Truth and Reconciliation

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"The enemy has captured Captain Keyes, and are holding him aboard one of their cruisers, the Truth and Reconciliation."

- Cortana

The Truth and Reconciliation was a Covenant CCS-class Battlecruiser. CCS Cruisers are long, vaguely organic-shaped spacecraft capable of launching dozens of fighters. They are typically armed with several dozen energy weapons. Covenant capital ships come in varying classes and sizes, though military observers note that there is a great deal of variance weaponry, length, estimated tonnage, fighter compliments, speed and maneuvering capabilities within a particular class. The primary use of these ships is to transport ground forces, though they are quite capable of a battle in space as well.

The Truth and Reconciliation was the Cruiser that held Captain Jacob Keyes prisoner during the events on Halo. The ship was destroyed by a member of the surviving UNSC forces to stop the Flood from escaping Halo.

Covenant often name their ships with different names that "personify" their religious significance. Known names for Covenant CCS-class ships are Truth and Reconciliation, Purity of Spirit and Sacred Promise.

The Truth and Reconciliation takes its name from the actual Truth and Reconciliation Commission established in South Africa after the fall of apartheid rule. Alternatively, its name may have been inspired by the Christian concept of "reconciliation with the truth" of the gospel and with God.

Battle of Reach
An element of the Fleet of Particular Justice, the Truth and Reconciliation was present at the Battle of Reach, as one of the hundreds of Covenant warships that assailed the UNSC fortress world. When the Pillar of Autumn fled Reach, the Truth and Reconciliation pursued the Pillar of Autumn through Slipspace to its destination, Installation 04, a.k.a. "Alpha Halo".

Battle of Installation 04
When the Pillar of Autumn arrived at Installation 04, it was able to evade detection by the Covenant Fleet there, surreptitiously analyzing Installation 04. However, a Seraph stumbled upon the Pillar of Autumn by chance, and relayed its coordinates to the Covenant fleet, which engaged the Pillar of Autumn.

In the ensuing naval battle, Cortana disabled the Truth and Reconciliation as she tried in vain to defend the Pillar of Autumn. Although the Truth and Reconciliation could have easily destroyed the Pillar of Autumn, the Minor Prophet in command ordered that plasma torpedoes not be used because it would risk damaging the Halo. Boarding parties were sent instead. After being disabled, the vessel was forced to drop to 300 meters above the surface of the planet for refit and repair. When it landed on Alpha Halo, it became a sort of command post for the Covenant ground forces. A small group of the High Council of Masters convened there, namely Soha 'Rolamee and an unnamed minor Prophet. Zuka 'Zamamee went to the ship to ask the Council permission to hunt the Master Chief, but the Council turned him down. As 'Zamamee was leaving, he confronted the recently captured Captain Keyes.

Truth and Reconciliation
The Truth and Reconciliation was boarded the next day via its gravity lift. Led by the Master Chief, a handful of Marines, and ODSTs tryed to rescue Captain Keyes. They entered the ship's gravity lift bay and were ambushed by Covenant security forces lead by a group of Stealth Elites with Plasma Swords.

With the aid of the Master Chief, the Marines successfully routed the hordes of Jackals, Grunts and Elites and proceeded into the vast, labyrinth-comparable corridors of the CCS-Battlecruiser's interior. They fought their way into a hanger bay, where they killed hordes of Covenant infantry, as well as a Hunter pair. They then made their way to the higher levels and into the Control Room. There, they killed all of the Covenant forces within, including a Zealot generally believed to be the vessel's Ship Master. After neutralizing the hostiles inside the room, the Master Chief left the Marines to defend against intruders while he went in search for Captain Keyes. While making his way to the prison cells, he encountered another prison block that contained dead Marines, beaten or tortured to death. Needless to say, he did not find Captain Keyes in this cell block. The Master Chief proceeded to yet another cell block. After killing the Stealth Elites and the lone Zealot inside, the Master Chief deactivated the energy shields and freed the captured Marines, who armed themselves with Covenant plasma weapons. Seconds after their release, the Marines cut down several Stealth Elites and Jackals who had tracked the Chief to the prison complex. When they reached the Control Room, the Chief found that the Marines he left there were dead and in their place were Stealth Elites with Energy Swords. With the help of the freed UNSC personnel, 117 killed all of the enemy forces in the area and made his way to the hanger and the Spirit Dropship there. They had been informed by Foehammer that there would be no extraction for them because she was being engaged by Covenant air patrols and they would be better off finding their own way out. So Keyes commandeered the Spirit, and proceeded to use it as an unorthodox, but powerful weapon to crush a Hunter pair that tried to shoot them down on their way out.

