Much like its acronym's literal namesake, the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence manages to simultaneously elicit both blatant awe and suspicious fear, while existing in both the forefront and shadows of Humanity's military operation. Their presence is unmistakable, but their details and internal organization are largely unknown.

Section 3 and NavSpecWep are involved in all aspects of covert and black operations, intelligence gathering, special weapons research and development, mission planning, and consultation.

Section 2 of ONI is involved primarily in propaganda and data manipulation, both in the name of security and keeping the hopes of Humanity set high.

Nothing, so far, is known about the implied Section 1.

Their people are everywhere, as most recently demonstrated by Lieutenant Haverson, formerly aboard the Pillar of Autumn and rescued from the wreckage of Halo 04. Although compliant and dedicated, most operatives have a tendency to act above the law, often skirting their own protocols for the sake of speed, subtlety, and effectiveness. Thankfully, while they may tempt fate and hoard their secrets, Humanity's preservation is still a top priority...

Matt Wright (mattsoundworld@hotmail.com) writes:

In TFoR, the PoA was given a ship grade AI. This was never initialized because of the sudden attack on Reach, and Cortana had to step in. However, Cortana, as TFoR emphasized, was a different type of AI, much smarter then all the security AI's and much more creative. Cortana was never meant to be a warship's AI, but was merely in the right place at the right time. 343 GS is pretty observant. He'd be stupid to think Cortana is just a warship AI.

Also, during The Maw, 343 GS seems to differentiate between a 'construct' and a 'warship's AI'. He keeps asking the Master Chief to hand over the 'construct', Cortana, who has control over the Index. Yet throughout he keeps saying that this 'warship's AI' "possesses far too much data", and that destroying the PoA would destroy a record of human history.

When beaching the PoA on Halo, there is no mention of a purging of the ships data arrays as in previous encounters with the Covenant (not mentioned doesn't mean it didn't happen). But... maybe the mysterious other PoA AI survived and was still in the ship. The Covenant wouldn't be able to access this dead info from outside the ship, but 343 GS was inside, able to see ALL the information there, not just the data moving on the network. Most importantly 343 GS keeps talking about the AI having too much info, even though Cortana is currently with the MC.

If 343 GS is talking about another AI, it would make for an interesting twist.

An excerpt from Cortana Letter #4:

x - process 04497.2.32.867734 initiated (process owner: BW ÷ AI Class III ÷ autonomous)

Route Code: PoA > BHQ (EC #42: cannot confirm; security compromised)

Source: BW-AI aboard (?) PoA

An elusive stowaway? What could it be up to? What has become of it?

hmm... ;)

-Finn

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Of a possible encounter with Mendez at John's post-Cote d'Azur ONI debriefing...

Nicholas John Roberts Jones (N.J.R.Jones@brighton.ac.uk) writes:

i've alwyas wondered what happened to Chief Mendez. i know that when the Spartans graduated and went and got their Mjolnir armour, he said his goodbyes, and John recalls never seeing the Chief again after that. but we never do know what happened to the Chief. or do we?

i've noticed something that could show where he ended up in the Fall of Reach. now i havent read The Flood yet, so correct me if i'm wrong, but i think he works for ONI.

my first thoughts at this were that being a part of such a project s the SPARTAN project wouldnt allow him to be around other field-personnel or allow him to continue as a Drill Instructor.

the other thing is something i've spotted a few times but never really thought it was worth mentioning. it is during Chapter 24 when the Master Chief reports to ONI at Camp Hathcock. as he recalls the firefight with the Hunters and he rewinds the tape to where the Jackal was crushed, he makes a statement that someone says "What do you mean, son?"

now i know it may be nothing, but it is a new voice that sounds "older and rough", just like Mendez. The Master Chief says he can only offer his opinion and the same, scratchy voice replies "Offer it, Master Chief, i for one would be very interested what someone with first hand experience has to say...for a change."

this sounds like a rebuke at his ONI superiours as they were always rather sceptical of the project, and the fact that there is a "rustling of papers, then silence" could be the annoyance of them.

this may not be much, but the other thing is that we see that the older, rougher sounding man that i think is Mendez is smoking a cigar:

"The old man chuckled. The faint glow of a cigar tip flared near his voice then faded." could that by any chance be a Sweet William cigar? or am i just throwing sticks at ghosts?

the last thing is when one of the panel says "Jesus...what do you expect from one of Dr. Halsey's wind up toys?"

