- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Pheh, for one thing this has to be the third or fourth time you've posted this exact same topic, each time you've said pretty much the same thing.
That being said I'll put in my two cents, may have already said on one or your others but im bored.
Alright, first thing, the chief is camoed, judging by his armor color and the color of the ground, and also it is possible since the armor looks a little newer and all that that it has devices in it to cloak it from a banshees sensors unless the pilot actively knew exactly where the chief was, and from the way the banshee is designed, you don't exactly get a window view out of the front, I'm guessing if the sensors didn't pick him up they wouldn't be able to see him at all.
Allrighty, and since some of yous seem so completely determined to ignore what Bungie says, The ships there are just part of a Covenant Excavation team, as explained by Bungie, all more designed for digging than combat, with the Banshee escort in case of attack. Like it or not the chief is just a little tan covered speck on the dirt in no way capable of harming one of their ships unless he managed to get on one, and that would be a suicide mission. I'm guessing the chief is trying to sneak into the structure and stop them from inside.
I highly doubt the chief is allied with those covvies and the elites can't even be considered Covenant any more, so with the announcement that it is a Covenant Controlled earth that rules out the possibility of them being elites. And Truth would rather die than be allied with the "Demon"
Allrighty, and as for the humans, I think casualties on the military level have been catastrophic, but civilian casualties could be comparatively light at this point. They have to have been preparing for this invasion for quite some time, and barring a glassing of the planet the covenant would have a hard time rooting out people that went into underground tunnel networks, if they even really bothered, maybe like in War of The Worlds they were unconcerned about those remaining humans, equating them to the level of maggots, not a threat and certainly not worthy of taking time away from their Great Journey.
In Short, I believe the Covenant are in the process of exterminating the humans, but progress is slow, but it is a Covenant dominated planet because there is no opposition left capable of opposing them.
And heres a bonus theory, maybe the elites helped evacuate the earth before the covenant came into complete control, or maybe another method of evacuation occured during the light covenant first attack. What you can be sure of is that not all humans are dead, that would just be stupid on Bungies part.