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The Story So Far
The year is 2552. Planet Earth still exists, but overpopulation has forced many of her former residents to colonize other worlds.
Faster-than-light travel is now a reality, and Earth’s unified government, through the United Nations Space Command, has put its full weight behind the colonization effort—millions of humans now live on habitable planets in other solar systems. A keystone of humanity’s colonization efforts is the planet Reach, an interstellar naval yard that builds colony ships for civilians and warships for the UNSC’s armed forces. Conveniently close to Earth, Reach is also a hub of scientific and military activity.
Thirty-two years ago, contact with the outer colony Harvest was lost. A battlegroup sent to investigate was almost completely destroyed; only one badly damaged ship returned to Reach. Its crew told of a seemingly unstoppable alien warship that had effortlessly annihilated their forces.
This was humankind’s first encounter with a group of aliens they eventually came to know as the Covenant, a collective of alien races united in their fanatical religious devotion. Covenant religious elders declared humanity an affront to the gods, and the
Covenant warrior caste waged a holy war upon humanity with gruesome diligence.
After a series of crushing defeats and obliterated colonies, UNSC
Admiral Preston Cole established the Cole Protocol: no vessel may inadvertently lead the Covenant to Earth. When forced to withdraw, ships must avoid Earth-bound vectors—even if that means jumping without proper navigational calculations. Vessels in danger of capture must self-destruct.
On Reach, a secret military project to create cyborg super-soldiers takes on newfound importance. The soldiers of the SPARTAN-II project rack up an impressive record against the Covenant in test deployments, but there are too few of them to turn the tide of the war.
Existing SPARTAN-II soldiers are recalled to Reach for further augmentation. The plan: board a Covenant vessel with the improved SPARTAN-IIs and learn the location of the Covenant home world. Two days before the mission begins, Covenant forces strike Reach and annihilate the colony. The Covenant are now on
Earth’s doorstep. One ship, the Pillar of Autumn, escapes with the last SPARTAN-II and makes a blind jump into deep space, hoping to lead the Covenant away from Earth.
Bungie Fans Unite—
World Domination Imminent
At Bungie Studios, we take great pride in our relationship with our fan community. The fact of the matter is that we wouldn’t be where we are today without the support of a rabid, intelligent, and steadily growing fan base. While we’re not exactly sure what it is about Bungie that attracts such devotion, we humbly ask you to visit our world and see for yourself. To us, Bungie is not just a name—it’s a way of life. Next stop: world domination!
Bungie’s official online home and the hub of our robust community. Everything begins here: www.bungie.net
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Brothers and Sisters: the time is nigh. Join the 7th Column, Bungie’s Official Fan Club and together, the planet is ours! www.bungie.net/7thcolumn .
Visit Tru7h &
Reconciliation for everything Halo—news, screenshots, behindthe-scenes info and more. www.bungie.net/halo .
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