Halo 5 innovations on Single-player mostly (suggestions to achieve a better Halo game experience)

[zeus986]

Howdy community, just joined these forums after seeing some E3 stuff, an image that was potentially leading to halo 5 making an appearence on E3 this month, which led me to google about halo 5 and i came across people making their own suggestions as to what could be done with the series in order to make it "better".

 

I do agree with alot of people, that halo 4 lost quite the charm in terms of single player, it's not what i expected and it was the only title that made me relatively sad as to what it became... no other halo title was in anyway bad, they were all pretty good, just that halo 4 doesn't seem to be on the same league to me.

 

As it has been mentioned quite alot that Halo 5 is most likely the "darkest" release in the series up-to date, i was thinking. As it's going to be a next-gen game release, would be rather awesome to see some improvements in all of the characters in halo. For the sake of the franchise, i want Halo 5 to drop everything that Halo 4 went to become, i want Halo 5 to become something like the old days Halo, where fighting your opponents was actually quite a hard task, and sometimes frightening to the player. Like mixing Halo 2's strategic gameplay (it was the best imo, followed by halo 3) with some of the improvements made onto halo 3 itself. This plus a new graphical engine, i think halo 5 would be ready to kick *ss again like in the old days.

 

 

 

Now, here's some of the suggestions i came up with, their not much, but it's something to consider and think about it, there's no harm in trying:

 

-Improve/Revert enemie combat's layout to a more hostile way, back in halo 2 where everything was killing each other rather than focus on the player, i spend hundreds if not thousands of hours doing deathmatches between groups of aliens in all difficulties and random sets of skulls used for experimentation, it was alot of fun to me back then, reliving moments like this would be nice for us campaign players. Moments like this should be found more often, so the player can actually have fun by grabbing some popcorn and watch two alien groups kill each other in a team deathmatch. Or simply jump in and wipe everything out of the map.

 

-Elites should be living up to their names, not otherwise. These aliens were scary like hell in Halo 2, and starting from Halo 3 onward, they just kept being dragged down and that old feeling isn't the same anymore, even brutes lost the charm quite a bit, but not as much when both are compared. Elites should be insane like in the old days, have them take off their swords and sprint towards players with the 1 hit kill swing they do. Have them roar as in a way "I'M KING OF THE HILL, STAND ASIDE DEMON!". Have them push objects and friendly units aside when sprinting towards the player, anything that stands in their way should be pushable to the side when they go berserk/rage mode. Have them deflect some of the bullets shot at them when they sprint towards the player while carrying the sword, it would make sense to have an "energy" blade that is actually physical to deflect some of the bullets shot at them. Have the elites open their mouth while sprinting towards the player, as in a way if they were screaming (not annoying screams, screams of the kind that shows he is being serious and not playing around anymore), this could reveal a weak spot if the player manages to get rid of the shields on time and aim carefully, hell this could even be an achievement where one stands against the lion, so to say. "HEAR ME RAWR" --- "Shoots bullet to the teeth in order to shut him up".

 

-[iF] brutes make an appearence, have them act similiar to Halo 2, again. The ones that came after Halo 2 were dumb gorillas that were just far too easy to get a hold of. Halo 2's brutes were amazing, the berserk mode they had was quite an achievement in the series, i just loved to see these guys go "Hit like a truck" mode and push everything into a corner and beat them to a pulp, brutes should be like this, not some dumb monkeys who go guns blazing and get killed rather easily without much effort. The only one that actually lives up to the name is the hammer brute, those are sneaky and can pack a punch when necessary. These should also overthrow a player whenever we get too close, most importantly if they go berserk. They should also push everything aside when necessary, if they want to get to the player in close combat, incase they want to get serious. Could also have these guys become slightly more resistant to damage impact made by enemies (unless headshot/critical/explosion)

 

-Hunters, these guys should be able to overthrow players with ease, not by their slow heavy packed hits, but by ultimate destruction that themselves carry in the armor, honestly, these guys carry a ton of armor, each time they swing their protection arm and it lands on the ground, the player should be overthrown with a shockwave or "screen shake effect", the explosions themselves should do something similiar so that players think twice before showing themselves face to face with these guys and think more about keeping their distance.

 

-Masterchief, whenever he lands a long distance drop, he should cripple on the land, in return, the ground impact could devastate nearby weak troops with a stun or something alike. Masterchief is known by many to be a walking tank, plus his armor weights alot right? Let's be honest, wouldn't this be something worth to see?

 

-Promethean knights, i can't say much about these aliens for a fact that i only played halo 4 for campaign and half and got bored (full normal + half legendary, got bored midway), the way they act are nice i got to admit, but would be nice to improve them aswell in order to make them scarier than they are, i admit that the first appearence was actually somehow frightning at first but then it's all basic stuff of shoot and kill, they barely do anything serious to scare a player.

 

-[iF] flood makes an appearence, keep them as they were in halo 3, not really as scary as previous titles, but the way the alien race worked like was brilliant. Consuming everything in it's path and turning them into flood species.

 

-Grunts... what can i say about these littles dudes? I got no clue, perhaps make them have more interaction with the warzone, when being pushed around by bigger allies, they start panicking or saying funny things.

 

-Jackals and similiar subtypes, they seem to be fine to me, other than that they are slow like hell... They should be the scout unit, run fast and do small support in the frontlines, nowadays i barelly see them do anything serious other than the sniper relatives, which can be deadly opponents, as usual.

 

-[iF] sentinels make an appearence, i expect them to be as annoying as ever. Whenever a player shield goes off and u get some cover to regain the shields, these robots take off your cover and stop you from regaining shields, typical thing they used to do in the past, it was annoying at times but provided a challenge to the player, we have to out maneuver these sneaky flying robots and stop their "you can't hide from me" type of approach.

 

-Humans, most of the time i find it silly that most UNSC/marines are so... short in general. I don't know about this, but having random sizes of various units would nice, i'm pretty sure we humans don't have the same body shape, weight and height. So having subclasses within the human military forces would be an improvement, look at the Reach's noble team for example, having a setup of this kind in-game would be an improvement, such as having a close combat specialist who uses shotgun and has high skilled hand to hand combat. Or a demolition unit who's experienced with blowing everything up... or even an engineer that could try and repair vehicles in a bad shape to a point where they could drive us somewhere. Or a medic that takes care of your wounds in battle when necessary.

 

-Spartans, yup. The super soldier, everything humans do, with a -super tag in their abilities, see a marine packing a punch on a non experienced elite infantry with meele combat? Have spartans do the same with higher ranks and vehicles, again they are "walking tanks" right? They should be able to stop lightweight vehicles with a meele strike if timed properly by making it loose control entirelly and it goes off in a random direction (good for laughs, force someone to drive down a cliff/boost against a wall would be fun).

 

-And for last in this list, i suggest making an addiction of a companion AI, in a physical form to halo 5, it doesn't need to be shown early in-game, heck it could even be optional... like accepting the aid of the arbiter in a early stage of the game. Option you take would take no effect in the storyline whatsoever, perhaps new cutscenes but the end results would be equal. 

 

 

Now i know this is all related to the way the combat system works, these are just suggestions i came up with and i would like to see. This is basically picking up old scenarios and improve them to fit the halo universe in a much better way than ever. If things like these were added to the gameworld, the game itself would be off the hook compared to previous titles, i'm sure of that!

 

And i might do a list of vehicles/weapons later, all depends on the sort of feedback i get on this thread. Keep in mind, i joined to "voice my opinion" in what the series should do in order to improve the game in the future, since halo 5 is going to be all about dark moments, i wanted to state suggestions that would improve the ambience. Though not knowing the upcoming lore is hard to describe anything in general in my opinion.

 

So what are your thoughts about this topic? Also feel free to post any things you would like to see improved, i want to hear people's thoughts on how to improve this franchise.

 

Thanks.

[Ryu♥Hayabusa]

We just need smarter AI and more of the emotional moments of few words. The music wasn't quite tuned right to the emotions at times and that killed some emotion throughout the game. We just need those three things. Smart AI, Emotional moments, and proper music to enhance it. The ending was just about the only real emotional moment I had.

[zeus986]

If we go by those terms, what kind of improvement are they going to make on  the new gen console? Just better graphics and keep the same combat system from the last titles? Ok... 

 

Since it's going to be one of the reasons why so many people will buy xbox one, they need to reconsider making the game's mechanics more realistic on the new xbox. And i support the fact that they pick an approach similiar to halo 2's, it's the best in the series in my opinion, and i got plenty of valid reasons to say so.

 

But i do agree on those things in a way, i hardly felt the music throughout the game, i even forgot about that... Emotional moments, i'm not sure if that's the keyword here, i like those moments but i don't think that's what made Halo "attractive" to me in anyway possible. Same goes with smart AI. Though that reminds me of one thing, halo 4's chief spoke very often and in a different manner compared to past titles. I think that's one of the things that probably ruined the atmosphere of the game itself, too much screen time with him speaking about things, should be of less words whenever he speaks.

[Ryu♥Hayabusa]

Well, those are the only things I can think of to make Campaign better without over-saturating it with features classic fans would hate.

[spartan123]

Prologue

The Master Chief is at ONI HQ in Sydney, Australia attending a public inquiry into the New Phoenix Incident. During the conference, he reunites with his comrades Kelly and Fred, who reveal that they have been commissioned to train Spartan IV soldiers aboard the Infinity. The Chief also meets Admiral Lord Hood, who was summoned to testify on behalf of the Home Fleet that was responsible for protecting earth when the Didact destroyed New Phoenix. Although Hood defends himself by claiming that the Didact was too powerful for him to intervene, the panel nonetheless denounces him for incompetence. Later, Hood privately confides to the Chief that Prime Minister Dr. Ruth Charet intends to appoint Vice Admiral Ysionris Jeromi to his position, forcing him to consider resignation. The report following the public inquiry recommends immediate action against the Covenant Remnant and the traitor Dr. Halsey in order to recover the complete Janus Key. The scientist is believed to be hiding on Sanghelios with the Remnant leader, Jul ‘Mdama. Admiral Serin Osman orders the Chief and Blue Team to execute Jul ‘Mdama and Halsey, curious to see if John is still loyal to the scientist.  She then issues her artificial intelligence Black Box to the Chief as a replacement for Cortana, having secretly ordered it act as a homing beacon for local UNSC forces in the event that John defects. Osman also grants the Chief access to classified ONI files detailing the Spartan IV soldiers and their career resumes, knowing that his former childhood companion Parisa is among them. When the Chief asks why she gave him access to encrypted files, Osman replies that it would be appropriate for him to know the men and women he is serving with. However, Osman secretly intends to use Parisa as leverage to compel the Chief to kill Halsey, since failing to do so would result in her division being sent into combat to complete his mission.

The Prisoner – Chief

The Infinity arrives at Sanghelios in the midst of the Sangheili Civil War and helps the fleet under Thel ‘Vadam repel the Covenant Remnant ships. While the majority of the Remnant fleet retreats through slipspace destined for the former human colony world of New Llanelli, they leave a significant ground force on Installation 02, alternatively designated Beta Halo, which is in orbit around Sanghelios. The Sangheili Remnant on Beta Halo converge on the city of Ramos, which was built by the Sangheili when they first set foot on the inactive ring three millennia ago. Meanwhile, the Infinity lands on Sanghelios in the state of Vadam, which has since been ravaged by the Sangheili Civil War. There, the Chief meets Thel ‘Vadam, Kaidon of the state of Vadam and Arbiter of the New Covenant. Thel says that his clan is growing weaker due to the Covenant Remnant gaining support, and asks Captain Lasky to hunt down and execute Avu Med ‘Telcam, leader of the Servants of Abiding Truth. Since the Covenant loyalists do not know where he is currently hiding, Thel leads the Chief to question a Sangheili prisoner in a deep pit. His name is Raas ‘Jaramee, an old accomplice of ‘Telcam who aided in the initial rebellion against Thel. He appears blind and badly burned, which Thel says was his punishment for treason. ‘Jaramee says that ‘Telcam is hiding on New Llanelli, while his associate ‘Mdama is still leading Remnant forces in Ramos.

