After a long overdue period of time, it's time to move these notes to this blog. They will remain here as they kinda take up a lot of space I need for other things right now.
Notes for Chapter 27
War Spirit’s Blood: The Juice finally has a proper name and an origin. The idea for this stuff came to me after thinking a bit about turian culture. Special cuts of Red Sand make biotics stronger and more dangerous. The Turian Hierarchy has a segregationist policy towards biotics due to the fact they hold a grudge against them for being saboteurs during the Unification War. Considering those two facts, they’d want to keep up with potential threats. So if biotics are getting performance enhancing drugs, best to give your regular soldiers an edge as well.
Only problem is synthetic drugs aren’t an exact science and ones that mess around with chemicals in the brain can mess you up. Nel is a prime example of what could go wrong. They created a highly addictive, potentially unstable and dangerously volatile narcotic. Then they gave it to a young woman with war fantasies and a few daddy issues. What could possibly go wrong?
Don’t think that makes Nel absolved of any wrong doing. She kept taking the drugs after all and she was already prone to disobeying orders and doing her own thing. The drugs exacerbated that part of her personality clearly and she desperately needs to accept responsibility for her actions. Even if those actions were somewhat influenced by outside sources. At the very least, hopefully this allowed you to understand her a little more, if not sympathise with her a little.
Nel’s heart is in the right place, it’s just she wants to live in a fantasy world and can’t face up to reality. She’s afraid of pain for one and lacks confidence in her own abilities and training at this point. She’s too dependent on the drug. She needs to quit the stuff if she wants to truly become the hero she envisions herself as.
I wanted to be clear though that Liara’s actions of throwing out Nel’s stash were potentially harmful to that. You can’t make someone quit an addiction. You will turn them against you and they will be less prone to trusting you in the future. However, Liara didn’t have a choice. It was either remove the drugs or risk her continuing to take them and putting their lives in danger. A no win scenario to be sure and a tough call no one should envy. I’ll leave it to you decide if it was the right one for this situation. Just remember, Liara’s new to this and she’s doing the best she can.
Oh and yeah, I realise I created another Mass Effect character with daddy issues. It’s a motif they have going, a theme. It didn’t feel right to disrupt it. However, I do intend to shake things up from the usual mould, but that’s for another time.
Mad Bomber: Vik’s secret is out now. It was as inevitable as Nel’s coming to light after his stunt. Liara can’t exactly ignore the fact her new quarian friend is an unhinged and incredibly disturbed person. He’s suffered and in the end he lost what sense of innocence he had. The only thing that’s true to him is that liars are everywhere. In a way, the conspiracies are a security blanket. Not because they assure him there’s a system in place, no. They’re just the only thing he can believe in anymore.
Liara was a friend, but she was also working for the ShadowNet. Even if Vik didn’t believe the Shadow Broker was real, he was wary with sharing his past with someone who belonged to the clandestine organization. Information Brokers sell information after all. Even if Vik never admitted it, to himself or Liara, a part of him was worried he might be turned over to his former employer if he told the truth. Then there was the doubt that anyone would believe him, that they’d want to help him at all or they’d think he was crazy.
It’s better to just not say anything, which is the irony. Vik’s all about truth, but he was unwilling to share the truth about who he was with anyone.
I’ve developed Vik’s story for a long time and I’ve continually tweaked it over the course of time. This is the latest version. It’s bare bones, although I was worried I gave too much away. I paired it down as much as I could so I can save things for later on. I don’t want to show all my eggs after all.
One example of a change I did was with the bomb. Originally, it had explosives loaded in the casing but they weren’t armed. I took that out and just had Vik building the casing. This was mainly because it would be incredibly stupid and irresponsible of him to have an active explosive, armed or not, on a spaceship. Better to just have him starting the outer build for the bomb and no further. You’re going to need a housing for your boom after all.
And yeah, if you haven’t guessed by now, Vik had feelings for a human woman he met when he worked for Sarok Mutoff. Everyone has female quarians hooking up with human dudes. I figured it was time to switch that up a little. I’m sure the ladies out there fantasize about quarian men as much as us guys do with quarian women. Not to say Vik is some kind of heartthrob or anything, he’s far from a Casanova. (He’s an anti-social flake, let’s be honest) I just felt it was time to give the male quarians a little of our human women. It’s only fair, cultural exchange! You’ll learn more about Tara in future instalments.
Suicidal: I came up with the idea that Kayap had been trying to kill himself the day he met Liara. Why not just throw himself out an airlock? I figured he didn’t want to die looking like a weakling of course. Better to get killed by the enemy. Fortunately for him, Liara only wounded him and now he’s much happier.
I felt Kayap had to have a reason for defecting and the only one I could think up was he had nothing left to lose. His family is gone, despite their increased chances living under the Covenant. He did everything he was supposed to, did everything right, always survived, but in the end it didn’t matter. The one thing he wanted was to go home alive and suddenly there was nothing waiting for him there. So of course he decides, what’s the point? Of course, it doesn’t turn out that way. He’s hardwired himself to protect his sorry ass, so he can’t even get himself killed now when he actually wants it.
Then Liara needs him to help him locate the Covenant on Tuchanka, creating the opportunity he needs for another chance. Once the Covenant sees him with their enemy he knows they’ll think he’s defected. He may have wanted to die, but not by execution. You know how that shit goes down! They brand you first and then maybe feed you to other prisoners! That’s no way to go! Better to take the one chance you got to start over, help out this weird blue lady who’s captured you. It can’t be any worse than life with the Covenant.
And it turns out he’s right! Liara is actually nice to him! For so long he always felt he had no real hope at a better life, just survival. Now Liara’s given him hope and I like that as it shows Liara’s own sense of character. The thing is, now Kayap wants to take the next step. He wants to be brave, but admittedly he’s still a Grunt and fearful cowardly screaming is built in. The thing about Mass Effect though is that it creates alien races with supposed hats to wear and then sets about knocking them off their heads. Wrex is the earliest example, same with Garrus. Kayap continues the tradition in a way by making someone you expect to be a coward attempt to be brave.
With his back story out now I hope for greater things with Kayap in the future. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll actually convince others to follow his footsteps instead of giving into despair.
Wrex and Liara?: Hoo-boy, I just know I’m going to get some looks for this one.
Yeah, okay, Liara has some burgeoning feelings for Wrex. You know what, screw it, I don’t care what you say, I like the idea. The second I saw Wrex mildly flirting with Liara in ME3 in the STG facility, something clicked in my head. What if they had a relationship before without me knowing? What if one or both of them were somewhat attracted to the other? It could be for a number of reasons, Wrex is a good guy, they have similar occupations, they’re both incredible biotics and they both have a great reverence for their people. I don’t know, it just seems to make sense.
Of course, just because it works in theory doesn’t mean it can work out for the best. Bruce Timm and his fellows while doing the Batman Animated Series one day decided something a little radical. They decided that Batgirl had a crush on Batman and was romantically interested in him. Why did they do it? Because they knew it was wrong. They knew it more than likely wouldn’t work. They did it anyway because it was different and it led to some interesting stuff later on in Batman Beyond between the two characters.
So while everyone pairs Liara up with Shepard or Javik or whoever, I took the road least travelled by. Precisely because, I know and you know, in the future this cannot work out long term. Wrex has a race to rebuild and a future mate with Bakara. (AKA Eve) However, there is a lot of leeway in krogan culture. Who knows where this will ultimately end up? To be honest, I want to see where I can make this can go. I only hope you’re interested in whatever direction I decide to take it.
Liara comes Clean: With everyone in this chapter pouring their little hearts out and confessing their sins, I felt it would be really assholish of Liara to demand honesty from her crew if she wasn’t honest herself. So, she had to admit to them that she was the Shadow Broker. It was the one thing she could do that would show the other members of the team that she trusted them. It was also the only way for them to really trust her as well.
