Halo Reach; does it kill the novel?

[Lbsjr]

I liked both. The book was well written and the game was well made. Inconsistencies are going to be prevalent in the two because, well, it's two completely different media formats. If you read some song lyrics from many mainstream hits as a book or poem or short story, it sometimes means something different from the song. Perspective is what's important. On a personal note, I liked the book story better, but that was a story made by someone that wasn't part of the game itself. And don't say that The Flood was exactly like the game. It was made after the game and framed around it. Fall of Reach was made a long time before Halo: Reach. I don't care which is real cannon or which is the keystone or turning point or any of that. I liked one better. Personal opinion. But both are great and amazing as they are. If you look at them as complements rather than competitions then it works so long as you use reason to explain the differences. Reach got fucked. Both stories told that. Thats what truly matters IMHO.

 

[Sheepy Sheep]

Also, according to rumors, Bungie plans to have Eric Nylund rewrite the Fall of Reach Novel so they both correspond with one another.

0.o

Well, it looks like I'm going to be organizing a book-burning.

Well that's totally pointless. I think the book's story is way better and Bungie should've used Eric Nylunds storyline as they licensed it out to him..

 

[Trivun]

Okay, normally I am loathe to do an '/thread' on threads, but right now I have three items that anyone can get, plus a web resource, that will definitively prove that regardless of fanboyism, the canon of Halo and the events surrounding Reach's fall are indeed not messed up, and do fit perfectly together. These are:

-The actual game, Halo: Reach.
- The book, The Fall Of Reach.
- The accompaniment to the game, Doctor Halsey's Journal (and yes, anyone can get that, it's been copied and put online by people and the details are widespread on the internet if you just Google it...).

Everything is explained within the canon, and the locations and knowledge of all important characters is reconciled by these three together. As for the timeline? I direct you to the web resource.

- A timeline of the Fall of Reach, backed up by Word of God (i.e. top Bungie and Microsoft executives and developers).

http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Fall_of_Reach#Timeline

This explains everything, and shows exactly how it all fits together. I will answer here the three biggest questions that anyone usually has about the canonicity, to show how it makes sense.

1. Doctor Halsey had no idea that the Spartan-IIIs existed, yet she knew about NOBLE Team during the planet's fall.

Well, actually, she had already suspected the existence of a similar program to the ORION Project, but not the S-III project that Ackerson was doing. She never, EVER, mentions 'SPARTAN-III' during the game, and it's been classed as fact all along that she'd already had suspicions for a long time about a similar project, as stated with her finding the S-II and King Under The Mountain files in the book The Fall Of Reach, as well as the suspicions stated in her personal journal. She was still surprised, therefore, in Ghosts of Onyx, when she met Spartan-IIIs, because she didn't realise the full truth until then. It all fits with what we see in the game, and the established canon. No discrepancies whatsoever. Also, note that the armour of the Spartan-IIIs she later meets is very different to the NOBLE Team armour, which would also cause surprise later on...

2. The Pillar Of Autumn had already left Reach's system, heading to the first Halo, when the Covenant started to glass the planet, so how can it still be on Reach in dry dock during the game?

Again, another easy one. If you read the book The Fall Of Reach carefully, you'll realise that there is a decent amount of time where the actions of the Pillar Of Autumn during the space battle above Reach are not accounted for. This is just after John and Linda are sent to the Circumference, and the other Spartan-IIs are sent to the surface to defend the MAC Generators. During that time, when there are no Spartan-IIs on board, it can be inferred, and indeed was confirmed by Word of God, that the Pillar of Autumn received orders to return to dry dock on Reach to receive the partial Cortana copy, as stated in the game and Halsey's journal, something that was otherwise unknown to anyone but Halsey and (NOBLE Team) before then. It also explains why the Autumn left Reach without said copy, before getting it anyway when it returned to help in the space battle. After the events of the game, specifically the level 'The Package', the Autumn got the copy back and returned to the rendezvous point in orbit to await John and Linda's return from the Circumference.

Also, people claim that this isn't true because a Spartan-II is seen in cryo onboard the Autumn in that level of Halo: Reach, in an Easter Egg. Just for the record, EASTER EGGS ARE NOT CANON! That has been established ever since the Egg in the first game after the credits on Legendary, with Johnson and an Elite hugging, so this little tidbit can be disregarded. Again, the canon is intact and preserved, and the timeline is kept intact.

3. How are Covenant on Reach in July if the Autumn doesn't leave and the main attack doesn't begin until mid-late August?

