#UNSC Pillar of Autumn

[alphamecha-mkii]

Escape from Reach by Leonid Kozienko

[thecountofs]

Halo: Heroes of 1000 Fronts (3 pages)

[ageless-aislynn]

Halo: Reach, "Winter Contingency"

I don't know why, but usually at this part while you're waiting for the door to open, I'll go up to somebody and have Six (in red armor) stare at them until they say something. In this case, you hear Jorge ask if I need a little help with something. 🤗

For some reason, Emile doesn't often say anything here (I'm 99% sure he used to have a line but I can't remember for certain 🤷‍♀️) so I wanted to see if he'd say something after being stared at. At first, he just scoffs at me. And then:

"I think Jorge had to die the way he did. Nothing else could've killed him."

👀Um, this is the first mission in the game. Jorge is clearly right there. This line sounds like it belongs in "The Package" or "Pillar of Autumn" both at the very end of the game where it's (SPOILER) down to just Six and Emile.

I've spent some time doing a glitch where you "save" Emile at the end of "Pillar of Autumn" by forcing him out of the gun, (seen at the top in the first pic) down onto the ground then pushing him (which sometimes requires smacking him, oops, lol) alllllllll of the way to the platform where Captain Keyes comes to get Cortana.

He doesn't have any of his usual fighting AI but he'll still do a lot of his extra lines while Six is womanhandling him across the platform and I've never heard that line about Jorge before. He usually is carping about the, you know, fact I'm smacking him. Sorry, baby boy. It's all to save your life.🤷‍♀️😉

Anyway, just a sort of interesting thing that happened while I was playing tonight. 😎 (Sorry for the lack of brightness. This was, yet again, raw footage recorded from the theater.)

Oh and in case you're wondering, even though you can get Emile in the cutscene with Six, his death scene up in the gun still plays out and when you come out of the cutscene, he's despawned from the platform. 😢Oh well, we still saved him, darn it! I'm sure he, um, stepped out to get a glass of milk before he and Six escaped from Reach in a convenient spare ship that was, uhhhhh, sitting there in an abandoned UNSC Space Rent-a-car-spaceship, all prepped and ready to launch! Yeah, that's it! Then they went and met up with the rest of Noble Team who had gone ahead to get good seats at their favorite diner and they're all going to have a delicious meal together, complete with ice cream for dessert! 🍔🍟🍨

Look, there goes Emile right now! Save me a seat, buddy! 🤗😇😜

Heh. Just leave me with my delusions, I'm happier here.

~💖💖💖~

[bloodgulchblog]

Focusing and paying attention is a sucker's game and I'm stuck on the tutorial.

Notes from Empty Throne chapters 1 & 2:

List of returning characters so far:

Chief and Cortana (Halo CE flashback of Chief's helmet footage from the Pillar of Autumn evac, this doesn't really count but even 343 now understands that you lead with Chief if you want Halo fans to sniff what you're doing)

Codename SURGEON (longstanding ONI operative we've known vaguely of since Bungie days, now has the name Octavio Morales. Connected to the original ORION project. BRO HOW OLD ARE YOU?)

Annabelle Richards (Head of ONI spec ops. I mostly remember her from Hunters in the Dark but she's also in Renegades. My memory of the Ace of Spades books has faded really hard, I think it's because I didn't take notes/didn't summarize.)

Codename COALMINER mention. (Idk where in the book it is revealed who uses this other old codename, but I won't say here. I know though because I flipped through later chapters.)

James-005 (It is kind of cheating to call this a mention this early because the book doesn't use his name exactly. But I know this spoiler.)

Hood, Osman, Black Box, and Spartan Orzel (Rossbach's World Gaaaaang. I bet Orzel gets mentioned like twice and disappears though. Cash on the barrel.)

Gray Team, all 3 members. (Patenaude insists on referring to Mike-120 as Michael-120 though so this is not inspiring confidence.)

The only characters I don't recognize from elsewhere are Abigail Cole, daughter of Admiral Preston Cole, and the AI Morales talks to (his name is JJ).

WHAT DO WE KNOW SO FAR?

Chapter 1: Late 2559. Morales reviews some old Installation 04 helmet camera footage from Chief. He's in the ONI site near the big Forerunner portal on Earth, which Cortana has set a bunch of ships to guard to make sure nobody can use it. He has a vague conversation with Richards about how Captain Cole is being sent on a Very Important Mission to recover some kind of "asset" (in vague terms of course because otherwise it's not mysterious enough) that will be Very Important for ONI getting access to/wiping out any human AIs still running loose in the Domain after Cortana is (supposed to be) taken out by the team at Zeta Halo. Tl;dr there is concern that Cole is a bit too cavalier because she's insisting on going in person and not staying on her ship.

