Halo Respect Thread

[Skirmisher]

Note that this is still under construction, as can be seen by my link dump at the end...

 

 

I actually started out planning this as an Elite only respect thread, but found that an increasing number of the Feats that I've found have been very closely related to the Spartans they face, so that should explain the emphasis on Elites over Spartans for the time being.

 

 

Elites, the proud warrior race of the Covenant, and Spartans the stalwart guardians of a race on the verge of extinction. I personally have a great respect for these Fierce Soldiers, and that's why I'm starting this thread. As well, rather than be a post whore, I'll continuously be updating this one post combining all the information and knowledge that I gain, in one place.

 

 

 

Strength Feats

 

The Strength of an Elite can easily be gauged against their Primary Counterpart among the Human ranks "All warriors are skilled in hand-to-hand combat and are equal to a Spartan II in a powered exoskeleton".

 

The Class in Strength of a Spartan is easily found by factoring all their training, all their augmentations and the strength they get from their powered armour to get a Strength Class of around 2+ tons, with substantially higher levels of strength during an adrenaline rush (Based x2 increase guesstimate, for ~4 tons of strength). Anecdotal evidence also suggests that it is actually easier for a Spartan to enter an adrenalin rush than it is for a regular human.

 

The increased muscle mass and density allow the Spartan to naturally lift x3 body weight without their armour. With their armour they have an additional x3 to their strength. Now the only actual recorded weight for a Spartan is the non-canon appearance of Nicole in the DOA games, where her weight was listed as 370lbs (Technically she could be considered under weight since she was stranded with only rations to eat and was in a DOA game where she would naturally be made up of only T&A). Now studies have shown that the average weight difference between men and women is around 17%, so that would give the average weight for a Spartan Male at 432lbs, meaning a lift capacity of 3896lbs, possibly even 7792lbs when under duress. "Why did I just do that calculation" you may ask, simple, Both times that an Elite has been shown to be the Equal of a Spartan were against a Spartan Male. This Strength could increase far beyond that while in an adrenaline rush, for instance refer to flipping a 3 ton Warthog, or flipping a 66 ton tank.

 

This would mean that Elites also have a level of strength similar to a Male Spartan in an intense combat situation, putting them in the 4+ ton Class.

 

(Sorry to those who have argued with me and seen my statements of "several tons weight class", I had not actually flushed out the calculations on strength, here they are, written in stone as they say)

 

 

 

Speed & Agility Feats

 

Now I'll start off talking about the Spartans and how quick and fast their movements are, to show a counter point to the fact that Elites have been able to fight in hand to hand combat on equal footing with them. I will give examples of Spartan perception at high speeds and examples of their actual speed. Then I will give two examples of when an Elite and a Spartan tangle in hand to hand, both times the Elite and the Spartan were even.

 

Spartan Perception of Speed: Spartan-117 (John, Master Chief) just after augmentation surgery without MJOLNIR armour tests his new found speed and observes his new found heightened perception for the first time, by working out in the Gym.

 

• "His fist jabbed forward, cobra-quick, and struck. The speed bag moved, but slowly, like it was under water... far too slowly considering how hard he had hit it." pg 64 The Fall of Reach
   
  
• "He held the pin a meter off the deck and dropped it. It clattered to the deck. It looked as if it had fallen normally... but somehow it also looked slow" pg 64 The Fall of Reach
  

Later on when the Spartans are preparing for their last official mission as a whole unit

• "A pair of [spartans] practiced hand-to-hand combat. Captain Keyes could barely follow their motions. They were so fast, no hesitation. Strike and block and counter-strike - their movements were a continuous stream of rapid-fire blurs." Pg 276 The Fall of Reach
   
  
• On page 314 to 315 of The Fall of Reach John engages an Elite Ranger in hand to hand combat. I cannot quote it all as the battle stretches out for about a page and a half, in which the Elite and John are just evenly matched, until John (with his trait of "Luck") gets the upper hand and shoots it's head off with a plasma pistol.
  

