In some ways, peace can be a more difficult prospect than war. The end of the Human-Covenant war saw the complete destruction of the Covenant and its leadership, the decimation of both Human and Covenant fleets, and, to the best of anyone’s knowledge, the removal of the Flood as a threat to the galaxy. In the aftermath of the devastation, after the end of a decades-long war that had claimed a long list of colonies and billions of Human lives, the notion of peace was understandably appealing to Humanity. For many of the Sangheili, who had not only faced heavy losses in the Great Schism, but had faced the end of both the faith and way of life that had guided their people for countless generations, peace was the only way to rebuild their society. The informal alliance that had first been forged on Installation 05 was formalized into treaty in February of 2553.
However, the known galaxy was far from unified after the end of the war. While the Swords of Sanghelios held firm control over their homeworld and many of its colonies, other splinter factions still arose in the power vacuum the Covenant had left behind. Groups like the Servants of Abiding Truth, and later Jul ‘Mdama’s Covenant, could not abandon their faith in the Forerunners and maintained efforts to destroy all they deemed blasphemers. At the same time, without the threat of extinction looming over their heads, the flames of rebellion were rekindled among cells of Human insurrectionist groups. Along with less focused threats, like pirates and Jiralhanae warlords clinging on to what remained of their power, there was never truly an end to the fighting in the Orion arm.
The year is 2557, five years since the end of the Human-Covenant war. While there are enemies to fight across many parts of the known galaxy, the regions of space designated as Joint Occupation Zones present unique challenges. Formalized as regions of cooperative Human-Sangheili settlement, the peacekeeping efforts in these areas cannot simply be handled unilaterally by one species or the other. After five years with no reason to believe their enemies would be defeated quickly or easily, new teams have been formed to escalate their joint peacekeeping efforts.
One among these joint operations teams is Hotel Sierra Special Operations Team Aegis, or Aegis Team: a special operations force of hand-picked UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios specialists intended to take on critical missions primarily within Joint Occupation Zones. Falling outside usual structures for military command on both sides, the ideal candidates for Aegis Team would be adaptable, resourceful, amenable to working cooperatively with their former enemies, and most importantly, highly skilled as to be able to deal with powerful threats swiftly and decisively. However, considering the number of conflicts across the known galaxy and the priority for skill over agreeable personality traits, not all of the team’s final candidates may be “ideal.”
Our characters will be hand-picked specialists for Aegis Team, and may be Human, Spartan, Sangheili (Elites), Unggoy (Grunts), or Kig-Yar (Jackals), and you may have multiple characters. I would be willing to accept one Mgalekgolo colony (a Hunter), though I will say that is a rather unique sort of personality to portray that could be a challenge. Based on the lore and how our story is beginning, I cannot accept a Jiralhanae (Brute) as a part of the team at the start, but if someone has interest in a Jiralhanae character, I can conceive of situations where it would be reasonable to add one to the team. Just message me and we may be able to figure something out. We shall be beginning on Earth at HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6, our characters having been gathered from across the Orion arm over the course of several weeks, before being sent out on our first mission.
Basic character sheet (Add any other information you feel that you need. I’m not too strict.) Applications are currently open for anyone who wants to join.
Name:
Rank (If applicable):
Species:
Appearance:
Skills:
Preferred Weapons/Equipment:
Background:
Optionally, I have created a Discord server for the RP:
Here's mine. It's a bit sparse, but that's common for Spartans, especially before the IVs.
Name: Ben-E218
Rank: Lieutenant
Species: Human (Spartan III)
Appearance: Generation 2 Mjolnir Armor, colored black with a dark-tinted visor. (I can look up the exact details of his accessories from the MCC gear list.)
Skills: Excellent sniper, although as with all Spartans, Ben is trained in the use of most if not all UNSC equipment.
Background: Entered service in 2545, having been born on the planet [Censored]. As with all Spartan-IIIs, Ben was orphaned at a young age when the Covenant attacked his planet, glassing the surface. Early on, he was singled out for his skills as a sniper, along with extreme levels of loyalty and a willingness to carry out any order given to him, even those which required him to turn of his own friends and allies. As such, Ben was assigned to the Spartan-III Security operations group, an organization so secretive, even other Spartans weren't made aware of it.
