RP:Beyond Veil's Azure

§ Beyond Veil's Azure § A COLLABORATIVE CREATIVE ROLEPLAY INTEGRATING COMMUNITY AND CREATIVE STORYTELLING    The roleplay is being finalized. Please feel free to join! Everyone is allowed to join! Sign below, read the background, and make characters! Contact RelentlessRecusant  if there's any questions.



IN EVERY WAR, THERE ARE MULTIPLE STRATEGIES. Attack and siege. Defense and retreat. Final stands and glorious battles. These have all been tried before. By the UNSC and the Covenant, by the Forerunners and Flood before them. War has never been waged any other way, until now.

It starts, a rogue scarlet spark pulsating in the midnight dark. It swells, engorging with blood and strength, drawing together her countless, vast armies. She is a depthless infinity, a boundless expanse, and existence in herself, alpha and omega held in her hands. Velvet darkness descends, slaying the graceful dawn, suffocating the stars.

This is a story of an ending of an age. How darkness overthrows two hundred millennia of humanity, turns back the clock. This is the end. The twilight of the UNSC. It starts now. THE YEAR IS 2594 — four decades after the end of the Human-Covenant War. The War was long ago. We healed from those scars. Human ambition has leaped across the stars, and we have spread thousands of colonies across the stars, scattering our seed around the galaxy. We are a wildfire, and with every year comes another breakthrough. Medical science has saved countless lives from disease. Governmental power has been returned to the civilian population from the military dictatorship. The rich grow richer, but supercorporations make the necessities of life available even to the poor. We all prosper.

WE BEAT SWORDS INTO PLOWSHARES. We are the friends and economic partners of the Covenant. We are safe. Our heroes, the soldiers of the War, now rest with their grandchildren at home. We are at peace.

THE ENEMY BIDES HER TIME. With every victory, we lose. With every breakthrough, she breaks through us. She sabotages our society, falling us to our knees. She has waited in the dark of dusk too long. NIGHT FALLS ON HUMANITY. THE END IS NOW,

BEYOND THE VEIL'S AZURE.

Introduction
"Beyond Veil's Azure" is a tentative collaborative roleplay written by RelentlessRecusant and possibly co-written in collaboration with other administrators. More information to follow. :) Specific information is not available at the time, but interested participants may for the interim contact me at my talk page or my email address (relentlessrecusant@gmail.com). It may be likely that Dragonclaws and / or Rotaretilbo (both administrators of Halo Fan Fiction Wikia) will have moderator positions.

Plotline Background
BEYOND VEIL'S AZURE is the second epoch of the Halo continuity. The Human-Covenant War and the Halo installations, our feuds with the Covenant; all this and more has been forgotten. It is peace within the veil.

This is the next generation of Halo. We star new characters, new heroes, a new epic.

The UNSC Defense Force is now truly a defense force, a territorial force that patrols our colonies. Long forgotten are the titanic weapons and gargantuan vehicles of the War. We forget that we once spilled our blood to ensure that humanity's tender flame was kindled. Our diminished, withered armies and navies do not care for warfare; we have not fought a single battle for nearly forty years. We keep our homes safe from terrorists, from rebels, from pirates. Our special forces are no longer the SPARTANs, those titans that fought the Covenant and shed their blood on our soil. We now have the Myrmidons, the second generation of SPARTANs; highly capable child soldiers with advanced augmentations and training that specifically perform counterterrorism actions. We do not wage war anymore with any armies.

We ask you to fill the rosters of our new humanity. Characters are specifically requested to be UNSC special warfare operators, either in the UNSC Army Ranger Corps, in UNSC Force Reconnaissance, in the UNSC Navy Naval Special Warfare, or in the Office of Naval Intelligence's elite Myrmidon next-generation SPARTAN company. We are highly interested in skilled writers and roleplayers that will make very unique characters, and we are definitely amenable to accepting highly unique and interesting civilian characters or those from other branches of service.

As nighttime draws its cloak across us, there will be warfare, of shed blood, of dying worlds, dying stars. This will be an action-oriented roleplay (RP), featuring both detailed counterterrorism and atrocious large-scale battles. The UNSC special forces fulfill a unique role in the UNSC Defense Force that gives them maximum capability to be involved.

Please speak to RelentlessRecusant about your characters; he offers an opportunity to collaborate with authors that have especially unique characters, and is highly willing to collaborate to form FOTM-grade articles that may be competitively nominated in the future for the Fanon of the Month. This is intended to be a talented and creative project, and we all look forward to the possibilities.

Playable Factions
This is a list of special forces factions that we encourage roleplayers to create characters in and to actively participate in the main plotline, which revolves around the operators of Task Force 51 in their counterinsurgency operations and their unconventional actions to follow... We are highly interested, however, in extremely unique characters and welcome characters that are not limited to these SF units, especially civilians.


 * UNSC Ranger Corps (UNSC Army)
 * The Rangers are the principal reaction force of the UNSC Special Operations Command. At the battalion level, they are an integrated, flexible joint strike force integrating forces across the operational continuum; combining elite light infantry, mechanized forces, aviation assets, indirect fires, and support elements into a singular high-mobility task force that is prepared to reflexively react to hostile conditions in the battlespace. Ranger forces actively support the UNSCSOCOM mission and Ranger infantrymen support operators of Task Force 51.


