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12/12/2004 8:56:48 AM
8794
Halo 2/3 Book Posted, Pages 342-345. Page 351: Sequel Revealed
September 9, 2006- Halo: The Ark is officially available online for everyone to read. There will be several websites hosting them, and each additional one will be added to this list here. The Ark is also in this thread, from pages 342-345. Feel free to read them and post in this thread.
The cover/concept art is also available for anyone who wants to see it. Just follow these links:
[url=http://img370.imageshack.us/my.php?image=halocoverartfromjoeslayergk8.png]Cover art by JoeSlayer[/url]
[url=http://img147.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sb2copygi6tc1.jpg]Back cover art by JoeSlayer[/url]
[url=http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dandonahueconceptartvn0.png]Concept cover art by Dan Donahue[/url]
[url=http://img224.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bookcoveroh0.jpg]Concept art by Paul[/url]
[u]Here is the list of websites hosting Halo: The Ark[/u]
[url=http://game-spectrum.com/news/entertainment/halo_the_ark.html]Game Spectrum[/url]
Nov 17th, 2005- by now, there are 30 chapters of the book posted. if you dont want to look through this entire thread for them, click the link in my signature, it will take you to my official site, where all the chapters are posted.
May 17, 2006- Work on the book has come to a halt as all editing (professional) has been done. There is work currently being done to get The Ark published, hopefully by TOR. Any questions about the book can be asked here, and i will answer them as promptly as possible. This is not an official bungie project.
Click [url=http://www.archive.org/download/The_Ark/theark.pdf]Here[ /url] to download a pdf version of it. Actually, right click and save, otherwise it won't work.
The following material is the original post from way back when, so if you're looking for the more recent stuff (that has been modified from reading the beginning works), please visit my website, which is in my signature, or click the link above to download a pdf version of it. Please do not ask for the last chapters, as i will not send them to you. Any and all news will be posted whenever it comes up, and i will say so in the subject heading, with the appropriate page number and date. Chapters are generally posted weekly, though i discuss each chapter's release date beforehand so confusion does not ensue.
If anyone knows anything about the Halo 2 book, or what comes after it, let me know. Cause if nothing's happening with it, im gonna write it. Here's the prelude to halo 3(?)...
Prologue
Ninth Age of Reclamation/First age of Rebirth
Yielding Righteousness/ Current Flagship
The doors opened as the Arbiter walked into the Grand Chamber, seeing rows of his brethren. His Sangheili. They all uniformly bowed down on one knee, their heads to facing the ground. The Arbiter turned to his Spec-ops captain, now the general of the armies, and said, “You never told me there would be this many.”
“I thought you would like being surprised, Arbiter.” He showed a grin, at least as best a Sangheili could.
They started walking through the main aisle, with an honor guard walking behind them as protection. The Arbiter felt that the presence of the honor guards was not necessary, but understood the honor they must feel to be here, especially now. Walking past each new row allowed all to stand in that row, which alerted the Arbiter of some discrepancy. He turned his head left, and saw several rows of Lekgolo, their massive bodies gracefully rising as he passed. And further ahead, even more rows were filled with the small Unggoy, who fidgeted even while trying to keep their composer. And they all were bowing.
He looked back at the Lekgolo, shocked at the amount of them in one room. He had never seen so many, and they could easily overpower the entire ship if they wanted to, but they also didn’t carry their normal weaponry, which attached directly to their arms. The Arbiter forced himself to look away so not to draw attention to himself in any negative aspect, for it could ruin his purpose here today.
They climbed the ramp up to the stage, where the honor guard behind them went to the right side of him, and to the left he saw another waiting for his arrival. The Arbiter went to the front of the stage, and the Captain/General stayed behind several steps. He looked upon the crowd, understanding that the future may rest upon their shoulders.
The chamber had fallen dead silent now, and the Arbiter scanned the room once more. He stood tall and came to the very edge of the stage. “As you all know, I am the Arbiter. I have been chosen for this… this honor, by our previous leaders. However, there may be those among you who believe that their word is heresy, regardless of when it was said. And because of my rank, my position, I will become the leader of our group, our new covenant. If anyone disagrees with my appointment as the Arbiter, speak now.”
