{{
`${userDetail.user.displayName}${userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode ? `#${standardizeBungieGlobalCode(userDetail.user.cachedBungieGlobalDisplayNameCode)}` : ""}`}}
{{getUserClans()}}
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]
-
Cool, maybe ill still be awake. And trust me there was no dissapointment with the last chapter. The space battle was great. The en with the elite was brilliant. Cant Wait!
-
how many of yall are ut of school?
-
i have 1.5 days left
-
I get out on thursday, but we have a field trip on monday and our 8th grade party on wednesday, and thurs. is only a half day!
-
TT I dont wanna talk about it....TT 1 week, 3 days TT
-
lol sucks for you. 1 full day monday and 1 half day wensday and I am done.
-
hey guys, sorry the story isn't up yet. truthfully, the only reason for that is because i've been wrestling with an idea, trying to make it work, because if it would, then it'd be awesome. I think i've figured it out now, but no promises as of now. At first, i thought it might be a good idea to simply make the chapter as i planned before and add in whatever stuff afterwards, but i couldn't leave this alone. If i can get it to work, then my old chapter would suck. so i'll be posting it shortly, as i am writing it now. as for how many days of school i have left, technically 5, then a day of graduation practice. But i still have a few days i can ditch, and i'll take advantage of that. kids, don't do that. lol.
-
No problem man, great works take time. the longer you have to think and plan the better it will be.
-
Ive been out since the ninth and have played halo and halo 2 nonstop. I think i'm goining to bed now i'm tired. [Edited on 6/12/2005]
-
hmmmmmm i wonder what the idea is, DUN DUN DUUUUN!
-
lol must suck for yall i got oout like 3 weeks ago
-
well, this is gonna sound like crap, but here it goes... the chapter, as i have just finally agreed with the voices in my head on, will not be as i said before. This is because i've begun to incorperate another idea, which will be much better than what i had going before. As for what it is, you'll see soon enough. I won't have it up so soon though, because it is my last week of school and i'll be kept busy, unfortunately. But i'll let you all know when it can be expected...anyways, here's the next chapter. Not so much action, but more of a...well, you'll see. Chapter 22 “Jan, what the hell is that supposed to mean?” He turned around, and stared at the blank face of his co-pilot. She just shrugged, and opened her mouth to answer, but let it sit open for a moment. Didn’t really have anything to say. Fleet Admiral Hood’s voice came through again, as the line was still connected. “Helstrum, is this a two way connection, or are we only receiving?” “Right now, only receiving. I can try to open a channel to them as well, if you like.” “Do it. I have a good feeling about this, and it will the be first one I’ve had all day.” Obliging the good Admiral, Norman flipped a few switches and commenced the communiqué system, as it sent a signal towards the vessel that had just messaged him. Normally, such an action would be considered a waste of time, as it has been done only twice before, at the first and second contact. There were no records of the first contact, because the colony on Harvest was completely destroyed, and the second contact was only a small military expedition to find out what happened there, with only a few ships returning. They tried to communicate with the Covenant, but nothing happened. They were simply ignored. “Channel open sir. Whatever you say, they’ll here you. If you want to hold out for a second, just send the following signal here,” giving off a long and tedious alpha-numeric code, which didn’t mean anything to anyone but him. Funny, he thought, I’d always imagined using this for something else. ****** What am I supposed to say? Lord Hood started pacing, knowing that the fate of the planet could rest on his shoulders, or could have no meaning whatsoever. Regardless of which it was, he still felt the weight piling up. Stress built up fast, but no solutions came to mind. No one else with any command rank was around, although he knew that they were still on Earth. But there was no time to contact them and discuss the matter. The Covenant were not known to be patient, or at least for him. He looked out the window, and stared into the deep blue sky. The ground was a battered battlefield, and not a pretty sight. And before the nukes went off, neither was the sky. But now it was the only peaceful thing around. Even the room he paced in was trashed, electronics lying around and rubble everywhere. They sky was the only place he could turn his eyes towards, the only thing that could lift the burden from his chest, even for a moment. That’s where he found inspiration. “Covenant fleet, this is Vice Admiral Hood of the UNSC. If I humbly understood what you have sent us, then I accept a truce and would like to discuss the matter personally.” Holding his breath, he wondered what kind of inspiration had actually hit him. Nothing he said was outstanding in any way, just simple. He could have begged to meet them, kindly said no, or told them to burn in hell. But nothing he could have said would have helped very much. “Agreed. In three of your standard hours, meet us at our closest vessel to your Earth. Do not be late. Instructions will be given when you arrive. But be warned. Many of our brothers will still fight you. If they do not engage you, then they are not to be fired upon. If they do, then they are treasonous, and deserve their fate.” The picture of the Elite flickered off, and a smile blew across the Admiral’s face. “I’d say that went well, sir.” “And I’d agree. But to stay on the safe side, I want you up there. If anything goes wrong, I want them out of our sky. Understood?” “Yes sir. If I may ask, how are you going to get up here? As far as I know, the fighting down there is still