 * UNSC Naval Special Warfare (UNSC Navy)
 * UNSC Naval Special Warfare (NAVSPECWAR) is a tier-one UNSC Special Operations Command division, and is primarily an elite military counterterrorism and counterinsurgency force. While the actions of the Human-Covenant War have forced NAVSPECWAR to perform more mainstream roles in the expansion of the strategic options of UNSC theater commanders, where NAVSPECWAR participated in special reconnaissance and strategic strikes, with the advent of the War's end, NAVSPECWAR has returned to its more traditional counterterrorism and counterinsurgency roles, and NAVSPECWAR Six operators are a core force of Task Force 51.


 * UNSC Marine Force Reconnaissance (UNSC Marine Corps)
 * UNSC Marine Force Reconnaissance (FORCE RECON) is a conventional special operations force (SOF) of the UNSC Special Operations Command, and during the Human-Covenant War, participated in special operations across the battlespace spectrum, performing deep reconnaissance to expand the intelligence assets of the theater commander and providing direct action to surgically obstruct the operations of the hostile contingent and limit the tactical options of the enemy commander. FORCE RECON operators field counterinsurgency roles in Task Force 51.


 * UNSC Special Warfare Group SPARTAN (UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence)
 * II Detachment ("SPARTAN-IIs")
 * The SPARTAN-IIs of UNSC Special Warfare Group SPARTAN, Detachment II manifest themselves in the form of a single, three-person team in Task Force 51. Highly experienced in covert operations, sabotage, and causing general havoc behind enemy lines, the IIs of Azure Team were, and are still, hailed as "the heroes of Minorca.


 * III Detachment ("SPARTAN-IIIs")
 * The SPARTAN-IIIs of UNSC Special Warfare Group SPARTAN, Detachment III are a company-level asset in Task Force 51. They are highly experienced shock troops with counterinsurgency experience, and are the mentors of the younger Myrmidons.


 * IV Detachment ("Myrmidons")
 * The Myrmidons of UNSC Special Warfare Group SPARTAN, Detachment IV are a company-level asset in Task Force 51. Myrmidon special warfare operators are principal operators on all counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations performed by TF51, and are characterized by their expeditious speed and surgical efficiency, and Myrmidon operations are high-risk direct action missions that exactingly neutralize an enemy's strategic options, disabling rather than destructive, leaving the enemy commander vulnerable to conventional UNSC infantry forces.

Friendly UNSC Forces

 * Task Force 51 (TF51): UNSC joint strike force that integrates elite operational detachments from every uniformed service in UNSCSOCOM and strategic intelligence from the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence to surgically cauterize increasing concentrations of destructive insurgent activity in the UNSC Outer Rim (the "Borderlands"). Task Force 51 responsibilities principally include counterinsurgency and counterproliferation (CP) of weapons of mass destruction, but also include counterterrorism (CT), psychological operations (PSYOPS), foreign internal defense (FID) and unconventional warfare (UW) to raise indigenous forces against rebellion, and civil-military operations (CMO) to align indigenous forces to the UNSC cause and to obstruct rebel or terrorist recruiting.
 * Kawika Son: Decorated former NAVSPECWAR Six operator that participated in notable combat actions, such as the Battle of Cambridge, the Battle of the Ark, and the hunt for the Forerunner Dreadnaught. Currently holds rank of Vice Admiral (VADM, O-9) with the UNSC Navy / UNSC Special Operations Command, and serves as the senior director of the Myrmidon Program. Because of the major deployment of Myrmidon squadrons to TF51, he also serves as the commander of Task Force 51, and Admiral Son has been principally responsible for TF51 and the majority of UNSC counterinsurgency operations in the Outer Rim.
 * UNSC Counterforce Task Force (CTF): UNSC Navy / UNSC Medical Corps noncombatant task force attached to UNSCSOCOM responsible for the consequence management of the deployment of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), such as thermonuclear capabilities or chem-biol capabilities, or else weapons of mass effect (WME), such as high-yield explosives or the usage of orbital weapons. CTF specialists are often attached to Task Force 51 counterproliferation (CP) operations, where they are expected to suppress, neutralize, and defuse active WMDs and also counterterrorism (CT) operations involving the threat of WMD or WME deployment.
 * UNSC Beyond Veil's Azure: UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence / UNSC Navy stealth frigate currently on reconnaissance-in-force deployment in the Sagittarius Arm, tens of thousands of light-years towards the Galactic Core, far away from the UNSC Outer Rim and Task Force 51's counterinsurgency operations.
 * Kimberly Ivy Blackburn: Former special warfare operator of the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence, Section Three, and the integral force of PATRIOT / FORECAST. Now forty years old, ten years ago, a highly controvertible arrangement between SPARTAN-091, and Beah Schore, the UNSC Defense Council has resulted in her voluntary retirement from UNSC Special Operations Command. Nepotistic connections with Schore have granted her a position at Harvard University, Department of Stem Cell & Regenerative Biology and Harvard Stem Cell Institute at Cambridge, Massachusetts in Sherman-Fairchild Biochemistry, where she is a Whitney Hayes postdoctoral fellow. She was the paradigm behind the Myrmidon initiative, and was the first demonstration that a human embryo can be manipulated through a chemical biology platform of small-molecule chemical probes, and that combinatorial teratogenesis and postnatal manipulation favorably promotes militarily-useful biological traits. She was an experimental platform for the experimental in utero usage of SCARLET, a Flood mimetic comprised of small-molecule compounds that in vitro is a mutagen and teratogen that promotes the extremely rare expression of quasi-Flood characteristics in cultured cell lines in tissue culture. Recently, the dissection of the molecular mechanisms behind Flood physiology has led to significant advances in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, and the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence is interested in the harnessing of particular Flood characteristics, such as augmented cellular regeneration through non-focal telomeric activity, and also modified myocyte physiology, which have been of investigation in the Myrmidon Program. She is a noncombatant on Earth without combat capability.
 * UNSC Special Operations Aviation Reconnaissance (SOAR): UNSC Army special aviator unit, operating fixed-wing and rotary aviation assets in support of UNSC special operations forces. SOAR is a support force of Task Force 51, and has logistical and deployment responsibilities in support of UNSC special forces.