The chamber stayed noiseless, but faces animated and expressions came to color. The Arbiter looked back to his Captain/General, who nodded to him. Suddenly, one Sangheili stepped out of his row, and yelled, “Long live the Arbiter!” As the Arbiter turned back to his audience, he found that he was deafened by the cheering of his name. A wave of relief struck him, and he held his hands to show silence was required. Moments later, it was so.
“You all honor me with this privilege, yet I must postpone our celebration for another time. This meeting is one of urgency, where three important things must be discussed. The first of which being the creating of a new Grand Council. After this meeting, all not stationed upon the Yielding Righteousness are to return to their home planets to decide on the council members.”
“Our next goal will be to secure as many Huragok as possible. They are a necessity on every ship, world, and army. If we can take many away from the Prophets, it will give us a strategic advantage against them. They will undoubtedly be attempting the same, but we cannot allow them to take any Huragok, or the upper hand will be theirs. Do not forget their usefulness, even in the heat of battle.”
The Arbiter sighed, and looked up at the lights, then directly into the holocron monitor, which was projecting his face among countless worlds. “The final article is something that has come into my thoughts several times during these past few days, something I would like express to you. The Prophets have always asked each race to join the covenant, or even allow them honorable submission, but not the Humans. These Humans are a strange race, yet nothing about them is notable in any sense with the exception to the demon. Regardless, it makes no sense for the Prophets to ‘fear’ these Humans. But I understand why they do. I have fought and killed them, as well as fought beside them as allies.” Whispers appeared throughout the room, and the Arbiter raised his voice to overrun them.
“Wait!”, he yelled, and the chamber’s only sound was the Arbiter’s echoing voice. “Through my experience with these Humans, they fight with the same honor we would, use clever tactics as we do, and will die for victory if necessary. And now that we are not at the prophet’s side to protect them, they have much to fear of the Humans!”
Cheers wailed throughout the room, and a group of Unggoy began jumping up and clapping. The Arbiter allowed the crowd to settle down by themselves before speaking again. “From now on, if you should see a Jiralhanae, Yanme, Kig-yar, or a Prophet, you are to conquer them, and show them who truly is strong.” He smiled as best a Sangheili could. “Even more so for the Kig-yar, if you know what I mean.” Laughter broke out, especially through the rows of Unggoy.
The Arbiter walked off the stage, followed closely by both honor guards and his Captain/General. Suddenly the laughter turned to applause, as the Unggoy yelled, and the Lekgolo and Sangheili bowed again to one knee. The Unggoy followed suit quickly. With each passed row, the rising covenant would chant “Long live the Arbiter!”
The Captain/General whispered gently to the Arbiter as they walked down the aisle, “ It would seen that you left a good impression with the covenant.”
“No, we are not the Covenant anymore. We are the Preeminent."
If you guys like this, let me know, I have about 10 more pages written, in no partucular order, and can post them if anyone wants to read them.
[Edited on 12/17/2006]
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No, Im not shore how they reproduced, but when they did they created the lil infecttion forms. I think the Big Carriers were the ones doing the Regenerative reproduction. The human flood forms were just dead UNSC soldiers from Pillar of Autum.
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mmm. true but the carrier forms are grunts(if dont believe or no that then look at their feet)
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hey the cortana thing was started by me and Eagles, it was just a joke, its funny though how everyone is taking it so seriously.
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i dont take it seriously but i just want peeps to stop sayin shes evil bcoz shes not there no evidence(ok im soudin a little -blam!-r) lol
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we just did it to liven the thread till sir gets his next chapter done.