Also, since Cortana's Created stuff began, the UNSC has installed RUINA in any still-loyal AI, so jot that down.

Chapter 2: Meanwhile on Rossbach's World, Osman has been debating with herself over what to do with Black Box and her suitcase full of locked down AIs for a whole year. Hood is coming out of his cage and doing just fine (exercising and practicing boxing with an improvised sandbag) since his period of heavy drinking. Empty Throne remembers he got wounded during the Escalation comics and mentions that still hurts sometimes, which is more than I'd thought about that part of Escalation in a long time.

A Guardian shows up.

Gray Team shows up in a Razorback to grab the Rossbach's World gang for obvious reasons.

......And I need to at least pretend to get a little more sleep tonight.

It should be said that there is a ton of these chapters taken up by the need to summarize current events in Halo as of this point in the timeline, because it has been so long irl since a lot of these details were established. Which is fair, there is a legitimate need. But also that means I have barely scratched the surface on this so far and it distracts me from retaining very basic details about what's happening sometimes.

(Other posts I make may not have this much detail, no promises. It depends on how much I manage to read while away from home really.)

[threshergm]

Eulogy

A little scene from my upcoming John and Talia slow-burn titled Missing Pieces. Wanted to see what the tumblr community thought of it first before I really committed to a serious writing schedule and started hammering out word count. @lpmurphy @authortobenamedlater @mrtobenamedlater @fabulaprima @silverpelt3600

@t65flyer @ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask @sarnakhwritesthings @makowrites @morganas-pendragons

@ageless-aislynn @pelgraine @inafieldofdaisies @helix-studios117 @littleneonlily

2327 hours, April 5th, 2552 (military calendar) UNSC Halcyon-class light cruiser Pillar of Autumn Slipspace transit on randomized vector per Cole Protocol Leaving the Branta system, bound for Reach

"Have you seen Corporal Perez?"

Even in just his techsuit, the Master Chief seemed to fill the corridor. Which is probably why the crewman apprentice he was addressing was trying to disappear into the bulkhead. Even with Cortana gone for six months now, he could practically hear her hum, "Social graces, Chief," and took a step back.

The E2 - name tape obscured by the apron he still wore upon emerging from the galleys - gaped and pointed down the corridor, muttering, "On the right," indicating a sliding steel door opposite the entrance to the forward enlisted mess.

Chief nodded once, gruffed a perfunctory, "Thank you," and stalked down the corridor. The Pillar of Autumn, functioning on military standard timekeeping now that they were underway, was in night mode. The chrono above the enlisted mess hatchway glowed a red 2327 hours, and the main lights overhead were off, leaving the only light in the corridor as one lonely lamp over the door labeled FREEZER A-19.

Chief snaked his hand into the recessed handle and yanked the door aside on its track, and stepped inside. He found a single light on inside as well; illuminating shelves and racks of frozen foods, three black body bags on the floor, and next to them, wrapped in a gray Navy-issue blanket, dark hair cascading off her shoulders, sat Corporal Perez.

Master Chief took two firm steps forward, stopping a stride from where the young Marine sat, legs tucked under herself. He stopped and settled into parade rest.

"Corporal Perez, why are you not at your post? Our shift began over a half-hour ago."

She didn't budge, save for breaths that came shallow and a little jaggedly, as if she'd been crying.

"Corporal Perez?"

Silence hung in the artificially frigid air, and Chief began to wonder if he should walk to the wall intercom and summon a medical corpsman. He glanced around, as if missing something, then returned his gaze to the small woman on the floor before him.

"Rand had a thing for me," she croaked out suddenly. So she had been crying. She didn't turn, didn’t move, except to reach a hand out from her woolen cocoon to stroke the bodybag nearest her.

"He always used to sit next to me in the chow hall on drill weekends, but he never knew what to talk about. 'Are you enjoying your chicken, Corporal?'" She laughed weakly, "'Rand, it's just fucking chicken. The same chicken we had last month and every month before that.'"

Her accent thickened alongside the sorrow in her voice. "We picked him up on Midvale back in '49, after the Red United Front bombed that dam. Pulled him off the roof of his family's ranch house with his two sisters. His sisters settled on Culloden, but he stayed. He was one of our full-timers; the Colonel found a job for him as the armorer's assistant. He lived on-base and sent all his pay to his sisters so they could buy land and start again."

She took in a shuddering breath, shoulders trembling underneath her blanket. "He said he saw something in the fog. Country boy, you know? Grew up hunting and I… I should have believed him."

She seemed to shrink in on herself for a moment, hunching against some wordless pain, until a low keening wail escaped, “He was only 19!” She shook her head, and Chief saw hot tears fly, while she bit her lip and fought to get her emotions under control. After a moment, with a grunt of pain, her hand shifted from one body bag to the next.