This chapter was all about Liara ultimately coming to terms with how she runs her squad. If she wants to be a leader like Shepard she can’t try and pretend she’s Shepard. She has to be who she is, what makes her unique. For Liara, that means being faithful to her friends, honest to her companions and sympathetic towards them. Stuff like flaying people’s minds, that’s not her. That’s an act she puts on. Telling off the Shadow Broker himself that he’s not as smart as he thinks he is? That is Liara in my mind, a brilliant young woman who is unyielding, uncompromising and fiercely loyal to those she cares for.
So here at last was her taking charge and deciding to run things her way from now on and not worry about living up to either Shepard or the Shadow Broker moniker. Because really, Liara doesn’t need to do that, she’s doing just fine being herself. There is a reason I picked her as my first love interest with my first Shepard after all.
Updates for Chapter 28
Teamwork: That was the goal for this chapter, pure, unadulterated teamwork. For the most part, Liara’s team has just barely tolerated one another. Now they have to actually work together. No bitching or moaning, but actually acting like a team. That’s not to say there can’t be conflict in the future, but here they acted as a unit.
That all relied on them getting past some of their deep seated issues with themselves and each other. Vik has to trust people. Nel has to believe in her own abilities, as well as realise she can’t be the lone hero either. Saya has to move on from his hatred. Kayap has to find the strength of will he has within him. Liara has to prove she’s a leader and can coordinate a team.
I like to think they all accomplished that fairly well. I think we’ve had enough screaming and yelling among friends, time for them to stop being dicks and actually start working together. It’s the only way they’ll survive. That’s always a problem with some teams in fiction, they always clash and butt heads for too long over petty shit at times. Eventually they got to move on from that crap, rely on each other, because if they don’t they’re fucked.
You can have them argue and disagree, you can have conflict, but eventually you have to show the team dynamic coming through. Otherwise it’s no different than watching a reality show where everyone hates each other.
Collectors: You know I had my own idea about how they came back in Mass Effect 3. However, I eventually read up the canon for it. Apparently they have arks among the Reapers full of them. Okay, we’ll go with that. It’s as good a reason as any.
I still think it probably would’ve been a good idea to use them for the Leviathan DLC. They had the models and everything. Seems like a waste not to use them in any of the actually missions in game.
Obviously, there had to be some improvements. We might see them again at some point with Covenant weapons and whatnot, but we’ll see. I mostly just wanted them here so Liara could both figure out the Reapers were involved and for her to fight some new enemies for once. Seemed only fair, Shepard and Chief got the Flood.
I’m just glad this isn’t an ass pull as it’s established within Mass Effect canon that the Collectors return in smaller numbers during the war. That and I got to have Harbinger show up for the story required Reaper meeting. I have no idea why they didn’t let Harby talk in ME3. I don’t care what anyone says, he was fucking awesome! Why steal his voice guys? It’s just a stupid meme! Were you really that hurt by the fact some folks found it funny?
Zero G Combat: This was a sorta last second idea I had while writing. I didn’t want to do just another damn combat sequence. I wanted to mix it up for once. So, bam! Zero G! That changes pretty much everything about how a fight should work of course. Now cover can be anywhere and firing your gun can send you tumbling off in another direction. It’s too awesome an idea not to implement in some way.
Besides, they were on a space station, it was the perfect opportunity! I only hope I didn’t blow my load with unique fighting environments this story just now. Ah well, if Halo can keep coming up with creative places to fight, so can I!
Huragok: The mysterious Codemaster is revealed to be an Engineer! Here they are, making their debut. I love these guys. I wish we had seen more of them in the games. It’s a shame the tech just wasn’t there yet during Halo 3. Hey, maybe we’ll get an Engineer buddy in Halo 5 and he’ll give us a sweet shield upgrade or something!
Anyway, we have a new friend aboard the Lucen now, a floating ball of gas/living super computer. Oh this is going to be an interesting situation. Engineers are so under used in the Halo games, now is my chance to show a little of what they can do. I’m going to use him sparingly though, Engineers aren’t much for fighting and couldn’t even if they wanted to. Not in the traditional sense at least. Don’t expect this one to be picking up a gun, but he’ll still be useful in other ways.
Notes on Chapter 29
That’s no Moonbase: Yep, spaceship! Two guesses who built it and why it’s here. Maybe there’s some truth to that whole “The Forerunners travelled to other dimensions” after all. Of course, the Wormhole was generated on the Mass Effect universe side, as previously mentioned. So, they didn’t create the wormhole. Question is now who did make the wormhole? As well as, how long were the Forerunners here and why? Guess you’ll just have to keep reading to find out.
Cerberus: Yeah, I was foreshadowing this for awhile. A new player has entered this game folks. Our former employers, Cerberus, are far from done with Shepard’s friends. Liara has got some trouble ahead with them on her tail.
You know, I was one of the few people who never trusted the Illusive Man... ever. I was honestly surprised to see so many people so sure of themselves that he wasn’t gonna turn on us and he’d just forgive and forget us disobeying him. HA! Truth is the guy had creepy glowing blue eyes. You never wondered how he got’em? I mean, I didn’t think he was indoctrinated either, but it set off alarm bells for me that something wasn’t right about this guy.
I saw a lot of Cerbie fans get their panties in a hitch over the fact BioWare made them primary antagonists. Honestly, they killed how many people in the first game? Did we forget about Akuze like Shepard did? Really, they were terrorists! You couldn’t trust them and you were fooling yourself if you did. Everyone who got pissy about it was probably just angry because their fanfics got jossed. To be honest, every fandom does. We’re kinda egotistical like that.
Cerberus were an evil you had to deal with in order to accomplish your goals in ME2. They weren’t your friends. The people on your Normandy weren’t even really Cerberus, they were naive schmucks obviously handpicked to make the Illusive Man look good. It said as much in the second game and confirmed it in the third. It was clear they were gonna be enemies in the next game. I’m honestly surprised so many were seemingly shocked by this.
As for the soldier who appeared in this chapter, you might notice that they look slightly familiar. That’s because they’re prototypes of the future Cerberus from ME3. The guardian doesn’t have his proper riot shield yet, but a much less clunky arm shield. The engineer isn’t lugging around a big ass turret on his back, but has a portable drone. Also, the four eyed look isn’t adopted yet, mostly because they haven’t gotten Reaper bugs put in their brains at this moment.
I thought it would be interesting to explore Cerberus before the war starts, the real Cerberus I mean. These guys are their prototypes for their coming army. They obviously aren’t designed for frontline combat. They’re more for precision striking. I’m hesitant to call them Special Forces, they aren’t really that level. I’d categorize them as shock troops at this stage. Now when they get the Centurions and Nemesis units involved, then we can upgrade them to Stormtroopers. You gotta earn that, guys. No skipping belts in Karate Class. Wax On, Wax Off, Reaper Bugs In, Free Will Out!
The Deaths of the Brothers: Bash and Blast were going to be my first main villains to get killed off from the start. I needed bad guys who were tough to beat, but not nearly as cunning or capable as people like Balak or Vorsa. Hunters are tough enemies, but you can slowly learn the best ways to deal with them over the series. They’re a good test of skill regardless, so it seemed natural that how Liara’s team defeated Bash and Blast would best illustrate their ability to come together as a team. I wanted to be sure everyone got a good hit in and I more or less accomplished that.
Of course, even though they don’t really talk nor have much in the way of personality, I didn’t want their deaths to be without weight. So I tried best to show one element of Hunter culture that is overlooked, the link between the pair of brother colonies. As a Hunter grows, he eventually splits off into separate colonies of Lekgolo. They’re essentially brothers, relatives if you will. They share an inseparable bond with one another that cannot be ignored. So when one is killed it leaves a huge impact on the survivor.
