#Halo: Spartan Strike

[agentmaineapologist]

It's finally done. After 5 months of slaving over this piece and gallons of paint "accidentally" eaten, my baby is finished.

I'm likely gonna redo most of the top left quadrant later since it was rushed, but everything else looks pretty good in my humble opinions :)

[puppysdog]

remember this is your favorite, not which one you think is best quality!

[halopedia]

Lore Thursday — Tyrant

The Cheru-pattern Sky Striker, or Tyrant, is an anti-aircraft weapon emplacement capable of reaching orbiting starships. A Covenant design, Tyrants still see use after the war, even with human factions like the Venezian Militia.

[spartansagas]

Spartan Sagas 1: Vinh-030

Name: Vinh-030

Gender: Female

Born: 2511

Died: 2552

Personality: little is known of Vinh’s personality.

Appearances: Vinh is mentioned explicitly in the novel ‘Halo: First Strike’ only.

Biography: Born in 2511, Vinh was selected for the Spartan program and abducted by ONI in 2517, at six years of age. Trained and educated by CPO Mendez and Déja, and augmented and armoured by Catherine Halsey in 2525, she joined the rest of her Spartan II class in fighting throughout almost the entirety of the Covenant war. Little is known about her wartime career - it is however known that she fought during the Fall of Reach, surviving Red Team's initial descent to the planet's surface with major inj*ries. She (and teammates Isaac-039 and William-043, three unidentified Spartans and the four survivors of Charlie Company) were assigned to Delta-Red, a sub team with the goal of securing Red Team's fallback point: Castle base. She, Issac and Will were separated from the squad, but arrived at the base. They were unable to gain entry until the remains of the Alpha-Red subteam (at this point consisting only of Kelly-087 and Frederic-104, though formerly including Joshua-029) arrived and alerted Catherine Halsey (already inside Castle Base) to their presence. Vinh was presumed killed in action under Castle Base when she and Isaac detonated satchel charges to cover Red Team's retreat deeper into the Forerunner facility that was being excavated below it. Though her body was never seen she was unable to be raised on the comm, and her former position was soon swarmed by a hoard of Covenant making survival unlikely. Like all Spartans, under ONI Directive 930 she is listed as MIA instead of KIA, though in this instance it's actually true.

[ask-blue-team]

Who is the best cook? Who's the worst?

Kelly: I’m definitely the best cook.

Fred: No you aren’t! I’ve seen you burn MREs!

Kelly: So have you!

John: You’re both terrible cooks. Every time we let either of you cook during boot, you poisoned us.

Kelly: No we didn’t!

Fred: Yeah, I don’t remember that!

Linda: Remember Emerald Cove?

Fred: No.

John. No, you wouldn’t, because you two were unconscious the whole time with shellfish poisoning.

Kelly: Well that was whoever cooked the fish’s fault, not ours!

Linda: You guys were the ones who found and cooked the clams.

John: Linda is the best cook. Conversation over.

[kylethescott]

Yes... I did the phone games, and Annoyingly I think it's one of the best videos in the series so far

[websterstylemag]

Game Bites: Revisiting Halo: Spartan Strike

Revisiting the forgotten handheld Halo experience with Halo Spartan Strike. Originally published in 2014 for Windows PC & Mobile and Xbox 360 and One, Halo: Spartan Strike makes you a new Spartan recruit battling evil forces in this touch-based top-down shooter. Be the Spartan and deny your foes the conquest of Earth. Encounter Promethean and Covenant enemies in 30 thrilling missions through…

[helix-enterprises117]

Halo: A Beginner's Guide

For all of you newcomers out there, here's a list that I've wanted to do for a while now. For those who are new to Halo, likely introduced by the TV Show, and want to get into it, here's my 2 cents on how to ease into the franchise.

The Games

Play the original four games PLUS Halo Infinite in chronological order. The spin-off games (Reach, ODST, the Wars games and the Spartan games) are all completely optional, but they are there for people who want play other games that aren't centered around the Master Chief. I recommend just watching all of the cutscenes of Halo 5: Guardians in some supercut "movie" Youtube video, since the 5th game is... bad and, story wise, you're not missing much.

So in this order WITHOUT the spin-offs:

Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo 2

Halo 3

Halo 4

Halo Infinite

If you want to play the games WITH the spin-offs included, then in this order:

Halo Wars

Halo Reach

Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo 2

Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3

Halo: Spartan Assault

Halo: Spartan Strike (Note: This game takes place in two different time-periods, so just play this after Spartan Assault for convenience sake)

Halo 4

Halo Wars 2

Halo Infinite

My advice: Play the main four (+ Infinite) FIRST, then replay the main-games WITH the spin-offs in chronological-order.

Books & Comics

Here comes my favorite part!

Books

Halo: The Fall Of Reach, Halo: First Strike & Halo: Contact Harvest - The FIRST books in the entire franchise, these books set the stage for the entire setting of the Halo world. The first half of The Fall Of Reach is Master Chief's origin story, while the second half is about, well, "the fall of Reach." First Strike is a book that takes place in-between the first and second game AND, for a high-octane action-book, has a shocking amount of shipping material. And finally, Contact Harvest details the early years of the Human-Covenant War AND further fleshes out the Covenant as an antagonistic force by showing their side of things.

Halo: Silent Storm & Halo: Oblivion - For those who want MOAR Master Chief, these two books focus on a younger Chief fighting the Covenant in the earlier uears of the war. These two are probably my favorite Halo books thus far.

Halo: Ghosts Of Onyx & The Kilo-5 Trilogy - It's crucial to read Ghosts Of Onyx first BEFORE delving into Glasslands, the first book in The K5-Trilogy, since Glasslands takes place IMMEDIATELY after Ghosts Of Onyx. Anyways, these stories are for those who are bored of Master Chief and want to read about other, admittedly more fascinating Spartans. Kurt and Naomi are definitely among my favorite Spartans that aren't named "Master Chief," "Blue-Team" and "Silver-Team."

Halo Evolutions - An anthology book with each story taking place in some corner of the Halo universe or another, this is a book I recommend for world-building purposes.

Comics

Halo: The Graphic Novel - Just like Evolutions, Halo: The Graphic Novel is an anthology series thay tells different stories from different corners of the Halo universe for world-building purposes. These stories are all new stories and are NOT comic-adaptations of any of the stories in Evolutions, so don't worry about basically reading the same stories twice; The Graphic Novel has a similar concept, but all of the stories are different.

Halo: Blood Line - Black-Team is the coolest group of Spartans in the entire Spartan-II Program; they're group of misfit loners (who secretly have feelings for each other) who answer ONLY to ONI (the CIA of the Halo universe) and wear black suits of armor with roman-numerals etched onto their visors. They do cool-guy shit together, and this comic follows their story.

Other Material

Audio-Dramas

I Love Bees - Taking place in various different points in time, I Love Bees was an ARG that was turned into an audio-play long after it was deciphered. I won't spoil anything that happens, but I will say this: Shit gets kinda crazy.

