This is a reblog from Halo Waypoint:
BY GRIMBROTHER ONEISSUE 78
Welcome back, canonballers, thanks for stopping by! Last issue, we knocked out some more Hog Wild REQ fiction, and sat down with new-to-Halo author John Jackson Miller, who is contributing stories for both Halo: Fractures and Halo: Tales From Slipspace. After a week break to gather our strength – and sanity – we’re back and in full E3-prep mode.
As it’s no real secret that we’ll be showcasing the long-anticipated sequel to a certain Halo real-time strategy title on the expo’s show floor, we thought it might be prudent to take a quick look back at the story of the original Halo Wars, and set the stage for what might be next for the UNSC Spirit of Fire and her crew. Feel up to a stroll down memory lane? I thought so…
Phoenix Rising
Through fierce tenacity and incredible resolve, the crew of the Spirit of Fire would match the Covenant blow for blow across the surface of the ancient Shield World, an effort that would culminate in one final confrontation that saw Sergeant Forge and Spartan-II supersoldiers Alice-130, Douglas-042, and Jerome-092 lay waste to the malevolent Arbiter and his Sangheili guard. In the end, Sergeant Forge would sacrifice his own life to not only save his crewmembers, but also destroy the Shield World and the Forerunner weapons it contained – saving humanity as a whole in the process.
While the UNSC Spirit of Fire would escape the Shield World’s destruction, it did so at great cost – the ship’s own slipspace drive having been used to bring down the ancient construct. For nearly thirty years the Spirit of Fire would drift though deep space, cut off from the rest of humanity and eventually declared “lost with all hands” in February 2534.
But now, something has happened…
HFFL: Something has happened? Hmm, if you followed the Comic Books, you might have the clue, if 343 went with that story. In it… Spoilers below this line—-Highlight to read.
The Flood have found the Spirit of Fire. Presumably have taken it over.
LOST WITH ALL HANDS
Fans of our Halo 101 series on the Halo Channel will no doubt be pleased to know that “Lost With All Hands” – a five-part video series offering an overview of the original Halo Wars story – is now available to view in its entirety on the official Halo YouTube channel. Utilizing a combination of Blur Studio’s incredible game cinematics and informative narration, “Lost With All Hands” provides a closer look at the events that transpire over the course of the game and their place within the larger Halo universe.
So whether you’ve played through the Halo Wars campaign a hundred times over, or have yet to lay the disc in your tray, sit back and enjoy a vital and epic romp across the galaxy with some of the UNSC’s finest heroes. We’ve provided you with just a taste of the story of Halo Wars above, now you can get the details.
HFFL: I HIGHLY suggest you watch each of the 5 vids below. They are informative and fun to watch!
Halo 101: The Secret Below Planet Harvest:
Halo 101: The Battle for Arcadia
Halo 101: The Shield World
Halo 101: The Forerunner Fleet
Halo 101: Lost With All Hands
BATTLE FOR ARCADE-IA
When it comes to game modes, it’s likely safe to assume that a large portion of the Fodder faithful are fans of the campaign portions of Halo titles. It’s also reasonably safe to assume that fans of the campaign are also likely to enjoy anything that might help prolong and refresh their experience in fun ways.
With that in mind, we’re excited to reveal that the upcoming Warzone Firefight content release for Halo 5: Guardians will also bring with it an exciting new Score Attack mode, giving fans a fast-paced and fun new arcade-style wrapping to the Halo 5 campaign.
For more info, make sure you check out our deeper reveal in this week’s Halo Community Update from Bravo and yours truly. I don’t know about you, but between Score Attack and Warzone Firefight, I’m seeing some fun and furious Fodder-fied community playdates in the near future…
DEEP LINKS
HFFL: Okay fellow fans…can you guess what the name of the AV-49 is? It’s presumably the vehicle we will be getting in the update. I’ve tweeted back and forth with Grim himself. My guesses so far have been: Raven, Raptor, Eagle and jokingly Finch.
The Sparrowhawk met with great success in the war against the Covenant, serving as a gunship escort for troop transports, providing aerial security, and operating in hunter-killer squadrons that harassed Covenant landing zones and troop columns. Combat losses were always high, though pilots accumulated enviable kill ratios.
Armament
The Sparrowhawk primary weapon systems are a pair of brutally effective GAU-23/AW long-barreled rotary autocannons installed on weapon armatures below the aircraft. These cannons can fire the full range of aircraft 20mm ammunition, though the standard loadout is either M718 SAPHEI or PGU-42/B API (with a depleted-uranium core). Though considered a secondary weapon, the Sparrowhawk also features a chin-mounted variant of the UNSC’s GUNGNIR M6 directed energy system, allowing the gunner to conduct devastatingly effective long-range strikes with pinpoint accuracy. The Sparrowhawk’s M6 nonlinear cannon uses components that were later miniaturized and installed on infantry-portable M6/E variants after the Covenant War.
Alice-130 was part of the legendary SPARTAN-II project and member of the Red Team detachment associated with UNSC Spirit of Fire.DOUGLAS-042
Douglas-042 was part of the legendary SPARTAN-II project and member of the Red Team detachment associated with UNSC Spirit of Fire.
JEROME-092
Jerome-092 was part of the legendary SPARTAN-II project and leader of the Red Team detachment associated with UNSC Spirit of Fire.
HFFL: Get to know these Spartans folks. They WILL be important to Halo Wars 2, in some form or another…
It’s a shame that we haven’t been able to use some of the vehicles introduced in Halo Wars (at least for the time being). Flying a Sparrowhawk would be pretty cool though maybe a bit OP.