So after playing through Halo:Anniversary again, I had a thought.
Everyone knows that a mysterious species crashed on Halo long before Chief ventured there, right? What if, when the ring was destroyed, some of the flood spores made it inside that mysterious ship that Guilty Spark burried? What if ONI sends Locke and ONI recon to Installation 04 on a mission and they come across an unidentified species now overtaken by the flood?
Imagine that in live action!
Live action Flood sounds insanely cool.
I just peed a little at the thought of live action flood. Hopefully, it’s some dude in an awkward suit, not CG. I’m kidding of course.
With the popularity of Zombies, I think they should absolutely have the flood in the show.
How exactly would you retcon that?
You’re proposing that we want to mix up the story and imply that ONI knew about The Flood and Halo rings before the Pillar of Autumn’s first contact in 2552?
Correct me if I’m wrong also, but Agent Locke is a Spartan IV. The Spartan IV program didn’t even exist back then.
Installation 4 has been destroyed. Twice.
> You’re proposing that we want to mix up the story and imply that ONI knew about The Flood and Halo rings before the Pillar of Autumn’s first contact in 2552?
>
> Correct me if I’m wrong also, but Agent Locke is a Spartan IV. The Spartan IV program didn’t even exist back then.
I’m guessing he means the events of Nightfall take place after the events of CE, not before them.
Even so, why send someone out in 2558, 5 years after the events of CE?
> Installation 4 has been destroyed. Twice.
Good shout!
The damaged Halo from Nightfall could be I04B near the Ark.
That means that the story could be about recovering 343 Guilty Spark, or dare I say…bringing Johnson back from the dead? lol 
I did indeed mean that nightfall would take place after Halo Combat Evolved. Perhaps ONI had sent out a science team previously to observe if any system were still active. When the team goes missing, they send in Locke to investigate?
> You’re proposing that we want to mix up the story and imply that ONI knew about The Flood and Halo rings before the Pillar of Autumn’s first contact in 2552?
>
> Correct me if I’m wrong also, but Agent Locke is a Spartan IV. The Spartan IV program didn’t even exist back then.
Has it been confirmed that Locke is a Spartan IV…?
> > You’re proposing that we want to mix up the story and imply that ONI knew about The Flood and Halo rings before the Pillar of Autumn’s first contact in 2552?
> >
> > Correct me if I’m wrong also, but Agent Locke is a Spartan IV. The Spartan IV program didn’t even exist back then.
>
> Has it been confirmed that Locke is a Spartan IV…?
I’m assuming, but he’s rocking similar armour to a Spartan IV - specifically a modified variant of the Solider armour from Halo 4.
Locke may have been a marine at Alpha Base during the events of CE … but how would be have gotten off the ring?
Maybe the ring in the Nightfall poster is just to signify HALO (plus it saying “Halo” right on there). What I mean is, it looks cool.
> > > You’re proposing that we want to mix up the story and imply that ONI knew about The Flood and Halo rings before the Pillar of Autumn’s first contact in 2552?
> > >
> > > Correct me if I’m wrong also, but Agent Locke is a Spartan IV. The Spartan IV program didn’t even exist back then.
> >
> > Has it been confirmed that Locke is a Spartan IV…?
>
> I’m assuming, but he’s rocking similar armour to a Spartan IV - specifically a modified variant of the Solider armour from Halo 4.
>
> Soldier Armour
I mean it looks similar to the armor, but it still seems slightly unique to me. Could be a previous spartan generation as they were all invited into the program… too soon to know yet.
> > > > You’re proposing that we want to mix up the story and imply that ONI knew about The Flood and Halo rings before the Pillar of Autumn’s first contact in 2552?
> > > >
> > > > Correct me if I’m wrong also, but Agent Locke is a Spartan IV. The Spartan IV program didn’t even exist back then.
> > >
> > > Has it been confirmed that Locke is a Spartan IV…?