Again, easy. It's explained in Halsey's Journal, and in the game, that the force on Reach near the start are in fact an advance force that made it to Reach by stealth. Indeed, that's the entire point of the first five missions of the game, fully half the Campaign, where you are trying to destroy the main methods of stealth infiltration on Reach and destroy the Covenant ships already present. The full invasion force doesn't arrive until straight afterwards, which is already August, as stated in the Journal, the game, and as was already established in the original book. The dates do match, check yourself if you don't believe me. At this point, the Pillar of Autumn gets the order to return to Reach orbit and help in the battle, thus setting the stage for the second half of the game and the end of the novel. As for the fact that such a stealth invasion is never mentioned in the original novel, it can be inferred that the attack was, until the invasion of New Alexandria (which happened only after the main attack and the Autumn's recall), kept hidden to avoid panic. The attack only occurred in certain areas, specifically near Visegrad (i.e. ONI's Sword Base) and the associated Forerunner installation, so was easily covered up until the decloaking of the Covenant stealth ship in orbit around Reach. This also explains why the Spartan-IIs weren't aware of the attack until later, and we also know that they already had another mission to follow which was important enough that it overrided the Winter Contingency, until the full recall after the full-scale invasion.

Again, canon intact, timeline intact. No discrepancies whatsoever.

By the way, if anyone wants to argue with me, then feel free to let me know your thoughts. I'll enjoy using established canon and logic to dismantle your theories piece by piece . And with that I think I can safely say...

[HEADING=1][/thread][/HEADING]

EDIT: Okay, I've had a look at some other posts here and can actually make one allowance regarding the timeline. The original novel suggests that the entire invasion and fall of Reach happened within a day or two. The space battle itself doesn't seem to match either, given it seems to only last a few hours in the novel. However, later novels, and the games, suggest that despite most ships being able to travel a few thousand kilometres per minute, space battles are shown to be longer, protracted affairs, even using gravity slingshot tactics and whatnot. Plus, ground battles would often take several days, if not weeks. Therefore, I am prepared to accept that the timeline given in the original book is wrong for that battle. This means it's more in line with later books (including later books by the same author), and puts it more in line with the game's continuity. Also, it means there is indeed a greater frame of time in which the Piller of Autumn could have made it to dry dock on Reach's surface while John and Linda were on board the Circumference, while still allowing it time to take down a Covenant stealth ship with it's slingshot approach around Reach.

Also note that this isn't the first time timelines have been in discrepancy in the books. There were massive typos in the first print run, for example, of Ghosts of Onyx, which suggested that the events of the main games were in 2542, ten years too early. Such mistakes have usually been noted by Bungie and accepted as typos, and rectified in later editions, and I trust that the timeline discrepancies in the book The Fall Of Reach will indeed be sorted out in later editions, or in the rumoured rewrite, to bring the book more in line with the newer canon established in the game and Halsey's Journal.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

Bungie's take on this is that whatever was released most recently becomes the new official canon. Anywhere that the game contradicts the book, the game is the accepted version of events.

I stick by what Bungie have explicitly told fans to do. They don't even try and pretend that the continuity is some sacred thing they should never try and adapt.

 

[IBlackKiteI]

Halo Reach has a crappy story anyway, I haven't read the books but any literature must be more properly written than...that

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Also, according to rumors, Bungie plans to have Eric Nylund rewrite the Fall of Reach Novel so they both correspond with one another.

0.o

Well, it looks like I'm going to be organizing a book-burning.

Well that's totally pointless. I think the book's story is way better and Bungie should've used Eric Nylunds storyline as they licensed it out to him..

Its kinda difficult to find a way to link both Eric Nylund's Fall of reach with Halo: Reach's characters. The Dawn stayed in orbit and the purpose of the game was to set up the next 4 Halo games. The book was good and its still being told through the eyes of Master Chief. If you have faith in Nylund's writing abilities, then it will turn out alright.

That all said, I'd like to state againt that this is a RUMOR I read on Wikipedia.

 

[dancinginfernal]

Snip

Thank you dearly for saying what I could never in my life articulate.

You have made my day.

 

[Trivun]

Snip

Thank you dearly for saying what I could never in my life articulate.

You have made my day.

You are very welcome, and I hope it enlightens many more who were until now in doubt .

 

[savageoblivi0n]

-the only snip i've ever been loathe to make

you, my good sir...have just won the internet...

Spoiler: enjoy

 

[Trivun]

Also, according to rumors, Bungie plans to have Eric Nylund rewrite the Fall of Reach Novel so they both correspond with one another.

