This is my first story so please review it. Feedback is priceless for beginners. For fans of the books I'd like to say that I have not read Contact Harvest and therefore there will probably be large discrepancies between it and this story. Live with it. Four chapters have already been completed for this story and the fifth is almost done. Hopefully this will give me a large enough buffer so there won't be large gaps between updates. I'll try to update once every two or three weeks. Also due to the structure of the story some chapters are very long (eighteen single spaced on MSWord) and others very short (5-7). Nothing I could do about that without changing the flow of the story.
One final warning. This story is rated M for violence and some language. The character is rather young and he goes through some tough times. If you are uncomfortable with any of this maybe this story is not for you. However if you still insist on reading I would suggest skipping the latter half of chapters 1 and 3 (you'll know when) and the first portion of chapter 4 as they involve death and for all purposes torture.
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, the Halo Universe, the Spartans, Cortana, the UNSC, ODSTs, or the Covenant.
Without further ado,
Harvest Requiem
Teaser
Reach
CASTLE Base
October 5, 2526
Classified: EYES ONLY
"Hello? Is this thing on? [camera spins wildly] Red light… red light… where is the damn… Oh. Good, it's on. [camera steadies and focuses] Hello, my name is Andrew Conyers. Born February 11, 2511. Son of John and Mary Conyers. Eleven days ago the aliens attacked Gladsheim, Harvest, Epsilon Indi System. Nearly everyone is dead. The survivors, if any, have fled to Utgard. Except me, which as you can see… [camera is picked up and pointed out a window] there is no escaping anymore by land… [camera zooms in] everything is burning. It's been burning for days now. It's hard enough to survive here but it's impossible out there with no food… I hear something. Be right back [camera is set down on window sill. Two creatures with shields and G shaped guns enter. After a casual search they leave]."
"That was close [camera is picked up and returned to original position]. I don't know if this thing recorded it but that was a jackal. Nasty things, but not too tough to kill. Gotta hit their hand and then you can get a head shot. Anyway where was I… Oh yeah right… I'm trapped behind lines. I've been able to survive so far. There are very few people left; those that remain aren't exactly the best humanity has to offer. Most are dead now. The aliens have been pretty efficient. Good riddance I say."
"I've pretty much been alone since… since my family died. Aliens came in at night; took the whole city by surprise. You'd think they would've attacked the capital first or something. I hid in an air duct. I watched as… as… they killed them all, right there; even… little... She was only four years old and they… [individual displays emotional distress]"
"The aliens are starting to do something. One of their ships has moved overhead. I don't know what for but it's probably not good. There were fewer patrols today than usual and I've seen new guys show up. Huge guys with nearly impenetrable armor and one hell of a cannon for an arm. There's also some lizard like ones who don't seem to like the bears. They seem to be prepping the city for something. Whatever it is I'm not sticking around to find out. I've got a plan and tomorrow I'm putting it into action. I don't know if I'll survive but I want the rest of humanity to know what happened here. I've downloaded all the information I've gotten my hands on and I'll use the satellite launcher tomorrow to send it up. I've attached a distress beacon to it. If you find this warn everyone. They aren't here for conquest; they want to completely annihilate us. You're going to have to fight for your very survival. There's going to be a war and if this is a sample of what's to come it's going to be long and bloody. If anyone finds this don't forget us. I don't know if anyone's going to make it off this planet, but remember us. We were the first casualties. May God help you [end data stream]."