The Spartan of the Planet of the apes
Disclaimer: I do not in anyway shape or form own Halo of the Planet of the apes franchise, nor am I associated with them in any way. This is a non-profit fanwork written solely for the purpose of entertainment. This is no way canon in any shape or form.
Responses to questions or statements:
-Sammy-1000: Thank you very much for the praise! Hope this update was to your liking.
.lamb: Thank you kind sir.
-Guest: :)
-SRPA Sentinel: Perhaps you're thinking of "What Is An Ape, To a Spartan" by TheDidactsHand? If so, I made a mention to him in the author's notes in the last chapter. Thank you for reading.
-Austin: Yeah, I enjoy the POTA franchise as well. Though admittedly, the only ones I really truly liked was the Rise-War trilogy and the 1968 movie. The others I found to range from decent to mediocre. Not great, but not terrible. At least for me.
-I'm excited for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes as well. I'm willing to give Wes Ball a chance I hope he delivers on it. I thought the Maze Runner movies were alright (not great, but not terrible either), so I think he's decent as a director. As long as he's given a good script, I think he'll do well on it. But regardless, I erring on the side of caution just in case if it turns out to be bad.
-To answer your question, no. Six and Dot were not there when Caesar and the apes escaped into the forest at the end of Rise of the Planet of the apes, for they weren't there. They arrived years later when the Simian Flu was decimating the world.
-At the moment, Six and Dot are unaware of the apes and of Caesar. If they they come to the conclusion that he had a hand in unleashing the Simian Flu upon the world, well, let's just say things won't be pretty.
-In regards to Didact, I don't know if he intends to continue the story. But I hope he does as I really liked it.
-As for your ideas about Avatar, admittedly, I have been thinking of creating a fanfic of it. More specifically, a Titanfall x Avatar crossover fanfic. What I have in mind is having a team of pilot PMCs and their titans being contracted by the RDA to augment their regular security forces and sent to Pandora. With the Frontier war in full swing and it's resources cut off from the inner worlds for the foreseeable future, the resources on Pandora would become much more valuable to the core worlds and as such the pilots and their titans would be sent to secure the RDA's mining operations, as of now I'm thinking of having it start at the beginning of the first movie and maybe making it a self insert-Ihaven't decided on that yet. The main character would probably be an OC along with the rest of the mercenaries sent. I haven't really given the idea much thought, to be honest. The fusion elements are still underbaked and not that well developed at the moment. I also thought of doing a Killzone x Avatar crossover, though I haven't given that one much thought beyond having the Helghast fight the Na'Vi. Though, if you or anyone wants to create a story using this premise, then feel free to do so.
-Glory to the God-Emperor of Mankind!
-Sirraphael II: Thank you very much. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Now that that's done, onto the chapter! Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 12
"They're animals!" = Normal speech
'There may be more inside.' = Thoughts
"The Spartan's here!" = Hand signals
"/ Target's down. I say again, target is down. /" = Radio
(Location: San Francisco, California)
Gordon Dreyfus, the former Chief of Police of the San Francisco Police Department and leader of what remained of its populace, was finishing reading up on the last of the reports from the previous day on their remaining fuel reserves before placing the paper on his desk and letting out a heavy sigh.
Standing in his office and looking out the window that overlooked the plaza below, Dreyfus watched on as the people of the San Francisco colony went about their daily routines. Whether it be repairing whatever equipment that survived, growing food in the greenhouses, carrying crates filled with supplies, etc.
Dreyfus breathed out a heavy sigh as he turned around in his chair to stare at the view leading to the outside, staring at what had become an everyday sight. Broken down and rusted cars, crumbling buildings, and deserted streets with trash littered everywhere. A far cry from the populated and active city it had once been over a decade ago.
