Oh, Death was never enemy of ours!
We laughed, knowing that better men would come,
And greater wars: when each proud fighter brags
He wars on Death, for lives: not men, for flags.
"The Next War"
A Narrator Speaks. "Nations have always have always built monuments to their heroes. Tributes to the defense against, or conquest of, other nations. But the monument here doesn't favor one nation over another. It is the first of its kind to commemorate the survival of a species: our Species. More importantly, it commemorates the two men who gave the world faith, who gave humanity a future, who made mankind believe again. Master Chief Petty Officer John One-Seventeen And Captain Ash One-Fourtytwo
The John 117 and Ash 142 Monument
So it's no surprise that the piece itself is special. Begun three years ago in 2607, the monument is a diorama built entirely by hand. It is a three-dimensional snapshot of the battlefield, and the soldiers who took to it that day. The scene has been reproduced with painstaking attention to detail and authenticity. Only the men and women who were there know it better. Today, we go behind the scenes to see its creation.
To ensure historical accuracy the boot camp induction scans of every Marine involved in the battle were obtained from the United Nations Space Command records. In this way the artists were able to place the right face to the right soldier. After each face is completed, it is matched to a body which has been rendered complete with uniform and body armor, then carved by hand. It was the artists' vision for this tribute to humanity, that each piece be shaped by the hand of man, without the aid of robotic model-making systems. Each handmade soldier is posed, painted, and placed on the battlefield; both the victorious, and the fallen.
Based on topographical maps of the day, the artists are able to replicate each hill, each plateau, and each ravine to near exact specifications. But one of the real marvels is in the cityscape itself. After the fighting had ceased, meta-archaeologists unearthed the city's building archives. In them were found perfectly-preserved blueprints of every structure in the city. But the challenge was not to merely rebuild the structures, it was to tear them down as well. Artists worked from the city plans to recreate the destruction caused by the fierce fighting: from each bullet hole, to each piece of exposed rebar.
Finally, our enemies were also rendered with extraordinary detail. Covenant corpses that ad been recovered after the battle provided the models for these fearsome recreations. To complete the picture, authentic Covenant weapons and armor specs were accessed to fully outfit the warriors.
Once the Covenant are placed opposite the Marines, a clear image begins to take shape out of the fog of history. We see how we were outnumbered, outgunned, outmatched, and seeing that we realize the importance of the monument. On that day, half a century ago, our species was pushed to the crumbling edge of extinction. And as we teetered on that precipice, staring down into the abyss, a hand reached out, pulled us back from the brink, and gave us hope. The hand of a two heroes.
BELIEVE
Museum
In a dimly lit museum room. An elderly man walks towards a glass case in the center of the room.
Maj. Pawel Czernek; UNSC (ret.)active duty: 2551-2581loc: Museum of Humanity
"Can you tell us what you remember about the battle?" An Interviewer asks.
"We'd been fighting for a while." Czernek informs. "On the seventh day, we ran out of ammo. We had to scavenge all we could from the weapons that had been The pistols, shotgun rounds, a handful of grenades..."
"Do you remember where you were?"
"When Master Chief armed his grenade, I was in the back of an overturned Warthog, firing an M41. My Sergeant was next to me giving the orders the best he could."
"How did you manage to keep it together?"
"We knew the Master Chief and Noble Six were still in the fight. They gave us home."
Czernek sees the figure in the diorama representing himself, and is silent in thought.
Noble Six
Two old people walk into the Museum. An older Caleb uses a walk as he moves on as Caylnn uses a cane to walk as she has a heavy limp with her left leg.
1SGT. Caleb Caboose; UNSC (ret.)
Active duty: 2545-2575
loc: Museum of Humanity
MSGT. Caylnn Caboose; UNSC (ret.)
Active duty: 2535-2580
loc: Museum of Humanity
Several scars adorn Caleb's and Calynn face.
Calynn helps Caleb sits down in a chair, the she sits down.
