PoFE (Timeline and OTD)

Timeline (No verified "dates", since I'm shit at that kind of thing)

• Human Covenant War Initiates
  
• During the defense of Reach, the Forerunners appear in the Galaxy, intervening. The Covenant, briefly unable to believe that their "Gods" would appear so humanoid, attack the Forerunners. With humanity on the sidelines, the Forerunners dominate a two year conflict, totally dissolving the Covenant and driving the San Shyuum into near extinction.
  
• The Forerunners establish an authoritative regime over most Covenant Races. Humans, while skeptical, establish an alliance of non-interference. The Forerunners refuse to share their technology, seemingly out of xenophobic fear.
  
• Forerunner Lifeworkers begin to take an interest in humanity, much to the human race's discomfort. Planet Ganymede is ocupied by Lifeworker "Guests". When the Non-Interference Treaty is cited, the Forerunners refuse to acknowledge it, and Forerunner Lifeworkers are allowed to live peacefully on Ganymede to collect information.
  
• Growing distrust and tension continues when Martial Exercises are conducted by the Prometheans on Human territories. The UNSC begins deliberations on a military response, but Walter A. Law vehemently objects to any action taken against the Forerunners.
  
  "YOU FOOLS. Striking against them now could result in our extinction. We will fight them ONLY if necessary."
  
• UNSC spies make a disturbing discovery. Forerunner forces are planning to combat a "Parasite" that had apparently fled the Galaxy. In their deliberations regarding defending against the threat, humans are being considered for use as weapons. They also appear to be planning the development of a super-weapon called "Halo".
  
• Lifeworkers restore the San Shyuum population, and make Planet Reach inhabitable again.
  
• Promethean officials demand the location of every human inhabited planet from the Lifeworkers. Not only does the Librarian refuse, she and her forces warn the humans in advance. Walter A. Law retracts his statement of pacifism against the Forerunners, and the Humans begin deliberations on a wartime strategy.
  
• The Didact issues a cryptic statement, followed immediately by the total siege of Human Inhabited planet Harvest. The human population is Composed.
  
  "You will stand down and obey. Our onus is to protect all life, even at your expense. Humanity, lower your arms, and aid us in our war against the inevitable doom that approaches out galaxy. Do not refuse change."
  
  Humanity, facing total subjugation by Forerunner forces, turns to Walter A. Law. Walter declares total war on the Forerunners, and assumes power over Humanity's defense.
  
• Humanity restructures its government entirely to defend against the Promethean led Forerunner military. The Cole Protocol is re-established. All plans and documents are to be stored in an easily destructible paper filing system to avoid Forerunner data hacking software.
  
• Covenant client species are brought into the conflict to assist the Forerunners. Some minorities of Species revolt, turning against the Forerunners. Those that are not immediately destroyed form a shaky alliance with the humans.
  
• All human naval battles result in defeat. It is a war of attrition. Human planets are lost. Dr. Halsey achieves absolute authority over the Spartan programs, and recruits not only top human minds, but is assisted from afar by the Librarian herself, who opposes the brutal subjugation, and impending eradication of mankind.
  
• The Legion scores the first naval and ground victories of the war, stalling the Prometheans while the UNSC evacuated the planet, and devastating a Promethean capitol ship. Though the planet was lost, human lives were defended, and the battle cost the Prometheans more than it was worth.
  
• In order to gain allies against the Promethean Threat, and in a humanitarian effort, The Freelancer program is formed by Dr. Bailey to support Covenant efforts to escape the Forerunner empire. The Freelancers are able to successfully and quickly infiltrate Promethean occupied planets, and evacuate prisoners using stolen teleportation technology. In their rescue operations, a successful assassination of a high ranking Promethean was carried out, scoring another victory.
  
• Humankind adapts. The Infinity is created, and begins a naval campaign, counterattacking against the enemy. achieves Tier 2 on the technological scale, and creates more powerful AI.
  
  The Spartan program reaches Stage IV.
  
• The UNSC, the Freelancers, and the Legion merge their efforts to form Ausdauer Wille (Wille for short), a military organization with the sole purpose of finding allies against the Prometheans, and ending mankind's subjugation.
  
