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2552

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2552
Fall of Reach 1.jpg
Reach falls to the Covenant.

26th century

Previous: 25502551
Next: 25532554


For a complete list, see our timeline category.

2552 was the ultimate year of the Human-Covenant War, during which the humans of the United Nations Space Command nearly saw utter defeat and extinction, though the tide turned, and with significant help from the Sangheili, they managed to win the war. The Covenant were at the peak of their power and reach in 2552, with major assaults on the human Inner Colonies and an invasion followed by a prolonged engagement on their home planet, Earth.[1][2][3] During the battle at Installation 04, the galaxy found its first large outbreak of the Flood threat in over a hundred thousand years.[4][5] Over two months later, an even larger outbreak occurred at Installation 05.[6]

The war finally drew to a close at Installation 00, known more commonly as the Ark, with the humans and Sangheili attempting to assassinate the Prophet of Truth, before he could activate the remaining Halo installations.[7][8] The alliance was successful in their mission against the Covenant.

Events

Before June

January

January 8

February

April

April 22

Unknown Date

May

May 10

May 14 through May 19

July

Unknown date

After July 5

  • Gabriel Thorne single-handedly saves his entire platoon in the Battle of Criterion.

July 17

July 18

July 23

  • The Covenant deploy the Fleet of Valiant Prudence to sever Reach's out-system communications and search for Forerunner artifacts. This is the first stage of the Covenant's invasion of the planet.
  • Noble Team finds and stops a pair of Insurrectionist SCI combatants attempting to hijack a supply transport.[10]
  • Fireteam 3 Charlie, along with other special warfare fireteams under command of Colonel Holland, are sent to investigate the areas around Longhorn Valley and Visegrád after contact with the comms relay in Visegrád is lost.

July 24

  • Two months after the death of Thom-A293, SPARTAN-B312 joins Noble Team as Noble Six.
  • Noble Team is sent by Colonel Holland on a mission to investigate the downed Visegrad Relay.[10]
  • Noble Team discovers the Covenant's presence on Reach for the first time at Visegrád Relay. Planetary directive WINTER CONTINGENCY is declared.

July 26

  • Sword Base, an ONI research facility on Reach, comes under attack by an SDV-class heavy corvette. The UNSC Army with the help of Noble Team successfully repel the attack and the corvette is destroyed by orbital support.

August

Unknown date

  • After discovering Reach, the Covenant move on to glass the other planets in the system, including Tribute, resulting in the prolonged Battle of Tribute.
  • During the Battle of Tribute, SPARTAN-II Team Black is sent to Verge to destroy a Covenant Beacon supplying helium-3 to the ships laying siege on Tribute. The team successfully destroys the beacon.[16]
  • After the mission on Verge, Vice Admiral Alexander Reaves assigns Fireteam Black to Operation: BLOWBACK, a covert mission in Covenant-occupied space. Their ship, as well as a Covenant carrier, crash-land on an unknown moon, igniting the Battle of Line Installation 1-4.
  • Margaret-053 is captured by Forerunner Gatherers. Team Black and the Covenant forces on the moon enter into a reluctant alliance to rescue the Spartan.
  • Fireteam Black encounters the Forerunner monitor 686 Ebullient Prism en route to rescuing Margaret-053. The monitor briefly causes rifts between the team to prevent them from rescuing their comrade. Margaret, however, escapes anyway, aided by Reff 'Talamee, and the rest of Team Black stop fighting amongst themselves.
  • Team Black manages to enter the control room of Line Installation 1-4, eventually destroying 686 Ebullient Prism with the installation's main gun; they also succeed in destroying the entire Covenant fleet.
  • Beta Gabriel is captured by a pack of Jiralhanae under the command of Chieftain Parabum. A majority of the sparse human population is either taken prisoner or killed, including ONI agent Connor Brien, who had been sent on a mission to study the Brutes. A recon force of ODSTs are sent in to neutralize the Brutes, and are successful in doing so.
  • The Battle of New Jerusalem takes place sometime this month or the previous.[13] The 26th Marine Expeditionary Force is nearly wiped out, leaving the Rookie as one of the few survivors.[14]
  • The Raid on Mount Haven takes place.[17] The UNSC Chares deploys ODSTs in a snatch-and-grab mission to secure the transport of a Forerunner artifact, but after a chain of events involving a group of rogue ODSTs attempting to steal gold from a bank vault, a wounded ODST manages to halt their operations with a Shiva nuclear warhead.[18] Eventually, the surviving civilians and UNSC forces fall back to Earth, having been informed Reach was just attacked.[13]

August 3

  • Dr. Halsey decides to split Cortana in two halves, with her IEP translation routines analyzing the Forerunner structure under SWORD Base and the other half continuing with John and Blue Team in preparation for Operation: RED FLAG.[19]

August 5

  • Cortana's split is a success.[19]

Early August (sometime from the 6th to the 12th)

August 11

  • SPARTAN-B312 and Jun-A266 engage in a recon mission on Covenant forces in the colloquially named "Dark Zone", a Covenant-occupied region in the Viery Territory. The two Spartans discover a Covenant invasion force and a landing zone. Kat-B320 receives the visual and tells them to retreat so they will be prepared for the next day.[20]

August 12

August 13

  • 60% of the remainder of the UNSC fleet is recalled to Reach, destined to arrive within the next 48 hours.[25]

