Your destruction is the will of the Gods, and we are their instruments …

With this sentence began the biggest Humanity war ever known. This war is the background for the video game Halo, and the two sequels, Halo 2 and 3. The Halo trilogy recounts events after Reach fall, the last space bulwark before Earth and the escape of the Pillar of Autumn, a space cruiser, with on board the only one Spartan survivor.

With technological progresses, Humanity had colonized space and established colonies and basements through the galaxy. But for some dozen years, contraband and militia growled within colonies. The CSNU, the military earth force, estimated that these movements should be a problem in the future years, and decided to launch the Spartan Project. Kids, with special susceptibilities, were selected to attend a military training, and eradicate the future rebellions. At this time, we got acquainted with John, called with the number 117, one of the subjects for the experimentation. He was chosen, neither for his fixture, nor his strength, but for his luck. During 10 years, Spartans received military education, as Greeks made by the past.

Only, things never go as planned. During an exploration in the outside edge, a frigate met a strange ship, and some seconds after receiving the message “Your destruction is the will of the Gods, and we are their instruments” in human language, the frigate was destroyed. For this moment, Humanity had to face to a threat, more technologically advanced, and decided to exterminate the human existence. To protect Earth, a protocol was established in case of contact with Covenants, the alien conglomerate around a common religion. Any ship in difficulty has to flee in a random path in the subspace not to betray the Earth Position and condemn last chances to win the war.

The video game starts with the Covenant arrival on Reach, a military basement and laboratories, last bulwark before Earth, and the field training for Spartans. During some skirmish against Covenants, Spartans, with their armor MJOLNIR, had showed they can compete and win battles on the ground. Covenants understood, Spartans could be a handicap and decided to resolve the problem. The Pillar of Autumn was the only ship which could escape from Reach, and 117, the last Spartan. When the Pillar of Autumn leaved the subspace, Covenants were already here. Attracted by a huge artifact similar as a ring, a Halo, Covenants opened fire on the frigate which was damaged and crashed on the Halo. The Spartan will lead a guerilla against Covenants, and find answer about Halo, and the terrible truth about its creation and use.

Halo is a million seller game, with a huge success for Microsoft (170 million dollars for the first day in US, and 5 million games since the release). It's a First Person Shooter, so you see what the caracter is supposed to see.

To satisfy fans, some authors have written novels around the game, to tell events before Reach fall, and a film is in preparation, with Peter Jackson as director.