Halo Fanon:Survival of the Fittest/Season 5/Beta Test

Hello and welcome to the Beta Test for the upcoming Season 5 of Survival of the Fittest! As the name suggests, the purpose here is to test out SotF's new features on a small scale before making them available to the entire community. Besides me, there's only room for five other users in this beta, so if you want a spot, you'd better put your name down fast! The deciding participant list is first-come, first serve, no exceptions.

First of all, if you're unfamiliar with SotF's new rules, be sure to read them over here. Or if you're looking for a more casual explanation, see my blog. Since the actual season 5 isn't due to start until 2014, we're really in no hurry. But if you're participating in the beta test, just make sure you know the game before your characters are thrown into the fray. The new rules may be a bit overwhelming at first, but they'll be relatively easy to understand once we get the ball rolling.

Which brings me to the other reason for running this beta test. Despite my best efforts, I'm only human, and with the radical changes I've made to SotF this year, there may be complications or faults with the new system that are unforeseeable in the blueprints. So hopefully with this beta, we'll not only make season 5 easier to understand through demonstration, but if there are issues with the new system, they can hopefully be worked out in the beta.

So without further ado, let's jump right into it. The applicant list is below, resource pool will be below that. And below the resource pool will be the character stats and episodes. Remember, each user is limited to a maximum of 2 characters, so choose wisely.

Participants (Closed)
Once you have your characters selected, I'll give you your survival points and assign your characters their attributes in the stats section below. As a note, I'll try to be as fair as I can with the attributes, but if you feel that your character deserves a higher number in an attribute, you can negotiate altering them with me.

Survival points: 144

Survival points: 20

Survival points: 160

Survival points: 102

Spartan 501
Survival points: 50

Lieutenant Davis
Survival points: 210

Resource Shops
² indicates that the weapon is dual-wieldable

Introduction
Commander Kathrin Grunwald looked up from behind her counter as twelve individuals appeared standing above the teleporters lined up against the far wall. Most of them were humans, although one of them was a Sangheili. More than half of them were Spartans, and the rest were a mixed bunch between Marines, mercenaries, and oddly armoured figures that looked a lot like Spartans.

They looked rather confused, as if they didn't know how they had ended up there. That's good, I suppose, Grunwald thought, stepping forward and placing her hands on the counter. ''It'll stop them from trying to kill each other for the time being. At least long enough for me to explain what's going on.'' She cleared her throat, and all eyes were instantly drawn on her.

"Well, don't be shy," she said. "Gather round and we'll get down to business."

The newcomers did as she said, approaching the counter silently. A few of them were eyeing the impressive display of weapons below the counter and on the walls, and some of them were looking at each other to see if there was any recognition.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure some of you have buddies here you're going to recognize," Grunwald said, drawing their attention back to her. "Don't ask questions for now, and just listen.

"If you're wondering where you are, it's called Commander Grunwald's Supply Depot. That's me, by the way. The twelve of you have been brought here because I need a hand in something. A lot of somethings, actually, so I trust that you're all capable. If you do a good job, you'll be paid accordingly. And then you can come back here to get yourself some equipment."

Grunwald took a breath. "These jobs can vary from anything to setting up camp in territories I need claimed, to finding something to bring back to me. Or I could send one of you to kill someone else in this group, which I'm sure some of you wouldn't mind doing."

Some of the newcomers exchanged glances. Sizing each other up, deciding who they would try to target, no doubt. Grunwald took note of the ones that looked like they were on the same side, before continuing. "But before I send you into the field with your objectives, you should all grab some ordnance. As you can see, I have just about anything you're looking for. But these aren't cheap, so I expect you to pull your weight if you're going to be walking out with some of my firepower." She pressed a button on her wrist collar, and a dozen holographic screens appeared in front of each of the newcomers' faces, with the text "600 SP" displayed across each screen.

"This is your balance of SP, or survival points. You can see how many SP you have when you enter my shop or when you complete an objective. As you may have noticed, each of your screens are colour-coded. There is one other person in this room with the same coloured screen as you, and that's who you're sharing your SP with. If that person is killed, then congratulations, it all becomes yours."

The participants looked around at each other again, locking gazes with whoever had the same screen colour as them. "Most of these weapon costs are less than the 600 SP you have right now. But there is also a minimum SP requirement for you to have in order to buy them. This is to make sure you don't walk in here and spend all your points, and screw over whoever you're supposed to share them with. Sound fair?"

There were collective nods and grunts of affirmation. Some of the participants who didn't look particularly pleased with their "partners" relaxed a bit. Grunwald opened her arms, gesturing at the weapon-laden walls around them. "Well, look around. Pick out what you want."

They immediately spread out throughout the store, some pacing up and down the walls to browse though the equipment, others picking up weapons and examining them. Grunwald noticed a teal-armoured female taking a pair of Plasma Rifles and holding them experimentally. The ODST beside her was testing the weight of a Shotgun. The only Sangheili in the room was giving them both a wide berth.

"All weapons are disabled as soon as you enter my shop, by the way," Grunwald added. The identically blue screens in front of the two humans chimed, and two sets of numbers appeared on them.

The ODST turned to face her. "What's this, Commander?" she asked. On her screen, its name visible only to Grunwald, was scrawled "MELISSA MCKAY, FIRST LIEUTENANT"

"When you pick up something from my shop, Lieutenant, your screen will display its price. And the attribute requirements you need to use it."

"Attribute requirements?" repeated the teal-armoured one, her screen labelled as "VICTORIA O'CONNELL, MAJOR"</tt>.

"Okay, everyone, listen up. If you tap the icon at the top right corner of your screen, it will show your strength, dexterity, agility, and accuracy attributes. Each of you has been evaluated on your individual abilities, and your attributes will reflect that. I will only sell you a weapon if you meet all four of its attribute requirements."

"Sounds about fair," remarked a male with dark-blue armour and green highlights ("JERROLD PERSHING, SPECIALIST"</tt>). "Hey, Carolina, what are your attributes?" he asked, peeking over at Victoria's screen. She immediately returned her screen to display her SP instead of her attributes.

"Hey," Jerrold said, surprised. "I thought we were on the same side."

Grunwald shook her head. "That may not be a guarantee. You're free to form your own teams as you see fit, but keep in mind that sooner or later, you might find it better not to take sides at all. In any case, it's an advantage if no one else can see your attributes, or else they could figure out your weaknesses and exploit them in the field."

"Enough talk, what do we do now?" asked a Spartan who had already selected his weapons ("ROGER-341, JUNIOR LIEUTENANT"</tt>). "You mentioned objectives, so can you give them to us now?"

Grunwald nodded. "Alright then. Return to the teleporters you were standing in before, and it will take you to a random location. Once you're out, you'll get a list of objectives on your screen. Pick one, and then it's up to you from there." She watched as the twelve of them finished selecting their weapons and stepped back onto their teleporters. When the last one took his position, there was a simultaneous flash, and then they were gone.

The Commander sat back in her chair and crossed her legs. "And so the game begins," she said to herself.