Hunt The Truth - Another ARG. This fictional podcast was made to promote Halo 5: Guardians and... it's the best damn part to come out of that stinker of a game; Hunt The Truth's narrative is SO much more interesting than Halo 5's story, it HURTS. Anyways, it's about a reporter uncovering the truth of the Spartan-II Program as ONI starts a smear campaign against the Master Chief to cover their own asses.

Movies & Shows

Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn - This web-film was promotional material for Halo 4 (as it's title suggests), and it follows a group teenaged military-school students going about their lives as Lasky, a confused cadet who is struggling to find a direction in life and live up to his family's reputation, grapples with the struggles of military-life in his academy.

Halo: The Series - If, by some off-chance, you WEREN'T introduced to Halo via the show, here's the recommendation. Form your own opinion, but here's my advice: Like what you want to like and don't follow the word of mouth.

Halo Legends - An anime anthology that, just like Evolutions and The Graphic Novel, world-builds the mythology of Halo by telling different, disconnected but ultimately in-continuity stories set within the game's universe. Odd One Out, Homecoming and The Package are my favorite shorts in the film.

Machinimas

Red Vs Blue - What else? Seasons 1 - 14 are my recommendations, don't watch anything else beyond that because it SERIOUSLY drops in quality. Just wait for it's final season, Season 20, to come out; you're not missing much with seasons 15 - 19.

The Spartan Legacy - A seriously underrated series. Made by a Youtuber under the name: 'Chronicler177,' The Spartan Legacy takes place in an alternate-continuity where Chief disappears and never comes back after the events of Halo 3. As a result, the Spartan-IVs and Vs (both of which are more interesting than in-canon; and the Spartan-Vs are a new creation within this web-show itself) are created to take his place.

WHEW! That's all, ladies and gents.

@authortobenamedlater, @silverpelt3600, @ionlymadethissoicouldleaveanask, @makowrites, @mrtobenamedlater, @biomecharnotaurus, @killer-orca-cosplay, @cheezbot, @caffeineyum, @asimplesimpsimping.

[ageless-aislynn]

Title: “15 Minutes” (11/15) Author:  @ageless-aislynn​ Characters/fandom: Master Chief John-117/Reader, Halo the series Summary: John has learned something new that he'd like to show you… Series: How to date a Spartan (without even trying) Rating:  T (PG13) Length: 2,630 (this chapter, 27,487 total so far) Spoilers: Set in the Silver Timeline of Halo the series, not the games or novels. Though we began with the events of Halo 1x06, there will be no more show spoilers. We are still firmly seated in the AU Warthog, merrily driving out to places where there’s only a passing nod to canon. 😉 Disclaimer: Definitely not mine but I do enjoy borrowing them just for a bit! 😉 A/N:  Text is both here in this post or available at AO3, however you like to read. It's, yet again, been awhile since the last update, sad to say. I've been slogging through writer's block, health issues and some kinda awful real life stress but I'm not giving up on this fic (or its sibling, "Recreation"). I'd like to say that the final chapters will be here very soon but, well… I've learned to not call my shots, lol. I will, however, do my best to get them here as soon as I can. If you read, I hope you enjoy! ⭐💖⭐

Taglist: @pinheadbanger​ @mysardencut​ @laurenstacy610​ @sporadicbelievernightmare​ @ultrablackwidower​ @bxmxtx​ @jellotherelol @mirandastuckinthe80s

If you would like to be tagged in my John/Reader fics, just let me know! I also write John/Kai, John/Cortana and Kai/male Reader, so I’m glad to tag you for whatever you’d like. If you would like to be removed from the taglist, also feel free to let me know, no harm, no foul. 😉 💖

Halo fic masterlist ⭐

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10

PT arrived bright and early and, while you continued to bring out every expletive in every language you knew, ultimately it seemed your left side was improving: more range of motion in your shoulder and more strength in your leg, though the healing fractures still ached. All together, though, it was a win, no matter that it left you sweating and shaking like you'd wrestled an Elite and lost spectacularly.

You'd just come out of the shower and put on a fresh set of clothes when the door chimed. To your surprise, you found Riz and Vannak in their civvies standing there. You knew Silver Team had been on stand-by for the past few days – John hadn't been able to join you for every meal, understandably, but he had been there every night. Sleeping curled up in his arms was a luxury you weren't sure how you were going to give up when the time came. Kai and her friend had visited but this was the first time the other two Spartans had.

"Please, come in," you said and they did.

"You need new curse words," Riz said seriously.

"We got here while you were doing your therapy," Vannak explained. "Didn't want to interrupt."

"You could hear me cussing out in the hall?" you asked.

"Superior Spartan hearing," she said, matter-of-fact. "I doubt anyone else could."

"Teach her the one," he urged in as animated a tone as you'd ever heard from him before. "You know, the good one."

Which is how you ended up getting a tongue-twisting word in Sangheili added to your arsenal.

"You say that to any Covenant species and it's guaranteed to send them into a rage," Riz said with a confident nod.

"Except the Unggoy," Vannak added with a sneer. "Little bastards couldn't give a shit. They'll try to kill you on principle."

"I'll make sure I'm on a bullhorn from far away, then," you said, biting the inside of your lip to keep from grinning. "Don't want to be in striking distance if I'm going to send them into a rage."

They thought that over.

"Chief won't appreciate us telling her to pick a fight with a Sangheili," she pointed out.

"Just use it on somebody you're pretty sure you can take in a fight," he told you.

"I'll keep that in mind," you said.

They made slightly stilted small talk for about 15 more minutes, then took their leave.

A rest seemed in order, so you propped up on the bed and checked the news. They were in the middle of reporting that they had yet to apprehend the man who had tried to smuggle the bomb back to FLEETCOM in the Warthog. It showed some stock images of the Pit before being damaged by the explosion and that got you to thinking…

There should be some sort of footage of the explosion, right?

But, after poking around on your padd for a little while, you hadn't found much beyond what apparently had been approved for public viewing.

"Would you like some help with that?"

Cortana's voice startled you.

"Oh, hey there," you said, thinking, Poor thing, she's got the most boring job in the world keeping an eye on me. I hope I get the chance to buy her a coffee or something after all is said and done. Then your brain tardily caught up with her words. "You mean you have footage from the explosion?"

"Yes, I do."

"And it's something I have clearance to see?"

"I have footage from the explosion," she repeated, her tone supremely innocent.

Before you could decide whether to ask to see it or not, the holo on the wall lit up. The security cams had caught the explosion from multiple angles. You winced as you saw a body – your body – fly out of the crane operator seat to disappear into a sea of smoke and debris.

A moment later, the view changed, the quality severely degrading. You squinted through the pixilation and haze and realized you were seeing from the point of view of the holo-emiter Cortana had contacted you from.

"Oh, shit," you muttered. The massive beam that had pinned you down should've killed you outright but you'd gotten supremely lucky in the way the rest of the building had fallen, providing just enough support to give you a tiny open space. But even without the sudden, helpful overlay that detailed out the edges of the debris through the smoke, you could see how quickly that respite was vanishing as the beam's weight bore it inexorably lower and lower.

You found yourself gasping for breath, cast back into that moment. The image changed abruptly. Trying to figure out where you were now viewing from helped to break you free of the encroaching panic attack.