Beta Halo – Chief

Hours after leaving Vadam, the Chief and Spartan Blue Team ride an Albatross into the atmosphere of Beta Halo, landing in the jungle outside Ramos. After encountering resistance from the Covenant Remnant, the Chief leads Blue Team into battle outside Ramos, executing several Sangheili rebels, including former Shipmaster Buran ‘Yatul, one of ‘Telcam’s close conspirators. After pressing through a series of Forerunner ruins in the jungle, Blue Team encounters ‘Mdama seeking shelter in a Sangheili temple. Despite Thel’s warnings that attacking the sacred ground would cause resentment throughout the Sangheili leadership caste, Osman orders Captain Adam Del Rio to bombard the Temple with the Infinity’s MAC.

 

 

 

Ramos – Chief

‘Mdama is confirmed dead when Blue Team inspects the wreckage of the Temple and finds his body. However, Dr. Halsey is nowhere to be found. Due to the potential political ramifications of allowing humans to desecrate sacred ground, Thel requests that the Infinity leave the system at once, offering to blame the attack on the Jiralhanae cell in Ontom, a neighboring state with no ruling Kaidon. Before the Chief boards the Infinity, he holds a final conference with Thel, informing him that ‘Mdama holds a piece of the Janus Key, which could reveal all hidden Forerunner artifacts in the galaxy. Thel, knowing that ‘Telcam would use the key to usurp him, agrees to travel with the Infinity to New Llanelli to retrieve the other piece of it. He appoints his ally and countryman Rtas ‘Vadum to the temporary position of Kaidon while he takes a small fleet of ships and prepares to leave with the Infinity. However, before they can do so, the Jiralhanae cell in Ontom attacks the state of Vadam, forcing the allied fleet to liberate the city and eliminate the Brute invaders. While confronting a dying Brute Chieftain, the chief learns that his Jiralhanae cell made a deal with an unnamed human faction to invade Vadam in exchange for Forerunner technology. Before the Chief can learn the name of the human faction, the Chieftain dies. With the state of Vadam secure, and the rebellion on Sanghelios eliminated along with the Jiralhanae threat, the allied fleet transitions to slipspace and sets course for New Llanelli.

Repel Borders – Chief

En route to New Llanelli, the allied fleet is attacked by a Promethean vessel that attempts to board the Infinity. The Chief repels the invaders and destroys the vessel by detonating a HAVOC nuclear device inside its core, causing the slipspace channel to fail and stranding the fleet in an unknown star system with seven suns. Entering the atmosphere of an ocean planet rotating around the nearest star, the Infinity comes across a Forerunner structure emanating an aurora-like light. The Chief inspects the small island and the tower itself, encountering several benign Sentinels whilst fighting hostile Promethean Knights, who appear to be guarding a piece of Cortana, the AI having been composed after the destruction of the Didact’s ship. Activating a cartographer, the Chief views a starmap, which shows that the other fragments of Cortana are scattered throughout New Llanelli, the planet having originally been a Forerunner colony world before humans settled it thousands of years later. Because of the damage caused by the rapid slipspace exit, many of the UNSC ships that lacked shielding are repaired in orbit, delaying the mission for two days. After the Chief is extracted back to the Infinity, he uses BB to view the encrypted files given to him by Osman, discovering that Parisa is serving in the battalion of Spartan IV soldiers aboard the Infinity. He remembers meeting her five years ago during the Covenant invasion of New Mombasa, even recalling the time they spent together as children. However, he forces himself to forget her, knowing that Spartan II soldiers are prohibited from revealing their identities to anyone outside ONI Section III.

New Llanelli – Chief

After the repairs are finished, the allied fleet enters slipspace again and arrives in the Brunel System, only to find three abandoned Covenant rebel cruisers orbiting New Llanelli. Landing in the ruined human city of New Wales, the Chief and Blue Team are shocked to discover that most of the Remnant composed themselves, believing the Prometheans to be gods. After entering the ruins of a human skyscraper, the Spartans encounter human members of Kilo Five, a division of ONI. They appear to be hiding from the composed Sangheili whilst secretly supplying living Sangheili with modified weapons for the purpose of supplanting ‘Telcam. The Chief and Blue Team confront the leader of the human personnel, who reveals herself to be Naomi-010, a Spartan II employed under Kilo Five who was tasked by ONI with spying on ‘Telcam and undermining his efforts on New Llanelli. Osman apparently gave her this order after she learned that the Remnant had discovered a composer on the former human colony and were using the device on themselves, thus rendering the pact made on Sanghelios obsolete. Both human groups agree that ‘Telcam must be dealt with, but refrain from discussing the fate of Dr. Halsey, whom unbeknownst to them is being held with freedom of movement aboard ‘Telcam’s flagship, Path of the Righteous. While the crew of the Infinity, including Captain Laksy, argue for an immediate assault against the Remnant to execute ‘Telcam and retrieve the other piece of the Janus Key, Naomio-010 believes this will compromise her group’s covert mission and lose them potential Sangheili allies behaving as moles within the Remnant. However, she eventually complies after she receives an order from Osman telling her to let the assault begin but also to execute Blue Team once they locate the Janus Key, thereby eliminating any evidence of ONI involvement in the supplying of enemy forces. Despite Majestic also being present in New Llanelli to witness ONI supplying enemy troops, Osman decides to spare them, believing that they can be kept quiet about her organization’s activities while also being used to tie loose ends. She tells Commander Palmer to pair Majestic with Blue Team on their mission to infiltrate Path of the Righteous, later ordering DeMarco to execute the Spartan II soldiers if they are seen colluding with Halsey, reasoning to him that years of service have weakened their mental faculties and made them more susceptible to defection.

Janus Key – Chief

The Infinity begins its assault on New Llanelli by commandeering the Remnant cruisers left in orbit and landing them in New Wales. They then broadcast that they are Sangheili reinforcements from the Remnant cell on Hesduros as a distraction, while they deploy UNSC soldiers through the ships’ gravity lifts into the city. Moments before the commencement of the attack, Blue Team and Majestic infiltrate the grounded Path of the Righteous and place improvised explosives throughout vital areas of the ship whilst evading Prometheans and Remnant Sangheili. Just before the team prepares to leave the ship and detonate the explosives, the Chief uses a computer terminal to view the control room in order to confirm that ‘Telcam is indeed onboard, and observes the Sangheili conversing with an unrestrained Halsey. Abandoning Majestic, Blue Team, and his mission, the Chief enters the control room, mortally wounding ‘Telcam and leaving him for dead whilst evacuating Halsey with the Key of Janus. BB broadcasts a signal to Majestic and Crimson, telling them what transpired and the Chief went rogue. When Majestic informs Palmer that the Chief failed to execute Halsey by detonating the explosives as planned, she reports it to Osman, who orders the team to kill the both the doctor and Blue Team. Meanwhile Halsey, who has yet to tell the Chief that ONI is trying to kill her, secretly hacks into the explosives Majestic planted throughout the ship in order to eliminate the Spartan IV team pursuing them. She sets them to explode in two minutes, giving the Chief enough time to evacuate the ship but not enough for the pursuing Majestic. As the Chief reaches the hangar bay, he reunites with Blue Team and together they search for transport.

Three Betrayals – Chief

As Blue Team prepares to commandeer a Phantom from the ship’s launch bay, Majestic arrives and engages them, forcing them to flee in the aircraft. DeMarco then learns that Halsey hacked into the explosives and set them to detonate within seconds, and orders Majestic to jump from the hovering cruiser fifty feet to the ground. They do so, barely escaping the ship as it explodes above them, the wreckage nearly crushing them. As Majestic recovers on the ground and Blue Team flies into unmarked airspace with Halsey, the UNSC troops hidden throughout New Wales and the surrounding area engage the Remnant and Prometheans, driving them back within minutes of intense combat. With Majestic hunting Blue Team, and ONI eliminating the Sangheili it formerly supplied with weapons, the third betrayal comes when the Didact reveals himself to the UNSC ground forces. He had apparently survived the fall into the slipspace conduit, later transitioning back into normal space with the aid of his advanced Forerunner combat skin, before entering the orbit of New Llanelli. It was there that he found the Remnant, along with ‘Telcam, and chose to spare them as his followers. He then used them to construct a second composer from his stored knowledge of the first, before convincing them to use it on themselves in order to achieve salvation and become gods in the afterlife. With the Didact’s leadership, the Prometheans rally the fleeing Remnant and put up heavy resistance against the UNSC, using the composer to digitize several human soldiers. The UNSC begins a retreat back to the commandeered cruisers, taking heavy losses from the pursuing Prometheans and their Remnant allies.

Didact – Thorne

As the UNSC beats a hasty retreat back to their commandeered cruisers, the Infinity makes landfall and unleashes its MAC cannons against the Promethean forces, devastating them and allowing the human ground forces to launch a counterattack. Fireteam Majestic, led by Thorne, destroys a group of Scarab walkers guarding an armored Harvester mining vehicle, which later turns out to be a Yanme’e hive. Seeing that the Didact has surrounded the composer behind a makeshift plasma shield, Majestic commandeers the Harvester and uses its laser on the barrier, disabling it. The composer is then destroyed when Majestic sets improvised explosives throughout the Harvester and drives it into the composer, escaping just as they detonate the devices remotely. Realizing that his composer was destroyed, and that his forces are helpless without it, the Didact retreats to a solitary Forerunner structure atop a snowcapped mountain neighboring New Wales. There, he activates a device that will supposedly reawaken a dormant Forerunner population hidden beneath the surface of the planet, but instead unleashes the flood. Despite the best efforts of the Prometheans to beat back the infection, they are overwhelmed nonetheless and destroyed. Seeing his forces fall to the flood, the Didact resolves to at least destroy the humans on New Llanelli, and releases several thousand hidden cultures of dormant flood spores spread across the planet. The UNSC, discovering that Didact has released the flood, hastens the retreat to their ships. Del Rio reports the incident to Osman, who orders him to extract the Key of Janus before withdrawing his forces from New Llanelli and bombarding the planet from orbit. Meanwhile, down beneath the planet’s surface, the reawakened flood cultures begin forming a proto-gravemind from the assembled corpses of humans and Remnant warriors. The Didact seals himself within the Forerunner mountain facility, choosing to wait until the infection destroys the humans before it starves to death.

Reckoning – Chief

After entering unmarked airspace, the Chief lands his phantom near a Forerunner pillar on a desert plain. There he confronts Dr. Halsey about her aiding the Remnant, forcing her to reveal that Osman had her execution ordered. When he asks why, Halsey says Osman resents her for abducting her as a child for the Spartan II program; she also frequently voiced her discontent against the immoral actions of the doctor during her work in ONI. The Chief vows to protect her long enough to defeat the Didact and possibly clear both of their names. In orbit, Thel has received word that UNSC forces are in full retreat, and that a “parasite” has been released from Forerunner holding facilities beneath the planet’s surface. He takes a squad of Sangheili Honor Guard and flies to the surface of New Llanelli to assist the humans, fighting off the flood as the humans flee to the cruiser’s gravity lifts.