Principal Plotlines

 * "Task Force 51" (Midgard): UNSC special forces counter an onslaught of highly intensive terrorist and rebel activities on Midgard, a planet in the Outer Rim. Substantial deaths of UNSC civilians and guerrilla attrition of UNSC soldiers stationed on the planet have led to the popular labeling of Midgard as the "new Iraq" or the "new Charybdis IX", and the inability of UNSC forces to put an end to the killings has led to the frustration of many in the UNSC civilian populace and the UNSC military. Task Force 51, led by VADM Kawika Son, is now the main player in UNSC counterinsurgency operations on Midgard. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed after thousands of small rebel and terrorist activities; guerilla attacks, hostage events, bombings. However, a rare few suspect that this is only the beginning of something far larger. It is inevitable that actions on Midgard will climax as the civilian and military casualties mount. No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks on Midgard. ( Principal plotline )
 * "A Troubled Home Front": Isolated curious happenstances have coincidentally conflicted with rebel and terrorist activity in the Outer Rim. In 2590, Madeline Son, the daughter of UNSC special forces commanders Kawika Son and Chandler Danial and a UNSC Naval Special Warfare specialist, went missing on a deep reconnaissance in the Cygnus Arm of the galaxy aboard the UNSC Beckon Dusk Forth during reconnaissance of NGC 2359. Intensive search-and-rescue (SAR) and hostage search operations for months have yielded no trace of Madeline nor the Beckon Dusk Forth, and ceremonies for Madeline were held at the Asphodel Meadows Naval Special Warfare Center. Ever since, both Admiral Son and Master Chief Danial have been socially withdrawn and disturbed by the loss of their daughter thousands of light-years from Earth. Furthermore, recently, colleagues of Kim Blackburn have noted obsessive behavior, and beyond the public's eye, there is potential corporate intrigue emerging at the highest levels of Jennings & Rall and Acumen Science Laboratories, two eminent UNSC corporations...
 * "Deep Reconnaissance": In 2554, the UNSC Beneath Shoreless Waves, a guided missile frigate (FFG) of the UNSC Navy, found a Forerunner construct on Carinae-312 in the NGC 3576 nebula, towards the Galactic Core, which led to the brief but bloody Memory Conflict, almost collapsing the UNSC in a matter of days. However, the discovery of more Forerunner installations beyond the Halos has excited many UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence officers, and a select number of UNSC warships, such as the UNSC Beyond Veil's Azure, have been dispatched on deep reconnaissance missions thousands of light-years away in the Sagittarius or Cygnus Arms of the Milky Way Galaxy under Operation: PURPLE WILLOW. A small Myrmidon team is aboard the UNSC Beyond Veil's Azure, and the Beyond Veil's Azure and its UNSC special forces team are set to reconnoiter the Henize 3-1357 nebula in the ongoing search for Forerunner installations.

Roleplay Locations
''More to come soon. In order to keep the RP principally focused, the beginning of the RP, which features Task Force 51's actions, center on Midgard. Shortly afterwards the RP will become much more freeform and will occur on multiple locations, as per the desire of the roleplayers.''