August 14

August 17

August 18

August 23

  • Noble Six arrives in New Alexandria and helps evacuate civilians from the city. He also manages to severely damage one of the corvettes laying siege to the city by use of an AA missile battery. Noble Six eventually meets up with the rest of Noble Team, and the Covenant begin glassing the city. As Noble Team is on their way to a fallout shelter under the Olympic Tower, Kat-B320 is killed by sniper fire.[28]

August 24

  • Dr. Halsey examines the rock recovered by Blue Team during Operation: OCEAN BREAKER on Sigma Octanus IV.[19]

August 25

August 26

  • The remainder of Noble Team is evacuated from the destroyed New Alexandria via a Pelican.[28]

August 27

August 29

  • John-117 receives a neural interface upgrade, the second generation of MJOLNIR Mark V armor, and is introduced to Cortana.
  • Noble Team is ordered to destroy Sword Base in a torch-and-burn op. During the operation, Noble Team makes their way inside Sword Base where they encounter Dr. Halsey, who asks them to protect her lab. Noble Team is then given direct orders to escort a fragment of Cortana holding crucial data from the Babd Catha Forerunner complex to the Pillar of Autumn. Halsey is then escorted back to CASTLE base by Jun-A266.

August 30

  • Cortana has ONI Colonel James Ackerson illicitly transferred to the front. This is her revenge for his attempts to eliminate both her and John-117.
  • First Lieutenant Jake Chapman, along with most of Charlie Company is killed during the Fall of Reach.
  • The Covenant, despite sustaining heavy losses, wins a crushing victory at the Fall of Reach. Many of the remaining SPARTAN-IIs are killed.
  • The surviving SPARTAN-IIs on Reach are separated into two groups. One recovers Vice Admiral Whitcomb and goes into hiding at Camp Independence. The others are admitted into CASTLE Base by Dr. Halsey and receive parts of the MJOLNIR Mark V upgrade and new weapons.
  • Dr. Halsey learns of Colonel Ackerson's mysterious plans that seem to involve "her" Spartans.
  • The three surviving members of Noble Team arrive at Asźod; Carter-A259's Pelican becomes too badly damaged to continue carrying them all, so Noble Six and Emile-A239 deploy to the ground.
  • Battle of Asźod: The Covenant forces throughout Asźod attempt to stop Noble Six and Emile from reaching the Pillar of Autumn, going so far as to deploy Scarabs against them. Carter sacrifices himself when he steers his damaged Pelican into a Scarab, destroying it. Emile and Six proceed to push towards the ship breaking yards and rendezvous with the scant UNSC forces still attempting to defend the facility. After clearing most of the facility, Six, Emile, and several Trooper squads meet up with Captain Jacob Keyes, successfully delivering the fragment of Cortana. However, Emile is killed by a Sangheili Zealot.
  • SPARTAN-B312 destroys a CCS-class battlecruiser with a mass driver to allow the Pillar of Autumn to escape Reach. The Spartan is killed by Sangheili soon after. The Autumn jumps away from the system, with Cortana using Forerunner navigation data from the Sigma Octanus IV artifact as well as the Babd Catha Forerunner complex.

September

Unknown date

  • The planet Coral is reported glassed by the Covenant.

September 4

September 5

September 14

September 18

  • Around 2200 hours ship time: Captain Keyes and other key crew wake up on the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, and check the status of the ship.[31]

September 19

  • Captain Keyes and crew make it to the bridge of the Pillar of Autumn and ask Cortana to shut down all systems before returning to normal space. The Pillar of Autumn then leaves slipspace, and glides around Basis into Threshold's orbit, at which point Cortana detects a radio echo in the shadow of Threshold.
  • 0103 hours ship time: The Pillar of Autumn cryo team prepare to wake John-117 under orders from Captain Keyes. Meanwhile, the Covenant Fleet of Particular Justice prepare to attack the Pillar of Autumn.[32]
  • The Battle of Installation 04 begins.
  • 0120 hours ship time: Keyes learns of the Covenant presence in the system and decides to wake the whole crew out of cryo.[33]
  • 0127 hours ship time: The Fleet of Particular Justice finally strike the Pillar of Autumn. John-117 is also woken from cryo sleep around this time and tasked with preventing Cortana's capture by the Covenant. John-117 and Cortana escape the Pillar of Autumn aboard a Bumblebee escape pod, which later crashes on the ring.[34]
  • The Pillar of Autumn is forced to crash land on the ring. A significant portion of its crew survives to continue the fight on the ground.
  • Captain Keyes and the others in his escape pod are captured by the Covenant. Only Keyes escapes summary execution, and is taken to the CCS-class Truth and Reconciliation for interrogation.
  • A large group of ODSTs and survivors, under the command of Major Antonio Silva, (who assumed command of Autumn 's surviving crew after Captain Keyes' capture by the Covenant) establish Alpha Base, which serves as the main tactical firebase for the survivors and as a staging point for any future Covenant attacks.
John-117 leading Marines on Installation 04.
  • John-117 leads a Marine force to board the Truth and Reconciliation. They recover Keyes and escape aboard a Covenant dropship.

