Fanfic / Consequences of Revelation

Consequences of Revelation (SpaceBattles.com discussion thread) is a Halo fanfic written by Aratech/Red Mage 04, the author of Finishing the Fight. Now complete at four chapters.

After Requiem, Captain Lasky decides to invite John-117 and the rest of Blue Team on board Infinity to give the SPARTAN-IVs more training. When certain inconvenient truths about ONI and their former sister's^explanation Serin Osman, current head of ONI, was a SPARTAN-II washout involvement in the SPARTAN Ops come to light, though, they start making plans... and the UNSC may never be the same again.

Unmarked Late Arrival Spoilers for Halo 4 will ensue.

This fanfic contains examples of the following:

• Author Tract: While the author doesn't use the story like a sledgehammer, he does make it clear that he was exceedingly displeased with Palmer, the vilification of Doctor Halsey, and the story of Halo 4's "Spartan Ops" section. However, the author ALSO tries to make the characters and setting better and doesn't try to simply say "This sucks and I hate it." He has Chief give a speech to Palmer that, while not kind towards her, also shows that he sees her potential, and that he understands the pressures that she's under.
• Badass Normal: The Master Chief lists Sergeant Johnson who was actually a SPARTAN I, not that he knows that, Captain Jacob Keyes, Commander Miranda Keyes, Sergeant Marvin Mobuto, Simo Haya, and Audie Murphy as ordinary people who were nonetheless exceedingly competent and skilled to snap Palmer out of her What Measure Is a Non-Super? mentality. Then just to twist the knife further, he says that he would take any of them over almost all of her SPARTAN IVs.
• Bullethole Door: Spartan Lasers, intended for anti-tank work, are equally good at turning walls into impromptu entrances.
• Cover-Blowing Superpower: Blue Team realises that Crimson are actually SPARTAN-IIIs, not IVs when they notice that the latter performed at a level beyond what should have been possible once they stopped holding back.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: The SPARTAN-IVs get their asses kicked by the SPARTAN-IIs in their training runs. Crimson does far better, because they are, in fact, SPARTAN-IIIs.
  • The curb stomping is justified as well, not merely saying "The original SPARTANS were better" but reminding people that the reason that they're better is that the SPARTAN-IIs were trained since they were children to live, breathe, and eat nothing but war and tactics. That, and they're veterans of a thirty-year long war, having fought and survived across more battlefields than could be reasonably expected. The IVs, while good, were recruited out of regular soldiers and still have a, for lack of better term, "Human" element to them that the IIs don't.
  • In Chapter 4, the invasion of ONI headquarters to capture and arrest Osman is also a curb-stomp in the Spartan-IIs' favor. Blue Team and Crimson Team blitz through everything the station throws at them; they utterly thrash even Osman's personal cadre of Spartan-IVs with almost no effort.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": The Chief tells Osman that she doesn't have the right to address him by his birth name.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Both invoked and defied by the Master Chief. He tells the S-IVs in no uncertain terms what they're doing wrong, and isn't afraid to resort to severe measures to get them to shape up, but recognizes that the Spartan- IVs are experienced soldiers and should be treated like it.
  Chief: It had been suggested among my team that everyone here not wearing their full kit receive a stun-round to the head to try to drive the point home. [...] However, we eventually decided against this. You are not children. You are not raw recruits. I should not have to use the threat of physical pain and humiliation to make you understand the importance of wearing all of your armor.
• Establishing Character Moment: The Chief and Palmer get one in the same scene. Palmer, upon learning that she's been sidelined for training the SPARTAN soldiers in favor of Master Chief and Blue Team, goes up to Laskey to complain about this... while not wearing her helmet. The Master Chief, upon seeing her, is able to take her down in roughly half a second while making it clear not only his displeasure, but that he could kill her at any given moment.
• First-Name Basis: At the end of chapter 4 Blue Team give Lasky their first names.
