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Subject: If the UNSC had the NOVA bomb then...

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what did the covenant have as they're most powerful weapon in their arsenal? It seriously cant be glassing cause if it is there is no way the covenant should've been winning. Is it a bomb? or a slipspace weapon of some sort?

  • 12.13.2010 1:14 AM PDT

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Inside another dead body. It's the last place they'll look
A corpse within a corpse.
CORPSEPTION.
Win.

The most powerful weapon the Covenant have is the glassing beam.
It completely annihilates 15 acres of land - every second.

Due to them using plasma weapons and reactors, their most powerful impromptu weapons are in fact their ships and facilities themselves.

  • 12.13.2010 2:10 AM PDT

15 Acres of land - every second

Frig

  • 12.13.2010 7:37 AM PDT

Well, they have antimatter weaponry. An antimatter charge is basically the Covenant equivalent of the UNSC's standard nuke, so a bunch of antimatter charges strapped together would probably do as much damage as the NOVA.

  • 12.13.2010 8:49 AM PDT
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Did you soo in Reach how one tiny burst from a glassing beam cut through a ship with ease?

They have that power on every ship.

The UNSC haslimited NOVA bombs.

  • 12.13.2010 8:49 AM PDT
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Posted by: Gofrel
Did you soo in Reach how one tiny burst from a glassing beam cut through a ship with ease?

They have that power on every ship.

The UNSC haslimited NOVA bombs.


Wasn't that NOVA bomb, more or less, a prototype?

  • 12.13.2010 8:55 AM PDT

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Posted by: drummer0702
Posted by: Gofrel
Did you soo in Reach how one tiny burst from a glassing beam cut through a ship with ease?

They have that power on every ship.

The UNSC haslimited NOVA bombs.


Wasn't that NOVA bomb, more or less, a prototype?


Yeah, it was new technology. I thought there was 2 of them though. But I think I may have that confused with that slipspace message thing from Ghosts of Oynx.

  • 12.13.2010 9:01 AM PDT
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Posted by: drummer0702
Posted by: Gofrel
Did you soo in Reach how one tiny burst from a glassing beam cut through a ship with ease?

They have that power on every ship.

The UNSC haslimited NOVA bombs.


Wasn't that NOVA bomb, more or less, a prototype?


Yes. A protoype weapon only used once.

And based on the effects in GoO, I personally think that the whole 'a few nukes strapped to together' explanation is just a cover, and it's really some Forerunner/slipspace magic.

  • 12.13.2010 9:04 AM PDT

The Covenant use the Pulse Laser, capable of gutting UNSC Frigates and Destroyers from "stem to stern". It's in Fall of Reach

  • 12.13.2010 9:42 AM PDT

On hiding dead bodies:
Posted by: Psuedo
Posted by: teh Chaz
Inside another dead body. It's the last place they'll look
A corpse within a corpse.
CORPSEPTION.
Win.

Posted by: Limp Blimp
The Covenant use the Pulse Laser, capable of gutting UNSC Frigates and Destroyers from "stem to stern". It's in Fall of Reach
You're thinking of the Energy Projector, Pulse Lasers are used to damage single-ships (Longswords, escape pods) and also for anti-missile defence.

  • 12.13.2010 9:53 AM PDT

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Posted by: opogjijijp
And based on the effects in GoO, I personally think that the whole 'a few nukes strapped to together' explanation is just a cover, and it's really some Forerunner/slipspace magic.


What makes you think that? I thought Whitcomb's description of the NOVA Bomb was pretty clear:

"This is the prototype NOVA Bomb, nine fusion warheads encased in lithium triteride armor. When detonated, it compresses its fissionable material to neutron-star density, boosting the thermonuclear yield a hundredfold."

  • 12.13.2010 10:12 AM PDT

The Covenant had the glassing beam, that and the NOVA destroy planets, I'd say they're on par. But I think the NOVA was some sort of prototype or was super expensive to make, either way, they're weren't a lot. And also, they don't have any Covenant planets to crack open.

  • 12.13.2010 10:16 AM PDT

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Posted by: WEE MAN MJJC
what did the covenant have as they're most powerful weapon in their arsenal? It seriously cant be glassing cause if it is there is no way the covenant should've been winning. Is it a bomb? or a slipspace weapon of some sort?