I’m not sure if I got you to feel a little sorry for Blast as he tried wake his dead brother up, considering that both of them played a role in killing Ben. I did hope that you would all see that they’re not just big dumb bruisers, that they had thoughts and emotions. They always acted in sync with one another in previous fights, giving them both subtle hints towards their connection. If I killed one, I knew the other would have to go berserk in response.
There will be other Hunters to fight in the future, there always will be, but with Bash and Blast dead the two toughest of their number are gone. They were field testing all the upgrades for their brethren and now the ongoing study of how they were coping with the genetic modifications and technical upgrades are gone. It’s a setback to be sure and removes some of the muscle within Balak’s entourage. Trox is probably gonna have to pick up the slack now. Should be easy enough, he is a Krogan after all.
Chapter 30 Updates:
Chief and Cortana: After a number of chapters with the Chief either with someone or Cortana unavailable, I realised they needed time to themselves for a little. The great thing about Halo is the relationship between Chief and Cortana who in my mind are one of the great duos in gaming. It’s going to be really hard for me to go through Halo 5 without Cortana to be honest. It’s not that I don’t think Locke won’t be a good character, but he’s new. I know Cortana and I know I love having her around and her being gone from the game just feels wrong to me.
So my mission for this chapter was to give Chief and Cortana tons of time to themselves to discuss some things. That and I get to showcase more of the two banter by themselves. Well, Cortana banters, Chief just remains his usual stoic straight-man self. It’s great to let them just talk to each other and I feel this is the first time I’ve properly fully shown the growing bond between the two. I’m going to focus on this element even more in coming chapters as I’m going to have Chief separated from Shepard for moments at a time.
Don’t worry, you’ll get to watch the two kick ass together, but trust me this works better in the end. Besides, Chief gets to show why he’s badass on his lonesome. That’s always cool in my mind and I’m sure a few Halo fans have kinda wanted Chief to do a mission or two on his own for awhile. I felt Guilty Spark’s actions gave the perfect excuse for Chief here as to why.
Master Chief, both in the books and games, is big about protecting the people he cares about. It’s not to the point of depression or suicidal grief or wishing it had been him like Kat or Carter though. Chief just feels like he should’ve done better and he’s getting sick of watching good people die. Considering he’s been brought up since he was abducted that he exists to save lives, any person he remotely considers a friend dying must hit him hard.
Chief may not show much outward emotion often, but he certain feels it. I think Cortana helps him bring out his humanity a little, creating a connection he needs outside the Spartans. She’s as much a part of him as any one of the kids he trained with now. So of course he must feel some kind of affinity towards her. In some ways, maybe Chief would prefer not to go through the pain of losing people like his team. However, the nature of war means people will die and he’s no doubt realised this by now.
So I guess that’s why he appears so distant at times. He doesn’t want to get close to many people because he wants to limit the feeling of responsibility for others and sense of loss he feels when he can’t save a friend. And he justifies it by saying to himself that if he deserved a family he wouldn’t have let so many of his die. That’s why he’s reluctant to fully join in with the Normandy Crew, because not only is it like replacing the family he lost, it is also opening him up to be hurt again.
Cortana is still, however, his connection to his humanity. So she’s been pushing for Chief to become more trusting and more connected to Commander Shepard, as well as her. She wants to bring out the best in him and, after spending some time with the Normandy Crew, thinks they’re good people for Chief to place his trust in. It’s been quite the journey so far for both their characters and I can’t wait to continue it.
Spacebattle: This was a bit hard to do, but really fun. Space battles are cool because they don’t require you to worry about gravity and 2 dimensional planes. I can just let things go crazy, the world is suddenly opened up.
That comes with new challenges though, as we’re dealing with a vacuum, an environment that nothing can survive in. So it’s both freeing and limiting at the same time. I can’t have anyone directly confront each other, I have to focus on ship to ship combat, I need to remember that attacks can come from below and above and there’s a ton of technology involved that makes it vastly different.
I had to make sure Zek’s Corvette would survive, yet not make them look like they’re invincible. They’re outnumbered after all. So I made sure every time we cut back to them, they were shown in worse shape than when we left. It created a lot more tension and made it seem like an appropriate desperate situation.
I did need an excuse on Thel’s part as to why he doesn’t just blow Zek up though. Thankfully, Varvok provided it. Thel may have had suspicions, but he couldn’t just kill the batarians based on a hunch. Regardless of how much power the Covenant has over the Hegemony, he can’t risk killing Balak’s troops. They need to play ball here. If they start executing batarians without proof that’s gonna get their allies mad and could potentially jeopardize their plans.
You may have expected Thel to be even more suspicious though, especially after the verbal beatdown he gave Varvok. Well, that’s just more sangheili stubborn arrogance at work. He doesn’t really think much of Varvok or the batarians themselves. He thinks they’re spineless, ignorant, poor excuses for soldiers who lack the honour and will of his sangheili.
After watching Varvok run off after being told the truth, Thel thought he was broken and no longer a threat. He had finally whipped the stupid four-eyed nuisance into shape. He felt he had put him in his place if you will. He was mistaken of course, but he honestly didn’t think Varvok would have the audacity to throw in with Zek.
He had suspicions, maybe, but he doubted them. He sees Varvok as a little weasel, incapable of showing such initiative. Knowing Balak had gotten his men killed, and not the Covenant, would be enough to keep him obedient. As long as he knew it was the will of his beloved government he reveres so much, he’ll keep his mouth shut and do as told. Again, he was mistaken and it cost him.
There was a brief concern that the Dropship bomb wouldn’t work on the bridge. I made sure to make it clear that it wasn’t intended to kill Thel or destroy the bridge. Zek just wanted it to cause enough damage to some primary and sub systems that it would give him the time he needed to get away. I feel making those distinctions is necessary in these stories now, considering how many people will correct you if you’re wrong. (Thanks by the way you crazy, crazy people. XD) Stick by your guns when you feel something is right, but when it’s something technical, like Covenant Command Decks being so deep inside the ship’s hull, best to follow those established details.
Oh, and Empathy getting killed. Yeah, I needed to do that. He had played out his role as annoying jerkass and he seriously needed to die. I only wish I could’ve made it more ironic somehow. But getting electrocuted to death is cool I guess. How about this, he was trying to get away from the bridge and to some kind of safe position when the explosion hit. If he had stayed on the Command Platform with Thel, stood with his fellow Covenant Leader instead of trying to selfishly save himself, he might have lived. Yeah, we’ll go with that.
Irony!
The Truth Comes Out: Okay, so it’s been revealed why Tali and Cortana are so close. Why she seems to like the little AI so much and all that. Because a piece of Tali is inside Cortana! An AI fragment that was created from her brain, effectively making her a sorta biological foster parent.
This was a big thing I planned back from the very start of the storyline. I wanted Tali to be confronted with her quarian heritage concerning AIs. I knew one really great way was to make her a sorta custodian to Cortana. Then I thought, how can I make such a connection between her and Cortana stronger? It had to be more than just her working with Halsey. So, what if, Tali had technically played a part in creating an AI of her own? A small one, not nearly as complex as Cortana, but an AI all the same that was based on her brain. I had already established that it was possible for AIs to be effected by each other, like DOT and Legion. I decided to take it one step further here. If Legion and DOT were the wrong way to network two vastly different AIs, what was the right way? And I came up with the fragment merging idea.
I mean, if you pull out a piece of an AI and can put it back, along with a slew of ancient alien data stolen from a super old artefact the size of a small city, why can’t you attach another AI fragment to it? It seemed to make sense to me, that you could, in theory, take two fragments and merge them together somehow. And then you could put it back into one of the original AIs!
Now, naturally there could be problems and risks to that, but if anyone would try it anyway it would be Halsey. I plotted everything that could go wrong alongside what could potentially be gained from something like this. Using what I knew of AIs in both games and what I had already established, I came up with a pretty cohesive theory of things without descending into technobabble. At least, I hope I didn’t.
Now, to answer the obvious questions on everyone’s minds that I’ve anticipated, did this replace the original Cortana we know and love? No, I made that very clear. Tali’s fragment reinforces the elements within Cortana that she shares with the quarian mechanic. Specifically it places an emphasis on her technical know-how, her selflessness, her desire to learn, her natural curiosity, things like that. It makes Cortana more Cortana in actuality. The fact I’ve kept her personality pretty much the same from the games makes that even clearer.
This is not mind rape either, as Tali said, the Cortana fragment accepted the merge willingly. If you wanna know how it worked exactly, the image in my mind was Tali’s fragment being uploaded into the same digital space as the Cortana Fragment. Halsey monitored the situation, saw the reaction of both fragments and asked the Cortana Fragment if she would accept the Tali fragment being uploaded into her, effectively merging the two. The Cortana Fragment allowed the upload to proceed and everything went smoothly from there.
That’s not to say Cortana herself might not have issues with it, but it was not some kind of forced action. A piece of Cortana wanted this to happen. Tali’s dilemma is centered on whether or not it was good in the long term and what Cortana’s reaction will be if she ever finds out. She’s worried she might lose a friend and that’s what she feels Cortana and her are. I think we’ve all worried at one point if a secret we keep from our friends and loved ones, for whatever reason, will make them see us differently. Ask any guy or girl who was in the closet for a good while.
So, I hope that answers your concerns and if you have any others I didn’t think up, feel free to ask.
Liara’s Story: We’ve finally connected the threads and Liara and Shepard now have a direct line of communication with each other. This now opens a whole other dynamic within the story. Shepard and Liara were cut off from each other for a long time. Now they can share information with one another and properly coordinate their actions. This element of the story is going to feature heavily in the coming sequels so watch for it.
Reference to HIM: You know who Spark was talking about, let’s not mix words there. We know. It’s probably the first time I’ve referenced him and there is a reason I choose now. The truth will be revealed in time, just know that I’m aware he exists and I do have plans for him. What they are I cannot say for now.
Zombie War: SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! ITS HUSKS VERSUS FLOOD! ONLY AT THE SPLATTERDOME! BE THERE!
That's right, it's been a long time coming but it's here. The undead battle you've been praying for. Flood on Husk action. And this is only a taste of things to come. Expect more husks, old and new, in the coming chapters as well as sequels. Every Flood encounter has the potential to involve the Husks alongside them. Anything can happen now! So keep a look out, boils and ghouls! This is about to get really messy! Although I imagine that is what you want.
Notes for Chapter 31
Sentinels Attack: So this completes the trifecta of bad guys, Kowalski’s squad has now officially faced all the bad guys from Halo: Combat Evolved with varying degrees of success. To be honest, this was mostly done to facilitate a character moment for later on. However, it was a natural progression of what I set up. Shepard’s team set themselves up as party to Chief’s defiance of Protocol. Guilty Spark would naturally want them removed and he’s no doubt been keeping tabs on Alpha Base. So that is going to be a core target, or specifically the Normandy Crew currently present there. That means the Marines will get caught in the crossfire and there will be consequences for that.
It’s a little harder to use Sentinels as enemies though because they’re very generic. There are only so many ways you can kill the same flying robot over and over again. At least the Flood have three different variants this go around that I can switch up constantly. So it was a challenge keeping the fights fresh. Not sure if I succeeded to be honest. I’ll leave that up to you to decide. I’m hoping to have better room to work when the final big brawl on the Maw gets underway.
Guilty Spark’s Frustration: It’s not easy being the lone caretaker of a giant ring world. It’s even more difficult when people aren’t following the rules you expect them to just know. You may have heard Spark mention Geas a few times before in previous chapters. For those unaware, Geas was a genetic code imprinted into the races under the Forerunner’s care. It made them follow a subconscious set of orders that would passed down through generations through the original carrier’s children.
Obviously, the Geas was supposed to make sure the humans pulled the switch again if the Flood got out of hand once more. At least that’s what Guilty Spark expects, considering he seems to believe that the humans should just blindly follow protocol like he does. More likely, the Geas either doesn’t pertain to that or the genetic code itself has eroded over the millennia. I can’t say for certain how much, no one can, but considering no human ever tries to activate Halo willingly (Unless they are misinformed concerning its true nature) it’s safe to say they aren’t getting subconscious demands to activate the ring.
Now this whole thing brings up a lot of questions about free will and fate and all that classic science fiction stuff. However I want to look at it from the perspective of Guilty Spark. You have one friggin job, one friggin job, make sure the Flood doesn’t get off this ring. In his mind, the humans are screwing it up for him. So of course he’s pissed off. Eons of responsibility, keeping the galaxy safe, you’ve done everything right and now it’s all getting mucked up because some people have gotten cold feet.
It doesn’t help when you consider Spark has been waiting for some company on this ring for some time. He’s finally learned the plan succeeded, that the humans did prosper and he was eager to speak with them. No doubt because he wanted to learn all about what had happened while he was away. Protocol prevents him from getting all the answers though and even worse everything starts coming down around him. He has to follow his protocol, but the stupid humans won’t let him because they’re selfish and violent. It’s just not fair, he’s doing everything right. It’s everyone else who’s screwing up.
Throw into all of that a bunch of people, who aren’t even from this universe, and they’re judging him? He saved the galaxy, the plan worked, the Flood was defeated and everything turned out great. How dare this renegade human, who certainly isn’t a successor to the Forerunners like the humans of the Haloverse are, judge him. Everything would’ve been perfect if he never showed up. He and his band of interdimensional invaders are the wrench in the machine, the cog in the works, the cause of everything going wrong. They weren’t part of the plan! They’re not part of the Protocol!
Of course, Spark is crazy, so take all of that with a grain of salt. The point is, whenever I write Spark I try to keep all of this in mind. To him, no one really understands the importance of things. Protocol is everything to Guilty Spark. He is a being of pure order who has gone delightfully insane as his OCD complex has slowly taken over completely. He’s an advocate for directive, control and uniformity, to such an extreme that his personality borders on chaotically unstable as seen in the third game. He’s a wonderful contradiction in this way and I always enjoy writing him.
In fact, sometimes I even look for an excuse to give him a scene or two. That was kinda what I did here, show what Guilty Spark was doing while the others were stuck figuring out their own problems. It’s was a nice little cutaway, but it certainly won’t be the last time we see Guilty Spark. Thank goodness for that. He may annoy the characters, but I relish every opportunity to give him even a single line.
Things to Come: So I had Chief become slightly aware of Zek’s mutiny. I felt it was a good place to stick it in and remind everyone about what had happened. Like I said, this chapter was mostly about set-up and fight scenes. Stuff with the Marines was one, informing Chief about the Mutiny was another. It was a decent little scene, and even gave me a chance to show how the Covenant were faring over all.
At that point in the game, it seemed like everything had collapsed for the Covies. The soldiers are in disarray, any forces ground side are in constant danger and the only safe place is in orbit. It’s no wonder their Battlenet is in chaos.
This mostly opens the door to something coming up in the next chapter. I like thinking ahead a bit when writing this stuff. Sometimes the obvious doesn’t hit me until I’m a few chapters away so I have to write it in. It’s one of those times where it’s good to have an ending planned out for story I think, to know where all the beats are going so you can adjust things for the future. One thing occurred to me as I was approaching this chapter and the one before it that I need to stick in some information for Shepard and Chief to hear. You’ll realise why soon enough and I’ll even give you some behind the scenes stuff when I do. For now, just know that I’m playing the long game here.
And on that note, yes, I am planning to continue to story further beyond Combat Evolved. I’ve answered that question several times at this point. What I’m doing for First Strike is a secret for now, you will find out in time.
Husks vs. Flood: I guess I might as well talk about this a little more. In my mind, at this stage, it’s a question of quantity or quality, in a sense. The Husks are certainly more specialised and diverse in their tactics. The Flood are uniformed to a specific fighting style involve charges, overwhelming numbers and sheer brute force. Their weaponry is certainly more diverse since it is all stolen from their hosts, but the Husks are specialised in certain fields to do certain jobs, like a proper army in a sense.