After the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.

• On page 71 to 75 of First Strike saw the Chief in hand to hand combat with yet another Elite, this one most definitely had the advantage over him and only through the fact that the Chief had back up was the Elite forced into an escape pod and jettisoned off the ship they were on.
  

 

Also of note for Elites is their physiological superiority in regards to their Speed and Agility compared to humans.

"Their legs are digitigrade... This arrangement possibly allows them to run very quickly and jump large distances"

"Their superior agility may also be attributed to their homeworld's higher gravity"

 

As well as the incredible physical benefits of Spartan Augmentation for acceptible Human subjects.

"John-117 runs at around 105 KPH (65.205 MPH) during a MJOLNIR MARK V training exercise"

 

 

Skill Feats

"Promotion in the Covenant military is by merit; a Covenant soldier must succeed to advance among the ranks."

 

That one line says alot about them and the necessity of actual skill involved in being a higher ranking Elite. This is all due to their entire culture revolving around the Military, a role that they can focus on completely since as the Military Arm of the Covenant they have no other need. They are raised from childhood to be warriors, with other societal roles treated as secondary endeavors or even hobbies. Even the most humble Elite citizen is skilled in most weapons and hand-to-hand combat.

 

An interesting example of merit and skill is that only aristocratic Elites are allowed to wield energy swords. As their culture revolves around a Meritocracy, then any Elite is eligible for this status, but only if they show suitable skill and talent for the position and ranks that it covers.

 

 

 

Elite Weapon Feats

Small Arms: Elites

Although Elites are most commonly seen with Energy Swords, Carbines and Plasma Rifles, because of their strength and versatility on the battlefield, Elites can utilize any weapon in the field of battle, Human or Covenant, though most Elites would rather die than use a Human or Brute weapon. The Brutes however do not behave in a similar manner, even attempting to steal nuclear warheads during the Second Battle of Earth. The Arbiter, it appears, has no particular objection to sullying his already fraudulent honor with a Human weapon. Most other Elites will use a Human or a Brute weapon if it is given to them by the Arbiter, although usually with a derogatory remark, such as, "Bah! Even as trophies, these weapons are worthless!", or even "Worthless piece of crap!" However, in the hands of an Elite, any Human weapon can be deadly. Elites can hold a Rocket Launcher with one hand due to their prodigious strength, unlike normal Marines or even Spartan IIs. Their marksmanship is easily comparable to a skilled Marine, and thanks to their armor and increased musculature they can survive attacks that would kill a normal human soldier, even with their personal shields down.

 

 

Human Weapons

 

The M6 series of pistols

The M6 design hasn't seen many innovations over its 140 history within the UNSC, though with the Human-Covenant war this has seemed to change. From the M6A's and M6B's that are standard issue to most civilian police forces to the M6C magnum sidearms used by UNSC marines and ODST's. The drawback of the M6C's lack of accuracy and stopping power was to be corrected by the newer M6D's with their smartlink zoom function and High Explosive ammunition. However it is of note that the M6D's never saw much service probably due to the the destruction of the weapons manufacturer. Very late into the Human-Covenant war the newest model of M6, the M6G pistol was designed to incorporate the Explosive Ammunition of the M6D, although it lacked the Smartlink system the function was now redundant as the need for a long ranged pistol was replaced by the harder hitting and more accurate Battle Rifles.

 

Two other M6 variants of note are the M6I with an attachable shoulder stock and variable setting, this weapon functioned as a small SMG. As well as the more built up version, the M6J Carbine which was to try and fill the gap between sidearms and rifles. These two variants however never saw much fame as few were built and there were already better weapons to choose from.

 

Numbers on the standard M6G pistol are as follows:

At 26.7cm in length the pistol weighs in at 2.95kg (6.5lbs) fully loaded. It has a clip capacity of 8, although each of these rounds are of the .50 caliber Semi Armour Pricing High Explosive rounds unique to this series of pistol. Though semi-automatic, people trained in it's use can sometimes achieve a firing rate of up to 2 rounds per second and have been able to hit targets fairly accurately up to 100m, though the preferred distance to engage targets is only half that.

