#UNSC Army

[newarc]

Warhound RDF-- Pike Element-- Pike 1-2

UNSC army unit

[unsc-army]

UNSC Army > UNSC Marines. Simple as.

HOOAH!

Someone’s got the right idea.

[phenix720]

"UNSC Army"

[sayruq]

The US, on 29 February, vetoed a UN Security Council (UNSC) statement that would have condemned Israel for the mass murder of over 100 Palestinian civilians who were awaiting the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza City. “We don’t have all the facts on the ground – that’s the problem,” US deputy ambassador to the UN Robert Wood told reporters on Thursday. He then claimed there are “contradictory reports” about the Israeli army's latest massacre and highlighted that Washington was focused on finding “some language that everyone can agree on.” Thursday's veto is the fifth time Washington has blocked a UNSC statement or ceasefire resolution that would hold Israel accountable for the atrocities it has committed in Gaza.

[thecountofs]

Viscount Fyle, acting head of the Vyrant Family and the Commander-In-Chief of the 1st Hildago Army, leading the GPSR against the CMA and later, the fearsome UNSC

[helix-studios117]

Halo Reloaded: Master Chief & more about Spartans

Born and raised on Eridanus-II, John Downes was the son of bioengineers and gardeners, who wanted to genetically modify Earth-plants to be sustainable on other planets (everyone, up until this point, had just been using the indigenous plants from the alien worlds they colonized); up until he was taken into the Spartan Program, John attended a school known as "The Reach For Life Foundation," a prestigious upper-class school (that was created on Reach before expanding out to the rest of the galaxy) designed to turn all of it's students into the next generation of pioneers, colonizers and explorers who will bring life into the uncharted reaches of space. Humanity came in contact with The Covenant in the year 2511. The Spartan Program saw production in 2517; most of the Spartans were born in the year 2528, while John Downes was born in the year 2530. That two year gap may as well have been a chasm between him and his brothers-&-sisters-in-arms. But, like in canon, the main reason why John was chosen despite being everyone's junior was because he still exhibited the exact same unique genetic-markers that all of the others do. With John being the youngest, he's needed to prove himself to the others by working and training thrice as hard as everyone else; his angst comes from the fact that, because he's the youngest, he's the most generic one of the group. He's not the fastest (that's Kelly), not the strongest (that's Samuel), not the biggest (that's Jorge), the best combatant (Fred), the best at weaponry (Vannak), the best at demolitions (James), the best shot (both Linda & Kai, who are rivals to each other, beat John out), the smartest (Riz), the best pilot (Daisy), the best at technology (Joshua), the one with the best intuition (Kurt), or the most charismatic leader (Jerome); he's only really impressive in comparison to the standard marine, this angst he faces is something he later comes to accept as he gets older. He eventually embraces his status as 'The Generic One' and becomes the Jack-of-all-trades, the one everyone can lean on for just about anything; the "Swiss-Army Spartan," if you will. They all got augmented, and the rest is history; but it wasn't until Operation SILENT STORM, the Spartans' FIRST mission as Spartans, where John was given the rank of "Master Chief Petty Officer," the highest rank a non-commissioned serviceman in the Navy can attain; he even got his first metal, "The Purple Heart," after he got shot on the line of duty (and survived, obviously). When he was a kid, before being inducted, John had discovered an ancient Forerunner rock (not that anyone knew what it was) that had almost possessed him; his obssession over it resulted in his father forcing John to bury the drawings he made of it in the backyard. The training and conditioning of the Spartan Progran, while not designed to brainwash anyone, did result in John repressing any memory of the rock. In the present (2552), John had discovered a similar rock during an extraction mission on Biko, which brought a terrifying wave of memories back to him; this drives him to rediscover the rock he found as a kid back on Eridanus-II, in cave beneath the abandoned ruins of his father's old Solar-Paneled Garden Field. After some back and forth battles between The UNSC and The Covenant, John is quick to deduce that the rock he found on Biko is a keystone to the artifact that he found as a kid; with two rocks joined together, they create a starmap that leads to the one thing The Covenant had been after this entire time: Halo.

