— Willis Hawk
— Natalie Cooper
Halo: The Natalie Cooper Series is an 8-stories long Halo fanfic series written by ilmiopassato
.
The series focuses on the main protagonist, Natalie Cooper, a UNSC Marine officer as she fights through the Human-Covenant War and the conflicts years after the War alongside her husband and Marine pilot William "Willis" Hawk while rising through the ranks. Throughout the course of the series, Natalie fights against enemies that threaten humanity while dealing with personal and inner conflicts about her duty as an infantry officer and being a wife and mother.
The first three stories focus on the Human-Covenant War, while stories 4 to 8 focus on the post-HCW conflicts in which Cooper and Hawk find themselves embroiled in, facing Covenant remnants, Prometheans, and resurgent Insurrectionists.
First started publishing in November 2007 with the 1st story "The Battle of Sigma Octanus IV", the series continued until its conclusion with the 8th story "The Enemy of My Enemy" in May 2020 (Not to be confused with Katsuhiro's Halo fan-fic The Enemy of My Enemy).
What makes this series unique is that it focuses first and foremost on UNSC Marines. Thus the battles depicted there are more harrowing. Besides the battles, humanity is emphasized within the main characters. For Natalie Cooper, she's a Marine officer who cares for her fellow Marines and takes full responsibility for the men and women serving under her, even willing to lead from the front while rising through the ranks with all the risk that entails. There's also the responsibility of keeping her children safe, who play a major part in the series and helps to emphasize that Cooper's missions are not just for her devotion to duty and honor as her relationship with her husband and family is a major pillar in Natalie's character arc.
Throughout the whole series, the storytelling is written in first-person for Cooper, allowing readers to understand more about what goes through Natalie Cooper's head, her thoughts, and her emotions. There are also occasional chapters focusing on her husband Willis Hawk, albeit written in third-person.
Unlike most Halo fanfics, Spartans are not featured in this series, though they do get a couple of mentions. Additionally, a lot of the cast of characters in the series are original creations of the author herself.
It should also be emphasized that the series is also AU-ish as it diverges from the official canon in some aspects. For example, the first story depicts The Battle of Sigma Octanus IV differently from canon. This also goes for some of the events from the Halo games as well as the timeline as they are depicted differently from canon as well.
The series' chronological order goes like this:
1 - "The Battle of Sigma Octanus IV"
2 - "The Invasion of Earth"
3 - "The Fate of Humanity"
4 - "The New Age of Warfare"
5 - "Dawn of the Prometheans"
6 - "The War of Tomorrow"
7 - "The Dark Side of the World"
8 - "The Enemy of My Enemy"
The series can be read from start to finish in the author's page link:
https://www.fanfiction.net/u/446883/ilmiopassato
Examples
- Action Girl: Natalie Cooper, of course, is an active-duty Marine who sees combat in every story. And there's Danielle Brewer in the post-HCW stories as well as a number of female Marines who are also depicted throughout the entire series.
- Ace Pilot: Willis Hawk and Brandon Heat are expert combat pilots. Willis loses his wings for the majority of Dawn of the Prometheans when his Pelican crashes. He manages to gain back flying after persistent physical therapy in The War of Tomorrow.
- Anyone Can Die: Even the main characters go through close calls and near-death experiences and it's mostly luck that keeps them safe from dying.
- Action Dad:
- Willis Hawk, Natalie's husband, remains just as good an Ace Pilot even after becoming a father.
- Caleb marries Danielle Brewer after being in a relationship for a while during the events of "The War of Tomorrow" and becomes a step-father for Alexis Brewer, Dani's daughter, all while remaining an active-duty soldier.
- Action Mom: Natalie Cooper and Danielle Brewer are moms and veteran active-duty Marines.
- Badass Normal: Given this is a series focused on Cooper and the UNSC Marines, who unlike Spartans have no augmentations, it makes it all more badass when she and other Marines fight off against extraterrestrial enemies like the Covenant and later Prometheans.
- Blood Knight: The Sangheili warriors Atalom 'Kuatee and Torran 'Vettel. Then again, considering the Sangheili's culture, it shouldn't be surprising to see these two having a good time when fighting their enemies.
- Big Damn Heroes: There are a couple of instances of it throughout the series. In The Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, an ODST Battalion comes in to help out Cooper and her unit, Bravo Company, at Cote D'Azure to defeat the Covenant forces and win the battle.
- Canon Discontinuity: The series completely disregards the events of Halo 5 by the time "The Dark Side of The World" and "The Enemy of My Enemy" take place. Then again, the epilogue for "The War of Tomorrow" takes place in late May 2559, so the nail was already in the coffin.
- Dads Off Fightinginthe War: Natalie and Willis are often deployed throughout the series and it becomes a frustrating thing for them, knowing that their kids are growing up without them during those deployments. Likewise, their kids feel frustrated and sad whenever their parents get deployed.
- Fan-Created Offspring: Ethan Ackerson. The son of Colonel James Ackerson and also the creation of the author. He's first established as the abusive ex-boyfriend of Natalie Cooper in high school and was believed to be dead when Cooper finds his corpse in The Invasion of Earth until he turns out to be alive and well in The War of Tomorrow in which the story explains his survival.
- In-Series Nickname: Although his full name is William, he's often referred to as Willis throughout the series.
- Original Generation: The vast majority of characters are original creations of the author.
- Survivor Guilt: Natalie Cooper is a textbook case. Losing her old platoon on the forests of Heath, losing fellow Marines throughout the years in combat, and losing her two best friends Dean Lewis and Oliver Hayden all take their toll on her as the series goes on. In fact, the writing in the series also emphasizes how much survivor's guilt she goes through.
- Up Through the Ranks: At the start of the first story, both Cooper and Hawk are Lieutenants. But over the course of the series, they get promoted to higher ranks.
- War Is Hell: Given the series primarily focuses on UNSC Marines, it doesn't hold back the traumatic and emotional effects war can cause on UNSC servicepeople. Natalie Cooper is no exception.