 * Midgard (11 Draconis System): Please see the actual page for more information. Principal location for the beginning of the roleplay, and host to Task Force 51's counterinsurgency operations.
 * Henize 3-1357: Planetary nebula, the reconnaissance target of the UNSC Beyond Veil's Azure under deep reconnaissance campaign Operation: PURPLE WILLOW, eight thousand-light years from Earth towards the Galactic Core and Sagittarius A*, in the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy.
 * Cambridge, Earth (Sol System): Home to Harvard University, and home to Kimberly Ivy Blackburn. (non-playable)
 * NGC 2359: Emission nebula, the reconnaissance target of the UNSC Beckon Dusk Forth under deep reconnaissance campaign Operation: PURPLE WILLOW, fifteen thousand-light years from Earth towards the edge of the galaxy, the Cygnus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. The UNSC Beckon Dusk Forth and Madeline Son went missing-in-action (MIA) during deep reconnaissance of NGC 2359 in 2590, and two years of intensive UNSC Navy search and rescue (SAR) operations have failed to find any of the UNSC personnel. (non-playable)

Roleplay Characters
Please post characters here :) We encourage users to make characters that are Rangers, NAVSPECWAR, FORCE RECON, SPARTAN, or Myrmidon forces. We are, however, highly interested in extremely unique characters, either in the military or in civilian life. For the beginning of BVA, the plotline will center on Task Force 51 on Midgard. Afterwards, the RP will take a sharp change for the worse (if all goes as planned =P), and conventional UNSC forces, such as naval and infantry forces, will be extensively featured in a very freeform roleplay. =]

Sgt.johnson's characters

 * Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel White (Rangers) - Secondary support operative for the Cambridge Rangers, he joined the UNSC Army Ranger Corps after requesting an MOS change, and is now the commander of 38/6 Ranger Battalion, leading from the front.
 * SPARTAN-002 (SPECWAR SPARTAN/Task Force 51) - A SPARTAN-II of class II.
 * SPARTAN-019 (SPECWAR SPARTAN/Task Force 51)
 * SPARTAN-130 (SPECWAR SPARTAN/Task Force 51)
 * Kyle Davidson (President of HRV Armament Company) - A member of a Colonial Militia on an Outer Ring world, he quickly became intrigued into the design of weapons, and after getting a doctorate in Engineering, he joined the HRV Armament Company. After rising through the ranks of the Research and Development section, he became the CEO of HRV.
 * Sergei Mikoyan (NAVSPECWARSIX) - The only male survivor of the raid on Beryl, Sergei Mikoyan died some nine years before the present day. While he was in the Navy, he was a Chief Petty Officer (E-7)

RelentlessRecusant's characters

 * SPARTAN-MYR005 (SPECWAR SPARTAN / Task Force 51): Commander of UNSC Special Warfare Group SPARTAN IV Detachment, valedictorian of the Myrmidon graduating company of 2588. Captain of the UNSC Navy (O-6).
 * SPARTAN-MYR064 (SPECWAR SPARTAN / Task Force 51): Leading Petty Officer of Myrmidon Delta Squadron. Clinical schizophrenic with non-integrative frequent audiovisual hallucinations, presumably because of un-directed in utero Flood teratogenesis that has imparted favorable physical attributions. Currently under high-dosage psycholeptic antipsychotics, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants (mood stabilizers) for treatment of neuropsychological treatments, although physically exceptional and well-qualified in covert and direct warfighting. Chief Petty Officer of the UNSC Navy (E-7).
 * Kawika Son (UNSC Special Operations Command): Commander, Task Force 51 and Commander, Myrmidon Program, strategic commander of Midgard Campaign. Vice Admiral of the UNSC Navy (O-9).

Non-interactable


 * Kimberly Ivy Blackburn (Harvard University, Department of Stem Cell & Regenerative Biology): Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellow in the Schore Laboratory, research interests include phenotypic effects of ectopically-expressed Flood-mimicking transcription factors and successive exogenous transdifferentiation / reprogramming processes. Master Chief Petty Officer (Ret.) of the UNSC Navy (E-9).
 * Madeline Son (UNSC Naval Special Warfare Group Six): Partial mission history of NGC 2359 deep reconnaissance (DR) campaign of Operation: PURPLE WILLOW in 2590, including the personnel of the UNSC Beckon Dusk Forth and various operators of NAVSPECWAR Six. Lieutenant, Jr. Grade of the UNSC Navy (O-2).

*ODST Joshie's Chatacters:

 * SPARTAN-G024 (SPECWAR SPARTAN / Task Force 51) Team Wolf's leader and one of the Few remaining S-IIIs from that Team, he is a cold calculated Killer.
 * SPARTAN-G094 (SPECWAR SPARTAN / Task Force 51) One of the Last S-IIIs from Team Wolf, is a wizard when it comes to Demolitions.
 * SPARTAN-G173 (SPECWAR SPARTAN / Task Force 51) The last alive member from Team Wolf barring the other two, is the Teams second sniper after Andrew died.

