Young Writers Society

The Ruin on the Hill

LORE

UNSC

Earth. Our home world; the world that gave us life. Not only life, but dominion. We were the apex predators, the kings of our world and in our ignorance and vanity, we thought there was no one else out there to challenge us.

We were sorely mistaken.

The Covenant. At first we knew nothing about them, only that they were intelligent, far more intelligent than us.

And they were bent on destroying us.

For years we fought, driven by arrogance, then with rage, then with fear. For all our genius, we could not push them back. With all our destroyers, jets, tanks, and soldiers, we could not push them back.

First they took our colonies, one by one, the planets we looked up to, dreamt of, and finally landed on, were brutally stolen. Those were our first refugees. Then they took the inner colonies, and we felt them breathing down our necks.

That's when Halsey showed up. Lead scientist of the UNSC, she bought the first Spartans into being. Our first super soldiers. Our first spark of hope. Our only spark of hope.

They consisted of our children, taken as such and trained to fight till manhood, when they were released into the fray. Science figured their minds were more adaptable, more able to accept new ideas than an older man. Thus they were different, trained not to be a soldier, but a warrior. Yet despite our newfound hope, a sense of dread hung over us. Something was coming, something momentous.

A few years later, Reach was taken.

The largest UNSC stronghold, built to withstand anything the Covenant threw at it, was glassed into oblivion. The entire planet was burnt black by the fires of war. And we felt fear for the first time.

But the war went on. There was no time for fear, no time for grief. What was destroyed could be rebuilt. That's what we told ourselves. The Spartans fought, holding ground, taking it, then losing it in an endless cycle. Planets were lost, footholds were gained. We had some victories in those days, some reasons to smile. But the ever looming enemy fixed our features into permanent scowls and tortured frowns.

That was when 117 was born.

Trained like any other, he was given the MJOLNIR IV, our newest and most advanced technology and sent out into the battle. Then the miracles began.

The Halo, an anomaly in space, found by 117. The Covenant were after it. That's all we knew. We fought for it, solely to deny our enemies. Then 117 uncovered its purpose. The Halo was a weapon, but it was so much more than that.

Forerunner

The Covenant were here before us. The Forerunners were there before them. A race of gods, they created things we could only dream of. They spread life across the galaxy and lived in peace. But the Forerunners were vain. Thy conducted experiments in an attempt to better themselves but failed horribly. Those who took part became unspeakable abominations and were sent into space, banished.

But the abominations had different plans. They returned, and spread infection across the world. The Forerunners fought back, expending all their resources to drive the infection, no, the Flood out, but it was no use. In desperation, they built the Halos, massive weapons capable of wiping out all organic matter in a massive radius. Then they activated it.

Billions of lives were lost and the galaxy was barren. But the Forerunners had not finished yet. The machines they built, the androids and robots began anew. They made all the multiple races of Covenant, they created the human race, they created everything we knew and all the things we didn't as well.

The Covenant

Finally, we knew about our enemies. We knew their intentions, their reasoning, and how to defeat them.

The Covenant, a massive alliance of six whole species bent on finding their Forerunner gods. For all we know, they could have decimated entire civilizations in their search. But they had indeed found what they sought. Their god took the form of Medicant Bias, an ancient Forerunner AI who put an end to their quest. The Medicant Bias identified a Forerunner artifact as us, the human race. Infuriated, the Prophets, leaders of the Covenant, decided to keep their followers in the dark.

Thus, the Prophets announced their undying hatred of the human race and told their masses that they must activate the Halo Ring, the Forerunner artifact of destruction, to ascendant ultimately join their gods. That was how they would win.

But that was also how we would defeat them.

UNSC

We destroyed the Halo Ring and killed the False Prophets. The Elites helped us do so, realizing their folly, their blind faith and devotion.

And the World was at peace for a time. But that time has ended once again, you know so.

You told us it would.








You are a Spartan. A United Nations Space Command super soldier. Equipped with the latest MJOLNIR armor, you are able to move faster than any man alive, lift more than anyone else, and process complex information that would take any scientist days to understand. As a Spartan, you are tasked with enormous challenges. This includes acting as on field commandos and extremely mobile task/strike forces, capable of taking out enormous amounts of enemies and devastating the opposing army.