September 20

  • Keyes orders John-117 to find the "Silent Cartographer", a map room that will reveal the location of the Control Room. Keyes leaves to lead an assault on a Covenant weapons cache.
  • Having found the map room and the pertinent information, Cortana directs a Pelican to take them to the area where the ring's Control Room is. Upon reaching the Control Room, Cortana transfers to the Control Room's computer and directs John-117 to stop Keyes from accessing the 'weapons cache', in reality a Forerunner Flood containment facility.
  • John-117, without Cortana, enters the supposed weapons cache but is unable to locate Keyes. Instead, he discovers the Flood and is forced to retreat. He links up with marines and takes command of the surviving members of Keyes' team and together they fight their way to the extraction point. However, the Spartan is conscripted by 343 Guilty Spark and teleported away before he can be evacuated with the surviving members.
  • Major Silva and the others under his command abandon Alpha Base after discovering a large Flood infestation beneath the base. They then learn that the Truth and Reconciliation has been abandoned and lead a strike force to capture the ship.
  • The Flood succeed in capturing the Covenant dropship Brilliant Gift, and use it to crash-land on board the Covenant ship Infinite Succor, in orbit above Installation 04, with the intent to spread itself to the rest of the Fleet of Particular Justice. This is avoided when Special Operations Commander Rtas 'Vadumee sets the Infinite Succor on a crash-course vector for the system's star, Soell. Rtas 'Vadumee is the only survivor.
  • The SPARTAN-IV program enters development under the oversight of Admiral Margaret Parangosky, CINCONI. The project's existence is kept secret from both Dr. Catherine Halsey and Colonel James Ackerson, the respective creators of the SPARTAN-II and SPARTAN-III programs.[35]

September 21

  • The Monitor takes John-117 to the ring's Library to retrieve the Activation Index, a device needed to activate the ring's primary weapon. Having retrieved the Index, the Monitor teleports the Spartan back to the Control Room where an irate Cortana confiscates the Index and prevents the ring from firing. John-117 and Cortana flee a now-hostile 343 Guilty Spark and Sentinels.
  • To forestall the ring from being activated manually, John-117 disables the ring's three phase pulse generators. This is to buy time to destroy the ring by activating the auto-destruct on the Pillar of Autumn. Only Keyes' command neural interface can activate the ship's self-destruct, and John-117 embarks once more to rescue the captain.

September 22

  • Cortana teleports John-117 to the now Flood-overrun Truth and Reconciliation where Jacob Keyes is being held. Alas, the pair arrives too late to save Keyes, who has been merged into a proto-Gravemind. John-117 retrieves the neural interface by punching in the former-captain's head. Cortana downloads the necessary codes, and the duo returns to the Pillar of Autumn on a captured Banshee.
  • Major Silva's forces arrive at the Truth and Reconciliation and take over the ship through a combined surprise assault on the vessel's hangar bay and gravity lift. They also manage to capture the cruiser's prophet, the Prophet of Stewardship. After capturing the cruiser, Major Silva intends to fly the ship back to Earth in order to be recognized as the hero of the Battle of Installation 04; this acts a both a huge violation of the Cole Protocol and risks spreading the Flood. First Lieutenant Melissa McKay realizes this, so, in a snap-decision, she severs the primary optical fiber cable that linked controls from the bridge to engineering with a fragmentation grenade, thereby causing the cruiser to lose control and crash onto the surface of Halo.
  • 343 Guilty Spark overrides the auto-destruct sequence, forcing John-117 to manually destabilize the ship's still-functioning fusion cores. John-117 and Cortana then escape the resulting explosion and the fragmentation of the ring aboard a Longsword.
  • Staff Sergeant Johnson, Lieutenant Haverson, Warrant Officer Polaski, and Corporal Locklear also escape the destruction of the ring aboard a Pelican.
  • In the course of the ring's destruction, a fragment of Installation 04 enters slipspace. This fragment later re-enters normal space in the vicinity of a red giant star.[36]
  • The Battle of Installation 04 ends. John-117 and Cortana rendezvous with Johnson's group in Installation 04's debris field. They also recover a set of cryo chambers, one which contains Linda-058.
  • Skirmish over Threshold: As the Longsword and Pelican are not jump capable, the UNSC survivors assault and capture the Covenant flagship Ascendant Justice. They then set course for Reach.
  • Jersey Morelli confronts his mother about having an affair.

September 23

September 26

  • ONI agent Jameson Locke compiles a target profile report concerning Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee, detailing 'Vadamee's personal history from the start of the Human-Covenant War to the glassing of Reach.[37]

September's anomaly

After the recovery of a Forerunner device on Reach, the members of an organized resistance comprised of Spartans from Reach and survivors of the Battle of Installation 04 are in some sort of time anomaly, causing them not to be in the "correct timeline".[38] What is known is that the events take place with the possession of the device after September 7.

John-117 and Marine survivors fighting on the Ascendant Justice.

September 7

  • The time/date record anomaly of Sept 23, 2552 most likely rejoins the correct timeline.
  • Dr. Halsey and members of Red Team discover an enigmatic shard in a Forerunner installation below CASTLE Base. They are besieged by Covenant forces who seek to possess the shard.
  • Dr. Halsey initiates Operation: WHITE GLOVE, destroying CASTLE Base, thus preventing the Covenant forces above from capturing any UNSC or Forerunner technology. Halsey and members of Red Team are protected from the resulting detonation when they hide in the caves beneath the base.
  • The remaining Spartans, Admiral Whitcomb, Dr. Halsey, Sgt. Johnson, Lieutenant Haverson, Warrant Officer Polaski, and Corporal Locklear jump to Slipspace on board the Covenant/UNSC hybrid ship UNSC Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice, and discover that the shard seems to have the ability to bend both space and time.