As part of Sec Ops, Ben was nominally a part of Beta company for some years, switching to Alpha and Gamma on occasion. He achieved an exemplary number of kills and was never part of a failed mission. As such, he advanced to the commissioned ranks quickly, becoming a lieutenant by the year 2552. None of the other Spartans knew that he was part of Security Operations, or what his real missions were, for while he still had the same objectives on each mission as the rest of the team he was assigned to, his real goal was to keep the other Spartans in line, report any dissent, and execute any member of the Spartan program who displayed treasonous behavior, cowardice, or put UNSC security at unnecessary risk. His authority for execution also extended as far as the normal UNSC military forces, a fact kept well off the books. It also extended to witnesses to any event which if reported, could jeopardize the political or military aims of the UNSC.
After the end of the Human-Covenant war, Security Operations was reformed into Epsilon company, and retroactively given all of the trappings of a normal UNSC Spartan-III company as if it had been active since the start of the Spartan-III program. Now that the Spartan-IV program has begun, no more members of Epsilon are being added, and members of the company are often combined or sent to participate in larger groups which are formed as the situation demands.
@AristoclesThe idea of a sort of Spartan "secret military police" is an interesting one. While that isn't something mentioned in lore, it is something I could certainly see an organization like ONI authorizing. Spartans themselves are particularly loyal (except maybe the IVs. They are just the normal sort of loyal.), so it is not likely that he would have ever had to actually carry out those secret orders on a Spartan, but it's not farfetched that ONI might want to have operatives willing to do that, just in case.
One note is that the Spartan-III "companies" aren't really organizations that one could be assigned to. They basically just represent the generations of Spartan-IIIs. Alpha was trained first, Beta second, Gamma third. It doesn't really change anything, though, since your character could still have been assigned to a variety of Spartan teams with that same mission. It's mostly just semantics.
I don't mind people getting creative as long as they don't directly contradict lore, or do anything too crazy, so it seems to be fine. It will be interesting to see if people get nervous having a Spartan looking over our shoulders.
@Aristocles If you want an in-depth source for Halo lore to increase the accuracy of characters, I highly recommend Halopedia. Considering this is the postwar era, on top of looking into the SPARTAN-III Project, you'll also want to look into the Spartan Operations branch.
@EliteCommander Currently working on my CS. Out of curiosity, what kind of liberties can be taken with equipment (armor and weapon modifications, for example)?
@Crab Bane As I mentioned to Aristocles, I don't mind letting people get creative as long as it isn't directly contradictory to lore, or not too crazy. I am someone who likes to respect lore accuracy in general, but I also recognize that being very strict about it all the time can get both irritating and restrictive. In general, I'm probably not going to mind people adding things that don't contradict canon. Like a custom planet for a character's backstory, and things like that.
As for your character's equipment, I think the philosophy of the Spartan program now (if you're still going with a Spartan), is to give a lot of leeway to the Spartan's choices and preferences. Spartans on the Infinity (which is probably representative of Spartans elsewhere), are allowed to customize their armor with any compatible parts completely by their own desires, and they can deploy on missions with non-standard, even non-Human weapons. As long as a weapon modification is something that would be reasonable to be possible, I say go for it.
This is me taking up the DM's challenge of playing a singular Mgalekgolo. cs wip, don't look
💣 Name: Tasumameyofaxre "Tasuma" Rank: Hunter Species: Lekgolo - Mgalekgolo Colony Appearance: Tasuma is an imposing form, standing near the upper limit of recorded Mgalekgolo height, he is 12 feet tall and 4 inches, and capable of hunching down into a comfortable combat stance of 7 feet, 4 inches. Tasuma itself looks just like any other Lekgolo colony, a mass of orange worm like aliens clustered together into a form. Where it begins to differ in appearance is in its armor. Having worked alongside UNSC scientists and engineers, it's Covenant issued armor has been given a new coat of paint, from blue to the ODST's black and grey BDU camouflage. Tasuma is also rarely seen in the field without camo netting draped over its back and head, further providing concealment. Seemingly to further the idea that Tasuma has adopted the human method of warfare, its armor and assault cannon has been modified with additional plates to cover the glowing eyes and exposed incendiary fuel ammunition tubes. These plates can be retracted to allow the glow of the weapon and eyes to be seen again. Even on its back, between its spikes, the humans had managed to affix an array of four smoke grenade launchers. Tasuma itself is a fairly submissive Mgalekgolo, often crouched over disguising its true height, to make itself as small as possible. In the day to day, Tasuma is often just under its combat stance height. The spikes on its back are often relaxed and limp, and it can be seen walking using its shield as a third leg occasionally, almost like crawling.