Damned – Thel

After assisting the evacuation of the human ground forces, Thel falls into a crevice where he finds the roots of the gravemind growing. Abandoning his Honor Guard, Thel follows the roots underground to a large chamber housing the gravemind. It tells Thel that there are still Forerunners alive on other planets, “neither dead nor alive, but in eternal slumber.” He then goes on to say that the Didact is seeking to resurrect the hibernating Forerunners by assembling the pieces of the Janus Key. The Gravemind offers its help in aiding Thel against the Didact, but the Sangheili warrior rejects the offer before attempting to battle the creature. However, he is nearly overwhelmed by the flood and instead returns above ground. On the surface he finds a crashed banshee and flies it to the Chief’s last known location, the Path of the Righteous. Reaching the wreckage of the ship, Thel witnesses the Chief arrive in his commandeered phantom with Dr. Halsey and the rest of Blue Team. He asks them why they haven’t withdrawn to the human-controlled ships, since his Sangheili fleet is preparing to glass the city of New Wales in order to contain the Flood. The Chief says that he needs to destroy the Didact, and Thel agrees to go with him. Dr. Halsey then decides to flee the planet in a human frigate they found grounded near the wreckage of Path of Righteous, and Chief orders the rest of Blue Team to escort her. When he asks Halsey where she is going, she says she intends to visit the hidden insurrectionist cell on the moon Titan. She further states that the only way the Key of Janus can be used is by inserting it into the Absolute Library, which she does not know the location of. Leaving it in the hands of the Chief is, in her opinion, safer than bringing it with her to a human outpost, where it could draw the Didact’s forces near. As she leaves in the frigate with Blue Team and evades the allied ships in orbit, the Chief and Thel board the phantom and leave the wreckage of the Path of the Righteous.

Kilo-Five – Chief

As the Chief flies the phantom towards the Forerunner mountain structure, the aircraft is pursued and shot down by members of Kilo Five, severely injuring Thel. Although the Sangheili warrior sadly admits that he would prefer to die in battle than return to his ruined homeworld, the Chief tries to carry him. This, however, worsens Thel’s wounds and forces the Chief to leave him under a tree near the shoulder of the mountain, as he cannot move without assistance. While conducting reconnaissance of the surrounding valley below, the Chief catches sight of Naomi-010 and her ONI escort, who appear to be headed for the mountain. He engages them from the high ground, holding them off until three hundred Spartan IVs enter the area from space using HEV pods, ordered by Osman to execute the Chief and any of his accomplices while securing the Forerunner mountain structure as a fallback point from the flood. Retreating up the mountain pursued by Naomi-010, the Chief evades and then ambushes the Spartan II, triggering a flashback from his training in the forests of Reach. It was there that he fought against members of Tango Company in a competition of Capture the Flag, and also where he helped free Naomi from a barracks held by the Marines. Returning to reality, the Chief spares the injured Spartan II and asks her how many Spartan IIs are left, to which she replies there are thirty. She also reveals all of Kilo Fives activities on Sanghelios and New Llanelli, and how they had tried to provoke a Sangheili civil war to help humanity recover and gain supremacy. Naomi then dies from her wounds in John’s arms. The Chief then throws her into a deep glacial chasm to prevent her from being consumed by the Flood. Returning to the tree where he left the Arbiter down near the valley, the Chief discovers that his body is missing, and that a trail of blood was left leading towards the Forerunner structure.

Showdown – Chief

After following the blood to the summit of the mountain above the clouds, the Chief reaches the frontal façade of the Forerunner spire, which appears similar to those he encountered on Requiem. Before he can approach it any further, one of Thel’s cruisers infected by the Flood crashes in his path, allowing thousands of Combat Forms to swarm the summit. Several Remnant Orbital Insertion Pods arrive to reinforce the Didact’s position, battling the Flood and the Chief. The remaining Promethean Knights guarding the Didact exit the spire to assist the Remnant. Battling his way through the carnage of the three armies, the Chief finally enters the structure and confronts the Didact. The Forerunner reveals that other members of his race are still alive in stasis on various installations. After his kind fled the galaxy following the activation of the Halo Array, many of his supporters, including his Prometheans, chose to enter a “millennial slumber” in order to outlive the forces of the Librarian, who had apparently survived the ring activation. He then claims that he released the parasite to cleanse the galaxy of humans, himself and his Promethean Knights immune to the infection. When the Chief says the Flood will consume all sentient life including the humans, the Didact counters that the genetic information used in the first reseeding of the galaxy can be used a second time to repopulate it after he activates the Halo Array. Battling the Didact and his remaining guards, the Chief manages to beat back the Forerunner long enough for the Flood to breach the facility and distract the Prometheans. Fleeing from the Chief, the Didact triggers a slipspace portal with his suit and enters it, leaving the remaining Prometheans and his human adversary to their fates. He exits the portal back on Beta Halo, walking alone towards an immense flat Forerunner artifact that appears to be an ark portal.

Absolute Record – Chief

The Flood reaches the room housing the Prometheans and proceeds to overwhelm them as the Chief escapes in a lift to the top of the spire. Overhead, he sees several Covenant loyalist ships fire upon the land below, glassing the already ruined city of New Wales to prevent the infection from spreading. Due to the intelligence of the Gravemind, the Flood is coordinated and dangerous, aiming to infiltrate the allied fleet and escape New Llanelli. Reaching the top of the spire, the Chief discovers a Forerunner device similar to a cartographer, which emits a map of the galaxy showing millions of yet undiscovered Forerunner installations after he inserts the Key of Janus into it. The Chief deduces that the machine is the Absolute Record, mentioned earlier by Halsey before she left the planet. When he presses his hand, covered in the Didact’s blood following their struggle in the lower spire, across the machine’s interface, the symbol for Forerunner appears on the galactic map. Thousands of stars glow bright orange, showing the locations of the dormant Forerunner populations. The Chief then realizes that the Didact, having known of these populations prior to entering the Cryptum, did not need the Key of Janus to discover them, instead seeking a way to reawaken them. Before he leaves, the Librarian appears in a vision to him, telling him that the Didact is headed for Delta Halo to activate the dormant Forerunners, and gives him a significant portion of the pieces of Cortana that were scattered throughout New Llanelli, manifested in a small handheld Forerunner information storage device. She says that prior to transferring ancillas into Monitors, their ‘souls’ were stored in pieces of technology such as these. She says that the pieces of Cortana are still unassembled, missing other integral parts of their original programming, but assures him that they can be refit together if the Chief finds the “organic source of the ancilla,” in this case Halsey. Regretting having let the scientist flee the planet too early, the Chief decides to find her after defeating the Didact once and for all in order to revive Cortana. Before he leaves the vision, he asks the Librarian is she is still indeed alive as the Didact claimed, to which she replies yes, but not in the world inhabited by the Chief. She was one of the few Forerunners who left the galaxy after taking shelter in the lesser Ark during the firing of the Halo Array, her semblance in the vision being an ancilla cloned from her brain that she left in the systems of several installations as a lasting legacy, the purpose of which was to help the descendants of humankind. Leaving the vision, the Chief finds the Flood have reached his position, and is nearly killed before the Arbiter arrives in a Broadsword and evacuates him from the roof of the spire.

Escape From Hell – Chief

Flying the Broadsword over the burning planet, the Chief asks Thel how he managed to commandeer the aerodyne, to which he replies that it was among the equipment left in the camp abandoned by Kilo Five at the base of the mountain. After descending the cliff, he had managed to use his suit’s stealth abilities to evade the Flood and reach the vehicle before flying it to rescue the Chief. The two lands the Broadsword on a hill overlooking the grounded Infinity, intending to infiltrate the ship before it takes off, since it is the only means they have of leaving the planet. As they prepare to leave, Spartan IV soldiers arrive and prepare to battle them. Among them is Parisa, whom the Chief recognizes immediately. Knowing that she is unaware of his identity and would readily kill him as a traitor, the Chief allows himself to be arrested by her squad. When the Chief is brought aboard the Infinity and met by Lasky, he reveals that ONI had conducted black ops to subvert Sangheili peace and had committed treasonous crimes against the UNSC. Lasky reluctantly agrees to release the Chief on those terms. When Palmer finds out, she doesn’t argue but warns that due to ONI’s influence in the UNSC War Council, he could be court martialed for subordination, to which he replies that it no longer matters in the scheme of defending the galaxy from the Flood and the Forerunners. Majestic and Crimson, along with most of the Spartan IVs, object to letting the Chief onboard due to the losses they suffered by him, and threaten to mutiny against their officers. The Chief is able to pacify them by relating to their collective sufferings and saying that he lost most of his unit throughout the course of the fabled Human Covenant War, along with his AI companion Cortana, effectively losing his entire “family.” Understanding John’s grief and realizing that his altruism helped save humanity and the universe several times over, the audience of Marines and Spartan IV’s feels a strong solidarity towards him and agrees not to mutiny. As the Infinity leaves the planet, now burning and surrounded by the Sangheili fleet, John tells Del Rio that Didact is headed for Beta Halo to reawaken Forerunner stasis capsules hidden throughout the galaxy. The Captain, however, refuses to comply and blames the Chief for the deaths of his Spartan IV crewmates and various members of the UNSC Navy, forcing the Chief to restrain him in the ship’s brig. While many of the crew still supports John, including Majestic, others are still angry towards him for killing their comrades and incarcerating Del Rio, including Crimson. Conspiring amongst themselves against the Chief and his supporters, Crimson vows to follow the execution order authorized by ONI that Majestic had failed to carry out, deciding to kill the Spartan in the heat of battle when he is distracted. Before the Infinity transitions to slipspace, Thel gives orders to his ships to glass the entire planet three times over to ensure that the parasite is contained, and tells his commanders that he is heading to defend their homeworld with the humans.

