[Last updated: 05/07/18]

"One hundred thousand years would pass before we would return to the stars. During the long ages that followed since the array's activation, Humanity – now confined once more to our homeworld – lost all knowledge of the Forerunners … and of our own ancient history. At least until we discovered massive troves of records aboard one of the Halos."

"It was only in the 20th century – by our calendar – that we would rediscover how to escape our planet's atmosphere and once again ascend into the inky black. We first explored the lower reaches of Earth's orbit, and then to the other worlds in the Sol system, eventually turning our thoughts towards stars that were once out of reach."

"However, with the eventual advances in medical technology that brought longer lives, we were starting to run into the problems relating to overpopulation. Disputes over resources, economics, religion, politics, and especially ideals eventually gave way to a series of extended conflicts fought across the Sol system during the majority of the 21st and 22nd centuries. This period of strife was later collectively known as the Interplanetary Wars. But at some point in that assuredly bloody time, we looked back up from the dirt, from the blood, and from the dying – we looked to the stars. We hadn't given up on the idea of reaching out – seeking a new horizon, and finding a new space to grow and prosper."

"Not long after the Interplanetary Wars ended, in 2170 a transnational organization – a world government – called the Unified Earth Government formed from the chaos; the UEG would be the seat of governance for all of Earth's colonies in the future. There were a number of programs and initiatives and the like running at the time which sought to bring Humanity relief; the greatest of which was called the Domus Diaspora. It would go down in history as the single greatest colonization effort in modern Human history. With the development of a method of faster-than-light travel known as Slipspace, Humanity gained access to distant worlds. Colony ships left the Sol system to voyage into the deep; they inhabited a few remote star systems scattered across our arm of the galaxy."

"With the initial advent of interplanetary trade driving down the costs of what had once been a prohibitively expensive implementation of the technology – such as the forging of space-worthy ships and naval vessels – the effects from these carefully implemented first colonization projects helped to ensure that interstellar trade, travel and communication were to be more commonplace amongst the general populace in the ensuing centuries, eventually granting Humanity the capacity to expand to hundreds of worlds and establish colonies at enhanced rates."

"With easy interplanetary travel now made viable, it created a golden age of colonial expansion. In this Colonial Period, Humanity's territory stretched at least ninety five light years away from Earth within only 200 years, with more than eight hundred colonies under the UEG's influence by 2490. Eventually, what are called the core worlds, or Inner Colonies manifested – they were worlds that had strong, densely populated settlements that were closest to Earth via Slipspace travel – they consisted of the two hundred ten planets which were colonized before 2390. In 2490, the planet Reach, which was located at the fringes of the Inner Colonies, became the UNSC's military center. Earth and the Inner Colonies, with their established social and economic infrastructures, would become heavily dependent on materials and goods supplied by the Outer Colonies – worlds that served as agricultural or mining colonies, depending of what resource they provided — which prompted the UEG to keep them under its control. However, as Human-controlled space grew exponentially in volume, Earth began to lose its logistical ability to control its far-flung colonies."

"By 2490, the Outer Colonies encapsulated the Inner Colonies in addition to surpassing them in numbers; they quite literally surrounded the Inner Colonies on every side. With increased trade restrictions and taxes set up by the CMA – the Colonial Military Administration – the tension between the Outer Colonies and Earth only increased. This caused many inhabitants of Earth and the Inner Colonies to feel threatened by the increasingly hostile Outer Colonies. Others thought that through diplomacy and over enough time, the situation between the Core Worlds and the Outer Colonies could be stabilized. Despite that hope, the UNSC increased its military presence in the Outer Colonies, which would in turn provoke them into increased aggression, eventually escalating to the point where it sparked numerous brushfire wars across the Outer Colonies, collectively known as the Insurrection."

"A few years went by with the Insurrectionists growing ever bolder in their actions, and a paper – called the Carver Findings – was drafted for the UNSC. It was a study into the political and security situation of Earth and her colonies; it pointed to a complete and imminent breakdown of government in Human space. Long story short, it showed that in the best case scenario: unless governmental control was established, and reinforced by an immediate and permanent military presence, it showed that the majority of the Outer Colonies would rebel soon. If that were allowed to happen, the end effect would be thirty years of war and five billion dead. But terrifyingly, the worst case scenario's predicted effects were unbounded: there would be interminable war between the various colonies, and an uncountable number of dead."

"With no end to the Insurrection in sight, extreme measures were now being pursued. UNSC leadership knew they needed to establish control over the places where the Insurrection was at its worst, but they also knew that the Insurrection proved that Humanity's survival could not be secured by traditional military methods, so … they sought new methods. They sought to make a new type of soldier; it would come to have the admittedly rather unimaginative name of "supersoldier". These soldiers would become living legends that revolutionized the art of war. Although they would play a role in quelling the rebellion, a common threat would soon galvanize Humanity and send us headlong into a conflict that would bring Humanity to the brink of extinction. The earliest start of such a program began back during the Interplanetary Wars of the 22ed century, during which organizations attempted to generate tougher, stronger, and faster soldiers. These early attempts were largely fruitless."

"By the 23rd century, the UNSC had begun developing bioengineering protocols and experimenting with biochemically enhanced soldiers. Codenamed ORION – named for one of the arms of our galaxy – this early program selected and tested five candidates. Unfortunately, these early augmentations were declared ineffective and the five test subjects were reintegrated into the UNSC military. All five died within a year of the tests, for reasons known only to ONI – the UNSC Navy's secretive intelligence service branch."

"It wasn't until the 25th century that ORION would be launched again, just as the early seeds of the Insurrection began to take hold. On January 29th, 2491, the ORION project formally launched with sixty five test subjects. These subjects were successfully augmented, and after completing their training, an additional one hundred volunteers were accepted into the program. Their augmentations would include chemical injections to enhance their overall musculature, respiration, hearing, and vastly improved eyesight."