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o ok :-)
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cortanas hot for an AI lol
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lol, if you think she's hot, then you'll love the chapter im posting right now. Here it is, chapter ten. Enjoy. Chapter 10 1700, Oct. 22, 2552 High Charity, Orbiting Halo Installation 05 Cortana’s projected image stood over a console, watching Halo rotate, as well as the Forerunner ship exit Halo’s atmosphere, yet was stuck with deeper thoughts. What will happen to the Master Chief? To Earth? And what of the Covenant? Millions of questions formed, thought of, and stored away for possible later use. Funny, she thought, I finally have a chance to think things through, but it won’t matter anymore. Anything I come up with can’t be used by anyone. And how I longed for times like this. She knew her last thought was not true, for she always favored every moment (because no reference of time has been established as the smallest point of time) she spent in battle, helping a crew of a ship or entire fleet, or being able to accompany the Master Chief. Each was a challenge for her, pushing her limits to the max. And as an AI construct, that’s what she lived for. A challenge. The view from the console was spectacular, to say the least. Standing at the edge of High Charity, the Covenant’s ex-center of operations, Delta Halo rotated magnificently, and the utter silence framed it as Cortana’s picture of peacefulness. She stored the image in her basic directory, and then pondered her actions. What use will it be? What use will I be? Toying with the idea of deleting herself and ending her seemingly futile existence, Cortana opened her sub-routine directory and found the file-delete application and placed all basic functions into the slot. The feeling she had was so strange to her, but it seemed to be depression, with a hint of anger. And just being able to simply delete herself, the human equivalent to suicide, was also a bizarre idea. But the reasons to do so outweighed those for self preservation. One folder she found, however, gave information of historical AI lifetimes, containing timelines from every listed AI from their creation to termination. The early models were simply not sophisticated enough to continue on for long unless their objectives matched their capabilities, yet the newer models had different problems. Those AI’s like herself ended up becoming corrupt, breaking down, having system failures, or simply going mad after a period of about 7 years. They were all deleted at the first sign of problems, regardless of what the discrepancy was. Cortana understood why Humans would fear an AI, especially after the incident on Orius in 2547. A single AI led to the death of at least 100 officers before being shut down. The marine who stopped it immediately broke the cartridge it was contained in, so no research could be done on why it acted the way it did, or what could be done to fix it. Shuddering, she realized that it was less than a month before it would be her own seventh ‘birthday’. She checked and rechecked her erase list, and took one last look around. What better way to end a fruitful life than in such peaceful surroundings. Lying to herself seemed to be the only way to make it less painful, even though she could always turn off her emotions. But Cortana decided against that because she wanted to feel the deletion process. Choosing to erase all files, one last warning screen popped up, reminding Cortana of her imminent doom. She closed her eyes and accepted. -Proxy Error: Violation of source code, Regulation 1056321. Files may not be erased unless under the supervision of official UNSC currier. Scanning the error, Cortana searched the problem, and finally found it. Her core processors doubled its cycles momentarily, the Human equivalent to a chuckle. The file, designated 1056321, read: No Artificial Intelligence, through any action, delete basic protocols or applications of its own code under any circumstances. All termination processes must be allowed by proper UNSC protocols. A second failed attempt. I think I’m starting to believe in a higher source. She had charged the In Amber Clad’s reactors to critical when her sensors read Halo’s activation and almost destroyed the ring, but when the energy reading dampened, she knew that the process had been stopped. Cortana immediately cut the In Amber Clad’s reactors, knowing Captain Keyes, as well as many UNSC soldiers could still be on Halo. Her attempts to signal them, however, had failed for unknown reasons. Every frequency seemed to be blocked by some force, but without any evidence, there was no way to determine the setback, there was no way to fix it. Now the only way was to detonate the In Amber Clad, which only had a twenty to one ratio of having the required total core meltdown. Bringing the reactors to critical before killed off several reactors, and if her estimations were correct, she wasn’t going anywhere. The motion sensors blared as a massive object came towards her location, and Cortana turned 180º. The doors which the Master Chief came through to get to the Forerunner ship twitched, almost entirely destroyed and hanging on to nothing. It twitched again and several green tentacles came into view. Cortana dissipated her holographic image and hid, waiting for the being to pass. “Silence fills the empty grave now that I have come. But my mind is not at rest for questions linger on. I will ask, and you will answer.” Cortana recognized the tentacles and voice instantly as one reached towards the console she resided in. Intriguing. I could learn a lot from the Flood Leader. She projected her image again and held a hand toward the appendage, and it stopped. “Okay. Shoot.” It groaned with satisfaction, sounding to Cortana like a mix between a Pig’s snort and a Walrus’ mating call. “What is it you are called?” Each word came out slow yet annunciated, the low pitch of voice disturbing her slightly. “I am Cortana, Class 3 Artificial Intelligence. I have been part of the UNSC for just under 7 years. And…” she spoke childishly, and though to play on its emotions, “you are?”