0.o

Well, it looks like I'm going to be organizing a book-burning.

Well that's totally pointless. I think the book's story is way better and Bungie should've used Eric Nylunds storyline as they licensed it out to him..

Its kinda difficult to find a way to link both Eric Nylund's Fall of reach with Halo: Reach's characters. The Dawn stayed in orbit and the purpose of the game was to set up the next 4 Halo games. The book was good and its still being told through the eyes of Master Chief. If you have faith in Nylund's writing abilities, then it will turn out alright.

That all said, I'd like to state againt that this is a RUMOR I read on Wikipedia.

The 'Dawn'? You mean the Pillar of Autumn. And no, it didn't stay in orbit. As I explained above, when John and Linda left the ship to board the Circumference briefly, when they linked up with Sgt. Johnson (and when the other Spartan-IIs went to the surface to defend the MAC generators), the Autumn went to the planet's surface to a dry dock, where it waited for NOBLE SIX to bring the copy of Cortana so it could be merged with the original version (and thus expand Cortana's processing powers, which is actually a key plot point allowing the events of the book First Strike to occur later). In the original book, the Autumn isn't actually seen during that period of time, as the action is focusing on the two Spartan-II teams, so it fits that the Autumn went to the surface then and returned to the Circumference later to pick up Linda and John, and destroy the ship if necessary (i.e. if the Spartan-II's task had failed). That way, everything does fit and make sense within established canon and the game itself.

 

[baddude1337]

Book>film.

To be honest, I much prefer the books in the Halo series than the games, which I find to be very mediocre. Fun, nut not really good.

And yeah, it does seem to totally shit on book, which is annoying.

 

[Krythe]

You guys are arguing over a glorified Doom clone about shooting space-muslims.

Who the fuck cares what's canon? Believe whatever you want.

 

[FoAmY99]

Okay, normally I am loathe to do an '/thread' on threads, but right now I have three items that anyone can get, plus a web resource, that will definitively prove that regardless of fanboyism, the canon of Halo and the events surrounding Reach's fall are indeed not messed up, and do fit perfectly together. These are:

-The actual game, Halo: Reach.
- The book, The Fall Of Reach.
- The accompaniment to the game, Doctor Halsey's Journal (and yes, anyone can get that, it's been copied and put online by people and the details are widespread on the internet if you just Google it...).

Everything is explained within the canon, and the locations and knowledge of all important characters is reconciled by these three together. As for the timeline? I direct you to the web resource.

- A timeline of the Fall of Reach, backed up by Word of God (i.e. top Bungie and Microsoft executives and developers).

http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Fall_of_Reach#Timeline

This explains everything, and shows exactly how it all fits together. I will answer here the three biggest questions that anyone usually has about the canonicity, to show how it makes sense.

1. Doctor Halsey had no idea that the Spartan-IIIs existed, yet she knew about NOBLE Team during the planet's fall.

Well, actually, she had already suspected the existence of a similar program to the ORION Project, but not the S-III project that Ackerson was doing. She never, EVER, mentions 'SPARTAN-III' during the game, and it's been classed as fact all along that she'd already had suspicions for a long time about a similar project, as stated with her finding the S-II and King Under The Mountain files in the book The Fall Of Reach, as well as the suspicions stated in her personal journal. She was still surprised, therefore, in Ghosts of Onyx, when she met Spartan-IIIs, because she didn't realise the full truth until then. It all fits with what we see in the game, and the established canon. No discrepancies whatsoever. Also, note that the armour of the Spartan-IIIs she later meets is very different to the NOBLE Team armour, which would also cause surprise later on...

2. The Pillar Of Autumn had already left Reach's system, heading to the first Halo, when the Covenant started to glass the planet, so how can it still be on Reach in dry dock during the game?

Again, another easy one. If you read the book The Fall Of Reach carefully, you'll realise that there is a decent amount of time where the actions of the Pillar Of Autumn during the space battle above Reach are not accounted for. This is just after John and Linda are sent to the Circumference, and the other Spartan-IIs are sent to the surface to defend the MAC Generators. During that time, when there are no Spartan-IIs on board, it can be inferred, and indeed was confirmed by Word of God, that the Pillar of Autumn received orders to return to dry dock on Reach to receive the partial Cortana copy, as stated in the game and Halsey's journal, something that was otherwise unknown to anyone but Halsey and (NOBLE Team) before then. It also explains why the Autumn left Reach without said copy, before getting it anyway when it returned to help in the space battle. After the events of the game, specifically the level 'The Package', the Autumn got the copy back and returned to the rendezvous point in orbit to await John and Linda's return from the Circumference.

