Week 6 Story Lab: Microfiction: Snatch and Grab

Snatch and Grab

    B went searching for women he felt would be worthy of being married to his brother. His first stop was a gathering of the royal families at the city center. He drove around and noticed three beautiful princesses that were talking to each other. B immediately stopped his van, shot the nearby bodyguards, and instructed the princesses to get in his van. He escaped during the chaos and confusion. He then arrived at his brother's house and let him have his pick.

Van by Albert (November 2014). Source: Flickr

Opportunity

B saw the princesses. B took the princesses.

Author's Note

    My stories are based on the Mahabharata PDE. At one point in the story, Bhisma kidnapped three princesses for his half brother Vichitravirya so that he could continue the blood line. They eventually let one of the princesses go because she was already in love with another king. I tried to take a modern approach, hence the van and shooting. 

Bibliography

"Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition" by Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore.

Week 5 Story: Time to Dance

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.

Yellowstone Cliffs by Allgreyareas (July 2013). Source: Flickr

    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.

Week 3 Story: The First Halo

Link to updated story in my Portfolio: Chief

The First Halo

    John had woken up from his crash landing on Halo. His only companion was Cortana, an advanced AI that resided in a chip implanted in his suit of armor. With the rest of his squad dead and Covenant forces approaching, he moved into the tree line. 

    Some time had passed and Cortana chimed in, "Chief, I'm getting a few distress signals, it seems the Captain and a few squads of marines made it off the ship too! We have to regroup with them."

    Chief agreed and slowly but surely rounded everyone up. Eventually, they reached a strange building and decided to make that their base of operations. They set up defenses and hunkered down for the night. As Chief was the only Spartan II among them, everyone admired him in awe as he moved around and towered over people. The Captain, Chief, and Cortana started thinking up plans of what to do next as they were stranded, but knew this place, the ring, was important to the Covenant. Suddenly, they were interrupted by a floating orb that appeared behind them by means of teleportation.

Master Chief from Halo by Gunner111 (April 2008). Source: Flickr

    "Greetings, I am 343 Guilty Spark, the Monitor of this installation. I noticed a Reclaimer signature appeared on the ring not long ago," as it stared at John, "I need you to come with me to stop the meddlers who have released the Flood." 

    Before anyone could get a word in, the Monitor teleported John and Cortana to the control room. 

    "You must hurry Reclaimer, only you can activate this ring as your forefathers intended," exclaimed the Monitor.

    "Slow down, what am I activating, what does it do? Why is the Flood so dangerous?" asked the Chief.

    "Reclaimer, surely you know the Flood will consume all life in the galaxy. Activating the ring ensures they cannot spread by eliminating their food, of course," responded the Monitor.

    "Their food...? You mean us? They consume life right, so they the ring will eliminate us?" Chief inquired.

    "Why yes, precisely," answered the Monitor.

    "Sorry, can't do it. I'm not killing all of my people to stop an enemy I haven't even seen yet," said the Chief. 

    

    "Then you too shall perish," retorted the Monitor as his sentinels appeared and took aim at the spartan. 

    "Chief, time to go!" urged Cortana.

    Chief immediately took cover to avoid the first barrage of fire, and made his escape as the sentinels recharged their weapons. He had to get back to the Captain and warn his people.

Author's Note

    The story I took elements of to write this story was Part A of the Public Domain Edition: Ramayana. In the story, Rama is the main character and is part of the human embodiment of a god. He accomplishes many great things through his journey such as bending many great godly bows that no human has been able to, marry a beautiful princess, and being a beloved prince of the people. However, he was betrayed by a queen who wanted her son to become king and had him exiled.

    I used characters and places from the Halo universe and blended them into the Public Domain Edition: Ramayana story. I tried to write the story by making Chief/John share similarities with Rama. The main similarities were how only they could yield certain mighty weapons, they were both admired by their people, they both had a trusty companion, and they were both betrayed unnecessarily by someone who could have helped them. I believe the endings to also be similar in that Rama was exiled and had his wife and brother accompany him, where as Chief is left in an unfamiliar area with Cortana by his side.

