Halo universe

The Halo universe is a fictional setting for the video games Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, the future games Halo 3 and Halo Wars, and the books listed on Halo (video game series).

The Covenant
A theocratic hegemony comprising many species of aliens led by a caste of religious leaders known as "Prophets." Engaged in a 27-year war with humanity and currently embroiled in a genocidal civil war, they serve as the initial and primary antagonists throughout Halo, Halo 2, and other Halo media.

United Nations Space Command
This is the main military defense branch of the Halo universe's United Nations, a world government evolved from the modern day UN.

UNSC Planets and Locations

 * Earth - Humanity's homeworld, heavily fortified with 300 Super MAC Platforms (since the fall of Reach) and having the second of the two United Nations Space Command Headquarters. Earth is being invaded and occupied by Covenant forces during the ending of Halo 2 and during Halo 3.
 * New Mombasa, East African Protectorate - The first city attacked when the Covenant invaded Earth in October 2552. The Ark, a Forerunner structure that commands the Halos, is rumored to be located just outside of New Mombasa, somewhere between the city and Mount Kilimanjaro. In the final story in the Halo Graphic Novel, "Second Sunrise over New Mombasa", a journalist and several Marines overhear a conversation between two Elites, one of whom confirms that the Ark is present at New Mombasa's location and that they must clear the area to secure it.
 * The Ark - Located in the vicinity of New Mombasa, this structure is buried deep underground and is indicated to be a mechanism to activate the Halo network.
 * Reach - The planet Reach was the strategic and military HQ for the human United Nations Space Command. Located in the Epsilon Eridani star system, Reach was the biggest spaceport after Earth and served as the main fortress of defense during the 27 year Human-Covenant war.

Originally colonized for its rich titanium deposits, Reach had mines throughout it running thousands of meters deep. UNSC High Command, Fleet Command and the Marine Corps had headquarters on Reach, as well as many primary Office of Naval Intelligence bases, which include CASTLE Base. CASTLE base was located on Reach underneath the Menachite Mountain range. This facility is where the Spartans first began their training. The facility was destroyed after the planet's fall to the Covenant in October 2552. A secret area beneath Reach's surface contained a Forerunner artifact that was highly desired by the Covenant. The fact that this artifact was so valuable to them is perhaps the main reason anyone survived Reach at all, because the Covenant were fearful of destroying it and did not target a large area around the mountain range when they glassed the planet and wiped out the rest of its inhabitants.

The Covenant discovered the location of Reach after the battle of Sigma Octanus IV. Using a diversionary attack, they ensured human ships would scan for survivors after the battle then attached a spy drone onto the UNSC ship Iroquois. This drone took images of star constellations for several days before returning to a waiting ship by Slipspace, telling to the Covenant every place the human ship had been. They presumably scouted every system before finding Reach.

Reach was defended by more than a hundred UNSC ships, including the Hannibal, Pillar of Autumn, and the supercarrier Trafalgar. In addition to the fleet, Reach was defended by 20 Mark V Orbital Magnetic Accelerator Canon satellites (called SMAC, or Super MAC guns, and capable of propelling a round at 40% of lightspeed using superconducting magnets). Though the defenses were enormous, they couldn't hold back the Covenant onslaught, which was prepared to sacrifice a single ship for the destruction of a MAC gun. The human fleet was decimated and its ground forces obliterated by the Covenant - the remaining ships, including the Pillar of Autumn, were forced to jump out of the system. After the Forerunner artifact on the surface was located, the Covenant "set fire" to Reach by "glassing" the planet with plasma. This presumably killed all remaining humans on the planet and scorched it to the point of being uninhabitable, save for the tiny section in which the search for artifacts continued.

After the events at Halo, the Master Chief returned to Reach on the captured Covenant flagship Ascendant Justice to search for any survivors of the Spartan team he sent down to defend the surface. Several Spartans had survived, along with a member of Reach's high command, Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb, and Dr. Halsey, the head of the Spartan project and a major human scientist. During the novel, Halo: First Strike, the survivors of Reach returned to the small section of the surface that was not destroyed and recovered a Forerunner artifact that was buried deep in the surface. Several more Covenant ships were destroyed by the AI Cortana aboard Ascendant Justice, and the survivors escaped Reach to Slipspace.