Then it all made sense: you were looking at several officers, so covered in dirt and dust that you couldn't recognize their rank, much less determine their names. They also looked extremely short.

Before you even skimmed over the information feeding out in rapid-fire bursts, you knew that this was John's HUD after Silver Team had arrived back on site.

"John, get here now. The support beam is failing!"

Cortana's voice came through his helmet's comm. "There's no time," he said, interrupting the man as he was saying that they would have to wait for an excavation crew to arrive to safely dig you out.

He was running before the man could object. The feed cut back and forth from his HUD to the holo-emiter. This gave you an unexpected perspective on how efficiently Silver Team worked. They needed almost no words as they homed in on your location, grabbing, lifting, moving and supporting each part of the perilous structure as needed.

It was Vannak who caught the beam before it crushed you but it was John who lifted it off of you.

The holo-emiter's feed abruptly ended and you were back in John's HUD. Vannak and Kai caught another part of the crumbling wreckage, creating an opening for Riz to dig you out by hand.

You noted almost absently how steady John's vitals were. He was holding a building off of you as if it were nothing at all.

"Out," Riz announced and John carefully lowered the weight he'd been supporting.

When he turned, you saw Riz clearing the way for Kai, who was now the one carrying you. Vannak and John followed.

They emerged out of the wreckage and Kai went into the Spartan run, taking you directly into a Pelican where she turned you over to a team of medics. The Spartans were waved back and the ship launched.

"We'll catch the next one," Riz said.

"She'll be all right, Chief," Kai told him. "She's strong."

He nodded curtly, tracking the Pelican that was carrying you away.

And once it went out of sight, that was when his vitals spiked and his heart began to pound.

You were still thinking about what all you'd seen when the door chimed again. A glance at the chrono proved it was lunchtime. You opened the door and, indeed, the first thing you saw was a massive, covered tray that no doubt contained your meal. But it was John who was carrying it.

"Silver's on stand-by," he warned, "but I thought we might get a chance to eat together."

Since you weren't yet cleared to make the long walk down to the Mess, a table and pair of chairs had been set up across from the couch a few days ago. As soon as he'd placed the tray down, you practically tackled him.

"Permission to hug the Master Chief?" you asked well after the fact, your voice muffled into his chest.

He gently returned the embrace. "Always granted."

You found yourself holding onto him a little bit longer than usual.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I saw the footage from the Pit," you said, resting your cheek against him. "I already knew I was lucky to get out of there but really seeing it? I… It makes me appreciate being here."

He paused for long enough that you looked up at him, finding him gazing over your head as if hearing something over a comm. Then he turned his attention back down to you, brow furrowing. "She shouldn't have shown you that footage and upset you."

"Cortana? No, I'm glad she did. It happened to me, after all." You put your face against him again and squeezed him once more around his waist. "You held a building off of me, John."

He made a move as if about to pick you up, then thought better of it and knelt instead to bring you more on a level together. "I'd hold a million buildings off of you, don't you know that?" he said, cupping your face. "Just… try not to be under any more falling buildings, hm?"

"I'll certainly do my best," you swore and kissed his palm.

The look in his eyes altered, grew both darker and softer at the same time. When you leaned towards him, he met you halfway.

He started carefully, like he did everything with you, but soon the kiss intensified, deepened, and his hands skimmed from the crown of your head down your back as if he wanted to map every line, curve and angle you possessed.

And then your stomach growled, loudly and unmistakably, and you muttered your newly-learned curse word.

He leaned back to look at you, amusement tugging insistently at his mouth. "That one's Vannak's favorite. He and Riz talked about coming to see you today. I'm assuming they did?"

"They did," you said, then winced as your stomach grumbled something awfully close to a repeat of the Sangheili curse word.

"Why don't we eat," he said, completely surrendering to the smile, "and you can tell me all about it."

Happily, he didn't get called away and you were able to finish your meal together in peace.

"Could I show you something I recently learned?" he asked as you stood from the table.

"As long as it doesn't involve throwing me around the room," you teased.

"Oh, I'll save that until you're all healed up," he murmured, then winked.

You'd like to think you laughed but no, that was a full-fledged giggle. "So, what did you learn?"

"Therapeutic massage," he said, flexing his fingers. "It's supposed to promote healing and relaxation. Want to give it a try?"

"Absolutely," you said. "Where do you want me at?"

"On the footstool, if that's okay?"

"Sure."

The wide, plush, rainbow-colored bit of furniture was another recent addition to the room, added because John wanted you to have the option to put your feet up. Kai had told you that, as soon as you were healthy again, she was going to high-five you for the color choice.

While his back was turned as he adjusted the stool the way he wanted it in front of the couch, you took your shirt off and tossed it haphazardly towards the bed.

He sat, a leg on either side of the stool, and looked up at you, clearly about to say something. But then his expression went thunderstruck and the words never emerged.

You had the same UNSC sports bra that he had to have seen other marines wearing in the gym a thousand times. You'd spotted Kai and Riz in them before, so it shouldn't have been that shocking.

"This all right?" you asked.

"Uh-huh. Yeah. Yes." Every affirmative had its own completely separate inflection, from stunned to wonderment to Wait, don't put the shirt back on.

You turned away, hiding your grin as you sat down where directed. Considering that you were hardly in top fighting form at the moment, his reaction was a very nice little ego boost.

His hands settled gently against your back, fingers curling over your shoulders. "If I use too much pressure or there's pain, tell me right away. Is there anything I should definitely avoid?"

"Can't raise the arm like I should" –you gave a roll of your left shoulder– "but it's already much better than it was."

"Copy that, no raising the arm. Anything else?"

No matter how battered and bruised you felt, there was no way you were going to miss this. "I'll let you know," you promised.

"Okay," he said and his hands glided up to your neck, then out, following the lines of the trapezius on both sides. The heels of his palms followed your spine down in a feathery touch, then spread out along your lats like he was smoothing wrinkles out of them before skimming down your obliques to your hips.

He returned to your shoulders again and very, very carefully kneaded into the tightness there. You did your best not to flinch when he hit a particularly sore spot but he jerked back as if you'd screamed.

"It's fine," you said quickly, afraid he was about to end up perched on the back of the couch like a very large, traumatized cat. "This is the only way to get rid of it. Just got to work it out."

His hands settled cautiously on your shoulders once more.

"You're doing great," you assured him, patting his knees on either side of you encouragingly, and his thumbs drew circles over the painful places as if he were trying not to fracture a thin sheet of glass.

The knots relaxed and you exhaled in the closest thing to sheer bliss you'd experienced in a long while. The warmth and gentle pressure had you melting back into him, your head lolling a bit, your eyelids fluttering shut and—

The next thing you knew, you were waking up. "Oh come on, I didn't want to sleep through all the good parts," you mumbled.

John's chuckle rumbled beneath your ear. He had pulled you back onto his lap on your right side, cradled comfortably against his chest. One hand was gently rubbing your back while the other covered the hand you had fisted into his shirt.

"I'm going to take this as a compliment to my therapeutic massage skills," he said.

