I was lightning, before the thunder

however.

Over the coming week/s (however long this takes, I don’t know), I’m going to be archiving this blog, and creating a new one. It won’t be a mumu, because I don’t have the energy for that; it’ll just be a single muse for Artemis again.

sorry guys but I really just. yeah. there’s a lot going on that I can’t deal with and writing isn’t as easy as it used to be.

Contemplating making an actual, proper comeback. Throwing a few threads that I can’t quite seem to get to into the trash, for a fresh start. Maybe adding a few muses from Star Wars (I love the characters but the ’verse on tumblr is so hard to get into, especially compared to the twitter SW ’verse!)....

Hey y’all sorry I haven’t been here much lately; I’ve not really had the energy to do so. And also the twitter RP scene is kinda consuming me lol

I’ll try to be more active at some point, maybe get to drafts, but yeah

“What a place.” Harley’s eyes widened, hand going to her churning stomach as she gazed upon the new world; It felt good to be out of the slipspace.

She looked back to the salvager, offering the woman a smile. There was much she could learn from the tech brought in from the wrecks, if what Iskra had said was completely accurate. There were bound to be missing pieces of information, little things so easily overlooked in explanations.

“I have an idea.” Harley spoke, tearing her eyes away from the planet, her right eye hiding once more behind its lids. “Why don’t I team up with you for your little trips? You could use the muscle and I could use a place to stay.”

Iskra’s eyebrows furrowed together in a thoughtful frown, as she considered the offer.

It was a tempting offer, one not without its merits. But there was a downside, too. Why was it that Harley had suggested the salvager needed muscle? Unless she, like so many others, incorrectly assumed that Iskra would be collecting large items of salvage, like Slipspace drives, or a weapons array, or something like that.

That went against Iskra’s personal code, thanks to the UNSC Salvage Directive. While she did all she could to ignore it, for she had no love for them, if she ever came across a data core, or some-such other item of value, she did report it. It was better that way: it kept the salvage out of the hands of untoward parties, and it also kept it from falling into disrepair.

“If I find that I cannot transport an item, I do not take it,” she shrugged, “Usually, those sorts of items I will leave to someone else. Or, if it’s of value to the UNSC, then I will report its find to them.”

@bxttle-cry​:

“ Uh. No. “

Briseis said rather bluntly. She knew that it probably wasn’t the best use of tone when responding to her question. The raven haired girl examined the weapon from a safe distance before a sly smile formed onto her face. That looks fun now to come and think about it. She could easily give Hestia a heart attack if she had something like that around their cabin. 

“ Is there special training to be able to wield that weapon? “

She must be a civilian. It would explain the lack of knowledge on its name. After all, what Marine or Naval officer hasn’t seen an Energy Sword before? Or at least heard of one.

The Spartan clipped Nightfall back into place on her belt. She was clad in only her blue-and-grey techsuit, but she wore a belt as well, to store weapons such as her Energy Sword. Easier for her to be armed while she was out of armour, and not in regular clothing with pockets.

Her head tilted to one side at the woman’s question.

@bxttle-cry has liked for a starter:

“ That looks dangerous. “

Well to her it didn’t and it seemed that the other was completely calm about what they were holding onto. Briseis had no clue on what the object was and maybe they could give her an answer.

“ What is it? “

“This?”

The Spartan swung her arm in a wide arc, Nightfall humming with pent-up energy, ready to use. She thumbed the deactivation switch on the handle, and the twin blades of superheated plasma disappeared. 

“This is a Type-1 Energy Sword. It can be very dangerous, particularly if the wielder does not know how to use it correctly. It is a formidable weapon in close-quarters combat.”

She raised an eyebrow.

Harley frowned. That look wasn’t comforting when it came to gathering information, though it seemed her intent had finally gotten across to Iskra. The body language the other displayed further confirmed her suspicions on the other’s willingness to give information.

No reason to hide if you’ve done nothing wrong. She let her hand fall to her lap. Multiple rings and an end to the war. Definitely after 3, but that’s where my knowledge ends. Blast it all. Wonder if we’ll run into some ONI folk. Be a good time to get something to snack on for Unoraptormon.

“And so that’s why you were at that place?” She asked. “To partake in salvaging wrecks to live off of, ya?”

Iskra nodded.

“Dangerous work, but it pays well, if you manage to find the right sort of salvage. There’s a lot of trashed ships out there, human and Covenant alike. A lot of ruined bases, too. Sure, there were many structures completely decimated. But there’s also almost an equal amount of wreckage to search through.”

She turned back to the controls, tapping at them quietly for a few minutes. There was a rumbling thump, more felt than it was heard, and the inky blackness surrounding the viewport snapped away. In its place were stars, a sun, and a planet of dull green and blue; not quite as pretty as Earth, but perhaps larger in size.