I would say their most powerful weapon isn't even a weapon. Rather their energy shields were the key. If it was not for those shields then the Covenant would be on near equal ground when exchanging blows with UNSC vessels as their MAC guns now have a much better chance of crippling a vessel on the first strike instead of spending precious seconds wearing down shields.

Shields tip the balance of space battle in favor of Covies. Covies win space battle. UNSC loses the overall battle. Even if the Covenant did not possess the glassing beam, the ground battle will still be lost in the long run as the planet in question will be isolated from any support while the Covenant are free to do as they please. Though the war will probably last even longer than it already is.

  • 12.13.2010 11:13 AM PDT

Online Gaming's pretty much like a zombie movie. There are a lot of mindless idiots roaming around but you find some survivors on the way.
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Posted by: Grizzwizz
The Covenant had the glassing beam, that and the NOVA destroy planets, I'd say they're on par. But I think the NOVA was some sort of prototype or was super expensive to make, either way, they're weren't a lot. And also, they don't have any Covenant planets to crack open.

doesnt glassing beams take like days to cover an entire planet? i think thats enough time for the UNSC to take out at least two carriers. and even then once its complete the planet will eventually terraform again. I dont understand how the covenant should've been winning when the UNSC had a weapon of that magnitude. just fire one at high charity and POW. The wars over boys lets go home.xD

[Edited on 12.13.2010 12:23 PM PST]

  • 12.13.2010 12:22 PM PDT

On hiding dead bodies:
Posted by: Psuedo
Posted by: teh Chaz
Inside another dead body. It's the last place they'll look
A corpse within a corpse.
CORPSEPTION.
Win.

Posted by: WEE MAN MJJC

Posted by: Grizzwizz
The Covenant had the glassing beam, that and the NOVA destroy planets, I'd say they're on par. But I think the NOVA was some sort of prototype or was super expensive to make, either way, they're weren't a lot. And also, they don't have any Covenant planets to crack open.

doesnt glassing beams take like days to cover an entire planet? i think thats enough time for the UNSC to take out at least two carriers. and even then once its complete the planet will eventually terraform again. I dont understand how the covenant should've been winning when the UNSC had a weapon of that magnitude. just fire one at high charity and POW. The wars over boys lets go home.xD
Only 2 NOVAs were ever built - one wiped out the Sangheili fleet at Joyous Exultation, and the other I think just stayed on Reach.

Plus, the UNSC didn't even fully know High Charity existed until the end of Halo 2.
However, Cortana requests that the UNSC NOVA-bombs Delta Halo, so either more were built, or Cortana simply realises that is the best weapon to use and tries to call it in.

  • 12.13.2010 12:34 PM PDT
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The UNSC only had a few NOVA bombs,right? Developed late in the war, and the only ones that were actually used had been captured and went off by accident?

Y'know, just because one faction has a superweapon of questionable applicability doesn't mean that the other side magically looses 25 years worth of momentum.

  • 12.13.2010 12:53 PM PDT

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Posted by: WEE MAN MJJC
doesn't glassing beams take like days to cover an entire planet?

2000 ships (or glassing beams) = 30 years, minimum. You do not have to glass every square inch though, just enough to cause massive wildfires and moderate climate changes.

Posted by: JDYeash937 MkII
They may have known about High Charity. There is an Evolutions story called Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss, in which an ONI spook tells of having been on board High Charity in the past to observe Brutes in a non-hostile environment.

I do not know when it is set however. Anyone have an idea when?

  • 12.13.2010 12:55 PM PDT
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Posted by: anton1792
Posted by: WEE MAN MJJC
doesn't glassing beams take like days to cover an entire planet?

2000 ships (or glassing beams) = 30 years, minimum. You do not have to glass every square inch though, just enough to cause massive wildfires and moderate climate changes.

Posted by: JDYeash937 MkII
They may have known about High Charity. There is an Evolutions story called Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss, in which an ONI spook tells of having been on board High Charity in the past to observe Brutes in a non-hostile environment.

I do not know when it is set however. Anyone have an idea when?


Did they mention High Charity specifically, or just "A covenant habitat?"

  • 12.13.2010 12:58 PM PDT

Posted by:ScubaToaster
Posted by: HipiO7
This man, this man right here put it so eloquently that I actually cancelled my own 2000+ word long post.
/slow clap for respect


:)
The person who said participating is important, not winning, obviously never won anything.

Because where ever they use it, the system will be obliterated. It's known as a planet killer.

