Halo - Yojimbo - R.A.Wonsowski

Splash Page - 

Worm's eye view from behind Master Chief.  The "top" of the Halo above him is a raging inferno.  To the left and the right of the inferno are explosions of diminishing size as they spread along the ring toward our hero - the new ones being the smallest and closest.  Master Chief drops the detonator he was holding as he watches and prepares to go up with the rest of the Halo.

Master Chief [caption]:  McNamara's Second Law - "Rationality will not save us."

Master Chief [caption]:  McNamara's Third Law - "There are things beyond oneself."

Master Chief [caption]:  McNamara's Fourth Law - "Maximize efficiency."

Master Chief [caption]:  McNamara's Ninth Law - "To do good...it may be necessary to do evil."

Master Chief [caption]:  [bottom of page] Fair enough.

Halo - Maybe This Time - Niel Jacoby

Panel 1: POV of Master Chief, holding whatever the Halo pistol thing is called.

Speech Bubble(OP): Alright, you had it easy, but this time-

Panel 2: Zoomed out, Master Chief is prone, being teabagged by a purple Master Chief.

Speech Bubble(OP): Fuck.

Panel 3: I'm walking away from a TV with 3 other people around it with controllers, handing over my controller to another person who's moving into the seat I vacated. It's at a party, so there are other people doing things in the background.

Me: I'll see if there are any spots open at Rock Band.

I decided to work from experience for this one, that experience being every time I've tried playing a Halo.

Halo - The Rookie - J.D. Coughlan

Panel 1: A team of Spartans exploring a derelict space vessel. There are four of them, weapons pointed in front of them, cautiously exploring. The rookie of the team, Bob-101, brings up the rear and his body language is more relaxed, not so professional as the others. The team leader, Owen-495, is in front.

BOB-101: When do we get to shoot stuff?

OWEN-495: Be quiet!

Panel 2: Owen-495 comes to a doorway and peers around it. Bob-101 can be seen a bit down the corridor behind him, peering up towards him/us. One of the other Spartans, Zack-200, is chastising Bob-101.

BOB-101: Is there something I need to press to reload, or--?

ZACK-200: You're supposed to be watching our six!

Panel 3: Two-shot of Bob-101 and Zack-200. Bob shrugs innocently, Zack is frustrated and looking forward, not at Bob.

BOB-101: Hey, I'm just asking.

ZACK-200: grumblegrumble Freakin' noobs...

Panel 4: Owen-495 and the other team member, Franklin-387, blasting their weapons through the doorway.

FRANKLIN-387: We're under attack!

OWEN-495: Fall back!

SFX: BLAM BLAM BLAM

Panel 5: The three experienced Spartans backing down the corridor, blasting at the off-panel enemy. Bob-101 remains nonchalant.

BOB-101: You know what, guys, I think I'm gonna quit, this seems too much for--

SFX: BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM

Panel 6: Same, but Bob's head has been blown off by enemy fire. The other Spartans look round at him in surprise.

SFX: PEW-SQUELCH

END OF PAGE

Bob-101 is basically me whenever I try and play video games.

Halo – Juliet & John – Shaun Richens.

So begins my 2013 run on Thoughtballoons. This year I am going to try something a little different. An on going adventure, one page a week for 52 weeks.

This is where we start, lets see where we end up.

PAGE ONE – 5 PANELS.

Layout.

111

223

444

555

1. EXT. Deep space. In the dying moments of a planet that is imploding in on itself the UNSC halcyon class light cruiser KNIGHTFALL is being ripped in two by the sheer power of the dying planet.

         CAPTION:

         As one story comes to a tragic end.

2. INT. Escape pod section of the UNSC KINGHTFALL. Orbital Drop Shock Trooper codename Juliet stands in full ODST armour, minus helmet, a battle rifle slung over her shoulder. Juliet has one side of her head shaved; the other has long red hair. He face is still beautiful despite the many scars. The panel has a red tint to it emanating from the warning light flashing on the wall to her side.

         CAPTION:

         Another is just about to begin.

