Hello friends. First and foremost, thank you for checking this topic out.
To briefly introduce myself, my name is Louis and I am an aspiring writer that graduated with an English Literature and Creative Writing degree last year. Halo has been at the heart of my life for as long as I can remember and has been a monumental influence in my writing. For my dissertation last year, I wrote a short story about my Halo OCs: a Spartan III that goes by the name “Jester” and a Sangheili separatist, Tlor 'Svarum, during the Battle of Installation 00.
For most of my life I have been both too shy and too self-critical to ever share my writing anywhere, but I have decided today to fight against my better judgement and share some of that story with you today (the full story is too large to fit in one post; if you would like to read the rest of it, I will include a Dropbox link to the full story below).
I sincerely hope you enjoy what you read but if you have any criticisms you wish to give me, be it technical and canon inaccuracies, I am all for it.
Lastly, thank you so much for those of you that choose to take time out of your day to read this. It means more to me than you could ever know.
With that out of the way, please enjoy.
Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood never quite felt comfortable navigating the labyrinthian corridors of a Prowler. The small vessel was outfitted with the best stealth technology the UNSC had to offer: it was imperceptible to almost any scanning instruments - human or otherwise - and its elusiveness even in comparison to Covenant ships had been integral in numerous espionage missions against the alien alliance for over thirty years. Yet, despite the absolute security its thin metal walls provided, the Fleet Admiral felt a persistent and unpleasant crawling sensation around his spine. The UNSC seldom operated with the need for tech like this - missions undertaken in secret were outside of his jurisdiction, falling into the realm of the notoriously covert Office of Naval Intelligence. Onboard one of his own ships, amongst his own officers, he felt at peace. Here, amongst the dark underbelly of censorship and manipulation that hides in the shadow of the human war effort, no one was to be trusted.
An observation window to his left spanning the entire wall offered a complete view of the African plains that stretched towards the horizon. Its natural beauty and splendour was in fierce contrast to the gargantuan Forerunner structure that emerged out of the excavation zone, its petal-like fins supporting the portal that hung ominously in the air above it. Even the colossal Sangheili flagship Shadow of Intent, which measured almost three kilometres in length, was dwarfed by the portal as it and the rest of the alien flotilla circled it like misshapen planets in some bizarre star system.
Lord Hood rounded another whitewashed corner, leaving the scene behind. Ahead at the end of a long featureless hallway stood a single door - utterly inconspicuous in itself, though the two armed guards in black overalls posted at either side of its threshold betrayed its true significance. Upon seeing the Fleet Admiral they snapped a crisp salute before one of them tapped at a control panel on the door, revealing the black void that lay just beyond.
It took his eyes several seconds to adjust to the darkness after the door slid shut behind him. The walls here were not a clean white like everywhere else on the Prowler, which only served to further absorb what little light circulated the space. As Lord Hood’s vision forgot the blinding glare of the corridor’s lighting, the outline of a woman emerged from the furthest end of a table placed directly in the centre of the room. She leaned forward, revealing a face of sharp features that belonged on a visage much younger than her own. Her monotone voice scarcely betrayed her age either as her tones filled the empty space around them with a curt greeting: “Terrence.”
If you enjoyed what you read, the full story can be found here: