Given how big this is for me, I decided to cover the entire finale in a single final post rather than for individual chapters. Spoilers abound, so I hope you have read the entire finale, from chapter 46 to the Epilogue. Let's get into this! We have a lot to go over.
Adapting Operation-First Strike: I have said before that I try to over rely on the novels written about the events of these games. The purpose of which is, besides being rather old, potentially out dated, and not always important to the events I am telling, the fact is they are someone else's work. I always fear plagiarizing their work as a result of me utilizing their plots. I rarely think I can add much to a thing as it appears in the novels. The books exist, if you want to see the events as told in those books, the books are there. Games are different, I am adapting one medium to another, a novel to a fanfic is considerably less of a stretch medium wise.
All that said, there was no avoiding it here. First Strike is an important part of the canon, you can't just ignore it. It isn't like Ghosts of Onyx, which is a side story featuring none of the main characters from the mainline series of games. This is an explanation as to how the Master Chief buys Earth time before the Covenant invade, how they know where Earth is, and why Regret showing up with a less than impressive force is something of a surprise. I had to adapt it. But I knew there would be a ton of changes as a result of my own writing.
I had already removed a few of the other Spartans due to redundancy and the fact I have a big cast here. So while there is a significant change in the players, I added in some other things. The method of insertion to add more stakes, even if we do not end up covering the forces holding the hangar due to time. An early encounter with the Brutes to establish they were here and give the Spartans an action sequence. Cortana's copies being part of the plan early on rather than an improvisation. Also, I made them more clearly erratic and off-putting to foreshadow and frame them as not being Smart AI like their progenitor. The Ascendant Justice remains on standby, rather than heading for Earth before turning back to save the day and sacrifice itself. And of course, the addition of some new snarls in the plan, in the form of... well, Snarlbeak. Necessitating Commander Shepard's direct intervention and rescue of the Spartans.
But I had to keep the broad strokes, or at least allude to them. Linda being separated from the group, the means of destroying the station, the layout of the Reactor Room itself, among other things. That said Reactor Room was the most difficult thing to properly capture, the original novel basically explains it as a massive space within the Station itself, seemingly describing it as a small city. Lots of open ground and smaller structures. It had been a while since I read the story, I thought this was a large living space atrium that LED to the Reactor Room, not the surrounding area in and of itself. Upon going over the relevant chapters again, I discovered how mistaken I was.
It was hard, to be honest, trying to figure out HOW the Operation went precisely and getting the details down. I eventually resorted to careful examination of the source material to properly get an image in my head of what I was dealing with. The very description of the "Temple-Like" structure of the Central Reactor itself is from the book. As is the general layout of the fight that occurs in the run up to it. I was initially confused, as at first I assumed the reactor would be in one of the large teardrop structures. Then I thought it was in the area that connected both ends of the station. Then I learned, nope, actually in that teardrop structure and in fact, its basically a little city stuffed in there to boot!
What grounded me, thankfully, were the Spartans themselves. Because despite all the difficulties in properly understanding what the environment they were fighting in looked like, they remained simple enough. I have always tried to emphasize the Spartans, whenever they fight together, IIs or IIIs, are a well-oiled machine. They know precisely how to function and act within any given combat scenario. They highly skilled, competent, cool under pressure. I have immensely enjoyed being able to write their missions together. This was no different once the fighting actually started.
I placed Chief in his element here, as a Leader of elite super soldiers. He knows every single one of their skills and specialities. He knows how his team operates and they know what is expected of them from him. When Linda offers to be Overwatch as shit hits the fan, he needs only to understand her plan briefly before going along with it. He keeps everyone in the zone and on task, but never makes bullies or demands them to fall in line. And whenever things go wrong, he adjusts. I wanted to capture how it feels to be the Master Chief in his full element on this mission more than any. I like to think I accomplished that.
A few things I realized writing the Spartan scenes. First and foremost, I love Sniper characters. I really gave Linda an insane amount of spotlight despite never being in her head directly. She gets to play an important role in the run to the reactor and afterwards. Sure, a lot of it is from the book, especially her dangling from a rope, upside down, fighting off banshees, but I still enjoyed getting to write her from Chief's perspective.
The next thing I noticed, I really like alluding to how Kat died in canon. I did it when she lost her original arm, I did it in the dark future storyline where she ended up dying just as she did originally, and I did it here with only a slight reference to Evil Dead 2. Because at some point, I would like to think Kat got wise to how her situational awareness can be an achilles heel for her. I think I keep doing it, less as a mythology/lore gag, and more of just a bit of personal gallows humour on my part. To keep reminding readers that she is supposed to be dead, that her presence in the plot changes things. Here, she avoids taking the bullet that kills one the Reach Spartan survivors from the original book. Not cause she is better, but because she has learned her lesson.
One other thing I noticed, the differences in how I depict Elites and Brutes. While this is obvious enough given how different they are in the games, it became more pronounced here. Switching between Elites and Brutes fighting on the same battlefield really highlights their differences.
Elites are more prone to careful tactics and the utilization of technology. Brutes are true to their name sake and constantly try to get in close. The can make for some truly harrowing fights. Elites can too, but not as frequently. If I don't frequently have a brute charging a Spartan in some manner, shrugging off bullets and screaming, I am not doing my job. Elites don't do this sort of thing, they are more mindful. I don't have them engage in the same manner. Its a last resort thing for them, not a switch they flick at the drop of a hat.
I used a lot of war movies to properly centralize myself while writing these scenes. I think it helped me get the behaviour and feeling down pretty well. I probably should have watched Black Hawk Down most of all, given some of the allusions to a few scenes that have relevancy to this part of the story. In the end though, I kept putting it off as a reward to watch later. Still haven't, probably will once all these chapters are posted.
Having Shepard and crew play cavalry was a big highlight for me. Always great to see the Normandy crew jump in to save the day. Honestly, its a nice bit of a callback to the first story in the Chronicles, when Chief and the ODSTs arrived to help Shepard. Plus it was nice to see some more action from all of them, given its been a good chunk of chapters without them on the frontlines. If I regret anything, its not finding enough excuses to use more of Normandy's crew in this final act. Oh I managed, I even got Jack to battle the Cerberus Infiltrators. But as this is a crossover, I always felt I could do more. But circumstances required me to shift things a little in the end.
Speaking of adaptations, and "When There Was a Tomorrow" I feel the need to address this. Literary and Written works are not Video Games. I think that much is obvious to all of us, but all me to explain what I mean by that. Basically, two different mediums are never going to perfectly match one another. A book is considerably less interactive than a video game is. Things inevitably change as a result. What works in a game, does not in a story. Characters need to interact more, emotions are required, spoken dialogue and additional exposition is necessary. I feel like I have gotten better at making these combat sequences feel like a video game in the broad strokes. But ultimately they are not.
I do not think Master Chief, even from the current games, would talk as much as mine for one. But that is by design, Very few FPS characters talk during gameplay. Not just because it breaks immersion, but because its rarely necessary to convey everything occurring. However, when you write a character, you need to have them talk more. Unless they are unable to, like Saya is. But even then, I need to have him communicate somehow.
I take dialogue very seriously. I feel it is necessary to convey emotions between characters and to set tone. It is an effective and important means of delivering information to an audience, and beyond that its needed for the story to flow. I suppose that is why a lot of my characters are chatty. I have heard some people accuse me, in the past of Whedon-ing Up my dialogue. Which, I suppose its fair to admit the semi-influence. My characters tend to throw out quips, banter. But that isn't really Whedon or MCU stuff. I actually reject those criticisms, because I feel they are an abject simplification of what that specific use of dialogue is.
I remember when having characters with fun quirks, quippy memorable lines, and a penchant for running commentary was just... character writing. I feel if the old Ghostbusters movies were released NOW people would accuse the characters of not taking anything seriously and destroying tension with wisecracks. (No shit, its a comedy) I try to avoid that sort of thing for when the character is not like that. I have always maintained Chief does not make oneliners, He states facts. Says exactly what he intends to do and then does it. Does not mean the other Spartans won't do that sort of thing though. He has to be the stoic leader, not them.
For me though, battle commentary is not about just having quips or fun lines. Its about some essential to scenes like this: Communication. Combat requires constant communication. You might not need it in a video game because of all the waypoints and the objective in the corner of the screen, but have you ever wondered why in so many CoD games, and movies that CoD games crib from, there is always so much radio chatter? Why someone or some thing is always chattering away? Because that is just how combat works. Communication and the relaying of precise, accurate statements is highly important.
We can throw in a joke here about how we are just making an enemy mad, but the importance of that line is for set up. Jun does not think their current strategy is working and he believes they should come up with another quickly. Dialogue, to me, should be memorable and serve the method of communicating concepts and ideas to the reader. It also breaks up the narration and prevents said readers from having their eyes glaze over and just read passively. Trust me, it happens. The more silent your protagonist is in written word, the easier it is to lose your sense of placement in the story and just go with the motions or thing happen, now another thing happen, and so on.
Dialogue also serves to better set up dynamics and conflict. Jun has also been one to low key snark about something. Kat can be abrasive. Fred, I feel, tries to put people at ease. Kelly is highly technical. Linda is more candid than Chief, not as stoic, but acts in a more spontaneous manner. Having the Spartans and their unique personalities play off each other helps embolden them and give them identities. Something you do not need as much in a video game, or in gameplay, but is certainly necessary if you want to present these people as characters within a scene.
Back when I wrote When There Was a Tomorrow, my purpose in presenting more chatter was of a similar goal. I needed to contrast the characters of Mass Effect with that of Halo. Specifically, the Normandy crew and Noble Team. And I needed to present their specific dynamics and contrast them against each other. I feel at this point at least I have found a greater sense of balance between all those various needs. But it is always a tricky tightrope to walk, I admit.
For here, I needed to keep the Spartans talking with each other specifically for one purpose... to set up how important they are to the Master Chief. How he needs them around him to make him feel more complete. So when Linda stops talking to him, because she is in trouble, that hits all the harder and impacts the decision John will make to go save her, similar to how he did so in the original book.
I have always felt communication is necessary. I have actually had that message drilled into me for a long time. I do not feel having fun banter or quirky comments somehow detracts from a scene just by the very nature of it being there. Frankly, a lot of my problems with modern writing have less to do with "MCU Dialogue" and more to do with an increasing lack of solid motivational threads. That characters will do things just to create conflict or force certain outcomes. Honestly, them telling a joke or something would actually make them more endearing than being constantly angry at everyone just because. (Looking at you Kwan from that abomination of a Halo TV Show)
All of this is to say, adapting a video game is not easy. I have a greater appreciation for that now. You cannot take an interactive medium and expect to make it work perfectly in one that is passive. I am still learning how to accomplish that even now. I like to think I have come a long way since my first story in this venture. When There was a Tomorrow had a lot of learning experiences to be sure. I think though, I have done reasonably well, all things considered. And my philosophy remains the same even as I fine tune it. You simply cannot rely on narration alone to convey a scene effectively. It will never capture the emotional rawness of dialogue.
I would like to hope I demonstrated that in this chapter, but as I said, I am always trying to learn.
Fighting Snarlies: The Space Battle wasn't as hard to properly set up in my mind as the one aboard the Space Station. It was simply a lot easier to understand. The nebula provided cover from the Covenant, so Snarlbeak's fleet and the Alliance Flotilla could fight it out on their own. The hardest part really was the start, with the Ascendant Justice alone.
One lone Covie Carrier should actually stand a decent chance on its own against a bunch of enemy ships. But the Ascendant Justice was badly damaged and it simply was not performing at a hundred percent. That gave me a good excuse for why it did not just curb stomp everyone, and Snarlbeak needing to kill them himself with the Astral Cutlass' power is a good reason for why his fleet just does not finish them off. But I needed to keep the tension up all the same and make the actions of both sides believable. The audience knows help is on the way, I need to make them think they might be too late.
For Whitcomb, Holland and Haverson, the job is simple: Evade and shoot. Avoid as much damage as possible, keep the MAC gun, your best weapon, safe along with the Gettysburg. I had to figure out how they could do that, outside of the usual defensive moves. I figured, use everything they have. They don't have many fighter pilots, but they have some pelicans and they can use them as gunships. They have the Longsword fighter, which I would give the call-sign of a Spartan sword... which as I understand is actually kinda short so... funny. But hey, nice call back I think.
Point is, the UNSC has at least some means of keeping themselves safe. They are not helpless, just in a bad position. And no matter how hard they try, no matter what they do, it becomes obvious they cannot fight off every problem. They are surrounded, they are losing weapons systems, and if they lose engines, they are done for.
Snarlbeak's forces have the advantage here. They don't need to do anything but keep the carrier here. Disable it, knock out its defences, prevent its escape. They know about the big nasty plasma weapon it has, Snarlbeak has warned them. All they need to do is avoid that and basically take the ship's engines out. And until then... just pick at it. Send in a ship or two then pull back. However, of course they see an easy target so that does not always go the way they want.
Some think they got a shot at taking down the engines or disabling the ship, and they get too close to the MAC and its takes them out. But not enough do that to completely deplete their numbers. Most stay back or tank the damage enough to survive. This shows the UNSC still has teeth and the Snarlies aren't infallible but the advantage remains on their side.
I got a good deal of inspiration for this part of the chapters through Greyhound, a fantastic movie about the Battle of the Atlantic, showcasing how allied destroyers faced off against German U-Boats. Great movie, and that near miss torpedo scene was largely inspired by some of the most nail-biting parts of that film. While a naval battle is highly different from one that takes place in space, most of the mechanics are similar enough. Save for the added lateral dimension, Its more like a submarine battle, rather than a surface one.
Said fight only turns around once the Fallen Serpent and Normandy arrive to even the odds. While they are both far smaller ships, they have the advantage of being smaller targets. They can fly under the radar, they can sneak up, get in close, and provide more defensive options. The Thanix Cannon alone is an equalizer. Its powerful enough to take on a ship twice the SR-2's size easily.
The choice of "The Wellerman" as the Fallen Serpent's triumphant return music was made well in advance. At this point it was likely enough the Jackals had heard the song, and connected to it. So it was an easy way to slot it in within reason. Plus, given the song's context, the choice by Boz and the pirates is obvious enough. They are taking on the role of the Wellerman and have come to offer relief to the embattled Ascendant Justice.
An additional issue of writing this part of the story is finding other things for the ships to shoot with. The Covenant-built ships of the Snarlies had to shoot more than just plasma torpedoes. As did the Fallen Serpent. The fact is, I can keep having these ships shoot weapons that are basically built to kill ships when, the point of this fight, is not to kill the carrier but disable it so Snarlbeak can kill them later.
Luckily, the Covenant do use other weapons. Plasma Lances, Plasma Cannons, Plasma Mortars, all great weapons with specific purposes that could feasibly be used to damage a ship but not outright destroy it. That was extremely useful to giving this fight far more dynamic and interesting tactics to explore and this more ways for the ships to interact. It just made writing everything more fun.
I liked letting Kaz take control of the Serpent for a bit. That was good fun, seeing this nerdy, introverted, engineer try to play captain. He actually had some good skills that complimented his role, but he was still green and I showed it. He is not the most confident of charismatic guy. This is not his field and he knows it. Thankfully, he has Joker backing him up. So that is a relief.
I cover more of the fight from Boz's perspective in the appropriate BBR chapter, adding some additional stuff to it. Things that I could not focus too deeply on because I had to keep everyone in the moment and the focus on the battle at the forefront. So some of that stuff got shoved there.
Moving into the nebula gave some more intriguing visuals to the story, as well presented some hiccups. It made it more believable as well that the Flotilla Alliance had time to hold out and for Zek to get the Syndicate to them. It solved a great many problems with suspension of disbelief in general and kept the tension high since one wrong move at the Carrier ends up facing a bunch of Covies on the other side of that cloud.
In the end though, Zek prevails and gets the Syndicate Fleet to help stop the fighting. And then kills Zom in the process because there was no way he was going to follow Zek. Plus it made for a funny scene of every other Snarly in the fleet very quickly backing Zek once he used the Astral Cutlass to kill Zom so utterly.
Extracting the heroes from the Station was then the other challenge and, well, I decided on using the Astral Cutlass and Mac Gun to facilitate that. Just cut clean through the Covies and create a big old path, then have every other ship in the Syndicate fleet keep the Covenant occupied while our heroes run the gauntlet out.
I have one regret for this part of the chapter, and thats the acknowledgement that I was simply unable to give the Marines, ODSTs and Batarians more of a spotlight for how their fight was going. I suppose it increased tensions, whether or not they were going to make it out alive, but I was disappointed I had no time to devote any pages to them. Everything else took priority. Sure, I got a fun extended sequence of Spartan Banshee dogfighting out of it, but I still wish I could have found a way to make it work.
My means of making up for that was giving Varvok a bigger role in the final gauntlet run. I got him and his men on a gunship and I had them run interference with Shepard and the Spartans directly. I was able to give him at least something to full cap his character arc. That I am happy with.
I am also happy with how I ended things ultimately in this section. Using the warhead we picked up from Snarlbeak's plunder nest, in tandem with the Astral Cutlass, the MAC gun, and the Normandy's own slipspace navigational systems, tied things together nicely. A truly collaborative effort across the Flotilla Alliance. Plus it tied up on loose end I still had left. Chekov's Nuke and all that.
Overall I am happy with how all sides of the Operation First Strike panned out as an adaptation, even if I did not get to do everything I wanted. With that in mind though... let's go over the other half of these chapters in earnest.
The Syndicate Queens: I talked a lot about them, mentioned them, alluded to them, and now here they are all, in all their very objectively terrible glory. Zor, Zox and Zoth, the Pirate Queens of the Syndicate, the three characters I have wanted to show off for so long its not even funny. From day one of the creation of the Syndicate, I knew I always wanted to actually show who the Queens were and as I developed them over time, their characters emerged into what you see before you now. And I could not be more proud of how each of them turned out.
Their behaviours, quirks, clothing and mannerisms were all heavily inspired by another group of conniving bird-like beings that were greedy, duplicitous assholes. That's right, if you guys are big fans of the Muppets and Jim Henson like I am, you can already guess. The Skesis of Dark Crystal were always in my thoughts whenever I thought about writing the queens. You have no idea how hard it was to not just have one of them declare "Trial by STONE!" during the entire Royal Court scene. They are that connected to the Skesis in inspiration.
Of course, they are a little more agreeable and not nearly as black-hearted. They clearly aren't the best at their jobs though. I wanted to make that clear. The Syndicate, while powerful, is clearly struggling if they are so incapable of fighting back an attempt by Snarlbeak to usurp their power. They are too worried about disrupting the status quo, getting the wrong kind of attention, sharing power or even just trusting others. They probably could have prevented things from getting this far if they had a more stable foundation based on respect, benefiting pirates beyond themselves and building mutual camaraderie among the kig-yar. But they are a crime organization and that does not exactly fly when you are running an illegal operation.
If power and tradition is all that matters to the Syndicate, then it stands to reason that is all that is needed to control it. With the Astral Cutlass in hand, Zhoc has both and it terrifies the Syndicate enough to try and cut a deal, using Snarlbeak's less than stable ground to try and get a decent contract out of things. One where they are still in charge and there are some checks and balances to keep Snarlbeak tethered closely to their rule.
Probably not the best plan, but better than starting a pirate civil war they can't win. So they were likely going to capitulate eventually despite their bravado and posturing until Retz and company showed up. Which enabled the semi-court room proceedings you saw.
Let's talk about the queens themselves though, because they were the stars of these scenes more or less.
Zor Bix represents the violent streak of the kig-yar and that of piracy. She is all about the blood. I made sure to not make her decked out in red clothing of course, because Jackal blood isn't red but purple, so it would make no sense for them to associate red with violence or gore. Zor's favourite thing to do is to fight, she lives for it. More than fighting, she loves killing. I mostly picture her as an Ibie'shan for this reason, just a very pissed off to all hell, meat off the bone eating barbarian-type pirate who really embodies the Black Flag mode of slitting throats.
Covering her in bones of her victims, both animal and otherwise, was my way of giving her a unique design and paying homage to the Jackals we used to encounter in Halo games who wore helmets that looked like skulls. I love that design, wish they used it more. Zor overall isn't particularly deep, but I enjoyed writing her bombastic, to the point personality and overeagerness to literally kill anyone for whatever reason just because she wanted the excuse. She isn't a total psycho, but she does see problems in a simple manner. That being "Kill 'Em All And Take their Stuff!"
Zox Jek is my favourite to write, as she is the most funny in my mind. She is the oldest of the queens and it shows, embodying the legend, myth and romanticism of piracy by being the Syndicate's chief lore keeper. She is a traditional Jackal in my head. which fits given the Northern Continent kig-yar look the most grungy and Skesis like. Where the other two queens who violence and cunning to keep their thrones, she gets to keep hers because all her kids are just happy to use her as a figurehead, because her brain is too far gone at this point to rule effectively, but no one really wants to get rid of her because then they have to actually do the job for real. Always have some degrees of separation from responsibility, that is the kig-yar way.
I really loved writing Zox, her senility and penchant for saying the most random things based on whatever was swimming around in her head gave some levity to the scenes involving the queens. That and she ends up being the nicest of the three, even if she is absolutely useless in most other capacities. But she does know her pirate code and she will stick by it. I based a lot of her off the really old grandma in Christmas Vacation, particularly her penchant to forget where she was or what decade she was in. The sleep talking though, partially inspired by a character from an old Xbox game, Whacked!, who was always sleeping in his sentient chair and mumbling bullshit TV Catchphrases while he snored through the game. Zox was overall a treat. Best Pirate Queen in my opinion!
And lastly there is Zoth Gorb, the De Facto leader of the Syndicate who basically keeps the other two in line. Zor is a brute and Zox is... well, out of sorts, so she essentially runs the whole operation under the guise that the clans are truly cooperating with one another. She is the schemer of the group, representing the guile and cunning of the Jackals and piracy. Therefore she is the most articulate, the most put together and the least easy to sway. Zor just wants to fight and kill, Zox is enticed by the romantic notions of piracy's legacy and nostalgia. Zoth does not care, this is a business! You make money with a business, everything else is secondary. She shares that with Snarlbeak, but she respects tradition more than him. While I depicted her in a red outfit and all that, I could see her wearing the "I Am Surrounded by Idiots" Shirt if she had one. She honestly feels like she is wrangling an organization full of them at times. Especially with her two co-leaders.
And of course, as revealed, she is in fact Retz's mother. This was planned for some time, that Retz actually has more authority within the Syndicate than even he let on. And yet he still threw it away because he saw how divorced from their promises of protecting pirate culture were from their reality. Zoth only ever saw an ungrateful child who questioned too much, too often and never appreciated the things he had, failing all her best expectations.
If you are wondering, no, Zix is not Retz's sister. Zix only wishes she was Zoth's daughter, because she idolizes her so much. Which probably factors into why she hates Retz. He had everything she ever wanted and he still threw it away.
Zoth and Retz do not have a great relationship as you can tell. It is very sour by the time we come into things. I have actually been alluding to this twist for a while. Suggesting Retz had great opportunities and expectations, that he could have been something, that so many were jealous of him, and then with Zoth herself I made it very clear her anger was far more personal. I am honestly excited to see how people read Retz now, going back with this information.
You probably noticed that, maybe, these three possess the personality traits of the King Ghidorah meme. Zor is left, Zoth is middle and Zor is Kevin. They are even positioned that way on the stage. This may have been a subconscious decision, I do love that movie after all, but mostly it was just how it panned out. And making them this way gave each a clear method of how Zek could effectively manipulate them later on to join his side. Violence, Infamy and Profit, you can guess which ones were used on who.
While they are pretty awful, there is still a hope and chance that the Syndicate will be better off now on its current path, once they realize Zek is right about the new Golden Age he is promising. Its quite possible some of their daughters with vision will take over from them and steer the organization back to what it was meant to stand for. Probably not Zor though, she is likely going to be around forever at this rate. And one of her next proclamations will likely be demanding that everyone in her clan be commissioned Cheese Hats and there will be much rejoicing! I love these three awful pirate queens so much. Do not be surprised if they somehow show up again in the future. I mean, once Zor hears about the terrific fight going on down on Earth, she'll likely demand they go there right away as Zox dreams aloud about fishes swimming around her toes and Zoth groans about why she has to suffer them as co-leaders.
I could probably make a series about their bullshit. Golden Pirate Queens! We would have a live studio audience and everything.
Zek vs Snarlbeak: And here lies to other meat of the chapter besides First Strike, the final confrontation between our drunk jerk with a heart of gold and our story's main villain. It has been a long time coming and I feel it is time to speak on how both these characters are a mirror of one another, as well as how their parallel arcs ended.
To start off with, Zek coming to terms at last with who his father really was is the capstone to that part of his arc. Dread being friends with Zhoc meant he likely sent something to him as a final farewell if things went wrong. Which they did. So Zek watches his father finally explain himself. It is not a great excuse, but that is not the point. This is how Zek let's the last of his animosity and fears of becoming his father just go. Dread had no expectations, held no resentment, and accepted he was an awful father that Zek owed nothing to. Not even revenge. That is all Zek needs, absolution from having to think he needs to carry any sort of burden. And it also tips him off to Zhoc's true weakness, the fact he cannot let go of the fantasy he has created of who his sister was and how he has never said goodbye.
I suppose it is weird to have Zek, after everything, open up his duel with saying sorry to Snarlbeak. Zhoc is a detestable character and I never let anyone forget it, especially in these chapters. Snarlbeak has done terrible things... but he is still a tragic figure because all of it was so unnecessary. All he had to do was just say goodbye to Zvaz and live for himself instead of this figment of a sister he created. Would he have been a better person? He probably would not be this awful at least.
But it is important for Zek to do this, because it shows how much he has changed. From the cocksure asshole pirate who is ready to insult and belittle anyone he does not like... to say sorry to his greatest nemesis. Because he is not going to let the same things that made Zhoc into Snarlbeak infect him. This is not about revenge, or beating Snarlbeak, it is about setting right what he messed up.
The fight is a back and forth between sword strikes, cosmic powers and more than a little bantering. Crow joked about how this could potentially be resolved with some insult fighting, ala Monkey Island. I could have probably done that a little more, but I just decided to do the small reference instead. Zek obviously will not go all out with the Astral Cutlass, which might lead to an easy win but will probably break his mind. Snarlbeak has no such concerns, but is so quickly overwhelmed by the power that he basically loses most of his senses.
The push and pull of the fight was important. I needed to show how on the backfoot Zek was as a way of increasing the tension. Not just for the outcome of the duel, but if Zek would win it in time. It is also part of his penance. Zek still has to get the snot beat out of him for the colossal fuck ups that lead to this that he himself caused. He needs to be on the defensive for most of this so that when he does get the upper hand, it feels earned and appropriate.
Just so you know, that brief flash of The Raider during the fight was probably a latent memory of the Cutlass itself and its former master. The Raider is not in the sword like the Chronicler was, but he has left an impression on it from using it so much it seems.
So how does Zek win? Well he is a pirate, he does not have to play fair. The Chorka tanks in the engine room, Zhoc doing this sort of thing was already well-established long ago, gave Zek the opportunity to gain some allies. As well as properly showcase that he has developed a greater sense of empathy. Zek already respected the Chorka, but he never sympathized with them until now. Until he realized how trapped they were and how much they were suffering because of Snarlbeak's own personality faults.
The Chorka's little tidal waves and water spouts manage to mess with Snarlbeak enough for Zek to get the upper hand. As well as position them in the perfect spot for Kasumi to blind him and for Zek to finally show Zvaz's last message.
Chekov's Last Will and Testament!
I had already revealed Zvaz was not the person Zhoc thought she was. This confirms it and other things. That she did not join the Syndicate to protect Zhoc, fearing it would change him. That she believed in piracy as more than profit, just like Dread Feather did. That Zvaz never wanted any of what Zhoc thinks she did. That in his zeal to avenge her, he potentially destroyed everything about the brother she loved and sacrificed for.
Like I said, Zhoc is a tragic figure, but because of the potential lost rather any real sympathy you can have for him. Zek, seeing the tragedy tries to give him an out. A way to escape all that pain he has lived with because he knows how it made him feel. The problem is, well... as much as Zek wants to truly help... Zhoc does not want help.
It is sad to see the revelation of who Zvaz was break Zhoc completely rather than give him a redemption moment. But it was appropriate. I feel too many people present their heroes as far too eager to just put the villain out of his misery these days. There is a huge demand for violent, bloody catharsis, that it will not be satisfying unless we watch the hero bloody the bad guy's face into the ground. I do not agree with this approach for all villains. You need to pick and choose when to go that far. I believe in fostering empathy, even for those who reject it.
Snarlbeak was simply to hurt and broken to want to be fixed. The Cutlass likely did not help. But in the end it would not be Zek who killed him, but one of his victims. The chorka killing Snarlbeak felt more appropriate because if it was Zek, then its just revenge for petty reasons even if Zek does not view it that way. The Chorka doing it gives catharsis to a creature that Zhoc abused directly and for far longer. That was the better way to end Snarlbeak's story.
So the duel ends with Zek learning empathy and truly letting go of his worst self, while Zhoc gives in to ever horrible impulse he has ever had. It is not a glorious end, I do not give it much fanfare. Its a tragic ending to a tragic but evil character, but the sweet to the bitterness is that at least Zek has avoided becoming like him.
Snarlbeak has been a driving force as a villain for this entire story. Remnants structured its whole story around his motivations and grand design. It is quite something to say goodbye to a character, a villain, I have devoted so much time to for years now. But, I am glad I did it. I always think its possible for a simple villain to have more depth than him just being purely greedy or a psycho. That they can be plainly, unforgivably, purely evil... and yet still have layers. We do not have to make them sympathetic, or give them some kind of well-intentioned goal, they can just be selfish, cruel monsters and yet still have something admirable about them. Something that makes them the hero in their mind. I like to think I accomplished that with Snarlbeak. But I will leave it to readers to decide.
Farewell, Snarlbeak, hopefully you are with your sister now and she forgives you for all you have done.
The Fate of the Astral Cutlass: With everything else wrapped, Zek having convinced the Syndicate to help the humans, and made up with the UNSC himself, there was one more issue to resolve. Getting the queens to agree to join the was was easy. Accepting consequences and giving up some things to make up with UNSC was also easy. But how do you remove the Astral Cutlass from the fray without making its existence completely pointless?
The Astral Cutlass was just too powerful to keep around. Even with the limitations I added to it. If I just shove it in a box, the temptation to open that box still exists. And everyone will just ask "Why not use the cool instant win sword?" whenever I do not use it. So it has to be taken off the board and I knew that. But I also really did not want getting the sword after all this time to lead to nothing.
I thought just having it be the way Zek gets the Syndicate to follow his lead would be enough, but I felt I needed to justify the decision further. With the Fallen Serpent about to get some sweet upgrades from the UNSC, potentially increasing its ship weight class up a few levels, I figured, why not justify that further by powering up the ship with some cosmic reality juice? Not enough to make it a deus ex machina ship, but enough that it feels like a portion of the Astral Cutlass is still flying with Zek. Even as he throws it into the void.
I knew for sure though that at the very least Taq had to be there for it. She started this journey, she set Zek down this path. It is only right that she helps him to conclude it. And its even more right that she at least gets to feel the power of the artefact she spent so long chasing. But like Indy and the Grail, she has to let it go, just like Zek does. The Cutlass does more to inspire the kig-yar as legend, as a physical object the risk of it chaining them is too much, and Taq knows that as much as Zek does now.
But the Cutlass did change Zek for the better ultimately, which is probably more important than anything. Especially in regards to him and Taq. You are probably wondering if these two crazy birds have a chance at renewing what they once had. That even if she never forgives him, maybe like with Zek and his father, they can at least move on. I think that is possible. Whether or not they can be an item again remains to be seen. But for now, they are at least friendly with each other then they used to be. I am overly fond of their mess of a relationship in any case and do sorta hope they can both find something to make them happy. Perhaps even with each other. But I let the story take me to places like that more than myself. What it wants is more important than what I want.
So who knows? But they got better chances than most.
Clean Up Bits: Once all that is settled, I begin working through some extra hanging threads. First and foremost, Varvok's arc. Properly showing how his position has drastically shifted from where it started at the beginning of this story. From a reluctant frenemy, to a true ally of Commander Shepard. Varvok has come a long way and a lot faster than I original planned for him. This revelation and the line about how he believes in an idea, not a government, was only supposed to come here, not a few chapters earlier when he admitted to Zek he was going to side with the UNSC and help them. That he was going to change the Hegemony and make a free future for his people. Like I said, Varvok was supposed to take part in the schism, but by the time we got there that did not ring true for him any more. So, here we are now instead, with Varvok adopting his freedom fighter position fully.
