Ten years ago we started this saga as Master Chief, one of the last of the Spartan-II’s. We woke up, as the hero, being flung into chaos we didn’t quite understand. Who are these aliens? What do they want? You run through your ship, your home. Pillar of Autumn. Things exploding, marines combating, people dying. What is going on? You have strict orders to get to the bridge and meet Captain Keyes. You do, retrieve Cortana, and jump ship. That’s where you land on Halo, and the turning point of the War comes. You destroy Halo, and get lost in space on a single fighter. Foreboding music plays as the game roles to credits.
Ten years ago the story was simple. Only Halo: CE and The Fall of Reach. It gave you insight on your character, John-117, known as the Master Chief, and his pivotal role in the Human-Covenant War. It shows the moral strands a Government is willing to take to protect it’s people from the biggest evil they know, until the Covenant arrive.
Chief then takes the fight to the Covenant, delivering a punch to their reinforcements sent to destroy Earth by destroying the space station, Unyeilding Heirophant. A major win for Chief and the fellow Spartans. They return to Earth, Chief getting MJOLNIR Mark-VI armor. A Covenant fleet appears led by the Prophet of Truth. While Chief gets congradulated with his friend Sergeant Johnson for destroying Halo and thwarting a major Covenant fleet, we swoop to a complete opposite. On High Charity, the Covenant Holy City, we meet a battle-hardened Sangheili Fleet Master. He is brutally punished, yet spared to become the Arbiter. A rank once held in high regard, now a sign of shame. He is sent on a suicide mission to destroy a battalion of Heritics who preach the Prophets as liars, and tell the truth about Halo. A weapon designed to starve the Flood by killing all sentient species in the Galaxy. We follow both Chief and Thel’ Vadamee as they travel throughout the Galaxy. The Arbiter finally realizes the true purpose of Halo as the Brutes murder all Sangheili. The Covenant splits, with many Sangheili allying with the UNSC, and Master Chief boarding the Forerunner Dreadnought, now heading to Earth to find the Ark and destroy humanity with a massive fleet of Covenant. The Arbiter stops Tartarus from activating the Halo ring, and leads his Sangheili to Earth alongside Commander Miranda Keyes and Sergeant Major Avery Johnson Jr.
The story now expanded into a larger universe, with the release of Ghosts of Onyx and Contact Harvest. Contact Harvest follows the past of Avery Johnson, troubled from his failure on Operation: Trebuchet. He trains a Colonial Militia on Harvest, a colony devoted to supply the UEG with food. Then the first contact happens, and Johnson, his fellow Marine Byrd, and their Colonial Marines fight off the Covenant and help evacuate the doomed planet. We also find out the true corruption of the Prophets and why they hate humanity. Humanity is a Reclaimer race, they were supposed to inherit all Forerunner technology, even being described as ancestors to the Forerunners, making the Covenants religion a false truth. Ghosts of Onyx deals with the training of Spartan-III’s and the Battle of Onyx. Here our characters from Blue Team, as well as multiple Spartan-III’s face a massive Forerunner threat, and end up getting trapped in a Micro Dyson Sphere.
Chief, separated from Cortana, jumps from the Forerunner Dreadnaught on it’s entry into Earth. He crashes into the jungles of Africa, where Johnson and his Marines rescue him. Here Chief finds out about the Sangheili-Human alliance. They fight through the Jungle, Chief and Arbiter at each others side. A grim relationship. They make their way to Crows Nest, where the Covenant soon arrive. After this battle, Chief and the Arbiter make their way to destroy an AA gun preventing Lord Hood’s small fleet from arriving and attempting to destroy the Dreadnought before it makes it’s way to activating the Portal to the Ark. This attack fails, and the Covenant fleet arrives at the Ark. Before the UNSC can follow, a new threat appears. It’s a Flood Ship. The infection quickly spreads as Chief arrives inside the ship to look for Cortana. He retrieves a message from her as he meets 343 Guilty Spark once again. Chief, Miranda, Hood, and the Arbiter arrive on the Sangheili ship Shadow of Intent as the Rebellious fleet glasses the infected surface. Cortana warns of the newly infected High Charity on it’s way to Earth with an Army of Flood, saying there’s a solution on the other side of the Portal. They make the decision to travel through the Portal, fighting many skirmishes on the Arks surface. It was a major tactical defeat for the Loyalist Forces above the Ark as the Separatists quickly destroyed them all. High Charity then arrives with a massive Flood populous, and Crash lands on the Arks surface. Chief and the Arbiter, now mutual allies, fight their way to the final Prophet, Truth. After killing Truth, they learn of a new Halo Ring, a replacement for I-04 destroyed during the events of Halo CE. Chief knows what he has to do, light the ring and cleanse the flood on the Ark. For this, he must retrieve Cortana on the Flood city High Charity. He fights through, retrieving her, and gets saved by the Arbiter. Like long-time friends, Chief, Cortana, Thel’ Vadam, and Johnson fight to the Control Room of I-04**. 343 Guilty Spark kills Johnson however. Chief lights the ring, sending it into self destruction. The Arbiter and Chief make their way to Forward Unto Dawn, escaping just intime. However, Chief and Cortana are separated from the Arbiter. The Arbiter makes his way to Earth from the Portal, half the ship gone. He is at the memorial with other UNSC members. John’s service tag is carved into the memorial, everyone thinking he is dead. However, John is floating in Space near an unknown planet with Cortana, going into Cryosleep just as he did at the beginning of the story.**
The story continues with the Forerunner Saga, detailing the story of the Forerunners before they activated the Halo Array and disappeared. Then with the Kilo-Five Trilogy, detailing the events of the ONI team Kilo-Five on a mission to spark a civil war between Sangheili.
Our hero, John-117 floats through space, in Cryosleep. John and Cortana are about the face a threat greater than even the Flood. Will they be able to do it?
Two days. Ten years. Ten years ago all we knew was the Master Chief. Now, we know an entire universe almost as large as our own. In Halo: CE we discovered Halo, the Flood, the horrors of the universe. In Halo 2 we brought the fight to the Covenant. In Halo 3 we Finished the Fight. Now, in two days it will be time to Wake Up. An Ancient Evil Awakens.
