Spirit of Fire Archives

This article contains apocryphal information of dubious canonicity. While not officially established as fully non-canonical, certain aspects of the subject may not be part of the official Halo canon.

The Spirit of Fire Archives are a series of short fiction written during the production of Halo Wars by Ensemble Studios' lead writer Graeme Devine. They were some of the numerous pieces of short fiction written by Devine to support the game's campaign story and flesh out the world of the game and life aboard UNSC Spirit of Fire for the development team. While some of Devine's work was published in the form of several short stories in the Halo Wars: Official Strategy Guide and Halo Wars: Genesis comic, much was left on the cutting room floor and later published by Devine on his personal website as self-described "fan fiction".

The content of the Spirit of Fire Archives consist of both prose and in-universe journals and logs by and about members of Spirit of Fire's crew. This includes a series of stories centred around nurse Lulu Hershey and the rescue of UNSC Prophecy, something alluded to in the final game and Genesis. Other elements such as the ship's cat Spock and the ship's newsletter "The Spirit" also found their way into the final game. However, due to the unpublished nature of the material, any elements not included in the final game are apocrypha.

Entries

The following is a verbatim transcription of an official document for archival reasons. As the original content is transcribed word-for-word, any possible discrepancies and/or errors are included.

Hershey - Part 1

HERSHEY - PART 1

CREW REPORTS Just how did some of the crew get to Spirit of Fire? The world according to Hershey was sad and depressing. Somehow the days were getting longer and the work was getting more stressful. It didn’t help that she worked for a bastard who seemed to derive joy from making her life a living hell. To make matters worse David was currently storming out of the apartment, he had proposed last night and she said no. He had slept on the couch and was now carrying off boxes while Hershey hid under the covers in their bed. She wasn’t entirely sure why she said no, but she was certain that she had to be entirely sure to say yes. With the rest of her life ahead of her she wanted to get somewhere, be something, do something and have something before she settled down to marriage. Was that asking too much? She waited until the squealing wheels of his truck told her that he was gone and then she waited some more. The darkness of hiding under the covers all curled up and able to feel separate from these problems, even for just a little while, was about the only comfort she could handle right now. She was 24, in therapy, taking anti-depressants, living on her own and working for a vindictive bastard. Yeah, she thought, the life plan is coming together. I’m on my way. The phone had been ringing on and off all morning and she had successfully ignored it while David was pulling his pictures off the wall and deleting his music from the media center. Now it was ringing again, louder and more pissed off than before. Definitely louder. Hershey picked it up, “Hello?” “Where the hell are you?” It was her boss, the evil and vindictive Doctor Kay. Hershey hated work, “I’m off today. I just came off a double.” “Well Brooke and Vasquez didn’t show, so you’re up again. Lucky you.” Both Brooke and Vasquez were screwing Kay. They hardly worked even when they did show up. “No.” Hershey found some part of herself that wasn’t going to be pushed over and she was as surprised as Kay when she uttered the word. “No? No? You are one insubordinate bitch! I should fire you…” She interrupted, no one called her a bitch, “Sorry Doctor Kay, but this bitch just quit.” She threw the phone across the room pulled the covers over her head and hid again. It was dark when she decided that she really had to get up and do something. Like shower and eat and go back to bed. She turned on the news while she sat and finished off a potato salad and bottle of wine. Some commercial was playing, smiling people against a blue sky. “The UN Medical Corp wants you! Looking for a and more secure better future? Openings immediately available! Press MORE now for information!” Hershey stared down at the remote. The MORE button was glowing. She looked around her empty apartment, squares of dust where pictures once hung, an empty shell pretending to be a real life. There was nothing here and no future she could think of. The MORE button was easy to press.

Hershey - Part 2

HERSHEY - PART 2

CREW REPORTS Part 2 of Hershey’s journey to Spirit of Fire. Hershey had signed the papers as she walked into the recruitment building and lied when she was asked if she had read and understood them. The building was really more of a classroom than an office. She sat down at the back and waited while the room filled up. There was a lot more military there than she thought should be for a UN deal. I mean, what did they have to do with some sort of relief effort job? She’d be off to some earthquake zone or something and out of this rut. They started to play a vid, something about making a difference. Hershey honestly zoned out through most of it. She had submitted her details over the comm from the apartment. Nursing degree, Chelsea Trauma Center for 2 years, another year in an AirCare Ambulance before deciding that Doctor Evil was the quiet nursing life she was really looking for. How wrong had that decision been! She erased his name from her resume. No need to let him know or say anything. The lights flickered back on, names were being read out. She came around the middle. “Hershey, line 3.” She walked on over to the empty line 3. In addition to the overly large number, the words “Spirit of Fire” filled out the rest of the sign. Obviously the psych eval was right on the money.

Medbay

MEDBAY

PERSONAL LOG, NURSE HERSHEY Things are not going well.. 13:02 UNSC 0b Unsigned Open Line Medbay, Spirit of Fire. Casualties have been pouring into the medbay. We’re one of the few functional medbays left in the fleet and we’re overwhelmed. We’re dead on our feet and out of stims, most pain meds, and coffee. Power has been intermittent the last few hours and the ship has heaved more than once. Comm systems are down so walkies are all we have to let us know if were going to live or die in the next few seconds. At first we were doing fine. I don’t understand why anything is happening. I just stare blankly at the soldiers in front of me and try to save their lives. The Prophecy just lost its engines and we netted as many escape pods as we could. Half the pods went through the radiation pulse from the engines and anyone inside was cooked alive. The other half might as well died because their radiological alarms attached to their uniforms are screaming. God, we don’t even have any morphine to give them. I can’t do this.

Medbay. Again

MEDBAY. AGAIN

PERSONAL LOG, NURSE HERSHEY Hershey’s shift ends... UNSC 0b Unsigned Open Line Medbay, Spirit of Fire. 3:34am Medbay is being scrubbed because of the radioactivity from the Prophecy crew casualties. I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see them, smell them, hear them. I see their eyes pleading with me to end this and I ca