Halo: Raise the Curtains

forewarn: This is a summary of the Halo canon; to moderators, I know this is in the wrong forum, but i cant post it in anything but the noob forum. Please feel free to move it there please. To Halo fans of all ages, to those who do not know a whole lot about the Halo canon, here is the best way of describing the story line. From the Forerunners, to the extent of human and sangheli relations, please enjoy.



Halo is not a video game, but more like a space opera. Halo is Humans with their backs against the walls fight for their lives. What began as a video game has grown into a sweeping multilayered sci-fi epic, complete with books, graphic novels, and films. Halo the game begins more than 500 years in the future. Humans have discovered faster than light travel, and are colonizing the Milky Way. In the process they encounter a hostile alliance of aliens known as the Covenant. Motivated by promises of eternal paradise, they view the Humanity as an affront to their gods and have vowed to eliminate them.
Halo’s central figure is Master Chief Petty Officer John 117. A genetically cybernetic enhanced augmented solider in the United Nations Space Command. His revolutionary SPARTAN MOJLNEAR armor is equipped with an artificial intelligence program known as CORTANA. When we first met with Master Chief in Halo Combat Evolved, the Covenant war has already waged for 30 years. Escaping from a disastrous battle, Master Chiefs escape pod crashed on a mysterious ring world, a super structure orbiting around a remote gas giant. This “Halo” is an ancient relic left behind by a technically advanced race known as the Forerunners, who mysteriously vanished some 100,000 years ago.
As the Master Chief continually battles with pursuing Covenant troops, a parasitic entity known as the “Flood” is accidentally unleashed on the Halo. The Flood feeds on sentient life forms and seems to hold a clue to the mysterious disappearance of the Forerunners long ago.

Hundreds of thousands of years ago the Forerunners where the most technologically advanced race in the Milky Way. With unparallel technology, they explored the entire galaxy. The used the profound wisdom and technology to protect and guide the many life forms they encountered. And then came the Flood. On a metaphorical level, their the bug eyed monsters, the things under the bed, the Id. For 300 years, the Forerunners tried unsuccessfully to eliminate the Flood. Then suddenly, some 100,000 years ago, both races mysteriously disappear. Even remains of the Forerunners powerful technology remains scattered across the galaxy. No one knows what became of them.

The Covenant​

With the Forerunners gone, two alien species, the Prophets and the Elites, first discovered each other in their search for Forerunner artifacts. Shortly after this encounter their races collided in a battle to control the technology that was left behind. Both the Prophets and Elites saw the Forerunners as gods, believing they ascended to a state of divinity. The Prophets, physically inferior want to explore the technology, and follow them on “The Great Journey”, an equivalent of god hood. The Elites, proud strong warriors, believed that use of the use of the technology to be sacrilege.
This dispute sparked a war, eventually the Prophets and Elites form a truce, an unsteady alliance that comes to be known as the Covenant. The Prophets agree to share Forerunner technology, the Elites promise to protect the Prophets search for the sacred rings, the Halo’s. As the covenant move through the galaxy, they capture and enslave many alien races. These races include Hunters, a worm like species that group together in a communal armor plated form. Drones, flying insect warriors that serve as infantry. Jackals are deployed as scouts due to their excellent vision and dexterity. And the Brutes, a war like race with great strength and stamina. And of course, Grunts, the Covenants cannon fodder. Plentiful and strong, but occasionally clumsy and cowardly.
It is a powerful empire with Prophets and Elites at the top, ruling jointly through a high council. That councils most prominent officials during the “Halo event “( Events that take between the game Halo Combat Evolved[1999] to Halo Reach[2012] ) are the Prophet of Truth, the Prophet of Mercy, and the Prophet of Regret.

On Earth, over population and dwindling resources force humans to look to other planets. It’s a prospect made much more accessible due to Slip space travel in the year 2291 after the development of human kinds own Translight Engine technology. While inferior to the Forerunners faster than light travel, this technology none the less gives the humans the ability to aggressively colonize the galaxy.
To deal with growing planetary conflicts, the United Nations Space Command is formed, becoming the primary military force. By 2390, 210 worlds are occupied by humans. These planets are known as the inner colonies. Within 100 years, the interstellar empire grows to over 800 planets. The further and further they got away from Earth, the ideology of the outer colonies seemed to have changed, almost removed; kind of how the American colonies were removed from England. The Inner colonies closer to earth are more developed and politically stable. The Outer colonies are responsible for providing raw materials to those inner colonies.
This leads to friction and even open rebellion. Compelling the UNSC to establish headquarters on a planet called Reach. And Reach becomes humanities most fortified world. An insurgency started up, and it gives reason to start the SPARTAN II program, to counter the insurgency.

The SPARTAN II Project
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In the year 2491, the Office of Naval Intelligence initiates the Orion Project, its goal, produces squads of counter-insurgency super solders by subjecting volunteers to risky genetic enhancements. Unfortunately, for those who don’t die, develop severe mental problems. As a result, the Orion Project is quietly shelved. By the year 2517, the security situation in the outer planets is dire. And the well organized groups such as the United Rebel Front threaten the stability for all the colonies.
Using data from Orion, Dr. Catherin Elizabeth Halsey launches the SPARTAN II project. Kids that are kidnapped at roughly the age of seven, and are inducted into a world of regiment, discipline, and real horror. Only 33 subjects make it to active duty in the year 2525, and these walking weapons of war are stronger, faster, and smarter than normal solders. Each of these SPARTANs wear special MJOLNEAR assault armor. These suits are a series of strength multiplying and reactive circuits that multiply strength and speed. One of these suits costs as much as a UNSC Destroyer, which is the about half the length of South Carolina. The armor is possible of housing a smart AI, an artificial intelligence free of restrictive programming allowing it to learn and grow intellectually, and to develop its own distinct personality.

