The Halo Conflict

The Halo Conflict is a four-part video documentary series on Halo Waypoint, which chronicles the events of the Battle of Installation 04, retelling the events of Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: The Flood. It was released as a promotion for Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, showcasing the game's remastered graphics. The video series was originally featured in the "Universe" section of Halo Waypoint, but can now be found in the "Learn" section of the Halo Channel.

Strange New World
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Halo Waypoint description: ''When the Covenant arrive at Reach, the UNSC Pillar of Autumn flees into slipspace, carrying what the crew believes to be the last surviving Spartan as well as Cortana, an AI of incredible importance to the survival of the human race. However, this departure does not lead to safety, because the Covenant follow. Both factions arrive at Halo, a mysterious ringworld artifact containing secrets that could change the course of the war.''

Halo Channel description: ''For humanity, the ring was a strange new world; but no sooner did the crew of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn lay eyes on the installation than the Covenant laid siege to their ship. Luckily, the Master Chief and Cortana manage to survive...''

Transcript
August 30, 2552: The full might of a Covenant invasion force arrives on Reach, its unparalleled power sweeping through the already weakened colony. This fortress world would most certainly fall, and under no circumstance could the Autumn be captured by the covenant. With the UNSC fleet completely battered above the planet, the Pillar of Autumn set course away from Reach. The UNSC ship carried Cortana, an unparalleled AI construct of human creation, and the Master Chief, the last known surviving Spartan supersoldier. Though ordered by Captain Jacob Keyes to plot a random course away from the planet, Cortana instead chose the Soell system because of information gleaned from the Battle of Sigma Octanus only a month earlier. This intel indicated that the same alien race which had scattered relics across the surface of Reach had placed special significance on Soell; more specifically, a site between the system's enormous gas giant, Threshold, and its moon, Basis. On September 19, the Autumn arrived at this remote location bring Keyes and his crew face-to-face with Halo, a ring-world installation ten-thousand kilometers in diameter, locked between the planet and its moon. The Autumn's crew also discovered that they weren't alone: the Covenant had followed them. The Fleet of Particular Justice, lead by its Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee, had pursued the ship to this distant location and now had its eyes set on the ring. For the Covenant, Halo represented the culmination of centuries of exploration and its sought-after activation would be the fulfillment of their "Great Journey". For humanity, the ring was a strange new world, but no sooner had they laid eyes on the installation then the covenant would lay siege to their ship. With the Autumn under fire, the decision could not have been more clear for Captain Keyes: get the Master Chief and Cortana off the vessel immediately. The UNSC could not afford losing either the Chief or Cortana, and all the information she possessed, to the Covenant's attack on the Autumn. So the Spartan retrieved Cortana and made his way to an escape pod, launching down towards the ring's surface and bringing the fight to the covenant on the ground.

Truth and Reconciliation
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Halo Waypoint description: ''As the Master Chief and Cortana are launched headlong toward the ring's surface, the UNSC Pillar of Autumn's captain, Jacob Keyes, is captured by the Covenant. The Covenant bring him to the Truth and Reconciliation, a battlecruiser where the captain learns the truth about Halo and exactly why the Covenant are so interested in it.''

Halo Channel description: ''And this would be the Chief’s next target. Captain Keyes and his crew had been captured by the Covenant and they were being held on the cruiser. Without fear, the Spartan dove deep into the belly of the beast, fighting through the Covenant horde and eventually securing the captain.''

Transcript
With the Covenant assaulting the Pillar of Autumn, Captain Jacob Keyes ordered the Master Chief to bring Cortana to the surface of the mysterious ring-world, safe from capture by the enemy. The Chief, accompanied by the Autumn's Marines and lead by the ODST Major Antonio Silva, launched headlong toward the alien construct while Keyes and his crew crash-landed the ship. Upon reaching the Ring's surface, the Spartan and Cortana found a world untouched by time: vast fields and verdant hills, looming alien spires and enormous caverns. But it wasn't long before the Chief went to work, securing Marines and returning them to Alpha Base, where Silva had set up a Command-and-Control center for the UNSC to operate from. However, further up-spin, the Covenant had done the same: the battlecrusier Truth and Reconcilliation, damaged in the earlier skirmish, had come to rest above a plateau and was being used as a base of operations. This would be the Chief's next target. Captain Keyes and his crew had been captured by the Covenant and they were being held on the cruiser. Without fear, the Spartan drove deep into the belly of the beast, fighting through the Covenant horde and eventually securing the Captain. And it was there, within the bowels of the enemy ship, that Keyes began to unlock the mysteries of the Ring. Overhearing the Covenant's plans, the Captain explained that the Ring was called "Halo" and that it was a weapon of unimaginable power, one that their enemy fully intended to use. With this new-found information, Keyes sent the Chief and Cortana to a remote island. To the naked eye, this was an incredibly beautiful paradise, but that was only a facade. Below the island's surface lay Halo's map room, the Silent Cartographer, the one place where the UNSC would learn how and where to access Halo's control center. Attempting to head the human forces off, the covenant had already made their way to the same structure, fortifying it while they attempted to unlock Halo's secrets from elsewhere. Unfortunately, the secrets the Covenant would unlock would be darker than anything humanity could have imagined. Deep below the Ring's surface, something stirred: an ancient force that was long ago put to rest would once again be awakened.

The Darkest of all Threats
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Halo Waypoint description: ''As UNSC and Covenant forces vie for control of Halo, the latter begin to pry at locked doors, some which were never meant to be opened. After the Covenant release a dark threat upon the ring which had lain dormant for over 100,000 years, the Master Chief must find a solution before time runs out.''

Halo Channel description: ''When the Flood first appeared within the galaxy’s borders, the Forerunners believed that the only way to permanently stop this threat would be to develop a cure. So they kept the parasite dormant and contained on Halo, but all of that changed when the Covenant began prying at locked doors.''

He Was Called Reclaimer
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Halo Waypoint description: ''After the Master Chief secures the Activation Index at the behest of the Forerunner AI 343 Guilty Spark, Cortana explains to the Spartan the true purpose of Halo: the ringworld is a weapon of extraordinary power, capable of destroying all life in the galaxy. Now the Master Chief and Cortana must find a way to stop not only the Covenant, but the Flood and Guilty Spark's efforts to activate Halo.''

Halo Channel description: ''The Covenant discovered the location of yet another Halo ring and, tragically, Earth. The human home-world would become the location of humanity’s final stand against the Covenant and the beginning of the last chapter in the war.''