in color, but the one in the lead has black markings to go along with it. Both are carrying plasma rifles. There is no rank or symbol on the elite's arms at all. The guard speaks]

Elite guard #1: Identify yourselves and state your purpose here.

[The camera cuts to behind the guard, showing all three elites together. The elite with the black markings replies.]

Commander Jonis: I am commander Jonis, and this is my aide, Kreag. We were ordered to come and see Council member Treas – is he here?

[the camera cuts back to the guard elite, who turns to his right, towards the door on the side.]

Elite guard #1: Council member Treas is outside in the balcony. You may proceed.

[With that, the elite turns around and takes his guard position back. The camera slowly follows him as he does so, before cutting to Jonis and Kreag. It follows both as they head to the door on their left. The scene then fades to one of the outside balcony. 6 elites are gathered near the teleporter. They are all white in color, with the secondary being red. On their arms is the symbol of the septagon in either red, blue, black or gold. Murmers can be heard, with the group focused around a single elite. Each holds a plasma pistol in hand.This elite's septagon symbol is gold in color, and he is the only one with it. Jonis and Kreag appear in the camera angle as they walk towards the group. The camera cuts to the right of centre elite, with Jonis and Kreag approaching him in the background. He turns to them, showing his back to us. He turns back to the other council members and speaks.]

Treas: We shall continue this later, I have a task to finish first.

[Treas turns away and walks towards the Commander and his Aide. The Camera cuts to the right side of the commander, angled such that it sees Treas approach the duo. When Treas finally stops, the camera cuts to the Commander.]

Jonis: You summoned us, Council Member?

[The camera cuts to Treas as he replies]
Treas: Indeed Commander. We do have much to talk about. The Council has an assignment for you, one of great importance.

[The camera cuts back to Jonis]

Jonis: Understood. My troops are ready to move out at your command.

[camera back to Treas]

Treas: They do not need to, Commander. This assignment is for you, and you alone.

[Camera cuts to Jonis]

Jonis: I do not understand.

[Camera cuts to view both of them, together.]

Treas: I assume you have heard of high Commander Heran?

Jonis: I doubt there is anyone here who has not heard of him. He is the oldest surviving commander in the service of the prophets. Few are near his age, or have the same experience and wisdom as him. Except the council, of course.

Treas: Of course, of course. The problem is, we have received a meesage from Commander Heran. He has invaded and succesfully taken over a system belonging to the Terrans. They call it Triax – it is a border world with only a small human habitation. It is little significance to the Covenant...at least, until recently.

Jonis: Until recently? Why? Has something been discovered?

Treas: That would be an understatement, Commander. Once the Covenant invasion was underway, orbital bombardment revealed not one, but several forerunner artifacts.

Jonis: Forerunner Artifacts? On a human planet? How?

Treas: That is the question, my friend. This is not the first time the humans have stumbled upon holy relics. However, Commander Jonis is not to blame – from what he told me, the relics were all well hidden, with most of them under some sort of cloaking system. During orbital bombardment this system was damaged, revealing many of the artifacts. The invasion has been halted for now, however human resistance is still rife on the planet. Our ground forces are handling it quite well, so this is not the issue.

Treas (after pausing a bit): The issue here, and why we are sending you in, is a message. He has sent me a message that no other covenant warrior would dare to send. Had it been anyone else, I would have deemed it of weakness and Heresy. But the Senior Commander is wise, and he knows his limits.

Jonis: What was in the message? Is the commander allright?
Treas: I am afraid not...the Commander...

[the Camera cuts to Treas as he pauses. He turns, looking at the background of high charity. The camera then cuts back to his right.]

Treas: Jonis...the senior commander is dying. In the message, he told me that he was personally no longer capable of combat, and that he did not have much longer left. Although he does not wish to return from the battlefield, he is asking for a replacement. That is where you come in.

[Treas looks back at Commander Jonis.]

Treas: You have served the Covenant well so far, and you have not failed us even a single time. The council and I agree, you will serve to be  a suitable replacement for Heran. You will proceed to the Triax system and take over Heran immediately. Once he has givne you control of his forces, you are to make sure he returns here as soon as possible. You are also to help to investigate the relics on the planet itself – from what we have seen till now, the relics appear to have a major significance to the forerunners. Although they are not like Halo or related to the Holy rings, the prophets believe that it may be one of the keys to the great journey. Also, It is absolutely vital that Heran returns alive – failiure to do so will not be tolerated, unless he dies on your way there, is that understood?

[The camera cuts to Jonis]

Jonis: Understood. We will depart for Triax immediately.

[both elites crouch before Treas for a second or two]

Treas: Excellent. Should Heran give you any trouble about his return, then you are to refer him to us. That is all, you are dismissed.

[Both elites rise and turn, leaving for the nearby door. The camera fades out to the next scene]