Millennial Awakening – Chief

Arriving in the Sanghelios system, the Infinity and several Sangheili Loyalist ships make landfall on Beta Halo, this time on the side of the ring opposite the city of Ramos, where the Didact has taken control of local Sentinel and Promethean defenses to secure a large Forerunner artifact ten miles in diameter. A fleet of Remnant ships has also joined his cause, led by the former Sangheili prisoner ‘Jaramee, who escaped incarceration amidst the confusion caused by a second Jiralhanae incursion into Vadam. Rtas has already gathered a fleet to engage the Remnant over Beta Halo, and forms a plan with the humans to provide a distraction while the Infinity attacks the Remnant from the side. The warship lands on the surface of the ring and deploys a large tank column from its ventral loading bay, followed by several Marine battalions. As the column pushes towards the artifact with the Infinity following overhead, the human ships engage the Remnant fleet hovering above the artifact, causing several of them to crash around the tank column. The artifact is revealed to be flat, similar to the portal leading to the lesser ark near Voi in Kenya. As the tanks cross it, lead by the Chief at the vanguard, they cause the Prometheans and Remnant guarding the edges to route towards the center. In the chaos of the battle, the tank column becomes scattered amidst the debris strewn across the battlefield, allowing Crimson to attack the Chief from afar using sniper rifles and rocket launchers. They nearly succeed in exploding his tank until he abandons it and hides behind the remains of a Banshee. It turns out that BB has been broadcasting a signal from the Chief’s helmet to Crimson. Recognizing them for a Spartan IV fireteam, the Chief assumes that they were sent by Osman to kill him, and promptly eliminates them. After reporting the incident to Lasky, the Chief reunites with the rest of the UNSC forces. Reaching the center of the artifact, the tank column finds the Didact surrounded by a Forerunner shield. He activates the portal, causing the center of the artifact, which is two miles in diameter, to descend below ground. A blinding light emerges from the opening in the ground, causing many of the soldiers to turn away. Soon after the Didact disappears, the shield surrounding the shaft fails, allowing the UNSC forces to advance towards its edge. The Chief jumps from his tank into the opening and falls several hundred feet to the floor, where a slipspace portal has been activated. Entering it, he receives a vision of the Forerunners after the firing of the Halo array, depicting them as they fought amongst themselves about whether to kill the prehistoric humans rescued on the lesser ark, or to let them prosper. Eventually, a war broke out, and the warrior-servants who had supported the Didact were forced to retreat to secret slipspace capsules to escape the life-workers commanded by the Librarian. The life-workers then proceeded to reseed the galaxy and finally disappear, as described by the Librarian. Exiting the vision, the Chief finds himself in a habitable dyson sphere housed within a slipspace bubble. He confronts the Didact, whose suit was damaged during the battle with the humans, preventing him from using his telekinesis to restrain the human soldier. The Chief fights and kills the Didact in a fierce duel, before taking fire from an unseen adversary and being forced to retreat through the slipspace portal back to the ringworld. As the Chief readies his rifle along with his countless comrades surrounding the portal, a powerful wind is emitted, causing several of the vehicles to be thrown backwards along with their occupants. Humanoid figures emerge from the portal, Forerunner warrior-servants reawakened from their ancient sleep. They then proceed to nearly annihilate the human ground forces, causing a widespread retreat from the ringworld. The Chief watches from the bridge of the Infinity as Forerunner ships reactivate throughout the ring, piloted by their Forerunner makers. The Chief tells Lasky that although the Didact is dead, his warrior-servants and Prometheans are continuing his legacy of annihilating humanity.

Epilogue

In the epilogue, the ruins of the Sangheili fleet around New Llanelli are shown, suggesting that the flood escaped the system.

[-Legendary-]

Prologue

The Master Chief is at ONI HQ in Sydney, Australia attending a public inquiry into the New Phoenix Incident. During the conference, he reunites with his comrades Kelly and Fred, who reveal that they have been commissioned to train Spartan IV soldiers aboard the Infinity. The Chief also meets Admiral Lord Hood, who was summoned to testify on behalf of the Home Fleet that was responsible for protecting earth when the Didact destroyed New Phoenix. Although Hood defends himself by claiming that the Didact was too powerful for him to intervene, the panel nonetheless denounces him for incompetence. Later, Hood privately confides to the Chief that Prime Minister Dr. Ruth Charet intends to appoint Vice Admiral Ysionris Jeromi to his position, forcing him to consider resignation. The report following the public inquiry recommends immediate action against the Covenant Remnant and the traitor Dr. Halsey in order to recover the complete Janus Key. The scientist is believed to be hiding on Sanghelios with the Remnant leader, Jul ‘Mdama. Admiral Serin Osman orders the Chief and Blue Team to execute Jul ‘Mdama and Halsey, curious to see if John is still loyal to the scientist.  She then issues her artificial intelligence Black Box to the Chief as a replacement for Cortana, having secretly ordered it act as a homing beacon for local UNSC forces in the event that John defects. Osman also grants the Chief access to classified ONI files detailing the Spartan IV soldiers and their career resumes, knowing that his former childhood companion Parisa is among them. When the Chief asks why she gave him access to encrypted files, Osman replies that it would be appropriate for him to know the men and women he is serving with. However, Osman secretly intends to use Parisa as leverage to compel the Chief to kill Halsey, since failing to do so would result in her division being sent into combat to complete his mission.

The Prisoner – Chief

The Infinity arrives at Sanghelios in the midst of the Sangheili Civil War and helps the fleet under Thel ‘Vadam repel the Covenant Remnant ships. While the majority of the Remnant fleet retreats through slipspace destined for the former human colony world of New Llanelli, they leave a significant ground force on Installation 02, alternatively designated Beta Halo, which is in orbit around Sanghelios. The Sangheili Remnant on Beta Halo converge on the city of Ramos, which was built by the Sangheili when they first set foot on the inactive ring three millennia ago. Meanwhile, the Infinity lands on Sanghelios in the state of Vadam, which has since been ravaged by the Sangheili Civil War. There, the Chief meets Thel ‘Vadam, Kaidon of the state of Vadam and Arbiter of the New Covenant. Thel says that his clan is growing weaker due to the Covenant Remnant gaining support, and asks Captain Lasky to hunt down and execute Avu Med ‘Telcam, leader of the Servants of Abiding Truth. Since the Covenant loyalists do not know where he is currently hiding, Thel leads the Chief to question a Sangheili prisoner in a deep pit. His name is Raas ‘Jaramee, an old accomplice of ‘Telcam who aided in the initial rebellion against Thel. He appears blind and badly burned, which Thel says was his punishment for treason. ‘Jaramee says that ‘Telcam is hiding on New Llanelli, while his associate ‘Mdama is still leading Remnant forces in Ramos.

Beta Halo – Chief

Hours after leaving Vadam, the Chief and Spartan Blue Team ride an Albatross into the atmosphere of Beta Halo, landing in the jungle outside Ramos. After encountering resistance from the Covenant Remnant, the Chief leads Blue Team into battle outside Ramos, executing several Sangheili rebels, including former Shipmaster Buran ‘Yatul, one of ‘Telcam’s close conspirators. After pressing through a series of Forerunner ruins in the jungle, Blue Team encounters ‘Mdama seeking shelter in a Sangheili temple. Despite Thel’s warnings that attacking the sacred ground would cause resentment throughout the Sangheili leadership caste, Osman orders Captain Adam Del Rio to bombard the Temple with the Infinity’s MAC.

 

 

 

Ramos – Chief

‘Mdama is confirmed dead when Blue Team inspects the wreckage of the Temple and finds his body. However, Dr. Halsey is nowhere to be found. Due to the potential political ramifications of allowing humans to desecrate sacred ground, Thel requests that the Infinity leave the system at once, offering to blame the attack on the Jiralhanae cell in Ontom, a neighboring state with no ruling Kaidon. Before the Chief boards the Infinity, he holds a final conference with Thel, informing him that ‘Mdama holds a piece of the Janus Key, which could reveal all hidden Forerunner artifacts in the galaxy. Thel, knowing that ‘Telcam would use the key to usurp him, agrees to travel with the Infinity to New Llanelli to retrieve the other piece of it. He appoints his ally and countryman Rtas ‘Vadum to the temporary position of Kaidon while he takes a small fleet of ships and prepares to leave with the Infinity. However, before they can do so, the Jiralhanae cell in Ontom attacks the state of Vadam, forcing the allied fleet to liberate the city and eliminate the Brute invaders. While confronting a dying Brute Chieftain, the chief learns that his Jiralhanae cell made a deal with an unnamed human faction to invade Vadam in exchange for Forerunner technology. Before the Chief can learn the name of the human faction, the Chieftain dies. With the state of Vadam secure, and the rebellion on Sanghelios eliminated along with the Jiralhanae threat, the allied fleet transitions to slipspace and sets course for New Llanelli.

Repel Borders – Chief

En route to New Llanelli, the allied fleet is attacked by a Promethean vessel that attempts to board the Infinity. The Chief repels the invaders and destroys the vessel by detonating a HAVOC nuclear device inside its core, causing the slipspace channel to fail and stranding the fleet in an unknown star system with seven suns. Entering the atmosphere of an ocean planet rotating around the nearest star, the Infinity comes across a Forerunner structure emanating an aurora-like light. The Chief inspects the small island and the tower itself, encountering several benign Sentinels whilst fighting hostile Promethean Knights, who appear to be guarding a piece of Cortana, the AI having been composed after the destruction of the Didact’s ship. Activating a cartographer, the Chief views a starmap, which shows that the other fragments of Cortana are scattered throughout New Llanelli, the planet having originally been a Forerunner colony world before humans settled it thousands of years later. Because of the damage caused by the rapid slipspace exit, many of the UNSC ships that lacked shielding are repaired in orbit, delaying the mission for two days. After the Chief is extracted back to the Infinity, he uses BB to view the encrypted files given to him by Osman, discovering that Parisa is serving in the battalion of Spartan IV soldiers aboard the Infinity. He remembers meeting her five years ago during the Covenant invasion of New Mombasa, even recalling the time they spent together as children. However, he forces himself to forget her, knowing that Spartan II soldiers are prohibited from revealing their identities to anyone outside ONI Section III.

New Llanelli – Chief

After the repairs are finished, the allied fleet enters slipspace again and arrives in the Brunel System, only to find three abandoned Covenant rebel cruisers orbiting New Llanelli. Landing in the ruined human city of New Wales, the Chief and Blue Team are shocked to discover that most of the Remnant composed themselves, believing the Prometheans to be gods. After entering the ruins of a human skyscraper, the Spartans encounter human members of Kilo Five, a division of ONI. They appear to be hiding from the composed Sangheili whilst secretly supplying living Sangheili with modified weapons for the purpose of supplanting ‘Telcam. The Chief and Blue Team confront the leader of the human personnel, who reveals herself to be Naomi-010, a Spartan II employed under Kilo Five who was tasked by ONI with spying on ‘Telcam and undermining his efforts on New Llanelli. Osman apparently gave her this order after she learned that the Remnant had discovered a composer on the former human colony and were using the device on themselves, thus rendering the pact made on Sanghelios obsolete. Both human groups agree that ‘Telcam must be dealt with, but refrain from discussing the fate of Dr. Halsey, whom unbeknownst to them is being held with freedom of movement aboard ‘Telcam’s flagship, Path of the Righteous. While the crew of the Infinity, including Captain Laksy, argue for an immediate assault against the Remnant to execute ‘Telcam and retrieve the other piece of the Janus Key, Naomio-010 believes this will compromise her group’s covert mission and lose them potential Sangheili allies behaving as moles within the Remnant. However, she eventually complies after she receives an order from Osman telling her to let the assault begin but also to execute Blue Team once they locate the Janus Key, thereby eliminating any evidence of ONI involvement in the supplying of enemy forces. Despite Majestic also being present in New Llanelli to witness ONI supplying enemy troops, Osman decides to spare them, believing that they can be kept quiet about her organization’s activities while also being used to tie loose ends. She tells Commander Palmer to pair Majestic with Blue Team on their mission to infiltrate Path of the Righteous, later ordering DeMarco to execute the Spartan II soldiers if they are seen colluding with Halsey, reasoning to him that years of service have weakened their mental faculties and made them more susceptible to defection.

Janus Key – Chief

The Infinity begins its assault on New Llanelli by commandeering the Remnant cruisers left in orbit and landing them in New Wales. They then broadcast that they are Sangheili reinforcements from the Remnant cell on Hesduros as a distraction, while they deploy UNSC soldiers through the ships’ gravity lifts into the city. Moments before the commencement of the attack, Blue Team and Majestic infiltrate the grounded Path of the Righteous and place improvised explosives throughout vital areas of the ship whilst evading Prometheans and Remnant Sangheili. Just before the team prepares to leave the ship and detonate the explosives, the Chief uses a computer terminal to view the control room in order to confirm that ‘Telcam is indeed onboard, and observes the Sangheili conversing with an unrestrained Halsey. Abandoning Majestic, Blue Team, and his mission, the Chief enters the control room, mortally wounding ‘Telcam and leaving him for dead whilst evacuating Halsey with the Key of Janus. BB broadcasts a signal to Majestic and Crimson, telling them what transpired and the Chief went rogue. When Majestic informs Palmer that the Chief failed to execute Halsey by detonating the explosives as planned, she reports it to Osman, who orders the team to kill the both the doctor and Blue Team. Meanwhile Halsey, who has yet to tell the Chief that ONI is trying to kill her, secretly hacks into the explosives Majestic planted throughout the ship in order to eliminate the Spartan IV team pursuing them. She sets them to explode in two minutes, giving the Chief enough time to evacuate the ship but not enough for the pursuing Majestic. As the Chief reaches the hangar bay, he reunites with Blue Team and together they search for transport.