"Zara Bennett. She was our linguist. I loved her accent. She was from London, and she was the first person from Earth that I'd ever met. Her dad manages a titanium mine out in Tengeri back home on Reach. They're loaded, but you'd never guess it from Zara, we used to go thrift-shopping together. Her parents have a penthouse in downtown New Alexandria, and she could have gone to university back on Earth, easily. But she enlisted. Said she wanted to protect her new home." 

She patted the body bag fondly, black plastic crinkling in the silence, and her hand extended a little further.

"Milo Alvarez. He used to bag groceries down the street from my grandparent's place. He was an atheist, and we always used to argue and… oh, God!" Her voice broke. "I don't know where he is right now…" 

She bowed her head, leaning into the body bag, as if shielding it like Chief had shielded her from the glassing beam on that mountainside, sobs hitching her shoulders, "H-he didn't know you, Father, but take him home… take him home."

She lapsed into Spanish, a language Chief didn't know, and he fervently wished Cortana was there to translate. His brow furrowed; the lack of knowledge a gap in his preparation, the gap in his understanding suddenly a splinter in his mind. Without thinking, he took a step forward, closing the distance between the miserable scene before him, and kneeled beside Perez.

“You speak well for them.” He spoke in low tones; he wasn’t sure why. It simply felt right to do so. Perez stopped, turned upwards to face him, dark eyes reddened and slender face puffy in the dim light of the freezer. “God, I h-hope so. They’re m-my friends.” Tears still flowed freely down her cheeks, and her voice was hoarse. Umber eyes - the color of rich soil Chief had seen on a dozen worlds - held his gaze steadily in the dark, despite the pain swimming in them. “What were you saying, just now? In Spanish?” Chief cocked his head in question. Perez smiled weakly, eyes unfocused for a moment. “Yes, Spanish. I’m from Santiago Circle. I grew up speaking it at home,” she took another breath, steadier this time, “I-I’m Catholic. It was our Prayer for the Dead.” Her eyes met his own in the dark, and she held his gaze for a long moment. Chief wasn’t sure why, but he needed more. The name of a prayer wasn’t enough. He needed to understand this young woman sitting in a pool of her grief beside three corpses. “Tell me what you said,” he rumbled gently. It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t an order. He just needed to know. Perez kept his gaze for another long moment, then began to slowly recite, in English. In your hands, O Lord,

We humbly entrust our brothers and sisters.

In this life you embraced them with your tender love;

Deliver them now from every evil

And bid them eternal rest.

The old order has passed away:

Welcome them into paradise,

Where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain,

But fullness of peace and joy

With your Son and the Holy Spirit

Forever and ever.Amen.

The freezer-turned-mortuary fell silent as her recitation ended, and her eyes remained locked with his. “Thank you, Corporal.” The Master Chief rose suddenly, took three steps back, and turned to face her, once more at parade rest, his expression unreadable.

“Corporal Perez, I am not rated in cryotube maintenance or repair. You are. There are 1,042 cryotubes in our area of responsibility and all need to be monitored and, if necessary, serviced without compromising function or the occupant inside. I need you to --”

“I can’t leave them,” Perez croaked, voice thickening once more. Her eyes were pleading, her head shaking slowly. Chief’s augmented heart ached to see it, but he couldn’t say why.

“Corporal Perez,” Chief started slowly, not sure how to proceed. “You’re no good to anyone watching over three bodies. What made them your friends is gone. There are 1,042 men, women, and children packed into an identical number of cryotubes, all constructed by the lowest bidder, housed in compartments that were never designed to support them. They need us. They need you.”

The Chief stepped back into the hatchway, turning to look at Perez out of one eye, half his face painted into shadow by the dark of the corridor outside.

“The living need you, Corporal.”

[ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask]

I don't want to give you false hope.

– John to Linda.

From the ask game.

From these writing prompts!

---

0220 hours, August 5, 2552 (Military Calendar) /

FLEETCOM Military Complex, Reach

Things were tense in the Spartan barracks. They always were before something big happened. And whatever was about to happen... it was big.

Linda-058 sighed as she stared down at her olive green helmet. They'd all been recalled to Reach, arriving in singles or pairs over the course of the past several weeks. It was good to see so many of her fellow Spartans, but... something different was coming this time. There was an extra level of anxiety in the air.

When John finally showed up - nine days after Linda's arrival - she had barely managed to contain her excitement at seeing him again. She somehow managed to let him spend the customary time with the others to avoid being suspicious before pulling him away for some sparring. They then spent hours in the ring, just enjoying their time together after so many months apart.

When they finished their duel and made their way to the armory to suit back up, they found themselves alone. Finally, Linda managed to bring up what had been on her mind this whole time.