Skills: Fighting things, smashing things, observing things. Surprisingly good at being stealthy. Preferred Weapons/Equipment: Tasuma prefers his Pavise Shield and Assault Cannon, and has found use for the smoke grenade launchers on his back. But the UNSC Engineers and Scientists that work with Tasuma have come up with all sorts of things. Explosive-Reactive-Armor plating for his shield to make it more resistant against HEAT rockets and missiles, fitting fragmentation grenades in his smoke grenade launchers, an experimental active protection system that disrupts the electromagnetic field of incoming plasma fire, (at the cost of disrupting all outgoing weapons that use electromagnetic fields in someway, and unshielded electronics, and it may possibly cause health issues) and more. Tasuma tries to let them down gently. Background: Tasuma is a fairly young Hunter, having been born from its Bondbrother, Iteyimeyokosa, only ten years ago. Iteyi was a warrior on the Lekgolo homeworld of Te and the other Lekgolo colonies for over a hundred years, settling disputes, keeping the peace and fighting aggressive wildlife. When Tasuma was born, the bonded pair gained the attention of a Sangheili Commander. The Commander personally requested that Tasuma and Iteyi join his unit as Hunters in the Covenant military, and the two accepted. During the Human-Covenant War, Iteyi was a ferocious soldier, while Tasuma was the more meek. However together the Hunters were a force to be reckoned with. During the Great Betrayal, Tasuma and Iteyi were on Earth fighting alongside Sangheili when the Jiralhanae suddenly began to attack the Sangheili. The Hunter pair quickly reacted by rushing to their commanders aid. With the Hunters aid, the Jiralhanae were fought off, and the group of Hunters, Elites, as well as several confused Unggoy fled. It wasn't long that they stumbled into a firefight between a battered UNSC forward operating base, and a large contingent of Covenant forces. The Sangheili Commander acted quickly, forming a plan to strike at the rear of the Jiralhanae. The Hunters and Sangheili broke the back of the Brute assault, stuck between the Elites and the UNSC, the Covenant attackers were destroyed. There was a tense pause between the UNSC and their rescuers, a pause that was broken by the appearance of a second wave of Covenant. The Elites immediately opened fire, a response good enough for the humans, and together they manned the walls of the UNSC base. Tasuma and Iteyi held the entrance when Iteyi was struck by an enemy heavy weapon, felling the Mgalekgolo. For Tasuma it was as if time had stopped, his elder brother had been felled. Then a squad of ODSTs ran from the walls and formed a perimeter around the fallen Hunter, their team medic working frantically. Tasuma was struck by their decision to move to save an alien who just hours before was invading their world. Tasuma roared, slammed his shield against the floor, and backed up to become a living shield for the ODSTs. It wasn't long after until another UNSC element appeared, the rest of the ODST's platoon. Bolstered by reinforcements, the Covenant attack was fought off, and they were left with the awkward question as human and alien looked to one another. What now? Tasuma dared not leave his wounded brother, as the Elites spoke to the Human officers. More than a few ODSTs surrounded it, watching it, as it watched the medics. When the medics finally finished, Tasuma could feel a sliver of life from its brother. The Humans had saved its bondbrother, and with that, Tasuma had formed new opinions. Later, the group was united with the Fleet of Retribution. As the Elites and Grunts joined with their brethren, Tasuma again refused to leave his brother. Iteyi was moved to a secure UNSC facility, Spatha Base, and Tasuma followed. As security, the platoon of ODSTs followed closely behind them. As Iteyi began its slow heal, hours rolled into days, and days rolled into weeks. The ODSTs became bolder and bolder, approaching Tasuma, who stood no more than ten feet away from its brother at any time. Tasuma and the ODSTs eventually began to converse, it learned the names of the ones who saved its brother. It took a whole year for Tasuma to trust the humans with its brother, even with Iteyi's assurance that the humans meant only well. With the relationship between the ODST platoon, now dubbed "The Worm Wranglers", and the two Hunters being well, the UNSC expanded the scope of the project. From ensuring Iteyi's