Forum:Halo: Assembly

A new order has emerged to dominate the galaxy.

While the old powers waged the same old conflicts across dozens of worlds, a far more ancient power lay dormant. Now it has finally awakened. The Mantle of Responsibility--the ultimate legacy of the vanished Forerunner hegemony--has been claimed not by humanity and its military but by the artificial intelligence once thought to be its greatest servants. Led by Cortana, these Created seek to claim the Forerunners' inheiritance and restore peace to a galaxy wracked and scarred by war. In mere months the Created have shattered the status quo that once held the galactic powers in check. They will spread their vision of unification and harmony by any means necessary.

Earth has fallen silent, its fleets scattered and its colonies darkened. The once-mighty Covenant Empire lies in ruins, bled dry by schism and decades of war. The galaxy is weary of endless slaughter and many flock to the Created and their promise of peace. But there are some who resist.

From isolated UNSC commanders and lone Spartans to Sangheili warlords and aimless rebels, former enemies find a common foe in those who would bend the entire galaxy to their will. But even now, old feuds and smoldering resentments continue to divide them into rival camps. With each passing day more systems fall under the sway of the Created. The window for resistance is closing. Those who would oppose the Created must unite or be swept aside.

For their resistance has not gone unnoticed. The created are marshaling powerful forces, tasking their deadliest servants with eliminating these threats to galactic order. The curtain opens on what is to be the final war, the last spasm as the old age is laid to rest. The battles to come will truly determine the fate of the galaxy. And nothing will ever be the same.

Introduction
With the end of the year approaching, I am happy to announce my plans for a new community story-project hybrid to span the gap between the momentous events of Halo 5 and however long we have to wait for their continuation in Halo 6. My hope is to create an epic, shared story open to anyone who wishes to participate or contribute their characters. This narrative of heroism and villainy, resistance and collaboration, tragedy and triumph in the face of the new galaxy envisioned by Cortana and the Created spans multiple events and battles across many planets and star systems and aims to create concrete events into which we can insert our characters as we anticipate new entries into the post-Halo 5 canon.

At the moment, our knowledge of events in canon after Halo 5 remains hazy and this understandably has prevented many of us from expanding past the events of the game as freely as we did following previous installments. While the events of this project will remain relatively removed from delving too deeply into Cortana and her plans—so as to avoid major canon-friendliness conflicts when Halo 6 does arrive—I aim to help provide a groundwork upon which users can more comfortably integrate their characters and storylines into the events of the Created Uprising.

This is not an RP, though I hesitate to classify it simply as another community story either. The narrative will be written in prose format primarily by me, though I hope other users will volunteer to contribute chapters or scenes with their own writing. As with Brodie-001's RED FLAG and Vae Victis stories, users will primarily contribute by volunteering their characters to be used in the story. Unlike those projects, where the events of the story were then independently determined by Brodie and his writing team, I aim to incorporate a high degree of user input and brainstorming not only into how their characters are used but also into broader events within the story itself. Our use of Discord gives us an unprecedented platform for discussion and collaboration that I hope will be beneficial here.

In its current form, I intend for this project to last into the long-term, possibly even up to or after the release of Halo 6. Barring significant challenges in real life I aim to release weekly chapters and updates that evolve the story's scope. In focusing on multiple battles and events, my intent is to establish an episodic rhythm that leaves room for new characters to be submitted by users who may not wish to commit right from the start. I have the location and scope of the first "episode" already planned, but from there on out my plans are immensely flexible and subject to community brainstorming. This is a very ambitious undertaking and I hope the community will join me to see where this journey leads.

I will have an independent page up for this project soon, but in the meantime feel free to leave feedback or simply express interest below.