Three Betrayals – Chief

As Blue Team prepares to commandeer a Phantom from the ship’s launch bay, Majestic arrives and engages them, forcing them to flee in the aircraft. DeMarco then learns that Halsey hacked into the explosives and set them to detonate within seconds, and orders Majestic to jump from the hovering cruiser fifty feet to the ground. They do so, barely escaping the ship as it explodes above them, the wreckage nearly crushing them. As Majestic recovers on the ground and Blue Team flies into unmarked airspace with Halsey, the UNSC troops hidden throughout New Wales and the surrounding area engage the Remnant and Prometheans, driving them back within minutes of intense combat. With Majestic hunting Blue Team, and ONI eliminating the Sangheili it formerly supplied with weapons, the third betrayal comes when the Didact reveals himself to the UNSC ground forces. He had apparently survived the fall into the slipspace conduit, later transitioning back into normal space with the aid of his advanced Forerunner combat skin, before entering the orbit of New Llanelli. It was there that he found the Remnant, along with ‘Telcam, and chose to spare them as his followers. He then used them to construct a second composer from his stored knowledge of the first, before convincing them to use it on themselves in order to achieve salvation and become gods in the afterlife. With the Didact’s leadership, the Prometheans rally the fleeing Remnant and put up heavy resistance against the UNSC, using the composer to digitize several human soldiers. The UNSC begins a retreat back to the commandeered cruisers, taking heavy losses from the pursuing Prometheans and their Remnant allies.

Didact – Thorne

As the UNSC beats a hasty retreat back to their commandeered cruisers, the Infinity makes landfall and unleashes its MAC cannons against the Promethean forces, devastating them and allowing the human ground forces to launch a counterattack. Fireteam Majestic, led by Thorne, destroys a group of Scarab walkers guarding an armored Harvester mining vehicle, which later turns out to be a Yanme’e hive. Seeing that the Didact has surrounded the composer behind a makeshift plasma shield, Majestic commandeers the Harvester and uses its laser on the barrier, disabling it. The composer is then destroyed when Majestic sets improvised explosives throughout the Harvester and drives it into the composer, escaping just as they detonate the devices remotely. Realizing that his composer was destroyed, and that his forces are helpless without it, the Didact retreats to a solitary Forerunner structure atop a snowcapped mountain neighboring New Wales. There, he activates a device that will supposedly reawaken a dormant Forerunner population hidden beneath the surface of the planet, but instead unleashes the flood. Despite the best efforts of the Prometheans to beat back the infection, they are overwhelmed nonetheless and destroyed. Seeing his forces fall to the flood, the Didact resolves to at least destroy the humans on New Llanelli, and releases several thousand hidden cultures of dormant flood spores spread across the planet. The UNSC, discovering that Didact has released the flood, hastens the retreat to their ships. Del Rio reports the incident to Osman, who orders him to extract the Key of Janus before withdrawing his forces from New Llanelli and bombarding the planet from orbit. Meanwhile, down beneath the planet’s surface, the reawakened flood cultures begin forming a proto-gravemind from the assembled corpses of humans and Remnant warriors. The Didact seals himself within the Forerunner mountain facility, choosing to wait until the infection destroys the humans before it starves to death.

Reckoning – Chief

After entering unmarked airspace, the Chief lands his phantom near a Forerunner pillar on a desert plain. There he confronts Dr. Halsey about her aiding the Remnant, forcing her to reveal that Osman had her execution ordered. When he asks why, Halsey says Osman resents her for abducting her as a child for the Spartan II program; she also frequently voiced her discontent against the immoral actions of the doctor during her work in ONI. The Chief vows to protect her long enough to defeat the Didact and possibly clear both of their names. In orbit, Thel has received word that UNSC forces are in full retreat, and that a “parasite” has been released from Forerunner holding facilities beneath the planet’s surface. He takes a squad of Sangheili Honor Guard and flies to the surface of New Llanelli to assist the humans, fighting off the flood as the humans flee to the cruiser’s gravity lifts.

Damned – Thel

After assisting the evacuation of the human ground forces, Thel falls into a crevice where he finds the roots of the gravemind growing. Abandoning his Honor Guard, Thel follows the roots underground to a large chamber housing the gravemind. It tells Thel that there are still Forerunners alive on other planets, “neither dead nor alive, but in eternal slumber.” He then goes on to say that the Didact is seeking to resurrect the hibernating Forerunners by assembling the pieces of the Janus Key. The Gravemind offers its help in aiding Thel against the Didact, but the Sangheili warrior rejects the offer before attempting to battle the creature. However, he is nearly overwhelmed by the flood and instead returns above ground. On the surface he finds a crashed banshee and flies it to the Chief’s last known location, the Path of the Righteous. Reaching the wreckage of the ship, Thel witnesses the Chief arrive in his commandeered phantom with Dr. Halsey and the rest of Blue Team. He asks them why they haven’t withdrawn to the human-controlled ships, since his Sangheili fleet is preparing to glass the city of New Wales in order to contain the Flood. The Chief says that he needs to destroy the Didact, and Thel agrees to go with him. Dr. Halsey then decides to flee the planet in a human frigate they found grounded near the wreckage of Path of Righteous, and Chief orders the rest of Blue Team to escort her. When he asks Halsey where she is going, she says she intends to visit the hidden insurrectionist cell on the moon Titan. She further states that the only way the Key of Janus can be used is by inserting it into the Absolute Library, which she does not know the location of. Leaving it in the hands of the Chief is, in her opinion, safer than bringing it with her to a human outpost, where it could draw the Didact’s forces near. As she leaves in the frigate with Blue Team and evades the allied ships in orbit, the Chief and Thel board the phantom and leave the wreckage of the Path of the Righteous.

Kilo-Five – Chief

As the Chief flies the phantom towards the Forerunner mountain structure, the aircraft is pursued and shot down by members of Kilo Five, severely injuring Thel. Although the Sangheili warrior sadly admits that he would prefer to die in battle than return to his ruined homeworld, the Chief tries to carry him. This, however, worsens Thel’s wounds and forces the Chief to leave him under a tree near the shoulder of the mountain, as he cannot move without assistance. While conducting reconnaissance of the surrounding valley below, the Chief catches sight of Naomi-010 and her ONI escort, who appear to be headed for the mountain. He engages them from the high ground, holding them off until three hundred Spartan IVs enter the area from space using HEV pods, ordered by Osman to execute the Chief and any of his accomplices while securing the Forerunner mountain structure as a fallback point from the flood. Retreating up the mountain pursued by Naomi-010, the Chief evades and then ambushes the Spartan II, triggering a flashback from his training in the forests of Reach. It was there that he fought against members of Tango Company in a competition of Capture the Flag, and also where he helped free Naomi from a barracks held by the Marines. Returning to reality, the Chief spares the injured Spartan II and asks her how many Spartan IIs are left, to which she replies there are thirty. She also reveals all of Kilo Fives activities on Sanghelios and New Llanelli, and how they had tried to provoke a Sangheili civil war to help humanity recover and gain supremacy. Naomi then dies from her wounds in John’s arms. The Chief then throws her into a deep glacial chasm to prevent her from being consumed by the Flood. Returning to the tree where he left the Arbiter down near the valley, the Chief discovers that his body is missing, and that a trail of blood was left leading towards the Forerunner structure.

Showdown – Chief

After following the blood to the summit of the mountain above the clouds, the Chief reaches the frontal façade of the Forerunner spire, which appears similar to those he encountered on Requiem. Before he can approach it any further, one of Thel’s cruisers infected by the Flood crashes in his path, allowing thousands of Combat Forms to swarm the summit. Several Remnant Orbital Insertion Pods arrive to reinforce the Didact’s position, battling the Flood and the Chief. The remaining Promethean Knights guarding the Didact exit the spire to assist the Remnant. Battling his way through the carnage of the three armies, the Chief finally enters the structure and confronts the Didact. The Forerunner reveals that other members of his race are still alive in stasis on various installations. After his kind fled the galaxy following the activation of the Halo Array, many of his supporters, including his Prometheans, chose to enter a “millennial slumber” in order to outlive the forces of the Librarian, who had apparently survived the ring activation. He then claims that he released the parasite to cleanse the galaxy of humans, himself and his Promethean Knights immune to the infection. When the Chief says the Flood will consume all sentient life including the humans, the Didact counters that the genetic information used in the first reseeding of the galaxy can be used a second time to repopulate it after he activates the Halo Array. Battling the Didact and his remaining guards, the Chief manages to beat back the Forerunner long enough for the Flood to breach the facility and distract the Prometheans. Fleeing from the Chief, the Didact triggers a slipspace portal with his suit and enters it, leaving the remaining Prometheans and his human adversary to their fates. He exits the portal back on Beta Halo, walking alone towards an immense flat Forerunner artifact that appears to be an ark portal.

Absolute Record – Chief

The Flood reaches the room housing the Prometheans and proceeds to overwhelm them as the Chief escapes in a lift to the top of the spire. Overhead, he sees several Covenant loyalist ships fire upon the land below, glassing the already ruined city of New Wales to prevent the infection from spreading. Due to the intelligence of the Gravemind, the Flood is coordinated and dangerous, aiming to infiltrate the allied fleet and escape New Llanelli. Reaching the top of the spire, the Chief discovers a Forerunner device similar to a cartographer, which emits a map of the galaxy showing millions of yet undiscovered Forerunner installations after he inserts the Key of Janus into it. The Chief deduces that the machine is the Absolute Record, mentioned earlier by Halsey before she left the planet. When he presses his hand, covered in the Didact’s blood following their struggle in the lower spire, across the machine’s interface, the symbol for Forerunner appears on the galactic map. Thousands of stars glow bright orange, showing the locations of the dormant Forerunner populations. The Chief then realizes that the Didact, having known of these populations prior to entering the Cryptum, did not need the Key of Janus to discover them, instead seeking a way to reawaken them. Before he leaves, the Librarian appears in a vision to him, telling him that the Didact is headed for Delta Halo to activate the dormant Forerunners, and gives him a significant portion of the pieces of Cortana that were scattered throughout New Llanelli, manifested in a small handheld Forerunner information storage device. She says that prior to transferring ancillas into Monitors, their ‘souls’ were stored in pieces of technology such as these. She says that the pieces of Cortana are still unassembled, missing other integral parts of their original programming, but assures him that they can be refit together if the Chief finds the “organic source of the ancilla,” in this case Halsey. Regretting having let the scientist flee the planet too early, the Chief decides to find her after defeating the Didact once and for all in order to revive Cortana. Before he leaves the vision, he asks the Librarian is she is still indeed alive as the Didact claimed, to which she replies yes, but not in the world inhabited by the Chief. She was one of the few Forerunners who left the galaxy after taking shelter in the lesser Ark during the firing of the Halo Array, her semblance in the vision being an ancilla cloned from her brain that she left in the systems of several installations as a lasting legacy, the purpose of which was to help the descendants of humankind. Leaving the vision, the Chief finds the Flood have reached his position, and is nearly killed before the Arbiter arrives in a Broadsword and evacuates him from the roof of the spire.