"I need you to make me a promise," she said, her voice whisper-quiet. She knew that he would be able to hear her.

John's head cocked slightly to one side. He turned his curious blue eyes on her and waited for her to continue.

Linda chewed on the words for a few moments before she got up the courage to finally speak her mind. "Whatever we're about to do... promise not to die. I need you to come back to me."

The breath left John's lungs in a tired gust. He stared at his boots for several long seconds. Finally he looked up, and his eyes were filled with something foreign. Something... forlorn.

"I... I can't," he intoned slowly. "I don't want to get your hopes up."

Linda rolled her eyes hard enough she thought they might strain. "You're ridiculous." She leaned closer to him, bringing their faces close together. "I'm not letting you squirrel out of this one. Promise me."

John's mouth opened. She could see the bad excuse written on his face.

"Promise," she insisted once more, firmly.

The legendary Master Chief's face dropped. Finally, for perhaps the first time in his life, he truly accepted defeat.

"I promise," he said. He felt the weight leave his chest when Linda smiled triumphantly. She pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, and he leaned into her feather-light touch. Then they moved on. They prepared for the upcoming mission, John's promise always weighing in the back of his mind.

Several weeks later, as he dragged Linda's body back aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, John desperately wished that he had thought to force Linda to make the same promise.

[helix-enterprises117]

Halo Reloaded: Birthday... Again

In the maze-like corridors of the UNSC Pillar Of Autumn 2.0, where echoes of past battles hung like ghosts, Linda-058 navigated with her recently upgraded agility. The Spartan-II, now infused with mysterious Forerunner enhancements, found her senses sharpened to an almost unsettling degree. It was during one of her usual prowls, a blend of patrol and personal meditation, that she stumbled upon a detail so minor in the grand scheme of things, yet so intimately significant: John's birthday, March 7th, marked on a calendar he thought no one else knew about—or so she presumed.

John didn't do birthdays. Or at least, he pretended they were just another rotation of some distant star, irrelevant in the face of their never-ending war. But Linda, now with eyes that saw beyond the usual spectrum, noticed the date glowing softly on his digital calendar, a solitary reminder of his humanity.

Their encounter in the hallway was serendipitous, if you believed in that sort of thing. John, ever the stoic sentinel, barely registered surprise when Linda intercepted him. "John," she purred, her voice carrying an unintended edge of her recent 'upgrades', making the moment awkwardly intimate.

"Morning, Linda," he replied, his voice the auditory equivalent of a shrugged shoulder. Yet, beneath the stoicism, there was a flicker, a brief dart of his eyes that acknowledged the peculiarity of her greeting.Linda, aware of her oddities yet undeterred, dove right in. "So, it's your birthday. Planning to celebrate by wrestling a Hunter to the ground with your bare hands?" The tease was light, but the undercurrent of sincerity was palpable.

John's eyebrow twitched, the only sign of his surprise. "Hadn't planned on it. Today's not much different from any other."

"Oh, but it is," Linda countered, producing a small box from behind her back with a flourish that was almost theatrical. The box itself was a marvel, etched with patterns that whispered of ancient secrets and distant stars, a nod to the legacy they were both part of now.

John regarded the box with the same intensity he might a new, unclassified threat. "Linda, what's this?"

"A token," she said, pushing the box into his hands. "Open it."Inside, the combat knife lay in state, its blade catching the light in a way that made it seem alive. Its hilt bore the same pattern as Linda's skin, a permanent reminder of her transformation and their intertwined fates.

John examined the knife, his fingers tracing the engravings. "This... is unexpected.""Think of it as a piece of me," Linda replied, her voice dropping to a softer octave. "With you, always. Especially when I can't be."The air between them thickened, charged with an unspoken understanding. John looked up from the knife, his gaze meeting hers. "Linda, I—"

"Don't," she interrupted, her smile wry. "Spare me the sentimentality. Just promise me you'll use it to carve up something nasty."John's laugh, a rare sound, echoed in the hallway. "That, I can do."

As they parted ways, Linda felt a curious lightness, a contrast to the usual weight of her existence. It was silly, perhaps, this exchange of gifts and words, but it was theirs—a brief respite in a life conscripted to war.

"Happy birthday, John," she called after him, a blend of jest and earnestness in her voice.John paused, turning back to offer her a nod. "Thanks, Linda. For the knife, and... for remembering."

[halopedia]

#StarshipSaturday — Autumn-class

Entering service in 2554, the Autumn-class heavy cruiser was first built on the recycled hulls of Halcyon-class light cruisers, incorporating many of the upgrades made to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn for Operation: RED FLAG.

The Autumn-class is both heavily armed and armored, making use of unique shield-reinforced titanium armor. Its well-roundedness serves the class well in attack and command roles, though Autumn-class cruisers have also been seen to take on escort duties.