pretty intense, meaning it might be hard to get a lift. If one of us came down and picked you up, we could make it back in time.” “No, I can’t take that risk. And it might take to long. Anyways, being high up in the brass does have its advantages. Admiral Hood out.” Turning back towards the officers working at their stations, he almost forgot he was back on Earth, being so used to the Cairo. Reality hit him hard when he almost called for his old staff member in the same position as the marine he watched, and then shook his head, slightly dazed. “Sir, are you all right?” “No, I don’t think I’ll ever be all right again. I need a stim pack and some serious coffee. But first, how’s Arlene?” “You mean the one you brought with you? I’ll check with the hospital right away.” Lord Hood started pacing again, something his feet had never been able to grow tired of, and something for him to do while waiting for news which he probably didn’t want to hear. Being pleasantly surprised once, Hood tried his luck a second time. “She’s still in critical condition, but they’ve stabilized her. The doctors say she’ll make a full recovery.” Hood gave a sigh of relief, and gave another look towards the sky, thanking whoever was responsible. Now there was only the matter of finding a ship to take him, as well as figuring out what the status down here was. Truthfully, his only clue was the scorched Earth around him, which didn’t exactly give the most welcome thoughts on their success. “This is Spartan -117. The unidentified Covenant vessel carrying their leader cannot be allowed to escape under any circumstances. I repeat, that vessel cannot be allowed to jump out of system!” The message blared through every speaker in the room, causing several officers to cover their ears instinctively. Hood simply grimaced at the volume. When it repeated a second time, eh saw that the Master Chief had made it an automated message to continue playing until someone responded to it. “Cut it!” he yelled as loud as possible. The speakers died mid sentence, giving the room a quiet feel to it, as though it were devoid of any sound. “Can you find that signal?” “One moment…we have his position, as well as the other Spartans. The unregistered ship is also leaving orbit. Orders?” “Do we have any means to take out that vessel?” “No sir, not without the fleet.” “Then we’ll let it go. Not like we have much of a choice in the matter. Show me the sectors where we have the most fighting on the tactical display.” Walking over to the blue graph-like monitor, a two dimensional map of the world appeared, with stars for each city under attack. The larger the star, the bigger the attacking force. Most of the stars were evenly sized, but one stuck out like a sore thumb, at least three times the size of any other. “Why is this one so much larger than the rest?”
-
“Sir, there’s a Covenant capital ship orbiting the city. It arrived there only a half hour ago, and has been sending a barrage of troops to attack, as well as every artillery unit we’ve ever come across, and some we haven’t.” How did this one get through? It probably got past that other ship and attacked head on, knowing we’d have nothing to stop it. Time to pull out the ace. “Get the closest pelican to the Master Chief, and send him over there. I want that ship out of my sky. Then open a link to him; I have a mission for the Spartans.” ****** I’ve failed. The Forerunner ship exited the atmosphere, and there wasn’t any UNSC ship to intercept it. No fighters, cruisers, bombers…nothing. It disappeared from his vision, and he could only imagine that it had jumped into Slipspace, knowing full well that it wasn’t welcome here any longer. The rest of the Spartans looked at him, awaiting orders, or at least guidance. But he was lost in his own thoughts, in the failed mission. There had only been one other, although the difference in the outcome could not even be measured. John kept looking up until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Immediately recognizing it as Linda’s, he instinctively turned towards it and her. “There was nothing we could have done. That field was just too powerful. There’s still work for us to do.” Her words rang true in his head, but every atom in him screamed out. Not against it, but not for it. They just screamed. Hearing something to his immediate right, John turned like lighting and aimed his BR55 right at the head of a Jackal, who lay under rubble, reaching for a plasma pistol. His trigger finger pulsed, ready and waiting to pull itself back just a bit further, to release the burst of bullets into the Jackal’s head. Will walked over and simply kicked the plasma pistol away from the Jackal’s reach, and turned to John, not understanding what the problem was. But the muzzle still pointed at the Jackal’s head, its bird-like eyes widening, as though to plea for help from an imminent doom. This is the enemy. We must take out the enemy. Its either them or us. “John, snap out of it. It’s not going anywhere, and won’t be hurting anyone. Just let it go.” Her voice rang in his ears, but his hand refused to give up the target, the enemy. Only then did it hit him what was happening and he turned around and punched right through a pile of rubble, obliterating it even more than it already had been. Rage filled his entire being, just for a moment, and then died down again. “Master Chief,” came through his internal speakers, “this is Admiral Hood. A Pelican will be coming to pick you up momentarily. It will take you to New York, where a Covenant capital ship is bombarding the city. They need support desperately. I need you to take the grav-lift and take out that cruiser.” Taking a deep breath and standing up straight, John activated his suit’s communication system and opened a channel. “Understood sir. We’ll take care of it.” “Good. You’re ETA will be ten minutes. The pilots will be rushing it, so hold on tight. One last thing: We may have a possible truce with the