Link to updated story in my Portfolio: Alpha-Nine
Time to Dance
Dare and Buck landed in a forest a few clicks from their intended rally point. With the rest of their unit scattered, they gathered their bearings and got ready to move. Little did they know, they landed near a Brute Stalker who took an interest in Dare as her helmet resembled that of a Spartan. However, she was only an ODST with an experimental helmet. Thinking he found a high value target, the brute went to lunge at her to hopefully kill her before she could react. However, just before he jumped, a hail of gunfire was directed at him. Wounded, the Brute retreated, activated his camouflage, and went to warn his Chieftain of what he saw.
Surprised by the gunfire, Dare and Buck took aim at the shooter. Seeing the Rookie and watching a Brute run away, they knew he had saved them. Together, the three of them continued on to their rally point. They eventually reached a cliff and looked for another way around, but were ambushed by a squad of Brutes running and firing at Dare. The trio immediately took cover and began firing on the approaching Brutes, but the Rookie noticed that they seemed to be focused on Dare. The Rookie then fell back into the tree line and maneuvered into an elevated flanking position. The Brutes, blinded by rage and the opportunity of killing a Spartan, were unaware of the Rookies movements. The Rookie then managed to drop most of the approaching Brutes headed towards Dare, with Buck and Dare cleaning up the rest of them.
Once they gathered their bearings again, they looked over the cliff and saw a massive Covenant army headed their way. They quickly set up some ropes at the edge of the cliff and rappelled their way down. They then hurried to the rally point to warn the others. Suddenly, Buck ran back to the cliff while ordering Rookie and Dare to continue on. He climbed each rope some ways up and set explosive charges on weak points of the cliff. Once he finished placing the charges, he rappelled back down and found a good vantage point to hide and watch. He waited for the army to come and saw a Chieftain leading the charge. Once the Chieftain was under the cliff, Buck blew the charges, The cliff collapsed and killed the Chieftain along with many of his units, causing his army to stop and retreat. Satisfied, Buck left to go meet the rest of his unit at the rally point.
Author's Note
My story is based off the PDE Ramayana. More specifically in part B, where Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana encounter Shurpanakha, a rakshasa. In the story, Shurpanakha tries to win over Rama and attempts to attack Sita when Rama declines. Lakshmana then cut off her ears and nose and went to complain to her brother. Her brother then sent 14 rakshasas to kill them. The 14 died and so her brother then sent an army of 14,000 rakshasas to kill them. Rama then sent Sita and his brother to hide while he dealt with the coming army. Once he took out the leader of the army and some other rakshasa, the rest scattered.
In my story, I implemented elements of the Halo universe, set about 500 years in the future. Dare, Buck, and Rookie represent Sita, Rama, and Lakshmana likewise. The Covenant Brutes represent the rakshasas, where the The Brute Stalker represents Shurpanakha specifically. Dare, Buck, and Rookie are part of a special unit called the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs). Basically Special Forces Space Marines. As their name implies, they literally drop in from orbit which leads to the beginning of the story where they land. They have special pods that allow them to do so safely-ish. Spartans, as referenced here and in some of my other stories, are special genetically engineered super humans that were typically orphaned by the Covenant and kidnapped by the human military at a young age. They were then indoctrinated and specially trained, as children, to become the most deadly and proficient super soldiers for the human military. Brutes in the Covenant are basically bigger apes or gorillas. They are about 8 feet tall, weigh about 1500 pounds, and are very strong as they are almost pure muscle. They are known for their brutality, hence their name, as they sometimes eat things (human, lower ranking Covenant, animals, doesn't really matter) alive or hunt them for fun. Brute Stalkers are a covert Brute unit that have a piece of equipment called Active Camouflage which allows them to basically go invisible. The Brute Chieftain is usually a tough and battle hardened leader. Also, the title "Time to Dance" is a reference to a Buck quote from the Halo universe.
Hopefully that is enough context on the Halo part but feel free to ask questions.
Bibliography
"Public Domain Edition: Ramayana" by M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.
Hi Manny!
ReplyDeleteI think that your author's note provided ample information, and did a very good job of clarifying any questions that we might have in regards to the Halo universe. I don't know very much about it myself, so it was nice to have more information to understand the story better! I really liked that you are using something that you enjoy (Halo) to retell the story of the Ramayana. I think it makes it that much more fun and interesting to read, and also easier to write! I also really liked the title of your story, as I didn't expect it to be a story about battles, but it was a nice addition since you used a quote from the Halo Universe. I really liked that you changed the characters and situation, but still kept the same storyline to fight the battle scenes in the Ramayana, and that you used characters that were similar as well.
Manny, wow! This is the most detailed author's note I have seen so far, and I am totally here for it. I think your explanation of the history behind your story is superb and that it helps the reader digest the background of your creative writing. Your imagination and knowledge behind the Halo universe collaborated nicely with the original story and I like how you twisted up the original story by changing the characters names, incorporating Halo, but also stuck to the original plot line.
ReplyDeleteManny,
ReplyDeleteYour story was really good. As an avid Halo player, I understood most of the references without having to read the authors note. However, I will say that the author is one of the longest that I have seen. Can I ask why you like to write a lot of your stories about Halo? I find it really interesting that you are able to bring two vastly different things together and find a way to combine the lore. I would never have ever thought about including the ODSTs into Rama's story. I look forward to seeing how you are able to continue incorporating halo themes into the epic. You should really consider writing your project over something that involves Halo since you put so much effort into your story posts. P.S., it might be a good idea to continue using your long author's note because I don't believe a lot of people have played Halo.
Manny, this version of Rama's battle was fitted to a more modern audience as it explained battle strategy in a concise and straightforward manner while using simple language! As a big time gamer I loved reading about your battle tactics as they show how I smaller army can take on a larger force and emerge victorious! As I was reading the Ramayana the story of the battle between Rama and the Rakshasa army and how we was able top protect his brother and Sita while defeating an incoming army. What If Rama was not able to defeat the forces but instead was taken captive? How do you think the story would be affected if this was the case? I am curious to read more of your stories as I think you have an eloquent way of describing events! Hour author's note describes your motivations for your story and highlighted why you chose to write what you did! Keep up the good work and I look forward to reading more of your work :)
ReplyDelete