By the 24th century, Humans have founded a modest interstellar empire. There are at least a few dozen, but more likely one or two hundred, colony worlds within human-explored space. Some of them, if not most, are relatively heavily populated, indications of a prosperous 2 centuries exploring our neck (or arm, if you like) of the galaxy.

Human technology is not that far advanced from what we have today; the basic technologies are mostly the same, just on a much larger scale, with the exception of FTL travel made possible by the Shaw-Fujikawa slipstream drives of Human starships. Weaponry is still projectile-based, and explosives still seem to involve chemical reactions rather than a release of contained plasma, as the Covenant explosives use. While Humans have recently come to possess artificial gravity, another product of reverse engineering Covenant ordinance (as demonstrated by the gravity on the Pillar of Autumn), they have yet to apply it to smaller planet-bound vehicles; the Warthog, for example, still uses wheels and does not hover.

AI is a different story. Mankind has long striven to artificially produce some semblance of consciousness, and their dedication has not been in vain. For in Humanity's limited extrateresterial experience, the likes of Cortana appear only to be matched, if at all, by the constructs of the ancient Forerunner themselves. Covenant AI, though inherently complicated and dangerous, prove to be little more than simple-minded curiosities to Cortana, as she so effortlessly dissects and examines her would be tormenter. Their make-up and origins possess riddles enough for the future.

The Covenant, however, "own nothing which they have not stolen", and have had a decisive advantage so far in their own technological revolutions: the raiding of abandoned Forerunner complexes, caches, and worlds. But, as Humanity's resistance plays out across the fields and scapes of the Milky Way, mankind not only adapts and incorporates, but creates and improves. The Mjolnir armour and shield technology, coupled with the yields of Humanity's fascination with sentient constructs has so far been the most succesful of their ingenuities.

The bulk of Humanity still does not know about the events which transpired after the Pillar of Autumn jumped away from the Reach system; the Master Chief and a handful of Human survivors wrenched from Installation 04's wreckage, are the only remaining witnesses of our race to the Flood and the Forerunner machines left on Halo. All they know is that their last hope, Reach and her military forces, is either completely lost or severely impeded (depending on the number of surviving Spartans), and that the Covenant still loom over Human space. Earth cannot last long; even with ONI's morale-boosting propaganda and hush tactics, every night they watch the sky, waiting for the hammer to fall.

The other, other species on the ring...

Frank Kettenring (somerandomuser@proaxis.com) writes:

In Manoflaslomas's post about guilty spark addressing you as "reclaimer" he says "...Guilty Spark thinks (knows?) the master chief is a Reclaimer rather than a member of the covenant or another human (Keys for instance)... this is not quite true on the Library level 343 comments "I would conjecture that the other species currently on the instillation is responsible for releasing the Flood. They seem most persistent in their attempts to access restricted areas." It is assumed from this that he knows that you are indeed human, or thinks the other humans on halo are forerunner.This would fit in with Mr. Yun's theorie that the forerunner are ancient humans.

This made me think... When 343 says that he would conjecture that the other species currently on the installation is responsible for releasing the Flood, was he actually refer to the Covenant, as it would be assumed? Perhaps he is refering, in fact, to the Humans? Humans have been persistant in accessing restricted areas...

-Åstro

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franki goes on:

as for the humans, here's some conjecture. perhaps early humans were stranded forerunners. this would explain the genetic similarities but the lack of forerunner tech on the human's part. why do the cov. hate them? perhaps they know that humans are forerunners but that they have seemingly forsaken their technology. perhaps they think that the humans were a banished sect of the forerunners and so see themselves as completing the task of banishment by utterly destroying the humans. perhaps the cov. think that human existence is a blasphemy. we won't know until halo 2 when i believe we will see more of the religious leaders. all we've seen so far is the soldiers and since when were soldiers ever let in on the whole story?

