History FanFic / FinishingTheFight

** [[spoiler: Mendicant Bias fits the role, as well.]]

* ChekhovsGun: MC gives Bruenor a grenade before the battle for Mithral Hall, so he can commit suicide if he thinks he'll get captured. This proves crucial during the fight with Matron Baerne, where he uses it to great effect.

** [[spoiler: The Golems created by Cortana]] have a 30mm cannon attached to the left forearm and a flamethrower on the right.

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: [[spoiler: Didact]] has learned how to become a ''god''.

** [[spoiler: Helm/Didact]]

** Also, [[spoiler: The [[strike:Arbiter]] Ascetic and the Covernant Separatists see serving Helm and helping the Humans of Torill as a way of atoning for their near destruction of the UNSC Humans.]]

* BadassBack: One drow makes the mistake of trying to interfere with [[spoiler: Mephasm facing down Errtu]] and gets thrown into a wall for her trouble.

* BetterToDieThanBeKilled: [[spoiler: Mias Tarkimee]] kills himself rather than let Triel Baenre extract information from his head.

* {{BFG}}: The Rhino main cannon, Spartan Laser, and [[spoiler: All the Forerunner weapons]].

** [[spoiler: At the meetup between John and the other Spartans, the other members of John's "Family" seem to have adopted Neeshka as well.]]

* BizarreAlienBiology: It is noted that some of the Drow's allies have biology so different that nerve gas will have no effect on them. [[spoiler: Miranda Keyes decides to get around that by simply ''nuking'' them]].

** [[spoiler: The activation of the Halo arrays was one for the Forerunners, as it put the Gravemind down for one hundred thousand years. All at the low, low cost of there being exactly one organic survivor of their civilization out of countless billions.]]

* BulletTime: One of the powers of [[spoiler: the Forerunner suits]] is controlled time dilation. Spartan time and haste spells also create this effect.

** [[spoiler: Diadect, previously only mentioned in computer log entries made nearly one hundred thousand years ago, is a major supporting character here. Note that this was done ''before'' the revelations of Halo 4, where he also made an appearance (though in a very different role).]]

** Helm even states that there is a way to combine science and magic, and that it is how [[spoiler: he became a god.]]

--> [[spoiler: '''Helm''': "I was born more than a hundred thousand years ago, on a planet long since blasted to ash and dust… There, on that day, at that time, I was given the name [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Arias Didact]]." ]]
* ColdBloodedTorture: Done to [[spoiler: Neeshka by Errtu and the drow]].

* ContinuityNod: When MC is told that [[spoiler: a news crew is coming to Toril]], Johnson tells him to wear something nice for the cameras, as back in ''Halo 2''.

** Then we get to a serious aversion when MC runs into [[spoiler: Demogorgon]], who can take anything thrown at him - including Forward Unto Dawn's MAC - and keeps coming.

* DavidVersusGoliath: Chief [[spoiler: in Didact's Class 20 armour]] would be the Goliath against lots of other things, but is still out-beasted by [[spoiler: Demogorgon]].
** [[spoiler: The Forerunner fleet is outnumbered 437 to 1 at the beginning of their final battle.]]
* DemotedToExtra: Catti-Brie big time, who receives passing mention at the very beginning and then is [[PutOnABus completely dropped from the story]] with little explanation, she's largely replaced by Neeshka. Gandalug Battlehammer, who flat out never appears. And Alustriel, who only appears long enough to get [[spoiler: [[TheWorfEffect killed.]]]]

* EasilyForgiven: Averted. The Master Chief tells the Arbiter not to apologize for nearly destroying humanity, but to prove himself by saving what's left of it. [[spoiler: At the end, while some of the UNSC may still hold grudges, he tells the Arbiter that he has his forgiveness.]]