Spartans are much younger here than in canon, being in their early 20s as opposed to being in their 50s like in the show and the games. Their youth, combined with their less traumatizing upbringing, makes them more colorful in their personalities (still professional and their canon personalities are about the same, but they're less sociopathically brusque and terse like in-canon). Super-Soldiers in media are usually portrayed with two major qualities: Extreme Aggression and Complete Obedience. They're designed to be ruthless killers, desensitized to violence, who are more aggressive than the average soldier, as they are more than willing to make the hard-choices and will not stop until their opponents are dead ("They [Spartans] just... keep killing. Until there's nothing. Left. To kill... You in or out?" - Angus; Halo, Season 1 - Episode 1) and the battle is won. As for complete obedience? Well, that's self-explanatory; they are happiest when given an order and only do what's asked of them ("Good soldiers follow orders." - Crosshairs; The Bad-Batch). The Spartans as seen in Halo Reloaded are the opposite. They're trained in: Lateral Thinking, Improvisation and Freestyling. They're very creative, on and off the field, people who are capable of salvaging a busted plan and thinking on their feet in the midst of high-stress situations; which is precisely why they're so good at their jobs, BECAUSE they're not dependant on the word of their superiors. They're less an army of Robocops and moreso an army of Captain Americas. John himself, particularly in his later years at 22, is a more "Commander Shepard' type of person: Swashbuckling, noble, still emotionally guarded but far less traumatized, charismatic (again not as much as Jerome) and often goes with the flow. He's still much more brusque and aggressive in comparison to the other more lively Spartans (the others often call him "the mean one"), but he's still as nice and compassionate as he's always been.

@ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask

@mrtobenamedlater

@killer-orca-cosplay

@biomecharnotaurus

@authortobenamedlater

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 Scenes from destruction evident in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, following a week of Israeli occupation ground operations and non-stop bombardment of the camp, destroying the vast majority of the camp's residential buildings.]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚀🏘️💥🚑 🚨

CARNAGE IN THE GAZA STRIP CONTINUES AS ISRAELI OCCUPATION TARGETS NUSEIRAT CAMP BEFORE PLANNED ATTACK ON RAFAH

On the 196th day of "Israel's" ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) committed a total of 4 new massacres of Palestinian families, resulting in the deaths of no less than 42 citizens, mostly women and children, while another 63 others were wounded over the previous 24-hours.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health stated on Friday that over 730'000 Palestinian citizens of Gaza, in particular the north of the enclave, suffer from a severe lack of healthcare services and accused the Zionist occupation of deliberately destroying Gaza's healthcare system.

In the meantime, at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the United States vetoed a resolution which would have granted full membership status at the United Nations for the State of Palestine.

The Security Council overwhelmingly supported the measure to induct Palestine into the United Nations with full statehood rights, with 12 member-states voting in favor, two abstaining (UK and Switzerland), and only the United States voting against the resolution, vetoing the measure.

In other news, a battalion commander with the IOF announced on Thursday while speaking with his Battalion's soldiers, that the Israeli occupation army would be entering Rafah following the end of the current ground operation concentrated on the outskirts of the Al-Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation army's 162nd military division said it had completed its ground operation inside the Nuseirat Camp, which lasted about a week, as occupation warplanes hammered the camp with endless airstrikes. The occupation army also attempted to isolate the two halves of the Gaza Strip from one another and prevented displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes in the north of the enclave.

The Commander of the Israeli occupation forces' 932nd battalion said that following the end of its ground operations on the outskirts of the Nuseirat Camp, “We are going to Rafah, and the people of Israel are counting on you to implement this in the best way, as in Nuseirat, Zaytoun, and Burj al-Tuffah, and as in Al-Shifa (hospital), so in Rafah as well," portending future mass massacres of Palestinian civilians in the city of Rafah.

Elsewhere in Gaza, the carnage continued with the Israeli occupation forces renewing intense airstrikes targeting the Al-Shati Refugee Camp, west of Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip.

According to local reporting, at least four Palestinian were killed, and several others wounded, after Zionist occupation fighter jets bombed a residential home belonging to the Al-Sir family, which at the time of the bombardment was sheltering displaced Palestinians, including members of the Abu Jiyab family in the Al-Shati refugee camp.