Several experimental nuclear bombs (codenamed Novas, and featuring a lithium triteride casing that would boost the yield a hundredfold) were in development on Reach at the time of the Covenant attack. Vice Admiral Whitcomb rigged the bombs to explode ten days after the initial invasion, hoping that the Covenant would either take the bombs back to their homeworld for study or that when they exploded, the Novas would take out their foes on Reach. Due to the fact that just ten hours was left on the countdown when the Admiral and other survivors escaped,Covenant engineers deactivated the bombs, placing them in the storage bay of a Covenant supercarrier. Through a freak accident and more tampering of the engineers, at least one of the NOVA bombs detonated destroying a full Covenant battle group, a medium sized moon, and causing complete devastation of a near by Covenant held planet.


 * ONI Castle Base - Located on Reach, is the headquarters of Office of Naval Intelligence operations. A crystal of unusual characteristics with the ability to affect not only gravity, but space time is found in an ancient Forerunner cave buried deep underneath the Castle Base.


 * Jericho VII - The location of the battle at the beginning of the Fall of Reach, an Inner Colony, destroyed by the Covenant at the beginning of 2535.
 * Paris IV - Site of a major battle between the UNSC and Covenant forces; Sergeant Major A.J. Johnson is a veteran of the battle, where he supposedly contracted Boren's Syndrome, making him immune to Flood infestation.
 * Eridanus 2 – Eridanus 2 was the home planet of the SPARTAN II supersoldier Master Chief John-117.
 * Harvest – A human outer colony "farm" planet, first target of the Covenant and glassed by them in 2525.
 * Sigma Octanus IV — A colony planet in the Halo series, significant because Installation 04's "coordinates" were discovered there on a shard of ancient rock.
 * Coral - An inner colony which is glassed by the Covenant during the I Love Bees plot line. Formerly the site of a UNSC/ONI archaeological dig that uncovered a Forerunner structure.
 * Troy - A colony which had prior warning from an ONI Corvette, of an impending attack by the Covenant. Evacuation was slow and had barely begun when the attack occurred and the evacuation was covered up by ONI and the UNSC to prevent hostilities rising from the civilian populace against the UNSC.
 * Draco III - A world attacked by the Covenant sometime before the events of Sigma Octanus IV. Because they couldn't reach the location in time, the SPARTAN-II's watched via satellite as Covenant Grunts and Jackals slaughtered a group of survivors.

The Forerunners
An ancient,very technologically advanced and mysterious race that died out millennia ago after an extended period of war with the Flood. Built the Halos and many other artifacts and structures throughout the galaxy. The only moving trace of the Forerunners left are sentials. They are 3 booms floating around a sphere They use a energy beam to defeat there enemies. They can form together to make a ship like structure capable to take down any covanet or human battle ship.

Forerunner locations

 * Threshold - The Gas Giant Installation 04 (or Alpha Halo) orbited before its destruction in the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. Two campaign levels in Halo 2 are set on a gas mine in Threshold's low orbit, as well as a multiplayer map set on its moon Basis.


 * Substance - The Gas Giant Installation 05 (or Delta Halo) orbits.


 * Halos - Titanic ring-shaped constructs that serve as weapons of last resort to contain the Flood.


 * Onyx - Artificial "shield world" constructed by the Forerunners, formed from literally trillions of Sentinels interlocked into a planetary body. Served as the training ground for the SPARTAN-III program. At the core of the planet is a Slipspace rift that connects to a compressed Dyson Sphere isolated from normal space-time, which serves as a bomb shelter against the activation of the Halos.

The Flood
A virulent, parasitic alien race that absorbs individuals with sufficient mass and intelligence as part of itself. The Flood appears to be a hive or communal mind, possibly under one leader (such as Gravemind). The Flood spores mutate the host's body into a combat form, which if sustaining sufficient damage becomes a carrier form, an incubator for more spores. The Flood is considered a parasite and dangerous enemy by both the Covenant and UNSC.

Travel

 * Slipspace is the primary method of faster than light travel in the Halo universe.
 * The space elevator in New Mombasa is used to transport goods and people from earth's surface to space quickly and efficiently.
 * Wheeled vehicles similar in appearance to today's vehicles are used as the main mode of civilian transport on earth's surface, as seen in Halo 2.

UNSC Weapons
This rifle is gas-operated and magazine-fed. It fires 7.62mm armor-piercing rounds. Rate of fire is limited by a soldier's ability to aim, fire and change magazines. Short, controlled bursts are more accurate than fully automatic fire.
 * MA5B Assault Rifle:

This rifle has the exact features of the MA5B but it's sole purpose is for taring. It has been modified to fire stun rounds.
 * MA5K Training Rifle:

The MA5B's integrated computer displays round left in the magazine and the relative direction of the gas giant, Threshold, for point of reference. This feature is particularly useful for orienting you in areas where it's easy to get turned around and lose your sense of direction.