"On January 12th, 2496, the first ORION operation was successfully launched as part of Operation: CHARLEMAGNE. A full unit of ORION soldiers were deployed to recover an suborbital transit station over the planet Eridanus-II, which they did without causality or detection. More operations would follow in the next ten years, though CHARLEMAGNE marked the only time a full unit would be deployed. Rumors and conspiracy theories about secret supersoldiers also began to spread among the outer colonies as a result of ORION."

"The program continued to expand as the Insurrection grew stronger and bolder, with a full three hundred ORION candidates being augmented by the program's peak. Unfortunately, older candidates began showing side effects both physical and mental that only worsened with time. There were also some that had secret Insurrectionist sympathies who refused to participate after augmentations. With all of the shortcomings and degradation of candidates, the program was quietly shutdown in 2506. The one hundred sixty five surviving candidates were re-assigned to other special operations units throughout the UNSC. However, the aforementioned side effects would continue to worsen for some, and a number of former ORION soldiers were discharged due to mental instabilities. To keep ORION secret, the effects would be attributed to a fictitious affliction known as Boren's Syndrome. Despite all of this, some former ORION candidates – such as one Sergeant Avery Johnson – were able to remain active much longer than the average soldier. ORION would have a lasting impact following the program's shutdown. The biggest impact would be from a future iteration of the program."

"ORION-II began around 2510 as ONI began reviewing the Carver Findings. When a brilliant young doctor by the name of Catherine Halsey re-examined the findings, she predicted an even more grim fate for Humanity. ONI went to work initiating their next supersoldier program with the aforementioned doctor as its lead. Under Dr. Halsey, the program took a radical shift; rather than allow adult volunteers, they'd use six year old children. The idea (As reprehensible as it was) went that children – unlike adults – could be easily indoctrinated; their young bodies would be more adaptable to augmentation to create the perfect soldier. By choosing candidates from a select genepool, Halsey ensured only the best of the best. In addition, to distance her program from the failings of ORION, Halsey renamed it to Spartan-II; named so to at least honor the sacrifices of those that came before. ONI approved it, and Halsey began searching for her ideal candidates: the most advanced six year olds across Human space; children who had exceptional strength, speed, and intelligence. By 2517, she had identified one hundred fifty potential candidates. Budget cuts, however, forced her to further reduce that number to seventy five. Halsey – aided by ONI teams – would observe the subjects, and decide which ones to conscript."

"In late September of 2517, seventy five children from across Human space were secretly abducted, replaced with rapidly grown clones, and transported to Reach, Humanity's military powerhouse – second only to Earth. For the next eight years, the children would be trained physically and mentally for war: physical training, military history and tactics, strategy, and much more. In March of 2525, the candidates entered the second phase of the program: augmentation. This new generation of Spartans received a wide-variety of risky and invasive surgeries to greatly enhance their natural abilities; they would form the basis of a list of enhancements that would become more or less common with later iterations. They were given drastically enhanced vision; their bones were coated with a carbide ceramic which rendered them virtually unbreakable; they were implanted with a catalyst to release a growth hormone to boost skeletal and muscular tissue growth; their muscular density was increased; and their reflexes were increased by 300%. Unfortunately, with all of those risky, invasive surgeries ... there were side effects. Of the seventy five candidates chosen, only thirty three survived intact; of those that remained, twelve were severely crippled. A mock funeral was held for the dead, who were secretly put in stasis; the hope being that one day they could be resuscitated, or even deployed as proper Spartans. Following the funeral and rehabilitation, the Spartan-II's would eventually be deployed on their first mission to capture an Insurrectionist leader. The mission was a success. However, upon returning, they were briefed on the fall of Harvest, and first contact with a theocratic military alliance of alien races known as the Covenant."

"By November of 2525, the Spartans would receive their new Mjolnir Mk-IV armor. The armor, the product of another program launched alongside the Spartan-II program, provided incredible protection, while also further augmenting their already prodigious speed, strength, and reaction times. The melding of biologically enhanced super-soldiers with state-of-the-art armor marked the completion of the Spartan-II program, resulting in the most remarkable soldiers Humanity had ever created. Spartans would be deployed against Insurrectionist and Covenant forces; the latter more and more as the Covenant kept advancing. More on that later on."

"In August of 2552, the twenty five surviving Spartan-II's were called back to Reach for Operation: RED FLAG. It was a mission to kidnap Covenant leadership and force a peace. The Spartans were outfitted with the latest line of Mjolnir – Mk-V – which featured a number of upgrades, most noticeably energy shields. The leader of the Spartan-II's, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, was also given the smart AI Cortana, who would help them on their mission. Unfortunately, before RED FLAG could be initiated, the Covenant showed up at Reach. The Spartans were deployed in the battle, but most of them would die in Reach's defense; more on Reach later on. By the end of the Covenant war, just months later, only a handful of Spartan-II personnel were known to be alive, though more, once thought dead or missing, would show up in the years following the war. After the graduation of the Spartan-II's in 2525, a second class was planned, however due to the Covenant war diverting funds and a reduced pool of candidates, it was shut down."

"In 2531 however, a Colonel James Ackerson proposed his Spartan-III program to ONI. Building off the work started by Dr. Halsey, the Spartan-III program would widen the strict age and genepool, taking in orphaned children, rather than kidnapping them from their homes, and using safer – although just as effective – chemical augmentations. The biggest change however, would be the armor used. The biggest ongoing cost of the Spartan-II program was the development and maintenance of Mjolnir – a single suit costing almost as much as one of our more powerful ships called a destroyer. Spartan-III's would receive the less-powerful and less-sophisticated Semi-Powered Infiltration armor – otherwise known as SPI. SPI had photo-reactive panels to camouflage users, and featured limited ability enhancement. The armor plating was noticeably weaker than Mjolnir, but SPI overall was still better than the armor that was given to most UNSC forces."