At the same time, IOF warplanes bombed a residential building in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City, resulting in the deaths of five Palestinian civilians and wounding a number of others. Victims were transported to the Arab al-Ahli Hospital, also in Gaza City.

Similarly, occupation forces bombed 10th Street, south of Gaza City.

Yet another occupation airstrike targeted in the vicinity of the Al-Shati Camp, west of Gaza City, killing one Palestinian civilian and wounding at least three others.

In another bit of horrific news, the decomposing corpses of about 30 Palestinians were discovered in two mass graves dug in the courtyard of the Al-Shifa medical complex, in the Al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, including the bodies of women and the elderly, while the fates of roughly 1'000 Palestinians who were present in the hospital during the Israeli raid remain unknown at this time.

Israeli occupation warplanes also bombed several sites in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip.

At the same time, Zionist soldiers opened gunfire on displaced Palestinians east of Jabalia, in the north of Gaza, martyring three civilians and wounding several others.

Elsewhere in Gaza, Zionist occupation aircraft bombarded a civilian residence belonging to the Qishlan family in the New Camp area of the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, after which, local paramedic and civil defense crews retrieved the bodies of two Palestinians killed in the strike. The bodies of the dead were taken to nearby Al-Awda Hospital in the camp.

As a result of a previous IOF airstrike, which targeted a tent belonging to the Ayyad family, east of Rafah City, in the southern Gaza Strip, the death toll rose to 11 overnight as victims succumbed to their injuries.

In the Khan Yunis Governate, local civil defense personnel managed to recover the decomposing bodies of four civilians from various areas of the city over the last day, while paramedic crews from the north of the Nuseirat Camp, in central Gaza, recovered the bodies of another 9 martyrs following the withdrawal of occupation forces from the area.

Additionally, warplanes with the Israeli occupation army bombed several sites in the Al-Mughraqa area, in the central Gaza Strip, wounding several citizens, while another young man was murdered by the bullets of the Israeli occupation's snipers east of Deir al-Balah, also in central Gaza.

As a result of "Israel's" ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the death toll among the population of Gaza now exceeds 34'012 Palestinians killed, including over 14'560 children and 9'582 women, while another 76'833 others have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with the events of October 7th, 2023.

April 19th, 2024

#source1

#source2

#source3

#source4

#source5

#source6

#source7

#source8

#source9

#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[opencommunion]

"Israeli troops shot and killed six Palestinians and injured dozens who were waiting for food aid near the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, late on 13 March. Videos and images circulating social media show dead and injured Palestinians sprawled across an aid delivery truck. 

The attack came hours after at least five Palestinians were killed and several injured by Israeli army shelling on a UNRWA aid distribution center in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city of Rafah.

Israel has repeatedly attacked aid centers and starving Palestinians lined up for food in recent days. 

The attack on the UNRWA center in Rafah came one day after Israeli forces opened fire at dozens of Palestinians lined up for food aid near the Kuwait Roundabout in north Gaza on Tuesday. 

Israeli troops committed a massacre against Palestinians seeking aid in northern Gaza’s Al-Rashid Street near the Kuwait Roundabout on 29 February. The brutal attack, which killed over a hundred Palestinians, has come to be known as the Flour Massacre.

Israel has deflected blame for the attack through an internal army investigation, and Washington has vetoed a UNSC statement holding it accountable. 

Due to the several attacks on hungry Gazans near the Kuwait Roundabout and Al-Rashid Street, Al-Jazeera’s correspondent Hani Mahmoud said on 14 March that the area 'is now known as a death trap.'

'We heard from a hungry and largely traumatized population stranded in the Gaza Strip asking what is the purpose of getting those aid trucks into Gaza and its northern area if they’re getting shot at. [The Israeli aggression] also endangers the work of aid workers on the ground,' Mahmoud added. 

UNRWA has lost more than 160 employees due to Israeli bombardment. 

Israel has continued to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. Despite recent Israeli-approved air drops by the air forces of Jordan and the US – which have been described as insufficient by Gaza’s civil defense – famine has overtaken the strip.

Since last weekend, at least a dozen children have died from severe hunger and thirst in Gaza."