This pistol is a recoil-operated, magazine-fed handgun. It is issued with a smart linked scope capable of 2x magnification (press in the Right thumbstick). It fires 12.7mm semi-armor piercing, high-explosive rounds. It can shoot either semi-automatic or automatic fire (pull and hold the Right trigger for automatic fire.)
 * M6D Pistol:

Shot placement is very important. The only shot that guarantees immediate and total incapacitation is one roughly centered in the head, above a horizontal line passing through the ear opening and below the crown of the alien skull.

The M19 SSM is a man-portable and shoulder-fired rocket launcher. It has two major components, the launcher and the magazine. The magazine (the expendable part of the system) contains two 102mm shaped-charge, high-explosive rockets. It is designed for fast, easy detachment from the launcher. The launcher contains the sighting and fire control systems.
 * M19 SSM Rocket Launcher:

The SPANRker Missle tube uses the M19 SSM Rocket but it is protible ,and canot be reloded.
 * SPANRker Missle tube:

The M9 high-explosive, dual-purpose grenade is a thrown fragmentation device. Use it to suppress or disable vehicles, except tanks. It can be thrown, rolled, bounced or ricocheted into places direct fire weapons can't reach. Increase the angle of the throw to toss it farther, or to get it over obstacles. Be careful not to throw it too close to your own location.
 * M9 HE-DP Fragmentation Grenade:

The shotgun is a pump-action magazine-fed (dual tubular non-detachable type) weapon. It fires 8 gauge magnum (3.5") rounds. This weapon is very effective against targets at close range and may be used to engage several targets simultaneously at medium and long range.
 * M90 Combat Shotgun:

This rifle is a gas-operated, magazine-fed weapon. It is issued with a smart-linked scope with two levels of magnification (press in the Right thumbstick one for 2x, press again for 10x, and once more to deactive). Also, while still in zoom mode you can press the White button to active light amplification. It fires 14.5 armor piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot rounds.
 * S2 AM Sniper Rifle:

The Warthog's M41 light anti-aircraft gun is a three-barreled, electric-powered, linkless, drum-fed weapon. It fires 450 to 550 12.7x99mm armor penetrating rounds per minute. Turret traverse rate is 100 degrees per second and weapon elevation rate is 60 degrees per second. Recoil from sustained fire is prodigious and negatively impacts accuracy at long range.
 * M41 LAAG:

Covenant Weapons
This is a directed energy weapon. It is capable of either semiautomatic or automatic fire (pull and hold the Right trigger for automatic fire). Continuous rapid fire overheats the weapon--this in turn depletes the weapon's power core.
 * Plasma Rifle:

This weapon is a semi-automatic directed energy weapon. If you pull and hold the Right trigger, the weapon may become over-charged: when the Right trigger is released the bolt is launched. After the over-charged bolt is launched the weapon temporarily stops functioning as it dumps waste heat. Use of the over-charge capability rapidly depletes the weapon's power core.
 * Plasma Pistol:

Very little is known about this weapon other than it is a magazine fed weapon capable of automatic fire. Its projectiles penetrate soft targets no matter what the angle of impact. They ricochet off of hard surfaces at oblique angles, however, and are always deflected by energy shields, the only exceptions to this being the shields generated by the MJOLNIR battle suit and the Elite's combat armor. The composition and energy signature of its projectile is unknown. The manner in which the projectiles home in on their target is also unknown.
 * Needler:

This weapon is similar to the M9 HE-DP fragmentation grenade in that it is a thrown anti-infantry and anti-vehicle weapon. It has some kind of internal mechanism that allows it to distinguish between targets and background. For example, it will stick to a soldier or vehicle, but not a tree or wall. It has a three-second fuse that is activated after it sticks to a target or otherwise comes to a rest.
 * Plasma Grenade:

Although it appears to be a light anti-vehicle weapon, the Covenant uses it almost exclusively in an anti-infantry role. The operator sits directly behind the gun and an armored control suite, but relies entirely on infantry support for protection to the sides and rear.
 * Plasma Turret:

In Halo on Xbox, this weapon is only usable by two classes of Covenant -- the Special Ops Grunts, found in the later levels of the game, and the Hunters. In the upcoming version of Halo for PC/Mac, however, it has been confirmed that in multiplayer, everyone will be able to pick this weapon.
 * Fuel Rod Cannon:

Weapon additions
The Battle Rifle is a new addition to your arsenal. It's an extremely versatile weapon, capable of being both a semi-automatic weapon for close range, and a sniper rifle for long range. Featuring what looks like a 2x zoom, the Battle Rifle will probably be a more advanced replacement for your pistol from Halo: Combat Evolved.
 * UNSC Battle Rifle:

Replacing the pistol from Halo: Combat Evolved, this sidearm comes equipped without the 2x scope.
 * UNSC Magnum:

As a new addition to your arsenal, the sub-machine gun can be duel-wielded. It is adviseable to fire it in short bursts, as to minimise recoil.
 * UNSC Caseless Sub-Machine Gun:

Stationary turrets do not live up to their predecessor the M41 LAAG, but they are more widely available.
 * UNSC Turret:

Now a useable weapon, the Energy Sword is a deadly new addition to the Master Chief's arsenal.
 * Covenant Energy Sword:

The Carbine is an energy-based Covenant weapon that is suitable for a variety of methods of combat. It has the ability to zoom for more accurate assault of targets at medium to long ranges - although it is not the Covenant's answer to the human sniper rifle. Its offensive firepower is similar to the human Battle Rifle.
 * Covenant Carbine:

The Covenant beam rifle is the Covenant forces' answer to the Sniper Rifle. This weapon does not use ammunition (like most Covenant weaponry) and will overheat after four successive shots, keeping the Beam Rifle on par with the human Sniper Rifle.
 * Covenant Beam Rifle:

The Brute Shot serves two purposes: an explosive projectile launcher, and a deadly melee weapon. Typically carried by Brutes, the weapon does a larger amount of splash damage than caused by a direct hit. A blade on the underside of the weapon can be pried into an enemy's skull during close-combat situations, making carriers of the Brute Shot deadly opponents.
 * Covenant Brute Shot:

Early Conflicts
In the years 2160-2200, various governments, and factions fought for control of Earth and its first Colonies. As overpopulation and unrest on Earth mounted, new political movements formed including the Jovian Frieden and Koslovics led by Vladimir Koslov, resurgences of Fascism and Neo Communism which waged the Interplanetary, Rain Forest Wars Campaign and Mars clashes and were defeated by the United Nations Space Command.

The human colonization of the Orion Arm
In the years 2170-2291, the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) successfully developed humanity's first faster than light drive, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine. For the first time in history, the rapid colonization of other worlds is made possible. By 2390, 210 worlds had been occupied by humans, and were being actively terraformed to suit man's needs. These worlds are to become known as the Inner Colonies. By 2490, the UNSC's fledging Interstellar Empire had expanded to between 800 to 1000 planets throughout the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. During this period, the planet Reach becomes one of the two headquarters of the UNSC military and government (the other was Earth itself), and is destined to become the most heavily fortified world under human control and the Inner Colonies became the heart of the United Nations Imperial Government.

In addition, there were numerous small-scale brushfire wars in the Outer Colonies, which served to tax UNSC resources.

Rebellion/SPARTAN Project
At the time of 2517, The UNSC was facing extremely low morale due to piracy and the Brushfire Wars. In order to remove the rebellion without a significant sacrifice of human life, Dr. Catherine Halsey moves forward with the SPARTAN-II project. 75 gifted children were abducted and replaced by flash-clones, and drafted into the UNSC. The children went through rigorous training and physical augmentations. Code-named SPARTANs, these genetically enhanced troops were trained from the age of six into a life of battle, and would become a great asset against the Covenant.

On September 12, 2525 the Spartans were sent to the Eridanus II system to capture Colonel Robert Watts. The mission was successful, and therefore significantly reduced the pirate threat. However, the role of the SPARTANs did not end with the capture of Robert Watts, since they were needed for the new war against the Covenant.

Shortly after the capture of Colonel Robert Watts, the SPARTANs became part of the UNSC's military ground forces. Before engaging the Covenant, all SPARTANs were given special armor designated MJOLNIR Mark IV, which, in laymen’s terms, can increase their strength, speed, and reaction time. They were the only ones who could wear it, as those without the proper body training or biological augmentations killed themselves with strength-enhanced convulsions.