September 12

  • The Gettysburg/Ascendant Justice arrives for refit and provisioning in the Eridanus system.
  • Vice Admiral Whitcomb secures a meeting with rebel leader Governor Jacob Jiles, attempting to reason with him that the Covenant would most likely arrive to claim the Forerunner crystal. When several Covenant warships emerge from slipspace, Jiles agrees to help the UNSC forces.
  • Dr. Halsey sedates Kelly-087, and absconds with her on Governor Jiles' personal ship, the Chiroptera-class Beatrice. Before she goes, she gives the Forerunner crystal to Corporal Locklear, with implicit instructions to destroy it.
  • A large Covenant fleet enters the Eridanus system, forcing the hand of Admiral Whitcomb; he pulls out and retreats, as does the Gettysburg/Ascendant Justice, leaving the rebels to their doom.
  • Governor Jiles is killed and the Eridanus rebels are destroyed during the Massacre at Eridanus Secundus. Eridanus Secundus itself is destroyed by the Covenant.

September 13

  • UNSC forces aboard the Gettysburg/Ascendant Justice win a crucial victory at the Battle of the Unyielding Hierophant. SPARTAN-093, Lieutenant Haverson of ONI and Vice Admiral Whitcomb are killed. The survivors, now aboard the singular UNSC Gettysburg and with a captured Covenant slipspace drive, depart for Earth to warn of the impending Covenant invasion.

October

Unknown date

October 8

October 9

October 10

October 17

October 19

October 20

Concept art for New Mombasa.
The Battle of Earth at Mombasa.
  • John-117 is outfitted with the MJOLNIR Mk. VI aboard Cairo Station.
  • 1248 hours: Io Station detects a possible Covenant sighting in the Sol system and contacts the UNSC Home Fleet. Cortana, on board the Cairo, receives the message and briefs Lord Hood.[12][44]
  • On High Charity, Thel 'Vadamee, the disgraced Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice, is deemed a heretic by the Covenant High Council and is sentenced to death for his failure to safeguard Installation 04 one month prior.
  • John-117 and Staff Sergeant (now promoted to Sergeant Major) Johnson are awarded the Colonial Cross at a ceremony aboard Cairo Station. Captain Keyes is awarded posthumously and the decoration is entrusted to his daughter, Miranda Keyes.
  • Instead of being executed, 'Vadamee is given the title of Arbiter by the High Prophets of Truth and Mercy, and sent to Threshold with Rtas 'Vadumee and Tartarus on a mission to eliminate a band of heretics led by Sesa 'Refumee. Following 'Refumee's death, the group recovers 343 Guilty Spark.
  • The High Prophet of Regret's fleet eventually arrives at Earth, not expecting any human presence. The vastly outnumbered Covenant force attacks the UNSC Home Fleet without seeking support from other Covenant forces, precipitating the Battle for Earth.
  • 1412 hours: Lord Hood and Fleet Admiral Harper coordinate Earth's orbital defense during the opening stages.
  • 1421 hours: Malta Station and Athens Station are destroyed, clearing the way for the first attack wave.
  • 1450 hours: John-117 foils a Covenant attempt to destroy the Cairo and instead uses the bomb to sabotage the Day of Jubilation, one of Regret's only two assault carriers.
  • 1459 hours: Having successfully made it planetside, Regret's remaining carrier and flagship, Solemn Penance, initiates a ground assault on New Mombasa.
  • John-117 is recovered by the UNSC In Amber Clad and deploys to Mombasa in an attempt to capture the Prophet.
  • The civilian populace begins to evacuate; Dr. Endesha's daughter Sadie and former NMPD cop Mike Branley navigate the war-torn streets of New Mombasa with the help of Vergil in order to reach her father in the New Mombasa Data Center. However, the corrupt police commissioner, Kinsler, in an act of vengeance against Sadie for refusing his previous sexual advances, has his men kill her father with argon gas by tripping the data center's fire suppression system.
  • During the fighting, the Covenant damage the Superintendent's data systems; a lone Huragok survives and starts to repair the AI, saving Vergil by starting to absorb it into its own system. Kinsler, intending to take Sadie a prisoner as he leaves the city, is killed by Vergil after the subroutine allows a mob to tear him apart. Despite Sadie's pleas to stay and find him, Vergil sends her off on a train with Mike towards Nairobi, saving her life.
  • 1512 hours: Designated a Tier One Asset, the UNSC identifies the Huragok as being at risk of being killed or captured by the Covenant.
  • 1557 hours: Elsewhere in the city, ODST squad Alpha-Five participates in an unsuccessful mission to retrieve a Forerunner device called the Conduit from Covenant hands.
  • 1602 hours: As part of a mission to take down the Solemn Penance from orbit, a squad of ODSTs led by ONI Captain Veronica Dare and Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck, consisting of Corporal Taylor "Dutch" Miles, Lance Corporal Kojo "Romeo" Agu, PFC Michael "Mickey" Crespo, and the Rookie, drop into New Mombasa from the UNSC Say My Name.
  • 1603 hours: With Regret afraid of being overrun, the Solemn Penance initiates an in-atmosphere Slipspace jump to escape the city; while the In Amber Clad manages to pursue the carrier through the rift, the resulting explosion severely damages New Mombasa's infrastructure as well as scatters Alpha-Nine's drop pods across the city.
  • Having tailed Regret to Earth, a Jiralhanae-led Covenant occupation force is inserted into New Mombasa immediately after Regret's retreat as a part of the Prophet of Truth's plan to eventually replace the Sangheili with the Jiralhanae as the Covenant's primary warrior race. For the rest of the day, UNSC and Covenant forces battle for control of the city.
  • 1606 hours: Gunnery Sergeant Buck lands at Tayari Plaza and assists Marine forces in combating the Covenant. Though he fails to link up with Captain Dare, he regroups with Lance Corporal Agu.
  • 1636 hours: Corporal Miles assists an unidentified colonel in securing Regret's old landing zone within the Uplift Nature Reserve.
  • 1649 hours: Due to structural damage caused by the Slipspace explosion, the Mombasa Tether implodes and collapses, killing the colonel and scattering Marine forces into disarray. Miles manages to escape the reserve shortly after. By this point, the Covenant occupies 38% of the city.
  • 1736 hours: PFC Crespo leads a Scorpion charge to assist Marines in clearing out Kizingo Boulevard and reaching their rally point, where he reunites with Miles.
  • 1806 hours: Crespo and Miles aid the New Mombasa Police Department in preventing the Covenant from accessing important data housed in ONI's Alpha Site.
  • 1852 hours: The troopers are forced to fall back and extract via police Pelican while Buck contacts Miles and Crespo to request a pick-up at the police headquarters. Crespo then detonates the Alpha Site to deny it to the Covenant. The resulting explosion inadvertently awakens a large Drone hive in the tunnels below the base. By this point, the Covenant occupies 51% of the city.
  • 1936 hours: En route to the police HQ, Miles and Crespo's Pelican is shot down; Buck and Agu rescue them after a holding action that wounds Agu in the process.
  • 2106 hours: Buck and his squad regroup; realizing the trains out of the city are flooded, they capture a Phantom at Kikowani Station in an effort to escape.
  • 2141 hours: Remaining Covenant cruisers coalesce over New Mombasa.
  • 2206 hours: The Rookie wakes up from the drop and starts to search the streets of New Mombasa for his squadmates.
  • 2215 hours: Cruisers begin excavation of the crater left behind by the Slipspace explosion, which Buck witnesses from Kikowani.
  • 2227 hours: By this point, the Covenant occupies 78% of the city.
  • Having fled the area, Buck forces his squad to turn around after realizes where Dare went.
  • 2319 hours: Dare, having holed up in the city's data center, sights and reports the Tier One Asset Huragok in the tunnels.
  • 2324 hours: By this point, the Covenant occupies 94% of the city.
  • The Rookie receives Dare's distress call and fights his way through the data center to link up with her; together, they capture the Huragok, which by this point has fully absorbed the Superintendent (and Vergil) into itself.
  • 2359 hours: Buck arrives to help secure the Huragok, now identified as Vergil.
  • The Battle of Mombasa ends with a Covenant victory.