"Thats quite enough, Colonel!" the older man snapped "This man has earned the right to some courtesy...especially from you." now, this to me sounds like a trainer defending his trainee doesnt it? also, why would the Master Chief have earned some courtesy ESPECIALLY from this Colonel? my guess is that the Spartans perhaps rescued him once? and Mendez will probably read up on ALL of the Spartan's missions, cos after all he did train them to be what they were.

Hmm. It's always nice to have friends in high places. If it was Mendez, let's hope he still remembers us when we get back to Earth. ;-)

-mnemesis

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Relating to a former post concerning the possibility of Humanity's prior knowledge of Halo 04...

Arthur Wellesly (arthur_wellesly@hotmail.com) writes:

However, Stanforth obviously knew Sigma Octanus 4 had an important piece of information, and it made sense to him that the Covenant were interested. Now I think I know why....

Indeed. ;-)

-mnemesis

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Arthur Wellesly (arthur_wellesly@hotmail.com ) writes:

The last date given on the Fall of Reach just as the POA was leaving Reach was August 30. Then the ship arrived at Halo on September 19. That's only about 20 days from the heart of the Human Empire! To use another date reference, it took John and the other Spartans from November 2 until November 27 to get to Chi Cheti 4. That is 25 days! So, assuming that the Human borders are the same all the way around, Halo was INSIDE the Human borders, and I don't know about you guys, but I think it would be pretty hard to overlook such a significant installation. Now, perhaps the human border is shorter at parts than others and maybe the Spartans waited a few days before leaving for Chi Cheti 4, but still that would still place Halo VERY close to the Human border close enough to be explored by a ship or at the very least seen with a telescope. It just doesn't make sense.

That leads me to my other theory. Maybe ONI did know about Halo but kept it a secret from the public. Maybe they knew that aliens existed long before 2525. However I've exhausted my theorying for the day, and I cannot speculate as to why they would know about it and not investigate it.

How do we know they haven't investigated it?

-mnemesis

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Did ONI know about Halo before we ever got there? More than a few references have been hauled out to show that this, indeed, was the case. Two specific things to chew on here.

Zoidberg (screwsean@hotmail.com) writes:

On the bridge on the main screen you can see 'Target ID: Halo'

Had the ONI recruited cortana and given her the co-ordinates to Halo either for recon or to check up on a previous mission. Well this would explain how she knew the name of the structure (Halo). Well why her? Simple, shes a piece of code...with a limited life span. And she can be manipulated i.e. memory files removed etc. AND if she should become a threat to ONI interests she can simply be deleted or, when being transferred in one of those neural chip things, lost. And she has a perfect delivery system...the chief.

An AI going missing isn't a big deal. BUT a human death raises questions.

Well if she had been recruited.....what for?

As I said recon...find out specifics of Halo (which she did), or check up on a previous recon team. This could go towards explaining the weird unknown marines on GS with EMP on their backs. In addition to explaining why there are dead marines all over places that no one from the POA had been prior to you.

As mentioned recently the proximity of HALO to earth or human space.

I find it hard for something like Halo to go un-noticed. Someone must have picked it up, if its so close.

This could also explain the holy war the covenant have waged on us. ONI found HALO, sent a team to investigate, its holy ground for the covenant, we desecrate Halo in their eyes....holy war begins.

-mnemesis

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oddworld (oddworld18@planetcnc.com) writes:

So by now it's all but confirmed that there are more Halos. We do not yet know why the Covenant are invading Earth as opposed to just glassing it. Most think that there is something they want. How deep is ONI's influence? Could it be deep enough to hide a nearby Halo from common knowledge? I don't know how commonplace civilian space travel is in the Halo Universe; I would imagine that if it is not extremely common, they could simply keep government flights out of the immediate zone, and mask it from sensors somehow.

So, anyway, along the tangent that there is a Halo near Earth, perhaps it isn't laid out like Installation 04. Or, assuming ONI got to it first...perhaps the Index isn't there. Maybe the Covenant know this.

Maybe that's what they want on Earth - the key to our destruction.