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: In the finale, Chief spots Johnson smoking a Sweet Williams Cigar. [[spoiler: Since they ran out of those ''months'' ago, it tips Chief off that the UNSC has finally found Faerun... and presumably provided Johnson with some of them. He's correct, and moments later he encounters UNSC soldiers and Lord Hood.]]
** The biggest hints that [[spoiler: Helm is actually a Forerunner come right before his reveal as Didact, with him showing a great amount of familiarity with UNSC and Covenant technology, and the Chief noting that the interior of Helm's sanctum greatly resembles that of the Halos.]]
* FixFic: Somewhat minor. [[spoiler: Keyes and Johnson survived, and Guilty Spark was saner in this story's version of Halo 3's events.]]

* FoeTossingCharge: [[spoiler: A squad of Elites do this in one battle, drawing their plasma swords and wading into an entire battalion of enemies]].

** Lolth also suffers from this after [[spoiler: The nuking of Menzobarranzen]]. Her race was never very numerous, and with the culture that she herself implemented, weakness is to be despised... and she is very weak...
* GoodIsNotSoft: The UNSC [[spoiler: and Neo Covenant]] may be pretty unambiguously heroic, but they are also utterly ''ruthless'' [[CombatPragmatist Combat Pragmatists]] compared to the armies of Faerun. Even some of the ''Drow'' are shocked by the ruthlessness of some of their tactics.

* HeroKiller: Gromph Baenre, who manages to kill [[spoiler: Revajik, Lady Alustriel, and the Hunter Denos]].
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: Cortana]]
** HesJustHiding: The reactions to the above. Helped by the fact that the passage in particular doesn't actually say exactly what happened. [[spoiler: Chapter 45's last part suggests there might be hope.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: Denos sacrifices himself to save Lotar,]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: When [[spoiler: Mephasm comes for Neeshka]], several drow are thrown into their own torture implements.

** Also, in a more literal meaning, [[spoiler: the Master Chief uses a slipspace portal to fire all of his weapons into the inside of the Demogorgon. Literally, an arsenal sent through hyperspace.]]
* IDieFree: [[spoiler::Mias Tarkimee]] tells Triel that they were once similar, the difference now is "I die with no yoke upon my back."
* IShallTauntYou: Johnson uses this on the Drow when they assault Mithril Hall, working them to a frenzy. [[spoiler:Helm]] also uses this to great effect on Lolth, causing her attacks to become more crazed, and distracting her from the surface battle. The crowner though, is probably when [[spoiler: Mias Tarkimee]] insults Triel Baenre so that she focuses on him and his men can escape. "Turn and face me, you misbegotten servant of a spider bitch!"
* InvincibleHero: Swings back and forth. Whenever Chief is facing something that can't possibly hurt him or even penetrate his armor, it's usually balanced out by him trying to fulfill some other objective, like protecting a much squishier character. He does however blaze through golems, demons, and wizards without stopping. It takes [[spoiler: the Matriarch of the Dark Elf race]] to cause him trouble.
** The UNSC as a whole however play this trope much straighter. Most of their opponents can't touch them ([[SufficientlyAdvancedAliens for obvious reasons]]), and any potentially clever tactics they come up with to turn the tables [[spoiler: such as ambushing with summoned demons, or secret tunnels in the attack on the Dwarf city]] always seem to get undone within minutes.

* KilledByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Alustriel, killed by Gromph during the Drow Assault on Mithril Hall. Also, Bane during the Time of Troubles. Gromph dies when Menzoberranzan is obliterated by the nukes.]]

* TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort: Averted, as while little the Drow have can seriously dent MC's shields [[spoiler: or those of the Sangheili]], he isn't standing around letting them have free hits either.

** A running bet on Spacebattles had it that by the end of the fic, or the sequel, she'd become a new goddess of technology [[spoiler: and [[MoreDakka firepower.]] She ''[[TearJerker almost]]'' made it.]]

** [[spoiler: Johnson making a joke about Miranda NOT trying to attack Truth on foot, which was what led to her death in canon.]]

* NoSell: [[spoiler: One of Demogorgon's Death Knights]] easily stops a spell that supposedly can damage even the strongest demi-liches. Also, the full power of the deities can shrug off spells that would shred their avatars.

* OhCrap: [[spoiler: Mendicant, when the halos go off and disable his ships by killing their entire crews.]]