 

UNSC Remarks: "The M6G is either the world's biggest pistol or the world's smallest rifle, I'm not sure which." ~ Anonymous Marine

 

 

M7 Caseless Submachine Gun

Used mostly by the ODST's and other special opps units in the UNSC, it can still be found being used by the regular Marines in combat. The weapon is usually favored for it's extremely high rate of fire, though this is also it's downside. Like most SMG's it suffers from poor accuracy, being nick-named the bullet hose it develops a "Spray and Pray" mentality in those who use it, although it is still a particular deadly weapon in close quarters. Unique to any other weapon used by the UNSC this gun features Caseless ammunition. The small 5x23mm FMJ round and it's propellant is embedded within a combustible adhesive, reducing the weight and the need to eject shell casings.

 

A major drawback to this design is that Caseless rounds have a tendency to "Cook Off" unexpectedly, resulting in possible damage to the weapon and the user. This has not been seen within the games or novels so it could mean that the UNSC has countered this type of ammo's downside.

 

Specs on the weapon:

The SMG has an extendable stock that can vary between 47.4cm in length to 62.7cm in length, weighing the gun in at 2.88kg (6.36lbs) fully loaded. Its magazine can hold up to 60 rounds of it's special caseless ammunition, which is another advantage over other weapons. The SMG has a very fast firing rate of 15 rounds per second or 900 rounds per minute, making it a favorable weapon for some.

 

UNSC Remarks: "Yes; I have fired it one-handed with the stock collapsed and the foregrip folded. No; I was not driving at the time, I was shotgun. Did I hit anything? Don't know - probably never will - no more bogeys afterward, though." ~ Anonymous Marine

 

 

MA5 Assault Rifle Series

Commentary on the way

 

BR55 Battle Rifle

Commentary on the way

 

M90 Shotgun

Commentary on the way

 

99D-S2 Sniper Rifle

Commentary on the way

 

M19 SSM Rocket Launcher

Commentary on the way

 

W/AV M6 G/GNR (Spartan Laser)

Commentary on the way

 

Elite/Covenant Weapons

 

 

Type-25 Plasma Pistol

Commentary on the way

 

Type-33 Needler

Commentary on the way

 

Type-25 Plasma Rifle

Commentary on the way

 

Type-51 Carbine

Commentary on the way

 

Type-50 Sniper Rifle

Commentary on the way

 

Type-1 Energy Sword

Commentary on the way

 

Brute/Covenant Weapons

 

 

Type-52 Pistol (Mauler)

Commentary on the way

 

Type-25 Carbine (Spiker)

Commentary on the way

 

Type-2 Gravity Hammer

Commentary on the way

 

 

Update History:

July 10, 2009 ~ Created... and subsequently forgotten

August 22, 2009 ~ Updated weapons section/commentary and added "Update History"

[Guest MarvelFan15]

Very Nice

[Skirmisher]

Very Nice

Haha, thanks for posting, I had almost forgotten about this. Time to update it I guess.

[Guest MarvelFan15]

Yes! Do it!

[Guest boston_celtics]

You want feats for a HALO respect thread?

 

HALO 2 was the best selling video game of all time, only to be replaced by HALO 3.

 

No greater feat than success.

[Guest ricrery]

Um, Skirmisher, maybe you should add space weaponry too.

 

Well, I found out that there is 326,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 gallons in the world. It takes 2.260 kj to boil down one gram, and there is almost 4,500 grams in a gallon. To vaporize it all would take 613,972,800 gigatons or 1.467x10^27 Joules. The Covenant vaporized a planet's (of bigger size than Earth) ocean in an hour. This would take 170.498 teratons a second, but since they used 36 ships (right?), it would be 4.736,055,556 teratons per second per ship.