Or... better yet... what if ONI had found a Halo previously, and had actually figured out how to harness it's power. What would a shadowy government agency want more than a bomb that could completely wipe out the enemy in an area without damaging any structures?

There have only been two instances when the Covenant did not fight to the last ship, but instead turned and ran. The first, at Sigma Octanus IV, had to do with arcane symbols that may have been products of the Forerunner. The second was at Reach, when the apparent purpose was to obtain the NAV database from the stealth ship Circumference. But what if the Covenant wanted more than that? What if coming to Earth has more to do with finding "that which was lost," rather than simply glassing another homeworld? I know I'm going to be checking out those strange rocks in my backyard tonight. They seem oddly familiar...

-mnemesis

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Ackerson's King Under the Mountain

Jesper (tf2tiic@hotmail.com) writes:

Now there's one episode in the First Strike, where we really learn ONI Sector Three's mission. When tapping into the ONI complex's computers, Dr. Halsey meets the Colonel Ackerson's AI, Araqiel, apparently attempting to steal SPARTAN-II information according to Dr. Halsey. Anyway, she destroys the AI and begins to look through its files. There are two folders: "S-III" and "King Under the Mountain"...

The first folder very possibly stands for SPARTAN-III as already speculated [Note: Or merely Section III]. This just again reaffirms Ackerson and ONI Sector Three's interest in the SPARTAN project and maybe their own wish to take control of it and continue with it without Dr. Halsey involved.

But more importantly we got the "King Under the Mountain" folder. What does this stand for? Well, the office IS in a mountain, right? And what does Dr. Halsey find under the Mountain? The "holy of holies", the Holy Light, which is apparently of enourmous significance to the Covenant.
And what does this folder contain? First of all, a much larger blueprint of the CASTLE base than Dr. Halsey had ever seen! But the folder also had detailed information on John-117's attack on Côte d' Azur, where he found the strange alien artifact (that eventually led to Halo if no one remembers). And also detailed information on the symbols found on the artifact!

But this just leads to new speculation. Dr. Halsey does in fact say, after discovering this, that Ackerson had kept a very dangerous secret. Does she mean that he actually knew Reach would be destroyed [or was at risk]? But how would you be able to know that just from some star coordinates on an alien artifact? And, how can it be Cortana and Dr. Halsey found two different coordinates on the same artifact [Halo and then Reach from ONI/Cortana's analyses and the signal captured by John's camera, respectively] and does that mean anything? Could the artifact hold all the different coordinates to the greatest Covenant holy places, and thereby also Earth? (If we consider Earth another place for an alien artifact since the Covenant does not seem to glass it!).

This is a confusing bit of the story thus far. The analysis of the rock from Sigma Octanus did lead Cortana to Halo (FoR p. 336, as mentioned above), but apparently the captured images made by John off of the same rock create the coordinates of Reach (Epsilon Eridani) itself (FS p.130). Bizarre, unless each rock contains several sets of markings... is there something we are missing?

ONI may have previously known of Halo, and a lot of other things, if this trail is followed a while. Ackerson has a folder entitled KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN. There are Forerunner facilities (not all of which were necessarily seen by the Spartans and Halsey) beneath the ONI base on Reach. So, doesn't this imply that Ackerson (and ONI) may have been well aware of these caves on Reach, and through co-ordinates gleaned here and there, on other planets as well, for some time? If so, what have they been doing with this information? Waiting for the... mood to be right? :P

-Finn

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Key words from The Fall of Reach just begging to be speculated on...

Infininja (WolfRex87@aol.com) writes:

I was recently re-reading the Fall of Reach, then stopped to read First Strike, and I picked it up where I left off, quite near the end. I must've started around pg. 281, because that transmission really caught my eye.

Based on the location, it seems to be from humans (I started out thinking maybe there could have been a section of Covenant, or for all we know, Forerunner, working with ONI) but it's the codenames that really caught my eye. COALMINER, of course, brings me back to the Forerunner facilities deep underground Reach, as described in First Strike. SURGEON and HYPODERMIC almost make me think of a splinter faction, or at least, a special group such as ONI slipping into and out of things.

Now, this is all me just speculating wildly (people say rampant too much ;)), but with all the intelligence ONI is supposed to have, it seems stupid for them to put a ship out there, which no one is supposed to know about, with NAV data intact. They had counterintrusion software put in, was that just to stop the AI from detecting them, or were they possibly expecting Covenant and trying to stop them from gathering the data?