Delta Team Curt's characters

 * Colonel Curtis Freeman - UNSC Marine Force Reconnaissance. A veteran special forces operator, Freeman has become a seasonded officer within FORCE RECON.
 * Corporal Cosette Freeman - UNSC Marine Force Reconnaissance. Daughter of Curtis Freeman and Lilya Moskvina. She has undergoje NAVSPECWAR training and currently serves within FORCE RECON for counterterroism operations on Midgar.
 * Vice Admiral Valerie Rogue - UNSC Aegis Fate. Vice Admiral that has participated in numerous counterterroism operations over the years including JAVELIN, RHINE, HEARTBREAK, and AVENGER.
 * Admiral Alexander Bodet - UNSC Chechnya. Aging Admiral of the Human-Covenant War, his ship was found five years ago with 27 crew members in cryostasis after having been lost in late 2551 on the edge of UNSC space. In the changing face of war, he struggles to fit into the modern navy and has to live with the fact he has outlived everyone he has ever known.
 * Tara Delano - Davenport Electronics Director of Internal Computer Infrastructure. A former special forces operator of the UNSC, Delano settled down following her retirement and used her skills in computer technologies to secure a job working with Jennings & Rall as a computer technician for internal computer systems, eventually rising to lead the entire department.
 * Calvin Marks - Ravenwood Solutions Contractor. Former Ranger, Marks joined Ravenwood three years ago to support his family on Atlas, during several contracts he has gone above and beyond to safeguard his fellow contractors and make sure the job is done safely.
 * James Carter - Jennings & Rall Director of Shipping and Logistics (J&R Administrative Division). Director of Logistics for J&R, Carter has always been keen when it came to organization, his gift has landed him in a spot running the entire section of J&R in cuarge of supplying the companies vast number of locations.
 * Various Jennings & Rall employees

Actene's Characters
* See Halo: Beckon Forth Sunrise, a short story written by RelentlessRecusant and approved by Actene, that provides a partial introduction for Actene's charas into BVA :)
 * SPARTAN-G294 (SPECWAR SPARTAN / Task Force 51): Simon-G294 gained infamy as the only SPARTAN to ever betray the UNSC when he deserted the military and murdered a superior officer as a result of the New Africa Incident. After over two decades of being harbored in cryosleep by the Sanghelli, he and fellow SPARTAN Cassandra were awakened and recruited to train the Myrmidons. While mostly inferior when it comes to combat, Simon has proved time and time again that he has an unmatched knack for survival and self-preservation and is not above running from a fight when the odds do not favor him.
 * SPARTAN-G006 (SPECWAR SPARTAN / Task Force 51): Critically wounded during the New Africa Incident, Cassandra-G006 was rescued from certain euthanasia by her rogue comrade Simon and became his reluctant companion as he fled the UNSC. After their stint in cryostasis the pair were recruited to help train the Myrmidons. Like Simon, her combat skills are poor for a SPARTAN but she makes up for this deficiency through her skills as a medic.
 * Agent 2994 (SPECWAR SPARTAN / Task Force 51): A member of ONI's High Priority Assassination Program, the man known by his designation of "2994" grew tired of life in the military and retired to become a civilian engineer. He was drawn back into military life and recruited to train the Myrmidons and has since accepted the name of Apollo to replace his forgotten original.
 * Artemis 2995 (SPECWAR SPARTAN / Task Force 51): The HPA's top agent, Agent 2995 rechristened herself Artemis after her true name was forgotten during the HPA's brutal indoctrination process. In this time of prosperity, she was repurposed to train the Myrmidons and was responsible for the recruitment of fellow agent 2994.

ShockTrooper's Characters

 * Daniel Jackson: UNSC Marine of the UNSC Marine Force Reconnaissance, UNSC Marine Special Forces Detachment. Jackson holds the rank of Sergeant. Daniel Jackson fought in the Human-Covenant War, Battle of Peleliu II, and conducted Top-Secret Military Operations. Jackson lost his Family in the Human-Covenant War and has developed Cold and Sociopathic Personality. Jackson is well-known for executing Wounded and Unarmed Rebels and Remnant Soldiers.

117649 Annihilative Repentance's Characters

 * Caleb Tyler: A hardened member of the UNSC Army Ranger Corps, Caleb Tyler has seen his share of bloodshed throughout his Special Operations career. And despite his innate pacifism, his patriotism has gotten the better of his judgement; him and his fireteam are willing to shoot and kill anything they are told to, if it is for the good of the UNSC.

FightWithHonor's Characters

 * Lee F. Winslow:Although paralyzed by an injury suffered in a Warthog crash, Lee has followed in the foosteps of uncle Shelby F. Winslow by working as a planner, analyst and strategist for UNSCSOCOM, outlining objectives and missions for UNSCSOCOM. Lee's disability prevents him from operating in the field, and as a civilian working in SOCOM headquarters he will make an admirable balance to the high-ranking officers he works alongside, and the elite special operators he controls in the field.


 * Marvin Ackerby:A member of the UNSC Special Operations Aviation Unit (UNSCSPOAU), Ackerby is a Chief Warrant Officer, responsible for piloting the air and spacecraft UNSC special operators rely upon so heavily for stealthy and safe combat insertion.


 * Santiago Nordmann:Descendant of American missionaries to Ecuador and Cofan natives, Nordmann was raised in the jungle, and applies the survival skills he learned as a child to good use on the battlefield with the elite operators of NAVSPECWAR 6.


 * Daniel Nikos:Of Greek ancestry, Nikos is a Navy Corpsman and a member of the UNSC Marine Orbital Incursion Group. Although new to combat, Nikos' ODST training has prepared him for even the most hazardous situations. His resourcefulness and fighting spirit are worthy of his Greek Resistance ancestors, as much as the humanity he exhibits as a combat medic.


