Halo 3: ODST Forum
This topic has moved here: Subject: ODST Question ...help
  • Subject: ODST Question ...help
Subject: ODST Question ...help

Fearless

We all seen the vids and your fighting brutes... but they weren't even on earth at that time... they went into main line after the prophet died....

  • 06.24.2009 9:33 PM PDT

http://www.bungie.net/News/content.aspx?type=topnews&cid= 16989


In the immediate wake of the Halo 3: ODST Trailer, series fans began their frame-by-frame assault, dissecting the footage for any visual leads that could help uncover the mysterious clues hidden in the dark, rain-soaked streets of New Mombasa. From "hidden dates" and fragmented Superintendent messages to some more obvious and overt looks at the new elements on display like the ODST-customized SMG and vision augmentations, few things were lost on those peering at the trailer through a magnified lens.

But there is one aspect of the trailer and accompanying coverage in particular that has caused a little bit of confusion among Halo aficionados and speculators from around the World Wide Web - the presence of Brute packs patrolling the darkened alleyways of New Mombasa. And perhaps conversely, the absence of the Elites.

We realize that the Elites are of a fan-favorite, so it's probably wise to set aside your compassion and steel yourself for what is about to come. There are no Elites to fight in Halo 3: ODST.

Still here? Good. Deep breaths. We wanted to clue you in early so you didn't have a chance to let your expectations wind you into a whipping maelstrom of assumption and conjecture. Think of this as the intervention portion of this week's update. Look, we care about you. We don't like to see you get hurt.

And though we are still several seasons away from Halo 3: ODST's retail launch, we're going to bend a rule for you - just this one time - and provide you with a small snippet of the story timeline coupled with a brief explanation covering why you'll be encountering packs of Brutes when you drop into Halo 3: ODST and explore the dangerous, war-torn streets of New Mombasa, come Fall.

If you've yet to play through Halo 2, hit the brakes and steer clear of this next section.

Along the Path

The following is a cursory exploration of some of the more critical events along the Halo 2 and Halo 3 timelines. This examination is not meant to be exhaustive, but rather a set of waypoints to guide you along as we look back at key events and characters that influenced and impacted the Covenant schism, circa 2552.

* October 20: New Mombasa, Kenya is destroyed by the Slipstream Space Rupture Backlash from the Prophet of Regret's ship.
* November 2: The Prophet of Regret's ship and In Amber Clad arrive at Delta Halo. Prophet of Regret liquidated by SPARTAN-117.
* November 3: Prophet of Truth leaves High Charity for Earth in Forerunner dreadnought.
* November 8: The Forerunner dreadnought arrives in the Sol system and proceeds to Earth at near relativistic speed.
* November 17: The Forerunner dreadnought arrives at Earth. SPARTAN-117 ejects and lands in the Kenyan jungle.


What's written in these few entries is important in the context of understanding the overall story presented in the Halo trilogy. But what exists between the lines is where you should focus most of your attention. This is where the majority of the events that unfold during Halo 3: ODST take place. And it is in also in these moments that the Prophet of Truth did much of his puppeteer's manipulations. The thirteen day span between the dates of October 20th and November 2nd provided the High Prophet with all the time he needed to redeploy Brute-led Covenant forces, their mission objectives relayed sub rosa, into the heart of New Mombasa.

But why Brutes?

In the wake of Regret's shameful retreat from New Mombasa, the Prophet of Truth continued his maneuvering - one eye always on his ultimate goal: his rightful and holy ascension. For Truth, his own personal passage was paramount. His Godhood would not be denied. Everything else was secondary.

And though Truth's duplicitous scheming doesn't come to full fruition until the Elite Honor Guard's failure to protect the Prophet of Regret affords him with the final leverage needed to appoint the Brutes to the lofty position, his plans were never made in haste. They were well laid. When the time came to return his attention to Earth, his expendable regiments needed to be led by Jiralhanae, not Sangheili.

Leaving the Elites to scour Earth in search of a Holy Forerunner relic, and ultimately to uncover the most precious and sacrosanct Forerunner artifact in existence - the very portal that opened upon the Ark itself - would have placed all Truth's aspirations upon the shoulders of a species he had already decided to cast aside, a species splintered by heresy and derision, even amongst their own ranks.