Covenant soon, but this ship is one of their rogues. If they have anything that doesn’t fire at you, don’t fire back at them. But be careful. They probably know about that and may set a trap. And good luck. Admiral Hood out.” As the comm. channel closed, the Pelican came into sight, and landed just 20 meters away from them. “Pile in boys and girls; we don’t have any time to spare!” The Spartans jogged into the Pelican, climbing through the open hatch on the back of it, and they all sat down in whichever seat they could. It took off quickly, putting at least three g’s on everyone. Nothing out of the ordinary. But John sat in thought, so deep that the weight had no meaning to him, as though it were only a shell he was in, yet that he wasn’t in it. Like he was having an out of body experience. What was I thinking? A flashback of the Jackal played back to him, and nothing in it made any sense. I would never do anything like that. Would I? What’s wrong with me? The sound of distant voices kept a strange background hum during his thoughts, although he barely noticed it. As it grew louder and louder, his own thoughts became too hard to understand through the amount of noise he was hearing, and John suddenly snapped back into reality. His head whipped left, and he realized that he’d been asleep, although it felt like adrenaline had been pumping through him, and his heart rate was up. The time gave justice to him, showing a seven minute lapse that he really couldn’t account for. Gazing straight, while wondering how to get his own helmet off and wipe his eyes, Fred appeared in his sight, sitting directly in front of him. Helmet off and eating some military rations, he saw a gauntlet holding food extend towards him, and a smile which was he was too eager to recognize. Then all cylinders started firing again. “Thanks.” John took the rations and unclipped his helmet, taking it off with his free hand. Never had military rations tasted so good, but, then again, it had been some time since he’d eaten anything. “Here’s to us,” Linda chimed in, holding up her last piece of edible material high above her. “May we live to go on a long vacation, and eat decent food, without ever worrying about the Earth’s safety.” “Amen to that.” “I second the motion.” They all laughed, except for John, who withheld that luxury because he was the team captain. He simply ate, quietly, focusing on each bite and swallow. For that one moment, he wondered why, as the squad leader, he was supposed to not join the friendly ‘civilian’ conversation, especially now, that their chances of survival could be at a potentially knew low. On that note, he stopped eating for a moment, so he could fix this minor problem. Because in those few minutes of sleep he had, a revelation occurred to him. There are too many problems for him to simply deal with the large ones. If that was all he dealt with, then soon the minor ones would become worse than those already taken care of. It was time to fix everything at once, not one at a time. “You know, back on the Cairo before we all went our separate ways, I heard a funny one. How many Elites does it take to screw in a light bulb?” Looking across the faces in the Pelican, the answer didn’t really matter, because his team had lightened up from his return so much that anything would suffice. But who am I not to give my team, the best team, the best?
-
Good chapter, not to much action, but i know that wasnt the point. Its just setting us up for things to come. Anyways I didnt understand the last sentence. Care to clarify it for me?
-
sorry, the italics are too hard to put in. the last lines are mc's thoughts. i hope that helps.
-
another awesome chapter Brilliant
-
Very well done, not too much action, but i think that this chapter adds a whole new level of DramA to teh story and gives us a beter view of MC.
-
yes good work sir. but I didn't get the joke
-
That was certantly an odd chapter.I wouldnt say it was one of my favorites.Ide say it was ok.Hope we get more action in the next one.Also when will we see the arbiter again. Edit wtf, this isnt my avatar.I know i signed up for a new account(mainly because of my new e-mail address) but i didnt even get to choose a avatar.And how do i get my xboxlive thing as an avatar. [Edited on 6/13/2005]
-
Go to MY SETTINGS and then change things from there. Then yoj can chhose one of ther avaters or to use your own you have to link your gamertag. The last chapter wasnt about action. It was setting the scene for the next chapter. Gace us some insight to the mind of MC and also some info on a possible covie unsc truce.
-
Good chapter as always Sur Brilliant. I liked how it is seting up for another big event to occur soon.
-
[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] EAGLES5 Go to MY SETTINGS and then change things from there. Then yoj can chhose one of ther avaters or to use your own you have to link your gamertag. The last chapter wasnt about action. It was setting the scene for the next chapter. Gace us some insight to the mind of MC and also some info on a possible covie unsc truce.[/quote] I did link my gamertag but am stuck there.Thats the part that im confused with. Yeah i know it wasnt for action but i think it could of have a little more(it also seemed shorter compared to the other chapters).Id say it seemed more like .................dam i forgot.
-
Yeah, pretty cool chapter. I liked how it showed what was happening in The MC's head during certain points. Keep it up.
-
I know when lin king your Gamertag u have to do it on a site off of bungie. They should give u a link. You also have to provide your credit card### Thats the part were i decided NO not linking. Thats all i can tell ya. [Edited on 6/13/2005]
-
????????????????????????? I linked my gamertag on Xbox.com edit Cool first on the next page.ive never done this before.What do i win [Edited on 6/14/2005]
-
You win $1,000 in monopoly money. btw, didnt you have a different avatar before?