Also, people claim that this isn't true because a Spartan-II is seen in cryo onboard the Autumn in that level of Halo: Reach, in an Easter Egg. Just for the record, EASTER EGGS ARE NOT CANON! That has been established ever since the Egg in the first game after the credits on Legendary, with Johnson and an Elite hugging, so this little tidbit can be disregarded. Again, the canon is intact and preserved, and the timeline is kept intact.

3. How are Covenant on Reach in July if the Autumn doesn't leave and the main attack doesn't begin until mid-late August?

Again, easy. It's explained in Halsey's Journal, and in the game, that the force on Reach near the start are in fact an advance force that made it to Reach by stealth. Indeed, that's the entire point of the first five missions of the game, fully half the Campaign, where you are trying to destroy the main methods of stealth infiltration on Reach and destroy the Covenant ships already present. The full invasion force doesn't arrive until straight afterwards, which is already August, as stated in the Journal, the game, and as was already established in the original book. The dates do match, check yourself if you don't believe me. At this point, the Pillar of Autumn gets the order to return to Reach orbit and help in the battle, thus setting the stage for the second half of the game and the end of the novel. As for the fact that such a stealth invasion is never mentioned in the original novel, it can be inferred that the attack was, until the invasion of New Alexandria (which happened only after the main attack and the Autumn's recall), kept hidden to avoid panic. The attack only occurred in certain areas, specifically near Visegrad (i.e. ONI's Sword Base) and the associated Forerunner installation, so was easily covered up until the decloaking of the Covenant stealth ship in orbit around Reach. This also explains why the Spartan-IIs weren't aware of the attack until later, and we also know that they already had another mission to follow which was important enough that it overrided the Winter Contingency, until the full recall after the full-scale invasion.

Again, canon intact, timeline intact. No discrepancies whatsoever.

By the way, if anyone wants to argue with me, then feel free to let me know your thoughts. I'll enjoy using established canon and logic to dismantle your theories piece by piece . And with that I think I can safely say...

[HEADING=1][/thread][/HEADING]

Couldn't have put it better myself.

Lets not forget people another great franchise has done stuff like this before. Star Wars ring a bell? When Big George went back to do the prequels i'm sure some parts of continuity got royally fucked.

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Who the hell cares? One is just part of the extended universe, whereas one is overriding canon from the series that the EU is based on. I've read and enjoyed most of the novels, and it doesn't bother me at all that something Bungie released butts heads with something a novelist came up with.

 

[Andrew_Waltfeld]

rofl ah, this great battle... to be honest I had only personal or minor issues with the Reach storyline itself. I was disappointed when they decided to off the brazed trail of the book which would have been a excellent storyline to make - especially if you decided to toss in spartan III's. They didn't take the route I had hoped they would have taken.

Heck, it even hardly deals with canon - more of why the hell is a colonies communication link (the only one on the planet) in the middle of the boonies and not surrounded by a division of hard core marines? I'm sorry but.. that's military 101 - you just don't put things like that in the middle of no where and not heavily protected. Especially on a fortress planet. It's a com link to the rest of the UNSC, not some random research base. I just don't even see the UNSC military making a mistake like that.

but I digress. Noble 6 story was unique and it was well done, but I think the Reach storyline could have fallen well into book with no inconsistencies presented and still would have been a bang.

 

[Pyode]

-snip-

While you are technically right, your missing the point most people have about this. It's not as much that doesn't "technically" fit with the cannon, it's that it doesn't fit well or smoothly.

It's like Bungie wrote the entire story of Reach with very little consideration for the cannon at all and then used Halsey Journal to go back and "fix" everything that didn't fit.

You talk about things like where the Autumn was during the operation on the Circumference. There is absolutely no indication given at all that the Autumn was anywhere but in space during that time in the original book. It seems funny that they would leave out such an important event considering they cover every other important movement of the Autumn during the battle. Also, it doesn't make any sense that Keys would abandon the Chief on the station without at least letting him know.