"To lead this new program, a Spartan-II named Kurt-51, was secretly abducted. Given the new name of Kurt Ambrose and the rank of lieutenant, he would train the newest generation of Spartans on the secret world of Onyx. In December of 2531, Alpha company began their training with a pool of four hundred ninety seven candidates, although only three hundred were ultimately allowed to join. The class was augmented in 2536. The list of known Spartan—III enhancements included the standard mix of enhancements, now improved by being changed to chemical injections instead of physical augmentations; regardless, the only change between the two was the vastly improved mortality rate. Alpha company was deployed on numerous successful operations in the months following their augmentations. However, the entire company – save those who had been pulled aside for special teams – was wiped-out during Operation: PROMETHEUS, a mission to destroy a Covenant shipyard."

"Two years later in 2539, four hundred eighteen candidates were conscripted to form Beta company. Once again, only three hundred were ultimately selected. Beta company was given the same set of augmentation injections sometime prior to May 2554, and was equipped with SPI MK-II, which featured an array of minor upgrades. Like Alpha company before them, Beta company successfully took on a number of missions, and once again, were mostly wiped-out in a massive suicide mission called Operation: TORPEDO. TORPEDO was enacted on July 3rd, 2545 in order to take out a Covenant deuterium/tritium refinery on Pegasi Delta."

"While a few Spartans were successfully pulled from the company for special missions, all but two deployed for Operation: TORPEDO were wiped-out. These survivors were Tom-B292, and Lucy-B091. They would go on to help train the next company of Spartan-III's – Gamma company – which was approved in July 2544, and started not long after. Gamma company was made up of three hundred thirty candidates, all of which were allowed to join the program. When augmented, Kurt, motivated by the grief of losing two previous companies of Spartans, secretly added a few extra illegal augmentations. The added injections included an injection to enhance the aggressive response of an individual during times of stress – which had a depressive effect on the higher reasoning centers of the brain; a bipolar integration drug, to switch between aggression and non-aggression; and a drug to regulate and counteract the effects, which would come be known by Gamma company as "Smoothers". Gamma would need to take them for the rest of their lives at regular intervals."

"By October of 2552, most of Gamma company would be deployed, with a few teams remaining on Onyx to compete for top marks. Unfortunately, Forerunner sentinels hidden deep within the planet came alive, responding to a recently destroyed Halo Installation 04. The Spartan-III's began a fight for survival, eventually ending up in a hidden Shield World, the entrance of which was kept at Onyx's core. The survivors would be recovered in February of 2553."

"The Spartan-III program was in many ways similar, but in more ways distinct from its predecessor. While the Spartan-II's had been created to quell Human rebellion, the Spartan-III's were created to take on the Covenant - meant as disposable fodder - trading lives for time. The Spartan-III program saw the birth of several specialized teams. One such were the Headhunters, comprised as either lone-wolf operatives, or two-man teams called a binary. They would be pulled from regular service after surviving two or more specially assigned missions, and would receive additional training. Once done, Headhunters would be sent deep behind enemy lines against specific targets, often with the expectation they wouldn't return. The Headhunter program would continue with the Spartan-IV program after the war, although with a few alterations. Following the war, all surviving Spartan personnel were given the chance to join the newest iteration of the program: the Spartan-IV's."

"The Spartan-IV program would begin around September of 2552 under the leadership of Spartan-II medical washout, Musa-096, and approved by ONI head Margret Parengosky. The Spartan-IV program would return to its ORION roots, taking adult volunteers from military service and augmenting them. The first iteration of the program would attempt to create Spartans who wouldn't need Mjolnir, who were as strong and capable as any previously fully outfitted Spartan class. Unfortunately, nine out of the ten test subjects died, with the tenth going insane. Following that, ONI reverted to something more akin to the Spartan-II's and Spartan-III's, using augmentations to enhance individuals, and outfitting them with Mjolnir armor."

"Known Spartan-IV augmentations include: a specialized neural implant capable of interfacing with an AI; muscular and skeletal engineering to enhance bone length and strength, reinforcing the joints; muscular enhancement; decreased reaction time; enhancing or completely replacing nearly every organ in the body**; gene therapy to give them an extended life expectancy/operational time; and various other augmentations of lesser importance."

"Following augmentations, Spartan-IV's were certainly among the most capable soldiers, but they did fall short of the Spartan-II's and Spartan-III's. To compensate, a second generation of Mjolnir – developed alongside the Spartan-IV program – featured new technology to bridge the gap between the Spartan-IV's and the previous generations. In short, a Spartan-IV in Gen-2 Mjolnir can fight on par with a Spartan-I or a Spartan-II, barring combat experience. Spartan-IV's also received additional training following augmentations, having to earn their armor before being deployed as proper Spartans."

"The first class of Spartan-IV's graduated in January of 2553 with one hundred forty five members, with more to come in the years to follow. By 2557, the flagship of the UNSC – the UNSC Infinity – regularly had anywhere from three hundred to five hundred Spartan-IV's on board at any given time, with several more spread throughout UNSC space. When not on missions, Spartans would often train with one another in wargame simulators – a state-of-the-art combat deck. The Spartan-IV program marked several departures from past programs, including separation from any main UNSC branch. The Spartan-II's were just part of the Navy, the Spartan-III's as Navy and Army, but the Spartan-IV's had their own branch, the Spartan branch."

A couple of them tentatively asked about the Covenant. I nodded with a small shrug, "Alright, back to the Covenant, then. They play a major role in quite a lot of events as the aggressors, and as such, there is a massive amountof information about them. However, since I will be keeping you all here long enough as is, I will try to keep this brief." I cleared my throat and began.