Escape From Hell – Chief

Flying the Broadsword over the burning planet, the Chief asks Thel how he managed to commandeer the aerodyne, to which he replies that it was among the equipment left in the camp abandoned by Kilo Five at the base of the mountain. After descending the cliff, he had managed to use his suit’s stealth abilities to evade the Flood and reach the vehicle before flying it to rescue the Chief. The two lands the Broadsword on a hill overlooking the grounded Infinity, intending to infiltrate the ship before it takes off, since it is the only means they have of leaving the planet. As they prepare to leave, Spartan IV soldiers arrive and prepare to battle them. Among them is Parisa, whom the Chief recognizes immediately. Knowing that she is unaware of his identity and would readily kill him as a traitor, the Chief allows himself to be arrested by her squad. When the Chief is brought aboard the Infinity and met by Lasky, he reveals that ONI had conducted black ops to subvert Sangheili peace and had committed treasonous crimes against the UNSC. Lasky reluctantly agrees to release the Chief on those terms. When Palmer finds out, she doesn’t argue but warns that due to ONI’s influence in the UNSC War Council, he could be court martialed for subordination, to which he replies that it no longer matters in the scheme of defending the galaxy from the Flood and the Forerunners. Majestic and Crimson, along with most of the Spartan IVs, object to letting the Chief onboard due to the losses they suffered by him, and threaten to mutiny against their officers. The Chief is able to pacify them by relating to their collective sufferings and saying that he lost most of his unit throughout the course of the fabled Human Covenant War, along with his AI companion Cortana, effectively losing his entire “family.” Understanding John’s grief and realizing that his altruism helped save humanity and the universe several times over, the audience of Marines and Spartan IV’s feels a strong solidarity towards him and agrees not to mutiny. As the Infinity leaves the planet, now burning and surrounded by the Sangheili fleet, John tells Del Rio that Didact is headed for Beta Halo to reawaken Forerunner stasis capsules hidden throughout the galaxy. The Captain, however, refuses to comply and blames the Chief for the deaths of his Spartan IV crewmates and various members of the UNSC Navy, forcing the Chief to restrain him in the ship’s brig. While many of the crew still supports John, including Majestic, others are still angry towards him for killing their comrades and incarcerating Del Rio, including Crimson. Conspiring amongst themselves against the Chief and his supporters, Crimson vows to follow the execution order authorized by ONI that Majestic had failed to carry out, deciding to kill the Spartan in the heat of battle when he is distracted. Before the Infinity transitions to slipspace, Thel gives orders to his ships to glass the entire planet three times over to ensure that the parasite is contained, and tells his commanders that he is heading to defend their homeworld with the humans.

Millennial Awakening – Chief

Arriving in the Sanghelios system, the Infinity and several Sangheili Loyalist ships make landfall on Beta Halo, this time on the side of the ring opposite the city of Ramos, where the Didact has taken control of local Sentinel and Promethean defenses to secure a large Forerunner artifact ten miles in diameter. A fleet of Remnant ships has also joined his cause, led by the former Sangheili prisoner ‘Jaramee, who escaped incarceration amidst the confusion caused by a second Jiralhanae incursion into Vadam. Rtas has already gathered a fleet to engage the Remnant over Beta Halo, and forms a plan with the humans to provide a distraction while the Infinity attacks the Remnant from the side. The warship lands on the surface of the ring and deploys a large tank column from its ventral loading bay, followed by several Marine battalions. As the column pushes towards the artifact with the Infinity following overhead, the human ships engage the Remnant fleet hovering above the artifact, causing several of them to crash around the tank column. The artifact is revealed to be flat, similar to the portal leading to the lesser ark near Voi in Kenya. As the tanks cross it, lead by the Chief at the vanguard, they cause the Prometheans and Remnant guarding the edges to route towards the center. In the chaos of the battle, the tank column becomes scattered amidst the debris strewn across the battlefield, allowing Crimson to attack the Chief from afar using sniper rifles and rocket launchers. They nearly succeed in exploding his tank until he abandons it and hides behind the remains of a Banshee. It turns out that BB has been broadcasting a signal from the Chief’s helmet to Crimson. Recognizing them for a Spartan IV fireteam, the Chief assumes that they were sent by Osman to kill him, and promptly eliminates them. After reporting the incident to Lasky, the Chief reunites with the rest of the UNSC forces. Reaching the center of the artifact, the tank column finds the Didact surrounded by a Forerunner shield. He activates the portal, causing the center of the artifact, which is two miles in diameter, to descend below ground. A blinding light emerges from the opening in the ground, causing many of the soldiers to turn away. Soon after the Didact disappears, the shield surrounding the shaft fails, allowing the UNSC forces to advance towards its edge. The Chief jumps from his tank into the opening and falls several hundred feet to the floor, where a slipspace portal has been activated. Entering it, he receives a vision of the Forerunners after the firing of the Halo array, depicting them as they fought amongst themselves about whether to kill the prehistoric humans rescued on the lesser ark, or to let them prosper. Eventually, a war broke out, and the warrior-servants who had supported the Didact were forced to retreat to secret slipspace capsules to escape the life-workers commanded by the Librarian. The life-workers then proceeded to reseed the galaxy and finally disappear, as described by the Librarian. Exiting the vision, the Chief finds himself in a habitable dyson sphere housed within a slipspace bubble. He confronts the Didact, whose suit was damaged during the battle with the humans, preventing him from using his telekinesis to restrain the human soldier. The Chief fights and kills the Didact in a fierce duel, before taking fire from an unseen adversary and being forced to retreat through the slipspace portal back to the ringworld. As the Chief readies his rifle along with his countless comrades surrounding the portal, a powerful wind is emitted, causing several of the vehicles to be thrown backwards along with their occupants. Humanoid figures emerge from the portal, Forerunner warrior-servants reawakened from their ancient sleep. They then proceed to nearly annihilate the human ground forces, causing a widespread retreat from the ringworld. The Chief watches from the bridge of the Infinity as Forerunner ships reactivate throughout the ring, piloted by their Forerunner makers. The Chief tells Lasky that although the Didact is dead, his warrior-servants and Prometheans are continuing his legacy of annihilating humanity.

Epilogue

In the epilogue, the ruins of the Sangheili fleet around New Llanelli are shown, suggesting that the flood escaped the system.

 

Prologue

The Master Chief is at ONI HQ in Sydney, Australia attending a public inquiry into the New Phoenix Incident. During the conference, he reunites with his comrades Kelly and Fred, who reveal that they have been commissioned to train Spartan IV soldiers aboard the Infinity. The Chief also meets Admiral Lord Hood, who was summoned to testify on behalf of the Home Fleet that was responsible for protecting earth when the Didact destroyed New Phoenix. Although Hood defends himself by claiming that the Didact was too powerful for him to intervene, the panel nonetheless denounces him for incompetence. Later, Hood privately confides to the Chief that Prime Minister Dr. Ruth Charet intends to appoint Vice Admiral Ysionris Jeromi to his position, forcing him to consider resignation. The report following the public inquiry recommends immediate action against the Covenant Remnant and the traitor Dr. Halsey in order to recover the complete Janus Key. The scientist is believed to be hiding on Sanghelios with the Remnant leader, Jul ‘Mdama. Admiral Serin Osman orders the Chief and Blue Team to execute Jul ‘Mdama and Halsey, curious to see if John is still loyal to the scientist.  She then issues her artificial intelligence Black Box to the Chief as a replacement for Cortana, having secretly ordered it act as a homing beacon for local UNSC forces in the event that John defects. Osman also grants the Chief access to classified ONI files detailing the Spartan IV soldiers and their career resumes, knowing that his former childhood companion Parisa is among them. When the Chief asks why she gave him access to encrypted files, Osman replies that it would be appropriate for him to know the men and women he is serving with. However, Osman secretly intends to use Parisa as leverage to compel the Chief to kill Halsey, since failing to do so would result in her division being sent into combat to complete his mission.

The Prisoner – Chief

The Infinity arrives at Sanghelios in the midst of the Sangheili Civil War and helps the fleet under Thel ‘Vadam repel the Covenant Remnant ships. While the majority of the Remnant fleet retreats through slipspace destined for the former human colony world of New Llanelli, they leave a significant ground force on Installation 02, alternatively designated Beta Halo, which is in orbit around Sanghelios. The Sangheili Remnant on Beta Halo converge on the city of Ramos, which was built by the Sangheili when they first set foot on the inactive ring three millennia ago. Meanwhile, the Infinity lands on Sanghelios in the state of Vadam, which has since been ravaged by the Sangheili Civil War. There, the Chief meets Thel ‘Vadam, Kaidon of the state of Vadam and Arbiter of the New Covenant. Thel says that his clan is growing weaker due to the Covenant Remnant gaining support, and asks Captain Lasky to hunt down and execute Avu Med ‘Telcam, leader of the Servants of Abiding Truth. Since the Covenant loyalists do not know where he is currently hiding, Thel leads the Chief to question a Sangheili prisoner in a deep pit. His name is Raas ‘Jaramee, an old accomplice of ‘Telcam who aided in the initial rebellion against Thel. He appears blind and badly burned, which Thel says was his punishment for treason. ‘Jaramee says that ‘Telcam is hiding on New Llanelli, while his associate ‘Mdama is still leading Remnant forces in Ramos.

Beta Halo – Chief

Hours after leaving Vadam, the Chief and Spartan Blue Team ride an Albatross into the atmosphere of Beta Halo, landing in the jungle outside Ramos. After encountering resistance from the Covenant Remnant, the Chief leads Blue Team into battle outside Ramos, executing several Sangheili rebels, including former Shipmaster Buran ‘Yatul, one of ‘Telcam’s close conspirators. After pressing through a series of Forerunner ruins in the jungle, Blue Team encounters ‘Mdama seeking shelter in a Sangheili temple. Despite Thel’s warnings that attacking the sacred ground would cause resentment throughout the Sangheili leadership caste, Osman orders Captain Adam Del Rio to bombard the Temple with the Infinity’s MAC.

 

 

 

Ramos – Chief

‘Mdama is confirmed dead when Blue Team inspects the wreckage of the Temple and finds his body. However, Dr. Halsey is nowhere to be found. Due to the potential political ramifications of allowing humans to desecrate sacred ground, Thel requests that the Infinity leave the system at once, offering to blame the attack on the Jiralhanae cell in Ontom, a neighboring state with no ruling Kaidon. Before the Chief boards the Infinity, he holds a final conference with Thel, informing him that ‘Mdama holds a piece of the Janus Key, which could reveal all hidden Forerunner artifacts in the galaxy. Thel, knowing that ‘Telcam would use the key to usurp him, agrees to travel with the Infinity to New Llanelli to retrieve the other piece of it. He appoints his ally and countryman Rtas ‘Vadum to the temporary position of Kaidon while he takes a small fleet of ships and prepares to leave with the Infinity. However, before they can do so, the Jiralhanae cell in Ontom attacks the state of Vadam, forcing the allied fleet to liberate the city and eliminate the Brute invaders. While confronting a dying Brute Chieftain, the chief learns that his Jiralhanae cell made a deal with an unnamed human faction to invade Vadam in exchange for Forerunner technology. Before the Chief can learn the name of the human faction, the Chieftain dies. With the state of Vadam secure, and the rebellion on Sanghelios eliminated along with the Jiralhanae threat, the allied fleet transitions to slipspace and sets course for New Llanelli.