This was a major human victory, as they had penetrated the security of the Covenant's command center on Halo ring, inflicted major casualties, and rescued a potentially valuable prisoner. They were responsible for the death of Ship Master Orna 'Fulsamee and 120 other soldiers, but lost only 36 Marines. During the attack, UNSC personnel were able to capture several Shades which were used to fortify Alpha Base. Also as a result of the attack, Zuka 'Zamamee's request to hunt and kill the Master Chief was reviewed and approved, and the Covenant began to view the human survivors as a serious threat.

Keyes and the Flood
After the Flood was discovered, the Covenant ordered all ships to abandon the Ring. Unfortunately, the Truth and Reconciliation was overwhelmed and disabled by the Flood before it could leave. Since the Flood learn from who they infect, the Covenant were fearful that the Flood would repair the ship, fly into space and infect the galaxy. The Covenant then sent in a strike team, then several more when the first group failed to repair the vessel and neutralize the Flood. A massive battle between Flood and Covenant crew and Special Operation forces ensued. During this fight, the Master Chief was sent in to find Captain Keyes and extract him, or failing that, retrieve the Captain's neural implants so the Pillar of Autumn's engines could be overloaded. The Chief fought his way into the ship and into the control room, where Keyes was being "interrogated". Upon reaching Keyes, Cortana informed the Chief that there were no human life-signs left. The chief then proceeded to forcefully remove the neural implants. Meanwhile, Covenant forces consisting of Spec Ops Elites and Grunts were trying desperately to repel the Flood forces. About the time the Chief reached the Shuttle Bay, a Special Operations team of Elites came in Banshees and a Spirit dropships to reinforce their comrades. Also, waiting in the lower levels were a pair of Hunters, who met their end at the hands of the Chief. The Chief managed to kill all hostiles and make his way to the hanger bay, where he stole a Banshee and was able to escape and fly to the Pillar of Autumn. In the fight, the Truth and Reconciliation's reactor was damaged, and according to Cortana it should have gone critical. However, it did not and was repaired by Covenant forces, who managed to repel or destroy the majority of the Flood on board after the Master Chief's departure. Cortana's mistake with the reactor may be due to her extensive experience with UNSC ships instead of those of the Covenant, as the ships of the latter tend to be much more powerful and durable than the former.

Capture and Destruction
After the Master Chief left, ODSTs and surviving Marine forces took over the ship through a combined surprise assault on the vessel's hanger bay and gravity lift. Major Silva planned and intended to fly the ship back to Earth with a valuable prisoner that the Marines had taken, but it was destroyed by a Helljumper officer, First Lieutenant Melissa McKay, who realized that they could not risk taking the ship to Earth for fear of spreading the Flood infection and destroying humanity; if even one Carrier Form or lone Infection Form managed to avoid the sterilization procedure, the whole of Earth could fall. She realized that Major Silva's lust for glory was clouding his judgment as UNSC personnel were getting the cruiser ready for lift off. The Combat Form known as Wallace Jenkins still had enough mental faculties left to try to attempt and stop the ship himself. When he was restrained by 2 ODSTs, however, Lieutenant McKay finally understood his intentions and in a snap-decision, severed the primary optical fiber cable that linked controls from the bridge to Engineering, thereby causing the cruiser to lose control and crash onto the surface of Halo. Her actions caused the death of all humans, Covenant and Flood on board whilst possibly saving the rest of humanity from potential annihilation.

Trivia

 * players note that the mapping of the Truth and Reconciliation is quite different in the level named after the ship and the level Keyes. For example: in the begining of the level Keyes, you end up shortly at the bottom floor of a hanger bay where in the Truth and Reconciliation level, it is at the top.