The part about being "stranded" is an especially interesting idea, and very popular in sci-fi. Oh, for a glimpse at Halo 2! :-)

-mnemesis

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landon (terimartin6@hotmail.com) writes:

the covenant are a collection of species aren't they. why don't they just incorporate the humans into their covenant. if i was a covenant i sure wouldn't mind master chief on my team would you?

No, I can't say that I would mind one bit. It's like I always say, when the going gets tough, make the tough some cookies ;)

-Finn

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Upon reviewing the shear volume of related speculation, we may need to add a "Their Survival" subsection...

Menticided (Menticided@aol.com ) writes:

"The installation was specifically built to study and contain the Flood. Their survival as a race was dependent upon it. I am grateful to see that some of them survived to reproduce."

Perhaps what this means is that the Forerunners and Humans were once allied, and it was the Humans who became infected by the Flood parasites. Maybe the Forerunner believed that almost all of the Human race was infected, and since they were friendly, the Forerunner contained infected Humans to try to find a cure for the parasite and revert the infected Humans back to normal. This could explain why GS is surprised and glad to see Humans, and that they have "survived". The Halo as a weapon serves as a safety measure, obviously, to destroy the Flood, along with all life in the Galaxy. If the Forerunner and Humans were once friendly, this could be why the Forerunner wanted to preserve the Flood, but also be able to destroy them. The Forerunners probably were immune to the Flood for some reason or another [or sufficiently equipped to handle them], which is why they were able to stay alive and build the Halos and such.

And opens another possibility as to why 343 would call you Reclaimer. With Humanity as a partner or client of the Forerunner, the revelation of such a past relationship would still be enough to incite gasps from the audience and yet still leave the Halo universe with all the mystery and aura that only an unknown, powerful, though seemingly dead race can bring.

-Finn

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Brian Goodrow (tikiman0@bellsouth.net) writes:

To further speculate on the "how the covenant found Earth" issue, I turn to the ever trusty Halo: Fall of Reach.

I believe that it might be possible that the small Covenant tracking device on the back of Keyes' old ship Iroquois could have sent the signal. After all, that ship was damaged extremely, and could have been sent back to shipyards on Earth for scrapping (or sent to Earth for another reason). It never says that that tracker was limited to only one data signal in the form of a crystal.

Tailed all the way back to Earth, just like a cheap detective story. Damn.

-mnemesis

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Dan (Dan8825@aol.com) writes:

Reclaimer is just the name GS uses for the tool he is using to reactivate Halo. In HTF, 343 GS tells the MC about a marine sergeant that tried and failed to get the index under his direction. 343 GS refers to him as a reclaimer also. In the beginning of the Two Betrayals, 343 GS says that if the MC will not help him then he will simply find another. Moreover the Library level is littered (?) with marine bodies and there is no evidence of Covenant whatsoever. This means 343 GS never used the Covenant to act as "reclaimers." The Library seems to be pretty inaccessible to anyone other than 343 GS or the Flood, who we learn in HTF, move about Halo so easily by using shafts and ducts that run the length of Halo. Marines would not be wandering around the Library as it seems to be difficult to get to and the Covenant never found it. If the Covenant were a Forerunner race, then 343 GS would try to use them to reactivate Halo as well. Surely they would follow a being from the ringworld they so religiously revere. 343 GS used the MC and other Marines simply because humans were the Forerunner.

Humanity does seem to have the Reclaimer market cornered at this point ;)

-Finn

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So the crime we find is just human behaviour, everybody's in the line...

Mike/Kiwi (mdkaskey@yahoo.com) writes:

How does he know what a "human" is, unless he has seen/met one before? Does 343GS think MC is NOT human (which, I guess, is partially true)? Is the comment by 343GS a derogatory remark towards humans? Why would shooting at 343GS be a "human" thing to do? Note that this comes long before 343GS's remark about the fascinating "human history" in "The Maw."

Once again, is the answer right under our noses?