"An unknown number of our worlds – and the spaces surrounding them – were littered with ancient Forerunner technology. Those in charge of the Covenant – the "High Prophets" – controlled what was done with any "relics" found. The relics were used to build them new weapons, ships, and to bring them word of their gods – via the High Prophets, of course. Covenant culture and society was founded on the religious belief that the Forerunners had purposefully left those artifacts behind to guide those that came after them to "divine transcendence" – something they referred to as the "Great Journey"."

"A query in 2525 was made to a fragment of an ancient Forerunner AI housed aboard a massive construct known as High Charity. High Charity was a massive mobile planetoid station that was the central hub of the Covenant. It served as Holy City, shipyard, homeworld, and mobile command center where the general leadership of the hegemony and where many of the Covenant lived and worked. The query made to the AI aboard a decommissioned Forerunner ship that they built High Charity around was concerning the large number of "relics" on a world as-yet unvisited by the Covenant. The Covenant was established with the purpose of searching out Forerunner artifacts, and it appeared that the planet was full of these sacred and mysterious treasures. These "relics" were detected using a Forerunner technology that the Covenant referred to as a "Luminary", or a Forerunner machine that could track ancient Forerunner technology; however, it revealed a critical flaw in the very underpinnings of Covenant belief. The Forerunner symbol they understood to mean "Reclamation" (I.E. relics) was a mistranslation of "Reclaimer". The AI revealed to them that the "relics" on the world were Humans, and that Humans were the Forerunner's chosen inheritors. This information was restricted to only a select few in the Covenant. They realized the public knowledge of this would shake the foundations of the polity and potentially destroy it. Those privy to the information moved to prevent catastrophe and seized control of the Covenant. These three individuals claimed not only the reigns of the Covenant, but the titles of High Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret. (Which was rather ironic because those specific attributes were sorely lacking with their encounters with Humanity) Rather than offer us a truce or an opportunity to join their Covenant, the Prophets painted us as vermin, infesting and desecrating the Forerunner's holy possessions. The first target was the world that the Forerunner AI had been consulted about: the UEG colony-world of Harvest. In the bloody, chaotic years that would follow, they would go on to kill billions of people, and bring hundreds of worlds to ruin. They would maintain their power throughout the remainder of the conflict to come; it was an effort to wipe the Human race from the stars, to … exterminate us entirely and "cleanse" their god's worlds of our infestation."

All of them by now were pale-faced and visibly shaken; Elfman – who up till then was silent – cleared his throat and exclaimed, "GENOCIDE?!" He slammed the flat of his hand on the table in what I found to be a dramatic fashion. "They wrought genocide on Humanity?!" I solemnly nodded. "They did indeed. Nothing short of it." Several people swore softly, while others simply quietly stared wide-eyed at the projection. I couldn't exactly blame them for these reactions. Were I in their places, I would have probably reacted similarly.

"It was the remote agricultural planet of Harvest – located in the Outer Colonies – where we not only made first made contact, but where the opening salvos of a long, traumatic conflict known as the Human-Covenant War were fired. Of course, a cautious attempt at peace was made, however, it ultimately failed. It was then that the rather one-sided battle of Harvest began. Planetside, an order was quickly issued for all colonists to be assembled at Utgard – the planet's capital – for immediate evacuation. Many chose not to leave – likely thinking it was a drill – and were killed in the subsequent ground battle and glassing. Three hundred and sixty refugee-laden cargo freighters ascended the planet's space elevator to the orbiting station and prepared to flee into Slipspace; unfortunately – due to the superior capabilities of the Covenant – one hundred forty five of the freighters were destroyed before they could escape. A week after the evacuation order, Covenant forces began destroying some of the outer cities – presumably in the search of their 'relics' – starting with the city of Gladsheim. During the following months, the planet was steadily glassed. An estimated twenty three thousand civilians would die in this event." I heard several audible gasps of surprise.

"Initially unaware of the devastating assault on Harvest, the UNSC first discovered that something was amiss when communication was lost with the colony. They dispatched a scout ship – the CMA Argo – to investigate in April of 2525, but it was almost immediately destroyed upon entering the system. Fearing the presence of the Insurrection on the planet, and blind to the true nature of the enemy, CMA Battlegroup 4 was deployed."

"The Battlegroup discovered a warship orbiting Harvest looking like nothing they had seen before, and found that the colony had been glassed from space and nearly obliterated. The ship responded to first contact protocols by broadcasting a message – in our language, surprising us: "Your destruction is the will of the gods, and WE are their instrument!", and opened fire. Two of the three ships that comprised the battlegroup – the CMA Vostok and the CMA Arabia, both light frigates – were swiftly destroyed. The only ship left—the CMA Heracles, a destroyer – returned fire, but its attacks seemed to have no effect. The ship was soon enough severely damaged, and engaged its Slipspace drive and narrowly escaped to spread the word to the rest of the UNSC.

I stopped for a minute to think of what next to tell them. I looked around and saw shocked expressions on each face. Eventually, Natsu cleared his throat and asked, "What do you mean by 'glass'? You keep using that term." I thought for a second and Mira brought up the relevant information in my HUD. 'Ah, thanks Mira.' No prob. She projected a picture of one of the colonies that were catastrophically glassed, and everyone just stared at it in numb shock. It was a daunting, chaotic sea of shapes and textures: black, brittle, swelling and troughing without end, scattered here and there with the ruined skeletons of melted buildings; the sky above was a thick, black, stormy mess and ash rained down like snow. There were quarries right up to the horizon, showing open-pit operations where various companies were digging in the ash and glass for concentrated mineral deposits. After that, the real glassed planet … or rather, what was left of it, began.