"And you absolutely should." You raised your head to look at him. "Maybe next time I can even stay conscious long enough to really appreciate said skills. If there is, you know, a next time."

"There will most definitely be a next time," he swore and pressed a kiss to your forehead.

"I still owe you a proper back scratching."

"And I am absolutely going to collect on that," he returned, his tone unexpectedly husky.

You smiled, straightening up to kiss him. He pulled you closer, then paused and sighed against your mouth.

"I've got to go," he said resolutely right before his wristband chirped.

You looked for a way to roll off of him that wouldn't aggravate your shoulder – or potentially crush any of his, ahem, important Spartan equipment – but he scooped you up bridal style and stood as if you weighed nothing at all.

"I'll meet you for dinner if we're back soon enough," he promised and gave you one more tender kiss then placed you onto the couch. Before he went through the door, he paused, looking back like he was memorizing this moment, then he took a breath and was gone.

It was nearly dinner time when the door chime rang and you went to answer it with as much of a hopeful spring in your step as you could manage. However, this time, it wasn't John holding a tray with your evening meal on it.

"Dr. Keyes," you said in surprise, snapping a salute.

She said your rank and last name. "May I come in? We need to talk."

[yanderes-galore]

I know you've done Halo Infinite Sangheili so idk if you know this guy from the first Halo Wars, Ripa 'Moramee. he's been around years longer than the Halo Infinite guys but gets barely any content anywhere, so I'm curious how you'd imagine him falling for a human darling

Sangheili content my beloved... I'd love to! I have not played Halo Wars but I hope my research helps. Tried to stay in canon but was also creative.

Edit: I got carried away, this is long lol 😅 Guess I'm down bad 🤷‍♀️ I'd love feedback as this was REALLY fun to write. I also suggest having some background knowledge about Halo/Halo Wars to understand this more.

Yandere! Ripa 'Moramee with Human! Darling

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Violence, Murder, Religious themes, Manipulation, Internal conflict, Obsession, Human/Sangheili, Angst I guess, Violence against darling/wounds (You are enemies... it's only fair), Swearing, Denial, Feelings of betrayal, Kidnapping, Isolation, 'Moramee is losing his mind, 'Moramee is implied to have intimate thoughts, End is implied to also be intimate but nothing happens.

There's so much moral conflict in this pairing.

His whole purpose is to elminate the human race.

That's his whole purpose as Arbiter.

He thinks humans are weak, completely and utterly undisciplined in the ways of a warrior.

As Halo Wars is deep in the past of the Human/Covenant war, even before Halo CE, a pairing between Sangheili and human is forbidden.

Even more so if he's meant to kill them all.

'Moramee is known as ruthless with an insatiable bloodlust.

He's quick to anger and has a temper.

The moment he hesitates in killing you upon your first meeting... rage builds within him and tears him apart from the inside.

He's harmed humans, Unggoy, and Sangheili alike in his rage...

Why does he hesitate on a human!?

The Prophets demand your execution!

He's a savage beast even in Sangheili terms.

He knows nothing but anger and rage.

'Moramee has never had his own rage directed towards himself.

He likes victory.

The Sangheili had tried to hunt you down when he met you.

So when he finally cornered you on Harvest he was prepared to strike.

Why did he hesitate!?

He had one of his plasma blades lifted in the air, ready to strike.

Was he distracted?

Did you distract him?

Either way he hesitated enough to be hit by gunfire from your squad of marines/spartans, the Arbiter was forced to abandon his prey.

'Moramee is thrown into an enraging conflict with himself after this.

He doesn't dare tell The Prophets.

His subordinates notice his growing rage and keep their distance.

He's a yandere that would be driven to pursue his human through the desire to end his internal conflict.

He knows humans are weak and should perish in the wake of the Covenant.

However, the fact he couldn't slaughter you haunts him.

It scares him that you, as a human, make him weak.

He's a disgrace to The Great Journey....

He hates the fact you make him weak.

He doesn't even consider the idea of love... even if that may be what he's feeling yet can't understand it.

'Moramee loathes the idea of loving a human.

His moral and religious conflict make him volatile towards his own crew.

They already tremble before him.

Now when they hear him mutter to himself and roar in rage, they start to dread him pulling out his weapons.

If/When 'Moramee eventually tries to hunt you down again then he tries to do your abduction alone.

He can't have his crew find out about his true intentions with you.

Intentions he dreads but has to accept if he wants to regain his focus.

'Moramee intends to slaughter anyone he feels he needs to in order to solve his issue.

Expect him to send a small group of troops to remove your group.

Despite the order to kill your group and any humans they find aiding them, 'Moramee describes your appearance and gives the order to spare you.

Spare... something that baffles both the Sangheili himself and his troops.

He was not one to spare.

However, in a way you can view his true intentions as not sparing

His troops knew better than to question the Arbiter's judgment.

The order was sent... then executed like your team.

'Moramee awaits the fallout of the skirmish.

By the end of it you're standing in the middle of corpses making up your team.

Your skin sizzles around your wound, a plasma burst being the cause of your agony.

His troop had withdrawn and left you there, a wound to your leg and you gasping for breath in fear... and pain.

So much pain.

Once his troops relay back to the extraction point, 'Moramee stalks closer before wrapping his hand around your throat and decloaking.

Shock and fear paralyze you, the recent trauma of watching your friends die still fresh in your mind.

Along with the blood from their demise still staining your skin.

"You..."

The Sangheili growls, tightening his grip.

He could easily snap your neck.

"A human such as you should be killed for The Great Journey! You've ruined me!"

Upon your struggling 'Moramee and you most likely engage in one-sided combat...

It's enough to make the Arbiter vent his rage.

The entire time he curses you.

Every bruise... broken bone... he deals it to you for a purpose you don't understand.

'Moramee fights with you to try and clear you from his head.

You're fighting him to survive at least a little while longer.

By the time it ends there's barely a scratch on his armor.

Your breathing is painful due to your heavily wounded body.

You can only stare at the Sangheili attacker whose orange eyes burn with confused anger.

You swore you saw the rage flicker into regret for a moment before he snarls again and picks you up.

Your body is so fragile in his arms while he drags you back to the extraction point.

Due to shock trauma you pass out in the Arbiter's arms.

To make a point to his troops (and keep up an act) he holds your limp body by the neck before his troops.

A message that humans will fall by his hands for The Prophets.

When you awake you're laying in some sort of cell on Harvest.

All except you.

Cheers congratulate him... even when it doesn't feel like a victory to him.

Your neck and everything hurts.

However you notice you've been treated... albeit clumsily.

Covenant know nothing about human anatomy.

It confuses you why they bothered to treat you.

You squint through your cell, you had been brought into a captured facility from what you could tell, repurposed to be a jail for the Covenant.

Your blood freezes when the Arbiter who fought you before enters the room.

"You are my secret from all the rest."

He stands in front of you, orange eyes glaring at you in hate.

"You are my only failure as an Arbiter. The human I can't kill. You are something that's tormented my focus for far too long. I never gave a damn about honor. However... you are a stain on my reputation I can't get rid of if the truth comes out."