He still remembered how the world changed when the simian flu went global. How due to an accidental leak caused by escaped apes breaking out of the Gen-Sys building unleashed ALZ-113- an experimental cure for Alzheimer's that proved to have disastrous effects on humans. Most notably how it kills nearly everyone it infects within a two week period and how it was an extremely infectious pathogen. Spreading to all four corners of the globe in just a few years, despite the desperate attempts by every government to prevent it
San Francisco was the first city that experienced this chaos as it was ground zero of the whole outbreak with the government enforcing a strict quarantine on the whole island, which later proved to be a waste of time as the virus had already left the city and spread to the other end of the globe. The chaos and death that transpired once news that the virus was world wide unlike anything he and anybody had ever seen
Those early years were burned so deep in Dreyfus's mind as he could still remember it as clearly as the day is occurred. Widespread rioting and looting. Government imposed martial law and city-wide quarantines. Civil wars breaking out all around the globe. A nuclear power plant in Belarus melting down due to an absence of personnel. Infected bodies being thrown into hastily dug mass graves and burned en masse with even more corpses lined up on the street as the death toll was staggering. People unable to see their families as people died in their own homes.
And that's not counting the millions of deaths as a direct result of the virus. Though, one could argue that the aforementioned events only occurred because of the plague.
Fortunately for him and every survivor that still remained, they were genetically immune to the virus or were cured of it thanks to them. Though more often than not, Dreyfus wondered if they could really be counted as the 'lucky' ones. He knew he was not the only one with those same thoughts, as he watched many give in to the despair caused by the virus and ended it by any means availably to them. Be it at the end of a gun, hanging, electrocution, a jump, or even through immolation as many had done in the Ganges river in India when it had been lit on fire due to a chemical spill a few years into the pandemic, with many seeing it as a sign of the times ending. The videos and photos of men, women, and even children willingly killing themselves by setting themselves ablaze had horrified him when he first saw it. During the later years though, he began wondering if they had the right idea, to end it now rather than continue to fight against what was seemingly a losing battle. Thought, he never voiced that thought out loud in front of anyone. Not when the people that he now led looked up to him for leadership and needed to see him at his best. Standing resolute and not giving in to the same despair and hopelessness that everyone else was feeling. Only allowing himself to show it when he was alone.
As the years went by, the situation only got worse, as every attempt to find a cure for the virus ended in failure, not due to lack of trying by literally every nation in the world devoting any and all available resources in an attempt to find a cure and the body count rising by the hundreds of millions every year.
However, it wasn't just the simian flu that one had to look out for. Especially in the final years of the crisis.
Even if you weren't killed by the plague, chances were that other humans would as people began fighting for the last remaining scraps of resources and supplies that were left. With every emergency service and healthcare system gone, if you had a life-threatening injury your chances of survival looked slim as the medicine and treatments to do so had essentially vanished and the people with the necessary knowledge were much more rarer nowadays. Even wounds and illness that were easily treatable a decade ago now had the potential to become much more severe.
It was fair to say that it was one of-if not the- worst periods in all of human history.
However, hope did come in the most unlikely of places. But many more would have perished, if it wasn't for them. A duo that was without a doubt, the most unexpected and unlikely thing that happened over the last decade. However, it was also the best thing that could've happened for them as well.
In the closing years of the pandemic, a cure was developed by an unlikely duo that managed to inoculate those that were fortunately enough to not have been genetically immune and yet to die from the virus.
Those who were not genetically immune were only still alive thanks to them, as they had landed in San Francisco when they first arrived several years back and inoculated those who were still alive once they managed to develop the cure before leaving to try to help distribute it worldwide. Before they left, they gave Dreyfus the communication device he had on hand to keep in touch and for him to be able to contact them if he ever needed their help.
While he was not blind to the fact that things will never be how they once were and that the world they once knew can never be brought back, maybe, just maybe, their lives can return to something akin to normalcy. Or the closest thing to normal as one could get in this day and age.
And yet despite all the progress they've made since the collapse of civilization, Dreyfus could only see what had been lost. The faces of the dead, the ruins of a city that once housed hundreds of thousands, and the ruin of society as a whole. His wife Maddie and his sons, Edward and Alan.
Worst, he wasn't even able to view his last pictures of them, as the tablet that they were stored on ran out of power years ago. And it would be selfish of him to use what little energy they still had to charge it. Not when it was needed out other essentials.
It's why he was so desperate to get sustainable power back to the colony. Not just for their survival and for him to be able to view the last mementos of the people dearest to him, but also to give people much needed hope for the future.
God knew they needed that after the hell that they all went through.
Running his hand through his hair, he adjusted his glasses before turning on the advanced communicator. Flipping through the screens to open up the last message.
[To: Dreyfus}
[From: A.D.]