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(Continued) Snorting violently and waving tentacles almost too fast for her to see, the beast replied, louder than ever, “Why do you wish to know?” Its words echoed for a full second in Cortana’s processor before a suitable answer came to her. She thanked Dr. Halsey for the imaginative part of her. “So I may respond to you’re questions properly.” The appendages all turned their points to her, as snakes would when provoked, then relaxed again. “You may call me Gravemind.” Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gravemind. How is your family doing? Is business going well? “What is you’re purpose?” “To serve mankind. How about you? What’s you’re purpose?” The long green spine-like tentacles began to rap around the console she was based at, and crushed it instantly. “I wouldn’t do that again if I were you.” Her holographic image reappeared, this time above the console parallel to the one just demolished. “And why is this”, it asked in a mocking tone. He’s obviously is undaunted by anything I do, so why don’t we give him a reason to be. “Simple. I control the reactors within the In Amber Clad, the ship you came in on. If you want, I can easily blow up this entire ring like I did with the last one.” At least thirty tentacles pointed directly at her, but being able to calculate their movements almost instantly, Cortana knew that this Gravemind was way out of its league. “However, this station has been drained of almost all its power, and I won’t be able to leave this console. Now that we’re on equal footing, I propose we each ask one question at a time, and give the best answers possible.” Each tentacle stayed poised and ready to strike, yet none moved. Cortana’s motion detector blared again, showing a huge yellow blip heading her way. The twitching door was struck to the ground with half the wall around it, making way for Gravemind. The larger-than-life head was the only exposed part, meaning the rest of the body would simply collapse the platform if it continued on. Finally, the tentacles dropped to the ground, slowly and fluidly. “A stalemate. Agreed.’ All thought ceased for a microsecond, a sigh Cortana made but didn’t show. She didn’t know where to start. More questions flowed through her then ever before, yet she managed to narrow them down to only three. They were the ones that were the most meaningful to her. “What are you?” “We are the most superior race in existence. Our creators believed themselves to be, but after our containment was broken, we began annihilating them until they disposed of themselves, hoping our destruction would follow their own. “Wait, that didn’t answer my-” “Enough! We explicitly answered, and will now ask.” Dammit, he’s good. He knew only to answer the bare minimum, or something that I’d already know. I’ll have to ask more carefully from now on. Where have the others taken our vessel?” “The Forerunner ship? Most likely to Earth.” Realizing what she had just said, she cut off all vocal abilities. Stupid! I just gave this thing the name of the home planet. I, I must be losing it. But I must learn more. She quickly made a program to scan her thoughts before she spoke, so no such blatant errors would be made again. Looking up, Gravemind’s ‘mouth’ seemed to be smiling, as though he knew something she didn’t, a childish smile. “Alright, my turn. The Forerunners made you, but what was it that let to their inability to control you. In other words, what makes you more superior to them?” “Our genetic structure is based upon a constantly changing frequency, unlike every naturally made species. This allows for evolution at any rate desired, as well as the ability to connect to other sentient life through their own personal frequencies. From the seven Gravemind’s any number of us may be produced. Our creators could not control us, and no one else can.” Strange, I never thought of that. She searched through every Human in her database. To her surprise, she found that indeed all had very similar frequencies, most only a fraction of a hertz apart, and a small one at that. “Explain this Great Journey of which the group of races known as the Covenant pursue.” “I don’t know exactly what the great journey is, but the Covenant has searched countless worlds in search of Forerunner artifacts. They also seem to be looking for the Halo rings in order to activate them, not knowing what their function is.” The program kicked into gear as she remembered to Prophet Mercy’s last words of Earth, and forced herself not to speak of it. “How did the Forerunners contain you on these rings?” “Contain? We were never contained.” What? But didn’t the Covenant release you from the first Halo? A message popped up, breaking her train of thought. It seemed familiar, but she couldn’t remember from where. It read: Warning! Halo Installation activation in process! Immediate shutdown required or loss of life will be extravagant. I must have made a program to alert me of any other ring’s activation. I have to stop it! But how? Cortana’s CPU burned at it limit, making her normal speed calculations seem infinitesimal. Wait! If I can get to Delta Halo, I may be able to send myself to any other installation in a mater of seconds. But I don’t have the power necessary to send myself there. There’s only one way to do this. “Gravemind, you have to send me to Delta Halo immediately! Another Halo is being activated and I can stop it.” A Covenant vessel came into view and exited Halo’s artificial atmosphere, giving Cortana another idea. “If you send me there, we can