3. INT. JULIET sits inside one of the DROP PODS designed for her recon unit. She is strapped in and facing us. A look of steely determination on her face.

         NO COPY.

4. EXT. Deep space. The DROP POD fires from the belly of KNIGHTFALL away from the chaos and destruction of the dying planet. Around the base of the drop pod some kind of dark green fungus spore grows.

         NO COPY.

5. EXT. Deep space. The chaos of the KNIGHTFALL and the dying planet are but a colourful cloud of mayhem in the background. JULIET’s drop pod falls through space heading towards the swirling, whirlpool of an uncharted wormhole.

         CAPTION:

         Feet first into hell. 

Halo – Halo Legends: The Great Grunt Rebellion – MK Stangeland Jr.

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: Interior of a Covenant Warship. The scene is one of having just previously been hit by weapons fire. A Sangheili Shipmaster (Elite Ship Captain) – KAHS ‘YAMAKEE – is holding onto a control panel for balance as he ‘stands’ on his knees, having just been previously knocked off his feet from the explosion that rocked his ship.

KAHS: <What just happened?!>*

TEXT BOX: *(Translated to English)

Panel 2: A Sangheili Ultra – NOST ‘KAHMEE – picks himself up nearby and gives KAHS a reply.

NOST: <It’s the Unanimous Verdict, Sir! They’ve fired on us!>

KAHS: <What heresy do you speak of?!>

Panel 3: Upper body of NOST as he attempts to report, only to be shot in the back before he can finish.

NOST: <It’s…It’s the Unggoy, Sir! They are report->

SFX: (From impact of weapons fire hitting NOST’s back) ptCHHH!

NOST: wOOOOOOR!

Panel 4: An array of UNGGOY (Grunts) are rushing through the main entrance to the room, firing an assortment of weapons at anyone they see, killing a surprising number of Sangheili before they can respond.

LEAD UNGGOY (1): <For Balaho!>

LEAD UNGGOY (2): <For the Unggoy!>

LEAD UNGGOY (3): <For JUSTICE!>

SFX: ZzU! ZzU! ZzU! ZzU! ZzU!

Panel 5: KAHS activates a light sword and prepares to charge at the Unggoy with it. He has a look of angry determination on his face.

KAHS: <Not on my ship.>

SFX: (From activation of Light Sword) Ka-cSHHH!

(END PAGE)

Halo -Full Circle -Dan Hill

PAGE 22


22.1
WIDE PANEL: the panel is filled with a burst of BLINDING WHITE COSMIC LIGHT with traces of KIRBY CRACKLE undulating around the edges.

CAPTION

They pressed the button. They won.

CAPTION

The rings fired. The world ended.

CAPTION

Everything ended.

22.2
WIDE PANEL: we're looking up slightly into a cloudless, pale blue sky. The sun is shining.
In the distance in the sky is a small BLACK SPECK.


Below the sky are fields as far as the eye can see.

CAPTION

But something survived. Something always does.

22.3
WIDE PANEL, FIXED: the speck is closer to us now, becoming a black circular shape, a trail of black smoke and fire spewing behind it.

CAPTION

Empires rise and fall, stars live and die and life finds a way.

22.4
WIDE PANEL, FIXED: the object impacts the field, ploughing towards us leaving a trail of upturned earth and soil behind it.


It’s an ESCAPE POD (ala Halo 3).

CAPTION

This is the natural order of things.

22.5
Cut to a CLOSE UP on MASTER CHIEF’s boot as it makes first contact with the soil after stepping out of the escape pod.

CAPTION

Unstoppable, persistent life, turning its face towards the sun.

22.6
Cut to a CLOSE UP on the bottom half of Master Chief's unmasked face. Stern.

CAPTION

This is the end.

CAPTION

This is the beginning.

22.7
WIDE PANEL: cut to a shot from Master Chief's POV. We're looking out across the fields, the sun shining down. Despite no signs of life it looks like paradise-- heaven even.

CAPTION

Last soldier. First man. Full circle.

CAPTION

The Great Journey is complete.