** [[spoiler: Vendes Banrae and her retinue, who have just been torturing Neeshka, get this when ''Mephasm'' shows up. He takes one look at his granddaughter, bloodied and tortured, and everyone knows ''exactly how pissed he is.'']]

* PersonOfMassDestruction: [[spoiler: The Chief/Cortana in Didact's Class 20 power-armor. Full stop. They even mention that he could probably take down an entire Covenant fleet single-handedly with it. Unfortunately, they're fighting the [[EldritchAbomination Demogorgon]]]].
* ThePeterPrinciple: Briefly mused on. [[spoiler: After Miranda Keyes is promoted to Rear Admiral, she notes that while she's a proven excellent commander of a single ship and even a capable ground battle commander, commanding a fleet is something else entirely and she isn't sure she can do it]].

* PrecisionFStrike: [[spoiler: In chapter 33 Matron Baenre teleports away just as the Chief initiates the decapitation strike. His reaction? "Shit!"]]
** [[spoiler: In the epilogue, the Chief corrects the assumption that there were hundreds of Spartans by clarifying there were actually 33. After a stunned silence, all an ODST can say is "No fucking way."]]
* RankUp: The Arbiter is promoted to Acstetic, which is more symbolic than anything else; the only real difference is that "Arbiter" is supposed to be a martyr. [[spoiler: At the end Admiral Hood promotes Keyes to Rear Admiral, in recognition of her work, and because her new assignment requires a higher rank]].
* RedemptionQuest: Invoked. The Master Chief tells the Arbiter that if he truly wants to atone for his role in the genocide of humanity, to help save whatever is left of humanity. [[spoiler: Later when the Arbiter tells the Covenant Separatists that humanity are the descendants of the Forerunners (which the Prophets knew), he also tells them to redeem themselves by fighting for the humans here]].
* RetGone: A spell used by [[spoiler: one of Demogorgon's Death Knights does this, so thoroughly killing a pair of elves that Corellon cannot remember them.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler: What the surviving member of a Hunter pair goes into after their Bond-Brother is killed.]] Dwarves also do this.

* RunningGag: The locals keep mistaking the Arbiter for a demon. [[spoiler: Same goes for the Covenant Separatists.]]

* SequelHook: The UNSC will be establishing a colony on Faerun's moon. Helm is going to deal with the remnants of the Covenant Loyalists. [[spoiler: Triel Baenre]] is still out there.

* ShoulderCannon: [[spoiler: The Golems created by Cortana]] have a Gauss Cannon mounted on their left shoulders.

** When Helm is fighting [[spoiler: Lolth]] and shows his final form, it is depicted as uncannily similar to the [[VideoGame/{{Diablo}} Archangel Tyrael's, complete with tentacle/tendrils of light as wings.]]
** The ONI agent [[spoiler: Jonathan [[Film/TheATeam Lynch]].]]

** [[spoiler: The names of Didact's warriors are the names of famous warriors from mythology (Heracles, Gilgamesh, Beowulf, etc). Beowulf at least seems to have been the inspiration of his legend]].

** Somewhat averted for most of the story- due to the fact that there are ''no'' ways to get back to Earth or one of her colonies, Johnson has to go without his trademark cigar [[spoiler: right up until the epilogue]].
* SpannerInTheWorks: The UNSC are this to the Dark Elves' EvilPlan to conquer the realm. JustAsPlanned as far as Helm/[[spoiler: Didact]] is concerned...
* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler: Johnson and Miranda in the Halo verse; Wulfgar and Dinin in the Drizzt verse.]] See TakeThat for more details.

* TankGoodness: The Scorpion, and the new Rhino. The [[spoiler: New-Covenant are apparently terrified of the Rhino, having heard about its capabilities.]].
* TeleportSpam: Used by [[spoiler: the Forerunners, Helm and Lolth. Demogorgon and Chief do quite a bit of this in their fight as well.]].

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Tanks, gunships, white phosphorus, and [[spoiler: a whole army of Covenant separatists.]] Later on, they are talking about using ''nerve gas''.