Repel Borders – Chief

En route to New Llanelli, the allied fleet is attacked by a Promethean vessel that attempts to board the Infinity. The Chief repels the invaders and destroys the vessel by detonating a HAVOC nuclear device inside its core, causing the slipspace channel to fail and stranding the fleet in an unknown star system with seven suns. Entering the atmosphere of an ocean planet rotating around the nearest star, the Infinity comes across a Forerunner structure emanating an aurora-like light. The Chief inspects the small island and the tower itself, encountering several benign Sentinels whilst fighting hostile Promethean Knights, who appear to be guarding a piece of Cortana, the AI having been composed after the destruction of the Didact’s ship. Activating a cartographer, the Chief views a starmap, which shows that the other fragments of Cortana are scattered throughout New Llanelli, the planet having originally been a Forerunner colony world before humans settled it thousands of years later. Because of the damage caused by the rapid slipspace exit, many of the UNSC ships that lacked shielding are repaired in orbit, delaying the mission for two days. After the Chief is extracted back to the Infinity, he uses BB to view the encrypted files given to him by Osman, discovering that Parisa is serving in the battalion of Spartan IV soldiers aboard the Infinity. He remembers meeting her five years ago during the Covenant invasion of New Mombasa, even recalling the time they spent together as children. However, he forces himself to forget her, knowing that Spartan II soldiers are prohibited from revealing their identities to anyone outside ONI Section III.

New Llanelli – Chief

After the repairs are finished, the allied fleet enters slipspace again and arrives in the Brunel System, only to find three abandoned Covenant rebel cruisers orbiting New Llanelli. Landing in the ruined human city of New Wales, the Chief and Blue Team are shocked to discover that most of the Remnant composed themselves, believing the Prometheans to be gods. After entering the ruins of a human skyscraper, the Spartans encounter human members of Kilo Five, a division of ONI. They appear to be hiding from the composed Sangheili whilst secretly supplying living Sangheili with modified weapons for the purpose of supplanting ‘Telcam. The Chief and Blue Team confront the leader of the human personnel, who reveals herself to be Naomi-010, a Spartan II employed under Kilo Five who was tasked by ONI with spying on ‘Telcam and undermining his efforts on New Llanelli. Osman apparently gave her this order after she learned that the Remnant had discovered a composer on the former human colony and were using the device on themselves, thus rendering the pact made on Sanghelios obsolete. Both human groups agree that ‘Telcam must be dealt with, but refrain from discussing the fate of Dr. Halsey, whom unbeknownst to them is being held with freedom of movement aboard ‘Telcam’s flagship, Path of the Righteous. While the crew of the Infinity, including Captain Laksy, argue for an immediate assault against the Remnant to execute ‘Telcam and retrieve the other piece of the Janus Key, Naomio-010 believes this will compromise her group’s covert mission and lose them potential Sangheili allies behaving as moles within the Remnant. However, she eventually complies after she receives an order from Osman telling her to let the assault begin but also to execute Blue Team once they locate the Janus Key, thereby eliminating any evidence of ONI involvement in the supplying of enemy forces. Despite Majestic also being present in New Llanelli to witness ONI supplying enemy troops, Osman decides to spare them, believing that they can be kept quiet about her organization’s activities while also being used to tie loose ends. She tells Commander Palmer to pair Majestic with Blue Team on their mission to infiltrate Path of the Righteous, later ordering DeMarco to execute the Spartan II soldiers if they are seen colluding with Halsey, reasoning to him that years of service have weakened their mental faculties and made them more susceptible to defection.

Janus Key – Chief

The Infinity begins its assault on New Llanelli by commandeering the Remnant cruisers left in orbit and landing them in New Wales. They then broadcast that they are Sangheili reinforcements from the Remnant cell on Hesduros as a distraction, while they deploy UNSC soldiers through the ships’ gravity lifts into the city. Moments before the commencement of the attack, Blue Team and Majestic infiltrate the grounded Path of the Righteous and place improvised explosives throughout vital areas of the ship whilst evading Prometheans and Remnant Sangheili. Just before the team prepares to leave the ship and detonate the explosives, the Chief uses a computer terminal to view the control room in order to confirm that ‘Telcam is indeed onboard, and observes the Sangheili conversing with an unrestrained Halsey. Abandoning Majestic, Blue Team, and his mission, the Chief enters the control room, mortally wounding ‘Telcam and leaving him for dead whilst evacuating Halsey with the Key of Janus. BB broadcasts a signal to Majestic and Crimson, telling them what transpired and the Chief went rogue. When Majestic informs Palmer that the Chief failed to execute Halsey by detonating the explosives as planned, she reports it to Osman, who orders the team to kill the both the doctor and Blue Team. Meanwhile Halsey, who has yet to tell the Chief that ONI is trying to kill her, secretly hacks into the explosives Majestic planted throughout the ship in order to eliminate the Spartan IV team pursuing them. She sets them to explode in two minutes, giving the Chief enough time to evacuate the ship but not enough for the pursuing Majestic. As the Chief reaches the hangar bay, he reunites with Blue Team and together they search for transport.

Three Betrayals – Chief

As Blue Team prepares to commandeer a Phantom from the ship’s launch bay, Majestic arrives and engages them, forcing them to flee in the aircraft. DeMarco then learns that Halsey hacked into the explosives and set them to detonate within seconds, and orders Majestic to jump from the hovering cruiser fifty feet to the ground. They do so, barely escaping the ship as it explodes above them, the wreckage nearly crushing them. As Majestic recovers on the ground and Blue Team flies into unmarked airspace with Halsey, the UNSC troops hidden throughout New Wales and the surrounding area engage the Remnant and Prometheans, driving them back within minutes of intense combat. With Majestic hunting Blue Team, and ONI eliminating the Sangheili it formerly supplied with weapons, the third betrayal comes when the Didact reveals himself to the UNSC ground forces. He had apparently survived the fall into the slipspace conduit, later transitioning back into normal space with the aid of his advanced Forerunner combat skin, before entering the orbit of New Llanelli. It was there that he found the Remnant, along with ‘Telcam, and chose to spare them as his followers. He then used them to construct a second composer from his stored knowledge of the first, before convincing them to use it on themselves in order to achieve salvation and become gods in the afterlife. With the Didact’s leadership, the Prometheans rally the fleeing Remnant and put up heavy resistance against the UNSC, using the composer to digitize several human soldiers. The UNSC begins a retreat back to the commandeered cruisers, taking heavy losses from the pursuing Prometheans and their Remnant allies.

Didact – Thorne

As the UNSC beats a hasty retreat back to their commandeered cruisers, the Infinity makes landfall and unleashes its MAC cannons against the Promethean forces, devastating them and allowing the human ground forces to launch a counterattack. Fireteam Majestic, led by Thorne, destroys a group of Scarab walkers guarding an armored Harvester mining vehicle, which later turns out to be a Yanme’e hive. Seeing that the Didact has surrounded the composer behind a makeshift plasma shield, Majestic commandeers the Harvester and uses its laser on the barrier, disabling it. The composer is then destroyed when Majestic sets improvised explosives throughout the Harvester and drives it into the composer, escaping just as they detonate the devices remotely. Realizing that his composer was destroyed, and that his forces are helpless without it, the Didact retreats to a solitary Forerunner structure atop a snowcapped mountain neighboring New Wales. There, he activates a device that will supposedly reawaken a dormant Forerunner population hidden beneath the surface of the planet, but instead unleashes the flood. Despite the best efforts of the Prometheans to beat back the infection, they are overwhelmed nonetheless and destroyed. Seeing his forces fall to the flood, the Didact resolves to at least destroy the humans on New Llanelli, and releases several thousand hidden cultures of dormant flood spores spread across the planet. The UNSC, discovering that Didact has released the flood, hastens the retreat to their ships. Del Rio reports the incident to Osman, who orders him to extract the Key of Janus before withdrawing his forces from New Llanelli and bombarding the planet from orbit. Meanwhile, down beneath the planet’s surface, the reawakened flood cultures begin forming a proto-gravemind from the assembled corpses of humans and Remnant warriors. The Didact seals himself within the Forerunner mountain facility, choosing to wait until the infection destroys the humans before it starves to death.

Reckoning – Chief

After entering unmarked airspace, the Chief lands his phantom near a Forerunner pillar on a desert plain. There he confronts Dr. Halsey about her aiding the Remnant, forcing her to reveal that Osman had her execution ordered. When he asks why, Halsey says Osman resents her for abducting her as a child for the Spartan II program; she also frequently voiced her discontent against the immoral actions of the doctor during her work in ONI. The Chief vows to protect her long enough to defeat the Didact and possibly clear both of their names. In orbit, Thel has received word that UNSC forces are in full retreat, and that a “parasite” has been released from Forerunner holding facilities beneath the planet’s surface. He takes a squad of Sangheili Honor Guard and flies to the surface of New Llanelli to assist the humans, fighting off the flood as the humans flee to the cruiser’s gravity lifts.

Damned – Thel

After assisting the evacuation of the human ground forces, Thel falls into a crevice where he finds the roots of the gravemind growing. Abandoning his Honor Guard, Thel follows the roots underground to a large chamber housing the gravemind. It tells Thel that there are still Forerunners alive on other planets, “neither dead nor alive, but in eternal slumber.” He then goes on to say that the Didact is seeking to resurrect the hibernating Forerunners by assembling the pieces of the Janus Key. The Gravemind offers its help in aiding Thel against the Didact, but the Sangheili warrior rejects the offer before attempting to battle the creature. However, he is nearly overwhelmed by the flood and instead returns above ground. On the surface he finds a crashed banshee and flies it to the Chief’s last known location, the Path of the Righteous. Reaching the wreckage of the ship, Thel witnesses the Chief arrive in his commandeered phantom with Dr. Halsey and the rest of Blue Team. He asks them why they haven’t withdrawn to the human-controlled ships, since his Sangheili fleet is preparing to glass the city of New Wales in order to contain the Flood. The Chief says that he needs to destroy the Didact, and Thel agrees to go with him. Dr. Halsey then decides to flee the planet in a human frigate they found grounded near the wreckage of Path of Righteous, and Chief orders the rest of Blue Team to escort her. When he asks Halsey where she is going, she says she intends to visit the hidden insurrectionist cell on the moon Titan. She further states that the only way the Key of Janus can be used is by inserting it into the Absolute Library, which she does not know the location of. Leaving it in the hands of the Chief is, in her opinion, safer than bringing it with her to a human outpost, where it could draw the Didact’s forces near. As she leaves in the frigate with Blue Team and evades the allied ships in orbit, the Chief and Thel board the phantom and leave the wreckage of the Path of the Righteous.

Kilo-Five – Chief

As the Chief flies the phantom towards the Forerunner mountain structure, the aircraft is pursued and shot down by members of Kilo Five, severely injuring Thel. Although the Sangheili warrior sadly admits that he would prefer to die in battle than return to his ruined homeworld, the Chief tries to carry him. This, however, worsens Thel’s wounds and forces the Chief to leave him under a tree near the shoulder of the mountain, as he cannot move without assistance. While conducting reconnaissance of the surrounding valley below, the Chief catches sight of Naomi-010 and her ONI escort, who appear to be headed for the mountain. He engages them from the high ground, holding them off until three hundred Spartan IVs enter the area from space using HEV pods, ordered by Osman to execute the Chief and any of his accomplices while securing the Forerunner mountain structure as a fallback point from the flood. Retreating up the mountain pursued by Naomi-010, the Chief evades and then ambushes the Spartan II, triggering a flashback from his training in the forests of Reach. It was there that he fought against members of Tango Company in a competition of Capture the Flag, and also where he helped free Naomi from a barracks held by the Marines. Returning to reality, the Chief spares the injured Spartan II and asks her how many Spartan IIs are left, to which she replies there are thirty. She also reveals all of Kilo Fives activities on Sanghelios and New Llanelli, and how they had tried to provoke a Sangheili civil war to help humanity recover and gain supremacy. Naomi then dies from her wounds in John’s arms. The Chief then throws her into a deep glacial chasm to prevent her from being consumed by the Flood. Returning to the tree where he left the Arbiter down near the valley, the Chief discovers that his body is missing, and that a trail of blood was left leading towards the Forerunner structure.

