Operation Chastity
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Operation Chastity was a planned fan-made feature film set in the Halo universe, centering on a platoon of Recon Marines of the 267th Marine Regiment. The film was being helmed by Peter Cooper, a British Halo fan and first-time film maker. Operation Chastity was a completely independent work, unaffiliated with 343 Industries, Bungie, or any other official party. ContentsPlot summary[edit]The film opens in February 2553, four months after the Battle of Earth and one month before the official end of the war. Recon Marines belonging to the 267th Marine Regiment, led by Lieutenant Ashton, are sent to destroy the San Solano observatory, an abandoned base in Argentina behind enemy lines, as part of the preparation for the opening phase of Operation Chastity – a search-and-destroy operation to cleanse Argentina of the last pocket of Covenant resistance on Earth. While setting up demolitions, the regiment spots HEV pods being deployed nearby. Shortly after they are attacked by a swarm of Covenant Grunts, Brutes, and Banshees. The Marines hold off the attack long enough to escape and call for an airstrike by the frigate Hope Springs Eternal, but are decimated to barely half of a platoon. Ashton orders them to retreat to Command HQ and regroup with Bravo Company, but creates a rift when he orders them to leave the crippled Private Rivers behind. Corporal Foster stays with him as the 267th leaves the area. The Marines use SATCOM imaging to find their way, but Ashton grows frustrated when he sees portions of the map are being blacked out. He suspects it might be interference from the Office of Naval Intelligence, and orders a squad to check out the dark zone. There they see numerous dead Covenant, and glimpse their killer, a Spartan-II. Arriving at Command HQ, the Marines are dismayed to find that it too was attacked. They find only a handful of survivors, and they stay the night in the bombed out base to tend to their wounds. Securing a connection to command, Ashton receives orders for the 267th to head to Firebase Kilo, a UNSC stronghold. They leave the following morning to head to the base, passing through war-torn streets and encountering a few Covenant before making contact with Marines of the 29th Reserve Regiment, who they have mutual resentment for. After arriving at Kilo, the Marines unwind and rest, expecting to be sent home soon. Ashton is called to a classified meeting with Lt. Commander Thordarson, of ONI Section Three. He is informed that the Covenant that attacked San Solano were from the Chaste Ascendancy, a crashed CCS-class battlecruiser that was carrying numerous Covenant criminals who were put into service in exchange for freedom. At his urging, the Sangheili allied with humanity were convinced not to glass the crash site. As for the ODSTs, they were part of the 11th Division and most of their pods were destroyed. Claiming there may be a few survivors, Thordarson orders Ashton to rearm his men for one more mission before they can go home. Ashton reluctantly tells them the news but assigns a few trusted Marines (Winters, Ince, and Foster) to Thordarson’s command Pelican in case the Lt. Commander tries to pull something unusual. The 267th and 29th are deployed by Pelican to an abandoned control tower where the ODST survivors are claimed to be. However, they do not find any troopers but instead the Spartan, Maria-062, under orders by Thordarson to investigate the area. She tells him that the ODSTs managed to put a tracker on their target before the Covenant killed them. They return to the Pelicans with Maria, where Thordarson tells the Marines of their true mission: to acquire a Covenant cargo that he suspects is a weapon of mass destruction. The cargo has been tracked to the Las Armas munitions factory, where Chaste Ascendancy's crew has assembled. As an airstrike could risk setting off the device, the Marines are deployed to capture the package. As they reach the site, the Covenant shoot down their Pelicans and an enormous battle breaks out. Most of the Marines and Maria struggle to hold off the enemy from the crash site. Thordarson and Ashton’s select team are cut off from the others and proceed to the target through underground tunnels. The squad reaches the Las Armas factory, where they kill a few Grunts and find the weapon, which appears to be a Forerunner box that Thordarson orders them not to touch. However, before they can claim it, a Brute Chieftain and his Stalkers attack and capture