October 21

  • Buck, Dare, and the Rookie defend the Huragok as they fight their way to the surface.
  • At dawn, the team witnesses continual Covenant reinforcements arriving at Earth to aid in excavation efforts. They flee down the city's Waterfront Highway and reconnect with the rest of Alpha-Nine at the entrance to the Uplift Nature Reserve. The squad manages to hold out and eventually escapes New Mombasa as the city, along with its surroundings, are glassed by the excavation fleet.

October 21 through November 17

October 20 through November 2

  • The Spartan-II Blue Team is deployed to defend Earth during the two weeks that follow the initial Covenant invasion. They participate in numerous combat missions on and around Earth, including Battle of Ross Island in the Antarctica and an underwater operation in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Late October

October 25

  • The Office of Naval Intelligence sends an exploration-and-neutralization team to Gamma Halo.[41]
  • Skirmish on Mona Lisa: The UNSC Red Horse is sent to Installation 04's debris field in the Soell system to scout the area for survivors. They detect the prison ship Mona Lisa and deploy Marines into the ship. Soon after, it is revealed that the ship is infested by the Flood and was used by the Office of Naval Intelligence as a laboratory to test the parasite on prisoners. The infestation is contained as the Red Horse unleashes a Shiva-class nuclear missile on the Mona Lisa, destroying it.[47][48]

October 31

November

The end of 2552 saw the bloodiest period of the Great War and the beginning of the end. The Prophet of Truth was killed in the later months along with a sizable Covenant armada, leaving the Covenant forces crippled and leaderless as well as the full destruction of the Gravemind and its Flood forces.

November 2

  • The Battle of Installation 05 begins.
  • The UNSC In Amber Clad arrives at Delta Halo, following the High Prophet of Regret's assault carrier. John-117, aided by ODSTs and marines, pursue the High Prophet to a Forerunner temple and assassinate him. However, orbital bombardment from the escorting fleets of the newly arrived High Charity destroys the temple. John-117 is thrown into a lake and captured by the Gravemind.
  • The Changing of the Guard within the Covenant occurs.