[silverpelt3600]

Halo 2x5 Spoilers

Alright alright alright! Stream of thoughts part two electric boogaloo. Ep 4’s ending was living rent free in my head all this week so we’ll see how this one goes!

- Alright they really got no break in between. And lmao “is that all you got” and John’s face just really saying to stfu.

- RIZ COME ON MAN good grief why do characters always do that GET WITH THE PROGRAM.

- Also, woah, flashback? What the hell was that?

- Makee being weird as usual <3

- Christ John give yourself a minute! Dragging himself across the floor to get to Riz, breaking my goddamn heart. And can Halsey just cut the man some slack?!

- Aw man his face when he said Kai’s name.

- Ughgggg the realizing setting in about everythingggg. John makes me so sad sometimes. It’s probably why I love him as a character tbh though.

- CORTANA the best fr. TALKING BACK TO MAKEE!!! She’s so cool.

- Alright ALRIGHT I see the writers just want to make me cry. John doing his best to disconnect so quickly from Vannak just kills me.

- John staring at the posters of himself. “Join his fight” but questioning if there’s still a fight left to win?

- John’s little side eye with the “now we’re expendable”, jabbing at how Halsey has always thought of their well being second, and her not catching it!

- John giving words for Vannak’s funeral, oh my gosh. Closing his eyes to truly feel that loss and declaring his goal for revenge.

- And Halsey just poking the bear, John making such a statement with the “I’m already dead”.

- ACK THE OLD LADY. Talk about a jumpscare.

- Makee top ten manipulators of all time fr!

- THE UNSC TOOK SOREN’S KID?

- Ugh the contrast in Riz and John’s grief. These two are gonna have me sobbing.

- And you know what? Good for Riz for deciding to making peace in her own way, even if that means separating from John.

- KAI!!!!!!! GIRLY HOW WE’VE MISSED YOU!!! And with one hell of an army no less!

So to recap, everyone is sad or dead or missing, and I’m not okay 👍

Good episode 10/10

[halobirthdays]

Happy birthday to Spartan Carter-A259!

Today is his -497th birthday!

Carter was born on Biko and lost his family to a Covenant attack on the colony in 2526. Before he could join the refugee population, he was conscripted into the SPARTAN-III program and was originally assigned to Alpha Company. Alpha Company's intended purpose was deployment to high-risk suicide missions. Carter was deemed too valuable to waste, and he was subsequently separated from Alpha Company and included as part of a Spartan team which provided on-the-field support for the UNSC Army.

When Spartan special forces NOBLE team was assembled, Carter was chosen as its leader. NOBLE participated in the Battle of Reach, largely to slow or interrupt Covenant activity on the planet. Although they were fighting a losing battle, they dealt significant blows to the Covenant advance.

NOBLE's final mission on Reach was to destroy the top-secret Sword Base. While in the base, they discovered Dr. Halsey, who urged them to bring Cortana to the Pillar of Autumn, believing her to be humanity's best bet at survival after Reach's inevitable fall. Carter split NOBLE team's surviving members up: Jun would escort Dr. Halsey to Castle base, while Carter, Emile, and Noble-Six escorted Cortana.

While they were en route to the Autumn, they came under heavy attack, and Carter was seriously injured. He ordered Emile and Six to evacuate and continue their advance on foot while he diverted the attack and covered them in the air. As they made their way, they were unable to continue due to the presence of a Scarab. Knowing that his team had no chance of defeating the Scarab, and recognizing the importance of Cortana, Carter sacrificed his life by flying the Pelican into the Scarab, allowing his team to reach their objective.

[iotaqizm]

hey Carolina what’s it like in UNSC

you were presumed killed in action

but you went and joined the army

yes you did

and Tex found out that you’re her kid

i swear she did

[january-summers]

Excuse me it's 2:30am and I have to be up for a visit to the farmer's market in... not long and instead of sleeping I have Agent Washington on the brain again. So, um, don't mind the ramble?

I have a competency kink. I need you all to know this so you understand how it colours my perceptions of Wash. I need for him to be extremely competent, even if he's being a dork, I need for him to be able to flip that mental switch and be ready and capable of fucking shit up.

anyway, on a completely related note I have a conspiracy theory (secret headcanon) that Wash was fudging his own numbers in real time in order to maintain 6th place on the leader board, because it keeps in on the board without putting him in 'disputed territory.' (aka the ranks everyone is gunning for.)