"What truth, you ugly bastard... why do they care if I'm kept here?"

The Arbiter is silent... as if dreading the reasoning for your capture.

"Really now?"

"... my orders are to kill all humans. To slaughter humanity for the sake of The Prophets... and I can't kill you!"

He's seething, each word strained.

"I don't know why so I intend to keep you in secret. My troops don't dare question me. They fear me... which I will use to my advantage."

"Soft for your enemy now all of a sudden? My team would've laughed at a Sangheili's mercy if they weren't dead."

The Arbiter only glares at you and you see his hands clench.

"Watch your tone...."

"Or you'll kill me?"

With a frustrated scream of rage the Arbiter leaves the room.

Not only could he not kill you...

It's deserved but frustrates him all the same.

You taunt him.

He isn't sure what he was expecting.

You to be scared of him?

You to be over the death of your allies so quickly?

Was he expecting you to show something comforting to him?

He shakes his head and gnashes his mandibles.

He had a lot to learn about you.

He was never this invested in humans.

Yet after mission after mission on Harvest for relics to appease The Prophets, he found himself back in front of that holding cell.

The troops on guard cowered at his gaze.

What he wanted with you was none of their business.

The Arbiter struggled to understand why he kept holding onto this human.

His rage at your existence used to be hot enough to glass a planet on its own.

He continuously stood in front of your cell to chat, asking questions and learning how to keep you alive.

Learning about you in general even if your species was to be destroyed.

Each talk brought it down to a smolder.

You always hated him but your hostility also lessened with time.

Those who caught wind of his talks between you were quickly ended.

An Unggoy or Kig-Yar heard something they shouldn't have?

They're left at the Arbiter's mercy.

A Sangheili? 'Moramee threatens them into submission or sinks his plasma sword deep into their gut.

He wonders if you care he kills for you?

You're special enough to not only gain the Arbiter's mercy, but his casual discussion and attention.

Denial still burns deep inside him.

Despite this... acceptance is a quiet thought in his mind.

Each time he looks at you in the cell... he remembers both failure and discovery.

Was he simply exhausted?

He was starting to care for you like a fellow Sangheili... and he wasn't sure if he still hated it or not.

Perhaps he vented all his anger about you for weeks on end... leaving only forced acceptance.

He would laugh at this... his ego shattered and behavior pitiful.

He couldn't bring himself to do it.

Whenever he looked at you he saw his biggest failure of all...

Him feeling companionship in a weak human heretic.

He could not be feeling adoration for you.

The idea brings a sick taste to his mouth... but a nervous and warm feeling in his chest.

The heresy of humans seemed infectious like the newly discovered Flood that threatened to taint the relics he sought after.

Ever so slightly you consumed his mind.

The Prophets wonder about his sudden distracted mind.

He assures them he is simply annoyed about the UNSC advances.

A lie... somewhat.

All to keep his human secret under lock and key.

It's gotten to a point he only ever talks to you with hesitant respect.

No one has broken his ego and mind like this.

You are certainly an anomaly in his eyes as a human.

Through his holy missions he develops other thoughts involving you.

Ones that he feels are even more of a sign of disloyalty to The Great Journey than simply sparing a human.

He's thought of releasing you.

He's thought of other things that would be considered sin among Covenant and Sangheili alike.

He's thought of how it would feel to take a moment a feel your skin.

His turmoil is at an all time high.

'Moramee coming to the conclusion that he sees you as that kind of a partner makes him sick.

The Arbiter is speechless on the topic.

His peers have claimed to see a broken look in the Sangheili's eyes when he passes by.

When asked he responds with violence.

The entire time he experiences moral turmoil, you have no clue.

You simply answer casual questions and refuse to answer anything that gives valuable information.

You speak to him with no fear or anger anymore.

You've been here too long for that.

As Harvest dies all around you, you're forced to speak casually with a leader of its downfall.

'Moramee hopes you're happy to cause him this pain...

It's only fair due to the pain he caused.

He feels there's only one way to deal with his problems.

'Moramee couldn't focus unless he got it out of his mind and system.

Rage replaced with irritation... 'Moramee makes his way to your cell.

He calls off the guards and taps at the keypad lock.

You're struck with confusion when the Arbiter enters the cell.

"Is my execution finally here?"

His alien eyes glare... but there's a hint of amusement within them.

You struggle when his much larger body shoves you against the wall... the Sangheili craning his neck to growl at you.

"Not in the way you expect, human..."

The Sangheili Arbiter places a hand against the black body suit you wore, stripped of its heavier armor long ago.

"You've infected my mind long enough. I plan to end this and make you my newest victory instead of my oldest failure."

[bloodgulchblog]

Have you seen that YouTube video where some guy reads every Halo novel back to back and then reviews them? If so what did you think

The Brian David Gilbert one? Oh yeah, all my friends showed me it when it came out. (It was honestly kind of cute seeing how many people thought of me immediately.)

Rewatching it to refresh myself because it's been a couple years and a full-novel reread for me since the last time...

High fiving BDG because the Master Chief parts of The Flood were definitely the most boring parts.

He didn't have anything to say about First Strike which I think is a shame because I think it's better than The Fall of Reach and actually has A Theme I Find Interesting.

Rightful recognition of Contact Harvest as pretty damn good.

Rightful recognition of the Forerunner Trilogy as dense oldschool-style SF with deep worldbuilding. (Also the San'Shyuum thing.)

I disagree with him about, and have significant problems with, Kilo Five. He is correct that Kilo Five actually delves into some of the dark places in Halo in a way it really needed, and I would even say that its writing is extremely engaging by Halo novel standards. However, while he does notice the obvious parallels between what ONI is doing post-war and the kind of shit the CIA has pulled again and again irl, I think he misses some of the subtext I see where it feels like it justifies some shit a liiiiittle too much if you know the author's irl politics re: the military. He also doesn't seem to notice the character assassinations (particularly of Catherine Halsey) that I and a lot of other fans see/object to in those books. I kind of gaze into the middle distance with a haunted expression at the suggestion that these are the ones to read if you don't touch any of the others just because they are, ironically, so heavy-handed and feel like they treat certain kinds of evil as inevitable in a way that actually feels way worse to me than the excuse plot offered by the earlier/lighter Halo novels. (But idk, that's me? Nobody is committing a crime if they disagree with my frenzied insane person red string diagrams about Kilo Five.)

I'd swap Pariah for Dirt in the Evolutions anthology if it were me, but I think these are solid standouts.

Broken Circle is neat but really nonessential he's not wrong.

A one-sentence review of New Blood is probably not enough space to get into how fucked up the Spartan-IV program is, but yeah. New Blood is fun if you don't find Buck's first person narration annoying. (It comes and goes for me in that one.)

BDG you're an absolute sweetheart, I think Hunters in the Dark is kind of goofy in a way I cannot in good conscience ignore if I'm gonna review it. But it really really is so much fun and I love that one a lot anyway. The "it's like Halo 3... 2" observation is solid.

High fiving him again because I also found Last Light disappointing. And it is also a me problem.

Fractures!

