Entry One
Day One. 2200 hours.
My name is Duane-B312 and I'm a SPARTAN-III from Beta Company. Or rather, that's who I was before I woke up.
Seven hours ago, a Forerunner artifact - "Ghost" - revived me near the former city of Voi. He didn't explain much, but he did manage to get us to "The Tower," a quasi-military base run by a group called the Vanguard. Here I met The Speaker, the man who oversees the Tower's operations and claims to represent the Forerunner construct ("Traveler") hanging in the sky. He directed me to my new commander, Zavala, who provided me with basic armor and a scout rifle.
That is all the information I've obtained so far.
I am not sure how my body arrived at Voi. I'm not even sure how long I've been dead. I clearly remember dying on Reach, but Ghost only has knowledge of the Sol System, and the archives have little information predating an event called the "Collapse." Worse, the other soldiers with Forerunner "Ghosts" have no idea who they were or where they were from, and seem to have resigned themselves to their new role as "Guardians." It will take some time to put a proper timeline together.
Unfortunately my efforts will be further hampered by my current conditions. Due to my resurrection, I have returned to being a baseline human - and since the militia here lacks organization, I have no access to MJOLNIR armor or other UNSC equipment. I do have "light," which seems to be a kind of biological weapon, but it is nothing compared to what I'm used to. And the burning sensation is... disconcerting. Still, anything is better than nothing at this point. Hopefully I can retrain before I get myself killed again.
[Ah, that's right.] Ghost did mention there was a warp drive in "Old Russia," i.e. Kazakhstan. It may or may not be a slipspace drive; if it is, I could return to Reach and check for survivors (e.g. Jun-A266). If not, I'll still have access to the core worlds in the Sol System. That will help my efforts immensely.
Speaking of survivors, I have not yet seen any Covenant forces on Earth. The "Fallen" are the closest thing I've encountered so far - they seem to be a Jackal off-shoot with four arms and more human-like legs. Maybe the campaign on Reach was successful, or maybe it triggered the Collapse. Again, I have no way of knowing, but will keep an eye out for the Covenant during my missions for the Vanguard.
And before I forget: I decided to loop "Oly Oly Oxen Free" on the E-Band. It's a special signal Jorge-052 taught me and should draw out any nearby SPARTAN-IIs. Or maybe the other SPARTAN-IIIs will get curious enough to trace it back to me? Either way, it'd be nice to have another Spartan around.
Other observations of note:
The local population is in shambles, confined to the city below The Tower. They claim it is "the last city," and that there is no civilization beyond its walls. It seems they have reverted to pre-UEG society; their technology is very basic and they have no transport of their own. I don't expect much from them.
Exo are more promising. They are a "race" of sentient machines similar to smart AI, but more mobile and apparently immune to rampancy. I may ask Commander Zavala to assign an Exo to my fireteam on future missions.
Ghost mentioned there are "Hive" on the moon, and said they worship the "Darkness," but has not elaborated further on the subject. I will have to research these "Hive" in case the Vanguard sends me to the moon.
[end of entry]