"Well, to answer that question, I need you to answer this one: do you guys know what plasma is?" I saw a few blank looks as people thought about it, "Fourth state of matter? No? Ok." I sighed internally and looked over and saw Levy readying her notebook again, which I took his a cue to proceed. "Plasma is one of the four fundamental states of matter. The first three states – liquid, solid, and gas – are relatively easy to come by. But to find plasma … that's a little trickier, at least terrestrially speaking. Plasma is formed by heating a gas to a high enough temperature and/or by subjecting it to a powerful electromagnetic field, like, say … the environment of the sun. The sun is made of plasma; all stars are, in fact. Plasma is the most abundant form of matter in the universe, just look at the night sky. There is a much more to say about plasma and stars, but that's part of the background you need to know to understand what glassing is."

I waved a hand at the projected picture, "But, back to the question at hand. The Covenant relied very heavily on plasma-based weaponry, and as such, plasma is the main component in glassing a planet or target. In short, glassing is where the Covenant attacks a planet's surface with superheated plasma, melting it, and rendering it unsuitable for life. As you can plainly see, glassing is a destructive process which normally signifies an end to a planetary body, and begins with the discovery of an enemy controlled world, I.E. Humanity. The Covenant has two main methods they use to attack a planet: Orbital Bombardment and Low Altitude Bombardment."

"When a planet has no need for ground forces to be deployed – as is the case for Orbital Bombardment – the Covenant would choose to glass the planet from space. Masses of plasma would be discharged from one or more warships in lances. Contained within a magnetic bubble, the lances are guided towards the target by the ship's automation, striking an area – literally cooking the ground with the intense heat generated – and converting the top soil and other surface geology into a mineral called Lechatelierite, which is similar to glass, hence the name. The process also vaporizes any bodies of water the planet may possess, leaving at most small, ash-choked pools. In this manner, the ecosystem of the planet is efficiently and effectively disposed of."

"As shown here, the impact of a single plasma lance has been likened to that of a detonation of a large bomb. When the plasma lance impacts the surface, the magnetic field sustaining and guiding the plasma collapses, and – depending on how powerful the release of energy is – the initial zone of impact is obliterated instantly. The areas outside of the initial impact zone are highly affected by the heat wave generated by the blast; depending on the range, those immediately outside the blast zone are killed instantly by the intense heat. As thermal expansion takes over, the resulting flames fan out and create what is termed a pyroclastic surge, which will continue to burn the areas it comes into contact with until it has cooled enough that it cannot harm the surface. Subsequently, the atmosphere is saturated with soot and ash thrown up from the initial impacts, blocking the light from the sun and subjecting the region – if not the planet – to an artificial winter. The winter would last until the soot and ash has settled sufficiently, which could take as little as thirty years. As the initial impact area cools, the surface is covered by extensive areas of molten soil, and is comparable to active volcanic sites. The destructive process ultimately leaves the planet unable to recover to its former state on its' own; after such destruction, the atmospheres of most planets simply boil away from the process due to the extreme temperatures."

I found and pulled up a surveillance video from a planet right before it was glassed, the camera was conveniently pointed to the sky when the first plasma lance came down. It was night when it happened, and we watched as the night sky began to glow a blue-white before a luminous ball fell and made contact with the ground, killing the camera recording. The feed quickly cut to another piece of equipment farther away until that too melted; this process repeated until the impact zone was a mile or so away and showed that the area was reduced to a pile of molten debris. A few seconds later, more lances could be seen coming down.

"However, when ground engagements are in effect, the Covenant will resort to Low Altitude Bombardment; bringing their ships closer to the planet's surface to ensure the complete destruction of the area in question using overlapping orbits as they glass. This is accomplished by building up plasma at the energy projector located on the underside if the ship, creating a magnetic conduit for the plasma to travel through, and then discharging the plasma as a narrow beam to the surface below; this maneuver is known as a Glassing Beam … for obvious reasons. A single Covenant battlecruiser can glass approximately one acre of a planet's surface in fifteen seconds of sustained fire, with desert terrain taking less time, and deep ocean taking much longer to glass. The Covenant will use Low Altitude bombardment in many battles where major ground engagements are occurring; smaller warships use this method specifically to deal with Human armies and low-level structures during campaigns, while larger Covenant warships can use this to level whole cities during an engagement. It should be noted that our enemies were so ruthless and impatient to wipe the Human race off of the galactic map, that sometimes when they glassed areas, they did so with their ground forces still in the vicinity."

They were quite taken aback at the covenant's methods of eradication. Erza cleared her throat and asked, "This … this destruction is what befell many of your worlds?" I nodded in response. "Most – if not all – of the planets that they found was given that treatment. Now, there is hope for those planets that were glassed. The Covenant didn't want any life to return to the planets they had performed a glassing on. And normally, it wouldn't; at least not for a very long time. However, we have since come up with a process to change that; that process is called terraforming. Terraforming is when special technology is used to make a planet able to sustain life, or in this case, able to revive a sustainable environment for life."

Macao gawked awkwardly at me with wide eyes, "Surely you're joking! The ability to breathe life into barren planets … you know how to do that?!" I nodded, "Yes. Don't get me wrong, though. It is a rather protracted and elaborate process, but … given enough time and careful application of enough resources … it can be done."

I looked at the projection with a more serious face. After a moment, I sighed and continued, "Harvest … After they glassed Harvest … that was the event that started what became known as the Human-Covenant War, or simply the Great War". Erza spoke up again with a serious yet curious expression, "How long did this war last?" I thought for a second, "Just under thirty years. The number of dead was later estimated, but as it was happening, it was just easier to count the number of planets gone. The final estimate I heard on the matter was around twenty three billion dead and at least seventy six planets glassed to hell." I paused, quickly doing head math, "Out of just under forty billion Humans galaxy-wide, barely sixteen billion remained after the war." I saw some faces blanch farther at that statistic.

