- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Ive recently reread The Fall of Reach and First Strike and Ive found what might be a clue to some of the new aliens we might see in Halo 2 as well as possible links between the Covenant, Forerunner and Humans.
Whether or not the new enemies are from a Covenant race or Forerunner I've yet to decide, but Im certain it will be one or the other.
(I wish I had TFoR as a reference because it mentions abnormally high walls somewhere in there too, but since I dont have the page number Im not using that as a reference.)
Ok, basically I've found what I believe to be signs of a BIG alien race to appear in Halo 2. Before continuing on, check out the following quotes from First Strike:
p. 60 - In reference to the Covenant ship Ascendant Justice
"The architecture of the Covenant fighter bay was similar to the interior of the other Covenant ship the Chief had recently been inside, the Truth and Reconciliation. Low indirect lights illuminated the dark purple walls. The alien metal appeared to be stenciled with odd, faintly luminescent geometric patterns that overlapped each other. The ceiling was vaulted and unnecessarily high, maybe ten meters. In contrast to a human ship, it was a waste of space."
Now, in comparison, p. 138 - Underground trail beneath CASTLE Base
"Fred entered next, sliding through the vent duct, It twisted and turned and finally dumped him into a long tunnel of rougly hewn granite. The ceiling was ten meters high and -- judging from the three-meter-wide tire tracks in the dust -- big enough for heavy equipment to have rolled through."
Interesting how both Covenant ships and this underground passageway are both 10 meters high. Waste of space? Or maybe the creators are actually that tall? What kind of alien race would be 10 meters tall?
Also, a few pages later on p. 142 - In regards to the new passageway Fred opened up
"This new corridor was twenty meters high -- large enough for a titan to stride down its length."
Tell me thats not a tease. Something big, and by big I mean tall, is headed our way in Halo 2. Im still unsure whether or not it will be Covenant or Forerunner, or maybe a whole other species all together. I cant find the exact quote but at some point Cortana says something along the lines of "the Covenant are imitative not innovative" or something to that effect. Could the Covenant be copying off of Forerunner architecture or is there a race of super-tall aliens in the Covenant hierarchy? Or perhaps the Forerunner themselves were extremely tall?
Interestingly enough, the area under CASTLE Base is very reminiscent of The Library back on Halo.
p. 139 - The granite walls beneath CASTLE Base
"Fred followed the trail of odd symbols along the left-hand stone wall until they twisted into a spiral mosaic and vanished into ever-smaller curls. The symbols were part of the rock, composed of glittering mica inclusions in the granite matrix. There were a series of squares, triangles, bars and dots, similar to Covenant calligraphy he had seen -- but at the same time it was simpler, cleaner, and when Fred focused on them, the characters seemed to blur around their edges and fade from his stare."
Two things to note here. The most important in relation to the Library is the glittering mica inclusions in the granite. Go jump on Halo and check out the walls between the shimmering blue panels against the wall in the Library. On the walls are small scattered dots that flash blue and yellow. Just chalk that up as one more similarity between the Library and the underground caves.
The second thing to note is the Covenant calligraphy. Im betting the writing is actually Forerunner, similar to the Covenant only because they copied it. This would lead one to believe the Forerunner were the ones that were tall. But no one knows how far back Covenant history goes... maybe they once inhabited Reach and wrote stuff down there.
So now we have abnormally high ceilings on Forerunner installations, Covenant warships, and Human colonies, which cant be just a coincidence.
Also of interest: there might be another area like the Library and the cave under CASTLE Base on Earth.
p. 100 (First Strike) - UNSC High Command Facility Bravo-6
"Although he had barely felt the descent, Wagner knew he had dropped three kilometers into the planet, through solid layers of granite, reinforced concrete, plates of Titanium-A, and EMP-hardened metal. None of this made him feel any safer, though; ONIs research facility on Reach had the same setup, and it hadn't done those poor bastards and good."
Theres that granite again. Im convinced its not just a coincidence anymore. Plus with Ackerson at that facility you just KNOW something is hidden away there. Possibly another crystal or rock with another star-reference chart embedded into it. Perhaps that is how we venture to the next Halo installation? Maybe Covenant isnt bent on Human destruction so much as it is claiming the object beneath the base on Earth?
Anyway, those are my thoughts. Tall aliens, links between Halo, Reach, Earth, and Covenant ships, and a way for us to get to the next Halo installation.
Oh, and did I mention "granite" means "Unyielding endurance" or "Unyielding firmness." Unyielding... hmm.. I know I've heard of that somewhere before. =)
Thoughts?
EDIT: Just checking my spelling
[Edited on 4/21/2004 7:51:03 PM]