survival and continued healing, thus ensuring a good relationship between Elites and Humans, to now include societal research, weapons development, and more. Over the next few years, Tasuma would fight alongside the ODSTs against pockets of Covenant resistance on Earth and her colonies. Tasuma and Iteyi would pledge their allegiance to the Swords of Sanghelios, though it would take Iteyi decades more to fully recover from the attack. Over the years, the four person fireteam that had rushed down from the walls to defend Iteyi would be offered the position of Spartan-IV, and they would accept, becoming Fireteam Knifefish. Tasuma, Fireteam Knifefish, and the Worm Wranglers Platoon of ODSTs would regularly be deployed alongside Swords of Sangheilios units for joint operations. Meanwhile at Spatha Base on Earth, the team surrounding Iteyi's recovery had easily tripled in size, now encompassing both Human scientists and engineers, and Sangheili medics-in-training and weaponsmiths. The Iteyimeyokosa Recovery Project now included cross training, education, as well as research, becoming one of the larger joint UNSC-Swords of Sanghelios projects in existence. Tasuma would be approached by his old commanding officer once more, now a political leader supporting The Arbiter, and he would ask the battle hardened Hunter to join the newly formed HSSO Aegis Team. Under the advisement of its friends in the ODSTs, Fireteam Knifefish, and its bond brother, Tasuma would accept.
Appearance: Of all of the members of Gamma Company, Rex was one of the few that could physically pass as a normal human, save for one thing: his eyes, which had taken on a golden color during Project CHRYSANTHEMUM. He lost his right arm during the Battle of Earth, and has since had it replaced with a prosthetic that works in tandem with his MJOLNIR armor. His skin is quite pale, and never seems to burn or tan. His hair is black, and always buzzed short.
Background: Born on the planet Alluvion, Rex's parents both fought and died holding off the Covenant invasion of the planet. With no living relatives, he was shipped off to an orphanage, and eventually conscripted into SPARTAN-III Gamma Company. While he proved to be less of a team player than most of his peers, Rex proved to be almost peerless in close-quarters combat. He was selected for the Headhunter program, and after training was completed, deployed on various reconnaissance and sabotage missions, including Antarctica and Cuba. After the war, Rex was drafted into the Spartan Operations branch, where he was selected to continue working as a LONEWOLF Headhunter.
I don't see any flaws with the CS, @Crab Bane. I would say it is good. A Gamma company Spartan is certainly an interesting one to play, considering the illegal mutagens they were given and the fact that they require regular doses of specific drugs to avoid psychosis. I look forward to seeing how that plays out.
I should mention something else about how I intended to do leadership for the team. With the team composition, UNSC personnel wouldn't normally have direct authority over Swords of Sanghelios personnel, and vice versa, but the team does need a single voice of leadership on combat missions. For the Swords of Sanghelios, I am going to have my Sangheili be the ranking officer, and for the UNSC, I was going to most likely pick a Spartan to be the fireteam leader. Depending on the context of the individual missions we are on operational authority would either be given to the Sangheili, or the Spartan. Both of the Spartans so far seem to be more of loners than leaders, so...I'll need to figure that out.
I intended to add some kind of note about psychiatric reports and prior incidents, but decided to nix it for the sake of being short on time. When I have time I'll post the (updated) version in the CHAR section.
I'll need at least another day to read up and fill out a CS. Needed to work late the last couple of nights. A hazy character concept is forming in my head, though.
@Crab Bane I do think that your character having grudges against many of the former Covenant species does make for a nice source of potential drama. Although, I do think we have to take care to make sure that his superiors have no reason to believe he will engage in any potentially harmful behavior towards allies of those species. Otherwise, they would not have selected him for the mission, despite his skill. It's a fine line to walk, but his superiors just have to believe that he will behave.
