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Subject: So, Picked Up Halsey's Journal....

Brains beats brawn get used to it

Fear the Red Comet

Variety is the spice of life.
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Death to all fanboys.


Posted by: LiteRED
In First Strike, Cortana gains the ability to clone herself. Being split is entirely different, as nothing was copied. Different functions went to different parts. And PoA could have just entered atmosphere after John was in cryo, after the orbital battle (you can tell in the game that we may as well have given up at that last point), and before it made the slipspace jump to Halo.


Doubtful. The way canon has gone it seems heavily implied that the Autumn never participated in the battle in space, especially because of the bonus entry at the end of the reissued Fall of Reach. Here's my break down of that entry that I posted in the Unexplainable Errors in the Halo Canon thread:


If the Autumn was retrofitted in space there would be no need for it to get thrusters and land. They've could've deployed a Pelican from a space dock as JD has pointed out in the past.

It's my personal theory based off Keyes' message to Vice Admiral Kapano that the Autumn was undergoing refit on the planet's surface in that dry dock to keep things secret from everyone on Reach and keep suspicions to a minimum under the assumption the Covenant had never attacked during their refit
operation. Though at the same time whether space dock or ground dock, the theory simultaneously places the Autumn as unable to participate in the space battle at all.

So now I'm going to do a little break down of that short entry.

Paragraph 1:

THE PILLAR OF AUTUMN'S REFIT IS 98 PERCENT COMPLETE, AND IF WE CAN MAINTAIN THE CURRENT PACE WE SHOULD MEET ALL RED FLAG SPECS IN SEVENTY-TWO HOURS.

Alright so from that first paragraph in the message it is established that the Pillar of Autumn is still undergoing refit at this time and will be ready in three days should everything run at the rate it's currently going.

Paragraph 2 deals with Keyes' concern with the reactor, and has no relevance to the theory I'm proposing so I'm not putting that here.

Paragraph 3:

YOU TOLD ME THAT THIS MISSION IS BIG, AND YOU AND I HAVE BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH TOGETHER THAT I BELIEVE YOU. WHILE I EXPECT I'LL BE THE LAST PERSON TO KNOW WHERE WE'RE SAILING, I'VE BEEN AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO TELL THAT WE'RE GOING ALONE. I'VE GOT A WHO'S WHO OF ENGINEERS, SCIENTISTS, AND ONI "MONITORS" CRAWLING ALL OVER MY SHIP RIGHT NOW, AND IF THEY'RE ALL HERE THAT MEANS EVERY SHIP IN THE DOCK IS GOING WITHOUT. PLUS WE'VE ALREADY TAKEN ON ENOUGH -------- TO ACCOUNT FOR EVERY GRAM LEFT AT REACH IF I'VE BEEN READING THE FLEET REPORTS CORRECTLY THE LAST FEW MONTHS, SO NO OTHER SHIP COULD KEEP UP WITH US IF WE TRIED.

Note: The "------" is a substitution for a word that is blacked out in the book.

Alright so now it seems that while Keyes is informed of the specs the PoA has for Operation:Red Flag, he is completely clueless as to the actual specifics of what Red Flag really is. This is already significant as it's a clear indication in book form outside of Halsey's journal that Keyes was in command of the Autumn before Operation Red Flag's briefing. Keep in mind that in Halsey's journal, the full Red Flag briefing occurs on the 27th of August. Three days before the 30th. It is mentioned in the journal that Halsey "prematurely" discloses little bits of Red Flag to Keyes on the 12th of August though.

In regards to The Fall of Reach, we know Keyes inspects the Autumn for the first time with Hikowa in space, and that she knew more about the Autumn's specs than he did. Based off this message this event simply no longer exists. Keyes knew the specs of the Autumn before it was ready to go and before he had the briefing as to what the Autumn was specifically designed to do. Keyes had the Autumn even before a single Spartan ever stepped onto it (more on that in the next paragraph).

Now the latter half of paragraph 3 struck me as a bit odd. Given the context of the sentence, it seems to me that the blacked out word is some type of fuel as the following sentences indicate that all the ships lacking whatever would be unable to keep pace with the Autumn where ever she went.

That said, this makes me think that if Keyes finds this peculiar, no doubt anyone else with a brain would as well. Which is why I think, for the purpose of a ground refit, it would be easier to hide the transport of massive shipments of a particular item to a remote ground facility. In space, there's essentially infinite LoS. On the ground, there's mountainous terrain blocking fields of view. Not to mention that we should all keep in mind that the Autumn was placed in a ship breaking facility, not an actual repair yard. There would likely be repercussions as well morale wise if average soldiers or civilians laid eyes on the Autumn during its refit and question its existence. There were already the dock workers in a separate side story that were concerned due to the overflow of military equipment on Reach, but in any case moving onto the next paragraph.