"When did you first meet the Captain?" The Interviewer asks
"It was when the Covenant first attacked Cairo station." Caylnn informs.
"We were ordered to clear a way to the MAC Gun, to make sure the enemy would stop it." Caleb says. "Six had just got back inside from being thrown into space."
"Then what happened?" The Interviewer asks
"Well, Six had done the most dangerous thing I've ever seen." Caylnn states. "We shot him out of the MAC gun."
"We're were you two during the battle?"
"I was behind an over turned Warthog." Caleb informs. "Shouting out the orders best I could."
"I was behind some nearby rubble, I'd just lost my weapon and had to resort to the pistol." Caylnn informs.
"See Ash up there, being held by the throat from a Brute... It was scary. But we knew he'd make it. Noble Six doesn't die easily."
We see Caleb and Caylnn looking at the Diorama and they see themselves.
"Where was your team?" The Interview asks.
"We had got separated at the beginning of the battle." Caleb informs. "But they were moving wounded solders to behind cover."
We then go back to seeing them sit in some chairs.
Caylnn rubs a thumb over the back of her hand, where a large scar is. "We... We haven't seen our friend in a very long time."
"What if I told you she was here today?" The Interviewer says.
The two look surprised. "Really."
An older Ruby walks into the room, scars litter her face.
GEN. Ruby Rose; UNSC (ret.)
Active duty: 2545-2590.
loc: Museum of Humanity
Caleb and Calynn get up and go over to Ruby, the three have a tearful hug.
Several minutes later they are sitting back down, with Ruby in the middle.
"So, when did you meet Noble Six?" The Interviewer asks.
"Well, it had been just over a week since Reach feel, and me and my brother were on a covert mission to retrieve two objectives. An A.I. by the name of Auntie Dot and a Spartan named Noble Six, alive or dead we had to bring him back." Ruby informs. "We spent hours staying under the radar when we finally found him. We thought he was dead when we got him, but Auntie Dot informed us he was alive. So we took him back to the Pillar of Autumn. After that we found the first Ring."
"Where were you in the battle?"
"I was dragging a solider behind cover that was shot in the stomach by a Spiker rifle. My brother was covering me while I did it."
We see Ruby looking at the diorama and sees figures of her and Asher.
Enemy Weapon
The Museum of Humanity
Weapons Hall
"I was a sniper, used a standard high-powered Sniper Rifle."
Maj. Roland Huffman; UNSC (ret.)
Active duty 2548-2573
Huffman continues. "At 600 yards, it would go through about 13 feet of flesh and bone."
"What about two?" The Interviewer asks the second Veteran.
Sgt. Tomas Navarro; UNSC (ret.)
Active duty 2555-2567
"Well, I.. I used a Shotgun." Navarro responds.
"Could you tell us a bit about that one?" The Interviewer refers to the Spiker in front of Huffman.
"Uh, this one, sure." Huffman responds. "Um, we... we saw a lot of these. This is an old Covenant weapon. It's a Spike Rifle, we called it the Spiker."
"And who used it?"
"Well, the Brutes, mostly."
"Can you show us how it works?"
"Uh, sure, umm, it was a, they used it as a handgun." Huffman picks up the Spiker. "That's heavy. Holding an enemy weapon... like this is,, uh... feels..." He puts the weapon down. "Uh, I don't like it. If, um, if you'd have told me a few years ago we would be here in this place talking about this, I'd have said, 'No way, it's not gonna happen.' If there's one reason why we're here, um, I would say it's, uh," He clears his throat. "It's because of the Chief and Six."
Visiting Old Heroes
Ruby, Caleb and Caylnn move through rows and rows of white crosses that stretch over hills. They stop in front of a grave that has many flowers around it.
Then Ruby stands in front of a camera as Caleb and Caylnn stay at the grave.
"Who's grave is that?" The Interview asks.
"That's uh..." Ruby takes a breath. "That's my brother's. He uh... He died long after the Human Covenant War, he died to a new enemy we were facing."
"What was he like?"