"Anyway, after realizing the threat posed to Humanity by the Covenant, the UNSC went immediately on high alert. A vice admiral by the name of Preston Cole was given the command of the then-largest fleet assembled in Human history with orders to retake Harvest. With the help of forty warships, he engaged the enemy. Although he was victorious, the UNSC still lost thirteen vessels to a single Covenant warship; a grim assessment of the strength of our newfound foe. Meanwhile, reports of colonies losing contact began to multiply. He managed to retake Harvest in 2526, and then spent the next five years chasing the Covenant around the Outer Colonies, scoring decisive victories at three major colonies. Meanwhile, the Covenant had returned to Harvest; they were determined to recapture the planet. This led to a five year long series of engagements on and off the ruined planet between the Covenant and the UNSC."

"The UNSC eventually discovered the reason for the Covenant's persistence of Harvest. Hidden in the planet's uncharted arctic regions was an alien structure that predated the Human colony, and even the Covenant itself; a buried Forerunner facility. We started to piece together clues about the Covenant's ultimate military goals, and slowly began to open our eyes to the secrets of the Forerunners. What we did not know at the time was that the technology of the Forerunners would ultimately present the greatest hope against the seemingly unstoppable Covenant – although those would only become clear at the very threshold of Humanity's extinction."

"The UNSC eventually recognized that the Covenant were often led to Human worlds by data retrieved from colonies which they had already attacked. Navigation databases recovered from Human vessels had also offered the Covenant Slipspace routes to other colonies, drawing the enemy to new prey. To prevent this, in the early years of the war, Admiral Cole submitted a universal standing order commonly referred to as the "Cole Protocol". This order dictated procedures for ships departing from any engagement with Covenant forces: navigation databases had to be destroyed, all onboard AI's had to be purged or recovered, and ships could only leave on random course headings away from Earth before returning home. All this was to ensure that the Covenant could not discover the location of Earth, or any of the remaining Inner Colonies. If they did, that would effectively mean game over for Humanity."

"The period of time between the implementation of the Cole Protocol and the end of the war is often referred to as the Siege of the Inner Colonies. For many of the remaining colonies, it was a time of silent dread, punctuated frequently by the Covenant's ruthless eradication of a colony. Although colonies weren't being destroyed at the frankly frightening pace they had been earlier in the war, there was still little to stop the Covenant's steady advance through our territory. The only things the Covenant left behind after they passed through a Human controlled system were the occasional irreparably broken family fleeing the death of their world, and smoldering husks of what used to be colony worlds."

"From then on out, Humanity – heavily out-gunned – lost much ground to the Covenant. For the next twenty five years, the war ground on in a predictable pattern; costly victories on the ground for UNSC forces, and near total Covenant space superiority. By this time, most of the Outer Colonies had been destroyed. The SPARTAN-II raid on the Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence also proved that while the Covenant Empire was overwhelmingly powerful, it was not invincible."

"The last year of the war saw Humanity's largest defeat, but also saw several of our greatest victories, coupled with the destruction of the Covenant as a galactic superpower. One such victory was at the colony of Sigma Octanus IV. On the ground, the Spartan-IIs secured a Forerunner artifact covered in mysterious symbols that the Covenant had tried to exfiltrate out of the planet's capital before a bomb was set and detonated, obliterating the sizeable Covenant garrison and the city."

"However, the Covenant placed a spy probe on one of the command ships which led the Covenant to Reach. The Fall of Reach that followed resulted in staggering losses for both sides, but ended in a pyrrhic Covenant victory. They burned that world; reducing much of its surface to so much smoldering glass and ash. Nevertheless, amid the tragedy and massive loss of life, there remained a single ray of hope. The UNSC Pillar of Autumn, which carried nearly all remaining Spartan-II's, was originally the main ship for Operation: RED FLAG. However, the plan was ultimately jeopardized during the initial skirmish for Reach, and it was aborted by the captain. It was among the few surviving UNSC ships which fled the battle, and made a unique jump to Slipspace, which led to the discovery of the first of several Halo installations. It was here the war took a pivotal turn. The Covenant ultimately attempted to fire said Installation – to go on their "Great Journey" – and so it was destroyed by John-117, by detonating the engines of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, which had crash-landed on the Installation. Narrowly escaping the ring's destruction, he found and reunited with a handful of other survivors aboard a Human dropship." Mira showed them the footage of the installation being destroyed, which they watched in rapt attention.

"Shortly after the Human victory at Halo Installation 04, the survivors made a chilling discovery: despite their extraordinary sacrifices, the Covenant had learned the location of Earth, and were preparing an enormous fleet to assault it. The Master Chief, along with the survivors of the Pillar of Autumn and a team of surviving Spartan-II's they discovered at the burning husk of Reach, devised a plan to halt or at least delay the Covenant's invasion of Earth. Striking at the heart of a massive command and control station called the Unyielding Hierophant, they would destroy the many fleets that it serviced." Mira briefly showed a holographic image of the double teardrop-shaped Covenant station before it disintegrated in an explosion. "The station was … sufficiently disabled; almost all of the nearby ships – which roughly numbered around five hundred – were consumed in the violent conflagration that engulfed the Unyielding Hierophant, leaving only a handful left to limp back to High Charity."

"Although the Covenant's attempts to deal a death blow to Humanity were momentarily averted with the destruction of the Unyielding Hierophant, little could stop their plans from being realized. We would have to muster all of our remaining forces to our home system and prepare for the desperate struggle to come. But, below the surface of our homeworld, another secret that had lain hidden for a hundred thousand years was about to emerge."

