Editing The Halo Conflict

{{Status|RealWorld}}

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[[2552#August|August 30, 2552]]: The full might of a [[Covenant]] invasion force arrives on [[Reach]], its unparalleled power sweeping through the already weakened [[Human colonies|colony]]. This fortress world would most certainly [[Fall of Reach|fall]] , and under no circumstance could the [[Pillar of Autumn|Autumn]] be captured by the covenant. With the [[Epsilon Eridani Fleet|UNSC fleet]] completely battered above the planet, the Pillar of Autumn set course away from Reach. The [[UNSC]] ship carried [[Cortana]], an unparalleled [[Artificial Intelligence|AI construct]] of [[human]] creation, and the [[John-117|Master Chief]], the last known surviving [[SPARTAN-II|Spartan supersoldier]]. Though ordered by [[Captain]] [[Jacob Keyes]] to plot a random course away from the planet, Cortana instead chose the [[Soell system]] because of information gleaned from the [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV|Battle of Sigma Octanus]] only a month earlier. This [[Sigma Octanus IV artifact|intel]] indicated that the same [[Forerunner|alien race]] which had scattered [[Babd Catha Forerunner vessel|relics]] across the surface of Reach had placed special significance on Soell; more specifically, a site between the system's enormous gas giant, [[Threshold]], and its moon, [[Basis]]. On September 19, the Autumn arrived at this remote location bring Keyes and his crew face-to-face with [[Alpha Halo|Halo]], a ring-world installation ten-thousand kilometers in diameter, locked between the planet and its moon. The Autumn's crew also discovered that they weren't alone: the Covenant had followed them. The [[Fleet of Particular Justice]], lead by its [[Supreme Commander]] [[Thel 'Vadamee]], had pursued the ship to this distant location and now had its eyes set on the ring. For the Covenant, Halo represented the culmination of centuries of exploration and its sought-after activation would be the fulfillment of their "[[Great Journey]]". For humanity, the ring was a strange new world, but no sooner had they laid eyes on the installation then the covenant would lay siege to their ship. With the Autumn under fire, the decision could not have been more clear for Captain Keyes: get the Master Chief and Cortana off the vessel immediately. The UNSC could not afford losing either the Chief or Cortana, and all the information she possessed, to the Covenant's attack on the Autumn. So the Spartan retrieved Cortana and made his way to an [[Class-3 Bumblebee|escape pod]], launching down towards the ring's surface and bringing the fight to the covenant on the ground.  

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With the Covenant assaulting the ''Pillar of Autumn'', Captain Jacob Keyes [[United Nations Space Command Emergency Priority Order 098831A-1#Article 2|ordered]] the Master Chief to bring Cortana to the surface of the mysterious ring-world, safe from capture by the enemy. The Chief, accompanied by the ''Autumn's'' [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]] and lead by the [[Orbital Drop Shock Troopers|ODST]] [[Major]] [[Antonio Silva]], launched headlong toward the alien construct while Keyes and his crew crash-landed the ship. Upon reaching the Ring's surface, the Spartan and Cortana found a world untouched by time: vast fields and verdant hills, looming alien spires and enormous caverns. But it wasn't long before the Chief went to work, securing Marines and returning them to [[Alpha Base]], where Silva had set up a Command-and-Control center for the UNSC to operate from. However, further up-spin, the Covenant had done the same: the [[Ket-pattern battlecruiser|battlecrusier]] ''[[Truth and Reconcilliation]]'', damaged in the earlier skirmish, had come to rest above a plateau and was being used as a base of operations. This would be the Chief's next target. Captain Keyes and his crew had been captured by the Covenant and they were being held on the cruiser. Without fear, the Spartan drove deep into the belly of the beast, [[Battle for the Truth and Reconciliation|fighting]] through the Covenant horde and eventually securing the Captain. And it was there, within the bowels of the enemy ship, that Keyes began to unlock the mysteries of the Ring. Overhearing the Covenant's plans, the Captain explained that the Ring was called "Halo" and that it was a weapon of unimaginable power, one that their enemy fully intended to use. With this new-found information, Keyes sent the Chief and Cortana to a remote island. To the naked eye, this was an incredibly beautiful paradise, but that was only a facade. Below the island's surface lay Halo's map room, the [[Silent Cartographer]], the one place where the UNSC would learn how and where to access Halo's [[Control room|control center]]. Attempting to head the human forces off, the covenant had already made their way to the same structure, fortifying it while they attempted to unlock Halo's secrets from elsewhere. Unfortunately, the secrets the Covenant would unlock would be darker than anything humanity could have imagined. Deep below the Ring's surface, something stirred: an [[Flood|ancient force]] that was [[Forerunner-Flood war|long ago]] [[Great Purification|put to rest]] would once again be awakened.

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After learning of Captain Keyes' fate within the Flood containment facility, the Master Chief saw the true threat of the parasite: it was a violent unstoppable force which needed to be eradicated before it was given a chance to leave Halo. A Forerunner AI called 343 Guilty Spark explained that the only way to stop the flood was to activate the ring. So the Spartan complied, descending into the dark corridors of a structure called "the Library", where the activation process could be set into motion. Deep within this complex and past legions of flood lay the [[Activation Index]], a key which would fire the Halo Instillation when reunified with the Control Room's [[The Core|Core]]. But the only one who could initiate the activation was a [[Reclaimer]], an heir to the Forerunner lineage, a title only a human could claim. And so the Master Chief reached deep into the [[Index Chamber|heart of the Library]], ultimately retrieving the index. When they returned to the Control Room they attempted to fire Halo, but Cortana had different plans. Fully aware of the Forerunners' intentions for Halo, she prevented the index from activating the core, explaining to the Chief the true purpose of the ring. The Halo Array was built to destroy all sentient life in the galaxy. When one ring fired, the others would respond accordingly, their harmonic pulses penetrating every corner of the galaxy until it was completely devoid of intelligent life. Having no hosts to propagate their parasitic offspring, the Flood would be destroyed; but so would humanity, as would all other sentient life. With this new-found knowledge the Spartan retrieved Cortana and the two set their sights on the ''Pillar of Autumn's'' wreckage and its powerful [[fusion reactor]]s, the only way they could put an end to both Halo and the Flood. When [[Wildcat destabilization|detonated]], the reactors would destabilize the Ring's structure, breaking it apart and eradicating anything on its surface. After retrieving the Captain's [[Command neural interface|CNI Transponder]], the key to detonating the ''Autumn's'' reactors, the Chief and Cortona returned to the ship. But they were not alone. Guilty Spark, committed to the protection of Halo, had already arrived ahead of them and was prepared to prevent Cortana's plan. But despite his efforts, the ''Autumn'' would be destroyed by the Master Chief, taking Halo along with it. While the Spartan and Cortana would survive this cataclysmic event, the threat of the Covenant and the Flood would end for a time. But like many true threats their defeat would be only momentary: the Covenant had discovered the location of [[Installation 05|yet another Halo Ring]] and, tragically, the planet [[Earth]]. That would be the site of [[Battle of Earth|humanity's last stand against the Covenant]], and the beginning of the [[Battle of Installation 00|final chapter of the war]].

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