Ruby puts a hand over her mouth and takes a shaky sigh. "He was... he was a hero to me. To everyone. Asher... he was the bravest out of all of us... He sacrificed so much for the war. He..." Ruby starts to cry. "I'm sorry, I-I can't." She walks off.
Then Caleb and Caylnn stands in front of the camera.
"We all met when we were children." Caylnn informs. "Our parents where greats friends, my father served along side their parents."
"Our father was a brave man, I looked up to him." Caleb states. "So we joined the military to be just like our parents.... We were so naive then."
"Asher... I missed him every day. He would always just get back up and fight, he was so inspirational. A model soldier."
"I honestly thought he could never die."
Ruby stands on the edge of a lake, dogtags in hand. "Noble Six once told me that 'we should honor the dead by finishing their fight.'" Ruby sits down on the ground as a breeze blows. "That's what I did for Asher. I stayed fighting for as long as I could, as long as my body let me do so. I just hope Asher is looking down on us with a smile."
Hunted
The Interviewer and an old man walk through a forest at nighttime. He points to a tree with a burn marking on it. "This was made by a plasma rifle."
They come to a clearing light up with lamps.
The old man looks around.
LT. John Tippett; UNSC (ret.)
Active duty: 2551-2571
"This is it." Tippett says. "Right here. This is the spot. I bet I can remember every one of these tree."
"How did your platoon get pinned down?" The Interviewer asks.
"We got word the Covenant was out here hunting us, and that the Master Chief and Noble Six wouldn't be able to rendezvous with us until dawn, so, we had to go dark."
"Go dark?"
"Uh, it's no helmet lights, no read-outs, nothing that would give away our position. Like rabbits down a hole. Invisible."
"Do you mind if we turn the lights off?"
After a few moments of hesitation, Tippett speaks. "Okay, alright."
"What happened then?"
Tippet whispers. "For seven hours, we couldn't do anything, but be still listen to them hunting us. All we could do was sit... and wait for the Master Chief and Noble Six."
Gravesite
An old man walks through a field.
"For the first time in 43 years, Lieutenant Shah returns to the site of the battle." A Narrator speaks.
LT. Niraj Shah; UNSC (ret.)
Active duty: 2548-2573
Shah picks up something from the ground.
"What is that?" The Interviewer asks.
"A shell from a sniper rifle." Shah informs.
"It's amazing there's still so many remnants out here... Where's Master Chief's and Noble Six's grave?"
"I don't think anyone really knows. There was a ceremony five years ago, over there, just as a symbolic gesture." Shah points over to a hill nearby. "The coffins were empty."
"Why were the coffins empty?"
"No Spartan could be listed as KIA. They can only be listed as MIA, missing, so it could be said that no Spartan was ever killed in combat. So the ceremony was a tribute, more than a burial."
"It doesn't look like much."
"Chief told me once, that no soldier should be honored for doing what is expected."
"Do you still believe that?"
"I did. And I still do."
Diorama
A camera flies through the diorama. The scene is very dark, and very dirty. Marines are seen, dead and alive, trying to fight the many Brutes that fill the streets. As the camera continues along its path, it goes down a hill, showing more ruined buildings, Jackals, a Warthog, and a Scorpion.
This location seems to be the only strong point for the Marines. The camera goes up a hill, where a lone group of Marines are in a Warthog, fighting off the many surrounding Brutes. It then pans over a broken bridge, where a Spec Op Grunt is grouped with many Brutes, over to the top of a high structure. A few Marines use it as a vantage point, to snipe off Covenant forces.
The next view is of the "Hill", a Covenant-controlled landmark. There is a large trench next to it, where Marines take a stand against them. A Brute Chieftain, a Hunter, and others battle the few surviving Marines. The camera circles around the hill, where it shows the captured Master Chief, holding a Plasma Grenade.
Nearby a Brute holds up Ash, but he has a hand behind his back, with the handle of his Energy sword in hand. Ash looks to the camera and his energy sword activates.
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08-30-2023