"Only a few days prior the Covenant's arrival in the Sol system, the Master Chief and the others who had survived their mission finally returned to Earth with … some fanfair, providing the UNSC with insight to the Covenant's plans. The Prophet of Regret appeared in the system leading a small fleet of fifteen ships to Earth in order to locate a Forerunner artifact they knew was there, but laid hidden from us. Though hopelessly outgunned by the UNSC defense fleet, the Prophet of Regret's flagship managed to break through our defenses to the city of New Mombasa. On the ground, the Covenant quickly spread through the city, destroying both military and civilian resistance where it was found. A counter-attack by the Marines and John-117 inflicted heavy losses which forced Regret to flee, leaving his fleet to burn. His carrier jumped into Slipspace directly above the city – damaging it severely in the process, and tearing a rift across the northern part of the city. Unfortunately for Regret, four Human ships, UNSC In Amber Clad among them, had followed them through their own Slipspace rupture to another Halo: Installation 05."

"As the ship neared the installation, John-117 – who was aboard the UNSC In Amber Clad – was ordered to find out why the Prophet of Regret came to Earth and why he came to the city specifically. He was then hard-dropped with a complement of ODST'S to the Halo's surface." Lucy raised her hand, "What's an ODST?" Mira then projected a rotating image for them – the insignia of the ODSTs. It was a red flaming skull and banner that read "ODST" which was superimposed over a yellow silhouette of a SOIEV. "Defined by an indelible grit, fortitude, bravery … and depending on who you ask, a good dose of insanity, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (Known as ODST's) are a special operations capable organization of the UNSC Marine Corps that specialize in orbital-dropped shock infantry and special warfare tactics. As a division of the Marines, they played a key role throughout the war. They are a volunteer-only arm of the military that are deployed by way of single-occupant titanium drop pods from ships high above the atmosphere for hard and fast insertion into the places that need them the most. It was this ferocious audacity that earned them the nickname of "Helljumpers", and despite them falling short of being Spartans, the fearless tactics and unwavering boldness they so often employed struck fear into the heart of the Covenant."

"Led by John-117, the ODST's forced their way through Regret's forces until they had reached the Prophet himself, who hoped to activate the array and usher those faithful to the Covenant into "divinity", which had been prophesied by their kind for centuries. At that moment, High Charity arrived and launched multiple waves of dropships to aid the Prophet of Regret. However, they were withdrawn for reasons unknown to us. John-117 ultimately assassinated Regret, dealing a heavy blow to the Empire's political structure. The order was given to glass the temple in which Regret's corpse was residing; John-117 barely escaped by jumping into the waters below."

"Meanwhile, the majority of the Human forces on In Amber Clad had traveled to Installation 05's Library to obtain the Index – the key to a successful firing of the Halo, as well as the six others in the array, which would activate in response and cleanse the galaxy of life once more. Originally, the Covenant had been unaware of the Index's importance. Fortunately, the Sanghelli Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee, a special individual chosen by the Prophets, had obtained 343 Guilty Spark, the spherical robotic monitor of Installation 04, while destroying a base that was led by an individual they deemed 'Heretic'. The monitor – known to the Covenant as an 'Oracle' – told the Prophets of the Index and the Arbiter was sent to retrieve the "Sacred Icon". The Arbiter successfully reached the Library and prevented the Human forces from claiming the Index, kidnapping Captain Miranda Keyes and Sgt. Johnson. However, the Index was stolen from the Arbiter by the Brute Chieftain Tartarus, who was under the Prophets' orders to retrieve the Index, and betray/kill the Arbiter. The Chieftain sent the Arbiter plummeting into the lower reaches of the Library where he was thought dead. With the Index secure, the Prophets then ordered the Jiralhanae to begin eradicating the Sangheili, thus beginning the Covenant Civil War – known to them as the "Great Schism". As a direct result of this civil war, the Covenant was split into two parties, more or less: known as Covenant Loyalists and Covenant Separatists. An uneasy alliance was ultimately formed between the Covenant Separatists and the Human forces."

"Meanwhile, in an unknown location, the Spartan-II awoke bound in tentacles and was dragged alongside the company of the Arbiter in front of a massive collection of biomass: the monstrous controlling intelligence of the Flood, known as a Gravemind. However, rather than seeking to infect its two captives, the Gravemind recognized a more serious threat: the imminent activation of the array. After a discussion between them and the Gravemind, it revealed the truth of the array to the Arbiter. In a two-pronged plan, it teleported the Master Chief aboard High Charity to recover the Index, and the Arbiter nearby the Halo's control room to prevent its activation."

"However, as he fought through High Charity, the Master Chief made another chilling discovery, the empty In Amber Clad had been taken over by the Flood and it had infiltrated High Charity's defenses, where it was currently busy infecting it and all those fighting amongst themselves within, placing the galaxy as a whole at risk. Ultimately, the Chief failed at reaching the Index before Tartarus whisked it off to the Halo below. He then perused the fleeing Prophet of Truth to the Forerunner ship at the center of High Charity. Ultimately the sequence of events led to the death of the Brute Chieftain at the hands of the Arbiter and Sgt. Johnson, but not before the brute chieftain forced Johnson to use the Index. It was swiftly removed from the Halo's core. This act, however, tripped a fail-safe mechanism, which placed the entire array on standby, which could be activated from Installation 00. Abandoning what remained of High Charity to the Flood, the Prophet of Truth entered the dreadnought and lifted it free of its moorings, and led all remaining Covenant forces back to Earth where they would activate an enormous portal to Installation 00. The Chief stowed away aboard the Forerunner ship as it fled High Charity, following the Prophet of Truth back to Earth."