• The losing battle continues, punctuated by successful counterattacks made by mankind, against a constant backdrop of constant, steady Promethean victories.
  

That's the timeline I had in mind. In the present day, the Humans are slugging it out with the Forerunners, in a manner that almost mirrors the Forerunner-Human conflict that happened years before, except this time the Librarian has sided with the humans while they're still capable of fighting.

Wille is basically what would happen if The Freelancers, Legion, and UNSC had a mutual threat. No more competition. They've all formed a team dedicated to stalling, or one day defeating the Prometheans.

Noice, looking forward to getting this baby underway.

Those are some pretty radical changes to the Halo timeline.

However, why would the Forerunners oppress the Covenant client species? Wouldn't it make more sense to treat them more or less as they did before? Their guardians?

As for Wille, will it's follow some Legion tactics and doctrine? War does lead it after all.

One other thing. How heavily will the development of new technology be featured in this story?

Wille is led by War, and will act like War. With Walter in charge, and survival on the line, Wille is built by War for war. Nobody will complain, and though there will be a bit of friction, War is the best qualified to lead fight for humanity's survival.

As for the Forerunners, they have fairly little regard for the client species. The Covenant, due to sheer circumstance, struck out against the Forerunners, and they suffered badly for it. However, the Forerunners did one thing right; they proved themselves to be Godlike. Whether out of fear or religious loyalty, the Covenant still worships the Forerunners. There are members of the client species who know better and are willing to rebel, but they are few, and easily crushed.

As for the improved technology, this is mostly related to naval combat, Spartan Augmentation, transportation, and weaponry. Their ships meet Covenant standards in terms of slipspace jumping, and possess energy shielding. Armor with better capabilities than SPI are steamlined and used commonly. Mjolnir has been advanced to the Halo 4 standards, and then some.

Also, ground vehicles have new, more covenant twists. Mongooses and Warthogs have built in stabilizers that can allow them to skim on water. Scorpion Tanks can hover like Wraiths, rather than using sloppy treads. Plasma Rifles are common on the battlefield, and manufactured by humans, as are energy based Melee weapons. Imagine an assault rifle with a plasma bayonet.

Humanity, as per Walters orders, has geared EVERYTHING towards more powerful tools with which to fight.

...NICE.

I have a few ideas I could use, if you fellas would be willing to listen. I mean, my main "free time" project is ALREADY constructing a nation where the Legion rules... so it really shouldn't be too much of a stretch to take some ideas from there and apply them here.

If you guys are cool with that.

Sounds cool! Tell me a few. :P

Also, if you've ever what Maura actually looks like, I found a picture today that pretty much looks exactly like her.

It's exactly the same as the image in my head when I thought her up, minus the beauty mark just below her cheek.

Check it out.:

Some of these are more "traditional" in terms of technological advancement, some of these do raise moral concerns... but as they say "morals are often the first causality of war".

Side Note:

"Concentrated Nukes" - This is simply an informal term used to distinguish between the nukes we know the UNSC has, and the Legion improved nukes. With a special warhead, the nuclear charge is directed into a conical shape AT the target. A regular nuke in space (which is what the UNSC seems to have) would only inflict about 10% of the damage it would in atmosphere, compared to the 85% done with this conical shape. Do note, this idea (and the science to carry it out) was thought of by the US military in the 1980's.

MAN (Magnetically Accelerated Nukes) - Basically its a MAC that fires off a nuclear missile, which is capable of tracking the enemy. This gives it a range comparable with that of "low end" lasers. The nukes used would also be the "concentrated nuke". Basically it launches a nuke at very high speeds, and allows it to detonate before point defence can shoot it down. At least against traditional Covenant technology.

Laser Point Defence - Rather than using bullets in space, point defence would be derived from the Spartan Laser, and so they would replace the traditional bullet spewing point defences. This also allows to the take down enemy missiles faster. Comparable to Covenant Plasma beams, if used in a point defence role.

"Smart" Bullets - Bullets that are able to track their enemies and change direction. This is a technology that is actually being looked into by the US military right now.

Self-Propelled Bullets - Essentially miniaturized rockets, they are bullets that can propel themselves forwards, gaining kinetic energy (and therefore damaging ability) the farther they travel. 