Halo - The Only Way to be Sure - Ben Rosenthal

1.  The logo to the Master Chef television show.

CAPTION
With only the Final Four remaining who will win the the final cook off and become--

2. Four Halo soldiers stand behind a long counter, side by side. They are dressed in their armour. But are also wearing chef hats and aprons. In front of them are various cooking implements. The four Halo soldiers are in various degrees of mixing/making a cake. It is going horribly. This should be a funny scene.

CAPTION
--Master Chief?

Halo - Protector - Grant McLaughlin

1 - A shot of deep space.  Floating in the vast nothingness is the portion of the "Forward Unto Dawn" that the Master Chief and Cortana were stuck in between Halo 3 and Halo 4.  That ship is the main focus of panel.  It's a little hard to see the ship, as minimal power is on and there isn't anything nearby in the surrounding space.

CAPTION (CORTANA): You've saved us all from so much.

2 - Interior of the ship.  It's the same room from the ending of Halo 3 (this one).  The Master Chief remains asleep in the cryo-chamber.  Cortana stands at the same pedestal.  However, time has clearly past.  The ship is cold and frozen.  The lights are low from drained power.  It's clear that Cortana is the only one who's been doing much of anything in the last however long it's been.  Despite my example picture, this panel is angled from the side, with Cortana on the left of the panel looking towards the cryo-chamber on the right.  The Chief is not actually visible from this angle.  The captions fill the space between the two.

CAPTION (CORTANA) (1): The Covenant.

CAPTION (CORTANA) (2): The Flood.

CAPTION (CORTANA) (3): The Forerunner.

CAPTION (CORTANA) (4): To name but a few.

3 - Close-up of Cortana.  She looks sad and concerned.  Maybe a little lost.  If you're far enough out, have her hugging herself, as if against the cold (even if she can't feel it).

CAPTION (CORTANA): But when this is all over - when your fight is finally finished --

4 - Close-up of the cryo-chamber in which the Chief remains asleep.  Although the glass is icy and fogged and the room is dark, you can see the Chief's face (helmet) through the glass - just barely.  It's faint, kind of like a ghost.

CAPTION (CORTANA): Who's going to save you?

Why Halo?

The moment I first played Halo at a friend's house all the way back in 2001, I knew that I had to own it for myself.  I didn't care that I didn't have the money for it or that I already owned a GameCube and not an Xbox.  I needed this game.

I eventually managed to get my hands on both a console and a copy of Halo, and let me tell you, it was more than worth it.  I played the hell out of that game.  Single player, multiplayer, LAN parties, it didn't matter.  For a few years, I lived and breathed Halo, always wanting more.  I was in love.

It definitely helped that the game had a pretty intriguing story going on.  Every aspect of that ring world hinted at something more, something deeper.  Like the game itself, I thirsted for more, and soon enough, tie-in novels started popping up on bookshelves.  They were the perfect compliment to the game, and I devoured them, reading these books until their spines gave out and beyond.  While the gameplay is what brought me in, the story is what kept me interested.

However, this was a romance born of youth, and it was not made to last.  As I got older, my intense devotion to the game began to wane.  I was still there for Halo 2 (sinking far more evenings into its online multiplayer than I care to count), but by the time Halo 3 rolled around, my heart wasn't in it anymore.  I didn't even buy, let alone play, Halo: ODST or Halo: Reach.

But while my zeal for playing these games was not what it once was, I still loved the world Bungie had created so long ago.  I missed it.  Quite dearly, in fact.  And the siren call Master Chief, Cortana, and company still reached my ears on occasion.

With Halo 4, I could resist it no more.

Alas, you truly can't go home again.  I was excited to return to the world that I loved so dearly, but it wasn't the same.  It never could have been.  Admittedly, it didn't help that the game's story simply made no sense.  Without mincing words, it was awful, plain and simple.  On the other hand, the gameplay that initially caught my attention so many years ago remained.  Especially in multiplayer.

So why Halo?  Because even though the series and my passion for it aren't what they once were, like an old flame, Halo will always hold a special place in my heart.