Phoenix Logs/Campaign Logs/The Graveyard
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- Palmer, Nathaniel J. Archaeologist, Lamb Research Center.
- Personal Diary Date: 11/28/2558
- Fifteen of us managed to escape the attack. I still don't know if anyone else
- made it out.
- We were returning from a survey expedition when we heard the first
- explosions.
- I ran back, following the plumes of black smoke rising into the evening sky from
- just over the bluff. Sounds of UNSC gunfire were soon drowned out by the too-
- familiar whine of plasma weapons, confirming our worst fears.
- As we looked down at the horror below, we saw several hulking outlines move
- amongst the shadows. Jiralhanae, I think. Brutes. They were everywhere. The
- air was filled with the smell of burning ozone as a couple of bright, electric blue
- shapes arced their way toward us. We scattered as the plasma blast hit,
- vaporizing the trees nearby and showering us with ash and debris.
- We instinctively turned and ran. My ears were ringing and the ground shook,
- but we somehow managed to stay together. I yelled at everyone to keep
- moving, to not look back no matter what. But when the firing stopped I
- couldn't help myself, I turned around and witnessed the orbital plasma
- bombardment of our home firsthand. It didn't last long. I didn't need to. But
- the finality of it will be forever seared into my memory.
- We've been on the run for three days now. The grime and smoke and ash clings
- to our clothes, our hair. We sleep in shifts, but not for very long. Every sound
- wakes us with a start and we expect to see the enemy bearing down on us.
- We don't know where we're going but we've found some temporary shelter
- amongst some old wreckage from the last time humanity was here - skeletons
- of the past.
- I can't help but think of the people we left behind. Will the Ark simply clean
- them away as it repairs itself? As if they never existed, layering fresh grass
- and fauna over their graves until the scars are no longer visible? They should not be
- forgotten. I think of you and I pray we are not at war again.