And with that, was the first Covenant 'AI' really heard from in First Strike? Perhaps those data invasion packets on page 302 were actually just parts of a much larger 'being.'

A "transient AI" was detected... Cortana/UNSC AI, or the Covenant scoping out their prey from the system's edge as is their custom?

Also, who would this ONI ship be planning on tailing, or inserting for that matter? Are they following the Spartans in, planting their own agent, or could this be a rival mission?

-Finn

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Hello. My name is ONI, and I have something I'd like to apologize for...

MC vince (mcvince55@hotmail.com) and Apokalypz (Bonemonster@aol.com) write:

It has been speculated that a factor in the covenant starting the war, was because there was some disruption in the ranks. Surely if humans started the war, then surely we have to apply the same theory. Rebel bases have been mentioned in two books, and in the First Strike it mentions that "not everyone wanted to be ruled by an Earth government". Informing us of their history, without them playing a significant enough role thus far, to me, indicates that they could become a future plot point, focusing more on their personal rebellion, etc. [If any survived the Covenant that entered their system...]

Also, if ONI did "start" the Covenant vs. Human war, then the question is why? As we know Ackerson seems to understand this crystal from Cote d' Arzur. Perhaps he is more aware of these crystals, and perhaps humans have been hiding them for the Forerunner, or protecting them for some reason. I probably need more information on this theory about ONI knowledge of the Forerunner. However I did find this quote to be pretty interesting: "Just his style to play with fire and get us all burned". Bungie seems to have a way of taking the literal meaning; I believe in this case, it is; ONI hiding Forerunner artifacts, and then getting burnt by plasma, from the covenant ;)

---

What if Ackerson also had intel on Halo 04 and other famous sites (refer to First Strike) before they were "discovered" by the PoA and other subsequent individuals. It is my belief that Section III stumbled upon these areas and began doing their stuff, the Covenant caught these filthy humans rummaging about in these Holy Places and that is why the Covenant wish to eradicate the Infidels. That leads me to believe that Section III started this whole damned war. But one can only speculate until the truth is revealed. Until that time comes, speculate away.....

And so we shall. Hmmm... As Shadows Heir (mktich@bellsouth.net) also mentions, "If thats so, then why have they decided to kill us NOW? What triggered the switch from observer to cosmic xenophobic exterminator?"

The first transmission from the Covenant (at Harvest) was supposedly in English. Later, Halsey comments that "in a matter of weeks they had learned our language"; apparently they had been watching us for some time. An inconsistency, or has Humanity really encountered them before?

-Finn

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Ackerson, Spartan or Section III, and an historical indication of betrayal

James Kinsella (jckinsella@redrunr.net) and ted blum (tedblum160@hotmail.com) assert while Alisdair Newton-Wade (god_holocaust@hotmail.com) contrasts:

On page 130 in First Strike Dr. Halsey is looking in Ackerson's files, and finds one called s-III. It has research on all of the Spartan-II program. I think we may assume that s-III is Spartan-III. This begs the question, "What is Ackerson doing making Spartans?" I think it's a pretty simple explanation; Jealousy. He has created these Spartans because he is jealous of what Dr. Halsey has done, and yet he can't get over their operational effectiveness. So to combat these feeling of inferiority he creates another goup of Spartans, a much larger group, and then pulls them out of hiding when the shit hits the fan. His Spartans save the day with their incredible training and whatnot, and Ackerson geets the credit for having had the foresight to create more Spartans. That would be why he seems so happy when he believe the good doctor is pushing up dais..er...glass heaps.

as well...

From the books, the most obvious evidence is in FS, the top of Page 103 when General Strauss says "At least we have your special weapons programs Ackerson. Dr Halsey's Spartans were such a great suc-"

Also, page 127 has an interesting quip from Dr. Halsey when she's talking to Araquiel, Ackerson's AI "Don't you have anything better to do than steal data from my SPARTAN program?"