The Flood have an advantage in this area though, they are more flexible. Any Combat Form can pick up a gun and use it. Reavers are stuck with their swords. Combat Forms can be produced rapidly and instantly. Husks take time and resources for the most part. Throw in the fact the Husks use mass effect technology almost exclusively and you have a pretty even handed battle. The Flood swarm, the Husks try to act as a road block. Not to mention, their suicidal troops, the Carriers, have the potential to produce more Combat Forms when they explode. So they have that going for them.
However, I sicked only the lesser husks so far at them. How will the Tri-clops and Plague Spreader do? Well, that’s for next time.
Notes for Chapter 32
Silva’s Reaction: While I’ve made it no secret I don’t really like Silva, I have been very clear on seeing things from his perspective. I wanted to give him a bit more motivation and reason behind his glory hound tendencies and I felt Shepard’s crew could help in that.
Silva seems like someone who had to fight for his position as he’s still considerably young for a Major. I can’t help but wonder if he felt threatened by Spartans because of everything they were praised for and such. He doesn’t feel they’ve earned their position as heroes, not when they haven’t put the same work into this as he has. He didn’t get fancy armour or genetic enhancements after all. He got to be a Major the good old fashioned way.
And then along comes Shepard, who isn’t even from their dimension, and he’s been given a pretty big position at the command table with everyone else. Yeah, he’s a Commander and all, but why should he still have that rank? He didn’t enlist in their Marine Corps after all. Naturally Shepard got to keep his rank because Holland probably considered it a gesture of good faith after all that suspicion from before. That and he clearly held command over his crew so it made sense to keep him the rank anyway.
Silva doesn’t see it that way, he just sees another person barking orders at him. He feels he’s more than capable of leading the whole group and people like Holland keep getting in the way. He desperately wants to prove himself, but someone is always going over his head in favour of a Spartan or Shepard or a bunch of aliens. It’s like no one thinks he’s good enough for the job.
But he is good enough, he’s a Major, he’s still young and he’s done incredible things in his tenure. One imagines he’s developed a bit of a Napoleon Complex, feeling so under appreciated. He doesn’t like being overshadowed, his hard work seemingly going to waste. And I fully understand that. His actions make even more sense when one reasons he doesn’t have faith in Shepard, Chief or the Commanders who keep requesting their help.
The Sentinels have just proved in Silva’s mind that accepting Shepard’s help was a mistake. He certainly doesn’t like how chummy he is with the Spartans and he definitely doesn’t like working with aliens. He’s not ready for Shepard’s way of thinking, he’s stuck in this perception of individualism is the greatest weapon. That humans, regular humans, can win this war on their own. Problem is, wars are never won by a single man, they’re won by people working as a team. No man fights alone, but at times it seemed like Silva always wanted to fight alone. Or at least have everyone listen to him above all others.
Silva’s now made his position clear, he doesn’t trust in Commander Shepard, he doesn’t want to rely on Spartans and he isn’t happy with how this mission is being run. We all know how that ended for him when he refused to listen to anyone but himself. That does not bode well for folks who are going to be on that Covie ship with him.
Enemy of my Enemy: I’ve been working towards this for a long while, the decision of Varvok and Zek to ally with Shepard. While still not good people, one is a criminal and the other is a racist slaver, they were both too noble in my mind to ever decide to kill themselves in trying to follow the Covenant battle-plan. They were going to turn on them eventually when the Flood arrived and the only outlet they’d have after that would be Shepard.
Now I didn’t want this to look like Varvok had gotten over his dislike of humans or anything. He’s been brought up to hate the Systems Alliance, that ain’t changing. But weighing the pros and cons of the situation, Varvok isn’t stupid enough to kill himself and his men just so Balak can make nice with the Covies.
No, in Varvok’s mind that’s a betrayal of everything they stand for, valuing a partnership with aliens who clearly don’t have their best interests at heart at the cost of batarian lives. That is slavery, and Varvok won’t tolerate being a slave.
So I wanted to make it clear that Varvok was only doing this because it was the only way he could think of to save his men and himself. The fact it means Shepard will live as well is just an unfortunate side effect. He doesn’t like it, but he’ll tolerate it if it means saving the lives of his people.
And Zek? Well if it means he escapes the yoke of the Covenant at last and can be a true pirate again, he has no problem with going over to the Humans for help. He just isn’t sure it’s going to work out in the long term. He’s wary, because the last time he picked a side in this war it was at the end of a gun that killed his freedom. So he’s cautious, but willing to go along with things for now.
This is going to lead to some interesting things in the future, but that’s for another day.
Armoured Flood: I wanted to raise the stakes a bit, so I figured why not make the Flood a bit harder to kill and shake the rules up even more. Now, when they get into contact with a Plague Spreader, they get an armour upgrade and shotguns aren’t as effective. It has disadvantages, making them slower, but it keeps them from getting killed quicker. Shepard certainly has ways of dealing with the armour, but it does throw a bit of a wrench into things even if you are warned.
I think Inky is gonna have to upgrade the Plague Spreaders, lest they stupidly make more of these things. But then again... where would the fun in that be?
The Headaches: There seems to be some confusion on this point so I'm going to clarify. Tali isn't being attacked by the Proto-Gravemind. It's simply that her brain was previously attacked with horrifying hallucinations and her mind is responding the neural feedback of the Flood's interconnected hive mind of sorts. She is not still infected with the Flood. The Spores are gone. If the Flood wish to make her a thrall they will have to get fresh spores into her that are far more capable of infecting her than the last batch. Or burrow into her chest, either or. The Proto-Gravemind wasn't feeding her information or telling her what to do or attacking her. She could simply sense where it was.
I did this so Tali wouldn't escape unscathed from having the Flood in her head. I wanted to leave some mental scars from the experience, a sort of panic reflex her mind has developed as a defence, to keep it from being invaded again. Her brain feels the neural feedback of the Flood and it hurts her. Overtime I have plans to develop this idea further in way that can be seen as a blessing and curse. Right now, Tali can use it to find a Proto-Gravemind and kill it, but that's really it.
As for what happens when she gets to Delta Halo, that will be different. Tali was touched by the Flood and barely escaped with her life, that is going to leave scars. It may not always manifest as pain, but it may have other effects on her mind. You know how they say just looking at an Elder God can make you crazy? I'm thinking it's kinda like that, but not nearly as dire. So again, Tali can sense a Gravemind as her brain feels the presence of one and reacts negatively to it. She is not infected though and this is not a two-way street. The Flood are not looking into her mind currently. Now this may change when the Gravemind becomes capable of talking to folks and screwing up their range of sight with pond scum vision, and I plan on properly expanding this plot point in the future. I'm just telling all of this so you don't get the wrong impression. I like being honest with my readers and not stringing them along with an idea they have misinterpreted.
Lovecraftian: There was this fanfic I discovered awhile back that showed folks the point of view of a malevolent monster that doesn’t understand why the heroes fight him. It was based off the movie the Thing and it really helped inspire this scene here, with a different twist. As you could see the dialogue was borrowed from the Keyes Journal from the Anniversary edition of the game. However, because that journal was too damn good and perfectly acted, it would’ve been a crime to just reprint the whole thing verbatim like a puppet. So, I decided to show how the Flood feels during the same events.
I felt it came off great and I really enjoyed writing the Flood’s amoral worldview into the story. To them, what they do isn’t evil or good, it just is. I think that’s why the Gravemind and his brethren are such perfect Lovecraftian villains in concept. You can’t reason with them, you can’t argue with them, they don’t even register you as a living creature with value. You’re just a thing, an annoyance at worst and an object to be used at best. For the Gravemind, it’s not that they’re evil... they just don’t care about what you want and can’t even understand why you’re even bothering to fight it.