The gyrojet of the 60's was based around this idea, minus the rocket concept.

Shielding Layering -This is pretty much simply a copy and paste of Sangheili shielding technology, where higher ranks have stronger shielding. Human forces only issue this to soldiers who need it for certain missions.

Enforcers - Dumb A.I. built specifically for battle and put into robotic bodies on par with MJOLNIR armour. They serve no real purpose, and are more or less powerful cannon fodder. However, Smart A.I. are sometimes used as commanders of large numbers as they can handle it much more efficiently than a dumb A.I.

Spartan V - Although perhaps not the most pleasing of names (to us writers), Spartan Vs are genetically engineered from conception and raised from birth to be the perfect soldiers. Best known as "test tube babies" in popular culture. They are created by the government, and therefore are more or less government property.

Self propelled bullets sound badass. They'd make a great addition to Jorge's chaingun.

I like how most of these ideas are based in reality, or have prior precedent in universe.

Would the Spartan Vs have much variety, or sentience? What would they be like? They call to mind the Republic Commandos in Star Wars.

Bad John wrote:I like how most of these ideas are based in reality, or have prior precedent in universe.

Would the Spartan Vs have much variety, or sentience? What would they be like? They call to mind the Republic Commandos in Star Wars.

Spartan Vs, unlike Clone Troopers... aren't clones.

Spartan Vs are merely combinations of various genes into "perfect sets". In reality, only a select number of genes are altered to make them "perfect". Traits like hair colour, eye colour, etc are pretty irrelevant in combat.

Other than that, they're not really that different from the Spartan IIs in terms of genetics. Instead of having to search for humans with near-perfect genes... you can MAKE genetically perfect humans.

As for personalities... think Spartan IIs. However they are extremely loyal to War.

ALTHOUGH that's not to say their ISN'T variation in their personalities. Some see Walter as a father. Others see him as a strong leader to follow. Some do it simply because they don't know anything else. Other follow the ideals set by Walter, and were he to fall they would follow whomever else would carry out those ideals. Some just like to fight, and stay in the Legion because it suits their fighting style. Other may see Manuel as a more suitable leader for the Legion, as Manuel has a more intimate connection with the troops.

Basically, they have very different reasons for being loyal to the Legion which will affect how they go about their actions.

Oh, and Spartan Vs are VERY awkward in social situations outside of military life. They try to avoid it as much as possible, and as a whole Spartan Vs generally tend to stick together. The only exception is with Legionary Spartan IIs and IIIs, whom they hold a great deal of respect for. They tend to shun Spartan IVs and see their civilian backgrounds as an "error".

Hm. I like that. In a lot of ways they're like the Spartan 2.1s.

Where do they stand in terms of physical ability? The way I see it, without Armor factoring into it, the order is pretty much Spartan II, III, then IV in descending order, due to the extreme levels of danger the Spartan IIs undertook for their mods, and the fact that the Spartan III augmentations were not only powerful, but they get MORE powerful as the Spartan IIIs age.

Who's providing the genetic material? The best candidates are the best physical fighters and top minds. Chief's pure luck and combat ability, Linda and Lucy's sniping skill, Kelly's speed, Jorge and Blaine's physique as well as Blaine's stategic mind in Naval combat, Manuel's brutality and charisma, Maura and Vance's aggression, and John's courage and close quarters prowess would all be GREAT places to start.

It'd be interesting if Walter made sperm and egg harvesting mandatory. Just another reason for John not to like Walter; Walter requires people to donate sperm once a month for being good at their jobs. There's nothing more uncomfortable, cold, and clinical than jacking off into a tiny plastic cup in a doctor's office. -_-

Unless Walter were to employ a few nice ladies (and gentlemen if that's yer thing) to harvest said genetic material.

*Raises and lowers eyebrows suggestively.*

In terms of physical ability... I'd say they are probably somewhere between a II and a III. Solely because improved augments (compared to IIIs and IVs) and better genetics.

And while sperm/egg harvesting WOULD be a nice potential comedic relief from all the grimness of the story... I wasn't picturing that. Humans have been able to create clones of animals without the need for gamete cells, in other words... we can use any cell we want. The UNSC probably has blood samples of most personnel, so that could be an easy way to get DNA.