Truth's divisive mandate had been set in motion. The Elites had exhausted their usefulness to him, they would not be allowed to meddle in his affairs any longer, and he would not place his rightful transcendence into the hands of incompetents. His word was law.

So the Prophet of Truth deploys Brutes. And the Brutes were eager to prove that their loyalty and battle prowess had earned them a seat at the side of the Hierarchs, as the honored protectors of the sacred Covenant. Such blind faith and eagerness marked them as near perfect pawns for Truth to sacrifice.

  • 06.24.2009 9:40 PM PDT

Fearless

ok ty but still... brutes were not on the ground when the ship jumped, so where did the brutes come from?

  • 06.24.2009 9:54 PM PDT

There was more than one covenant ship at Earth, sir. In fact in the book 'Ghosts of Onyx' there are Brutes there a while before the Chief jumps I believe.

  • 06.24.2009 9:55 PM PDT

Fearless

okk so there were other ship, just the only one that jumped was the prophets... correct?

  • 06.24.2009 10:00 PM PDT

I believe so, yes. More followed Regret later though.

  • 06.24.2009 10:01 PM PDT

Fearless

ok so there were more ships, just the only one that made a jump was the one carrying the prophet, the rest staid behind to fight... correct?

  • 06.24.2009 10:01 PM PDT

Fearless

ok so there were more ships, just the only one that made a jump was the one carrying the prophet, the rest staid behind to fight... correct?

  • 06.24.2009 10:02 PM PDT

Fearless

ok so there were more ships, just the only one that made a jump was the one carrying the prophet, the rest staid behind to fight... correct?

  • 06.24.2009 10:03 PM PDT

To my understanding, yes. However more Ships went to Regrets location later though. I've always assumed they were from a different location.

  • 06.24.2009 10:03 PM PDT

Fearless

im a fan and follow the storey of the games well so yea
so isnt the number of ships said at the beging on halo 2? i would really like to know how it all took place... also, were the straggling ships cleaned up?

  • 06.24.2009 10:05 PM PDT

Posted by: XxBlazingxX
isnt the number of ships said at the beging on halo 2?

Afraid I don't remember- sorry.

Posted by: XxBlazingxX
were the straggling ships cleaned up?

Nah. We were losing remember. I'm pretty sure they were just simply invading over the course of those few weeks. That's why we only had a few ships left during Halo 3.

  • 06.24.2009 10:08 PM PDT

Fearless

yes but in halo 2 they said that it was a small fleet, and the reason that the prophet jumped is because it was getting to hot, they were loosing. at the end of halo 2 the full covenant fleet hit earth, but before that the small fleet hit at the begging on halo 2. was that first small fleet that attacked at the begging still alive on earth by the time the full fleet hit?

  • 06.24.2009 10:13 PM PDT

Honestly? I don't know. I'm no expert on the story- just a fan. I'm not going to pretend I'm smarter than I am and lie to you. I apologize.

  • 06.24.2009 10:16 PM PDT

Fearless

oh no, you have helped alot and i thank you for that, but to me it just seems like theres a hole in the story, the piece just doesn't fit because even if there were brutes there, the decision wasnt made to start using them until later in the story, in the trailer it shows them on the ground that day, before regret was even killed

  • 06.24.2009 10:19 PM PDT
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I agree with Blazing

Halo 3 ODST starts at right when Regret's ship jumps into slipspace. Bungie is trying to say that within HOURS Truth's ships arrived (this in itself is BS because Regret's fleet was looking for Forerunner artifacts in the SOL system, hence why he only had 10 ships I believe, and Truth's fleet jumped to Earth in a few hours, *recall that Slipspace jumps can take days to weeks*) and recalled all of the elites into his fleet, and switched the entire command structure of the covenant expeditionary force from elites to brutes.

Yup

  • 06.24.2009 10:24 PM PDT

Fearless

also!!! if those few remaining ships are stuck, on earth, surrounded, and getting owned by human forces, then there not going to just switch to a only brute army, there going to use everything they got because they are already loosing horribly
ALSO
who says they could even get a transmission through while there on earth?

  • 06.24.2009 10:31 PM PDT
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How about we just play the game and that hole you are talking about might be filled

  • 06.27.2009 6:51 PM PDT