The Biko Incident

Community Halo Universe
1

So, I’m confused regarding the Biko Incident, the smear campaign against John 117 executed by the UEG, where it fits into Halo’s story and why.

Now, I know it has something to do with ONI/UEG trying to cover up their involvement in something, but this is never really expounded on in Hunt the Truth, not in a coherent way at least. But it’s pretty clear Chief is operating under mission directives from ONI at the time of Biko, continuing to carry out classified missions after that before running off to save his ghost girlfriend.

If the attack on Biko was executed by terrorists, why cover it up and WHY turn the UNSC’s poster boy into a villain just to flip the verdict later? What am I missing?

2

Probably to smear Andrew Del Rio’s political campaign. After the Biko incident he publicly slammed the Spartan-IIs and called for their decommissioning. After the evidence was later released showing the Chief to be the hero, he quietly retracted his statement and disappeared from the spotlight for “unrelated family matters”. I’m sure it had more to do with the fact he embarrassed himself by attacking humanity’s hero.

3

There was no smear campaign against the Master Chief. When footage from what happened on Biko leaked to the public, ONI decided to hold back on making any public statements that would clear him and clear up what actually happened. John had already recently displayed insubordination on Requiem, so ONI took this opportunity to see how the public would react to the Master Chief gone rogue. The result was not good. The civil unrest generated in the wake of the leaked footage is what later led ONI to declare John KIA on Meridian rather than have known that he actually had gone rogue.

4

It is indeed hard to tell

  • ONI sympathisers will look at Biko as a Black Book operation… which doubled as a means to misdirect the truth of John’s origin. Fabricate john is a traitor and have someone bring to light he’s a dirty government science experiment. Later on reveal he’s not a traitor and its was all a fabrication to smear john, ultimately hiding the UNSC’s dirty secret. - It could be exactly how Mshak stats it is in HTT:safe house. Biko was a dry run, because john was becoming more trouble then he was worth. Fero adding if ONI saw his dearth as more valuable then his life, they wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. Its still very much ambiguous how HTT season one and two truly tie in to halo guardians and beyond. End of the day ONI could retract his death and state it was mission specific. As for the nature of Biko… Real world and in-universe… It all seemed like propaganda to feed the Hype.
5

> 2535408102032171;3:
> There was no smear campaign against the Master Chief. When footage from what happened on Biko leaked to the public, ONI decided to hold back on making any public statements that would clear him and clear up what actually happened. John had already recently displayed insubordination on Requiem, so ONI took this opportunity to see how the public would react to the Master Chief gone rogue. The result was not good. The civil unrest generated in the wake of the leaked footage is what later led ONI to declare John KIA on Meridian rather than have known that he actually had gone rogue.

Basically this. And this is how it fits with the halo 5 narrative

6

> 2535408102032171;3:
> There was no smear campaign against the Master Chief. When footage from what happened on Biko leaked to the public, ONI decided to hold back on making any public statements that would clear him and clear up what actually happened. John had already recently displayed insubordination on Requiem, so ONI took this opportunity to see how the public would react to the Master Chief gone rogue. The result was not good. The civil unrest generated in the wake of the leaked footage is what later led ONI to declare John KIA on Meridian rather than have known that he actually had gone rogue.

Wasn’t this explained within Hunt the Truth itself.

7

I thought so, although I do agree that the backstory surrounding H5 is a little convoluted.

8

Ugh, this thread is confusing me now. So is John officially listed as KIA or not?

9

> 2533274904245048;6:
> > 2535408102032171;3:
> > There was no smear campaign against the Master Chief. When footage from what happened on Biko leaked to the public, ONI decided to hold back on making any public statements that would clear him and clear up what actually happened. John had already recently displayed insubordination on Requiem, so ONI took this opportunity to see how the public would react to the Master Chief gone rogue. The result was not good. The civil unrest generated in the wake of the leaked footage is what later led ONI to declare John KIA on Meridian rather than have known that he actually had gone rogue.
>
>
> Wasn’t this explained within Hunt the Truth itself.

Like I said, it probably was, but not in a coherent way and it isn’t touched on at all in Halo 5 Guardians with the exception of John being listed KIA after Meridian. That’s about all we get for a tie-in, which drove me here to the forum to try and get things laid out a little clearer.

From what I can tell, Hunt the Truth has no real relation to what happens in Halo 5 Guardians. Obviously, there’s the wierd stuff happening with colonies going dark and whatnot, but as far as Chief goes, it’s completely unrelated. Since the Biko Incident isn’t in any way tied to John going AWOL, and was apparently just an exercise to guage public reaction, nothing that happened in HTT really mattered. It was a bait and switch to make us, the fanbase, speculate before the game said, “jk, he actually goes AWOL later.”

Not trying to bash HTT or Halo 5, I just thought the whole point of HTT was to have itself interwoven with H5.

