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>Mission_Objective: The UNSC Eighth Fleet's Stranger of Darkness, also accompanied by the Burning Hope and Nimble Spirit, as well as 6 corvettes, were to send a full interception operation towards a discovered, habitable Shield-World known to ONI as 'Omen', where Covenant Forces were to be apprehended. It was believed that Fleet-Master Grazo 'Lovamee was placed in this location, and that the destruction of not only him, but his Ship could help turn the tide of many conflicts in different Systems. Accompanied by UNSC Marine Forces and Special Operations Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, UNSC Spartans IIIs were to land on the surface, gather intelligence on the Occupational Force's Fleet Master's location and assassinate him as a target. If the objective was complete, or incomplete, personnel would have to infiltrate the Flagship, Vigilant Redemption, and remove it as a threat with specialised 'Slipspace' explosives. The Second Objective was considered a 'High Priority Objective, not to be failed for the sake of the War.' If all else fails, learn why they are there, at that Shield World, and put an end to their endeavours.
>Mission_Outcome: Specialised Teams of ODST Units were dropped seemingly discretely by the many corvettes in the UNSC 8th Fleet onto Oman's surface, where they would establish small communications and reconnaissance tasks. After three days, the three Vessels were to arrive, beginning on drawing the Fleet into separate segments of Orbit, allowing less resistance for the Ground Teams as Full-Frontal landing parties from both the UNSC Marine Corps and ODST Detachments would then too land on the surface, supported by several Spartan Teams. It only took two hours of the Eighth Fleet's presence for an evacuation to be called. This evacuation, however, wasn't called from Covenant Personnel. The UNSC Nimble Spirit was to flee in rapid response to the scene, with the destruction of both the Burning Hope and Stranger of Darkness. Badly damaged and under very little time to regather units, the Nimble Spirit had to flee, with Captain Abraham Henderson's final transmission to ground forces as...
>"I'm sorry. Words cannot express my inner regret of this decision, but in all honesty, there is no choice. We need to get help, and quickly. However...we are all grateful of your contribution and noble sacrifice...If you are still left, do what you have to do. Either hold out until you breathe the last breaths of courage, or finish the mission. Henderson out."
>The UNSC Nimble Spirit had successfully returned to the safety of Human Controlled systems, and is undertaking many immediate repairs as a priority. However, there were approximately 37,415 Infantry Personnel left behind on Omen, many of which consisted of bands of Marines and soldiers of the Army, several Armoured Divisions, many squadrons of the UNSC Naval Command, twenty-eight ODST teams and one Spartan team. Most are presumed dead, all of which are labelled as M.I.A. on UNSC and ONI Records. No further transmissions or communication links with any ground force still left on the Shield World's surface has been accomplished. ONI deny any means of sending Search Parties until the Covenant Occupation Fleet has either disbanded its task from the Shield World or been destroyed. Unpredictable prices of UNSC and ONI Equipment has been left on the planet, as well as destroyed in the Orbital Combat. Predictions and chances of ever returning are minimal, from both High Ranking Officers of the UNSC and High-Level Authorisation of ONI.
>Objective_Status: FAILED/24th_July_2552
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>The Scenario
Welcome, fighters of Earth, to Omen, a semi-Survival based Roleplay revolving around the franchise of Halo, which is a reboot of an old scenario done three years ago. The scenario is set around those who never made it to the evacuations, which were quite high in numbers, and were left stranded on the Shield World of 'Omen', where there are only two options for such soldiers: Complete the objective...or die trying. We will be focusing on the ODST teams and Marines (based on preference) specifically, working alongside leftover troops and spartans that'd be found along the way, partaking within a mission of uttermost suicide, yet importance, which is yet to be accomplished. The decisions made from the survivors will lead to its succession or critical failure.
So let's talk more about the cast, the characters and main focus for the Scenario. Firstly, we have the choice of the UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, or ODSTs as they are commonly referred to as. Specialising in dropping into missions and acting as the more elite version of the marines, these soldiers usually are well equipped and trained for situations like these. Secondly, we have the UNSC Marine Corps. These are the bulk of the UNSC, acting as an expeditionary force. The UNSC Army are also present, but they generally mix in with the Marines in this situation. The Main Characters will all be featured as either of these, many of which would be newer to full operations, whereas a selected few, and myself, would be more experienced.