** [[spoiler: Hell, the only reason they haven't [[FantasticNuke nuked]] Menzobarrenzan yet is because they need to get Neeshka and some Drow children out. Of course, once that was done, ''then'' they nuked it. Collapsed the whole cavern in on itself, made a massive depression in the landscape, and the pressure wave incinerated almost anything living in the tunnels for miles in all directions.]]
** Master Chief [[spoiler: [[strike: finishes off]] [[strike: kills]] [[strike: destroys]] ''annihilates'' Demongorgon by opening a one-way Slipspace portal inside of his body, then firing everything he has left into it. The interaction of the portal and the firepower exposes Demongorgon to energies that are in the same league as the Big Bang itself.]]

* TimeMarchesOn: Unfortunately for this otherwise well-written story, the Halo Canon has moved on slightly. [[spoiler: The Arbiter's name is revealed not to be Orna Fulsamee, but Thel 'Vadamee in the novel ''Literature/HaloTheColeProtocol''. The history of the Forerunners is revealed in ''Literature/TheForerunnerSaga'', where the Forerunners are revealed to be a separate species from humanity, invalidating pretty much all of Diadect/Helm's awesome backstory. Also, [=SPARTAN-III's=] were known by military higher-ups by the [[VideoGame/HaloReach Fall of Reach]], as all members of NOBLE Team but Jorge, a Spartan-II, were [=SPARTAN-III's=]. And guess what? Didact was actually the ''bad guy'' of ''Halo 4'', and had almost exactly the opposite opinion of his Helm incarnation here, and believes that humanity needs to be wiped out!]]

* VillainTeleportation: Some of the enemies use teleportation to get into the defences of Mithril Hall. [[spoiler: Including an attempted decapitation strike at Lord Nasher and the command group.]]

** And the same occurs when UNSC/Covenant-style warfare is applied to Faerun. [[spoiler: The second battle of Mithril Hall is easily the bloodiest battle is Faerun's history, with ''millions'' slaughtered in a matter of hours.]]
* WeHaveReserves[=/=]ZergRush: The drow employ this in their assault on Mithril Hall, and how! Casualties mount in the millions before long. Later, [[spoiler: the demons]] use this too.

--> [[spoiler: '''Helm''': "I was born more than a hundred thousand years ago, on a planet long since blasted to ash and dust… There, on that day, at that time, I was given the name [[Franchise/{{Halo}} Arias Didact]]." ]]
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Averted with Lady Alicia who after the group meets Master Chief and sees their 'spelljammer' disappears only to show up in the epilogue[[spoiler: apparently having been captured during the [[CurbstompBattle battle]] at Luskan]]

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Several chapters were dedicated to [[spoiler: Helm/Diadact's]] flashback to the Forerunner/Flood war, writing in whole events which were only alluded to or briefly explained in the Halo games (before the Forerunner Saga books came out and made his fanon obsolete (Yet still unbelievably cool)).
* WhyWontYouDie: Lolth asks this of [[spoiler: Helm/Didact]] when they fight.

* BladeOnAStick: Lolth wields a spear, [[spoiler:against [[HeroesPreferSwords Helm's]] [[{{BFS}} sword]]]].

* OutsideContextProblem: Chief and co. are Outside Context ''Heroes''.

* CruelMercy: Flashback's reveal that after the Didact abandoned his post in a doomed effort to save his wife (dooming ''trillions'' in the process), the Council punished him by having him by the one to fire the Halos. Forcing him to live with with ''killing the galaxy'' turns out to be a pretty horrifying punishment.

* NotSoDifferent: The [[strike:Arbiter]] Ascetic notes how the drow are similar to what the Covenant used to be.
** [[spoiler: Miranda Keyes has to choose between forcibly abducting an entire generation of Drow children from Menzobarranzan, or the potential loss of the entire Dark Elf race by nuclear fire. This situation is uncannily similar to the one her mother (Dr. Halsey) found herself in trying to justify the SPARTAN-II project.]]