Hell yeah these are all good pulls from Fractures, I would say Shadow of Intent is the pick of the litter in that anthology for me. Interesting that as a Kilo Five enjoyer he didn't single out Rossbach's World, which is the last we've heard about Osman and Black Box. (Also, that one is good.) I think Oasis is worth an honorable mention because I'm an Envoy stan, and the Forerunner stories are interesting but I wouldn't go for them if you don't already have a healthy interest in the trilogy.

This tangent is so fucking funny now that we know more things:

Oh BDG, oh buddy, it's really not for the people like you and me huh. (Disclaimer: I have no idea if BDG likes the Halo tv show or not and I have no desire to dig up evidence about it.)

Also, while you're here, this is the bloodgulchblog origin story:

Smoke and Shadow is fun so it's a little sad that when he ends that sentence with "whatever," I can't actually say he's wrong to. (Sorry Rion your part of the lore just.... hasn't... touched anything that touches anything else anymore.)

ENVOY IS GOOD AND EVERYONE SHOULD CARE ABOUT IT okay okay I'm cool I'm normal, anyway. Envoy is the Halo novel that restored my faith in reading Halo novels and reminded me that authors can care and know how to do nuanced, interesting themes in this space. It's great. Everyone in this book has war refugee trauma (except the Spartans which have Spartan trauma) and that's incredible to me. Please care about Envoy if you have spare room in your heart for Halo side characters.

I am cheered to see someone indifferent to the Veta Lopis stories, but I still feel petty for feeling it.

I don't have a lot to say about Legacy of Onyx here but it's always so fun seeing someone else suffer and care.

Bad Blood, the Blood is Bad now is a fun joke but lol yeah. It does have this very vital moment where Chief and Arbiter talk, though. For the first and only time in years.

PROPS FOR NOTICING THE YA NOVELS they're actually pretty nice.

"The Master Chief is the protagonist and boy does he shoot some people" is most of how I feel about Silent Storm and Oblivion too, I know they have their fans but Troy Denning's Chief books don't do much for me personally.

Renegades hadn't had its followup Point of Light yet but yeah, Spark stuff is interesting.

I had to remember that oh yeah, there are multiple books now that didn't exist when this was made. I wonder if he read them?

OKAY I THINK THAT'S ALL I HAD TO SAY as always if y'all want specific book opinions, I might have a tag for them. Or just yell in my ask box, I'm sure I can scrounge up some thoughts.

[siofra-river]

Ok i feel like i don’t explain the valentine lore enough so here it is.

THE Valentine-056 post!

She was born on November 1st, 2510 (Age 50 as of the year halo infinite takes place) on the planet Jericho VII. She was kidnapped by ONI and placed into the Spartan 2 when she was 7. She’s 7’ft 2” (218.44 cm) outside the armor and 7’5” (226.06 cm) inside the armor.

She’s been in many battles, including the battle against the Insurrection group Freedom League who had set up resistance on her homeplanet, which at the time the visit was…bittersweet. During the fall of Reach, she was with the Red team splinter group Team Delta as they secured CASTLE base. She helped with Operation First Strike, after Master Chief returned to Reach to find any survivors. After that, she returned to Earth to help fight off the Covenant invasion. During the invasion of Earth she was sent to Sydney, Australia to help fight covenant forces and to keep important members of the UEG. She was almost sent to Africa, until they started glassing it. Post Covenant war, she is in charge of a Fireteam working with ONI sector 3 Beta-3 division and Delta-6 division to find and recover alien technologies and occasionally capture of eliminate important targets. Her team , Fireteam Vaquero consists of her, a Swords of Sanghelios member named Rusa ‘Sura, a Spartan IV named Oscar Meer, a Spartan III Gamma Named Esmeralda Miro, A pilot Named Lee Brady and his ship’s smart AI Frank (FRK-1259-4), and the teams medic & xenobiologist Anya Fung. While on a mission to recover old covenant technologies, she found a Huragok named Lingers Above, which has become an unofficial member of her team as well, refusing the leave her side for long when she’s not in a mission.

As she’s began the interact with more people outside of a very stressful war zone she’s realized how strange and unhealthy some of her upbringing was. Not the full extent of it all, but a degree of it. The reason why she wears all her piercings is as a small form of self representation and to help her form a bit of identity outside being a Spartan, she’s experimented with different piercings and haircuts before, including dyeing her hair which went gray early as a result of both stress and family genetics(she started going gray around 25). She is a gay man, and after the war had toyed around with the idea of a relationship, but unlimitedly decided herself too busy and too inexperienced, the only relationship she had was a short unnamed fling with Jorge-052, a few years before he died on reach, she still silently mourns for him.

While not a natural born leader, through the Spartan II training and Human-Covenant war she was taught how to assume that position. She has the outward disposition of a cool and collected head but be riled up somewhat easily compared to other Spartans. She’s very stubborn and has a strong will but has begrudgingly learned how to be flexible, no matter how much it may annoy her. A trait she has that sets her apart from the other Spartan II is the frequency in which she takes off her helmet and how much she talks, she uses that to help bond with her teammates. She doesn’t really care about how the people at ONI perceive her, but to the UNSC personnel she works with and alongside, she doesn’t want to be seen as just a large killing machine. The weapon she has the most interest in using during something like a wargame is the Gravity Hammer, but the weapon she ends up using the most is the DMR.

[empresskadia]

Okay, but the hottest thing in all of Halo was Buck, seeing one of men wounded and cornered by one of the most revered classes of Jiralhanae, immediately and without hesitation jumps on its shoulders and goes for CQC.

Imagine saving Blue Team or Naomi with that trick?

I seriously went back to play Halo ODST so I could get this scene also thank you for including Naomi, 'cause the brainrot is real.

Naomi is stressed when she sees you jump onto the Jiralhanae, her instincts scream at her to intervene, but before she can even process her next move, you are already grappling with the foe in a deadly dance of close-quarters combat.

Naomi's hands clenched into fists as she watched, her mind torn between fear for your safety and admiration for your bravery. She knew she needed to help, and with a swift, calculated strike, she landed a solid blow to the Jiralhanae's jaw, staggering it momentarily.

With a swift motion, you plunged a combat knife into the creature's neck delivering that final hit. So, it turns into a team effort to finish the Jiralhanae off. Despite the searing pain of her own bleeding wounds, her primary concern was for your well-being and she swings her helmet in your direction, asking if you're alright or hurt.

With Blue Team, John's not prepared to see you jump onto the Jiralhanae's back and it takes him a second to react as you engage in CQC with it. While it's distracted, John ends up copying your move and stabbing his knife into its neck before you kick the creature off the side of the building.

She might not admit this to your face, but Kelly has a small fangirl moment. If you didn't have her respect before, you do now. Girl's already shrugging off her wound and jumping back into the fight when you engage in CQC, Kelly wasn't going to let you have all the fun.

Fred's kinda of surprised and it takes him a moment to register the scene of the Jiralhanae trying to wrestle you off its back. His knives already arching across the air and sinking into its shoulder by the time you jump off, you end up taking the same knife and shoving it into the Jiralhanae's throat while it turns its attention back to Fred.