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

trips and emojis fall out of my coat (halo asks)

👽 🛳 💉 and ⭐️

👽 - favourite covenant species?

Sangheili first followed by Kig-Yar as they have some of the most developed lore that's interesting even if it's contradictory. Fun designs and coolest characters. We love Arby

🚢 - favourite UNSC ship?

Exterior and lorewise The Infinity, Gamewise, The Pillar of Autumn and all her chunky early scifi polygons.

💉 - flood, covenant, prometheans, or the banished?

Flood as the Big Bad for stories, but Covenant for gameplay. I don't particularly enjoy how The Banished are handled and the Prometheans while cool in theory don't have fun gameplay.

⭐ - share your favourite piece of halo lore

I think I will plug my edit of Ghosts of Onyx and Deep Winter since it lays it out better but Deep Winter reassigning some of the children, I mean Spartan IIIs from the meatgrinder that was Operation Prometheus. Jun would not be alive if not for that.

I make no apologies for this deception, and I tell you this so that there is no doubt in your mind that—like yourself, like Mendez—we were each as fathers to these children. I may only be mind, but I am not without heart. Farewell, Zero-Five-One.

The AI are the most interesting and most morally good characters in this franchise despite always having their backs to the wall and no time at all.

[halos-top-alien-model]

Sangheili Bracket Round 1 Match 9

More info below:

Unnamed Field Marshal:

Debuted in Halo: Reach

A Field Marshal present at the Fall of Reach, he would have a few different encounters with Noble Team during the campaign. The first would be at Visegrad Relay, where the Field Marshal and two of his Zealots would ambush Noble Team as they attempted to get the communications relay back online. Much later in the campaign, at the tailend of the Seige of New Alexandria, the Field Marshal would snipe Catherine-B320 through the head from a nearby Phantom as Noble Team attempted to reach a fallout bunker. Finally, just as the Pillar of Autumn was prepped to leave Reach with Noble Team offering anti-air support, he would kill Emile-A239. His attempts to prevent Noble Six from reaching the mass driver would ultimately result in his demise.

Additional commentary: There's another Field Marshal that helps kill Noble Six in the final cutscene, but I'm pretty sure that's a different one, unless killing the Field Marshal in game isn't canon and he's able to escape.

Avu Med 'Telcam / The Bishop:

Debuted in Halo: Glasslands

Born May 29th, 2485, he served as an interpreter of several human lanugages and reached the rank of Field Master before his resignation from the Covenant military. Even after the Covenant's end, he still held faith towards the Forerunners being gods and considered Arbiter Thel 'Vadam an "indfidel" for saying otherwise. Now leading the Servants of the Abiding Truth - an ancient order of monks that predate the Covenant - 'Telcam sought to incite insurrection against the Arbiter, going so far as to ally with ONI. His terms were that humanity cease to "blaspheme" the divinity of the Foreruners and stop involving themselves in Sangheili affairs once the Servants took over, although even after ONI agreed he still questioned what their true plan was. Still, he began meeting with them on New Llanelli for weapon shipments. Later, Jul and Forze 'Mdama would seek his audience, leading him to launch a plan with them and Buran 'Utaral to retrieve 'Utaral's ship from the shipyard and hide it close to Mdama state. Meanwhile, unbenknowst to him, Kilo-Five - the same ONI team he was conducting meetings with - sabotaged a plan he had with the ship Piety and stole a Huragok from him. They were able to convince him it was Kig-Yar pirates responsible and an angered 'Telcam wrongfully set his vengeful sights on Venezia as a result. Then, at another meeting on New Llanelli, Jul 'Mdama would be captured by Spartan Naomi-010 - having followed 'Telcam there under suspicions of who he was getting weapons from. After this, 'Telcam would meet with Professor Evan Philips - one of his ONI contacts - on Sanghelios, being unaware that one of Philips' secret objectives on the planet was to gather intelligencer on his temple.

Suddenly, Jiralhanae terrorists would launch an attack, causing 'Telcam to aid in killing them. This sudden attack made 'Telcam decide to begin his own attack on Vadam state earlier than originally planned. He led the assult from Unflinching Resolve, where Jul 'Mdama's wife - Raia - joined him, searching for her lost husband. His religious fervor soon became a hindrance to his own plans, as he sought to avoid damaging any Forerunner relics in the area. As the assault continued, Unflinching Resolve became damaged and 'Telcam ignored warnings that it needed to retreat, causing it to be shot down. Crash-landing on the Vadam shoreline, 'Telcam would led the survivors to join the rest of the attacking force on the coast to avoid capture. It was then that 'Telcam gained more allies, as the news that the Arbiter was allowing humans to help fight off 'Telcam made some keeps previously indecisive in the civil war choose to side with 'Telcam. However, this was still not enough, as the UNSC Infinity arrived and began destroying several ships. Still holding value to ONI, he was abducted by Kilo-Five to ensure his survival, being taken away by them in Port Stanley. At the same time, the AI onboard took the cover of a Kig-Yar shipmistress, so that no one involved would realize it was ONI aiding in destroying some of the Arbiter's ships. This even fooled 'Telcam, who asked of Sav Fel, an actual pirate that actually stole from him a different ship, the Pious Inquisitor. Finally, when most of 'Telcam's forces were defeated, Port Stanley would retreat and drop 'Telcam off at New Llanelli.