In some aspects, due to the ending of Mass Effect 3, the Flood are more true to the original Lovecraft creations than the Reapers. I will freely admit the Reapers are excellent Eldritch Horrors in all their facets, but that whole... motivation they had rung hollow.
The Flood don’t really need motivations for what they do, they just DO. It’s just how things are for them and they don’t even care or register anything being wrong with it. They exist to spread and consume all life and end it ultimately. The Gravemind doesn’t register this as evil or good, it’s just what it feels should be done and that any effort to stop is both futile and pointless. It certainly has goals, but their motivation appears entirely removed from any sense of what we could define as a reason for their actions. It’s just what they are and they fully accept it, not understanding why others don’t feel the same.
Now you could argue that the origins of the Flood, such as they are, suggest they do have a motivation. However, whatever purpose they were originally intended for has been eroded now to the point it doesn’t seem to matter. All life is just abhorrent to it now, serving only to feed it and allow it to spread further.
This is further evidenced by the Gravemind itself. While they can be seen as individuals, they aren’t really. They all share the same voice, the same mind and the same personality. Gravemind forms are virtually indistinguishable from one another. This explains why the one we fight acts like it’s been alive since before the Halo rings were constructed when it clearly hasn’t. It’s like the Goa’uld from Stargate, each Gravemind possessing the sum total of knowledge from all other Graveminds past and present. They may seem like individuals, but they’re really just the same creature.
That’s another difference from the Reapers. Each Reaper is an individual. They just all share the same goals. Unlike the Graveminds they all have names of their own though. As Sovereign said each of them is “a nation” unto itself. They also speak to one another, as evidence in ME3 by the Reaper on Rannoch, who I affectionately sometimes call Gary the Reaper for his rather droll speaking tone. That’s another thing they each have different voices, further proving that each Reaper is their own sentient being. They all follow the cycle and they appear largely free of discourse, but they’re still different separate beings.
The Gravemind, not so much as we previously discussed, lending credence to the idea that they are even more immortal and unkillable than any Reaper. You may appear to kill one, but they’re not really dead so long as another of their ilk is out there. They can return from any depth of hell you try to send them too and then torture your mind out of spite for thinking you were somehow the victor. Just like any Old One worth his tentacles.
So how do you guys feel about the Flood? Are they Lovecraftian in design and concept? Whether or not you agree with me, if any of you are Lovecraft fans feel free to check out the Kickstarter I’m funding. Yeah, I know, South Park did that episode that complained about crowd funding, but really that was the weakest part of the episode.
I’ve seen it for myself what crowd funding can do for a project and haven’t been let down yet. I recently got my digital copy of “World War Kaiju” and it didn’t disappoint. I also funded Among the Sleep and the only reason I’m not playing that game now is because my computer has a shitty video card. Kickstarter is making possible things that wouldn’t get made otherwise, plain and simple. It’s not just people sitting on their asses getting money for doing nothing. Its allowing us the consumers to put our money into something we believe in, not because we want to get paid back for it, but because we want to see something we like succeed.
With that said, I urge you all to consider funding: “Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown –New Blu Edition,” a superb documentary on the life of HP Lovecraft with celebrity and scholarly interviews out the wazoo! And even better, the documentary is already made. They’re just trying to make the blu-ray release even better packed with more features. They’re a little more than $3000 away from their goal. If you want, you can find the whole documentary on youtube for streaming purposes to check it out for yourself and see why it’s worth money. And if you like what you see please go here and donate:
There’s still more than enough time to reach the $8200 dollar mark and maybe some stretch goals, so vote for Cthulhu this Halloween season, dear Readers. Why settle for the lesser evil? And share this kickstarter with others as well. This is a proper blu-ray release that deserves to be made.
Side Note: To the Anonymous Reviewer who left the remark about the Flood not being motivated by hunger, I'd argue it still is. Maybe it's not hungry for something physical, but you said yourself it used emotions to fuel itself. That's its food and that's what it uses to spread and become more powerful. More importantly I have portrayed as angry, specifically about being imprisoned and its contempt for the Forerunners. I just decided I didn't want that to be the one singular thing that keeps it going. Considering the Forerunners are dead, it's kinda hard to continue being angry at them when you've successfully survived them. So I still feel the Flood is in part motivated by hunger and a desire to feed that hunger.
Yes, it may not be feeding on flesh like a regular zombie, but its still feeding on emotions to allow it to spread. Which I imagine would be why it's so pissed off over being imprisoned, being denied the ability to taste those emotions and continued doing so, adding to the anger it already feels towards the Forerunners for what they did. I don't think the Flood are simply defined by a single motivation or goal, they're a lot more complex than that.
I hope that's answered your question.
Finale Author Notes:
The Maw: You know the most classic excuse people use to criticise Halo’s first outing? The fact the levels after the Library are all basically just backtracking on previous levels. I’ve discussed this before, and I’ll say it again, that is a largely inaccurate description. Yes, the final three levels are in many ways recycled from previous assets. I still maintain, however, that they do different things in those levels and introduce new elements into them.
That is no truer than with The Maw, which I feel was a fairly appropriate bookend to the game. We started out on the Autumn and we had returned to it. And here the whole place is completely different than the pristine spaceship we first awoke on. I personally don’t see how you could end this game any other way. It just feels right that this is how we finish our adventure somehow. The fact they throw everything at you in this final level plays into that sense of finality. You’ve fought all of these enemies before, now they’re all in one level fighting you and each other. It’s do or die time, period. One super-soldier against three armies. Bring it!
Course with the Mass Effect cast involved, Chief couldn’t exactly be alone in his fight this time. At least not for long. I felt it helped speed the plot along in certain areas actually, so it was both a blessing and a curse. I did my best to show Chief was more than capable of doing this on his own, that he was badass enough to accomplish it. However, the core tenant of his character arc is him realising that just because you can do something by yourself doesn’t mean you have to or even that you want it that way. Chief doesn’t really need back-up, but in a way it’s crucial that he has it.
My personal experiences with the Maw itself can best be seen in this main plot line. The bothersome Flood spawning in the final portion of the level being one. It’s interesting how easily you can circumnavigate that though if you’re smart. But damn is it a bitch to get back up if you miss that jump or accidentally walk off the edge. And before that you have to fight through three separate Hunter encounters, I mean God!
As an addendum, those Hunters still have their regen tech. It’s just they were unable to utilize it in time or it was damaged in the fight. When Miranda blasts off that one Hunter’s back armour, she destroys his regen unit with it. The other Hunters were a bit too busy and too close to their targets to activate theirs in time. You see, there’s a brief moment before the Hunter curls up to activate the regenerator that he is vulnerable. He has to get into the proper crouching position before it will activate and you can’t attack while you do it. Not a terrible problem if your enemies aren’t right on top of you… but the Master Chief was. I hope it didn’t seem like I was neglecting the upgrades I gave them, merely showing that they aren’t a get out of death free card. In hindsight, I probably would’ve referenced the regen units before each engagement just so no one forgot about them.
Another little factoid, isn’t it interesting that it takes more work to blow up the Autumn than it does the Death Star? In real life, I imagine Luke would’ve had to pull off that miraculous shot four times myself. I guess the Empire just really didn’t think many people would think to look there. At least they corrected that mistake the second time. For all the good it did of course. I just find it interesting that Chief and the gang had to put a lot more work into destroying their reactor while zombies were trying to kill them. I guess trying to make a fusion reactor meltdown, which some people have claimed isn’t very likely, just requires that bit of extra work.
Anyway, it was a fun level to finally work on as I got to use every bad guy in the game at once. For the first time, no real limits on who could fight who. Save for the Husks who have been exhausted at this point. Remember, Thel ordered all of what they had left to attack the besieged Reconciliation. Don’t worry, you’ll see more Husks in good time.