the Marines. Managing to get a Warthog working, Maria and Ashton drive to the target in hopes of rescuing their men. The captured squad has been put in cages, and the Chieftain forces Thordarson to open the artifact. It turns out to contain a single Pod infector, and the Chieftain lets it infect Thordarson so as to begin a plague that will wipe out humanity – a final act of desperation, and a plan conceived by the Prophet of Truth to ensure victory for the Covenant. Just in time, the Spartan arrives, kills the Chieftain and the Flood combat form, and rescues the Marines. The squad regroups and they flee the area while Longswords bomb the remaining Covenant. During the retreat, however, they take further casualties, including Lt. Ashton. After the battle ends, Maria-062 leaves the group and disappears using active camouflage. The Marines return to Kilo Base, where they mourn their dead and assemble their belongings, ready to leave the battlefield for good. The last to go, Private Winters, gets in contact with his family in a refugee shelter before boarding a medical Pelican with the rest of his unit, finally able to return home after a long war. Characters[edit]
Production[edit]
Operation Chastity was first announced by Peter Cooper on October 31, 2008. The announcement focused on the pre-production creation of a working M12 Warthog to be featured in the film.[3] Cooper's initial plan had been only to assemble the Warthog, then was encouraged by friends to use it in some comedy shorts, leading to the idea to produce a feature-length film.[4] The Warthog, subsequently completed, was made from an 1983 Land Rover Defender 110. Unlike all other depictions of the Warthog, it was "right-drive" instead of "left-drive", since the vehicle's steering wheel could not be moved to the opposite side. In subsequent announcements, Cooper listed the film's initial budget as "between £25,000 and £30,000 pending further cash injection".[5] The film was described as "being crewed by passionate fans and film makers from all around the world, reaching from the production’s home of Britain as far as the USA and Singapore". Over the next several years, information on the project was released in the form of press releases, concept art and production stills on the film's website, Facebook page, and Youtube channel. UNSC Marines and Spartans would have been featured. VFX work was reportedly scheduled for depiction of plasma fire, Banshees and Scorpions. No explanation was ever given for what would have been used to depict Covenant infantry, though a tweet suggested they would have been modeled. A trailer was filmed but ultimately not completed. It was intended to serve as a “slice of life” teaser showing combat taking place around the Chaste Ascendency perimeter prior to the commencement of Operation Chastity. Filmed footage included columns of transport Warthogs, street battles in an abandoned town, and a massive battle in an Argentinian valley around the Chaste Ascendency crash site, with the battle filmed in the style of the Halo 3 announcement trailer. Locations for the teaser trailer film shoot included RAF Uxbridge and Dunstable Downs in the United Kingdom, and actors in the teaser included Joerg Stadler, Arkie Reece, Anthony Topham, Al Gregg, Josh Dyer, Alexandra Metaxa and Vin Hawke. Illustrator Barry Renshaw was hired to create storyboards for the CG section of the teaser, centered around a UNSC frigate battling numerous Banshees with a squadron of Hornets.[6] On April 11, 2011 a behind-the-scenes video of the production was posted on the Machinima Youtube channel.[7] The video is footage of a shoot at a single location, featuring several Marines and the functioning, turret-less Warthog. Trivia[edit]Writing[edit]
Backstory[edit]
Cancellation[edit]After much build-up, news about the project gradually petered out. The last known Twitter post on the film's feed was posted in February 2012.[8] The film's website, Facebook page, and Twitter feed were eventually taken down, and Chastity's crew has declined to comment on the film's cancellation, Cooper saying he was barred from doing so or from rebooting the project.[7] Chastity's Warthog was put for sale for £12,500 or $20,000.[9] It was eventually bought by Rooster Teeth, who featured it on a Red vs. Blue-Immersion crossover episode testing real life vehicle flipping and then exploded it.[10][11] Gallery[edit]Production images[edit]Concept art[edit]Storyboards[edit]External links[edit]
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