But times have changed. You are a dying race. Hunted by both the Covenant and Forerunners, you are the last line between survival and the extinction of the human race. Now you are on Reach, once a UNSC stronghold now taken over by Covenant. Stripped of everything but a magnum and your armor, you must make it home. But something far bigger is at hand. Something ancient and dangerous that could threaten not just the human race, but the whole galaxy.

REACH

After the events of the Didact invasion, you and a group of six are sent across the galaxy as initial recon units to uncover and secure other forerunner artifacts. However, upon crossing the planet Reach, you are shot down by covenant patrol and crash land on the planet. The training programs had talked about it, they'd used the tactics, weapons, and Spartans there as emergency prep before sending you off, but most of all, they'd warned you about landing there.


Reach was home to the mightiest UNSC stronghold designed to repel anything the covenant threw at it. However, after heavy casualties and Covenant WMD's, it fell. Now Reach is a Covenant stronghold. Luckily, there is unrest in the ranks of the enemy.


The church has been destroyed by the death of the Didact, their god. A section of the Covenant has rebelled and joined a separatist movement and a new social body has risen called The Didact's Hand. Regardless of the confusion, the Didact's Hand is still bent on finding and securing Forerunner artifacts, putting you in a dangerous spot.

Regions

The Ruins


The rubble and glass of former UNSC bases long gone. Here in the cratered plains their are covenant outposts and patrols, waves of smog blanketing the area, and mazes of fallen buildings. It is considered highly dangerous to venture in because of the Covenant proximity and vigilance, but their are troves of hidden armories under the rubble that have yet to be found. Will you take the risk of venturing in?


The Highlands


This mountainous region is probably the most isolated place on Reach. The misty snow peaked mountains have caves along the face of it probably worth your time exploring. Around the base of the mountain the shining lights of another stronghold gleam with malevolence. The Covenant are interested in the caves too.


The Borderlands


Home of the Covenant's base of operations and famous for the first head on battle against the covenant back when Reach was still held by the UNSC. This is without a doubt the most dangerous place to land in. Scoured by covenant scouts and cargo ships every day, the borderlands lack weapons, resources, and most of all, cover.


The Glasslands


The vast areas of Reach that didn't survive the onslaught of the Covenant. The glasslands mean certain death for anyone venturing into them. There are no patrols here. For whoever lands in this hellish wasteland, good luck.


The Canyons


The twisted passageways of the canyons are probably the strangest places on Reach. The canyons are dangerous. With walls too high to jump over and no protection from the constant pounding of the sun, these bleached caverns become hellish mazes of angles and curves stretching for miles on end.





The Covenant: Races

The Elites: The best warriors the Covenant has. The smartest, the bravest and the most skilled out of all their brethren, they always lead the charge in battle. Experts in stealth, they have massacred entire platoons of our best men without breaking a sweat. The Elites are always thinking, always calculating, they strive to be one step ahead of their enemies and have almost singlehandedly fought the human race to the brink of extinction.


The Skirmisher: Fast and agile, the Skirmisher can scale terrain to take out its victims from half a mile or pounce on their prey from close range, firing a pistol or tearing into you with tooth and nail. The Skirmisher can sneak undetected through almost anything and act as scouts for the Covenant legion.


Hunter: A one man army. The Hunter is built like a tank, able to withstand heavy blows and dish out just as much. The Hunter carries a Fuel Rod Cannon and an armored shield. It can charge through personnel and armor and protect from heavy fire. However, they have weak armor on their back, exposing the Hunters spine. If a couple rounds get into that spot, its done.





Faction:

The Church: The Church worships the Forerunner race, an ancient race that created all races known today. The Covenant Church seeks to uncover relics left behind by their gods which started the Halo dilemma when they tried to activate the Halo, a Forerunner artifact used to wipe out all organic life. Although driven back, the Covenant Church still conquers planets and searches them for any sign of their deities.

Defected: The Defected are those who know the truth. Those who realize that the Covenant is corrupt, those who realize that the Covenant have been mislead. The Defected are scattered across the universe, some hiding, others fighting back along side their former enemies, the Spartans.


////Transmission Log ~[2563] ----Landed---th------Pla-net----Reach----ship----hit Cove-----nant-------Cor-ve---tte-------weapo---ns lo--st-----pods--------dro--p--ped---in-----AO-------att---em---pting------regg----rouping------Private ------ sign-ing out.