"The High Prophet of Truth led the remaining Covenant loyalist Fleet to Earth to complete what the previous mission to Earth had not. Little did he know that a SPARTAN-II had managed to stow away with him on board his Dreadnought. By the time Truth arrived at Earth, a full-scale battle in space and on the ground was underway between UNSC and Covenant Fleets. After a slug-fest lasting several weeks, the UNSC Homefleet was nearly wiped out. However, the Covenant Loyalist fleet was also vastly reduced and focused on securing an enormous unearthed Forerunner structure near what were now the ruins of New Mombasa. With the arrival of John-117, the remaining UNSC forces launched an assault on the area, sweeping aside all Covenant resistance and finally launching an all-out attack on the Prophet of Truth's Forerunner ship. Unfortunately, any tactic proved ineffective against the Forerunner dreadnought, and Truth quickly activated the Forerunner structure and escaped. A small fleet of Human and Sangheili forces was sent through the portal, leading them to the Ark, just outside the Milky Way galaxy. The Covenant Fleet above the Ark immediately attacked; though the joint Human-Sangheili fleet was outnumbered 3-1, the battle ended in defeat for the Covenant Loyalist Fleet. Simultaneous to the space battle between Jiralhanae and Sangheili ships, UNSC forces were deployed to the surface of the Ark."

"The final battle of the war was fought in December 2552 as Truth attempted to activate the entire Halo array. Led by John-117, the Human forces, despite fanatic resistance managed to smash through the remaining Covenant forces on the ground. John-117 and the Arbiter went on to thwart Truth, who died at the Arbiter's hand. John-117 stopped the firing of Halo Array and brought an end to that threat, and Truth's death marked the effective end to the war. Although UNSC Forward Unto Dawn managed an emergency Slipspace jump to escape the destruction of the Ark, the portal ended up collapsing – due to an effort to eradicate a Flood outbreak that had managed to manifest which involved the activation of an incomplete replacement for Installation 04 – severing the vessel in half. Trapped in the rear section of the frigate, John-117 was placed into cryosleep until he could be retrieved, eventually drifting towards a Forerunner world."

"Some months later, in March 3, 2553, a monument was erected on a hillside near the Portal to the Ark to commemorate the billions of men and women killed during the war, and John-117's name was included as he was presumed MIA by the UNSC, as no Spartan could be declared dead for such morale purposes. Admiral Hood shook hands with the Arbiter to officially signify an end to hostilities. The Covenant Civil War would continue for at least another six years between Elite and Brute factions, further depleting their now crumbling infrastructure. The single most destructive conflict in Human history had ended in victory, but at a staggering cost. Both the UNSC and the Covenant Separatists then turned to the enormous task of rebuilding their once great societies after that."

"Now … finally, this is where I come into things. I know this was a massive amount of information to take in, and when you have any questions for me, please … feel free to ask. If you all will indulge me just a little more, I will tell you my personal story, and how I got to Earthland." Cana raised a hand to get my attention and I looked over to her, "Perhaps we can pause here for a moment to get something to drink? I know I need one." I looked over to the pale, ashen faces of those around me and nodded in agreement, "Hmm … perhaps you are right. Very well." I cut the link to the imaging devices, which then switched over to standby mode and instead projected a slowly rotating emblem of the UNSC. Most of the people silently filed out of the room to go get drinks with sullen, thoughtful expressions.

I got up and was about to follow them when Lucy came up to me and hugged me, "I was beginning to wonder why you were so silent when we traveled together, now I know why. You were carrying all that around with you." Initially unsure how to react, I somewhat awkwardly wrapped an arm around her back to give her a quick hug to return the gesture, "And I haven't even gotten to what happened on my homeworld yet or how I got here. You all deserve to know the truth, not just most of it; I've realized that now. Ever since I arrived here in Earthland, I have discovered that the people here don't keep nearly as many secrets around with them as I'm used to; they seem so carefree in comparison … and I guess that created a need to get this weight off my mind."

A metal hand grasped my shoulder; I looked over to see Erza. "Indeed. Since I have returned to the guild, Natsu and Lucy have both told me of how you battled to save Macao, and how you looked out for them both." She grinned at me, "From what I can tell of your combat experience, I would like to spar with you, when you get the chance." I smiled inside my helmet and nodded, "Of course! I was never able to turn down a chance for a friendly sparring match." She smiled before growing serious, "By the way, you said that there were five others with you? Your team?" I nodded, "Yes, one of which is apparently in the hands of Phantom Lord …" Her features took on a dark look at the name "… but as for the other four … I don't know where they are, or even if they are here in Earthland with me … though if they are, I intend to find them. I'm not overly worried though; they ARE Spartans after all. We are, above all else, trained to adapt and survive." I shrugged, "I mean, hell, I'm adapting to magic quite well, I think." She nodded slowly, "From how you describe them, you do seem to be a hardy bunch. I'm sure they are fine. As for your companion … you said she is affiliated with Phantom Lord. Did she … join voluntarily?" I frowned and told her of what I knew of what had happened to Alice.

I balled a fist in frustration as I vowed, "I don't know how just yet, but I intend to extract her from their control. As their commander, it is my duty to see to the wellbeing of those under me." She thought for a moment before facing me with a resolute expression, "I will help you. As will the others here. You have our support, Jai." I was affected deeply by her words. "I … thank you, Erza. When the time comes, I know who to count on. I know it may be a little early to ask, but do you have any ideas yet on how to help?" She thought for a moment before replying, "Not yet, but it sounds like some kind of possession magic. I will have to talk with Mirajane and the master when he returns about what to do." She smiled and reassured me, "But never fear. We will sort this out and return your team member to you." With that, we left to get drinks.

** Such as enhancing their lungs' ability to intake oxygen, allowing them to process airborne toxins and foreign gas mixtures; a pancreas replacement; corneal implants, which increased their eyesight and night vision capability; circulatory and metabolic improvement, which allowed blood to circulate better, allowing for subjects to heal faster; and increased nutrient absorption from food.