Got your message. The boss and I are on our way now, we'll be there at around 1000 tomorrow. We'll touch down at the intersection to the east of the colony. Hope you have a nice welcome party waiting. See you in a bit, Dreyfus. D out.
Letting out a small chuckle at the message, grabbed his Beretta M9 that was laying on his desk and placed it in his leg holster before standing up and making his way out of the office. Making his way down to the ground level via the nearby stairs.
Passing by many people who gave greeted him a good morning or briefly said hello before going back to what they were doing. He in turn greeted them with a smile and nod, not letting a single feature on his face give away any of his fears and worries as he made his way to the front doors, where a man with dark, short, blonde hair in his late twenties met him.
"Dreyfus," Finney, a former firefighter and the only friend Dreyfus had from before the fall of civilization that still lived, greeted him after he had finished giving instructions to a couple of mento recheck a few power lines.
"You know, boss. If you ask me, the city even before the outbreak looked like crap. So, I say not much changed on that front."
"I suppose you're right." Dreyfus said with a light laugh as he continued staring at worn down scene before him while glancing at his friend from the corner of his eye.
The leader of the San Francisco survivors lightly chucked as he shook his head.
"What?" The former firefighter replied jokingly. "Trash everywhere. Run down buildings. It's pretty much the same if you think about it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Gordon admitted with a laugh before it was replaced by his more serious demeanor.
"How goes the check on the power lines?"
"All power lines that are still functional have been re-routed. And I had people do rounds on the breakers to make sure they're up to par. They tell me that everything looks good and all that's left is to start up the dam to get power flowing. Malcolm's readying a group to head up there to give it a look. Carver and Foster are readying the cars and Kemp are prepping the gear. They'll be ready to head out by tomorrow. Ellie and Alex are also going along."
"Why?" Gordon questioned with a raised brow. Ellie was one of the few remaining people they had left with medical knowledge, which made her extremely indispensable. Not to mention that she used to work for the CDC, which meant that she had a better understanding of the virus than anyone else in the colony.
"She argued that if one of the group gets injured, she can patch them up. As for Alex, well, he wanted to accompany his dad. And you know that kid can be as stubborn as a mule when he wants to be."
Dreyfus nodded his head in understanding as the two men walked out to the main courtyard in front of the tower, stopping on top of the stairs as they observed people going about their tasks. Everyone had suffered loss over the years, so he knew it was only natural for the teen to want to stay with his father, if only to maintain some sense of familiarity and out of a desire to protect his father given his mother had perished during the calamity. That was a sentiment that everyone nowadays can relate to, as it was virtually everybody had lost something close to them over the last few years. In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find someone who didn't.
"So... what are we going to do if the dam turns out to be a bust." Finney asked softly with a bit of worry.
"That's why I asked for them to come." Dreyfus answered. "If we can't get it working, then maybe they can find a way to start it up. Or maybe even create an alternate energy source for us."
"Maybe..." Finney responded skeptically, which Dreyfus couldn't entirely blame him for. While their visitors from another world possessed tech more advanced than anything of old, if they didn't already have one on hand, they couldn't conjure up a power source that could fuel the entire colony from thin air. It would take time to gather up the necessary materials and resources before they could even think about building it, the process for which could take much time.
Time that they might not have.
Still...if it came down to it, Dreyfus knew with certainty that Finney would be glad to be proven wrong.
"Speaking of which, when did you say they would get here again?" The younger man asked.
"The last message I got from them said they'd be here within the hour." Dreyfus informed as he checked his watch, knowing exactly who he was referring to. "I'd say they should be here right in-"
Before he could finish and as if on cue, the unmistakable sound of what was an engine filled the air around them as everyone stopped what they were doing as they all looked up into the sky from where it originated. Soon, an aircraft that looked more advanced than anything they've seen came into view, flying near the colony in a sort of buzzing-the-tower move but not close enough to actually rattle anything. Just close enough so that the engine noises would be noticeable and for them to see the vessel in all it's glory. The ship began hovering a couple of blocks away over an intersection, as it was too big too land in front of the colony.
"-now." The mayor of San Francisco said absent mindedly as he watched the ship's thrusters and engines rotated so that they pointed downwards as it hovered above. The futuristic ship then began slowly descending onto the road while its landing gear deployed from underneath. A small cloud of dust forming from underneath due to the propulsion of the engines before they turned off as the vessel touched down.