Appearance: Tasuma is an imposing form, standing near the upper limit of recorded Mgalekgolo height, he is 12 feet tall and 4 inches, and capable of hunching down into a comfortable combat stance of 7 feet, 4 inches. Tasuma itself looks just like any other Lekgolo colony, a mass of orange worm like aliens clustered together into a form. Where it begins to differ in appearance is in its armor. Having worked alongside UNSC scientists and engineers, it's Covenant issued armor has been given a new coat of paint, from blue to the ODST's black and grey BDU camouflage. Tasuma is also rarely seen in the field without camo netting draped over its back and head, further providing concealment. Seemingly to further the idea that Tasuma has adopted the human method of warfare, its armor and assault cannon has been modified with additional plates to cover the glowing eyes and exposed incendiary fuel ammunition tubes. These plates can be retracted to allow the glow of the weapon and eyes to be seen again. Even on its back, between its spikes, the humans had managed to affix an array of four smoke grenade launchers. Tasuma itself is a fairly submissive Mgalekgolo, often crouched over disguising its true height, to make itself as small as possible. In the day to day, Tasuma is often just under its combat stance height. The spikes on its back are often relaxed and limp, and it can be seen walking using its shield as a third leg occasionally, almost like crawling.
Skills: Fighting things, smashing things, looking at things. Preferred Weapons/Equipment: Tasuma prefers its Pavise Shield and Assault Cannon, and has found use for the smoke grenade launchers on its back. But the UNSC Engineers and Scientists that work with Tasuma have come up with all sorts of things. Explosive-Reactive-Armor plating for its shield to make it more resistant against HEAT rockets and missiles, fitting fragmentation grenades in its smoke grenade launchers, an experimental active protection system that disrupts the electromagnetic field of incoming plasma fire, (at the cost of disrupting all outgoing weapons that use electromagnetic fields in someway, and unshielded electronics, and it may possibly cause health issues) and more. Tasuma tries to let them down gently.
Background: Tasuma is a fairly young Hunter, having been born from its Bondbrother, Iteyimeyokosa, only ten years ago. Iteyi was a warrior on the Lekgolo homeworld of Te and the other Lekgolo colonies for over a hundred years, settling disputes, keeping the peace and fighting aggressive wildlife. When Tasuma was born, the bonded pair gained the attention of a Sangheili Commander. The Commander personally requested that Tasuma and Iteyi join his unit as Hunters in the Covenant military, and the two accepted. During the Human-Covenant War, Iteyi was a ferocious soldier, while Tasuma was the more meek. However together the Hunters were a force to be reckoned with.
During the Great Betrayal, Tasuma and Iteyi were on Earth fighting alongside Sangheili when the Jiralhanae suddenly began to attack the Sangheili. The Hunter pair quickly reacted by rushing to their commanders aid. With the Hunters aid, the Jiralhanae were fought off, and the group of Hunters, Elites, as well as several confused Unggoy fled. It wasn't long that they stumbled into a firefight between a battered UNSC forward operating base, and a large contingent of Covenant forces. The Sangheili Commander acted quickly, forming a plan to strike at the rear of the Jiralhanae. The Hunters and Sangheili broke the back of the Brute assault, stuck between the Elites and the UNSC, the Covenant attackers were destroyed. There was a tense pause between the UNSC and their rescuers, a pause that was broken by the appearance of a second wave of Covenant. The Elites immediately opened fire, a response good enough for the humans, and together they manned the walls of the UNSC base. Tasuma and Iteyi held the entrance when Iteyi was struck by an enemy heavy weapon, felling the Mgalekgolo. For Tasuma it was as if time had stopped, its elder brother had been felled. Then a squad of ODSTs ran from the walls and formed a perimeter around the fallen Hunter, their team medics working frantically. Tasuma was struck by their decision to move to save an alien who just hours before was invading their world. Tasuma roared, slammed its shield against the floor, and backed up to become a living shield for the ODSTs. It wasn't long after until another UNSC element appeared, the rest of the ODST's platoon. Bolstered by reinforcements, the Covenant attack was fought off, and they were left with the awkward question as human and alien looked to one another. What now?
Tasuma dared not leave its wounded brother, as the Elites spoke to the Human officers. More than a few ODSTs surrounded it, watching it, as it watched the medics. When the medics finally finished, Tasuma could feel a sliver of life from its brother. The Humans had saved its bondbrother, and with that, Tasuma had formed new opinions.