-Finn

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Humanity's relationship to the Forerunner has been questioned and touted a great deal in our hallowed halls and lofty pages. At this stage in the game, direct evidence is still scarce, but signals and signs are abundant. For example, early backstory for Halo mentions Human colonists discovering seemingly indigenous Human settlements on distant worlds; a powerful conglomeration of races wants Humanity exterminated for a reason that has few satisfying, foreseeable options; the various biblical parallels involving both the Flood and "Ark theories" provide ample history; John and other's almost tacit knowledge of Forerunner interfaces; at least one inspiration for Halo's story sees Humanity in the position of descendant in relation to a mysterious, enigmatic race; 343 Guilty Spark's highly ambiguous commentary portends a presence and background we have not yet fully conceived.

In this post by Ace we are, as with most speculation, presented and left with more questions than answers, but with a little fiendish editing for brevity and focus...

Earlier I posted about the "Class 2 Armor Thing." After reading a couple of reply posts, it hit me. Like a flood tentacle, right in the face. THAT ARMOR! WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MASTER CHIEFS ARMOR?? Try and bear with me, I feel a rant coming on. Everybody has been talking about how guilty spark recognizes the [human] armor: the armor was taken from forerunner technology, the armor was copied from covenant technology, etc. But we're missing something HUGE here.

The covenant possess nothing which they have not stolen. To quote the prophet from The Flood: (Prophet, to an Elite, talking about Mjolnir armor) "The technology underlying the armor you wear came straight from the forerunners. To say that it is in any way inferior [to the Human-made Mjolnir] verges on sacrilege." (p. 95-96)

Think about it. The covenant are religious zealots, but they don't worship the forerunners themselves, its the TECHNOLOGY they are after. The Covenant have created an entire religion based on pillaging and making use of this technology. EVERYTHING they use, from the Covenant Battlecruiser to plasma rifles to a grunt rebreather mask, is directly from the forerunners. Meanwhile, the humans make some decent reactive body armor and reverse engineer a shield system. Our equipment is barely on par with a Gold Elite. WHY THE HELL would guilty spark pick out Master Chief as forerunner [or as Reclaimer, whatever relation that may have to the Forerunner] when he's got an entire Forerunner tech Armada flying rings around his giant ring!?

...Don't you think he would be a lot more familiar with them instead of us pesky humans?

The Master Chief and Mobuto do have at least one thing in common, and given the assortment of supposedly familiar gadgetry wielded by the Covenant, armour or tech do not seem to be the necessary requirement for 343. Whether Humanity's ultimate role is that of heir, servant, prodigal son, exile, or favourite child, this post suggests again, with a certain bluntness, the specific place of importance Humanity appears to occupy in relation to the Forerunner. Ace has more to say on this and other topics. Drop in and work it out :)

-Finn

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The possibility of Earth based relics (Human or Forerunner) from the pre-fired Halo days

Michael McClelland (dexterdot@hotmail.com) writes:

Before halo was first activated I believe Earth must have reached a really high point in technology, and AIs among other things were created. If halo activated, then everything feedable to the flood was obliterated, thus ending the flood, except for a few remaining human flood who survived to reproduce(remember 343GS saying that?) into non-infected humans, who in our world would be adam and eve.

So earth was remade into brand new place, with no one ever knowing of the flood's existence. But a few AIS made it through the destruction and carnage because they didn't have a trace of life in them, for example not containing neural implants like others.

One would think that Earth's inhabitants would have found traces of this previous civilization at some point, but who's to say? What with ONI and shadowy stealth ships and intelligent, high-spirited AIs all slouching about, there might be all kinds of stuff we don't know about ourselves.

-mnemesis

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Of course, then Bryan goes off on some insane tangent about chessboards...

And it would be cool if there was a Halo chess board. On the Covenant side the king and queen could be Prophets. The bishops could be Elites. The Horses would be Jackals . The rooks could be Hunters and the pawns would be grunts. And on the human side, the king would be the MC. The queen could be Cortana. The bishops would be men with sniper rifles. The horses, men with shotguns. The rooks would be men with rocket launchers and the pawns would be men with assault rifles. i'd buy it immediately.