Now lacking in ships following the failed attack, 'Telcam would put out a reward for Pious Inquisitor's return. Shipmistress Chol Von would seemingly take up the offer, only to plan to double-cross him and take the ship for herself. However, ultimately a scuffle between herself, Kilo-Five, and human Insurrectionists would cause the ship to be destroyed. Meanwhile, 'Telcam established a new base on New Llanelli. Some time later, he met once again with Kilo-Five, exchanging information with them. Feeling responsible for the death of Raia and Jul's disappearance, 'Telcam would take on their eldest son Dural 'Mdama as an apprentice, who would go on to become a leading member of the Servants and work directly under 'Telcam. 

When Jul reappeared to establish a new Covenant, the Servants would refuse to join up, continuing their own operations. By Janurary 21, 2558, ONI would decide 'Telcam was no longer useful to them alive. They would send SPARTAN-G059 to assassinate him on New Llanelli. After going through his forces, the Spartan would fight 'Telcam on directly. The end of the struggle would come from a single pistol shot to the head. 'Telcams final word was the iconic: "Wort."

[freeusemuses]

What did they do durring the fall of reach and how exactly did they survive it seem like very good questions.

So try not to crucify me here. I'm making the story a 'what if'. Meaning, Noble 6 is getting off Reach ... buuut a few things have to change, in order for that to happen.

The Zelot Elite's that ambush Noble Team at the relay have to all die.

The UNSC Grafton cannot be the ship that gets destroyed by The Long Night of Solace. Because Noble 5 and 6, can use one of the Grafton's nukes to attempt to destroy the Solace ... only to fail, because the remote detonator can't penetrate the ship's shields.

With those things out of the way, not just Noble 6, but all of Noble Team get off Reach on the Pillar of Autumn.

Except for Jun, who escorts Dr. Halsey to UNSC CASTLE Base. But he'll get off Reach during Operation First Strike.

[oscartwofoxtrot]

Seasons greasons for real this time, it's your Secret Santa setting neighbourhood watch on edge by skulking around the area! As your gift's basically done and Halopedia's sick of my IP address, is there anything about Valiant you'd like to share? (Your process, details we readers might've overlooked, lore, favourite bits, etc. Really, anything that strikes you.)

Ho ho holy shit it’s nearly Christmas…very excited for our little HBO War gift exchange - truly the most wonderful time of the year.

And it’s very sweet of you to ask Secret Santa! I’m sure I can rustle up a few fun(?) facts:

Nate’s serial number (NTE 0713-8) is a reference to the original broadcast date of the first episode of Generation Kill.

Brad’s not as much of a lone wolf as he seems - he usually operates as part of a four-man unit called Bravo Team, alongside fellow Spartans Eric, Rudy, and Pappy. Circumstances conspired to split them up for a lot of the late-war era, but I can confirm that they’re all still alive.

As you may have guessed, I renamed all the UNSC spaceships to be more Generation Kill-appropriate. The Cry Havoc was originally Forward Unto Dawn, and Dubuque is called Infinity in-game. Just for my own amusement I also have names for the ships in Halo and Halo 2, even though they’ll probably never even get mentioned in Valiant: Ishtar Gate (=Pillar of Autumn) and Pale Horse (=In Amber Clad)

One of my favourite scenes to write was the Didact Reveal near the end of Forerunner. I had a lot of fun with it, even though - confession time - I don’t think the Didact is a very compelling villain! He’s probably the weakest part of Halo 4! I’ve done what I can to try and make his motivations clear by integrating the in-game terminal videos that explain his backstory into the plot, but ultimately…yeah, he’s just a big orange dude who monologues too much and wants to destroy humanity because of reasons. And you know what? I figure that’s okay! This story isn’t about him; he’s just an obstacle in the real fight against Nate’s rampancy. A pretty big obstacle, to be sure (did I mention he’s like 11 feet tall?) but an obstacle nonetheless.