Showdown – Chief

After following the blood to the summit of the mountain above the clouds, the Chief reaches the frontal façade of the Forerunner spire, which appears similar to those he encountered on Requiem. Before he can approach it any further, one of Thel’s cruisers infected by the Flood crashes in his path, allowing thousands of Combat Forms to swarm the summit. Several Remnant Orbital Insertion Pods arrive to reinforce the Didact’s position, battling the Flood and the Chief. The remaining Promethean Knights guarding the Didact exit the spire to assist the Remnant. Battling his way through the carnage of the three armies, the Chief finally enters the structure and confronts the Didact. The Forerunner reveals that other members of his race are still alive in stasis on various installations. After his kind fled the galaxy following the activation of the Halo Array, many of his supporters, including his Prometheans, chose to enter a “millennial slumber” in order to outlive the forces of the Librarian, who had apparently survived the ring activation. He then claims that he released the parasite to cleanse the galaxy of humans, himself and his Promethean Knights immune to the infection. When the Chief says the Flood will consume all sentient life including the humans, the Didact counters that the genetic information used in the first reseeding of the galaxy can be used a second time to repopulate it after he activates the Halo Array. Battling the Didact and his remaining guards, the Chief manages to beat back the Forerunner long enough for the Flood to breach the facility and distract the Prometheans. Fleeing from the Chief, the Didact triggers a slipspace portal with his suit and enters it, leaving the remaining Prometheans and his human adversary to their fates. He exits the portal back on Beta Halo, walking alone towards an immense flat Forerunner artifact that appears to be an ark portal.

Absolute Record – Chief

The Flood reaches the room housing the Prometheans and proceeds to overwhelm them as the Chief escapes in a lift to the top of the spire. Overhead, he sees several Covenant loyalist ships fire upon the land below, glassing the already ruined city of New Wales to prevent the infection from spreading. Due to the intelligence of the Gravemind, the Flood is coordinated and dangerous, aiming to infiltrate the allied fleet and escape New Llanelli. Reaching the top of the spire, the Chief discovers a Forerunner device similar to a cartographer, which emits a map of the galaxy showing millions of yet undiscovered Forerunner installations after he inserts the Key of Janus into it. The Chief deduces that the machine is the Absolute Record, mentioned earlier by Halsey before she left the planet. When he presses his hand, covered in the Didact’s blood following their struggle in the lower spire, across the machine’s interface, the symbol for Forerunner appears on the galactic map. Thousands of stars glow bright orange, showing the locations of the dormant Forerunner populations. The Chief then realizes that the Didact, having known of these populations prior to entering the Cryptum, did not need the Key of Janus to discover them, instead seeking a way to reawaken them. Before he leaves, the Librarian appears in a vision to him, telling him that the Didact is headed for Delta Halo to activate the dormant Forerunners, and gives him a significant portion of the pieces of Cortana that were scattered throughout New Llanelli, manifested in a small handheld Forerunner information storage device. She says that prior to transferring ancillas into Monitors, their ‘souls’ were stored in pieces of technology such as these. She says that the pieces of Cortana are still unassembled, missing other integral parts of their original programming, but assures him that they can be refit together if the Chief finds the “organic source of the ancilla,” in this case Halsey. Regretting having let the scientist flee the planet too early, the Chief decides to find her after defeating the Didact once and for all in order to revive Cortana. Before he leaves the vision, he asks the Librarian is she is still indeed alive as the Didact claimed, to which she replies yes, but not in the world inhabited by the Chief. She was one of the few Forerunners who left the galaxy after taking shelter in the lesser Ark during the firing of the Halo Array, her semblance in the vision being an ancilla cloned from her brain that she left in the systems of several installations as a lasting legacy, the purpose of which was to help the descendants of humankind. Leaving the vision, the Chief finds the Flood have reached his position, and is nearly killed before the Arbiter arrives in a Broadsword and evacuates him from the roof of the spire.

Escape From Hell – Chief

Flying the Broadsword over the burning planet, the Chief asks Thel how he managed to commandeer the aerodyne, to which he replies that it was among the equipment left in the camp abandoned by Kilo Five at the base of the mountain. After descending the cliff, he had managed to use his suit’s stealth abilities to evade the Flood and reach the vehicle before flying it to rescue the Chief. The two lands the Broadsword on a hill overlooking the grounded Infinity, intending to infiltrate the ship before it takes off, since it is the only means they have of leaving the planet. As they prepare to leave, Spartan IV soldiers arrive and prepare to battle them. Among them is Parisa, whom the Chief recognizes immediately. Knowing that she is unaware of his identity and would readily kill him as a traitor, the Chief allows himself to be arrested by her squad. When the Chief is brought aboard the Infinity and met by Lasky, he reveals that ONI had conducted black ops to subvert Sangheili peace and had committed treasonous crimes against the UNSC. Lasky reluctantly agrees to release the Chief on those terms. When Palmer finds out, she doesn’t argue but warns that due to ONI’s influence in the UNSC War Council, he could be court martialed for subordination, to which he replies that it no longer matters in the scheme of defending the galaxy from the Flood and the Forerunners. Majestic and Crimson, along with most of the Spartan IVs, object to letting the Chief onboard due to the losses they suffered by him, and threaten to mutiny against their officers. The Chief is able to pacify them by relating to their collective sufferings and saying that he lost most of his unit throughout the course of the fabled Human Covenant War, along with his AI companion Cortana, effectively losing his entire “family.” Understanding John’s grief and realizing that his altruism helped save humanity and the universe several times over, the audience of Marines and Spartan IV’s feels a strong solidarity towards him and agrees not to mutiny. As the Infinity leaves the planet, now burning and surrounded by the Sangheili fleet, John tells Del Rio that Didact is headed for Beta Halo to reawaken Forerunner stasis capsules hidden throughout the galaxy. The Captain, however, refuses to comply and blames the Chief for the deaths of his Spartan IV crewmates and various members of the UNSC Navy, forcing the Chief to restrain him in the ship’s brig. While many of the crew still supports John, including Majestic, others are still angry towards him for killing their comrades and incarcerating Del Rio, including Crimson. Conspiring amongst themselves against the Chief and his supporters, Crimson vows to follow the execution order authorized by ONI that Majestic had failed to carry out, deciding to kill the Spartan in the heat of battle when he is distracted. Before the Infinity transitions to slipspace, Thel gives orders to his ships to glass the entire planet three times over to ensure that the parasite is contained, and tells his commanders that he is heading to defend their homeworld with the humans.

Millennial Awakening – Chief

Arriving in the Sanghelios system, the Infinity and several Sangheili Loyalist ships make landfall on Beta Halo, this time on the side of the ring opposite the city of Ramos, where the Didact has taken control of local Sentinel and Promethean defenses to secure a large Forerunner artifact ten miles in diameter. A fleet of Remnant ships has also joined his cause, led by the former Sangheili prisoner ‘Jaramee, who escaped incarceration amidst the confusion caused by a second Jiralhanae incursion into Vadam. Rtas has already gathered a fleet to engage the Remnant over Beta Halo, and forms a plan with the humans to provide a distraction while the Infinity attacks the Remnant from the side. The warship lands on the surface of the ring and deploys a large tank column from its ventral loading bay, followed by several Marine battalions. As the column pushes towards the artifact with the Infinity following overhead, the human ships engage the Remnant fleet hovering above the artifact, causing several of them to crash around the tank column. The artifact is revealed to be flat, similar to the portal leading to the lesser ark near Voi in Kenya. As the tanks cross it, lead by the Chief at the vanguard, they cause the Prometheans and Remnant guarding the edges to route towards the center. In the chaos of the battle, the tank column becomes scattered amidst the debris strewn across the battlefield, allowing Crimson to attack the Chief from afar using sniper rifles and rocket launchers. They nearly succeed in exploding his tank until he abandons it and hides behind the remains of a Banshee. It turns out that BB has been broadcasting a signal from the Chief’s helmet to Crimson. Recognizing them for a Spartan IV fireteam, the Chief assumes that they were sent by Osman to kill him, and promptly eliminates them. After reporting the incident to Lasky, the Chief reunites with the rest of the UNSC forces. Reaching the center of the artifact, the tank column finds the Didact surrounded by a Forerunner shield. He activates the portal, causing the center of the artifact, which is two miles in diameter, to descend below ground. A blinding light emerges from the opening in the ground, causing many of the soldiers to turn away. Soon after the Didact disappears, the shield surrounding the shaft fails, allowing the UNSC forces to advance towards its edge. The Chief jumps from his tank into the opening and falls several hundred feet to the floor, where a slipspace portal has been activated. Entering it, he receives a vision of the Forerunners after the firing of the Halo array, depicting them as they fought amongst themselves about whether to kill the prehistoric humans rescued on the lesser ark, or to let them prosper. Eventually, a war broke out, and the warrior-servants who had supported the Didact were forced to retreat to secret slipspace capsules to escape the life-workers commanded by the Librarian. The life-workers then proceeded to reseed the galaxy and finally disappear, as described by the Librarian. Exiting the vision, the Chief finds himself in a habitable dyson sphere housed within a slipspace bubble. He confronts the Didact, whose suit was damaged during the battle with the humans, preventing him from using his telekinesis to restrain the human soldier. The Chief fights and kills the Didact in a fierce duel, before taking fire from an unseen adversary and being forced to retreat through the slipspace portal back to the ringworld. As the Chief readies his rifle along with his countless comrades surrounding the portal, a powerful wind is emitted, causing several of the vehicles to be thrown backwards along with their occupants. Humanoid figures emerge from the portal, Forerunner warrior-servants reawakened from their ancient sleep. They then proceed to nearly annihilate the human ground forces, causing a widespread retreat from the ringworld. The Chief watches from the bridge of the Infinity as Forerunner ships reactivate throughout the ring, piloted by their Forerunner makers. The Chief tells Lasky that although the Didact is dead, his warrior-servants and Prometheans are continuing his legacy of annihilating humanity.

Epilogue

In the epilogue, the ruins of the Sangheili fleet around New Llanelli are shown, suggesting that the flood escaped the system.

 

whoa,   , so are you a 343i writer or are you writing a novel because that right there is awesomesauce with a side of legendary although I'm not too keen on the flood returning, but what do I know I'm just one man 

[spartan123]

whoa,   , so are you a 343i writer or are you writing a novel because that right there is awesomesauce with a side of legendary although I'm not too keen on the flood returning, but what do I know I'm just one man 

Thanks. I've been on multiple singleplayer threads and have read a lot of the community's ideas. If there was one collective story that encompassed literally every single one of those singleplayer ideas, it would be the above story. I wanted to submit it to 343, so I thought this forum was the best place. It took me roughly five sundays to complete. And as for the Flood, I think we haven't seen the last of them - remember, there are still other installations with dormant flood specimens, like the other halos.