Contemplation (A Halo Fanfiction) by Duskfall

[Duskfall]

For three generations, humanity has only known conflict. From the Insurrection to the Covenant, Humanity has been head deep in war for 59 years. With the Prophets dead, the universe has returned to an unstable state of peace. Corporal Williams and Lance Corporal Vance return to their home of Canberra, Australia, and reflect upon the end of humanity’s long time of war. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “So, is it finally all over?” Williams brought his mug of beer to his lips and drank. “Seems that way.” Vance followed suit. “Thing is, what happens now?” “What do you mean?” “Well, think about it. For 3 generations there’d been nothing but fighting. The first half we fought the Innies, and the second half the Covenant. We’re going to have a lot of trouble with getting to normalcy. Remember World War Two, Cold War and all that?” Williams put his mug onto the table, hand still gripping it, and looked intensely at Vance. “Good God, you actually paid attention in history class? That shit’s like… what, a millennium old?” Vance waved a hand around, “It’s only 600 years man. And yes, I did pay attention in class. Parents always wanted me to stay out of the war; they wanted me to do something useful. I think defending our species was a pretty damn useful task, eh?” “Ha ha!” Williams brought his mug up again, “You got that right!” “You know, I’d always thought that we’d annihilate the entire Covenant when we’d beat them: took me by surprise when we teamed up with the Elites.” Williams pointed his finger at Vance, “Hey, careful with what you say. I heard Command doesn’t want us calling them “Elites” anymore. Says its derogatory or something.” Vance nodded, “Right, right. They call themselves Sanghelli. What about them anyways? What do you think’s going to happen between them and us?” “Well, I’ve been listening into some of the HIGHCOM public broadcasts; seems that the fighting is officially over.” Vance chuckled, “Lord Hood and Arbiter finally struck a deal? How did that go? Fancy music all-around, banners and crap all over the place?” Williams shook his head, “Nah, I heard it was pretty quiet actually. Rumor has it that there were only four people in the room.” Vance face showed doubt. “Really, only four people?” “Yea, Lord Hood, Arbiter, and body guards.” “Hmm.” Vance downed the rest of his drink. “You know,” Vance started, “we really can’t get ourselves into another war. Earth is the only planet that didn’t get burnt to glass. Well, kind of anyways. Arbiter did burn half of Africa when the Flood decided to visit.” “Mars is still standing.” Williams added. “Mars is just a giant factory. Really, the only place we’ve got left is Earth, unless you think we can repopulate the Glasslands.” “I heard that there are some people still on the Glasslands. Heck, people tell me we still got Kig-yar pirates still trying to scavange and trade stuff to survivors.” “Interesting tidbit…” Vance commented. Vance thought to himself for several seconds before standing. “Well, I think I’m done here. Don’t get into accidents now you hear? We didn’t survive an alien genocidal campaign just to get killed in a car accident.” Williams stood as well, tossing some cash onto the table. “At least I’ll crash my car,” Williams paused, putting on his sunglasses, “like a boss.” The two marines had themselves a laugh before leaving the bar. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Terms: Glasslands: a term coined for human colonies destroyed by the Covenant. The name is derived from the method it was destroyed "Innie": a derogatory term for Insurrectionists Flood: an all consuming parasite bent on assimilating all sentient life HIGHCOM: central military intelligence hub; equivalent to the American Pentagon

[Naked Crook]

Very nice writing style man. It is refreshing to know that people know how to write. So we basically have two guys, in a bar it seems, shootin' the shit about the current state of affairs. Down to Earth characters, they seem realistic. I like the fact that you added the bit about history class when refering to WW2. My biggest annoyance is when people write in context of the Haloverse, and they are making modern day comparisons without forming it around a knowledge base. In your case, your character's knowledge base was that he knew his own History. Good call on that, I like that. You established your character as being a history buff of sorts, and you made a comparison with it. I liked it.