Actually, I'd probably buy that, too! ;-)

-mnemesis

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With so many processing cycles dedicated to the HSP, it is always difficult to discern between what you remember posting, and what has only been discussed at length, often privately. Very many ideas that are more or less common knowledge just don't make it to print. However, one finds that, like sense, common knowledge is often not so common ;)

James Ribby (jribby@nmu.edu) writes:

I just figured it's worth pointing out that in the book, The Flood, when the Chief is going after the Index, he stumbles across the body of a dead marine. The significance is that Guilty Spark refers to the dead marine as "the other Reclaimer". This would imply that he recognizes the Chief not by his armor, but by his race.

So it would seem. For the moment, let's run with it :)

-Finn

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Devin Hallsworth comments on Human technology:

old tech doesnt neccesarily mean low tech, as bullets can only get more cheap, powerful, and efficient as time goes by. and despite the seeming superiority of plasma rifles in terms of power to assualt rifles i imagine that considering the fact that covenant dont seem to carry cartridges for theyre weapons it could get mighty inconvinient to run out of energy for your weapon on a battle field(unless your packing a recharger on your back)

Honestly, how many shots does the average Elite have to expend to put you on your back? One plasma rifle charge is more than enough to kill a man :)

-Finn

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All roads lead to SOL

Joe Nowasaki (dark_shadowfox_2003@hotmail.com) writes:

I think that mabey the reason (which would be a great plot twist for Halo 2) why the covenant found Earth is that remember the space probe Pioneer 10? Pioneer 10 (click here for more info) that "carries a famous gold plaque--an attempt by humans to communicate with other beings should the spacecraft be found by aliens during its journey through deep space."

we could have baisiclly screwed ourselves for the covenant finding Earth! if it is already 10 Billion miles out now from 1983 (only 30 year from the launch) think about 600 years from now!! it decribes how to get to Earth! Makes a good story to me!

VGeR.... VGeR...

-Finn

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Wade "Wado" Yamauchi (wyamauchi@msn.com) writes:

What scares me about the Flood is that when they steal knowledge and memories, they actually remove that knowledge from the host. Certainly, if the Forerunners knew this, they would have a motive to design a way to transmit information via DNA or something that the Flood cannot steal.

Perhaps SPARTAN/Human intuition and instinct have even more merit than we realize :)

-Finn

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Slipstream Buckshot... and Benny the Bear :P

Arthur Wellesly (arthur_wellesly@hotmail.com) writes:

A while back, Wyatt Mustful contended my theory that Halo was inside human space. He said that because space travel was so sketchy you could suddenly end up trillions of miles away, no matter where you're headed.

That seems a bit off to me. I think the inaccuracy of space travel is better compared to a musket. If you fire a musket in London at a target 100 yards away, chances are it won't hit the target you wished, but it certainly won't end up in Beijing. So while exact days may be difficult to use in determining how far Halo is from REACH, it still seems likely it is extremely close to humans.

Keyes does comment that Human jumps have been known to be off by "hundred of thousands of kilometers" (P.295), but not trillions. (The original post on this subject is here.) Cortana did have a human star chart match however, at 86.2% no less (FoR, p.336); she had a previously known system to compare with the results of her calculations...

-Finn

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Pertaining to the Covenant's usual orbital tactics and their deviations from them

Alexis J. Lojek (phoenix155@mac.com) writes:

As we have seen before, the Covenant glass most planets that Humanity inhabits. However, whenever a planet has Forerunner artifacts on it they either only partially glass it (as seen with Reach in First Strike), or invade it entirely (Reach and Sigma Octanus). Earth must have some type of Forerunner artifact on it. Funny that we haven't found it yet...

Or has someone? Dah dah dah ::cue spooky music::