- StealthSlasher2
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- Exalted Mythic Member
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Posted by: Wazooty
Posted by: StealthSlasher2
It's a stroke of sheer luck that Halo was discovered and destroyed when it was once Red Flag went belly up.
While it was certainly lucky, keep in mind the the covenants ultimate goal is to find the halo rings. They sent a giant fleet of 300+ ships not only to eradicate the humans from Reach, but also recover the artifacts it contained. Their decision to kill off all of humanity was from the very beginning spurred solely by the fact that humans were "desecrating" the forerunners artifacts. Their goal in recovering the artifacts of course being the discovery of a halo ring or 7, it was what the covenant were looking for since their inception, and it eventually led them to reach, which had the coordinates to halo, as halo: reach showed us.
So while it was certainly lucky that Dr. Halsey finally caught on to this pattern a month before reach fell and decided to research the artifact beneath sword base, the discovery of the coordinates to halo was inevitable, whether by the covenant or humanity. Now, if they had caught on to the whole "covenant aren't just killing us, they're killing us because were unknowingly sitting right on top of their sacred artifacts" thing 20 years earlier, humanity could have focused a lot more time and money on archeological manpower and discovered Halo well before the covenant did.
So luck played a big part, but I wouldn't say it was luck so much as it was humanity missing out on a big part of why the covenant were burning them. The clues, the motivations, and the reasoning was always there, it just didn't add up until the covenant decided to send a scouting party to check for artifacts on Reach, and Dr. Halsey just happened to be there. "Huh...they're after Sorvalds dig site...now that's odd..."
To the Covenant public the reason may have been that Humanity was desecrating Forerunner Artifacts, but we know from Contact Harvest that the war really kept going to cover up one hell of a religious lie.
While yes finding the rings were central to Covenant beliefs of the Great Journey, it still would not have mattered if Reach or any planet for that matter contained the location of any one ring. By the time the war started the objective was clear. Kill all humans.
Halsey's motivation for the Sword Base digsite and any other artifact wasn't to undermine Covenant motivations either. As she flatly states in the game, Humanity needed a game changer. They were technologically inferior to the Covenant, so the only way they can fight them back is with superior technology or a decisive strike (Red Flag) which is where the gamble with the sword base comes in. Halsey herself had no idea at the time what would come out of the research there, but her hope was that the information from this new alien group would lead to a discovery that would give humanity an edge in the war. Something that was left behind from a long gone civilization that humanity was meant to inherit. She had no way of knowing that discovery would be Halo, and that the way to use it to change the course of the war would be to destroy it at that particular point in the war.
The timing was what made it ultimately work out. Lets say humanity caught on to how important Halos were to the Covenant's religion. So in a bid to end the war they ransom it for a truce as the UNSC would likely be quite aware they stand no chance with their technology. Add to that all their victories so far have been pyrrhic ones. Not looking great long term as it is. Eventually the UNSC is forced to destroy Halo because the Covenant will not accept surrender. After all, the real purpose of the war conducted by the high prophets was to eradicate humanity regardless to preserve the Covenant by covering up humanities' connection to the Forerunners. Destroying a Halo then, would do nothing to stop the Covenant. More likely than not, it will drive them insane with religious fevor to annihilate humanity more than ever before they even touch another ring.
The Elites faith will still be strong. The Brutes as well. There will be nothing in place that would cause the Covenant to break up even if the humans tried to tell the truth because that faith has yet been unshaken to the core, and in spite of possibly destroying all the Halos humanity would still face the full wraith of the Covenant empire.
Not a very good scenario, and that's only from leaving the Flood completely out as a factor. No telling how chaotic things will be with them in play that early on.
Which going back to my original point was what made the original turn of events extremely lucky. After the war had dragged on for so long ties between races began to strain more particularly with the Brutes and Elites. Being chased by Thel to Halo, and then destroying Halo, not because of its religious significance, but to destroy the Flood help put forth the domino effect that would break the Covenant in two. From Thel's disgrace, his appointment as the Arbiter and his first mission, the Chief's discovery and destruction of Unyielding Hierophant and the fleet around it, the return of the survivors and their role in assassinating Regret, etc, etc, etc.