#work notes

*Human Supremacy*: Haunting Faces

In the aftermath of the Human-Covenant War, and the discovery— at least amongst the upper echelons— that humanity are the reclaimers of a vast interstellar empire; it seems almost inevitable that among any number of powerful forces in human society would move heaven and earth to assert human dominion over the Galaxy. A “dark” ONI and UNSC cabal of admiralty, generals, or extremely capable corporate interests harnessing military secrets to harvest Forerunner technologies: the milieu of interesting human villains is countless.

What about the genuine, understandable concerns of colonials and earthlings, unaware of the shared and successful relationships of UNSC and alien cooperation, fearing that any day now, Covenant ships will loom large over their worlds again? The Post-War era should be *rife*with explorations of trauma, conflict, and the complicated nature on *all* sides. What is it like to feel like an insurgent against your own government, your own *species*? How do people react against extraterrestrial resettlement, refugees? What’s the beautiful, what’s the ugly?

Not only do we get a painfully familiar enemy and complicated conflicts— but an engaging and active mirroring of those first true schisms in Forerunner society millennia ago, the first signs of interior societal stress that spelled their end at the hand of the Flood.

*Forerunner and Covenant Technology:* Tools of the Trade

The War is over. Across countless worlds lie the ruins and remnants of impossible, fearsome technologies: devastated Covenant armories, hastily excavated Forerunner complexes, and even experimental UNSC technologies dispatched to the field in desperate Hail Mary assaults against extinction. And it’s all just *waiting*. Scavengers, salvagers, zealots, historians, thrill-seekers; all anyone truly has to do to discover what’s been lost is some credits, a ship, and guns.

Imagine a Galaxy desperately holding its breath, knowing full well that any Insurrectionist, Covenant remnant, Banished mercenary, or corporate fixer could be wielding the next world-killer purely on looting the right battlefield, at the right time. Imagine the highest ranks of ONI and the UNSC, furious to form temporary alliances with unsavory and inhumane characters to do everything possible as means to neutralize the truly abominable. Give us stories of unlikely and unhappy alliances that truly mirror the history (and in all honesty, present) of international intelligence agencies. I understand the hatred of Forerunner-doomsday machines, but it just makes so much sense. And applying it to Covenant or even Human technology adds so much more interesting flavor. The Galaxy needs to not only feel full of threats— but *reasons to cooperate*.

*SPARTANS go Open Source*: Factory Floor Warriors

We’ve had it increasingly often, but I have always enjoyed the idea of SPARTAN-iterative programs as a cornerstone of the Post-War era. Humanity has been saved by extremely convenient weapons, controlled by an incredibly select few. What next?