I want you to know that I appreciate you, although your wording puzzles me somewhat; it feels like you’re asking me as though I roleplay as Alice, when I actually write Jerome XD

I....also admittedly have no freakin’ clue who Morgan Kinsano is as a character, as I’ve never played either Halo Wars game; I’ve only read about the characters on Halopedia, and gathered other tidbits from watching the cutscenes ( and unlike John Forge, Kinsano doesn’t appear in them! )

Jeanette didn’t know what to do, or say. Didn’t know how to react. She was, for all intents and purposes, on autopilot as she followed alongside Kurt, all but hiding in his shadow. His armored bulk shielded her from view, and his skillful silence aided them in slipping under the radar as they fled.

She couldn’t help but flinch at his words, shrinking in on herself despite his gentle tone.

How could he speak to her like that.

And nothing he said made sense. He should have been happy to see her penned up, content to let ONI spirit her off to whatever fate they’d planned for her… shouldn’t he?

He was beholden to ONI. He belonged to them, much the same way she had before she’d escaped. He’d known her for all of two years at most, and had been ONI’s subject for longer than she’d even been alive… Why should he want to turn on them for her?

But she kept those questions to herself as they finally boarded his dropship and made ready to leave this prison.

Instead, she just found a place to tuck herself into, curling into the space and turning to look past the boarding ramp one last time as it closed. Was she really free?

“…I don’t… I don’t understand…”

“What is there to not understand?”

The Condor rose from the deck, and swished out of the hangar bay, before swirling out into open space, fitting in among a small group of Pelicans that were on patrol. The dropship then slipped beneath the Infinity’s belly, gliding along until popping out on the other side of the moon that the supercarrier hung above.

Once they were safely out of the warship’s sight, a hole to Slipspace tore open, and the Condor nosed through. Soon there was nothing out of the viewscreen but the inky blackness of Slipstream space.

“I’m a Spartan, and we protect our own. Whether it be from the enemy, or from those who are supposed to be our allies.... the UNSC, or ONI. I may fall under the UNSC’s jurisdiction, just like the rest of my brothers and sisters. But I’ve come to find that my loyalty lies with them, first and foremost, more than it does the UNSC.”

A grim smile echoed in his voice.

Past tense. At the very least, the timeline is after Halo 1, likely after 3 given what she mentioned at her home. Wonder if the war actually ended after the Ark was- Wait.

“That adds up. It was meant to kill the food of a creature known as the Parasite, or Flood given it’s attack pattern. Do you know what happened to the ring structure?” She nodded, hand resting on her chin in feigned thought. “What about the Ark? Have you heard of that?”

“The ring?”

Iskra shrugged her shoulders, her eyes briefly scanning over the controls of the ship, before she spun her chair around so that now she was facing Harley. Her silver eyes were puzzled, filled with confusion. It was clear enough that this was about where her knowledge of the current state of the galaxy, as well as previous current events, stopped.

“From what I’ve heard, there were multiple found. I... believe the UNSC managed to blow up the first one they came across. As for the rest, I have no idea.”

And she was telling the truth. She simply didn’t know. It wasn’t entirely common knowledge, and aside from that, she’d not talked to very many ex-Covenant soldiers who were willing to talk about it.

She’s too trusting, but that makes her a good person to have around. Let’s hope that continues.

“You’d be amazed.” She sighed, listening to the rest of the information the other had. 

She knew the dimension she was in, based on the creature names. Those were Covenant designations, she remembered that from the games. However, she never thought she’d actually get a chance to interact with all of those species. Her mind briefly wandered to the possibilities such allies could give her and her people.

“So the term Halo actually means something to you?” she asked at last, curious as to where the girl’s knowledge ended about her own dimension.

The word gave Iskra momentary pause, her thoughts stuttering to a halt.

Halo. What was that, again? It sounds awfully familiar, but I can’t quite place it. Didn’t it have something to do with the final days of the War? Something I’d read on the Chatternet, or something Papa told me......

She rubbed her jaw thoughtfully, a frown furrowing her eyebrows. Perhaps she’d heard of it from a few ex-Covenant Sangheili, a Jiralhanae or two had spoken of it..... It was a superweapon, wasn’t it? Something lethal, something with untold, unimaginable power? Something that the humans had fought so desperately to keep from falling into the Covenant’s hands?

Yes, that’s it.

Feeling as though he’s failed his Spartan-IIIs has left Kurt with quite the guilt complex. He wishes he could have done better. Trained them better, given them better equipment, been a better mentor for them. Learning of the near total losses of Alpha and Beta Companies crushed him, and it drove him to adding the extra augmentations to Gamma Company.

He has frequent nightmares of those he lost. In particular, Beta Company’s Team X-ray haunts him; they vanished on Onyx, and eventually, he had to give up the search and return to training the rest of Beta. He feels like he’s let them down, and if he ever manages to find any of them, then he’ll do all he can to help them.

Whether she’ll admit to it or allude to it or not, losing her father has certainly traumatized Iskra. It makes her unwilling to trust even the aliens who, for so long, had been the only ones she could trust. She’s wary and closed off to new relationships, preferring to take her time to really get to know someone, and to judge them, before deciding she’s friends with them.

And she misses her father with every passing day. There’s so much she doesn’t understand, so much he never got to teach her. A lot of things remind her of the fact that he’ll never teach her anything again, and it hurts.