November 3

Jiralhanae and Sangheili ships fighting over High Charity.
  • The Great Schism begins.
  • The Prophet of Conviction is killed by one of his shipmasters after learning that Conviction ordered the killings of the Sangheili councilors within the Fleet of Righteous Vigilance.
  • The Arbiter is sent to Delta Halo to retrieve that installation's Index. The Arbiter is successful, but is then betrayed by Tartarus, who casts the Arbiter into the depths of the ringworld. The Arbiter is subsequently captured by Gravemind.
  • Gravemind sends John-117 and the Arbiter to secure the Index and prevent the installation from being activated. John-117 is teleported to High Charity while the Arbiter is teleported close to the Control Room. Both are aided by the chaos of the Covenant civil war.
  • The Flood controlled In Amber Clad jumps inside High Charity and commences its infection. The Prophet of Mercy becomes infected by the Flood.
  • John-117 is unable to prevent the Index from leaving High Charity with Tartarus. Instead, on the advice of Cortana, the Spartan stows away aboard the Forerunner Dreadnought that is carrying the High Prophet of Truth to Earth. Cortana remains behind to ensure the destruction of Installation 05, should that become necessary.
  • Cortana sends a slipspace message to Earth informing them that John-117 is en route.
  • The Arbiter reaches Installation 05's Control Room but is unable to prevent Tartarus from activating the ring. With the help of humans and the Sangheili, the Arbiter kills Tartarus. This allows Commander Keyes to physically remove the Index from the Core, temporarily interrupting the firing sequence. Due to the interruption, Installation 05 automatically sends a signal to all other Forerunner installations in the galaxy, activating and placing them in standby mode.
  • The UNSC Dusk arrives at Delta Halo and witnesses the final stages of the Battle of Installation 05. She retreats to Earth via an anomalous slipspace wake caused by the Forerunner ship.
  • Dr. Halsey and Kelly-087 arrive at Onyx and are trapped along with the rest of the human survivors. Halsey sends a distress signal piggybacked on Cortana's October 28 signal.
  • The Battle of Havana is fought. William-043, Linda-058, and Frederic-104 manage to stall the Covenant's forces in Havana, Cuba by destroying the Centennial Orbital Elevator. They receive new orders from Dr. Halsey to redeploy from Earth to Onyx, capture the Covenant destroyer Bloodied Spirit, and depart for Onyx.
  • Voro 'Mantakree is promoted to Fleet Master by Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, and is given the mission to intercept the Spartans heading for Onyx and to retrieve the Forerunner technologies said to be there.
  • Danforth Whitcomb's NOVA bomb detonates on board the Covenant supercarrier Sublime Transcendence, in orbit above the Sangheili outpost world Joyous Exultation, destroying every ship in the vicinity, and also scorching a quarter of Joyous Exultation and completely vaporizing the nearby moon Malhiem.
  • The Dusk arrives at Earth after mere hours. Upon arrival, she is reassigned to Battle Group Omicron. The group jump to Onyx via the Bloodied Spirit' slipspace wake.
  • Blue Team arrives at Onyx aboard the captured Bloodied Spirit, and links up with Kurt-051, Kelly-087, Dr. Halsey, Chief Mendez, and the SPARTAN-III's. They proceed to push forward into Zone 67, retreating further underground when a newly arrived Covenant fleet begins landing troops.
  • Admiral Patterson's battle group arrives at Onyx to retrieve the survivors, but is unsuccessful due to the Covenant presence. The UNSC battlegroup is destroyed, with the exception of the Dusk, which avoids destruction by remaining stealthed.
  • After an emergency mission redirect by the ONI AI Endless Summer, Kurt-051 and his forces proceed to destroy the Sentinel factory in Onyx's polar region and retrieve Team Katana, enclosed within slipspace field pods.
  • Onyx is found to be an artificial structure built by the Forerunners to house a shield world. The human survivors hold off pursuing Covenant troops long enough to flee to the safety of the shield world.
  • Kurt promotes Frederic-104 to Lieutenant, Junior Grade.
  • Kurt-051 dies after detonating 2 FENRIS warheads inside Onyx's core room antechamber.
  • The Onyx Conflict ends. Sentinels annihilate the remaining Covenant forces as Onyx's artificial landmass disintegrates.
  • Chol Von, a T'vaoan shipmistress, renamed her missionary ship Joyous Discovery as Paragon at some point of the Great Schism.[49] During the Schism, she captured a Phantom, killing two Sangheili in the process.[50]

November 4

  • In an effort to contain the Flood outbreak, Thel 'Vadam's Covenant faction begins glassing Installation 05's surface and proceed to destroy any ships leaving the ring.[51][52]
  • Cortana is deposited into High Charity's distributed network.[53]

November 7

  • A Catalog unit, having been dormant for 100,000 years after the firing of the Halo Array, resumes its duties after receiving and denying a control authorization supposedly sent by the Librarian.[54]

November 8

  • The Prophet of Truth arrives in the Sol system aboard the Forerunner Dreadnought, and proceeds on course towards Earth at near-relativistic speeds.[55] However, due to John-117's presence aboard the vessel the ship's crew becomes preoccupied with finding and eliminating the Spartan.[51]

November 8 through November 15[12]

November 8 through November 17

  • The Battle of Mare Erythraeum takes place on Mars. Following the battle, Colonel James Ackerson, commander of the UNSC forces on Mare Erythraeum, is taken hostage and interrogated by the Jiralhanae Commander Lepidus on board the Covenant cruiser Triumphant Declaration, who tells them of a Forerunner device linked to the Halo Array known as the Key of Osanalan, and that it can be found in Cleveland, Ohio. In reality, the Key of Osanalan is made up as a ploy by James Ackerson to prevent Cleveland from being glassed as part of the battle on Earth in a bid to save the life of his brother, Ruwan, who lives there.
  • Battle of Cleveland: Covenant forces, looking for the Key of Osanalan, invade the city of Cleveland. After Ruwan learns the reason the Covenant are invading, he devises a plan with Sergeant Twyker.

