Linked to another thread I made recently on Halo naming convention and possible pattern therein based on galactic locations using information from Warfleet: https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/forums/db05ce78845f4120b062c50816008e5d/topics/halo-array-naming-convention-and-locations-related/69807e5e-2313-46fb-b5b3-b4014987f3d7/posts
It strikes me how important the H2A terminal Beholden (number 14 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nARlM4gKSoU) could be.
In the terminal we see Regret discovering the location of The Ark and its portal on Earth from the Meridian luminary - explaining his arrival at the start of Halo 2. We also see that the luminary appears to have locations for the 7 installations too.We can surmise that Regret has at least discovered the location of Installation 05 from the luminary as it is to there that he flees from Earth. Has he discovered the locations of the others too?
Truth and Regret clearly weren’t communicating with each other. Truth knew the location of Earth before Regret arrived (source: Firth Strike) and, we can presume, knew the importance of the Keyship once he got there (unlike Regret), but Truth evidently didn’t know the location of Installation 05 until Regret informed him.
But what about the other locations? Did they go to the grave(mind) with Regret? Did his stewards survive with the knowledge or were they all killed too? Did any of the crew on Solemn Penance know them? Was the luminary still secure on Solemn Penance?
The fate of Solemn Penance is entirely unclear. Was it overtaken by the Flood like In Amber Clad? Did it join the High Charity Defence Fleet? We know it was at least-part Sangheili-crewed (Source: Essential Visual Guide) but it’s definitely not part of the battle around High Charity on the Sangheili side (source Shadow of intent) and it would have been a significant participant in the battle on the Brute/Prelate side so I’m surprised it wasn’t referenced in Shadow of Intent had it participated. Given the small number of CAS post-War I have to assume it’s destroyed. If it did join the Brute/Prelate side it could even be flagship of the San’Shyuum Flotilla - in which case do the San’Shyuum know the locations of the unlocated Halos (Beta, Epsilon, Kappa)? If it had already departed Delta Halo before the battle: who controls the information within? or was the information lost?
This would be a great short story, I think.
Perhaps everyone would have been killed by Elites during the Great Schism. If not, Truth may have made sure Regret’s “squad” would be completely eliminated by his allies, either out of spite or to ensure no one tried to seek revenge on him. “… But, frankly, it sounds like we might be doing Truth a favor.” I’m sure they were all aware of the tension between Truth and Regret and were probably not new to politics either. Thus, I believe they would be prime targets for Truth to have eliminated as well.
As for the ship, I don’t have any quick theories. But, perhaps the luminary was with Regret when Chief killed him and was destroyed soon after. Just throwing out some ideas, but I’m not sure how well they fit with the larger story.
Side note, I love the little Easter eggs you left in your post lol!
> 2533274824050480;2:
> This would be a great short story, I think.
>
> Perhaps everyone would have been killed by Elites during the Great Schism. If not, Truth may have made sure Regret’s “squad” would be completely eliminated by his allies, either out of spite or to ensure no one tried to seek revenge on him. “… But, frankly, it sounds like we might be doing Truth a favor.” I’m sure they were all aware of the tension between Truth and Regret and were probably not new to politics either. Thus, I believe they would be prime targets for Truth to have eliminated as well.
>
> As for the ship, I don’t have any quick theories. But, perhaps the luminary was with Regret when Chief killed him and was destroyed soon after. Just throwing out some ideas, but I’m not sure how well they fit with the larger story.
>
> Side note, I love the little Easter eggs you left in your post lol!
Yeah it’s wierd that it just drops out of all mention. Given its location in low orbit over the temple, I wonder if Solemn Penance was the CAS which glassed the temple at the end of Regret - it would certainly have been in the best position to do so.
If so that would at least imply the shipmaster was taking orders from Truth at that point and perhaps rejoined the fleet shortly after. We may even assume he had to be debriefed shortly before the triggering of the Great Schism. If Truth had gained the luminary or the information within, perhaps he took it with him to Anodyne Spirit? If so… could it now be in Atriox’s posession? Could that be how the Banished found Zeta Halo?
I’d previously assumed they’d found the info from raiding UNSC/Swords but it would make sense…