Linda hardly reacts but she's impressed, not anyone would jump in to help a Spartan, much less jump onto a Jiralhanae to redirect its attention. Before you even start CQC, Linda has already taken her shot and the Jiralhanae falls off the building side.

[halopedia]

We've seen cases of Forerunner objects going into slipspace and external objects going with them, right? So what are the odds that the odds that at least one of the ODSTs in the Warthog that was carrying the Conduit in New Mombasa was taken to Installation 03 when it entered slipspace?

Bad news for Alpha-Five (the name of that ODST team) the Conduit did a solo trip to Gamma Halo...

... leaving the ODST in the Warthog to an unfortunate fate.

[authortobenamedlater]

*slides this E4 deep dive under the door right before the deadline*

Sick of being sick, this took forever to finish.

The good:

I really liked the touches of “ordinary people doing extraordinary things.” Louis is blind but he still shoulders the grenade launcher. Danilo is a physical therapist and runs into the fray to aid the wounded. Talia is a Marine, sure, but she’s a basically a radio operator. She probably joined to pay for college or something. And she goes with John to FLEETCOM after he said she didn’t have to. Then she flies a bunch of civilians to safety while a bunch of jackals are eating Jacob Keyes for dinner. Riz and Vannak and John are made for this, literally, but many people who weren’t went above and beyond to defend Reach in a losing fight.

John going up against the cloaked elite (the Var Gatanai mentioned at the end of last episode, I assume) is pretty great, as is Talia jumping in with a tire iron. And the energy sword fight toward the end? Mm-hm.

Soren’s “kid watching Mom and Dad fight” moment with Jacob and Halsey 😂 Why do I think little Soren drove Jacob to the edge of his sanity?

John’s FACE when he gets called up during Jacob’s speech. I’m never going to stop finding that funny.

The episode does a good job letting the audience breathe in between the action. Soren especially provides some levity.

The bad:

Vannak deserved better.

Jacob got a great ending, better than his game self, but we never even got to see him step foot on a ship. His promotion to admiral doesn’t even make sense. However, he was the only flag officer who didn’t bug out and deserves props for it.

No Kai, but I didn’t expect her since she’s likely on her way to Onyx with the S-IIIs. She’ll probably be furious once she learns Reach fell and she wasn’t there to fight.

I want The Chief & Cortana Show. This is why I’m here. I will forgive the absence of my faves if we get lots of John comforting Cortana after she leads the Covenant to Earth. Or just a really good reunion.

Questions/speculations/wishful thinking:

Why did Ackerson take the Spartans’ gear? Mr suspects personal vendetta but I wonder if Ackerson has reasons beyond that. He said the Master Chief is “just a guy in a suit.” Does Ackerson want to put someone else in the suit? It would fit with the running theme of the people In Charge want John to be replaceable. Halsey wanted to replace John’s mind, does Ackerson want to replace his body?

One of the trailers shows John walking out of FLEETCOM in his armor, so he obviously gets it back at some point, but I want to know Ackerson’s agenda.

John says they need people like Keyes giving orders, or they’ll be left with people like Ackerson. Well, now Keyes is gone, so who will be Ackerson’s foil? I can’t really think of anyone on the show or in main canon. Miranda is the only possibility and smart as she is, she’s not ready for that.

I don’t think Reach has truly fallen yet. There’s enough footage in trailers (like John walking out of FLEETCOM in his armor) to make me think this is going to drag awhile. Will we get Operation: First Strike? Maybe I’m majoring on a minor, but in an S1 episode Parangosky tells Jacob to call Admiral Whitcomb. Admiral Whitcomb leads Blue Team and friends in First Strike.

Cortana will be forced to lead the Covenant fleet to Earth. This is how we get that shot of John on the drop ship with Jupiter in the foreground.

Vannak is dead and Kai is leading the S-IIIs. Silver Team is getting split. Is John going to get a new team or is he going off by himself? I’m inclined to think the latter at least for the immediate future.

Vannak is going to get hauled to The Body Shop better known as Castle Base for some new parts. They did it with Kelly.

It’s hard to speculate on what next week holds, since aside from Kai with the S-IIIs and John getting to the Halo, Paramount is being tight-lipped about the back half of the season. From the trailer, I suspect we’ll find out what role Kwan plays going forward and what happened with John and Cortana getting separated, and we’ll meet the S-IIIs. Next episode is called Aleria, which according to Halopedia is some butt-end of nowhere colony nobody cares about. I’m not even sure what to make of how it could relate to the episode based on what I’ve seen.

[stitchlingbelle]

Watching Halo, Episode 8

(From what I’ve picked up, this is the episode with the controversial sex scene in it, so… yeah. Let’s see how that goes.)

We open with John and Makee both staring into mirrors and either temporarily revisiting the ringworld vision or just remembering it, but their focus seems to be more on each other than the untold mysteries of an alien ringworld revealed to them by ancient mystical technology. Priorities! And then they go on a field trip.

Halsey, Adun her creepy assistant, and Cortana are discussing John and Makee and the whole situation while watching them. Parangosky and Keyes are also watching them, because again, authoritarian surveillance state. Although, I do have to give the actually-authorized people here a break; Makee is still being held under some pretext or other, and in fairness, she actually IS up to no good. But since Parangosky doesn’t know that, it’s a little appalling that she’s so eager for Master Chief to beat the shit out of what could be an innocent civilian. (And we, and John, know that there are in fact actual Covenant escapees, since we met Reth back on Rubble.)

YAY for another civilization worldbuilding scene! Parks! Food trucks! Pastels! The future is great! (What is with all the anoraks people wear in this show?) Happy children give Makee hope that maybe the book she and her childhood friend rescued from the trash might have been on to something. Maybe humans don’t suck, just the ones from Recycle Hell Planet. She mentions the book to John. They take refuge by some pretty, flowery trees and discuss the Halo and whether humanity’s worth saving. “Cleansed” she says fanatically, that’s what will become of humanity if the others ascend. (John, alongside your defense of humanity, you might have questioned whether people dead-set on committing genocide are worthy themselves… It’s not like she doesn’t know what the Covenant does, she just has protagonist-centered morality, here.) When Master Chief gets called away for a moment, Makee gets frightened by a dog, which I can’t help but think is supposed to be a parallel with John’s loving memories of his childhood dog. It’ll take more than one day in the park to rid Makee of her kneejerk assumptions…

Speaking of the Covenant’s genocidal tendencies, a colony world has just been attacked—glassed, a term I’ve heard and imagined to be a bit more literal (anybody else read the Axiom books by Tim Pratt?)—in fact, a city of 11 million people has been melted into a roiling hellscape of lava. The voiceover of the reporter or officer, along with the reactions of the people in the command center, really sells it. Keyes and Parangosky argue over aid, with Keyes invoking the “Cole Protocol”. A recap I found online informs me that it’s meant to keep the Covenant from finding the other human planets (presumably by following the aid fleet home? Idk). I guess this means the Covenant is like humanity in its knowledge of the wider galaxy—no in-depth surveys, just telescope data beyond their own frontiers. Interesting. (I’ve got some thoughts about the respective tech levels here but I think I’ll hold it for the finale.)