Bibliography

"Public Domain Edition: Ramayana" by M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.

Week 2 Story: The Arbiter's Side Journey

Link to updated story in my Portfolio: Arbiter

The Arbiter's Side Journey

    The Arbiter awoke underwater, confused as to how he was alive. The last thing he remembered was evacuating The Ark on the ship with the Demon... and now he was a...crab? Realizing he could breathe just fine underwater, he gathered his bearings and headed towards the shore. As he walked, he thought about how this could have happened, he assumed the slip-space travel somehow transported him here, and into the body of a crab. He never fully understood that technology, but hoped to get back to his old self one day.

Illustration by W. Robinson. Source: The Cunning Crane and the Crab

    

    As he approached the shore, he heard a few fish and a crane conversing about some traveling. He thought it wise to keep some distance, out of sight, and listen. 
    

    "- There's only room for one, so ol' one eyed will go first. Then I shall come back and get the rest." said the Crane. 

    

    The Crane then scooped up a fish and flew away. The Arbiter climbed an elevated rock and observed the Crane. He noticed the Crane stopped in some trees and ate the fish. Curious as to what was happening, he hid again before the crane came back and listened. 

   

     "Ol' one eyed seems happy enough in those cold waters, who's next?" said the Crane.

    

    "Me, me, me, me!" exclaimed the remaining fish.
    

    The Arbiter now realized that the fish were being lied to and being flown to their demise. It reminded him of the lies the Prophets spewed to his people. He remained hidden as he thought of a plan to stop the Crane, one that would work in his new crab body. A few hours had passed and he realized that new body is vaguely similar to his old one. Instead of a suit of armor and sword, he has a sturdy shell and sharp claws. Yes, he now had a plan and moved to where the fish were. When he got there, he saw one fish left and told it to scram. Now he patiently awaited the Crane's return.

    

    "Hey crab! Might I interest you in some cooler waters?! I can take you just down the lake!" the crane yelled as it neared the spot the fish previously laid and noticed only a crab remained. 

    

    "Perhaps," said the Arbiter, "and how do you plan to take me?"

    

    "Why, just jump in my beak," the Crane said as it landed and opened its mouth.

    

    "How about I hold on instead? I trust my grip more than your beak," explained the Arbiter.

    

    The Crane thought for a second as his belly was somewhat satisfied. But alas, he hadn't had crab in a while and figured he could treat himself today.

    

    "I suppose you have a point, go ahead and latch on," he said.

    

    The Arbiter held firmly around his neck and was taken to the same place the fish were eaten. He saw the bones of the fallen. With this sight, he became angered.

    

    "Don't worry, I'll only eat you slowly," said the Crane.

    

    "If you want to hear me beg, you will be disappointed," said the Arbiter as he tightened his grip.

    

    The Crane, realizing what the situation he was in, exclaimed hoarsely, "Hold on! How about we forget this ever happened! I'll let you go on your merry way!"

    

    "Were it so easy," said the Arbiter, a moment before he beheaded the Crane. 

    

    He watched as the lifeless body of the Crane collapsed at his feet. It reminded him of the Prophet he had slain not long ago. After a moment, he moved on to try to find his way back to his old self.

Author's Note

    I added elements from the Halo universe (several video games, books, comic books, and even a couple of movies) to the story of "The Cunning Crane and the Crab". I changed the original crab from the story into the Arbiter from the Halo universe. I tried to make the story a condensed version of some of the Arbiter's journey in the Halo universe. Simply put, there were "Prophets" in the Halo universe that led several alien species that worked together, known as the Covenant, and essentially lied to them and were leading them all to their death. The Arbiter eventually became aware of this and stopped the Prophet who betrayed his people. Hopefully this is enough information to make sense for now.

Bibliography:

"The Cunning Crane and The Crab" by W. H. D. Rouse.