10

> 2533274827982125;8:
> Ugh, this thread is confusing me now. So is John officially listed as KIA or not?

Yes, he is.

11

The whole misdirection thing leaves such a bad taste for me that I practically consider it non-canon.

If John is now considered dead for various things that we were told happened and yet didn’t happen in game, where does that leave the main hero of the franchise now? What also confuses me is the complete lack of mention of all this in game. Even a cutscene where Lasky and Locke discuss the Biko incident, some vague details and some questioning over whether or not Chief is really rogue, this would have helped a lot.

12

> 2533274884387290;11:
> The whole misdirection thing leaves such a bad taste for me that I practically consider it non-canon.
>
> If John is now considered dead for various things that we were told happened and yet didn’t happen in game, where does that leave the main hero of the franchise now? What also confuses me is the complete lack of mention of all this in game. Even a cutscene where Lasky and Locke discuss the Biko incident, some vague details and some questioning over whether or not Chief is really rogue, this would have helped a lot.

John was declared KIA on Meridian so his status as a hero and poster boy for the UNSC could be maintained. ONI didn’t want it getting out that he had gone AWOL. Why would anyone in Halo 5 talk about Biko, though? What happened there took place around seven months prior to the start of the game.

13

> 2535408102032171;12:
> > 2533274884387290;11:
> > The whole misdirection thing leaves such a bad taste for me that I practically consider it non-canon.
> >
> > If John is now considered dead for various things that we were told happened and yet didn’t happen in game, where does that leave the main hero of the franchise now? What also confuses me is the complete lack of mention of all this in game. Even a cutscene where Lasky and Locke discuss the Biko incident, some vague details and some questioning over whether or not Chief is really rogue, this would have helped a lot.
>
>
> John was declared KIA on Meridian so his status as a hero and poster boy for the UNSC could be maintained. ONI didn’t want it getting out that he had gone AWOL. Why would anyone in Halo 5 talk about Biko, though? What happened there took place around seven months prior to the start of the game.

If what you say is true this shows exactly how little I followed Hunt the Truth. As far as I can tell it really had no relationship to the game whatsoever. I found the podcast format confusing and the characters to be hard to follow. I also thought the dates were pretty much simultaneous.

14

> 2533274807472927;1:
> So, I’m confused regarding the Biko Incident, the smear campaign against John 117 executed by the UEG, where it fits into Halo’s story and why.
>
> Now, I know it has something to do with ONI/UEG trying to cover up their involvement in something, but this is never really expounded on in Hunt the Truth, not in a coherent way at least. But it’s pretty clear Chief is operating under mission directives from ONI at the time of Biko, continuing to carry out classified missions after that before running off to save his ghost girlfriend.
>
> If the attack on Biko was executed by terrorists, why cover it up and WHY turn the UNSC’s poster boy into a villain just to flip the verdict later? What am I missing?

It is canon, but it was mainly made to market the mystery of Chief’s ‘betrayal’ and whatnot. In reality the game was far removed from this plotline and the Biko thing rendered irrelevant.

15

Do we have a solid time line of the events in question in relation to H5:G?

16

> 2535415012496023;15:
> Do we have a solid time line of the events in question in relation to H5:G?

Yes.

October 23rd

  • Blue Team is deployed on a mission to recover the ONI research vessel UNSC Argent Moon. After being contacted by Cortana, John-117 decides to go to Meridian in search of her, using the ONI prowler, Acrisius, disobeying orders to return to Infinity. The other members of Blue Team follow him. Blue Team is subsequently declared AWOL.
    October 24th

  • Fireteam Osiris is given operation orders to apprehend Blue Team and the prowler they took, though capturing John-117 is priority.
    October 25

  • Fireteam Osiris is deployed to Meridian to apprehend the AWOL Blue Team. They arrive to find the planet under attack by Forerunner constructs. Osiris helps defend the colony and gains the favor of Governor Sloan, who points them in Blue Team’s direction. Osiris confronts Blue Team outside a buried Forerunner Guardian, but John-117 subdues Spartan Locke and Blue Team boards the construct. As the Guardian emerges, causing untold damage to the colony, Osiris backtracks to the colony’s space elevator and manages to escape the catastrophe. Meanwhile, the Guardian departs via slipspace to the Forerunner world ofGenesis.
    October 26

  • In the aftermath of the Meridian Guardian, five more human colony worlds experience a Guardian emergence, bringing the total to eleven.

  • Aboard the UNSC Infinity, the AI Roland deciphers the destination coordinates of the Meridian Guardian. Dr. Halsey deduces that Osiris can follow Blue Team by inputting those coordinates in a dormant Guardian, one of which can be found on Sanghelios.