It would kill everything, making it worthless in a planetary defense.

  • 12.13.2010 12:59 PM PDT

On hiding dead bodies:
Posted by: Psuedo
Posted by: teh Chaz
Inside another dead body. It's the last place they'll look
A corpse within a corpse.
CORPSEPTION.
Win.

Posted by: HipiO7
Because where ever they use it, the system will be obliterated. It's known as a planet killer.

It would kill everything, making it worthless in a planetary defense.
The Covenant fleet at Reach was advancing in-system very slowly in TFOR, and over 100 ships were lost in a 'conventional' nuclear minefield. A single NOVA out there would have obliterated the entirety of the Covie fleet.

It does need to be asked, how far out would be safe to detonate it? The NOVA doesn't literally crack large planets into two, but obliterates their surface if detonated close by, causing tidal waves, massive climate changes and literally scorching significant portions of the land itself. It can also 'shatter' moons.

  • 12.13.2010 1:04 PM PDT

"Find where the liar hides, so that I may place my boot between his gums!" - Rtas 'Vadum

Posted by: FleetAdmiralBob
Posted by: anton1792
Posted by: WEE MAN MJJC
doesn't glassing beams take like days to cover an entire planet?

2000 ships (or glassing beams) = 30 years, minimum. You do not have to glass every square inch though, just enough to cause massive wildfires and moderate climate changes.

Posted by: JDYeash937 MkII
They may have known about High Charity. There is an Evolutions story called Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss, in which an ONI spook tells of having been on board High Charity in the past to observe Brutes in a non-hostile environment.

I do not know when it is set however. Anyone have an idea when?


Did they mention High Charity specifically, or just "A covenant habitat?"

Specifically High Charity. It is on page 72 of the original Evolutions; 92 of Volume I.

Unlike the battle footage he'd watched and the Brutes he'd encountered personally on High Charity, Big Boy didn't wear the highly decorative armour of most Chieftains.

  • 12.13.2010 1:42 PM PDT
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Posted by: JDYeash937 MkII
Posted by: HipiO7
Because where ever they use it, the system will be obliterated. It's known as a planet killer.

It would kill everything, making it worthless in a planetary defense.
The Covenant fleet at Reach was advancing in-system very slowly in TFOR, and over 100 ships were lost in a 'conventional' nuclear minefield. A single NOVA out there would have obliterated the entirety of the Covie fleet.

It does need to be asked, how far out would be safe to detonate it? The NOVA doesn't literally crack large planets into two, but obliterates their surface if detonated close by, causing tidal waves, massive climate changes and literally scorching significant portions of the land itself. It can also 'shatter' moons.

1: There's a potential window to use the (probably barely even worth a page in the story bible at the time) NOVA bommb in FoR. In H:R, there's no window to use it at all.

2: Those side-effects are exactly why you don't use it in a fleet battle near a gravity well. The side-effects would probably do more damage to the planet and its populace than regular-old glassing.

  • 12.13.2010 2:09 PM PDT

Posted by:ScubaToaster
Posted by: HipiO7
This man, this man right here put it so eloquently that I actually cancelled my own 2000+ word long post.
/slow clap for respect


:)
The person who said participating is important, not winning, obviously never won anything.

Posted by: JDYeash937 MkII
Posted by: HipiO7
Because where ever they use it, the system will be obliterated. It's known as a planet killer.

It would kill everything, making it worthless in a planetary defense.
The Covenant fleet at Reach was advancing in-system very slowly in TFOR, and over 100 ships were lost in a 'conventional' nuclear minefield. A single NOVA out there would have obliterated the entirety of the Covie fleet.


And the entirety of the UNSC Orbital Defenses as a whole, and most likely destroying the face of Reach that would have been facing the detonation.

The window a NOVA needs for it to be a safe detonation as to be substantial. Like, in the middle of no where. Else where anywhere in system will bring consequences.

  • 12.13.2010 2:23 PM PDT

How many NOVA bombs were made? It implies that there were a few on Reach, however only one is said to be taken, and Reach was not destroyed so there couldn't have been any on the surface when they were set to detonate.

  • 12.13.2010 2:26 PM PDT
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How many NOVA bombs were made? It implies that there were a few on Reach, however only one is said to be taken,

Do we know that only one was taken? They could have taken them all, but only that one was re-armed.

  • 12.13.2010 4:03 PM PDT

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