Later, the group was united with the Fleet of Retribution. As the Elites and Grunts joined with their brethren, Tasuma again refused to leave its brother. Iteyi was moved to a secure UNSC facility, Spatha Base, and Tasuma followed. As security, the platoon of ODSTs followed closely behind them. As Iteyi began its slow heal, hours rolled into days, and days rolled into weeks. The ODSTs became bolder and bolder, approaching Tasuma, who stood no more than ten feet away from its brother at any time. Tasuma and the ODSTs eventually began to converse, it learned the names of the ones who saved its brother. It took a whole year for Tasuma to trust the humans with its brother, even with Iteyi's assurance that the humans meant only well. With the relationship between the ODST platoon, now dubbed "The Worm Wranglers", and the two Hunters being well, the UNSC expanded the scope of the project. From ensuring Iteyi's survival and continued healing, thus ensuring a good relationship between Elites and Humans, to now include societal research, weapons development, and more. Over the next few years, Tasuma would fight alongside the ODSTs against pockets of Covenant resistance on Earth and her colonies. Tasuma and Iteyi would pledge their allegiance to the Swords of Sanghelios, though it would take Iteyi decades more to fully recover from the attack. Over the years, the six person combat team that had rushed down from the walls to defend Iteyi would be offered the position of Spartan-IV, and they would accept, becoming Fireteam Knifefish.
Tasuma, Fireteam Knifefish, and the Worm Wranglers Platoon of ODSTs would regularly be deployed alongside Swords of Sangheilios units for joint operations. Meanwhile at Spatha Base on Earth, the team surrounding Iteyi's recovery had easily tripled in size, now encompassing both Human scientists and engineers, and Sangheili medics-in-training and weaponsmiths. The Iteyimeyokosa Recovery Project now included cross training, education, as well as research, becoming one of the larger joint UNSC-Swords of Sanghelios projects in existence.
Tasuma would be approached by its old commanding officer once more, now a political leader supporting The Arbiter, and he would ask the battle hardened Hunter to join the newly formed HSSO Aegis Team. Under the advisement of its friends in the ODSTs, Fireteam Knifefish, and its bond brother, Tasuma would accept.
Includes misc things as well as details about the characters important in Tasuma's history.
2nd Platoon "Worm Wranglers", Lt. Donovan Horn. An expert tactician, is able to balance his platoon of ODSTs, Fireteam Knifefish, and the Hunter Tasuma to play to their absolute strengths. 6 person strong Fireteam Knifefish, works very closely with ODSTs 22nd Battalion's "Worm Wranglers" platoon. Considers themselves subservient to Lt. Horn. Comprised of Spartans Alonzo Villa (Leader), Everett Peters (Medic), Angie Summers (Medic), Malcolm Riggs (Automatic Rifleman), Joseph Boyd (Grenadier), August Hayes (Marksman).
Aro'Dahom. Sangheili, former Field Master of the Covenant. Currently a political leader in the Swords of Sanghelios advocating for the core ideals of the group and a deeper alliance with the Human race.
@SkyrteI think that Tasuma's background works. Some of Regret's invasion forces had certainly been left behind after his carrier fled, and it was pretty much immediately afterwards that Truth sent his Jiralhanae-led fleet with orders to wipe out any remaining Sangheili and Human resistance. If Tasuma was among a small pocket of Sangheili-led holdouts left over from Regret's invasion force, I could see there being an impromptu truce, especially if a prideful Brute let it slip that the orders came from the Hierarchs. Miranda, Johnson, and the Arbiter returned from Installation 05 before the Fleet of Retribution, so they wouldn't have to wait for the fleet to get their truce "confirmed".
I can tell by many of the little details in your CS that you've done your homework on the Lekgolo, so you might already be aware, but if you haven't already, you might try looking up voice lines from "Colony" in Halo Wars 2. Lekgolo are...weird, so that might help. At any rate, unless I've missed something, I'm pretty sure I can accept Tasuma.
That does mean I won't be accepting any more Lekgolo for now.
Yeah I purposely tried to make it as small scale as possible while making sure there were a few NPCs lying around in the background to make it seem like a big planetary invasion. The decision to team up would have been left to something like platoon commander to platoon commander. The unintended benefit of this is that if Aegis is ever going into a big battle and we’re gonna need backup, you don't have to pull random faceless mooks from out of nowhere.
And thanks for the heads up about Colony, I did see them referenced in my research but I didn't think too much of it. And I never got around to playing the two Halo Wars games either, Windows Store doesn't do well on my computer. I’ll go check out their voice lines right now.