Also, I just looked back at my book. The whereabouts of the Autumn where accounted for. While the Chief and Linda where going after the NAV database on the Circumference, the Autumn was taking out the Covenant sniper ship (the one with the precision laser). You don't honestly expect me to believe that in 31 minuets (0616 Hours, Chief, Linda, James leave the Autumn - 0647 Hours Cortana mops up a few Serifs and activates the Shaw-Fujikawa engines) the Autumn chases down a covenant ship, slingshots around a planet to get back to Reach (at this point he actually contacts the Chief, saying he is on his way directly to pick him up), instead he gets a call from command telling him to land back on Reach, he lands on Reach, waits for Noble 6 to arrive, waits for Six to take out several waves of covenant, picks up the fragment from Six and leaves the planet and still makes it to the rendezvous point in time. All this in under 31 minutes. Fu. King. Bull. Shit.

What it all comes down to is that Reach was just fanservice. They put Spartan III's in to make the fans happy, even though it doesn't make sense. They put Halsy in because everyone wanted to see her, even though it doesn't make sense. They put the pillar of Autumn in so everyone could be like "Look at how awesome the Autumn looks in HD!" even though it doesn't make sense.

Of course, Bungie gave into fanservice well before Reach. Look at Contact Harvest. It should not have been Brutes that invaded Harvest, considering it is clearly stated that no one had seen, heard of, or even thought of them until the Spartans encounter them on the Unyielding Hierophant. Not to mention the fact that even though Jenkins joins the military right after Harvest, he's still a Private 20 years later. Either he is the worst soldier ever, or someone wasn't thinking it through when they decided to throw him in to make the fans happy.

By the way, if anyone wants to argue with me, then feel free to let me know your thoughts. I'll enjoy using established canon and logic to dismantle your theories piece by piece .

Seriously... that has got to be the most arrogant and egotistical way to end a post I have ever seen.

 

[Twilight_guy]

My take is that the writers of the game and the writer of the book probably didn't communicate that much or thought the stories should go differently. That's easy to imagine since obviously both approached the story from very different angles: i.e. a novel and a game and had different backgrounds.

 

[Tupolev]

According to Reach, a gigantic, pink-glowing Covenant strike force was able to chill out in a big valley that was in a region that the UNSC knew Covenant forces were in, but it took them SEVERAL WEEKS to bother to send a recon team in to find it. Nevermind that the area should have been under constant surveillance that entire time, and probably effectively was given the then-friendly militia presence in the area (In the hills above the strike force. But apparantly, when the recon force went through only a few hundred yards from a really good view of the pink glowing area, they knew nothing. Yeah okay whatever.). But no, the pink glow which would have easily been visible from orbit managed to evade everyone the entire time.


My take? I'll start worrying about how Reach breaks canon when I manage to figure out how Reach even makes sense internally. At this point, the only plausible explaination that I can come up with is that the entire UNSC population is deaf and blind. Maybe Spartan augmentation, according to Reach, is the process that makes your eyes and ears work.

 

[Andrew_Waltfeld]

My take is that the writers of the game and the writer of the book probably didn't communicate that much or thought the stories should go differently. That's easy to imagine since obviously both approached the story from very different angles: i.e. a novel and a game and had different backgrounds.

Also you know, the book is like 9 years old. (released when halo:CE was released).

Pyode - I agree, too much fan service though the plot of the book could easily have involved Spartan III's or the like. For example - if the spartan III's were on Reach at the time, where were they for the generators? you have that entire length of battle and beyond to explain it. Could have them dealing with the large force at Olympic Tower (Cent Com) or the likes. Either way, Reach - if the book had not been released would have been quite fine. But considering that book has been that crutch of canon the series has been using for over 8 years... it just doesn't work.

 

[Epictank of Wintown]

Okay, normally I am loathe to do an '/thread' on threads, but right now I have three items that anyone can get, plus a web resource, that will definitively prove that regardless of fanboyism, the canon of Halo and the events surrounding Reach's fall are indeed not messed up, and do fit perfectly together. These are:

-The actual game, Halo: Reach.
- The book, The Fall Of Reach.
- The accompaniment to the game, Doctor Halsey's Journal (and yes, anyone can get that, it's been copied and put online by people and the details are widespread on the internet if you just Google it...).

Everything is explained within the canon, and the locations and knowledge of all important characters is reconciled by these three together. As for the timeline? I direct you to the web resource.

- A timeline of the Fall of Reach, backed up by Word of God (i.e. top Bungie and Microsoft executives and developers).

http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/Fall_of_Reach#Timeline

This explains everything, and shows exactly how it all fits together. I will answer here the three biggest questions that anyone usually has about the canonicity, to show how it makes sense.