 * Kevin Red Songbird:Proudly of Native American lineage, Kevin's individualism is put to good use by UNSC Forward Airborne Reconnaissance, where his quick mind and hunter's instincts prove vital on a slew of desolate worlds.


 * Niel Van Warden:Member of the Rangers, Van Warden is an innovative tactician, dreaming up a slew of marginally insane tactics and bombarding his superiors with them. Although many regard him as overeager, his quick mind will prove even more valuable than his courage.

Subtank's Character

 * Sarah Rose: Freshly out of bootcamp, Alex is a UNSC Medic deployed with the UNSC Rangers. A Greenhorn, she has yet seen a single blood stain and wished she never have to deal with one. Her first field experience would change her life, military-wise.



Interested Participants
Sign below :) Feel free to speak to me about this and find out details before you think it through. Everyone is allowed to join :)


 * 1) RelentlessRecusant
 * 2) Sgt.johnson
 * 3) Actene
 * 4) FightWithHonor
 * 5) ODST Joshie
 * 6) Kebath 'Holoree
 * 7) SPARTAN-118
 * 8) H3
 * 9) Jawsredfield
 * 10) ONI recon 111
 * 11) Subtank/Ascension
 * 12) ShockTrooper
 * 13) 117649 Annihilative Repentance

Acknowledgments
RelentlessRecusant gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Lieutenant D.W. of the Singapore Army, Singapore Armed Forces, for assistance with the military aspects of Beyond Veil's Azure, and acknowledges various members of Harvard Stem Cell Institute, UMDNJ-RWJ University Hospital, and UMDNJ-RWJ Medical School for mentorship and ethical and technical thoughts regarding the augmentation protocols for Kimberly Ivy Blackburn and the Myrmidons.

PREFACE
BEYOND VEIL'S AZURE is a story of the end.

How humanity, which has stood for two hundred thousand years, falls.

For darkness is patient.

She waits in the twilight black, in the black expanse through which the stars wheel. She is even-tempered, she is calm.

Darkness is generous, it is never angered. Darkness always protects, always trusts, always hopes.

She is always there. Submissive, tolerant, always waiting. She bides our time.

There is a shadow beyond the darkness. A fundamental darkness so profound that it is formless, it is primordial. It has been here since the beginning, and it will be here for the end.

This is the twilight of mankind. It starts now.

PART ONE: Midgard
MIDGARD: Toward Argent Storm  Beyond Veil's Azure, above all, is a story of humanity. Of who we are, a species of which heroes are few, a species of which courage is fleeting and difficult to find. It details our ignorance, our corruption, our willing ignorance; everything that makes us human.

The ideal textbook trap has several necessary components. It requires some careful planning, some forethought. Let us peruse it in detail.

It first requires someone to trap, some dangerous entity that the architect of the trap would prefer to die. An ideal example of a quarry would be the UNSC special forces, the best that mankind can offer, her most steadfast fighters, the defender of humanity's pale, dying flame. It would be highly preferable if they did not exist anymore, for obvious strategic reasons.

Secondly, there must be some physical place to stage said trap. This bait must have several attractive characteristics to make it useful. It must be some remote, barren wasteland on mankind's rim, some arid flat of minimal significance, sufficiently removed that its abject destruction and utter sterilization will mean little.

Thirdly, there must be some appetizing bait that will be sure to entice said quarry. An optimal example is an Outer Rim world where over the past four years, mysterious rebel and terrorist activity has almost dropped from sky for no reason, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians for no reason. Such wanton violence is always sure to attract humanity's valorous defenders, drawing them in with the utter, sure certainty of a hapless male seduced by a lusty female. It is indeed such mindless, moronic attractions that are exemplary of humanity's idiocy.

And lastly, with obvious intention, there must be some process to completely cauterize said trap and to extinguish said quarry of interest. We'll leave that until later, but be confident that with the exceeding amount of intensive intellect, thoughtful art, and dedication necessary to engineer the trap known as Midgard, that a sufficient process exists to ensure the exhaustive, consummate, and complete destruction of Midgard and all her inhabitants.

This trap was the first of three sequential strategic tactics employed in the campaign.

Introduction
DAWN BREAKS ON MIDGARD. Her luminous steeds race across the inflamed skies, break the vice grip of the night, wrest her subjects free. Helios's chariot rises, beckons forth the dawn, the rise of day. With every steadfast step, the swollen bloodshot orb of the sun swells in the skies, repealing the gloom with every argent ray.

A new day begins.

Alpha Draconis's climbing rays arouse an aging admiral from restless midnight slumber, each scintillation of starlight recalling a bloody litany of thousands of names; nevermore, nevermore.

On Earth, a young woman awakes beside her husband, chest heaving, hair astray, eyes opaque from the fear of the dark; for the midday is no comfort. She is always there, always whispering. The day is the darkest night, the sun a lie.

With day's break, a mother remembers a daughter she never knew, lost tens of thousands of light-years erstwhile in the galaxy's myriad stars.

Toward a yonder star, a UNSC frigate alights from Slipspace, kneads past the convolutions of complex space-time, penetrates the fabric of reality and time to come again to the familiar three-dimensional confines of our world.

Beyond the veil's azure, ragnarok ascends, draws together his warriors as if the sand upon the shore.