Almost completely spread around the surface of the planet, many of those who'd come together would end up forming smaller teams. These would be depending on who was the closest to them after the Defeat of the Orbital Engagement, as many on other areas of the Planet would've been wiped clean of straggling UNSC Personnel. Consider these characters the lucky one's, up until they realise what they'll have to keep on fighting for. Coincidentally, if you are aware of dates and timelines, you might've realised that the Orbital Defeat is set right at the beginning of the Assault on Reach. This taking place roughly at the same time period, armour, weaponry, abilities, enhancements and technology would roughly be the same. This means that some of the Marines would also be fitted with the Reach "Army" style BDUs. The invasion taking place on the infamous battleground, it had led to an even thinner chance of any UNSC Fleets ever returning to rescue the survivors. This makes the plot even more daring for the characters.
>The Characters
In Omen, as already mentioned, you, as the Roleplayers, will be placed into the hardened boots of the UNSC Marines and ODST branches. Just to clarify, this doesn't include the Spartan soldiers in this Roleplay. Due to limitations of previous renditions that this scenario had, many found that the Spartan programme didn't fully fit the tension of feeling vulnerable, so those characters will be limited to secondary/NP-characters throughout the story. Omen, theoretically, would be a less-than-famous battle swept under the rug by the infamous fight on Reach. This may also lead to the first human contact with a very 'infectious species', depending on if the cast wish to uncover what specifically is on the shield world. This wasn't a highly infamous Operation, which is why only these newer breeds of trained soldiers were the Frontal Assault units within this bloody battleground.
It will be likely that you create side characters or NPCs of your own, as death will be a common aspect, though it fills the ranks and adds extra interactions. They won't just be side-lines to fill the blanks, but rather crucial in their own small aspects. Some, for example, would be trusted with important objectives and what not. They also can act as some of the punishments and sanctions caused by the Main Characters' actions. Make a traumatic failure, you can expect a team-mate to go down without any glory or time to realise their under-attack. These can be controlled by everyone, that is if they aren't listed as a side-character. The consequences are to be quite high. Troops set within the planet also have the abilities to decide (to which voting will take place in the OOC) where they go next; this is kind of like side-missions or optional choices in quests, but a bit more critical. Each decision will play a key part in finishing the scenario, determining whether or not your characters get out alive or remain left behind without closure.
On top of this, I've added the Asset System. This is a system put in place to measure the progress of the characters and their impacts on the story. Assets are, as you could guess, the NPCs, regiments, vehicles, explosives and materials that your characters link up with along the way. Choosing between a large-scale assault or a covert intrusion can heavily alter whether or not these assets live, and remain in their control, or die, and fall apart. There are benefits and setbacks, of course, to losing or gaining assets. Have too many assets and you may sell yourself short of resources and weaponry, or vice versa and become underpowered. What's more, if assets are lost, such as UNSC lives, the benefits can be relief of deficiency as well as the second system put in place for the roleplay: the Notoriety System.
It isn't that much different to what you'd find in any other scenario that uses notoriety or reputation. The more troops your characters managed to unite increases the presence of the UNSC Resistance party. Ultimately, staying with just your main characters and refusing to link up with the masses can give you an under-the-radar bonus to exploit, which again makes you lack your firepower that you may need. With several locations for FOBs to be set up, you can also raise the UNSC's notoriety rating, which results in more frequent conflicts, engagements and action sequences for the characters to go through.
Preferably, I would prefer if the roleplay itself was heavily character focused. Despite these two systems acting as a tracking system for the ending and mid-game progress, the real importance is the characters left within the struggles of Omen. Coping against the battle, falling romantically for other members of the party, building rivalries with Covenant and UNSC personnel alike or strengthening the trust between another character can lead to more surprising encounters, making it worthwhile. After all, we want to actually care about these characters, don't we? There will be many chances for characters to converse, reveal their backstories, engage in hostility, plot against others and whatnot throughout the story and will likely take up half of the tale. This shouldn't diverge the engagements and battles that will be fought, either.
Everything here should be up to scratch, in my opinion. I'll be looking forward to seeing if this Roleplay can take off, as this is technically a reboot of an old version. If you have any questions, feel free to ask below. Once we've garnered enough interest, I'll quickly pop up the OOC without much need to change the interest check here and give everyone the character sheet. Happy hunting!