In 2525, UNSC communication ceases with an outer colony planet known as Harvest. UNSC scout ships go to investigate, find the planet completely incinerated. Its surface melted down to glass, this form of destructing becomes known as glassing. Orbiting the remains of Harvest remains a single alien ship. It quickly attacks the fleet, destroying all but one. The remaining ship receives this mysterious message, “Your destruction is the will of the Gods, and we are their instrument.”.
The enemy is identified as the Covenant; their interstellar religious quest led them to Harvest where Forerunner technology had identified a large reliquary of artifacts. As it turns out, these artifacts end up being the human colonies themselves. This leads the Covenant to conclude that the human race is linked to the Forerunners. A contraction of their religious doctrine.
Thus begins the Human-Covenant War. By 2535, the Covenant has captured and glassed almost all of the outer colonies. As the battle moves closer to Earth, man-kind unites to face the threat. For years, humans win isolated battles, but at a terrible cost. Desperate, the UNSC initiates the SPARTAN III program, this time, using revenge motivated orphans of war. These SPARTANs were faster, cheaper, and easy to produce, but were less efficient. Other special forces include the ODST or Orbital Drop Shock Troops, known for their daring high altitude drops into combat zones.

Its 2552, the Covenant have destroyed much of the inner colonies, man-kind faces imminent extinction. In a despite move, a UNSC taskforce is sent to capture an enemy Covenant ship. The taskforce is led by John, on board a specially outfitted ship known as the Pillar of Autumn. The UNSC plan is ruined when the Covenant launch a surprise attack on the world fortress world of Reach. During the ensuing battle Reach is over run and human fleet destroyed. Believing all other SPARTANs had been killed on the surface of the planet, John escapes onboard the Pillar of Autumn. The ship makes a blind slip space jump and emerges near a mysterious ring world, the superstructure known as Halo. And this is where the Halo saga begins.
Cortana, the AI that resides in Master Chief’s armor, is created from the brain Dr. Halsey. The Halo structure where the Master Chief lands is vast, Its contains its own atmosphere, and can support life. The Covenant believes that the seven Halo rings marked the start of the Forerunners “Great Journey”, their ascent into God hood. During Master Chiefs time on Halo though, the long dormant Flood is accidentally released from a containment facility. The Halo’s AI or 343 Guilty Spark sees Master Chief as a “Reclaimer”, someone capable of activating the rings weapon system, in order to destroy the Flood.
Guilty Spark also reveals the awful truth about Halo, Instillation 04 as it is designated. Theses rings are actually dooms day weapons, designed by the Forerunners to destroy the Flood. Designed to kill sentient life, and deprive Flood of food. In a last effort to stop the Flood, the Forerunners had previously activated the Halo array. Master Chief adverts a galactic holocaust by detonating the fusion reactors on the crippled Pillar of Autumn, and destroying the Halo installation, the Flood, and an entire Covenant armada.

Fallowing his defeat at the Halo installation 04, supreme commander within the Covenant, an Elite known as Thel Vademe, is stripped of his high rank, publicly tortured, and sentenced to death by his own high council. The Prophet of Truth over rules the council giving Thel the choice to redeem his honor by becoming Arbiter, an ancient tradition which disgraced Elites embark on suicide missions.
Mean while, the Covenant locate Earth, due to a miss communication an attack force led by the Prophet of Regret is defeated in a brief but violent battle. The Prophet of Regret manages to escape through slip space in the middle of a megacity called New Mombasa, located near Mombasa, Africa. He warps to installation 05. Master Chief follows the Prophet of Regret to the next Halo. The Prophets forces try to activate the ring, but Master Chief is barely able to stop it, but putting all the rest of the installations on standby, ready to fire from a location called The Ark.

Throughout the Covenant alliance, word spreads about the truth of the effects of the Halo array. The Prophet of Truth uses Regrets death to reorder Covenant society, forcing out the Elites, and bringing in the more loyal and controllable brutes. They launch a genocidal campaign against the Elites, sparking a civil war. The Elites along with the Arbiter, ally with the humans. Even the Grave mind, the overall leader and over mind of the Flood teams up with the Arbiter and Chief to help prevent the firing of the Halo array. These dispirit species join together to thwart a common enemy before dealing with each other.

The Covenant lead by the Prophet of Truth reveals his plan to unearth the megacity of New Mombasa to reveal a Forerunner mega structure. Earths forces are decimated, and the population reduced to a near 2,000,000 people. With the return of Master Chief, the UNSC stages a last assault on the heart of the excavated Forerunner relic which is soon revealed to be an ancient space portal. This gate way leads to the Ark, the fail-safe installation hidden outside the Milky Way galaxy. The Prophet of Truth manages to escape using the portal with the remaining Covenant fleet.
Amid the chaos, a flood infected ship crash lands on earth, but with help from Elite separatists, the parasite menace is contained. Cortana, who’s been captured by the Floods Grave mind, leaves a plan to stop the Grave mind and Truth, is on the other side of the portal. UNSC sends a small fleet and Covenant rebel forces through the portal. They find out that the Ark also carries a data base of what the Forerunners did prior to the launch of the Halo’s. The Ark also has the ability to build brand new Halo installations and has nearly completed the replacement of installation 04, the one John destroyed several months earlier.

Against all odds, mankind prevails, defeating the Covenant, killing the Prophet of Truth, and ultimately, destroying the Flood. A formal peace treaty is formed between the humans and Elites. Whatever remains of the Covenant seemingly disbanded. Months later, in 2553 a monument is erected on a hillside near the Ark portal. It commemorates the billions of men and women killed in the war, and among them, Master Chief, John. The Arbiter attends the ceremony in honor of his fallen comrade.