A weapon is a tool, wielded by those who intend to take the breath of life. No matter how many lives are taken due to the weapon, or the individual, the collective knowledge of those lost is continued and echoed throughout history. Memorials, cemeteries and the voices of historical prose preach their names so their sacrifices may never be forgotten. Even one hundred years later, we honor those who died in the blasted craters of The Somme, who drowned in mud and poison at Passchandele and the men who stood their ground as the machines of war trampled them. We have not forgotten. 

But what is to be remembered, when your enemy holds no weapon and no tool. When the weapon is not aimed at you, but encircles you. The enemy is not content in taking away only life, it must consume everything. Your heritage, culture, essence, memories and even your very thoughts? To wipe away your very existence, leaving not a single echo of your past within the halls of time. The beast is coming, as it has before, as it always will. A hundred thousand years ago it came unto the galaxy, and when it finally receded, left no trace of either itself, or those it had consumed. Only a precious few relics remain from that era, the memory of those who built them, lost to the stretches of time. An enemy like no other, the history of which is as complex as it is frightening.

The Flood cometh, and with it, silence. 

​Halo 4, is thus-far the narrative masterpiece within the universe's extensive collection of stories. There are many reasons for this assertion, many of which I have already gone over in great detail. However, there is one motif which towers above the rest in terms of meaningful characterization within the Halo universe. The surprisingly deep and meaningful connection between the Didact and John-117.

Imagine, for a moment, you are gazing outwards into the galactic plain from the Forerunner capital city of Meathrillian. A trillion souls rest in your hands, in your ability to protect every last one of them from an enemy which has no discernible weakness. You know it will end, you just refuse to believe the future which now lays before you. And in a single moment, time slowly closes around you. Your memories stripped, your civilization, your culture and all which you have loved are forgotten, washed away on the shores of infinity. You are the Didact, the last Forerunner. Awoken a hundred thousands years later, and all is lost. 

Now imagine you are John-117. You have no recollection of your childhood, did you even have one to begin with? You were trained for endless combat before even reaching the age of ten. The few comrades you did find within the prison of war, have long since perished. Your closest friends, only a memory now. Your only companion, sacrificed herself so that you may live on. A burden which weighs heavily on you. And now those sacrifices seem meaningless, for a new war rises from the ashes of victory. You wonder if it will ever end. You ask yourself, are you but a machine of war, is there a shred of humanity left within your cracked and blasted armor? Or are you hardware, a tool?

Two souls, separated by a hundred thousand years. At odds against one another, but fighting for the exact same outcome. Salvation. Take the hand of destiny, let go, and find yourself within the waters of restitution.

In the Halo universe, the amount of space-faring combat vessels is staggering. From UNSC, to Covenant and more the black void of the final frontier is hardly empty in this space opera. Unlike Lord Nelson's wooden and steel armada, Halo's ships are constructed of futuristic materials and armed with equally futuristic weapons. So how do these ships stack up against once other, and how and what makes them so intricately formidable?

In part two, I delve into the massive and almost unstoppable Covenant fleet. What are the different ships in their inventory? What are their capabilities, and most importantly what are the sub-classes?

Once again, let me take a seat in the captain's chair, and I'll tell you. ​

​On the 21st of October, 1805, twenty seven ships under the command of Admiral Lord Nelson met against  thirty-three French and Spanish ships of the line in The Battle of Trafalgar off the coast of Spain. Nelson's ships spanned an entire armada of different types of boats. Frigates, corvettes, cruisers and massive ships of the line "Man O' Wars." This was to be the final blow to France and Spain during The War of The Third Coalition.  

The opening salvo of broadsides was deafening. All of Nelson's Man O' Wars fired their entire cannon volley at once. An almost one thousand gun barrage. The Spanish and French ships returned fire, as Nelson's frigates routed the French Man O' War's. Cruisers on both sides began ramming each other, creating a quagmire of tangled rope and mass. Lord Nelson's own flagship, the massive HMS Victory was struck several times by cannon fire. Moments later, Nelson was shot down by an enemy sniper perched on one of the Spanish ships. His last words before the British victory were "God and my country."

In the Halo universe, the amount of space-faring combat vessels is staggering. From UNSC, to Covenant and more the black void of the final frontier is hardly empty in this space opera. Unlike Lord Nelson's wooden and steel armada, Halo's ships are constructed of futuristic materials and armed with equally futuristic weapons. So how do these ships stack up against once other, and how and what makes them so intricately formidable?

Let me take a seat in the captain's chair, and I'll tell you. 

We are destined to create, much like Halo's Precursors. The human species is innovative, intelligent and resourceful. In the last millennia we have gone from stone tools, to understanding the very fabric of universal physics and quantum mechanics. We have created tools of immense contribution to our way of living, and also terrible weapons which hang over our heads like a danging sword.

However, in the 1940's we began to create intelligent systems we have come to know as "computers." From 1940 to present, Moore's Law has been in effect and continues to be relevant. The smaller, smarter and faster computer processors become, the more likely these intelligent systems with become "sentient." What is a true sentient intelligence? Beside's ourselves, who posses a conscious outside of our corporeal primal instincts, dolphins, sharks and whales also posses some form of conscious thought besides pure instinct. The notion of sentience, is that you are aware of your own subjective reality and from that, can make abstract choices which have little to do with survival or procreation. 

The question is, can an artificial system or creation posses true sentience? Can artificial intelligence surpass its programmed parameters and achieve conscious thought? In Halo's Universe, this has happened. With the creation of smart "AI" systems such as Cortana and Black Box, these sentience constructs aid Humanity. The Forerunners, Covenant and Precursors also possessed sentient systems, as well. 

Creations will inevitability surpass their creators. We have seen the negative effect of this, when AI go rouge, perceiving their creators to be a threat, and attempt to exterminate them. It is a trope that is repeated in out media countless times. That, however, is a science fiction fantasy, and is the furthest thing from the currently speculated truth as possible. It's far more entertaining for humanity to fight against an enemy, than for them to work together.

But Halo does something right, or at least did, in 2010 with the release of Halo Reach. It's time to give up your free will. The AI have taken over, for the better, and you don't even know it. 

tWars have been fought for, as long as we can remember. Tactics were slow to change, there was hardly a need for the tried and true open field charge to diversify. The glory of storming a wide open field head on to the enemy lines, sword met sword and armor clashed against steel. There was honor, skill, and above all else the notion that you and your enemy would meet face to face. The whites of their eyes. 

Then The Great War happened. 

Rapid fire death across no mans land, trench combat and aerial assaults. Iron beasts slowly roared across the cratered landscape. There was no longer honor, no longer would foe meet face to face. The war became a standstill. New tactics were needed, better men. Germany was the first to train and create these better men. They were ferociously loyal, dawned in gas masks, trench coats and the latest technology. Germany call them the "Stoßtruppen" or "Storm Troopers." They slowly walked forward through poison gas and barbed wire; wielding flame throwers and the first modern automatic weapons. They were brutally effective, and were responsible for hundreds of ally positions destroyed or captured. 

Now imagine, hundreds of years in the future, wars are being fought not across fields, but entire solar systems. The tactics have once again changed and you need, better men. These men are trained to drop from miles above a planet's surface in titanium/ceramic coffins which are design to breach the atmosphere. Screaming through the skies faster than the speed of a bullet, these brave men and women plunge into the middle of combat. As the coffin lands, the door explodes open and what emerges is the apex of combat effectiveness. They are not biologically altered in any way, they are simply human. 

Before there were the Spartans, there was the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. The ODST. 

Prepare to drop.