Master Chief walks in and hears the tail end of the argument, that “we can’t sit here and wait for them to find us” and the conversation turns from aid to an offensive strike against the Covenant. He’s convinced Makee will help, which I have serious doubts about, especially this early in her deprogramming. (Again, 9-episode season!) But the whole debate does give him a chance to stand up for himself against two of the people he doesn’t realize are also responsible for the crimes against him. When Keyes growls, “People don’t just manually override decades of indoctrination,” John looks him dead in the eye and says, “I did.”

OH SNAP.

We get a look at how the other Spartans are doing. Riz and Vannak are examining some alien tech and debating Kai’s fitness for duty… and we slam right into Kai partying it up with a ton of normal soldiers, using her superstrength to lift incredibly heavy objects while they cheer wildly, rooting for her and placing bets. It’s an absolutely adorable scene of my exuberant girl getting joy out of her abilities, instead of the horrific purposes they were given to her for. It’s also a great scene of human connection, as Kai, so far the most outgoing Spartan, gets to be a part of the life of the base for the first time. (Master Chief might stay grim, the untouchable, perfect Spartan that all the grunts look up to, but I think Kai might become their beloved mascot. If the show lets her.) (God, I can’t wait to see what Riz and Vannak are like as people.)

Miranda’s back at her new lab, which apparently still doesn’t have the funding for chairs. Her dad, who she still believes in, drops by and it’s painful to watch her enthusiasm as she goes over her progress with the only person she looks up to who listens to her. It’s going to break her heart when she learns the truth, and on some level her dad knows that reckoning is coming. She’s clearly on the verge of figuring out Makee is the voice in her recording…

John goes to see Makee, dismissing her guards (not suspicious at all!), to give her a book. (He says it’s not the same one from her childhood, so maybe it’s the same author? Yes, this is a weird detail to care about.) For a second I couldn’t tell if the gesture was incredibly sweet or calculated to make her trust him/ humanity more, buuuut they almost immediately start making out, so calculated probably wasn’t it. I’ll be honest, as someone who is deeply religious both by upbringing and by choice, as well as being somewhat on the demi side of things, I am the wrong person to comment on whether this scene was too soon or earned or whatever. It would take two years and a ring to get me to this point, but some people have one-night stands! Maybe this is normal! I dunno. (I bet it was awkward as hell, though. Two virgins who probably never got sex ed? Yikes. This is Hollywood, though, so the implication is always that it was effortlessly great.) Aaaaand Cortana is watching/ experiencing/ monitoring vital signs intrusively? Yikes.

…and then he sleeps over? And this does not set off any alarms with anyone, including the guards? What about the shift change? Asking the real questions here, people! Makee has a moment of Decision, looking at him and her best chance to literally remove his head as she boasted. Instead, she gets up, and in the WORST SCENE EVER wrenches the hidden energy blade out from under her fingernail. Give the actress and the fx department Emmys, that looked SO. PAINFUL. (Girl, you could have left it in and just committed to not stabbing people!) And John slept through the whole thing. (?!) (...what about Cortana?)

Cortana and Halsey discuss the evening, and Cortana looks a lot more content with the situation than she did, uh, earlier. Halsey distinctly less so when Cortana comments that John’s not alone in the universe anymore. “He was never alone, he had me,” snaps the woman who abducted, tortured, and brainwashed him. “…Of course,” answers Cortana, who looks like she regrets her life choices even though she’s only like a week old.

Keyes drops by and treats us to a handy demonstration of him and Halsey as the toxic couple of the decade. He can’t break free of her emotionally, if only because then he’d have to face his guilt and culpability alone. So he’s pulling strings and probably fucking everyone else over to… what? What’s important about her ship, instead of the one Parangosky would no doubt put her on? (C’mon, Cortana, time to make a stand!)

Whatever her inevitable escape plans, for now, Halsey is ruining John’s attempts to bring Makee over by creepily contacting her on the sly and feeding her all that bs about humanity’s evil nature. (Including a disturbing line about her relationship with John being “wonderful to watch”.) (This right after claiming John doesn’t exist, only The Master Chief, a contradiction Makee doesn’t notice.) Makee is disturbed and pushes back to a limited extent, but it’s clear that another human validating her fears about humanity and then parroting the same line about the Halo’s power to help a species ascend “like gods” is hitting her where she lives. (She also doesn’t think to quiz Halsey on exactly why other humans can’t be trusted, but she can.)

Halsey then reflects on the “flaw” of humanity that is attachment. (What exactly does she think humanity is, then? If it's so awful, why is she working to save it?) Anyway, whether this is commentary on Keyes’ mistaken loyalty to her, viewing her own previous attachments as setbacks, the ease she’s had in manipulating Makee, the Spartans, and others, or just foreshadowing, it’s game time now.

She contacts the Spartans, invoking “Zed Protocol” and claiming the entire high command, including Master Chief, have been compromised by the alien artifact. She orders them to bring John, Makee, and the artifact to her, letting nothing stand in their way. No one asks the obvious question: if the artifact is compromising people, why the heck should they bring it CLOSER to someone so far unaffected? Isn’t it more likely the person asking them to break protocol for the artifact is being affected? Kai is the only one who doubts, and Halsey immediately has Riz and Vannak take her out. (Causing me to yell NOT MY BABY at the screen.)

Cortana asks what Halsey has planned for John. Turns out he’s disposable once they have Makee, and Halsey plans to let Cortana take over his body after all. (So much for John’s test. And for John’s specialness in Halsey’s eyes—if he was so unique, you wouldn’t want to overwrite him!) Cortana is Not Enthused, but Halsey doesn’t see that for as much of a danger sign as I do.

Everyone’s on their way to watch Makee use the artifact. Makee, deeply upset by Halsey, asks John what his plan for the artifact and the future are. The Master Chief, with no idea what the thing actually does AND being emotionally two weeks old AND raised to be mission-focused, has no answer beyond “kill the people who rescued you”. (Not even a “we’ll figure it out together”, John? Really?)

What follows, once everyone is in place, is a combination of action scene and classic tragedy of mistimed revelation—once Cortana makes her choice and alerts Master Chief to the ambush waiting for him, he sends Makee looking for safety. Instead, in the terrified moments when listening to her could have saved John a beating and changed Makee’s mind about humanity, Miranda discovers that Makee was behind the massacre of the Gladius. This ill-timed truth results in Makee being viciously tased as she was as a child, confirming all her fears…

Meanwhile, Master Chief out of armor is going hand-to-hand with Riz and Vannak, both suited up. Cortana’s assistance keeps them from wiping the floor with him. That, and the fact that his skull must be heavily reinforced, one punch from an armored Spartan should be more than enough to crush a human skull. And then MY GIRL KAI breaks out, orders Halsey’s ship detained, and joins the fight, resulting in a standoff…

…which is broken only by Makee reverting to her upbringing, lunging for the artifact and using it to get away. The shockwave smashes through the base. John flashes to the Halo dimension, where Makee just says goodbye and disappears. Well, crap.