This is based solely on the fact that of the 5 times we see the board, he's in 6th place 3 times, and 5th place twice. one of those times is when York is in 6th with his freshly messed up eye.

This is spawned by nothing but my competency kink, and the fact that 6th place is an odd place to average/maintain. Like. sure. maybe it's a coincidence, maybe he's just always 6th/5th best on the team, but you have to admit it's a little odd that there isn't more variance when everyone else has much more of a jumble. Apart from Carolina, who only loses her 1st place spot when Texas shows up, only York and North are also on the board every time we see it, and both of them drop to 6th place at least once.

I just. I really like the idea that Wash has less interest in pissing matches with the others because he's high ranked enough for what he wants/needs out of PFL, but also the idea that he understands how the ranking system works in a way the others don't and he's aware enough of his team to estimate their scores and adjust his own performance accordingly on the fly during missions, without endangering said missions.

Is it likely? No, it's probably just a coincidence, but it's fun.

and it also lets me have PFL AUs in which Wash gets to accidentally piss off the other top ten members when Director assigns Wash as team leader for an emergency "oh shit it might be the Flood" mission and Wash gets to pick his team and picks none of the top ten.

Either because there are other Freelancers who are similarly capable as North and York but without the added AI which are too valuable to risk, or less likely to screw up the mission by being competitive like South and Carolina are inclined to.

And the others just don't have the skill-sets he wants, or the compatibility with the Freelancers he needs, to ensure mission success.

or like

based on what little maths we have for sure, Washington may not have finished highschool before joining the UNSC, or he might have joined right after graduation.

And just. imagine him realising he's lacking in certain points of knowledge after he accidentally endangers his team because his army training didn't include a specific technical expertise, so he started doing UNSC approved distance ed in his limited down time, half teaching himself a hell of a lot of things.

So when he gets to PFL, he does the same thing, he looks over the science notes, and he might not have a degree, but he makes sure he understands enough to know the limits of his team mates, their capabilities, their potentials, understands what the equipment is capable of.

and then there's a mission and someone's helmet is cracked, maybe a big hole from a weapon in the side, and they're fine, but the helmet is breached, and actually they're not fine because there's a few new holes in Niner's ship and they are venting atmosphere and the breached helmet cannot keep up, so Wash asks Niner to 'do a thing' that will give them stable atmosphere for a few seconds, asks for some of the other's super power units (in my head it's York's healing unit and North shield) and then tells the broken helmet team mate he can fix their helmet but they need to release the seals for a moment, as soon as Niner 'does the thing.'

and they trust Wash, so they take off their helmet and then everyone freaks out because instead of fixing the helmet Wash takes his off and puts it on his team mate and gets back in his seat and apparently takes a nap.

except no, because he's running at least 2 power units while the ships atmosphere vents because either he can handle it, or epsilon didn't self destruct and he can handle it. (basically using the shield, healing unit, and wash's emp unit to create a more bio-electric field around wash that's not really a shield but acts enough like a shield to protect him from the vacuum of space that's trying to be inside the ship.)

and like, I honestly believe his default personality is friendly and kinda dorky and sociable, but I also am constant running "he's a secret (and not so secret) badass" at all times

and I am not normal about him. and I don't know how this happened.

but for every cool and somewhat normal and sensible plot bunny I share involving Wash, there's more, far more unhinged bunnies lurking in the shadows.

I should go to bed, I passed good decision making. good night. I'll decide if i'm sorry about all this after I wake up. good night.

[palestinegenocide]

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 168: U.S. advances UN Security Council ceasefire resolution as al-Shifa Hospital siege enters fifth day

The siege of al-Shifa Hospital enters its fifth day as the Israeli army threatens to blow up the hospital, while the U.S.'s proposed UNSC resolution uses nebulous language that does not call for an "immediate" ceasefire.