November 10

November 15

  • 1649 hours: Sergeant Major Johnson gets clearance from Lord Hood to question Vergil about the artifact the High Prophet of Truth is digging up near Voi.[12] Captain Dare participates in the interrogation.
  • 1725 hours: AI Barca generates the interrogation into a report for Lord Hood.[12]

November 17[55]

Concept art of John-117's descent to Earth at the start of Halo 3.
John-117 and the Forerunner Dreadnought entering Earth's atmosphere.
  • Believing the Spartan to be dead, the Prophet of Truth orders the crew of the Forerunner Dreadnought to jump further in-system and enter Earth's atmosphere.[51]
  • The Dreadnought arrives at Earth, and John-117 makes contact with Lord Hood aboard the Cairo.[56] Shortly after, the Spartan is ordered to find a way off the ship to avoid being caught in the impending destruction of a nearby Covenant cruiser, Harbinger of Piety.[57]
  • Injected with an organic tracking material, Ruwan, claiming to the Covenant that he himself is the Key, is taken aboard the cruiser Harbinger of Piety, where the Minister of Inquisition vows to spare Earth in exchange for Ruwan's knowledge. Nassau Station then uses its Magnetic Accelerator Cannon to obliterate the Piety and everyone on board.[57][note 1]
  • John-117 proceeds to eject from the ship, using a hatch as a heat shield upon re-entry. Meanwhile, Battle of Sector Six takes place at Pawa, Afghanistan. There, numerous Marines of the 2nd ODST Battalion track John-117's descent. John-117 eventually lands in the Tanzanian jungle near Mount Kilimanjaro, going unconscious for hours.
  • The Prophet of Truth's Dreadnought lands in the middle of the Portal near Voi, Kenya. During the last few weeks, Truth's fleet of twenty-odd battlecruisers and two assault carriers have almost entirely uncovered the Portal and occupied the entire region surrounding it.
  • After the Key of Osanalan is revealed to be a ruse, Lepidus executes Ackerson aboard Triumphant Declaration.
  • UNSC forces recover John-117 from a jungle near Mount Kilimanjaro. In the underground facility of Crow's Nest, a plan is formulated to launch an aerial strike on Covenant anti-air defenses in the town of Voi in order to prevent the Prophet of Truth from activating the Forerunner artifact. After repelling a Covenant assault on Crow's Nest and destroying the base in the process, a UNSC strike force led by John-117 retakes the Covenant-held Tsavo Highway.
  • Battle of Voi: John-117 and a Marine strike force enter Voi and gradually push back the city's Covenant occupiers, destroying the Covenant anti-air defenses in the city. An aerial strike force consisting of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn and at least two other frigates as well as numerous Longsword fighters assaults the Forerunner Dreadnought resting over the Portal artifact, but are unsuccessful in damaging the ship. Truth activates the portal and retreats through it to Installation 00 along with his forces. At the same moment, a Flood-controlled ship slips in, crashing in Voi.
  • Covenant battlenet cohesion breaks down after Truth's departure, allowing UNSC forces in the southwest URNA to begin a major counteroffensive as part of their ongoing campaign.[12]
The Ark portal on Earth activates.
  • UNSC forces make their way toward the crashed ship in order to overload its reactors and contain the Flood outbreak, just as the Sangheili Fleet of Retribution arrives and drops in reinforcements. After recovering a message by Cortana from the Flood ship, John-117 and the remaining human and Sangheili forces retreat from Voi, as the Fleet of Retribution glasses the city and its surroundings in order to contain the Flood.
  • UNSC and Sangheili leaders gather aboard the Sangheili assault carrier Shadow of Intent to hear Cortana's message, which reveals there is a way to stop the Flood on the other side of the Portal. Despite Lord Hood's argument to stay and defend Earth from an encroaching now-Flood-infested High Charity, Commander Keyes, along with the Master Chief and the Sangheili, enter the Portal with the Fleet of Retribution and the Dawn, leaving Hood behind to coordinate Earth's remaining defenses.

November 18

  • 1545 hours: High Charity arrives at Mars and makes a slipspace jump to the lesser Ark.[58]

November 19

  • 0630 hours: At Free-fire Area OZONE in Arizona, UNSC flagword LUX is declared and a UEG emergency evacuation broadcast is initiated.
  • 0700 hours: The UNSC uses nuclear weapons against multiple shielded Covenant positions.[12]

December

File:H3 E3 Orbital Battle.jpg
A battle rages above Installation 00.

December 3

  • Admiral Joseph Harper initiates Operation: MARSH FLASH in Arizona, eliminating clusters of high-ranking Jiralhanae leadership attempting to activate an artifact at Free-fire Area OZONE, effectively bringing a close to the Battle for Earth.[12]

December 11[59][60]

  • The Battle of Installation 00: The joint Sangheili-human force arrives at Installation 00 and immediately engages Truth's forces while the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn deploys ground forces to locate Truth. Despite being outnumbered three to one in space, the separatist fleet makes short work of the Covenant space forces. After locating Truth via the Cartographer, the separatist-UNSC alliance launches an assault on the Ark's Citadel where Truth intends to activate the Halo Array. At the same time the former Covenant city ship High Charity arrives from slipspace and crashes on the Ark. Debris spread from the city-ship helps spread a new Flood infestation on the Ark. The Sangheili and UNSC finish off the last stand of the Covenant's resistance, consisting of two Scarabs and many other ground forces, in a large battle before the Citadel.
The Covenant's final stand during the last battle of the war.
  • Miranda Keyes is killed when she attempts to rescue Johnson from Truth inside of the Citadel. With Truth moments away from activating the Halo array, John-117 and the Arbiter temporarily ally themselves with the Flood and storm the Citadel. They shut down the Halo array, and the Arbiter executes Truth, finally ending the Human-Covenant War.
  • The Human-Covenant War ends.
  • The Flood immediately turn against John-117 and 'Vadam, but the pair escape. Soon after, it is discovered that the Ark's foundry has created a replacement for the destroyed Installation 04. Realizing that the ring could be used to fire a tactical pulse which would eliminate the Flood infestation, John-117 decides to light it. In order to do so, he enters the ruins of High Charity and recovers Cortana, who still possesses the Activation Index from the original Installation 04. High Charity is destroyed in the process.
  • With the Index secure, John-117, Cortana, the Arbiter, and Sergeant Major Johnson travel to the replacement Installation 04, while the rest of the UNSC and Sangheili forces return to Earth on the Shadow of Intent. In the control room, Johnson is killed as 343 Guilty Spark attempts to prevent him from activating the ring prematurely, as doing so would destroy the ring. John-117 destroys the monitor and begins the firing sequence for the Halo ring. John-117 and the Arbiter then escape the control room by taking Johnson's Warthog to the UNSC Frigate Forward Unto Dawn, which is holding position nearby.
  • Due to the unstable, incomplete nature of the ring as it fires, the slipspace portal collapses as the Dawn enters it, causing it to be sheared in two. The Halo ring explodes causing heavy damage to the Ark, rending both defunct. Cortana and John-117 are in the hangar area at the time of the Frigate's separation, and are thus left in the aft section of the ship, which falls out of Slipstream space at an unknown location, eventually drifting towards a Forerunner shield world, Requiem.