  • Inverted with Osman, as the Chief tells her she is no longer allowed to call him John.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Deconstructed. The Master Chief tells the SPARTAN-IVs their policy of not wearing their helmets is in fact very stupid, and highlights this by pointing out 3 of them died during the incursion on Infinity because of it.
  Chief: Your helmet is a masterpiece of UNSC military technology. Motion tracker, VISR tech, vision modes and HUD for offensive capabilities, while defensively, it is heavily armored, projects the cranial energy shields, and protects you from radiation, vacuum, chemical, and biological attacks. None of which will help you if you do not have it on. Which the Prometheans took advantage of. As would any competent enemy.
• I Am the Noun: Osman's "I am ONI!" in chapter 4.
  • Everyone present takes it as a sign that she has totally lost it.
• It's Personal: The reason for the whole mess. Trying to assassinate Dr. Halsey was bad enough. The order to do so coming from the SPARTAN-IIs' former sister Osman? Just made it even moreso.
• The Man Behind the Man: Paragonsky was this for Osman. More importantly, it's pointed out that rather than the Mengele-style mad scientist that Paragonsky and Osman (and Karen Traviss) like to portray Doctor Halsey as, she was working directly for the military in a wartime situation. Every single experiment and resource would have to be okayed by higher-ups at ONI HQ, and if Halsey did anything, then it had to have been checked out by many, many other people first.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Palmer, Laskey, and Roland all have one when Chief comes into contact with Palmer after having watched her shoot Doctor Halsey.
  • The SPARTAN-IVs get one when they learn that the ones they'll be training against are Blue Team, the last active SPARTAN-IIs, which include the Chief himself.
• The Peter Principle: The story implies that this is what Palmer's biggest issue is- she worked well commanding small teams, but was promoted beyond her level of skill. This causes her to make mistakes... but when you're as highly placed as "Leader of all SPARTAN forces on the most advanced UNSC ship in existence," any mistakes you make are magnified nearly exponentially.
• Praetorian Guard: Osman has a group of SPARTAN-IVs loyal only to her.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Subverted. Chief talks to Palmer after he calms down, and what he's saying seems like this, but it's really just Brutal Honesty, and he actually thinks she's capable of leading the SPARTANS effectively. It even becomes a bit of a Rousing Speech at points.
  Chief: You're short-tempered, impulsive, and in more than one case, you've been guilty of outright dereliction of your duty, and have shown a critical lack of professionalism. [...] [But] as much as I dislike you, Commander, I want this project to succeed. Humanity will need its elite troops in the coming years. Those who can do what no others can. [I]n order for the S-IVs to live up to their full potential, they must be properly led. They must have a commanding officer that is competent, level headed, capable of delegation and absolutely able to maintain a view on the larger picture. You must become that person. And I believe you can.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Lasky and Lord Hood.
• The Reveal: Fireteam Crimson's sheer competence compared to the rest of the IVs is due to them actually being IIIs.
• Stockholm Syndrome: Lasky privately wonders if Master Chief and the rest of the Spartans suffer from this in regards to Dr Halsey, whom they see as their mother.
• Super Prototype: The SPARTAN- IIs are far superior to the IVs, as Blue Team proves during training.
  • This is justified by the fact that the IVs are basically just upgraded regular soldiers, while the IIs were raised since childhood to be soldiers, with nothing else to occupy their time but training.
• Tranquil Fury: Chief's first reaction upon learning that Osman ordered Sarah Palmer to assassinate Dr. Halsey. When Palmer enters the room, he goes into full-on Unstoppable Rage.
• Villainous Breakdown: Osman undergoes this.
• Villainous Valour: Osman's personal Spartan-IVs pull off some cunning traps that would have worked against anyone who wasn't a II.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Chief delivers an epic one to Palmer after he finds out about her mission. Right after choke-slamming her into a wall.
  Master Chief: Leader of the Spartan Corps. To be a leader like that… to have that much potential, that much promise… And yet I am so very disappointed in you, Commander.