The above quote would make sense, particularly if Araquiel was stealing data from the SPARTAN's so that Ackerson's projects could be done without a hitch. What Ackerson might have found most interesting is the technique used to make flash clones of the SPARTAN's organs and possibly the markers that Dr Halsey was looking for when selecting conscripts. Information like that could be very important towards Ackersons research on flash clones and more importantly on what kind of complications could be expected from cloned bodies, which Dr. Halsey lamented about later in FS.


or...

People have speculated that Ackerson's file 'S-III' must mean Spartan III. I find that extremely unlikely. The Spartans are Ackerson's biggest humiliation. I can think of no conceivable way that a sane man would put such a glaring reminder right in his own face. Though that does raise the question of Ackerson's sanity...

If Ackerson were to create his own super-soldiers, they would naturally be designed to be able to defeat the Spartans, and hence prove their superiority. Now, who were the Spartans defeated by? The Persians! And then only when a traitor led them around the pass. I think this says we should be very careful in Halo 2...

-Finn

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With all due respect to my predecessor...

Alexis (phoenix155@mac.com) mentions another possible point of contention over the true focus of Ackerson's special weapons program and S-III. Read on for further discussion.

-Finn

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Alisdair Newton-Wade (god_holocaust@hotmail.com) writes:

Ackerson gave the covenant AIs as well. That bastard.

Cortana notes that part of the dissected Covenant AI looks like her, but... horribly fractured. And she also notes that the copying software might do the same to her. Am I the only one making 3 and 4 equal 7? Ackerson sold the Covenant one AI, as well as Earth and all the rest, which I already discussed, and the covenant copied it over and over and over.

Oh, and one more thing pointing to my theory being correct?

Ackerson's attitude towards Reach. Lieutenant Wagner thinks Ackerson sounds almost as though he WANTED the Covenant to glass Reach. And how did Ackerson get back to Earth anyway?

"Halsey's freaks have finally lost their luster of invulnerability." Ackerson is speaking almost from a Covenant point of view. The Covenant know now that the Spartans can be killed.

Ackerson also pours cold water on the idea of sending a scout ship to Reach. His reasoning, on the surface, is that the UNSC cannot spare one ship. He drills the idea that everyone on Reach is dead into the good Lieutenant, making it seem silly to send a scout ship. There obviously was something on Reach that he didn't want the UNSC to know about.

He also suggests pulling back everything to defend Earth. It seems odd that the Covenant had a massive fleet at the Unyielding Hierophant. Ackerson, you bastard! He was trying to catch all of the UNSC forces at Earth, and wipe them all out in one fell swoop.

It is a well-known fact of science fiction that government spooks are never to be trusted. Is Ackerson any different? Time will tell...

;-)

-mnemesis

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ONI = demon. Oh, and that other Bungie game.

Winters (PMOH_Winters@hotmail.com) writes:

For some reason, ONI is often seen as a shadowy, sinister organization, where their agenda is not always clear. I think that the word, Oni seems to describe them perfectly. Oni is a Japanese term, and in English, translates roughly as "demon", "devil", or "ogre". Their features are often described as horned and fearsome beings. Just looking at the mask of one certainly brings to mind Sgt. Johnson's comparing ONI's looks to Engineers. Its a common misconception that Oni are evil, but in Japan, Oni are often seen as both a destroyer and a protector. ONI is certainly Oni-like when it comes to the "destroyer" part. After all, it was ONI that authorized the SPARTAN project, and undoubtedly countless other projects and operations over the years. It can even be argued that ONI is possibly the "destroyer" of Earth. after all, as mentioned in First Strike and the HSP: it could've been their operatives' disregard for the Cole Protocol which could have (accidentally?) led the Covenant to Earth. Yet, ONI is also a "protector". In Japan, people used to put up tiles shaped like Oni faces to ward off evil spirits and worship the Oni for protection. This shows ONI's other face. Even though ONI may have many secret agendas, such as maybe leading the Covenant to Earth on purpose, ONI's primary directive is to protect Humanity and ensure its survival.

As a side note, Bungie also has another game on their site, aptly named "Oni", for the Playstation 2. Unfortunately, I know very little about it.

Oh, but I bet someone around here might...

-Finn

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King of the Mountain: Alternate

GryphonOsiris gryphonosiris@aol.com has posted an extended look into the possible meanings of the "King Under the Mountain" (A quick search will reveal more regarding this). This time it is based on Frederick and German lore. Excellent conversation continues from there. Read on...

-Finn