December 14

December 23

December 30

  • The Shadow of Intent is repaired and refitted at a mobile shipyard.[62]

December 31

Unknown date

Battles

Human-Covenant War

The Great Schism

Quarantine of the Flood

Trivia

  • All five Halo games produced by Bungie take place in the latter half of this year.
  • The numerical value of the year is one of Bungie's many references to the number seven. Specifically, adding the numerals results in 14, which has twice the value of 7. Adding the two halves of the year separately (2+5 and 5+2) results in a pair of sevens.

Note

  1. ^ Halo: Uprising establishes that the Piety and Dreadnought are in the same vicinity at this time, indicating Ruwan's actions take place on this date.

Sources

  1. ^ Halo 2, campaign level Cairo Station
  2. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
  3. ^ Halo 3, campaign level The Storm
  4. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level 343 Guilty Spark
  5. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Library
  6. ^ Halo 2, campaign level Sacred Icon
  7. ^ Halo 3, campaign level The Ark
  8. ^ Halo 3, level The Covenant
  9. ^ Halo: Helljumper Issue 1 page 3 "UNSC Operation 2552-JA-8 Codename: Fireside"
  10. ^ a b c Halo: Reach, campaign level Noble Actual
  11. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 139
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Halo Legendary Crate, Data Drop #2
  13. ^ a b c Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, "Dirt", page 153
  14. ^ a b Bungie.net: Halo 3: ODST Field Guide
  15. ^ Data Drop Two (Reach Data Drops)
  16. ^ Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe - Blunt Instruments
  17. ^ Halo Waypoint, Rookie
  18. ^ Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe - Dirt
  19. ^ a b c d e Halo: Reach, Dr. Halsey's personal journal
  20. ^ Halo: Reach, campaign level Nightfall
  21. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 252 (2010)
  22. ^ Halo: Fleet Battles, Scenario Four: Run!
  23. ^ Halo: Fleet Battles, Scenario Five: Into The Fire
  24. ^ Halo: Reach, campaign level Tip of the Spear
  25. ^ a b Halo: Reach, campaign level Long Night of Solace
  26. ^ Halo: Fleet Battles, Scenario Eight: Rally Point Zulu
  27. ^ Halo Waypoint: Black-Box
  28. ^ a b Halo: Reach, campaign level New Alexandria
  29. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach (2010) - Adjunct
  30. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 104
  31. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach Epilogue, page 377(Definitive Edition)
  32. ^ Halo: The Flood, Prologue
  33. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Pillar of Autumn opening cutscene
  34. ^ Halo: The Flood, Chapter 1
  35. ^ Halo Waypoint - Spartans
  36. ^ Halo Waypoint - Universe: Alpha Shard
  37. ^ Halo 2: Anniversary, Terminals
  38. ^ Halo: First Strike
  39. ^ Halo Wars: Halo Timeline
  40. ^ Halo: Initiation, Issue 1
  41. ^ a b c Eleventh Hour reports
  42. ^ Halo Legendary Crate, Data Drop #10
  43. ^ Sadie's Story
  44. ^ Halo 2, level Cairo Station
  45. ^ Halo: New Blood, Chapter 9
  46. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page 139
  47. ^ Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe - "The Mona Lisa"
  48. ^ Halo Waypoint: Catalog Interaction (post 2976443)
  49. ^ Halo: Mortal Dictata, page 141
  50. ^ Halo: Mortal Dictata, page 73
  51. ^ a b c YouTube: Halo 101: Long Road Home
  52. ^ Eleventh Hour reports, Heirlooms
  53. ^ Halo Legendary Crate, Data Drop #9
  54. ^ Halo Waypoint: Catalog Interaction
  55. ^ a b Bungie.net: Bungie Weekly Update: 01/23/09
  56. ^ Halo 2, level The Great Journey
  57. ^ a b Halo Uprising, Issue 4
  58. ^ Halo Waypoint - Query: Catalog
  59. ^ Halo Waypoint, Hero-Fortitude
  60. ^ a b Waypoint: Glasslands complaints... forum thread
  61. ^ Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Logs — Idle Hands Part 2
  62. ^ Halo Waypoint: Catalog Interaction - Page 14
  63. ^ Halo: Evolutions - The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole, pages 413-487
  64. ^ Halo: Envoy, Chapter 4