And with the rising of the star, humanity awakes. We remember our fellowships, our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters.

For if today is the day we die, we die together.

In our darkest hour, remember courage.

Remember our comrades, remember our friends.

If we fall, we fall together.

For long ago, we drew a line in the sand. This is where we stand. For if humanity falls, we will fall together.

WE FLY TOWARD ARGENT STORM.

01
UNSC ''BEYOND VEIL'S AZURE SLIPSPACE EN ROUTE TO HENIZE 3-1357 18,000 LIGHT-YEARS FROM EARTH

THE MAGIC KEY TURNS. Four thousand tons of shaped titanium and noxious hydrazine shudder with extradimensional vigor, abruptly vanish from the ethereal realm of Slipspace to the mathematically-defined existence we know as reality. The metallic bulk of the UNSC Beyond Veil's Azure blots the light of a dozen stars as it emerges from Slipspace, and with its steady intent, its canted prow is the arrowhead aimed towards war.

The Beyond Veil's Azure is enshrouded with light, for a Slipspace transition towards the Henize 3-1357 Nebula is eighteen thousand light-years towards the Galactic Core, away from Earth and towards Sagittarius A. The frigate has left the familiar contours of home, of Earth towards an unfamiliar shore because of a UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence initiative known as Operation: PURPLE WILLOW. For forty years ago, after the closure of the Human-Covenant War, humanity found another relic left behind by the cryptic Forerunners; we found another stepping stone in the stars. We have not forgotten the Halos, the Ark, nor the Memory. We have forgotten none of them.

Human greed is infinite; it is a dimensionless expanse. We remember only the riches, the glory, the royale. We do not remember the blood of trillions shed when the Covenant thought they had found a Forerunner artifact on Harvest. We do not remember how ten thousand perished when we stumbled upon Alpha Halo, how billions vaporized when the Covenant brought war to Earth's sky.

Most of all, we do not remember what will happen if War happens again.

We forget Harvest. We forget Sigma Octanus. We forget Halo. We forget Earth.

We don't remember. We are lost in the rapture of blind ignorance. We love darkness; it our shield, our convenient excuse to forget.

We forget what will happen if plasma will rain from the skies of Earth. We forget what will happen when the rainclouds burst over New York and Covenant commandos rain. We forget what will happen when Covenant soldiers find a human nursery.

We forget all of these things.

It's ironic. It's an epitome to our stupidity, our epitaph.

And still we are searching for more.

For more Forerunner artifacts. For more relics. We are led by blind ambition.

Aboard the Beyond Veil's Azure ' s bridge, Captain Melton calls forth his communications officer.

"Signal FLEETCOM Sydney, secure. We're on station. It's begun."

TASK FORCE 51, FOB "HOTEL CALIFORNIA" MIDGARD, ALPHA CORVI SYSTEM

DAWN RACES ACROSS THE SKIES, AND WE ARISE.

As the gloom retracts from the sky, giving the starlight its purchase, already, a tight knot of UNSC special forces personnel gather in Hotel California's Decision Support Center (DSC). For with the dawn comes bloodshed.

The skies are swollen with crimson.

* *  *

TASK FORCE 51, UNSC SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND EXTENDED DEPLOYMENT: DAY 1112 (UNSC RESYNCHRONIZED MILITARY CALENDAR) MIDGARD CAMPAIGN (counter-insurg / counter-prolif / civ-mil support)

1. MISSION #: 3-981 (Operation: ALBANY COBRA) 17 MAR 2954

2. SUPPORTED UNIT: TF51 / SABRE SQUADRON

3. SUPPORTING UNIT: TF51 / SOA

4. TIME REQUIRED: 1hr30min (pre-mission), 0hr45min (insertion), 0hr10min max. (dir. action), 0hr40min (extraction)

5. MISSION (AND CONCEPT SKETCH): AIR ASSAULT (dir. action / counter-insurg)

6. #/TYPE OF AIRCRAFT: SOA ASSETS TO BE CONFIRMED IN BRIEFING

7. H-HOUR: 0730 HR ZULU

8. PICK-UP TIME WITH REHEARSAL TIME BUILT IN: 0hr5min

9. PZ LOCATION (AND SKETCH): RALLY DELTA

10. PZ FREQUENCY


 * A. UNIT TF51 / SOA (UNIT TO BE CONFIRMED)


 * B. AIRCRAFT TF51 / SOA (ASSETS TO BE CONFIRMED)

11. PZ CALL SIGN


 * A. UNIT TF51 / SOA (UNIT TO BE CONFIRMED)


 * B. AIRCRAFT TF51 / SOA (ASSETS TO BE CONFIRMED)