Paragraph 4:

ALL THIS, AND THE MODIFICATIONS TO STOW AN ARMY'S WORTH OF HEAVY WEAPONS WITHOUT AN ROOM FOR AN ARMY MAKE IT PRETTY CLEAR THAT I'M ABOUT TO GET SOME VISITORS...AND I KNOW WHAT KIND OF MISSIONS THEY GO ON. MY MEN KNOW IT, TOO.

This paragraph serves to indicate that there are currently no Spartan's aboard the Autumn, however Keyes already suspects that the Autumn will be carrying them given the vast amount of irdinance. This information also lessens the possibility of Blue Team ever being deployed in space with the Autumn coming down on Reach after the Circumference Op as some people theorize is still possible given the events of Halo:Reach.

Paragraph 6:

THE DAMNED ONI ORDERS NOT TO DISCUSS WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE ARE A SERIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH MY COMMAND. I GET BRIEFINGS AND THE REAL NUMBERS AND I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S NOT MUCH WE COULD DO IF WE LAUNCHED THE AUTUMN DIRECTLY INTO THE HEART OF IT, BUT I CAN'T EXPLAIN ANY OF THAT TO MY MEN BECAUSE I CAN'T OFFICIALLY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT ANY OF IT IS EVEN TAKING PLACE.

Now this paragraph begins to lend credence to my theory that the Autumn never participated in the battle of Reach, and that it was still in that dock undergoing its refit as Reach was under attack. Now of course people could say that Keyes was referring to the details of Red Flag, but again remember he hasn't had the briefing yet on Red Flag and still does not know all the details. Furthermore the following paragraphs eliminates that possibility.

Paragraph 7:

BUT YOU KNOW AS WELL AS I DO THAT THESE BLACKOUT ORDERS AREN'T WORTH A DAMN. CREW TALKS. ALWAYS HAVE, ALWAYS WILL. IF IT'S NOT THE TECHS ON THE NAVCOM OPS, IT'S MY PLATEWELDERS OUT VERIFYING THE HULL WITH A GREAT BIG VIEW OF THE SHOW BELOW, AND THERE'S NO WAY THAT STAYS QUIET, NOT WITH AS MANY HUSBANDS, WIVES AND KIDS WE HAVE DOWN ON THE SURFACE. AND EVERYDAY THOSE DOUBTS GROW.....

Paragraph 8:

THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT REACH WON'T BE HERE WHEN WE GET BACK. THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT BUT MAKE THIS LOSS MEAN SOMETHING BY COMPLETING OUR MISSION TO THE BEST OF OUR ABILITIES. AND I HAVE TO MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND THAT THIS MEANS STANDING DOWN ON BOARD THE AUTUMN WHILE EVERYTHING GOES TO HELL AROUND THEM.

So at this point Keyes pretty much paints the picture that Reach is already under siege, and the battle has gotten to the point that it's clear the UNSC are losing now. Not only that, but the way he describes the scene is indicative that wherever the Autumn may be (space or on the the ground), it's in a location isolated from the battle as no one is attacking them. However, from wherever they are, the crew working on the hull can clearly see the battle raging on.

Now paragraph 7 lends great credibility to the space dock due to the wording that the battle is "below" and that family members are "down" on the surface, however, the likely hood that the Autumn can remain in space undetected by the Covenant fleet is rather incredulous. Although it's pushing it, for the ground dock argument it could be said that the wording was relative to the ships position to the rest of the planet's surface, and that the ship itself was not part of the ground. It could also be physically seen in the level "The Package", that the Autumn is perched up in a way that you can clearly see battles raging below in relative safety. Still either way (ground or space), it's important to note that in the last sentence of paragraph 8, Keyes intends to not participate in the battle because he wants to focus on getting the Autumn ready for Red Flag....

In any case that's my (more detailed than usual) two cents on why I think the Autumn was more likely than not (within this rectonned storyline) was being refitted on the surface and how it did not participate in the battle of Reach the entire time.

[Edited on 12.01.2010 11:36 AM PST]

  • 12.01.2010 11:35 AM PDT
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I just play for fun. MLG can kiss my ass.

Then how did he destroy the supercruiser?

  • 12.01.2010 3:12 PM PDT

Yup. The canon is garbage at this point. -.-

  • 12.01.2010 8:05 PM PDT

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