Even then, I don't think that's how the Legion would go about it. In the Legionary Empire, the one I build in my free time, Humanity underwent a MASSIVE research and development drive after the events of Halo 4 and have had some years to build. I figured that eventually the Legion would be able to build DNA from scratch, since when you boil it down... it really is just a bunch of chemicals arranged into certain structures.

Spartan Vs would be built from the ground up, using DNA from previous Spartans a reference as to what are good genes. Then good genes are replicated in a test tube, but it's not like a good gene from one person was directly passed down from one generation to another. That way Spartan Vs are not really kids of previous Spartans, and see only the Legion as family.

EDIT: BEHOLD! Artificial Gene Synthesis, first done in 1972.

That's one way to do it, but it's nowhere near as fun as the reason I was waggling my eyebrows.

Since in this universe, John won't get a chance to fight the Covies much, I adapted the reason for his semi-blindness in his right eye.

He was dumb enough to try to go hand to hand with a Promethean. It shattered his visor, and the glass nearly blinded him. :3

Oh. Posting a thing after I post this reply. Feel free to give it a look. It's a short read.

Other things to consider.

Humanity never discovered the Halo rings, and the Forerunners in this continuity left them behind when they retreated from the flood. Maybe part of the plot could be taking the Halo rings by force.

Once humanity took true control over the rings, the Halos could provide not only a powerful weapon, but the massive device could be a safe haven, and a respite that the Forerunners would have severe trouble taking back. Humans could re-purpose the sentinels and defenses present to use it to actively combat the Forerunners, and take a true, lasting offensive.

Also, here are some of my weapon ideas.

1. Punt Gun- A sound based shotgun that fires high frequency waves. Has either a more concentrated burst, capable of denting metal or blowing holes in matter, or a wide burst that is mostly nonlethal, but can cause severe pain and concussive shock, forcing enemies back.
   
   
2. Energy Razor- For emergency use in vehicles, it is a small device that generates a controlled blades or lances of plasma energy. It is flawless at bypassing shielding, but few soldiers are brave enough to use a solely melee weapon in combat. It is the human's answer to covenant energy swords, and forerunner energy blades.
   
   
3. Progressive Vibration Combat System- Basically, a longer knife that uses kinetic force to create vibrations. This allows it to damage armor more easily, or cleave through organic matter with less force required.

Bad John wrote:Other things to consider.

Humanity never discovered the Halo rings, and the Forerunners in this continuity left them behind when they retreated from the flood. Maybe part of the plot could be taking the Halo rings by force.

Once humanity took true control over the rings, the Halos could provide not only a powerful weapon, but the massive device could be a safe haven, and a respite that the Forerunners would have severe trouble taking back. Humans could re-purpose the sentinels and defenses present to use it to actively combat the Forerunners, and take a true, lasting offensive.

...Assuming Humanity can even get through the naval defences.

It's possible that the Forerunners have lost track of the location of the Halo Rings entirely since leaving the Galaxy.

If they were JUST finding one, or hadn't gotten to one at all, it'd be possible to fight them off of it.

Other technological ideas.

• Orbitars- Used by Prometheans, these devices usually come in sets of Seven. They are silver, segmented constructs that orbit Prometheans and project powerful shields, capable of not only defending, but completely repelling physical matter and enemies. They can be destroyed by significant force: trying to deflect something as heavy as a warthog, or a direct punch or kick from a Spartan is enough to do it.
  
  What makes them terrifying is that, if you're dumb enough to try to fight a Promethean up close, they can block, disorient you, and then issue a brutal counterattack.
  
  Orbitars aren't all bad though. Humanity stole the technology from a downed Promethean and used it to develop new defenses for ships. Humans can now project hardlight shields in front of vessels to deflect the worst of Forerunner abuse, or even, in an ideal situation, cut an enemy ship in half.
  
  
• Battle Sphinx- A terrifying vehicle with a stern, forerunner face, fighting one of these is pretty much like facing a dragon. They move on two legs, or fly over the battlefield, decimating enemy forces. They are swift, but fairly slow moving when not in "travel" mode. A few shots from a Scorpion is enough to force them down, but a skilled pilot can entirely avoid shots, so a method to ensnare or disorient them is required to take them down. That, or a very lucky shot.
  