12. PZ MARKING (DAY/NIGHT): 193-175 x 895-003 (hex. dec. 6x6)

13. LANDING HEADING: 037 DEG

14. LANDING FORMATION: ONE-FORWARD (AS PER ORDER OF ASSAULT, SEE ATTACHMENTS)

15. DOOR ENTRY: TO BE CONFIRMED

16. NUMBER OF TROOPS: TO BE CONFIRMED

17. NUMBER/TYPE CARGO LOADS: TO BE CONFIRMED

18. TAKE-OFF DIRECTION: 190 DEG

19. TAKE-OFF FORMATION: TWO-FORWARD

20. FALSE LZ GRID: NO

21. ROUTE: TO BE CONFIRMED

22. TIME OF FLIGHT: 0730 ZULU - 0815 ZULU

23. LZ GRID (ALT IF REQUIRED): 193-178 x 895-001

24. LZ SKETCHES: SEE ATTACHED

25. LZ MARKING (DAY/NIGHT)/LZ FREQ and Call Sign : 1-4 SIDEWINDER

26. ATTACK AVN CONCEPT: NO (UNARMED RECCE ATTACHED)

27. LZ PREP FIRES: NO

28. LANDING HEADING: COME TO 040 DEG

29. LANDING FORMATION: THREE-BROAD

30. WEAPONS STATUS: FIRE ORDER VERMILLION (auth., VADM K.S.)

31. DOOR EXIT: TO BE CONFIRMED

32. TAKE-OFF DIRECTION

33. NUMBER OF TURNS REQUIRED: ONE

34. ABORT CRITERIA: ONI SITUATIONAL AUTHORITY or CCP SPECFOR REQ.

35. WEATHER CALL: FLEET INTEL CONFIRM

36. BUMP PLAN: SEE ATTACHED

37. ABN FREQ: A1-A5

38. CAN/CMD FREQs: C2, G1-G5 (SABRE) Air Mission Commander’s Initials ____G.R., UNSC NAVINTEL____ ; Task Force Commander Initials____K.S., UNSC NAVY____

* *  *

TASK FORCE 51 FOB "HOTEL CALIFORNIA", DECISION SUPPORT CENTER (DCS) MIDGARD, ALPHA CORVI SYSTEM 0513 HOURS ZULU

And as a synchronous union, they looked up.

At the dais, smartly clad in the dress blacks of the Office was Commodore Rowntree, the overhead halogen illumination eerily playing off of her lustrous raven frame of hair.

"We will prosecute ALBANY COBRA at 0730 hours. Expecting clear meteorological conditions, the assault force will insert at 0815 hours at the LZ, which will be reconnoitered and secured by 1-4 Sidewinder. With dedicated decision support from airborne ONI aviation assets, we will confirm mission execution and will stage on-site post-mission assessment, with assault infantry extraction at the HZ designated as Rally Delta."

"The target is a small unarmed insurgent convoy; detailed human intelligence provided from the Office within the insurgent command structure suggests that this convoy will be containing an anonymous high-ranking paramilitary officer coordinating the insurgent assaults. Long-lens photographs are appended within your briefing folders for your examination. The success of this operation is contingent on our prosecution of this singular individual; survival of all accessory forces is a secondary objective at best. Weapons authorization is as per Fire Order Vermillion; we shoot to kill, with shooters guided by on-site intelligence from 1-4 Sidewinder. We will take questions now."

' * Editor's Note: So welcome to Beyond Veil's Azure''! :) I apologize in advance for this unnecessarily complicated "mission" as the preface to our roleplay; this is a straightforward operation so that everyone can introduce their own characters, introduce any unique sub-plots, and get to know each other. After this, we will begin the primary plotline. Please message me with any questions or write on the RP talk page. Again, I apologize for this unnecessarily complicated operation - it was fairly poorly written, but if there are any questions about the intent, again, write on the talk page or ask me :) Feel free to begin the roleplay! Introduce your characters, feel free to ask mission questions (I will write back under Rowntree as fast as I can) and for your characters to mingle and to socialize!! (RR)'''

02
Jamal awoke from his slumber, blinking his eyes rapidly at the bright, intense sunlight that shone through the small window. After rubbing his eyes, he swung his large, powerful legs over the side of the cot, stood up, and walked towards the showers. He stepped in, allowing the cold water to wash over his body, finally awakening from a night mare - the rememberance of HOT GATES, an operation that had happened more than four decades ago - and stepped out, and put on a civilian suit. Wihle walking down the long hallways of the barracks building, he bumped into one of the Myrmidons, those genetically altered and artificially produced "super soldiers", who abruptly turned around and grabbed his arm.

"Hey, you think you can take me on?"

Jamal chuckled, and started to walk on, until the Myrmidon placed his hand on his shoulder.

"I said, do you think you can take me on?"

Jamal waited, then grabbed the Myrmidon's hand, twisted it, snaped a few knuckles, swept his leg underneath the boy, knocking him off balance, then planted his large foot into the boy's neck.

"Hmf... you guys are supposed to replace us? You guys couldn't replace a Marine."

Jamal turned around and continued to walk outdoors, where he met the other two members of his team.

Instead of being in direct combat with the enemy, his team was repurposed to act as Human Intelligence collectors, conducting surviellance and reconnaissance, as well as capturing information. Instead of acting like they used to, as the elite super soldiers of the UNSC, they were instead downgraded to act as ONI spies.

The trio, now reunited, mounted into a Beach Surfer and proceeded into the capital city. -- Sgt. johnson  16:52, 10 January 2009 (UTC)