Editing Offensive Bias

*[[Battle of the Maginot Sphere]]

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'''08-145{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22|Enc22|Page=373}}{{Ref/Novel|Epi|5}} Offensive Bias''' is a [[Metarch-class ancilla|metarch-class]] [[Forerunner]] [[artificial intelligence]]. One of the few [[Contender-class artificial intelligence|Contender-class]] ancillas,{{Ref/Book|Enc09|Page=189}} it was created to counter the rampant AI [[Mendicant Bias]]. It commanded the last of the Forerunners' defenses at the [[greater Ark]] and at the [[Battle of the Maginot Sphere|final battle of the Forerunners]]. While seemingly less creative and independent than Mendicant Bias, Offensive Bias was still capable of coordinating inconceivable numbers of ships, [[sentinel]]s, personnel, as well as an [[Omega Halo|original Halo]] and the systems of the [[greater Ark]] simultaneously. More importantly, Offensive Bias was designed to be far more methodically lethal than Mendicant Bias.{{Ref/Game|Id=terminal|H3|Terminal (Halo 3)|Terminal 6}}

==Biography==

===Fall of the Forerunners===

In the twilight hours of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], Offensive Bias was given charge of the last of the uninfected Forerunner ships and fleets.{{Ref/Novel|Id=silentium25|Sil|Chapter=String 25}} Shortly thereafter, Offensive Bias apparently took command of the defense of the [[greater Ark]], the last large refuge of the Forerunners and many of their client species.{{Ref/Novel|Id=silentium27|Sil|Chapter=String 27}}{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22History|Enc22|Page=314-315}} It appears that the Forerunners accepted that only Offensive Bias was capable of matching Mendicant Bias's moves, as it were. As such, it was Offensive Bias who fired Omega Halo, by command of the [[Faber|Master Builder]] and then attempted to defend it against Mendicant Bias's Flood-crewed fleet, supported by [[star road]]s and other Precursor artifacts. It failed terribly, which may have fed into Mendicant Bias's disdain towards it, having previously referred to Offensive as an "inferior metarch".{{Ref/Novel|Id=silentium24|Sil|Chapter=String 24}} Such an attitude however, would only play into Offensive Bias's strategy.{{Ref/Reuse|terminal}}

Even though Mendicant Bias's [[fleet]] outnumbered Offensive Bias's by 436.6:1, Offensive Bias was designed specifically to effectively counter and exploit Mendicant's [[Rampancy|rampant]] actions. During the battle, Offensive Bias played for time, allowing Mendicant Bias's rage to cause him to act irrationally and take its time in destroying Offensive Bias's fleet. After about eight hours of combat, the Array was fired which, aside from killing all sentient life in the galaxy, disabled the majority of Mendicant's fleet which was crewed by the Flood and out of its direct control. After the Halos fired, the advantage turned towards Offensive Bias: it had planned for the Halo effect, while Mendicant Bias had not, and nearly all its vessels could be commanded by it directly, including ones previously captured by the Flood. Within two minutes, Mendicant Bias was outsmarted and defeated by Offensive Bias, who utilized the now-crewless ships with a ruthless, unconventional efficiency, revealing its capability for methodical lethality. Mendicant Bias's fleet was annihilated and the rogue ancilla itself captured and separated into its constituent minds, its primary core delivered to the lesser Ark by Offensive Bias.{{Ref/Reuse|terminal}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22}}

===Zeta Halo===

Around one century (77 years, in 97,368 BCE) after the firing of the Halo Array, and the subsequently mysterious survival of the [[Xalanyn]] after the event, the [[Grand Edict]] assigned Offensive Bias to [[Installation 07]] alongside [[117649 Despondent Pyre]] to guard the Xalanyn's prison.{{Ref/Game|Id=stinger|HINF|Legendary post-credits cinematic}}