  
• Promethean Dreads- The Prometheans have found more ways to repurpose composed human lives. These unfortunate souls are a more specialized version of Promethean Knights, Watchers and Crawlers. They're built in different shapes and sizes, made to be better suited for certain jobs, such as heavy combat or stealth.

About the orbitar shields... Warthogs and Spartan fists shouldn't be able to connect. It repels ALL physical matter, so it should repel that away.

Repelling is more like a force field... Like when you try to put two magnets of the same charge together.

And let's say it's merely a shield... The fact humans use it for hard light suggests it's originally made out of hard light. Things like missiles wouldn't be able to penetrate... Since Halo 4 showed us Hard Light can protect someone from a NUKE at close range.

Hard light is just crazy insane like that.

OH and Battle Sphixes should probably be able to withstand a BARRAGE of Scorpion shots. It's a war machine designed by perhaps THE most advanced civilization in the universe. Scorpions pack LESS firepower than tanks today you know...

As for the warthog, that is correct. With a Spartan striking it, I don't mean the spartan striking the shield, I mean him connecting a blow to the orbital itself before it deploys the shield. And if Hardlight is stricken with enough force, or overtaxed, it tends to short out, doesn't it? As shields switched places after being depleted, that would offer a chance to strike. Orbitals are basically orbiting, automated, more competent Watchers built solely to provide shielding.

As for War Scorpion Tanks, huh. I didn't know they were so unbuff. D:

Yeah, your typical M1 Abrams fires a 105mm shell. The scorpion fires a 90mm, but it is more explosive damage than it s armour piercing :p

Hi Zman!

I suppose I'll make this the OOC thread, and make a storyboard later tonight. We've gotta decide on where our characters stand in the current day and whatnot.

Wow, perfect timing. Anyways, hard light used by humans (as seen with the armor ability shields in Halo 4) short circuits probably due to our engineering faults. Pure forerunner run hard light, like what Cortana uses at the end of Halo 4, seems pretty strong.

Oh, and one other pretty big thing to consider: character statuses. We can't assume that everything would be the same between them, as Forerunner intervention occurs before our heroes forge their bonds (i.e. OUR Human-Covenant war).

For example, John may not have met Blaine yet (if I recall they met on Earth during the events of Halo 3). Manuel probably hasn't had a real chance to befriend Blaine, John, etc. Master Chief obviously never disappeared, and Cortana should not be rampant. More of the Spartan IIs might still be around since the Forerunners intervened at Reach. The Spartan IIIs will be more numerous since not as many were sent out on suicide missions. The last company made probably got off Onyx since the Covenant probably didn't show up.

Oh! And... Avery MOTHERFUCKING JOHNSON should still be ALIVE.

And so on.

Or is everything I said what you meant by "where our characters stand"?

Pretty much what you just said is what I meant, but on a way bigger scale (OMG JOHNSON ALIVE OMG OMG OMG OMG <3)

Part of it is how Wille's fleet acts. I imagine, due to the fact that they're constantly awaiting attack, they're usually in the same solar system, but a bit spread out, lingering far enough from human worlds to prevent their location from being observed, but close enough to provide a rapid response if a human world is attacked, and small parts of Wille (Like the Freelancer capitol ship, or other Marathon or Halcyon class cruisers) are dispatched for missions with some accompaniment.

I meant where they in the universe, and whether or not they know each-other. John, being a Freelancer, would likely be with the main fleet, on the Infinity, acting as security detail unless he's called into combat for a specific mission, or the Freelancers themselves are dispatched for a mission.

The only thing I have to disagree about your statements Manuel is that the III's would actually still be in short supply. Without the Covenant destroying as many planets, there would be fewer and fewer Orphans with the rage to volunteer.

Therefore, that part of canon would still be true. With everything else, it's a simple 'oh, we actually met when the Forerunners first started fucking everyone's shit up.' Mutual friendships/common ground could equate to strong bonds, like what Blaine and John share. Or the friendship Jorge and John hold.

Besides all those things, I agree completely. Also John, I dunno if you want to. But perhaps the three of us could meet on Xbox tonight to talk about the story in person and collaborate on a story?