The Package (animated short)

This article is about the Halo Legends film. For the Halo: Reach level, see The Package (level).

The Package is one of the seven short films comprising the anime adaptation of the Halo universe, Halo Legends. A CGI film, The Package follows the Master Chief and a squad of SPARTAN-IIs as they execute a top-secret mission to retrieve an incredibly valuable UNSC asset on a Covenant Assault Carrier.

Summary

Main article: Battle of the Unnamed Star System

Aboard an ONI stealth ship, a team of Spartans consisting of John-117, Frederic-104, Kelly-087, Solomon-069 and Arthur-079, are briefed by an intelligence officer. A Covenant Fleet is momentarily trapped in the system. One of the ships is carrying an important "package" which the Spartans must retrieve. The stealth craft de-cloaks and deploys the Spartans in Booster Frames.

The team make their way past an array of plasma weaponry and attach a scanning device to a CCS-class Battlecruiser to search for the "package's" frequency. Solomon detects the package on one of the ships. As soon as he leaves the vessel's hangar, he discovers an Antimatter Charge, which destroys the ship and kills him. Soon, the Spartans detect the same beacon frequency coming from all the ships around them. This confirms that the Covenant knows what the commandos are after. John deduces that the target is actually in the Assault Carrier Flagship. Arthur is killed while trying to cover Kelly from pursuing Seraphs. The remaining Spartans board the Assault Carrier and take cover inside a bubble shield.

After making their way through thick brute and grunt defenses, the Spartans are ambushed by a team of elites. Fred parries a swipe from an Energy Sword with his Spartan Laser, and kills his attacker with a combat knife, distracting John's own attacker and holding the Elites off long enough for John and Kelly to proceed. The Fleet Master gives the order to detach part of the hull, hoping to leave the Spartans stranded in space - Kelly manages to propel John back into the ship, but is left in the vacuum. John manages to recover the "package" - revealed to be Doctor Catherine Elizabeth Halsey, founder of the SPARTAN-II program, in cryo-hibernation.

John releases the doctor and tries to effect an escape. However, their path is blocked by Thel 'Lodamee, who challenges John to a sword duel, giving the Spartan his other Energy Sword. The duel is fierce but short, and John is disarmed and defeated. At this moment, by a twist of fate, the Shipmaster decides to detach the entire lower hull section and jump to Slipspace after clearing the magnetic interference, leaving the Spartans and many Covenant survivors stranded. Thel is sealed off from John and Halsey just when he's about to kill them. As he is lifted away from the soon-to-be-scuttled hull, he curses the Shipmaster with the words, "You fool! A thousand hells await you!"

Now free of immediate Covenant danger, the two board a Covenant escape pod and are promptly pursued by Seraph fighters. They are saved by Fred and Kelly, who have captured another Seraph. The survivors are recovered by the stealth ship, which soon leaves the system. Once they are aboard, John swears that he'll never let another comrade die again.

Appearances

Characters Arthur-079 Catherine Elizabeth Halsey Frederic-104 John-117 Kelly-087 Solomon-069 Thel 'Lodamee Unnamed ONI Commander Unnamed Fleet Master Unnamed Sangheili Bridge Officer Organizations Covenant Empire Covenant Navy United Nations Space Command UNSC Navy UNSC Naval Special Warfare Command SPARTAN-II Program Office of Naval Intelligence

Species Human Jiralhanae Kig-Yar Sangheili Unggoy Vehicles Assault Carrier CCS-class Battlecruiser Covenant Escape Pod OF-92/EVA Booster Frame Seraph-class Starfighter Unnamed Stealth Spacecraft Equipment Bubble Shield

Weapons Antimatter Charge Close Quarters Combat Weapon System Plasma Cannon M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Grenade M7/Caseless Submachine Gun M90A Close Assault Weapon System MA5 Individual Combat Weapon System Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol Type-25 Grenade Launcher Type-51 Carbine Type-25 Carbine Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galileian Nonlinear Rifle

Trivia

• The art gallery seen on Halo Waypoint shows an Elite wearing an Assault Harness. However, it is incorrectly referred to as the Flight Harness, another armor permutation of the Elites.
• The equipment used in The Package seems more advanced than the UNSC was previously thought to use. Rather than relying on photo-reactive panels for optical camouflage, the stealth ship uses a Covenant-style active camouflage system. Likewise, the Booster Frames seem to be at least partially protected by energy shields. Both of these technologies may have been reverse-engineered from Covenant technology.
• Despite the fact that people must be put into cryo-sleep naked to avoid burns on the skin, Dr. Halsey is seen in her cryo pod fully clothed. This, like the closing scene in Halo Wars, was most likely done to avoid implementing a nude scene, which in turn would give Halo Legends an R or NC-17 rating.
• The Package reveals that some of Cortana's lines were references to quotes from Halsey. However, the line "No thanks to their driving, yes," is mentioned by John-117, who is also referencing Halsey.
• The MJOLNIR Mark IV armor worn by John-117 and his fellow SPARTAN-IIs appears very similar appearance to the Mark VI and their HUDs resemble that of the Mark VI in Halo 3, even including a shield meter, although the Mark IV did not have shields. Though some of these details are due to stylistic interpretation, the suits themselves are a variant of the Mark IV armor.
• Kelly says "We've got three minutes," when the SPARTANs board the assault carrier; the SPARTANs had ten minutes to complete the mission, meaning the SPARTANs had spent seven minutes fighting in space: $(10-3=7)$. The battle between John-117 and 'Lodamee lasts seven seconds. When 'Lodamee throws John-117 an energy sword, fourteen rounds remain in John's assault rifle: $(14/2=7)$.
• Before John-117 takes out his two SMGs, his HUD shows that he has no more assault rifle ammunition, but later, when he meets Thel 'Lodamee again, he tries to kill him with a burst from the assault rifle, even though there is no way he could have gotten more ammo. It is possible that he did have more ammunition and didn't reload his weapon until he was in a secure position.
• The Jackals seen when the trio make it aboard the flagship are wearing air tanks on their backs, similar to Grunts, even though they breathe oxygen.
• When John and Kelly are fighting their way through the corridor, it is shown that the Grunts, the Elites and the Brutes have green blood, while Grunts actually have blue blood, and Brutes and Elites have dark red and purple blood respectively.
• During the scene where Solomon realized he had stepped into a trap, his shock expression was seen through his helmet. Even though he was holding an Assault Rifle, his HUD shows he was holding a Spartan Laser and an SMG as his secondary weapon. This is obviously an oversight.
• The Package shows the extreme respect that Elites have for strong foes. Even though he could easily have killed John with his sword, Thel gives his opponent one of his own swords so they can fight as equals.

Gallery

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  Four of the Spartan-IIs being briefed on the mission. (From left to right: Fredric-104, Arthur-079, Solomon-069 and Kelly-087.)

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  A CCS-class Battlecruiser firing its plasma weaponry.

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  John-117 piloting his Booster Frame.

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  John-117 entering the launch bay of the CCS-class Battlecruiser.

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  John-117 and Dr. Halsey facing 'Lodamee.

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  Fred-104 firing a Spartan Laser aboard the Covenant carrier.