A man and woman sit at a table having a puzzling conversation. "So, I'm thinking about putting a fanfic crossover about Mass Effect and Halo up, but I can't figure out what I'm supposed to say in the dang disclaimer thingie" She began.
"Basically just don't own it ain't making money off of it." He replied, "I think."
She pulls out a phone and starts playing with it " I'm looking it up, and according to TVtropes, I don't have to, since already has a site wide one..." She pauses and looks thoughtful "Hrm... I need your help for this... I has an idea!"
"Okay?" he answers doubtfully.
"A sketch!"
He just looks confused.
"We're gonna do it funny!" she bursts out beaming.
"Wha?"
"We're going to make a funny conversation and I'm going to put it up!"
"Okay..." He responds after thinking for a second, "How does one start such a thing?"
"Why, I just finished it." She says feeling satisfied with herself.
"... Not bad."
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A verdant hilltop, surrounded in the distance by many of its ilk, but distinguished by a solitary difference. Atop this hill there is a gray tail-fin, seemingly from the remains of a wrecked starship. This would seem graffiti and ring discordant with its surroundings, especially with writings and images upon its surface, baring a few telling differences. The words inscribed upon the construct are not derogatory, the pictures not crude or vulgar. A lone fit man dressed in pure white stands at the foot of the stairs leading to what appears to be a monument.
This man is dressed in a uniform, a very professional yet simple white coat with few medals in evidence, but those showing marking valor in the extreme, legendary campaigns, and hard fought battles, all his lesser ribbons left off to prevent his entire breast from being covered. His shoulders and his hat mark insignia which denote him as fleet admiral, his Lordship, Viscount Terrence Hood. He gazes out upon his crowd, an assembled mass of marines, naval technicians, and visiting delegates from the Sanghieli alliance. He removes his hat as he begins to speak to orchestral accompaniment.
"For us, the storm has passed, the war is over. But let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling dark and did not return." He pauses and looks up the sky, his head framed by the setting sun, "for their decision required courage beyond measure."
He continues to speak, but the background changes to that of a flaming starship crashing to earth, being tracked by a pair of marines atop a tower to mark the site for a rescue operation. "Sacrifice, and an unshakeable conviction that their fight..." An image of two technicians welding together the hull of a starship, "Our Fight was elsewhere." An elite rises behind the two technicians having obviously been aiding them with the construction.
After a brief beat, the image of the hill returns, only this time focusing upon one of the delegates, The Arbiter in his battle scared armor as the speech continues. "As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ignoble all of us, and they shall not be forgotten." The Admiral re-dons his hat and salutes as a command rings out among the assembled marine formation, "PRE-sent, HARMS!" As the seven man color guard raise their rifles into the air and begin a three volley 21-gun salute.
...
The screen turns to black, and a woman steps up to the lectern atop the wooden stage that the massive screen which had been playing the video rested upon. She approaches the microphone and addresses the crowd arrayed at small round tables, many in military uniform, others in business suits representing governmental interests, and a select few representing the media. "If only it were so." The screen comes on once more, and a long scrawl of names begin an ascent towards the top.
"We still remember our heroes, on this, our VC day. But still, fifteen years to the date that The Admiral promised that the storm was over, we still fight on." Her gaze sweeps the audience through her horn rimmed glasses, Dr. Carlson continues. "As you all know, the picture has been grim. Mere months after this ceremony, Sanghelios became a charred ruin glassed in orbit by a Jiralhanae fleet. Earth itself has barely escaped this fate for itself multiple times due to our redoubtable Super-MAC stations upgraded following the first and second battle for earth.
"And while our mighty Spartans continue to bring war to the Covenant, and while our new Artemis Class Frigates, Minotaur Class Destroyers, and most especially our Infinity Class Heavy Cruisers are more than equal to their number amongst the Loyalist fleet, we lack the numbers to match them. As Joseph Stalin said 'Quantity has a special quality all its own.' For every exchange in which superior tactics and technology allow us to destroy ten of our ships for one of theirs, we lose, and those encounters are rare.
"I bring hope however. Forerunner technology has been paramount in our drive towards technological superiority, and the caches of such have been driving forces behind our advancements of late, as we progress in leaps and bounds. I am pleased to announce today the declassification of a site my team and I have been working on since a little after the first battle of earth. The research from this site has lead to developments that mean that all of our ships, and vicariously, all the Covenant ships, are now hopelessly obsolete.
"The battle of earth awoke the possibility that there might be sites closer to earth, and we found one. On Mars."
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A/N: As far as I can find there is no actual rank of 'lord' in British nobility, despite Admiral Hood but viscounts are referred to as his lordship and are mid-ranking among the peers, so seemed reasonable. Upon further research, I discovered that the HMS hood, the only other place I had heard the name before was named after Viscount Samuel Hood, so, viscount it stays. Hope you enjoyed it.
PS: Been having a bit of trouble trying to figure out the formatting thingie for the docmanager, so its been a little weird in the seperation of scenes, and Im going to be attempting to update it for a bit until I finally get it the way I want it to look.