[link]

[mount-and-do-blahaj-blast]

NOBLE Team headcanons and other things I rotate in my mind

from the top:

The Team as a whole

holy shit did a lot of them die

like, until the final roster got locked in, NOBLEs three, four, and five would constantly drop like flies.

the final roster in question is also entirely made up of human cockroaches

it's basically already spelled out that NOBLE is a joint-ops team on loan from the Navy to the Army, but I like to think that their distance from ONI and the rest of the SPARTANs gives them a bit of street cred amongst the Shock Infantry battalions

NOBLE One, Commander Carter-A259

Carter was definitely the first person chosen to "be on" NOBLE Team, but he's not exactly the first member, if that makes any sense. does that make sense?

speaks with a Dutch accent because his homeworld was colonized by South Africans

He's a father figure to some of the others. In another life, he'd be wearing a 'Kiss the Cook' apron and would simply stay at home to take care of the kids while his high-powered girlboss wife goes to work

If he wasn't a SPARTAN, He'd probably still join the armed forces. I can see him as a high ranking non-com officer. maybe an ODST.

His rank!! So, in the UNSC command structure, a Commander usually has authority over a small line warship (usually a frigate). Not only that, but SPARTAN authority usually trumps that of most officers of the same rank. in summary, Carter's definitely pulled rank in order to commandeer a frigate at some point in his career. probably at Kat's request.

Runs the hottest body temp somehow

NOBLE Two, Lieutenant Commander Catherine-B320 "Kat"

She's the real first member of the team.

She absolutely got put there by Ackerson so Carter could keep her out of trouble and stop her from breaching his computer.

It did not work

Speaking of, she and Carter HATED each other for the first few months. I know this, it was revealed to me

They ended up getting fucking shitfaced together after a mission and talked all about their feelings and emotions so now she and Carter pretty much move in synch. they are drift compatible

She can hold her alcohol a lot better than he can though lmao

best at opening locked doors (hacking)

Kat is, most ironically, ambidextrous

She'd FOR SURE be an ODST if she wasn't a SPARTAN. She's too much of a high-powered girlboss to do anything remotely normal

NOBLE Three, Warrant Officer Jun-A266

somehow more catlike than the team member literally named that

likes to lay down on sunny rocks :)

also can't handle liquor for shit

best at opening locked doors (lockpicking)

would not be in the armed forces. he'd be some rich heiress' boytoy in the inner colonies.

...dare I say babygirl?

NOBLE Four (1), Warrant Officer Emile-A239

the only member not technically reassigned to the unit

they found him by pure coincidence half-dead, surrounded by corpses

Jun immediately pack-bonded with him

he's surprisingly kind of normal, actually. he just thinks skulls look cool

second physically strongest member of the team behind Jorge

best at opening locked doors (kicking them off their hinges)

sure, he could be a phenomenal ODST, but to be honest I think this guy would be a crewman on some support vessel in the Navy, maybe.

NOBLE Five, Chief Warrant Officer Jorge-052

second to last member of the final roster.

everyone else on the team initially thought that he'd been transferred in to replace Carter

not quite a father figure. More of an uncle, but not biologically - like it's mom's college friend but he still gets the title

went clean shaven randomly one time and gave Kat a heart attack

god could this man make a fucking stew

he'd probably work in a refugee assistance organization if he wasn't a SPARTAN.

NOBLE Six (1), Warrant Officer Thom-A293

not part of the original team, but got transferred like six months in

very cheerful guy

A bit of a yapper

friends with all sorts of animals but Carter doesn't let him keep any :(

if not a SPARTAN, he'd be a cartoonist

NOBLE Six (2), Lieutenant [REDACTED]-B312

if NOBLE Team is a found family, Six is the dog

Has a UNICOM rank instead of a NAVCOM rank specifically because Ackerson didn't want any oversight in Six's operations (also because bungie forgor)

Probably knows Halsey is Miranda Keyes' mom, or at least would if not for forgetting it.

kind of a dumbass because who needs to know shit if your job is killing people and blowing shit up???

[halibellecter]

Is That You?

--

"Is that you in the picture?"

"Yeah. But I mean we're not supposed to talk about that stuff-- so what can I do for you?"

And she's not lying. It is her in the picture...

So far she's headed off every opportunity to ask, oh, is that your husband? is that your daughter in the middle? look at you, you look so happy!