The Human-Covenant War begins
On February 3, 2525, an orbital platform near the UNSC colony of Harvest detected an unknown object on its long range radar. The object was constructed with materials unlike anything seen before. All contact with Harvest was lost soon after. The Colonial Military Administration sent the scout ship Argo to investigate. That ship arrived in-system on April 20, but other than a brief transmission to confirm it arrived in the system, no further reports were made. In response, UNSC Fleet Command assembled a battle group consisting of the destroyer Heracles as well as the frigates Arabia and Vostok. They entered the Harvest System on October 7 and discovered the once-lush planet to be completely incinerated and the surface melted down to glass. All three million inhabitants were presumed dead. The battlegroup soon then found the vessel responsible for the attack still orbiting the planet. The vessel, which was identified later as belonging to the alien alliance known as the Covenant then launched an immediate attack upon the three UNSC ships. Only one, the Heracles, managed to limp back to Reach, badly damaged. The Heracles returned with a message that was sent to them, pre-translated, saying, "Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument".

In response, the UNSC was placed on full alert and on November 1; Vice Admiral Preston Cole mobilized the largest space fleet in human history to retake Harvest.

Vice Admiral Cole's war fleet defeated the Covenant ships at Harvest in 2531. The victory was celebrated and publicized on every colony all the way to Earth. The UNSC media however didn't mention that Cole had won only because he outnumbered the Covenant three to one, and even then, he had lost two-thirds of his fleet. Promoted to Admiral, Cole spent the next four years waging a costly campaign to defend the colonies from continued Covenant assault. However despite his excellent leadership and tactical brilliance, one by one the colony worlds fell. The highly advanced Covenant ships simply outclassed the UNSC vessels due to the fact that they had energy shields and their plasma weapons were vastly superior to UNSC chemical and projectile weaponry.

By 2535, virtually all of the Outer Colony worlds had been destroyed by the Covenant and the Inner Colonies were being invaded. The Cole Protocol was established by military order: all human vessels must ensure that Covenant forces do not find Earth. To do this they must jump out of a battle to a randomised vector that points away from any human worlds.

The Battle of Reach
By 2552, many of Humanity's Outer Colonies had been destroyed by the Covenant (although they were repulsed with significant losses at Sigma Octanus IV). In a move of desperation, the UNSC ordered a secret plan to capture a Covenant ship using a SPARTAN task force and find the coordinates of their home planet. A group of SPARTANs, led by the Master Chief, are chosen for this mission, and board a specially outfitted Halcyon-class cruiser, the Pillar of Autumn, under the command of Captain Jacob Keyes, as well as an upgrade to the MJOLNIR Mark V armor, completely integrated with an energy shielding system and AI interface. The Master Chief meets and is assigned Cortana, who is to serve as his team's hacker and Covenant technology specialist. This plan, however, was interrupted when the Covenant launched a surprise attack on the fortress world of Reach, which they had deviously located via an automated probe attached to the hull of the UNSC destroyer Iroquois.

During this battle, most of Reach is overrun and glassed, and the human fleet is obliterated, as the humans were outnumbered over three to one, giving them absolutely no chance, even with orbital MAC emplacements. Worse still, the Master Chief believed that all of the remaining SPARTAN-IIs were killed on the surface of the planet during its bombardment (a few of the SPARTANs are revealed to have survived in Halo: First Strike). The last remaining SPARTAN, the Master Chief, escapes with the Pillar of Autumn. In accordance with the Cole Protocol, the Autumn follows a "randomized" slipspace vector which leads to the discovery of the Halo installation. This vector is later revealed to have been quickly generated from some Forerunner hieroglyphs by Cortana.

First Strike
Occurs between the first and second Halo video games. The story starts off with Master Chief and a few other survivors in space above the destroyed Halo. They capture a Covenant flagship and make their way back to Reach. When they arrive they find the entire planet ravaged. Yet something is strange. The Covenant usually glass a world and move on, but there are small patches of the planet left unscathed. In an alternate storyline we find out that other spartans have found an ancient Forerunner structure under ONI's Castle Base. There they find a special artifact that warps space time.

Cortana, now in control of the Covenant ship, docks with a partially destroyed UNSC ship and combines their power (and also to allow them to return to Earth without violating the Cole Protocol by bringing a potentially "bugged" Covenant ship with them). After toying around with the controls she realizes that the Covenant know virtually nothing about the technology they possess. She redesigns the plasma cannons to fire more effectively, increasing their destructive power. She also finds out how the Covenant move so easily through slipspace. The technology she gathers could effectively turn the tide of the war.

After going through many battles the Master Chief and other spartans discover a massive plot to attack the Sol system (Earth). They covertly attack and destroy a massive Covenant refit and repair station along with an attack force many times larger than the one that attacked Reach. In doing so they lose the Covenant flagship; however, they save the UNSC ship and escape back to earth with it. Thus begins Halo 2.