As mentioned in the fic, Brad and Nate have only been working together for a grand total of about 6 months, roughly the same as in GK. Nate was built specifically for the SPARTAN program, but budget cuts of all things delayed the MJOLNIR armour upgrades that would allow him to integrate with the suit (it’s part of the reason why Brad assumes Nate was put into service later than he actually was). Nate spent most of that downtime working on Forerunner research and translation, which ended up being crucial to locating the first Halo. (For those of you wondering, he is still recreationally a Classics Bitch as well. His Sangheili translation of The Odyssey would do numbers with the Elites, prove me wrong).

Brad was pretty dubious upon their eventual introduction (exact words: “I don’t need a backseat driver”) but that lasted for all of like five minutes into their first test-run. The rest, as they say, is history.

[bloodgulchblog]

Having anon off is completely fine!!!

Anyways do you have a favorite spaceship in Halo? Personally I’m very fond of Pillar of Autumn, ofc, but also I really like the UNSC Bumrush and the UNSC Two For Flinching

Not to be a 343 apologist for a minute but: Infinity.

It's so fucking big it's insane how big it is, it's a city of a ship, I'm fascinated by the ideas and opportunities you can play with. Also politically it is a giant fucking weapon.

Shame about Halo Infinite.

[hellogatorbymoni]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: HALO Warfleet Guidebook.

[authortobenamedlater]

I also wrote the opening of the fic. Forgot about it somehow. @ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask eat your heart out.

Crossposting/reblogging to Silver Timeline Central

—

Commander Chyler Silva, acting first officer, UNSC Pillar of Autum, managed to keep it together until she reached the ready room.

“The Covenant hit Reach,” Chyler blurted as soon as the door closed.

Her husband, and Pillar of Autumn’s acting captain, slowly turned to face her. “What?”

“They hit Reach.” Chyler’s restraint cracked.

“Honey, come on. Sit down.” Tom guided her to the chair next to him and squeezed her hands. “Where did you hear this?”

“The secure command channel.” Chyler wiped her eyes. “You can go read it if you want.”

“How did they find Reach?” Tom asked.

Chyler shook her head. “I don’t know. It didn’t say.”

“When?”

“When did they hit?” Chyler sniffed. “Not long ago.” She snorted. “The glassing beams are probably still hot.”

Tom moved back to his chair and Chyler’s heart stopped. Somehow, she knew exactly what he had planned.

“Tom,” she started.

“How long would it take us to emergency slipspace back to Reach?” Tom asked as if he hadn’t heard her. He was reading something on his screen. Probably the same report Chyler had run across.

“We can’t do that,” she objected.

“That’s not an answer.”

“Cole Protocol—”

“I think that’s a moot point, Chyler. How long?”

“You know how long.”

Tom nodded to himself.

“We can’t,” Chyler said.

“We’re going to.”

“We don’t have the resources,” Chyler argued. “We’re one ship.”

“We don’t know that others aren’t jumping back along with us.”

“We can’t bank on that.”

“I’m not,” Tom said stubbornly. “I’m taking this ship back whether we’re the only ones or the entire fleet is headed there.”

“We can’t save everyone. There might not even be anyone to save?”

“What, so we save no one?”

Chyler knew she was losing the fight, but she didn’t stop. “You have to look at this realistically.”

“I am looking at this realistically.” Tom leaned toward her. “You and I have been there, Chyler. There were four of us left standing on Circinius. Can you imagine if the Spartans hadn’t come for us? If they’d decided we weren’t worth the risk?”

“Tom….”

He kept going. “I don’t care if we’re the only ship and there’s one person left alive on Reach, we’re going back. That one person?” Tom pointed to the picture on his screen saver. “Might not be only one person.”

Chyler looked at the image of their daughter. “You’re disobeying an order.”

“No, I’m not,” Tom said flatly. “It was only the command staff that was ordered to evacuate. They never said anything about us.”

If they did, that wouldn’t stop you.

“Commander.”

Chyler looked up and her breath caught. Tom never used her rank in private unless he meant business.

“I can note your objection in the log,” Tom offered gently.

Chyler straightened up. “There’s no objection to note, sir.”

Tom smiled thinly. “Didn’t think so.”

Part of a small S2 Fall of Reach AU I'm working on. By working on I mean thinking about a lot because I'm devoting my limited writing time to my S1 novel.

I must bring Tom and Chyler with me everywhere I go in Haloland now. This proved a good dumping ground for some scrapped MWAS ideas.

@ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask since you egged me on to write this, though it isn't the part you wanted (yet).

Reblogging to Silver Timeline Central.

--

John jerked out of his doze at the sound of approaching footsteps.

“Oh! Master Chief, I—“”

John automatically started to stand. “It’s all right, ma’am.”

Silva waved off the gesture. “As you were, Chief. And you don’t have to ‘ma’am’ me. That feels a little odd.”