Already a small crowd was beginning to form outside the main doors as people began coming out to see what the noise was as its been years since any of them seen a plane, or any kind of functional aircraft, let alone one as advanced as the one currently landing. The confusion soon turned to excitement as they recognized who it was.
"She really likes making an entrance. Doesn't she?" Finney commented with a small smile as the two men moved out of the way as the entrance had started to become crowded. Moving to a more secluded space to allow the two of them to continue to talk in private.
"That she does." Dreyfus nodded in agreement as she looked upon the crowd, the elation growing as more and more people came out to see as chatter began filling the air. A smile growing on his face as he saw many people beaming at the arrival.
"You really think they'll be able to help?"
"I hope so." Gordon admitted. "Still, their presence will help keep people from panicking. Even if they can't help us with our power issue."
Finney only gave a curt nod as he turned his gaze back down the street leading to the intersection where the vessel landed. Both of them hoping that after all that they have been through over the last decade, that they were finally approaching the light at the end of the tunnel.
The two of them being blissfully unaware of just how wrong they were.
Author's note: Thanks it for now. Once again, thank you all for taking the time to read and leave a comment. I had originally wanted to get this chapter out before the end of 2023. But unfortunately, I didn't have time as I got myself a new job (also, I've been pretty obsessed with Warhammer 40K: Rouge Trader and getting back into Darktide thanks to the new updates. I've also started Red Dead Redemption 2 and been starting to get into Armored Core 6, so you can blame that for my slowness as well. Apologies for that, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
To clarify if anyone was confused, Six and Dot were able to create a cure for the simian flu using the medical bay onboard the Prowler and using samples of Six's blood which proved capable of destroying the virus when it entered his system. While it may be a bit cheap for Six and Dot to be the ones to develop the cure while entire nations couldn't, allow me to explain my reasoning. Given what I know about Halo, humans are able to cure CANCER with a quick surgery. As such, I figured it would be reasonable for them to cure something like the simian flu, especially with high tech equipment found in an intact medical bay like on the Prowler and thanks to the forerunner AI boosting Six's immune system as stated in the previous chapter, on top to his already existing augmentations. Unfortunately, while the cure that Six and Dot developed DID managed to save lots of lives, the virus had already wiped out hundreds of millions and civilization was already in the process of collapsing despite their best efforts. The cure also couldn't be manufactured and distributed on a mass scale as there was not enough infrastructure, resources, and personnel to do so, plus it still took some time for the cure to be developed even after when they arrived. However strong they may be, Six and Dot are still only two people. While the simian flu may have been stopped (for now at least- perhaps the mutated strain will still come into play later), the playing field has still been evened with the apes gaining intelligence and the humans numbers being massively dwindled.
Also, Six and Dot had already revealed themselves to the world at this point. Or more specifically, when they developed the cure and attempted to distribute it worldwide. They told certain people like Dreyfus that they come from an alternate dimension where it was the twenty-sixth century and mankind had colonized the stars, but they didn't go much deeper than that. I'm considering writing interludes about the early days of their arrival and what they did along with the initial interactions with people. Let me know whether you guys are interested or not.
On a side note, I just rewatched the trailer for Kingdom and an idea that I would like to see came to my head after seeing what looked to be the main characters exploring some kind of underground bunker. What I hope to see in Kingdom or the next movie is a Planet of the Apes version of the 'Enclave' from the Fallout franchise. I think it would be cool to see still intelligent and speaking humans planning to strike back against the apes. They could be descendants of those that found a cure for the simian flu and developed a secret civilization away from the rest of the world. Maybe not with telepathic powers like the mutants in 'Beneath the Planet of the Apes,' but maybe be more advanced technologically. Shows us that the human race isn't completely out of the fight yet and that small pockets of intelligent humans are still around. Though, I doubt they would do this. But... a person can dream, right? This is just mainly me wishing for humanity to have some kind of chance in the POTA universe and hungry for more ape vs human battle scenes.
What do you guys think of this idea. Good? Bad? Stupid?
Anyways, I hope you guys have a happy new year and that you enjoyed my first post of 2024! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!
See you all next time, guys. Take care and remember... stay frosty, gents.
