Consider this you spoiler warning; stop reading if you plan to play Halo and Halo 2. To tell you where we are going I have to tell you where we have been. After all you can't read the last chapter in an epic struggle and understand what has been gain or lost.

The war with the Covenant was not going well. The collective empire of religious zealots seemed bent on destroying humanity. In a last ditch effort to change the flow of battle the UNSC removed the last surviving member of the SPARTAN II military program from stasis. John-117, the Master Chief, is a genetically engineered super-soldier that is just about unstoppable. With the help of Cortana, a sophisticated AI construct, the Spartan will do anything he can to save humanity. Master Chief would soon be on the front line of a huge and destructive battle that resulted in the explosion of one of three Halos. The Covenant believes that these planet sized rings holds the secrets to the "Great Journey" and will fight bitterly to gain control of them.

Religious belief is not something that dies easily and although one Halo was destroyed the Covenant would try to secure one of the others. The commander of the Elites, one of the many races that formed the Covenant, failed to win the battle on the first Halo and was striped of his rank and made to ware the armor of the Arbiter. This would let him gain back his honor if he could carry out a suicide mission to kill Master Chief. However as he hunted the Spartan he came to the same realization as everyone else. The Halos are parts of a bigger weapon; and if triggered by the Covenant would wipe out everything in the galaxy. Once the Arbiter understood the lies the Prophet of Truth was spreading he changes sides and helps Master Chief stop the him. This is easier said then done as in their drive to get the Halos the Covenant awoke a greater evil. The Flood is like corruption itself. It dose not have a body, it prefers to infect the fallen bodies of its foe and reanimate it. The Flood exists to absorb every living thing in the galaxy. On this second Halo they discover that the Forerunners, the ancient race that built the Halos; was at war with the Flood hundreds of thousands of years ago. The Halos were made as a last stand to destroy the Flood at all cost. Also on this Halo the Prophet of Truth discovers the last piece of the puzzle; the location of the array's trigger. Master Chief and the Arbiter must find a way to get to earth and stop him. In a spectacular battle above the earth Cortana gets left behind in the clutches of the Gravemind, the centralized intelligence of the Flood, and Master Chiefs ship is shot down and is forced to crash through the earth's atmosphere.

The game opens with Master Chief plummeting toward the earth; right where we left him in halo 2. Thanks to his MJOLNIR Mark VI armor he survives the crash landing. Things have changed while he was traveling to earth. The Elites have broke away from the Covenant and work along side humans now. The Prophet has uncovered some huge Forerunner ruins in Africa and all his ships are converging there. Now is the time for Master Chief to finish the fight. The Prophet of Truth must be stop from firing the Halos. The Flood will have to be dealt with and Cortana will have to be saved. The Humans of earth will make their final stand along side the Elites or everything in the galaxy will be destroyed. In proper Sci-Fi fashion the story in very deep and had lots of twists. Like a good book or movie the Halo games makes you think about what's going on and pushes you to examine the events from the different perspectives of the races humans and elites. As a hero they don't come any better then Master Chief. He looks like an emotionless killing machine that gives no mercy and takes no prisoners; and he is that but so much more. His few words hide the fact that he is a passionate man and will do anything to save the human race. It's also apparent that he is fond of Cortana and Sergeant Johnson and is hurt when anything happens to them. Master Chief is definitely in my top 10 favorite heroes of all times. All the themes that run throughout the Halo saga resound with modern world events. Religious wars, weapons of mass destruction, and the violation of being invaded sometimes hits close to home but it also makes the story feel more real and tangible. Like and truly great tale the story of Halo is timeless.