  • The Meridian Guardian arrives on Genesis. As more Guardians arrive, some inadvertently bringing along Covenant vessels in their wake, Blue Team is attacked by the Forerunner entity Warden Eternal, who decides Blue Team is a threat to Cortana. Blue Team defeats the Warden and makes contact with Cortana. She explains how she survived the New Phoenix Incident and has been convinced by the Warden that she is the Reclaimer, and that it is the Created, not humanity, who are the true inheritors of the Forerunners’ Mantle of Responsibility.
    October 27

  • John-117 is declared KIA by the Office of Naval Intelligence. ONI Section II Press Secretary, Lieutenant Penelope Boren, delivers the news of his supposed death to the public; in the announcement, she notably misspeaks the Master Chief’s date of death as being October 27, 2560 instead of 2558. Commander Michael Sullivan later sends a message to Admiral Serin Osman apologizing for the mistake.

  • The Triad posts a series of brief videos taken from the helmet recorders of soldiers who were on Meridian at the time of the Guardian’s emergence.

  • The UNSC Infinity arrives at Sanghelios, which is besieged by the remaining members of Jul 'Mdama’s Covenant faction. Fireteam Osiris lands on the planet to make contact with Arbiter Thel ‘Vadam, and rescues him from a Covenant assassination attempt. Coordinating with the Swords of Sanghelios, Osiris locates a Forerunner Constructor, then -Yoink!- in the Swords’ assault on the Sunaion, the Covenant’s final stronghold on Sanghelios while the Constructor reactivates the Sanghelios Guardian. Despite heavy resistance from Promethean forces and the Warden Eternal, Osiris boards the Guardian just before it enters slipspace. Meanwhile, the Arbiter’s forces eradicate the remaining Covenant.
    October 28

  • The colony of Laika III becomes yet another casualty of an emerging Forerunner Guardian. Rogue ONI agent Maya Sankar broadcasts a warning about these events to the other colonies. Realizing that ONI will try to suppress the broadcast, however, Maya allows the Insurrectionist Bostwick to kill her in order to make “FERO” a martyr and draw more attention to the warning. The plan succeeds, and ONI is unable to contain the news of the colonies’ destruction. Maya’s body is recovered soon after her death and used by ONI to create an AI to allow for further analysis of her experiences.

  • Fireteam Osiris arrives at Genesis aboard the Sanghelios Guardian, fighting through confused Covenant troops and aggressive Promtheans alike to reach Blue Team with the help of Genesis’ monitor 031 Exuberant Witness, who opposes the Warden Eternal and Cortana’s plans to subjugate the galaxy under the Mantle. Before Osiris and Blue Team can coordinate a plan, Cortana teleports Blue Team to her inner sanctum.

  • John-117 and Blue Team fend off a series of attacks from the Warden Eternal and confront Cortana. She reveals her intention to use the Guardians to enforce the Mantle and asks John to join her. He refuses, and she imprisons Blue Team within a Cryptum while she begins her campaign to establish the Created’s control of the galaxy.

  • As the Guardians depart Genesis, Fireteam Osiris attempt to free Blue Team. Although Cortana still controls Genesis, her imminent departure causes her to disconnect from the installation, giving 031 Exuberant Witness a window to retake it. Osiris helps the monitor regain Genesis and prevent Cortana from leaving with the Cryptum. Blue Team is liberated and returns with Osiris to Sanghelios, where they and the Arbiter,Dr. Catherine Halsey, and Spartan Palmer plan how to stop Cortana and the Guardians.

  • Cortana arrives in Earth orbit aboard a Guardian, while the other Guardians and Created begin shutting down communications and electronic infrastructure on all human colonies. As Cortana’s Guardian uses an EMP weapon to disable all of Earth’s infrastructure and defenses, the UNSC Infinity makes an emergency slipspace jump and goes on the run.