Major Silva goes Full Jerkwad: It was interesting to see people’s reactions to Silva’s mutiny. A lot of folks really wanted him to die. I figured they would, but I didn’t want to make him seem like he didn’t have a point. He’s still wrong, but he has his reasons. This was probably my most significant departure from the canon story, save for the ending. More on that later. Originally, McKay blows up that bridge to the engine's connection and the whole ship just plummets out of the sky and crashes. I felt like that was a bit anti-climactic for the story I wanted to tell. So from the get go, I decided I wanted Holland to be a countering force to Silva’s orders. Thus creating a rift between the UNSC forces and causing a mutiny. Humans fighting humans, rarely seen in a Halo game. And no, the Prometheans do not count.
I was glad to see so many felt I gave the ODSTs proper penance that their illustrious record deserves. These guys are the friggin Screaming Eagles, First Airborne Division of the friggin future! They have to be badasses. From the start I knew there were enough of them and they’re good enough to give any of the Mass Effect crew a run for their money. The only hope any of them had was to play the fighting withdrawal game.
That, or you had to be a Spartan, the only other UNSC soldier that can go toe-to-toe with an ODST and consistently win against them. Especially if you’re Linda who was specifically trained by ODSTs and was forced to use them as punching practice in training exercises. I think I learned a few important lessons here for future installments regarding opposing threats, not just ODSTs. So, it’s a win-win for everyone I feel. I certainly enjoyed the different dynamic of having the humans fight each other for once. You never realise how fun that can be when you spend most of your time killing aliens, robots and zombies.
As for Silva himself, I did give him a last minute chance at redemption. I still felt he needed to die as proper penance for his actions, but I felt he at least deserved a chance to show he wasn’t a horrible person. He was just… wrong. He let his pride get in the way of his judgement and it cost him. Before no one challenged him, but in this story he has to deal with a lot of folks who don’t really agree with him. I added a bit more backstory to why Silva butts head with so many officers above his rank, that the first commander he had nearly got him killed and he had to save everyone himself. I felt it made sense given his attitude, a young Major with significant combat skill and ability, constantly feeling like he is being overlooked and underestimated. So he doesn’t get along with people who he feels are treating him like he’s not worth consideration. And he despises those like the Spartans who he feels didn’t need to work to gain the recognition he had to earn.
In the end, he’s still wrong, but at least we get an idea where he’s coming from. Think of it like how BioWare SHOULD have done Han’Gerrel in ME3. In the game before, he was a good guy, but he was wrong and was letting his pride get in the way of things and he admitted it too to an extent. In the third game he’s just an asshole warmonger not unlike the Salarian Dalatrass who exists just to be a dick for dick’s sake. Think of this as my way of getting it right. Silva is still wrong, he still acts rashly and he still does stupid things to achieve glory. But you can at least understand why he does what he does and he’s not just being a dick for dick’s sake. Plus he still has to pay a price, so there’s that too.
Zuka: Hmm, you know a lot of folks seemed to feel sad about him not being around as much. Truthfully, and I’ve said this before, there was really nothing I could add. Zuka’s story is told in full and better than I ever could have in the original book. I wasn’t about to steal Dietz’s character and just copy paste his words into the story. I tried to think of ways I could do that, but every time I did it just felt like I was doing it for the sake of doing it and that’s just not a good enough reason. So I backed off and only had Zuka appear in small little cameos now and then.
However, to make up for it, I decided to give him a better death scene. Specifically, a prolonged fight with the Master Chief where he gets to show off how badass Spec-Ops Sangheili truly are. It was nice doing a full on, knock out, brawl with nothing but fisticuffs and a few assists from friends. It’s hard finding places to do stuff like this in a science fiction setting when everyone has guns and plasma swords and lasers and all that. Thankfully, sometimes the story just throws me a bone and I can seize upon the opportunity to do something different. With any luck, future stories will give me even more chances.
So while Zuka and his little Grunt buddy didn’t show up as much, rest assured I never once forgot they existed. I always made sure to remember in relevant chapters that they were around and having their own little misadventures in the background. Out of respect for Dietz’s writing I merely chose not to infringe upon a story I felt I had nothing of significance to add. But hey, Zuka gave me a chance to do a melee fight some folks have been hoping for, so really it all worked out in the end.
Thel ‘Vadamee and Failure: Thel’s final line in this story is my homage to an event in history. I’m a bit of a nut for the past, so please forgive me for my indulgence but I felt the moment was too good not to make a reference to it. That and the events were just far too similar to not connect.
Back in World War Two you see, Admiral Yamamoto was the greatest Naval Strategist the Japanese Empire had. He orchestrated the attack on Pearl Harbour and planned out a number of the opening moves of the Pacific campaign. However, he really didn’t think taking on the Americans was a good idea. He promised at most six months of victory following Pearl Harbour, nothing more. And six months later… Midway.
Anyone with a passing knowledge of the battle knows how badly that went. Through a combination of luck, bad choices by Japanese Commanders, terrible intel and the belief of invincibility among the Fleet’s leaders, the Japanese Navy was all but shattered in a single day. Four carriers gone, along with a lot of pilots and planes. And poor old Yamamoto, who was not leading the battle but observing from afar, could only watch as it all went to shit. When asked what they should tell the Emperor, he told his men that this was his fault and he would bear the blame. “I am the only one who must apologise.”
So few leaders, military or political, would ever be so quick to accept responsibility like Yamamoto did. And to be honest, he didn’t really need to. The fault was all his subordinates, the people on those carriers actually running the battle, they screwed up not him. But no, Midway was ultimately his battleplan so he felt he was responsible. No buck passing, no bitching, no belly aching, he decided to accept culpability for what had happened. Part of me thinks that was what Thel felt after Halo exploded.
There’s a lot of parallels to Thel ‘Vadamee and people like Yamamoto. I’d argue he shares a lot of similarities with a ton of legendary Japanese Samurai and warriors in fact. He’s an honorable sangheili of a noble house, replete with success after success on his long military career. From the start he’s done everything right and won every fight more or less. And one defeat, just one stupid defeat washes that all away. How is that fair? Well, that’s Covenant society for ya, run by assholes.
And like Yamamoto, it wasn’t really his fault. The Autumn showing up, the fact he had to work within specific parameters, the friggin Flood, honestly it just wasn’t his week. I can’t even begin to imagine what that felt like, only that Thel was probably extremely frustrated by the end of it. Is it any wonder he has a bit of resentment towards the Master Chief after it’s done? He was Supreme Commander, the greatest of House Vadam, the head of the Covenant war machine. And then this stinking human shows up and destroys it all for him! Wouldn’t you feel cheated?
Exploring Thel’s time before he was Arbiter has been a real treat. Considering he’ll be giving up his real name next time we see him to don his badass gear and become the ultra-warrior we all know and love, it was nice to see him at the peak of his influence and power before it all goes down the drain. Here’s hoping you enjoyed Thel and that you are as excited as I am for when we get to see him again.
The Jackal Pirates: Oh these lovable murderous rogues, you know the fun part of Mass Effect 2 was exploring the seedy underbelly of the Galaxy. All the less than savoury characters just made for some fun interactions. Is it any wonder that I love Aria so much because of that? Well the Kig-yar of the Fallen Serpent are like but less Mob Boss, more Swashbuckler. That’s why they all carry energy cutlasses, that’s why they prefer to cheat and that’s why they love storming ships. A Pirate’s life is a wonderful life, whether it be in space or sea. So pick a career as a buccaneer and let’s explore their sub-plot shall we? (If you can get this reference, you’re one of my people.)
So Retz was more front and center in this plot than he has been before. I know we’ve never really got to see him fight until now, but that’s because he’s not as big on brawling as Zek. He prefers the more strategic approach than Zek’s tactical hands-on preference. He’s the organizer, the guy who comes up with the initial battle plan and tries to run things from command and control. Zek is in charge, but he relies on Retz to keep the ship running.
