- MLG Cheehwawa
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- Fabled Mythic Member
1. It's complicated. A Forerunner artifact on Reach dilates time for the PoA (makes it go through a longer period of time than in the "real world") -- in real-time, Halo 1 is over some time around Sept 7 (when viewed from Reach, Earth, etc.), but when viewed from Installation 04, Halo 1 is over September 23.
2. August 30 Reach is invaded, and the PoA leaves just as Covenant ships move in to glass the world. Untold in the novel The Fall of Reach, after the PoA leaves combat still happens on a small part of Reach (the Covenant glass all but a part of a mountain chain containing said Forerunner artifact from #1) until at least September 7, when the Chief returns on his way back to Earth for Halo 2.
3. 27 Spartans drop to the surface. 4 are KIA on impact leaving 23 in fighting shape. Of the 23, 6 are virtually crippled by the fall. One Spartan is confirmed KIA by a nuke, leaving a potential of 22 surviving Spartans on the surface of Reach. We only learn what happens to some of them in the limited PoV of the novels.
The game will likely START at the end of TFoR, when the planet is first invaded and the Spartans split up. After that we will probably see the BEGINNING of First Strike, when Red Team falls to the surface and reaches the orbital defense generators (right as the PoA is setting up to leave the system), and after that, the story will probably be all new.
Spartan-259 is not mentioned in First Strike, so he would be one of the Spartans unnamed in the novels -- from Splinter Team Beta or Splinter Team Delta (Delta were all cripples and were only 3 strong after splitting up, so that's a no-go).
It's interesting to note that Eric Nylund, writer of TFoR, First Strike, and GoO, comments on a question about the inconsistency between the number Spartans at Reach. On August 29 at the debrief at Reach there were 25 Spartans, excluding Grey Team, making a total of 28 active Spartans, confirmed by adding up Spartan numbers in the Halo novels as well as the Halo Wars timeline. In the beginning of FS, however, there were 30 Spartans at Reach on August 30. 5 new Spartans show up.
What did Nylund have to say?
He said that the inconsistencies may seem like mistakes, but in reality, they have a reasoning. They are things that Bungie wanted to explore further provided they have the opportunity, but if they don't ever get that opportunity, "chalk it up as the fog of war."
Maybe REACH is their opportunity. I mean it makes sense. 5 Spartans added between August 29 and 30... 5 Spartans in the banner.
[Edited on 11.19.2009 8:54 PM PST]