Halo: Nightfall: Difference between revisions

The series opens with [[Randall Aiken|Colonel Randall Aiken]], the [[Sedran Colonial Guard]]'s commander, looking upon a sunset over [[Sedra City]] in his apartment with his daughter [[Natalie Aiken|Natalie]]. In a voice-over, Aiken monologues about the nature of being a soldier and ominously hints at the events to come.

The story proper begins on the outskirts of Sedra City, where [[Jameson Locke|Lieutenant Commander Locke]] and his [[Locke's team|four-man team]] trail a [[Yonhet]] smuggler. The alien meets with a [[Sangheili Zealot]] and hands him [[stasis refrigerant|a device]] known to be used to contain bombs. The ONI agents split up; [[Gregory Ramos|Ramos]] apprehends the Yonhet while Locke goes after the Zealot. Locke follows the Elite into a city access tunnel, but the Zealot escapes after a brief duel. In the city, ONI operatives [[Jordan Gaines]] and [[Mason Hundley]] are implementing lockdown protocols but fail to prevent the Zealot from entering a crowded mall. Locke confronts the Sangheili and attempts to force him to surrender, but the Zealot instead jumps off a ledge and activates the device. The weapon releases an energy pulse which covers the entire city and beyond but appears harmless at first. However, civilians soon start showing symptoms of infection, having difficulty breathing and their veins being turning into darkened tendrils. Gaines and Hundley, who were in the immediate vicinity of the blast, are also affected and are taken to a [[Sedran Colonial Guard]] hospital where Colonel Aiken initially refuses to let the agents in due to his dislike of ONI. However, Locke convinces the colonel to allow the injured operatives to be treated.

===Chapter Two: Sourced from Hell===

The second chapter opens with the team's Condor in [[slipspace]] on its way to Alpha Shard. During the journey, the ONI agents bicker with the Sedrans while Locke reveals to Private Macer that Colonel Aiken was once a Spartan, showing her a [[data pad]] with Aiken's file which includes an image of him in [[MJOLNIR Mark IV]] armor. The crew arrive at their destination and land on the Halo's surface. Donning their [[Powered exoskeleton|powered]] [[Nightfall armor]], the ONI operators jump out of the Condor at a significant height while the Sedrans, with their less sophisticated combat suits, must rappel down. Macer pilots the dropship while most of the others move to secure an [[Bactrian-class freighter|Alerian tug]] seemingly used by the smugglers. The freighter is empty but is accompanied by a compartment used to store horses, as well as hoof prints leading away from the site. The ONI-Sedran Colonial Guard team move to the tracks' direction and come across two smugglers—[[Arris Le]] and [[Haisal Wari]]—mining the element in a cave. The smugglers attempt to escape but are quickly caught and [[Physical restraints|restrained]] by the ONI agents.  

===Chapter Three: Lifeboat Rules===

While the nine remaining members of the team continue their trek across the surface it becomes apparent that due to their lack of off-world communications and the destruction of the Condor, the smugglers' two-seated tug will be the only means of escaping Alpha Shard, meaning that part of the group will have to be left behind. Colonel Aiken concludes that the team must work together until the mission is complete, whereupon they will draw straws to decide which two individuals will make it. They then move out to obtain the HAVOK warhead from the wreckage of the Condor and destroy the deposits of the element. To prevent detection by the Lekgolo, the group remove their armor, although they retain the ONI operatives' oxygen packs due to the limited amount of oxygen in the local atmosphere.

===Chapter Five: Devil Take the Hindmost===

While Ramos, Horrigan and Arris attempts to go back to the tug, Arris tries to put Ramos against Horrigan by saying Horrigan is using both of them. Meanwhile in the Condor, Locke, Aiken and Macer find some weapons and finds that the Condor, now damaged, doesn't have the capacity to get them out of the ring, but they can go to the tug. Ramos confronts Horrigan but he replies to him that the tug has autopilot but also a biometric scan which is the reason why they needed Arris in the first place. With less than 30 minutes left, Aiken and Locke try to start to detonate the HAVOK nuke, but Macer reveals that there's a problem: the Condor has enough thrusters to fly but its cells are damaged, meaning they cannot get out of the canyon. Aiken then makes a plan: if they use the HAVOK's emergency cell, the Condor will have energy. Aiken orders Macer to put it into the Condor's system, but Locke says that they can't leave the bioweapon source intact. Aiken replies that the only way they can complete the mission is if only two of them go to the tug and the third manually activate the HAVOK. Near the tug, Ramos begins to suffocate, and he and Horrigan begin to use the last air source, but Arris manages to escape with the help of a laser cutter which he uses to cut his binds.

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File:Halo-Nightfall-Wallpaper.jpeg|''Halo: Nightfall'' first poster

File:Nightfall - Promo image.jpg|Promotional image of [[Locke's team]].

File:Nightfall - Overhead.jpg|The main cast on a hill.

File:Nightfall - LockeAikenMacerWisner.jpg|[[Macer]], [[Wisner]], [[Aiken]] and Locke.

File:Nightfall - Cover.jpg|Locke and Macer taking cover.

File:Nightfall - Estrin and Arris.jpg|Estrin and Arris.

File:Nightfall - Sangheili attack.png|A [[Sangheili Zealot]] attacking.

</gallery>