Here was the chance to show how he differs from Zek, he’s a lot cooler under pressure for one. Zek has a mouth on him and temper to match. Retz is more laid back and practical, preferring to get through things with a smile and subterfuge. It’s why he takes time out in the middle of a fight to offer a deal for his fellow Kig-yar. He’s practical, it’s the diplomat/businessman in him. Way he saw it, the other kig-yar and unggoy aboard didn’t really give too much of a crap about fighting. They had already decided this mission was a bust.
So Retz held out a lifeline and hoped a few would follow it if only so he wouldn’t have to waste more time.
As I’ve also referenced before, Retz is a bit of a liar as his opening scene for the boarding attack showed. He has a knack for it, as demonstrated in previous chapters. He knows what people want to hear and he gets them to believe him pretty handily. It goes back to how he’s different from Zek. Retz likes to be sneaky and cunning, Zek prefers to think on his feet and work in the moment. So whenever he gets the chance to use his silver tongue, Retz takes the opportunity.
Now Retz will get his hands dirty, he’s not afraid of that. He’s just as smart as Zek in the heat of a fight, but just in different ways. He’s a lot more conventional in his plans and he never goes for anything that may seem a bit suicidal or crazy. That is again Zek’s department. At the end of the day, Retz wants to get out of alive, which tempers any reckless tendencies. Zek in the meantime loves the thrill and freedom of a good fight and prefers to constantly surprise the enemy. If there is one similarity they share though its practicality. Retz didn’t appreciate getting bad mouthed by the Marines for example. He was trying to help them after all. He may have understood their anger at being told what to do by a former enemy, but he just didn’t care. If you’re facing a problem, you should solve it and not bicker about who is helping.
Now, onto the attack on the ship itself. I wanted to give everyone a moment or two to shine on the ship, especially those who probably didn’t have as much of a character arc in this book. To be honest that is an issue with so many characters that I recognize. I can get away with it a little here though because most of said development has already happened off screen in ME2. That and I have several more installments to continue shifting focus on characters that I feel are underdeveloped. Here though, I need to give everyone a good chunk of time to get the spotlight.
That and I wanted them to get to know the Jackals a bit more, get in the trench with them. This way I could show that this alliance can work, but there are some potential pitfalls in the long run. The Jackals are quick to snap, the batarians are prideful stubborn jerks, the Normandy crew have their own foibles and the UNSC are slow to trust. They can still work together, but those difference can at times put them at odds with one another. Something to keep in mind as we go forward.
I’d like to add something here too, Orna’s death scene was originally a bit shorter. When Crow pointed out that I was missing an opportunity I liked the suggestion he gave so much I did a rewrite. I gave Samara a chance to share some more banter with Orna to denigrate his zealot rhetoric. It gave our beloved Justicar a greater chance to share the concepts of the Code with others and showed everyone how little room for compromise there is. Expect her to find working with pirates difficult in the future.
As another little tidbit, the song the pirates sing in the final chapter is sung to a tune similar to “Fish in the Sea” a shanty some of you may have heard if you played Assassin’s Creed Black Flag. It’s a bit easier to hum a song in your head if you have an idea how the tune plays, so I’m just letting you know beforehand.
The Warthog Run: THIS is why The Maw is such an awesome level. The ticking clock, the exploding ships, the winding halls, the chaos all around you, the bad ass music, it is the perfect end to an awesome game! I love the Warthog Run so much I wish I could skip to the end of the level every time just to play it over and over again.
Naturally, I wanted to capture its spirit best I could. Using every set piece to the fullest extent, recapping every awesome moment one could pull off and throwing in some fun little action sequences that I feel should’ve happened anyway. It was the sequence I was most looking forward to writing. I think I pulled it off pretty well. Not much time to fit in dialogue during an escape sequence, but I was able to stick a few tidbits here and there. So ultimately I’m really proud of it. There’s not much more to say on this, save that I always wanted to play Co-Op just so I could shoot some stuff with the turret as we drive through. Shepard got to live my dream.
Oh, and Zek and Varvok making that gap jump? Crow’s idea again. It makes sense since they’d weigh the least. It also created a nice moment between the two characters. Just the fact that through all this they’ve sorta become friends is a nice thought to me. There may be hope for Varvok yet if he can tolerate the company of a loud mouthed cocky pirate.
Survivors!: You know the one thing that makes Halo’s story a great game, the bittersweetness of its ending. You saved the galaxy, but at the cost of everyone else on the Autumn. You survived and consequently they all died. In every other game I played up to that point when I won there never seemed to be a concept of consequences. I beat the bad guys and that was it. Halo was my first experience with a game’s story where I still felt like I sorta lost regardless. All those people I helped out, all those Marines I saved… they’re still dead. It was unavoidable, but it took the piss out of my galactic saviour narrative. It made me reflect on everything and then, when Master Chief tells me we’re just getting started, I remember… this was just one fight. There’s still a war out there and a lot more people are going to die before it’s over. It put things into perspective, and assured me that there was more to come.
Naturally I wanted to preserve that feeling, but I also wanted to depart from the game’s narrative significantly. I couldn’t have the Normandy save Reach. That would’ve been ridiculous. One little ship couldn’t turn the tide against a whole Covenant Armada. But I could, with a little coaxing, get them to change the outcome here. I could have them save people, they didn’t all have to die.
So I have that reflection here with them first thinking they’ve lost all their friends and then Chief and Shepard realising that they have more work to do, and that they’ll need to do it fighting beside one another. But I also gave the game a more upbeat ending. I already had the sad, downer last time with Reach and Six dying. So this time the heroes get to pull out a tiny win, they save a good chunk of the Marines and Troopers and have earned themselves some allies. Questionable ones, but allies nonetheless.
Overall, it sets up an interesting dynamic to explore, one I’ll elaborate on another time. For now though, I hope this shows that the crossover is starting to deviate significantly from the traditional story. There’s going to be a few more deviations as well, but you’ll have to wait a bit to find out exactly what those will be.
Guiltless Spark: If you hadn’t guessed by now, a pretty standard theme running throughout the story had been guilt. All the characters feel or are guilty of something and are dealing with it in different ways. Each person comes to their own conclusion, either finding redemption, learning to let go, denying it, or absolving themselves of it. However, one character’s journey was probably the most unique in that regard, Guilty Spark.
Throughout the story, I wrote him as I felt he was, a synthetic lifeform trying to rationalise between his protocol and his personal desires. He is a stickler for Protocol, he refuses to disobey it, but at the same time he wishes to experience more. He wants more than just what Protocol offers him. Specifically, he wants to be told he did the right thing in assisting in activating Halo. He wants validation for his actions, not absolution, not redemption, just validation. Something he already constantly tells himself. It’s not denial of what he did, he simply has concluded over the past several thousand years that what he did was right. Now he just wants someone besides himself to agree with him.
Despite his name, Guilty Spark feels no guilt. He did what was necessary and that is all that matters, no matter how terrible it was. Halo needed to be activated, the Flood needed to be stopped. End of story. All he wanted was just to have someone offer a second opinion that agreed with his own. Cause really, what’s a conclusion to a problem/hypothesis if it isn’t peer reviewed? He says it himself, the worst thought he can imagine is that his sacrifice was in vain, that the plan failed and that he could be wrong. If he was wrong then he was guilty, but then the humans show up and prove that yes, the plan worked! He was right!
And then the Master Chief decides to blow up Halo. Not the best of the days to be proven right. Funny enough though, my story adds something else into the mix. Shepard tries to talk things out with Guilty Spark, tries to convince him of the truth. Usually the paragon approach works with him, but this time it had unintended results. Now Spark realises that protocol can bend a bit. He can follow it and still achieve what he wants. And that’s a dangerous realisation for a Rampant AI with a grudge. And it’s all thanks to Shepard telling him to try thinking outside the box, whoops. It may take a while to fully come to pass, but this will have significant ramifications in the future. Stay tuned to find out what.
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