17

> 2535408102032171;16:
> > 2535415012496023;15:
> > Do we have a solid time line of the events in question in relation to H5:G?
>
>
> Yes.
>
> October 23rd
>
> - Blue Team is deployed on a mission to recover the ONI research vessel UNSC Argent Moon. After being contacted by Cortana, John-117 decides to go to Meridian in search of her, using the ONI prowler, Acrisius, disobeying orders to return to Infinity. The other members of Blue Team follow him. Blue Team is subsequently declared AWOL.
> October 24th
>
> - Fireteam Osiris is given operation orders to apprehend Blue Team and the prowler they took, though capturing John-117 is priority.
> October 25
>
> - Fireteam Osiris is deployed to Meridian to apprehend the AWOL Blue Team. They arrive to find the planet under attack by Forerunner constructs. Osiris helps defend the colony and gains the favor of Governor Sloan, who points them in Blue Team’s direction. Osiris confronts Blue Team outside a buried Forerunner Guardian, but John-117 subdues Spartan Locke and Blue Team boards the construct. As the Guardian emerges, causing untold damage to the colony, Osiris backtracks to the colony’s space elevator and manages to escape the catastrophe. Meanwhile, the Guardian departs via slipspace to the Forerunner world ofGenesis.
> October 26
>
> - In the aftermath of the Meridian Guardian, five more human colony worlds experience a Guardian emergence, bringing the total to eleven.
> - Aboard the UNSC Infinity, the AI Roland deciphers the destination coordinates of the Meridian Guardian. Dr. Halsey deduces that Osiris can follow Blue Team by inputting those coordinates in a dormant Guardian, one of which can be found on Sanghelios.
> - The Meridian Guardian arrives on Genesis. As more Guardians arrive, some inadvertently bringing along Covenant vessels in their wake, Blue Team is attacked by the Forerunner entity Warden Eternal, who decides Blue Team is a threat to Cortana. Blue Team defeats the Warden and makes contact with Cortana. She explains how she survived the New Phoenix Incident and has been convinced by the Warden that she is the Reclaimer, and that it is the Created, not humanity, who are the true inheritors of the Forerunners’ Mantle of Responsibility.
> October 27
>
> - John-117 is declared KIA by the Office of Naval Intelligence. ONI Section II Press Secretary, Lieutenant Penelope Boren, delivers the news of his supposed death to the public; in the announcement, she notably misspeaks the Master Chief’s date of death as being October 27, 2560 instead of 2558. Commander Michael Sullivan later sends a message to Admiral Serin Osman apologizing for the mistake.
> - The Triad posts a series of brief videos taken from the helmet recorders of soldiers who were on Meridian at the time of the Guardian’s emergence.
> - The UNSC Infinity arrives at Sanghelios, which is besieged by the remaining members of Jul ‘Mdama’s Covenant faction. Fireteam Osiris lands on the planet to make contact with Arbiter Thel ‘Vadam, and rescues him from a Covenant assassination attempt. Coordinating with the Swords of Sanghelios, Osiris locates a Forerunner Constructor, then -Yoink!- in the Swords’ assault on the Sunaion, the Covenant’s final stronghold on Sanghelios while the Constructor reactivates the Sanghelios Guardian. Despite heavy resistance from Promethean forces and the Warden Eternal, Osiris boards the Guardian just before it enters slipspace. Meanwhile, the Arbiter’s forces eradicate the remaining Covenant.
> October 28
>
> - The colony of Laika III becomes yet another casualty of an emerging Forerunner Guardian. Rogue ONI agent Maya Sankar broadcasts a warning about these events to the other colonies. Realizing that ONI will try to suppress the broadcast, however, Maya allows the Insurrectionist Bostwick to kill her in order to make “FERO” a martyr and draw more attention to the warning. The plan succeeds, and ONI is unable to contain the news of the colonies’ destruction. Maya’s body is recovered soon after her death and used by ONI to create an AI to allow for further analysis of her experiences.
> - Fireteam Osiris arrives at Genesis aboard the Sanghelios Guardian, fighting through confused Covenant troops and aggressive Promtheans alike to reach Blue Team with the help of Genesis’ monitor 031 Exuberant Witness, who opposes the Warden Eternal and Cortana’s plans to subjugate the galaxy under the Mantle. Before Osiris and Blue Team can coordinate a plan, Cortana teleports Blue Team to her inner sanctum.
> - John-117 and Blue Team fend off a series of attacks from the Warden Eternal and confront Cortana. She reveals her intention to use the Guardians to enforce the Mantle and asks John to join her. He refuses, and she imprisons Blue Team within a Cryptum while she begins her campaign to establish the Created’s control of the galaxy.
> - As the Guardians depart Genesis, Fireteam Osiris attempt to free Blue Team. Although Cortana still controls Genesis, her imminent departure causes her to disconnect from the installation, giving 031 Exuberant Witness a window to retake it. Osiris helps the monitor regain Genesis and prevent Cortana from leaving with the Cryptum. Blue Team is liberated and returns with Osiris to Sanghelios, where they and the Arbiter,Dr. Catherine Halsey, and Spartan Palmer plan how to stop Cortana and the Guardians.
> - Cortana arrives in Earth orbit aboard a Guardian, while the other Guardians and Created begin shutting down communications and electronic infrastructure on all human colonies. As Cortana’s Guardian uses an EMP weapon to disable all of Earth’s infrastructure and defenses, the UNSC Infinity makes an emergency slipspace jump and goes on the run.

He meant Hunt the Truth I believe.

18

That I did!

19

> 2535415012496023;18:
> That I did!

All of the events of Season 1 of Hunt the Truth take place in March and April of 2558. The events of Season 2 then pick up right before and concurrent with Halo 5: Guardians in October of that year (You’ll notice plenty of Season 2 events listed under the dates I posted).