John sat back in the chair.

Silva clasped her hands as if unsure of how to continue. “I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just wanted to check on Vannak.”

John looked at the sleeping form on the bed. “He’s stable. The doctors think he’ll make it.”

Silva looked him up and down awkwardly. “You know, I remembered you being taller.” She glanced back at Vannak. “All of you.”

“It’s the armor,” John said stiffly.

Silva laughed softly. “I guess everyone looks tall when you’re fifteen and running for your life.” She sat in the chair opposite Vannak’s bed. “Tom and I used to wonder if you would remember us. If we ever saw you again.” She took a breath. “I’m sorry we didn’t pick up on it earlier. With everything going on. And, well….”

“The armor?” John guessed.

Silva gave a relieved laugh. “We never did see you without it.”

John tried to square the officer in front of him with the near-corpse he’d loaded onto the last Pelican off Circinius IV.

“Chief?”

“We didn’t know you survived,” John blurted. “After…they never told us anything.” In his emotionally-repressed state, John hadn’t even thought to ask.

Silva brushed her fingers over the spot on her abdomen where the needler round had embedded itself. “I survived.”

“How?”

“Luck,” Silva said. “Maybe some divine intervention.”

“And you,” John swallowed and looked at the ring on Silva’s hand.  “You and Lasky are…” was this even appropriate to ask?

“We’re married, yes,” Silva supplied.

“That’s allowed?”

Silva smiled playfully. “Nobody’s stopped us in twenty-three years.”

John blinked. Twenty-three years? Circinius was only…

Silva seemed to pick up on his confusion. “Tom and I both went to the academy on New Carthage,” she explained. “We got married right after graduation.”

“Do you have children?” John asked haltingly.

Silva brightened. “As a matter of fact, we do.” She fished her compad out of her pocket and handed it to John. “Kate. She’s almost done at Luna.”

John looked at the image of a young woman in cadet blues and glanced back up at Silva.

“I know; she’s my little clone,” the commander said.

“That was our first deployment,” John murmured. He handed the device back. “Circinius. Our first major deployment.”

Silva’s brow furrowed. “I didn’t know that.”

“I wish we could have saved more,” John whispered. “Everyone thinks fighting is the hard part, but….”

“But what keeps you up at night is everyone you couldn’t save.”

John nodded. “Yeah.”

Silva sat forward. “How many people did you save on Circinius, Chief?”

“Four.”

“Only four?” Silva lifted her compad. “I count at least five.”

John looked at the picture of Kate again.

“Chief, if you hadn’t been there, Kate wouldn’t exist,” Silva said. “Did you know that a few years after graduation Tom saved his entire squadron from a Covenant attack? If you hadn’t saved us, Tom wouldn’t have been there to save them. I was mad as hell at him for the stunt he pulled, but he saved his squad. And they’ve gone on to save others.” She sounded like she’d wanted to say this for a long time.

Silva bit her lip. “That’s why Tom took us back to Reach. I tried to tell him we didn’t have the resources. That we couldn’t save everyone, maybe there wasn’t anyone left for us to save. He wouldn’t hear it. I don’t know why I bothered. And he told me…” Silva trailed off. “That it wasn’t just about the people we would rescue today. That we didn’t know what future we might be saving.”

Their daughter.

“He’s brave,” John said.

“That’s a lot, coming from the Master Chief,” Silva said gently.

John normally would have bristled at the sentiment, but it felt different coming from Silva. Like she really meant it. Understood it.

“I have to say, though, I didn’t imagine we were coming to rescue you,” Silva added.

“Neither did I,” John murmured. “I didn’t imagine anyone was coming.”

“Don’t tell my husband I said this, but I’m glad he didn’t listen to me,” Silva said with a conspiratorial smile.

My husband.

Silva’s compad beeped. “Oh, speaking of.” She got to her feet. “I’m sorry. Duty calls.”

John stood. “Ma’am.”

“What did I tell you about the ‘ma’am’ business, Master Chief?”

John shifted uncomfortably. “What should I call you then, ma—Commander?”

Silva smiled again. “Well, my friends call me Chyler.”

John froze.

I really don’t know what people say to each other.

“John,” he said after a moment. “That’s what my—my friends—that’s what they call me.”

That’s what Cortana called me.

If Silva was put off by his awkwardness, she didn’t show it. “In that case, I’ll see you around, John.”

John watched her go. He stared at Vannak’s vitals and thought about what Silva had said.

Saving the future. He’d never thought of it that way.

I saved their future, John thought with a bemused half-smile.

And they saved mine.

[halopedia]

Samuel Marcus was one of two engineers aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn tasked with waking John-117 from cryosleep! Although he succeeded, he was killed when an Elite shot him. In his final moments, he reached for a photo of his wife.