(Before I get into things here I just want to make one thing clear. If you're one of the few people that actually liked Halo 5's story then awesome! More power to you! Glad you could actually find enjoyment in it. However, a large number of the Halo community, including myself, can't help but pick apart this sub-par follow up to Halo 4's story. I have to be honest I was insanely excited for Halo 5 when it was coming out. The marketing depicting Chief going rogue and a spartan assassin named Locke sent to bring him in really helped paint an epic story for Halo 5. Then the game came out and none of what was marketed was in the actual game. Unless you count that boring fistfight between Locke and Chief. Which is why I've decided to do this rewrite of Halo 5 to hopefully tell a more engaging narrative that actually lines up more with the marketing. So without further adue I present my Halo 5: Guardians rewrite.)
MISSION ONE: OSIRIS
A text appears over black NEW PHOENIX, July 25, 2557
We open on Earth near the end of Halo 4's story. The Didact has just fired the Composer at Earth and is composing thousands of civillians and military personnel throughout the city of New Pheonix. We cut to a nearby ONI facility where an evacuation is in progress. The man who interrogated Doctor Halsey from the beginning of Halo 4 is scrambling to get to a room filled with other ONI staff and military personnel (Officially at the time of this writing we don't know who this guy actually is. So for now I'll just call him ...Samuel) Samuel exclaims to military personnel, "What the hell is going on!" Samuel's attention is drawn to a security screen depicting the Composer's beam moving across the city. Those in the room watch in horror as the panel depicts civillians descintegrating before their eyes. A distress call comes in from UNSC forces helping to evacuate the city. "Mayday! Mayday! We have civillains and military personnel trapped in the city we need immediate assitance!" More and more distress calls pour in from across the city. Samuel asks "How long before that beam reaches this facility?" Another ONI member replies "Unclear, sir. It's speed has accelerated. It's hard to accuratley get a gauge on it!" Samuel is stunned by both the distress calls and the limited amount of time he has. Samuel raises his head and states, "Get me Fireteam Osiris."
We cut to Fireteam Osiris which consists of Firteam Leader Spartan Jameson Locke and three other spartans one of them being Locke's brother...let's just call him Marcus... Locke briefs his team on the mission and displays a virtual layout of the city of New Pheonix on a holotable. Locke breaks down the mission to his team, stating how "Civillians and military personnel are trapped in this sector of the city.", which Locke points to. Locke states that "Our mission is a drop and extract. We will be flown in by Pelican and dropped into this area to assist any trapped civillains and military personnel." Locke and his fireteam begin to suit up as Marcus begins teasing Locke who just got promoted to squad leader of Osiris. Marcus states "If only mom could see you now. A big, bad leader giving orders." Locke chuckles, and retorts, "Yeah I'm sure she'd be real proud of the two us dropping straight into hell." Marcus chuckles, and replies "I can think of worse places to be." Locke, Marcus, and the other Spartans of Fireteam Osiris put their helemts on and enter a hanger bay to board their Pelican dropship. As they enter the hanger they see the beam from the Composer outside the bay doors. Locke comments to Marcus "Worse than that?" Marcus remains silent stunned by the sight of the Composer's beam. Fireteam Osiris boards the Pelican and sets off to help free trapped civillians in the city.
As they near the city the pilot of the Pelican states "We're coming up on the drop zone now!" Locke punches the switch and the Pelican's cargo door opens, and states "Fireteam Osiris, the light is green!" Fireteam Osiris jumps out of the Pelican and into the chaotic city. The Spartans get to work and split up to free as many people trapped in nearby buildings as possible. Locke frees a group of trapped civillians by Spartan charging through a wall, creating an exit for the civillians. Eventually Fireteam Osiris completes their objective and calls in their Pelican for evac. The Pelican arrives over head ready to pick up evacuate Fireteam Osiris and the civillians. However, the Pelican is struck by the beam from the composer which composes the pilot and causes the pelican to crash into a nearby building. The building proceeds to collapse on to the nearby military personnel and civillians. Locke exclaims to Fireteam Osiris "MOVE!" The Fireteam sprints away from the Composer's beam which is closing in on them fast. The other two spartans of Osiris are caught and composed in the beam leaving only Locke and Marcus. The two turn and see the armor of the other two members drop to the ground. Locke shouts, "KEEP MOVING!" The two run at breakneck speed to avoid the incoming beam. However, another building begins to collapse and Marcus jumps to avoid it. Marcus lands hard on the ground. Locke stops and turns to see his brother lying there. Locke's attention is turned to the beam, which is drawing closer to his brother. Locke shouts "MARCUS!" Marcus turns his head to see the Composer's beam closing in on him. Marcus begins to be composed by the beam and screams for his brother, "JAMES!" Locke removes his helmet and is left speechless at this site. The beam draws closer to Locke, who stands there and decides to accept his fate. The beam draws closer and closer as Locke closes his eyes and prepares to join his brother. However, that moment doesn't come. Locke opens his eyes to see the beam has stopped. Locke's attention is drawn to the sky and witnesses the Didact's ship blow up in the Earth's orbit. Locke makes his way to where his brother was. All that's left is ash and Marcus' Spartan IV armor. Locke picks up his brother's helmet and holds it to his head. Locke continues to mourn his loss as more Pelican dropships move in to the scene.