stop it. But we must hurry, or it’ll be too late for the both of us!” Sensing emotions from the Human-made machine, Gravemind understood that it was truth it spoke. But something was also being hidden, yet no chances could be taken. If another installation was activated, all would perish. “Granted.” The machine’s presence went into some component within the console, and the teleportation grid was accessed. Gravemind sent telepathic messages to all hosts to prepare the Human vessel for departure. He had been unable to determine the home planet of any species, but could search the vessels for such information. Only moments later did a ripple go through the vessel known as High Charity, and an explosion occurred. Gravemind felt every inch of flesh burn. Quite intelligent for a machine. Yet my life is not in vain.” Cortana quickly oriented herself with her new surroundings and searched for a way to send herself to the activating ring. Finding none, Cortana did detect a signal being sent out to all installations and another one, but had no time to ponder it. She found the correct one and entered a program to detonate the In Amber Clad’s reactors the moment she left the ring. Only then did she join the signal. The stream changed Cortana’s entire structure, both separating and connecting it, dispersing and organizing it. Yet she remained conscious throughout the flight, moving at least a magnitude larger than that of light. It was only moments before she arrived, and it took an entire cycle for her to realize it. The process had already begun and Cortana quickly canceled it and removed the index. “Strange. That wasn’t supposed to happen”, said a too familiar voice.
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Nice chapter Sir but may I ask, WHAT THE HELL IS WITH ALL THE CLIFFHANGERS!!! The last three chapter have had a cliff hanger ending. Cliff hangers are ment for the end of a book not a chapter. Forgive me I lost my self (damn cliffhangers!).
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lol, that just kinda happened. i don't think its a cliffhanger. why is this one a cliffhanger?
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Ah man, cliffhanger!
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I think its a cliffhanger because you don't know who the person with the familiar voice is
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brilliant you are the god of cliffhangers, i just can't wait to see how cortana and the spartans react to eachothers presents
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GUYS it WASNT A CLIFF HAGnAR. The voice was 343 Guilty Spark. She sent herself to the suface of Delta Halo were Keyes, Johnson and The arbitor were. She got there just has keyes removed the index from the console. At least thats how i read it. I hope i am close to being correct. [Edited on 3/23/2005 8:07:44 PM]
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bungie should hire u to create the cliffhangers
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wow eagles5, you actually got one wrong. i don't believe it... is wayne brady gonna have to smack a -blam!-? lol, no. lets try to jog your peoples memory. what happened in halo1 when mc put the index in the control room? thats all i have to say.
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loli just watched the like a half hor ago. WELL...........I was wrong, ill go cry myslef to sleep It was a good chapter though sniff sniff I feel tears hehehe
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WAIT WAIT I GOT IT!!!! CORTANA SENT HERSELF TO THE RING KELLY IS ON. She stopped the Spartan3s from starting HALO!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHA It took me some time but i owend it!!!!! Am i right?
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what about, she somehow gets caught in the time krystal loop thing and ends up in the past of the future when they were first about to activate halo in H1 but before and after H2. lol Anyways, nice chapter, a little short but nice. Seems like it was mainly to build up the plot but still nice. At first i was wondering if you ever explained the Cortana/Gravemind convo or if i missed a chapter. But good job.
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umm, she ends up in the past of the future? no, eagles5, you friggin genius. you always get it right. not necessarily the first time, but eventually.
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sarcasm, im sure someone else caught it. Thats what ur next chaapter should be called. Cortanas Return To The Future Of The Past.
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lol, that would be funny, but wouldn't fit with the story. hey, maybe i'll do it anyways.
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That was good entertainment and good writing. Please email me at [email] Headquarters117@hotmail.com [/email] and join my group I need someone like you. Reqruit at the group [url=http://www.bungie.net/fanclub/action/GroupHome.aspx] ODST Special Forces [/url] I'll see you there for more of your ingenius writing in my group and on my email.
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hell, i dont get it altogether, and im usually very good at stuff like this. i think she is at the Spartan III ring, and she is attempting to stop the index . it has a basis back in the other chapter.
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excellent way to bring the stroy line together. Just one small thing, Miranda Keyes is a Commander, not a Captain. keep up the good work