She's in the picture. But she's in the middle, about nine and a half, long braid decorated with little dragonfly clips. Between her mom-- she's the spitting image-- and dad, one of the last pictures of all of them together. You can't see their faces too well, they're scrunched up with laughter. Both of them are tickling her and she's shrieking and wiggling all over the place; it's a wonder the picture isn't more blurry than it is already, her hands and feet smearing details that get dimmer every time she tries to remember what they were.

Her father's next deployment ended, just a few days early and already on the return trip, with her being handed a smartly folded flag that her mother was crying too hard to take. She was ten.

Mom had lasted for another four short years after Dad died. Four years where they barely spoke-- not angry, just busy. Mom was already a successful doctor, already more dedicated than most. Being the single income must have been a good excuse, because she threw herself into her work. Kay-- no, no, not Kayla, no, the person that would be Agent Oklahoma, eventually, proto-agent, not-yet-medic, freelancer-in-the-future, to be worth something later on-- she-- already barely saw her. Between a dad on active duty in the army, and a mom with such a demanding job, she was a career latchkey kid; but sometimes after he died, she could go for weeks without direct contact. It almost seemed like her mom liked it that way. Looking back on it, home must have hurt.

If she'd known she only had four years left with her...

Just like her father, she was on the way home when she died. So close to home-- familiar territory. Got tired and fell asleep at the wheel. Kayla-- no, no, no! that girl, had been on the phone with her. Trying to keep her awake. It's blurry now but she can remember her desperate, raw-throated screaming and the crunch of metal and... and her mother's voice, a little choking whisper. Baby I'm so sorry. I'm not going to make it, there's too much blood. Sweetheart I love you---

But she tries to remember how lucky she is: unlike with her father, at least she got to say goodbye.

They're so happy in the picture.

The challenge coin leaning against the frame was what finally trained her out of that bad habit she used to have where she got attached to other people. A close friend. Nearly a brother. A safe place after the accident, the one who scooped her up and held her as she cried herself out into his chest. He had been all she had left.

If she squeezes the coin hard enough, her pulse throbs in her fingers like his heart thumped under her ear that night. And a lot of nights afterward. They joined up together; they were practically fused at the hip. He was a medic like her, a brilliant fighter, a...

a credit to his unit, and to the UNSC.

The words echo when she remembers them, engraved on her bones on the day they laid him in the ground. The person who loved anyone enough to cry over them like that no longer exists.

Is that you?

Yeah. Well. Not anymore.

[stitchlingbelle]

Watching Halo, Episode 3

Welcome to Planet Recycle Hell, which I feel morally obligated to point out is not too darn different from a lot of the factory/ fast fashion/ greenwashing/ recycle grift economy we have now. Call your senators and make a difference, people! Ahem. Makee’s tragic backstory is revealed! I can see how she decided all humans suck, but quite honestly, how she thinks the Covenant is any better is beyond me. ESH, sweetie. Of course, I’ve seen the ship tag, I know things are going to get Complicated for her as soon as she leaves the bubble, so we’ll see…

More plotting by General Parangosky, trying and I’m sure failing to contain Halsey, as usual. I can’t really blame her for trying, but I extremely question her motives. Here’s hoping Miranda can do some good, I really like her (and would ADORE her getting to show up her mom.) (Meanwhile, am I the only one who thinks these uniforms have Royal Manticoran Navy vibes? They also remind me of the Army of Light from Babylon 5, but while the black color scheme there was meant to subvert expectations, I don’t think these are. Or that the UNSC are good guys to begin with.)

Halsey wakes the person in the pod and oh my God, there’s TWO of them now? I say, as I fall deeply, endlessly in love with Halsey’s clone. God, it’s nice to see someone call Halsey on her bs and clearly hold her own in their battle of wits (if not outright win, the way Halsey backs away from some of her questions.) I hope she sticks around, but the dialogue implies she knows she’s here to die.

Aaand here it comes. God, Halsey’s grooming of John is just endlessly creepy. Someone on the writing staff around here understands what grooming and abuse actually look like. And her goon (Adun?) shows a bit of personality at last by… almost kissing a woman he’s about to kill while she’s immobilized. Fuck this guy. I do think it’s fascinating that the clone doesn’t resist—even as the one on the chopping block, she seems dedicated to her/ Halsey’s goals, enough to die for them. That’s frankly terrifying. And die she does, in a scene that is in turns poignant (“Will it hurt?”), sickening (through her EYE?), and ridiculous (a convenient acid bath, seriously?).

