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The war has come
to a climax — the Flood continue to grow in numbers
and strength, the armies of Earth are scattered and decimated,
and the Covenant threaten to activate the Halo, effectively
destroying all life in the galaxy. Master Chief's mission
is to stop the Covenant, destroy the impending Flood threat
and ultimately save mankind. Here are some of the characters
you'll encounter during this epic conflict.
Spartan
117 Master Chief
A tenacious, driven soldier, known primarily by his rank,
the Master Chief is the last of the Spartan II soldiers. An
elite group of genetically superior, highly trained super-soldiers,
Spartans stand nearly seven feet tall, and in Mark VI Mjolnir
powered assault armor, weigh almost 1000 pounds. Spartan 117
is expert in all weapon and combat systems, can run faster,
jump higher, and hit harder than any normal human. He is the
perfect weapon, honed by years of battlefield experience and
has an unparalleled natural talent for war. He is our last
and best hope.
The Arbiter
The disgraced Commander of the Covenant Fleet of Particular
Justice was stripped of his rank and privilege and forced
to don the ancient Armor of The Arbiter—a traditional
Elite custom, where a warrior is sent on a final suicide mission
to reclaim lost honor in death. In the pursuit of this mission,
the Arbiter discovered that the Covenant's Great Journey was
a lie, and he subsequently led a rebellion—a civil war
that has shaken the foundations of the Covenant. The Arbiter's
people, the Elites, have joined humanity's struggle against
the rest of the Covenant. It is a strange and strained alliance.
Cortana
The UNSC's most sophisticated A.I., Cortana is the onetime
shipboard intelligence of the Halcyon-class cruiser, The Pillar
of Autumn. Cortana, like most UNSC artificial intelligences,
represents herself in holographic form when communing with
her human colleagues. After helping destroy the first Halo
by downloading herself into the Master Chief's armor, she
formed a closer bond with him—but was wrenched apart
by events on the second Halo. Her last known location was
aboard the Flood-infested Covenant capital ship, High Charity,
in the thrall of the Flood hive intelligence—the Gravemind.
Cortana is the only link to the incredible secret of Halo—and
if she cannot be saved, the Galaxy will fall with her.
The Prophet
of Truth
The deluded and possibly insane leader of the entire Covenant
civilization, this demented pontiff is leading his civilization
down a suicidal path. He intends to activate the Halo array
at any and all costs, and is happy to sacrifice his culture
to do so, secure in his knowledge that he and his immediate
cronies will be safe. The Prophet believes that he can follow
the Forerunners to their mysterious final destination, and
there, share their ancient and unlimited power. He literally
believes that activating the Halo array will secure a path
to Godhood. And he knows that the secret to this power may
lie in the ancient sands of Earth.
The Gravemind
The virulent Flood organism spreads by murdering and absorbing
sentient creatures. When it reaches a certain critical mass,
it develops a centralized intelligence, which calls itself
a "Gravemind." This is the Flood personified, and
it carries with it the genetic memory of millennia of slumber.
The thing was stopped once before by the Forerunner activation
of the Halo weapon, but it will not be stopped this time,
by a weak alliance of ruined humanity, and the deluded obsessions
of the Prophet of Truth. The Gravemind intends to achieve
its ultimate purpose—to consume and absorb every thinking
creature in the Galaxy. The Gravemind has escaped the shackles
of its Halo prison, and now roams free in the Covenant city-ship,
High Charity.
Sgt.
Major Avery Johnson
The battle-hardened Sergeant is the longtime cohort of the
Master Chief. He's an excellent soldier and unmatched marksman
who's seen more than his fair share of combat, and internal
UNSC military intrigue. No other human knows the Master Chief
as well as this capable and brilliant marine. Sgt. Johnson
is that most singular of soldiers—a professional who's
never more at home than in the thick of battle, and a loyal,
fearless warrior who will do anything for his men, and his
homeworld.
Commander
Miranda Keyes
The daughter of the late Captain Jacob Keyes, Miranda Keyes
now finds herself the Commander of Earth's tattered, broken
ground forces. The Commander proved her worth and her mettle
by following, and then helping assassinate the Prophet of
Regret at the second Halo. Now, effectively leading a guerilla
army against the marauding Covenant occupation force, Miranda
must pull together a fighting unit with the weaponry, personnel
and supplies that survived the devastation of the Covenant
invasion.
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