Cut to a debriefing station in Earth 's orbit. We cut to the inside of the station and see Locke reporting on the loss of his fellow Spartans to ONI and UNSC personnel. Just as Locke finishes expalining, the room falls silent. The doors open and in walks Spartan 117- The Master Chief. Chief and Locke exchange a look at each other as Chief stands before the ONI and UNSC personnel seated at the desk. Chief is welcomed back by many of the staff, who all clearly show admiration for this Legendary Spartan. One of the personnel states, "Welcome back, soldier." Chief nods to the man. The man continues on, stating "Safe to say that none of us ever expected to hear from you again. It's unfortunate that this reunion couldn't be under better circumstances. Care to explain to us all what exactly happened down there today, son?" Chief explains, "Sir. After the destruction of the Halo Ring over The Ark, Cortana and I were left adrift in space for over four years. Eventually, we happened upon a Forerunner world called Requiem where an ancient Forerunner known as The Didact was imprisoned." The man replies, "The Didact?" Chief nods and states, "Yes Sir. He's the one responsible for today's attack." Another member of the staff states, "You mentioned the A.I. Cortana was with you. Where is she now?" Chief falls silent, with his head dropping down towards the floor. Chief states, "She's gone, sir." The room falls silent again. The staff member replies, "I see...That will be all Spartan. Thank you." Chief nods to the ONI and UNSC personnel and begins to leave the room. However, as Chief leaves Locke speaks up stating, "Wait you said the Didact was imprisoned on Requiem. So how was he freed?" Chief drops his head stating "It was me." Locke is confused by Chief's words. Chief then turns and states "I freed him." Locke doesn't know how to respond and can only respond "What!?" Chief explains "It wasn't by choice. The Didact manipulated Infinity's signal to get me to release him." Locke exclaim You think I give a damn about the circumstances! It still doesn't change the fact that YOU still freed him!" Locke continues to scold Chief exclaiming "Every one we lost today was lost becasue of you!" Chief stares at Locke silently. An ONI personnel member rises and states, "Settle down, Spartan Locke." but Locke exclaims "Settle down!? I lost my whole team... lost my brother because of him!" Chief and Locke silently stare at each other before marines come in behind Locke. UNSC personnel state "Spartan Locke! You are dismissed." Locke continues to stare down Chief before being escorted away by the marines. Chief watches Locke leave and Locke takes a final look back at Chief before the doors close and we cut to black.
A text then appears on screen ONE YEAR LATER
We cut to one of Earth's colony planets and see various people enjyoing life. As the sun begins to set, various seismic rumbles catch the attention of the people in the area. Confused as to the source of the strange rumbles the people gather together to investigate. However, the people that investigate are thrown through the air as the source of the seismic disturbance shoots out from the ground. Various people in the area flee in terror as a giant metallic object (Yes, it's a Guardian) continues to rise from the ground. We don't get a good look at the Guardian before it's eyes flash blue and a white and blue energy envelops the screen. This leads us to the title card
HALO 5: Guardians.
Cut back to Earth as we see the Voi memorial dedicated to the fallen heores of the Human-Covenant war from the end of Halo 3. We pan down as we see the number 117 still enscribed on the memorial. As we pan out we see that the Chief is visiting the memorial. Chief looks at the pictures of various soldiers he fought with over the course of the war. His gaze turns to a picture of Sergeant Johnson. We then see that Chief has Cortana's old A.I. chip in his hand and stares intently at it. Chief then looks back to the picture of Johnson and remembers his dying words from Halo 3 "Don't let her go. Don't EVER let her go." Chief continues to stare at the chip, then places Cortana's chip on the memorial. Chief is lost in thought for what seems like an eternity before he decides to turn around an leave the memorial. Chief boards a pelican, which houses the other members of Blue Team Fred, Linda, and Kelly. Fred asks Chief, "You okay?" Chief repsonds with a nod. Linda remarks that "Now that the gang's back together we can get back to doing what we do best." Kelly remarks "We'll need our best. Just got a message from Infinity. It sounds urgent." Chief states, "Then let's get moving, Blue Team." The Pelican takes off from the memorial sight and flies into orbit to board the Infinity.
Blue Team's Pelican lands in Infinity's hanger. Blue Team then exits their Pelican and are greeted by Captain Thomas Lasky. Lasky states, "Good to see you all together again." Chief replies, "What's the mission, sir?" Lasky motions for Blue Team to follow him. Lasky and Blue Team eventually arrive at the bridge. Lasky then brings up images on a holographic screen showcasing the aftermath of the destruction the Guardian left. Lasky explains, "In the past twenty-four hours, we've had reports from multiple colonies of sudden seismic disturbances. These disturbances have left thousands dead and any and all technology in the immediate area disabled." Linda states, "Disabled? So this isn't a natural event." Lasky concurs, "Our thoughts exactly. Which is why we believe these events to be Forerunner in origin." This revelation shocks Blue Team. Lasky goes on, stating, "And if I was a betting man, my money says the Didact's behind this." Fred states, "I thought Chief killed the Didact." Chief states, "I never saw him die. He disappeared into his ship." Lasky continues on, stating, "And then his ship disappeared into slipspace. Meaning he could've eneded up anywhere. For months we haven't had any leads as to where the Didact could've gone. Until now." Lasky brings up data on the holographic screen. Lasky states, "We had some of our eggheads trace the data generated by these seismic disturbances and they all originate from this location." Lasky brings up an image of a Halo Ring. Kelly reponds, "A Halo?" Lasky replies, "More specifically Installation 03. We sent Spartan Black Team to do recon of the ring, but lost contact with them about four hours ago." Fred states, "That's definitely not a good sign, but it doesn't mean that it's The Didact." Chief responds, "The Didact's there. I know it." Fred turns to Chief shocked by his assumption. However, Fred's learned to trust the Chief and relents to his decision. Chief and the rest of Blue Team leave the bridge, enter their Pelican, and set off towards the Halo Ring.