And at last we meet Cortana! Immediately it’s clear she isn’t JUST a mind-clone of Halsey, which is interesting. You’d think Halsey would want Cortana to have her own personality (and possibly memories) to better control her; quite frankly without them I’m not sure what the clone had to die for, other than Hollywood handwavy Evil. If you have computers this advanced a scan would probably suffice, it's not like you put her brain in a jar. But movie logic is movie logic. On the upside, Cortana has a lot more room to grow on her own being based on Siri or whatever. And she’s going to need to grow, she doesn’t yet understand why anyone would have a problem with her and her bullheaded approach is going to be an issue as she tries to bond with the Master Chief. (In the meantime, their sniping is entertaining for us, the audience.)

Makee is kicking off her mission, pretending to be an escapee in nice clothes and flawless makeup with not a mark on her. I am deeply unconvinced. So are the UNSC crewers, which doesn’t save any of them, in a scene that is pure gross horror. (Obligatory Honor Harrington joke: “She shot stabbed him… with her finger.”) Can’t say I think much of her planning here; these people don’t know you call the Master Chief “the Demon” or that some random artifact is “The Keystone”. Ask clearer questions! You probably wouldn’t get any farther, but at least it would make sense. Also, keeping someone alive to unlock the secure tech for you would also be smart. (I should probably stop trying to make villains smarter…)

John’s trying to figure out the artifact-slash-himself, gathering more clues, etc. It doesn’t respond to Cortana, only him, which is interesting. After it’s back to the barracks, where apparently no one prepped the team for Cortana? Like, seriously? You didn’t brief them, sell her as an intelligence and operations upgrade? Getting the rest of the team excited about the possibilities might have helped with John’s acceptance. Instead, Cortana just pops up and John shuts her down. I almost feel bad for her in this scene, she honestly has no idea why she’s not being welcomed with open arms. (At the end of the scene I just wrote “Kai for President”. No idea why, just on general principle, I suppose.) Unaddressed: Is Cortana unique to John, or will they all have a copy? Or is there going to be a unique AI for each of them? If they’re worried about one Spartan going rogue, they have to worry about them all…

Kwan and Soren et al are back pretty briefly in this episode, just to establish that Kwan’s found her purpose in life: bringing down this Vinsher guy and finishing what her dad started. Not sure Chief would be thrilled (the UNSC definitely won’t) and I’m still convinced she and Soren are going to die. I’m no longer suspicious of Laera, and dang, her actress’s delivery of “The universe will be diminished without you in it” was FANTASTIC. Compliment, mourning, condemnation, and a little bit of a threat all in one. (Also, ‘deuterium money’. I love Scifi.)

Ah, this must be where all the “Master Cheeks” jokes are from. I, too, get naked when I plan to stab myself in the ass. (I kid, it’s actually more practical than getting blood all over your clothes. Less hydrogen peroxide needed!) KAI! Watches from the shadows. Is she gonna report him? How are the other Spartans going to react when she tells them? Again, I said her being smart could go either way…

John wanders through the city having Feelings and a Barbie movie moment of human connection, complete with space music! I live for this stuff. Gimme all the futuristic worldbuilding you want, I’ll eat it up. I love the electronic instruments, the little concert space, all very cool. (Sidenote: one of the transit stops is called ‘Manassas’? Yikes.) Is this the first time John’s been out here? Is he not supposed to be out or did they just suppress the desire to leave? What do the Spartans do with their free time? More visions, and I feel the UNSC is going to eventually regret giving this man a top-level hacker at his beck and call. Cortana slipping into chirpy promo voice as she recites the Reach for Life info was funny.

Reach for Life project, Reach the planet, Reach City. I’m gonna go ahead and guess “reach” is a bit of an Arc Word/ Concept. Reaching for the stars? Or something else?

Off they go to Eridanus, with Halsey and her creepy goon in tow, while Miranda is left behind with a window of opportunity. I have a bad feeling about this.