Crow's favourite in chapter 48 is that bit about loyal to an idea over country actually. Which I am glad, because that speaks to Varvok as a character overall.
Chief coming to the same conclusion he did in the book about the Flood Data was inevitable, but what was more important in my mind was what he did with the unredacted report in this timeline. And what he does is give it to Shepard, the one person he knows above all else he can trust. Its an important step in my mind towards the partnership and friendship that has grown between them. An acknowledgement by the Master Chief that Shepard has had an effect on him. That he has learned to trust him and that trust means he is giving Shepard a shared responsibility. It was a scene I wanted to write for a while. An acknowledgement of how much Shepard and Chief have come to rely on another and will continue to do so.
Will giving the unredacted report help Mordin find a cure? Unclear. It is never that simple and Mordin, for all his intelligence, cannot work magic. However, it might lead to something else down the line in the far flung future that can help save some lives. Who knows? But only time will tell.
And of course, there was one other thread that needed tying up. Namely that dark future timeline and Liara's future self kissing Shepard. Obviously, he eventually told Tali. He had to. She got over it... but only towards him. She still needs to work things out with Liara in her way. And borrowing a bit from her own character arc in this story, she does it by indulging in a little good-natured selfishness and just a tiny bit of territory marking to Liara. It is probably a bit more risque then one would expect me to end things on. But for this story, it felt right.
How Liara handles having watched... that... will have to wait until another day though. As will the stuff in the epilogue. I hope you enjoyed a sneak peak at the next story there, but for now, let's wrap this up.
Saying Goodbye to Remnants: It had been a long and trying road. Far more than I thought it would be. At many points, I honestly worried I would never get this story done. That I would be trapped writing this thing forever. That I was not good enough to see it through, that I could not handle the task I set for myself. I never wanted to quit, but I beat myself up repeatedly for not doing more every time I failed to get stuff done.
Remnants has been a huge part of my life at this point. A major driving factor of a lot of my writing. It has been so long a journey, it is hard to imagine not waking up and thinking about its next chapter. What started out as my attempt to redo the premise of Star Trek Voyager in Halo with First Strike as the backdrop, ballooned into something I was both proud of and tested by repeatedly.
It forced me to think about my writing a lot. About what I wanted out of all this. Its hard to put into words what I have found without sounding pretentious and self-important. I do not wish to give myself a big ego about this. All I know, is that it was a long, trying, difficult road. Battling with my own self-doubt, my fears and anxiety, just everything these past few years have been. But what kept me going was the thought of a story unfinished being far worse. Of leaving these characters and their journey incomplete. I needed to see it through for them as much as myself.
I feel my writing has improved, my sense of self-worth and understanding had risen. I feel relief at the completion of this story. And also a little sad I guess. To know that I will not be thinking about what grand adventure the Flotilla Alliance will get into next chapter. Now my thoughts will be on adapting Halo 2 at last, as well as other projects of course, and while I am happy for that and eager to get started, it still feels strange to know Remnants is finished.
But I have never been more proud of accomplishing a project like this. Of powering through these past few months and finally, at last, setting our heroes on the path home. If I could do it all over again... knowing I could not really change anything... eh, I probably would want it done faster, but I still would go through it again. Because I became a stronger writer for it.
I want to thank a few people for this. My online friends who kept me sane at my lowest. You guys really did keep me out of the dark more times than I can count. To Crow for being such an amazing beta reader and editor, dealing with all my stupid mistakes, repeated phrases and writing tics I still need to overcome. And finally... you readers, who stuck with me the whole way through. To everyone who was here at the start, to those who just found me now, thank you for coming along with me on this. Thank you all for being so patient and supportive. I can only hope you will stick around for the next instalment of the Wormhole Chronicles and whatever else I have in store. And believe me, I have quite a bit, not just Halo and Mass Effect either.
This whole thing started years ago. My desktop died, I was forced to get a new laptop, I spent a good while writing about Godzilla fighting the Galactic Empire, and then dove straight into a space pirate adventure that took so long to finish, I am now writing this blogpost on a tablet because that laptop I wrote most of this story on is just about ready to die. The march of time and all that I suppose. But regardless of anything else, I look back on Remnants fondly and towards new projects on the horizon.
And as my second to last epitaph to this story read, I leave you all with the sentiment Mark Twain once gave. The hope that maybe, just maybe, if we all good and kind to one another, if we follow our hearts and put our best efforts forwards... maybe one day... we all be permitted to be pirates.
One voyage ends, but another lies right around the next line on the map. I hope you will all join me for that one too. Until next time, may the solar winds of the ever black be your guide. Yo ho, you bunch of scurvy pirates.
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