> >
> > I’m assuming, but he’s rocking similar armour to a Spartan IV - specifically a modified variant of the Solider armour from Halo 4.
> >
> > Soldier Armour
>
> I mean it looks similar to the armor, but it still seems <mark>slightly unique to me</mark>. Could be a previous spartan generation as they were all invited into the program… too soon to know yet.
Only the best for ONI operatives 
> > Installation 4 has been destroyed. Twice.
>
> Good shout!
>
> The damaged Halo from Nightfall could be I04B near the Ark.
> That means that the story could be about recovering 343 Guilty Spark, or dare I say…bringing Johnson back from the dead? lol
Doesn’t make sense with the OP’s theory. The crashed vessel seen in the HALO CE terminal was located on the original Installation 04, not the new one constructed by the Ark and destroyed in Halo 3. I believe the events of Halo: Nightfall will have taken place between Halo 3 and Halo 4. Agent Locke’s armor seems too advanced to have happened anytime before the initiation of the Spartan IV program. Agent Locke is IMO either a Spartan IV who after demonstrating great potential was hand-picked by ONI to do secret missions OR a whole new Spartan program member created in secret by ONI that we still know nothing about.
> > You’re proposing that we want to mix up the story and imply that ONI knew about The Flood and Halo rings before the Pillar of Autumn’s first contact in 2552?
> >
> > Correct me if I’m wrong also, but Agent Locke is a Spartan IV. The Spartan IV program didn’t even exist back then.
>
> I’m guessing he means the events of Nightfall take place after the events of CE, not before them.
>
> Even so, why send someone out in 2558, 5 years after the events of CE?
ONI does seem intent on learning everything they can about the installations. They could easily have wanted to study an inert station to see if any of its systems are still opperational. Science team goes missing, ONI wants to keep it quiet so they send their best (Agent Locke) with a team to go investigate.
With it being nearly six years since the ring was destroyed, a gravemind may even be in early formation depending on how much biomass survived the rings destruction.
> > > > You’re proposing that we want to mix up the story and imply that ONI knew about The Flood and Halo rings before the Pillar of Autumn’s first contact in 2552?
> > > >
> > > > Correct me if I’m wrong also, but Agent Locke is a Spartan IV. The Spartan IV program didn’t even exist back then.
> > >
> > > Has it been confirmed that Locke is a Spartan IV…?
> >
> > I’m assuming, but he’s rocking similar armour to a Spartan IV - specifically a modified variant of the Solider armour from Halo 4.
> >
> > Soldier Armour
>
> I mean it looks similar to the armor, but it still seems slightly unique to me. Could be a previous spartan generation as they were all invited into the program… too soon to know yet.
With how recent the Spartan IV program was, I doubt ONI would invest in an entirely new program already.
It is possible that he is a more specialized group of IVs.
ONI has plenty of internal and secret divisions it could hide some Spartans in.
It could be possible that locke is a spartan 2…he could have chose to upgrade his armor. Jorge from reach was a spartan 2 with spartan 3 armor.
> It could be possible that locke is a spartan 2…he could have chose to upgrade his armor. Jorge from reach was a spartan 2 with spartan 3 armor.
No, Noble Team were (besides Jorge) Spartan IIIs in Mjolnir, which was technically Spartan II armor at the time. IIIs used SPI.
And there really aren’t enough IIs left to pull out yet another one. It was established that all the IIs were brought back to Reach for RED FLAG, and only a few of them survived. Most of the stragglers were rescued when John came back.
I don’t remember how Naomi survived, if she was given an explanation.
It makes the most sense for Locke to be a specialized IV.
Remember, Nightfall is going to be Locke’s back story. Like FuD was Lasky’s. So it could plausibly take place before Halo 4 or even before Locke becomes a Spartan IV. Also, this is not the first time we would return to Installation 04 post CE. Mona Lisa anyone? My guess is that this might be the equivalent of a “CIAesc” clean up crew for the Mona Lisa incident. Just a thought. Either way, I agree Flood in Live Action… EPIC!