1. Doctor Halsey had no idea that the Spartan-IIIs existed, yet she knew about NOBLE Team during the planet's fall.

Well, actually, she had already suspected the existence of a similar program to the ORION Project, but not the S-III project that Ackerson was doing. She never, EVER, mentions 'SPARTAN-III' during the game, and it's been classed as fact all along that she'd already had suspicions for a long time about a similar project, as stated with her finding the S-II and King Under The Mountain files in the book The Fall Of Reach, as well as the suspicions stated in her personal journal. She was still surprised, therefore, in Ghosts of Onyx, when she met Spartan-IIIs, because she didn't realise the full truth until then. It all fits with what we see in the game, and the established canon. No discrepancies whatsoever. Also, note that the armour of the Spartan-IIIs she later meets is very different to the NOBLE Team armour, which would also cause surprise later on...

2. The Pillar Of Autumn had already left Reach's system, heading to the first Halo, when the Covenant started to glass the planet, so how can it still be on Reach in dry dock during the game?

Again, another easy one. If you read the book The Fall Of Reach carefully, you'll realise that there is a decent amount of time where the actions of the Pillar Of Autumn during the space battle above Reach are not accounted for. This is just after John and Linda are sent to the Circumference, and the other Spartan-IIs are sent to the surface to defend the MAC Generators. During that time, when there are no Spartan-IIs on board, it can be inferred, and indeed was confirmed by Word of God, that the Pillar of Autumn received orders to return to dry dock on Reach to receive the partial Cortana copy, as stated in the game and Halsey's journal, something that was otherwise unknown to anyone but Halsey and (NOBLE Team) before then. It also explains why the Autumn left Reach without said copy, before getting it anyway when it returned to help in the space battle. After the events of the game, specifically the level 'The Package', the Autumn got the copy back and returned to the rendezvous point in orbit to await John and Linda's return from the Circumference.

Also, people claim that this isn't true because a Spartan-II is seen in cryo onboard the Autumn in that level of Halo: Reach, in an Easter Egg. Just for the record, EASTER EGGS ARE NOT CANON! That has been established ever since the Egg in the first game after the credits on Legendary, with Johnson and an Elite hugging, so this little tidbit can be disregarded. Again, the canon is intact and preserved, and the timeline is kept intact.

3. How are Covenant on Reach in July if the Autumn doesn't leave and the main attack doesn't begin until mid-late August?

Again, easy. It's explained in Halsey's Journal, and in the game, that the force on Reach near the start are in fact an advance force that made it to Reach by stealth. Indeed, that's the entire point of the first five missions of the game, fully half the Campaign, where you are trying to destroy the main methods of stealth infiltration on Reach and destroy the Covenant ships already present. The full invasion force doesn't arrive until straight afterwards, which is already August, as stated in the Journal, the game, and as was already established in the original book. The dates do match, check yourself if you don't believe me. At this point, the Pillar of Autumn gets the order to return to Reach orbit and help in the battle, thus setting the stage for the second half of the game and the end of the novel. As for the fact that such a stealth invasion is never mentioned in the original novel, it can be inferred that the attack was, until the invasion of New Alexandria (which happened only after the main attack and the Autumn's recall), kept hidden to avoid panic. The attack only occurred in certain areas, specifically near Visegrad (i.e. ONI's Sword Base) and the associated Forerunner installation, so was easily covered up until the decloaking of the Covenant stealth ship in orbit around Reach. This also explains why the Spartan-IIs weren't aware of the attack until later, and we also know that they already had another mission to follow which was important enough that it overrided the Winter Contingency, until the full recall after the full-scale invasion.

Again, canon intact, timeline intact. No discrepancies whatsoever.

By the way, if anyone wants to argue with me, then feel free to let me know your thoughts. I'll enjoy using established canon and logic to dismantle your theories piece by piece . And with that I think I can safely say...

[HEADING=1][/thread][/HEADING]

I love you. It's amazing when people put aside their rabid fanboyism and actually apply logic to a situation.

Heck, it even hardly deals with canon - more of why the hell is a colonies communication link (the only one on the planet) in the middle of the boonies and not surrounded by a division of hard core marines? I'm sorry but.. that's military 101 - you just don't put things like that in the middle of no where and not heavily protected. Especially on a fortress planet. It's a com link to the rest of the UNSC, not some random research base. I just don't even see the UNSC military making a mistake like that.

It wasn't the only one on the planet, but it was stated to be a major hub for the UNSC's military communication network on Reach. If you want to keep something like that under wraps and secret, then you put it in the middle of nowhere where the chances of someone finding and then subsequently sabotaging it are slim to none. That's really not that unusual.