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).

United Nations Space Command
The UNSC is the main military defense branch of the Halo universe's United Nations, a human government evolved from the modern day United Nations. It has been reduced significantly by the ongoing attacks of the Covenant on UNSC space.

UNSC Planets and Locations

 * Earth - The human home planet, heavily fortified with 300 Super MAC Platforms and having the second of the two United Nations Space Command Headquarters. Africa seems to have become a developed region, as indicated by the City of New Mombasa, but no other locations or their conditions are given. Earth is being invaded with Africa being occupied by Covenant forces during Halo 2 and 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 Marithe 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 an entire 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, this is the headquarters of Office of Naval Intelligence operations. A crystal of unusual characteristics with the ability to affect not only gravity but also 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. A large number of orphans from this planet enlist for the SPARTAN-III project.
 * 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 along with some other future members of the SPARTAN-II special taskforce.
 * Harvest – A human outer colony "farm" planet, first target of the Covenant and glassed by them in 2525. A large number of orphans from this planet enlist for the SPARTAN-III program.
 * 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.The planet is home to several million humans. It was also the location of two historic victories over the Covenant fleet. The first was a minor battle in which Commander Jacob Keyes destroyed three enemy warships causing the fourth to retreat. The next, larger fleet scale battle, was considered the biggest human victory since Admiral Cole retook Harvest. Its capital city is called Cote D'Azur, and was destroyed by a SPARTAN-II team using a Havok nuclear mine after being overrun with Covenant ground forces.
 * 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. Coral's canon-status is in question, along with the rest of the Haunted Apiary alternate reality game.
 * 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-IIs watched via satellite as Covenant Grunts and Jackals slaughtered a group of survivors.
 * Mariposa - Practically nothing is known about this colony. First and only mentioned in the Halo Graphic Novel on page 86, it's status is largely unknown.

The Forerunners
The Forerunners are an ancient, technologically advanced and mysterious race that built the Halos and many other artifacts and structures throughout the galaxy. They died out millennia ago after an extended period of war with the Flood. In desperation, the Forerunners activated the Halo rings, thus killing themselves and all other potential food sources for the Flood. It is believed that the Forerunners were human.

Forerunner locations

 * Threshold - The gas giant that Installation 04 (or Alpha Halo) orbited before its destruction in the events of Halo: Combat Evolved. There is a multiplayer map set on its moon Basis, and two campaign levels set on a gas mine in Threshold's low orbit.


 * Substance - The gas giant that Installation 05 (Delta Halo) orbits.


 * Halos - Titanic ring-shaped constructs that serve as weapons of last resort to contain the Flood. Has the power to erase all life in the galaxy.


 * The Ark - Located in the vicinity of New Mombasa on Earth, this structure is buried deep underground and is indicated to be a mechanism to activate the Halo network.


 * Onyx - An 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.

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 Federal 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 exercises. Later in life, they were physically augmentated for increased bone strength, mental alertiveness and response increases, and musculature density enhancements. 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, which, in layman’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. Their energy shields and 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 achieve this whenever they must jump out of a battle, they must do so to a randomized 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, as well as capturing one of the Covenant's leaders. 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 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 discovers that most of the remaining SPARTAN-IIs were most likely killed on the surface of the planet during its bombardment. 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. Even though they lost the Covenant Flagship, Cortana still holds all the information that she gathered from the captured enemy ship. Thus begins Halo 2.