 

A single ship in the Covenant does almost 5 teratons a second, so, HOW can Star Trek beat it? Oh yes, you just think Star Trek is better therefor it wins. Well, fact is, a ship can produce over 100 times what the Cardassian Dreadnought did *in a single second*. Halo is above Star Trek, and that's the truth.

[Guest ricrery]

Ah damn it double-post.

[Skirmisher]

Um, Skirmisher, maybe you should add space weaponry too.

True

A standard ship-based MAC fires slugs of either ferric tungsten or depleted uranium at around 40% the speed of light. The high muzzle speed gives the 600-ton slug the kinetic energy and momentum necessary to damage a target and partially mitigates the unguided nature of the slug and its lack of maneuverability. Orbital Defense Platforms fire a 3,000-ton slug at nearly 50% of the speed of light, around 150,000km per second, which is capable of piercing multiple obstacles before fully stopping the projectile, if needed.

This would put standard ship based MAC rounds at around 4,314 Exajoules (4.314e+21) which would give it an Impact Power equal to 1,000,000 Megatons of TNT (1 Teraton)

 

As for the Larger SMACs, they would have a kinetic energy of 33,703 Exajoules (3.3703e+22) which would give them a Impact Power equal to 8,000,000 Megatons of TNT (8 Teratons)

[Guest ricrery]

On Reach, it took twelve hours due to suppressing their fire.

 

613,972,800 gigatons over 12 hours with 36 ships would 14,212.33333 gigatons a second, or 394.787037 gigatons a single ship a second. Can you believe people debate Star Trek can beat them?

 

I also think they burned up the crust, which requires 1,400,000,000 gigatons to destroy. That would mean 36 ships would be doing 32,407.40741 gigatons a second, or 900 gigatons a second for a single ship. This is some tough firepower.

 

If it took an hour to destroy the crust too before, then they would have required 388,888.8889 gigatons as second, or 10,802.46914 teratons per ship.

[Skirmisher]

Well they do Glass planets... and although the wording is alittle odd, those Covies did in fact manage to Melt the Crust of Jericho VII in that Hour.

 

The Chief watched for an hour and didn't move a muscle.

The planet's lakes, rivers, and oceans vaporized. By tomorrow, the atmosphere would boil away, too.

Fields and forests were glassy smooth and glowing red-hot in patches.

Where there had once been a paradise, only hell remained.

 

This would mean that Both: All of the Water was gone off this planet in under an hour AND the land masses were almost done being worked on by the orbiting fleet, as "Fields" and "Forests" do take up a Bulk of space on any given Continent.

 

This would either imply that the Ships took a far shorter time boiling the water off the planet and then moved onto the land masses OR fewer ships were needed to boil the water as the others were glassing the Land.

 

As well, IMO Glassing is actually superior to Star Wars Slagging. This is because Slag is actually an impure mixture of various materials found within the crust of a planet. Glassing however implies that the crust has actually been Purified into a substance much like Fused Quartz. This would mean that Waste Materials like naturally occurring Metals would have to either be burned off or sink deep below the layer of Fused Quartz on the Surface.

 

Making Slag takes about a temperature of 1600 to 1700 degrees, while making Fused Quartz requires around 2000 degrees. Therefore Glassing would require More Heat than Slagging.

 

This would take time and precision as the Crust of the planet would have to be kept at a constant temperature in the thousands of degrees to keep the silica of the crust at a constant simmer. In the end you have a Planet that matches the description of Glassing: A Shiny Glass Ball

 

They're also Extremely Thorough in their undertaking of Glassing literally making sure that every square Millimeter of the planets surface is Purified by their "Holy" Fire.

[Guest ricrery]

They can glass a continent the size of Africa in an hour.

[Skirmisher]

They can glass a continent the size of Africa in an hour.

Going by Halo 3?

 

First, the Glassing of the Whole Continent was an exaggeration by Lord Hood. Presumably they only did Glass a few dozen Kilometers around the Flood incursion point.

 

And Secondly, it was to Counter the Flood, so I'm sure they did a Much More Thorough job of it than any other standard Glassing. They may have gone over the same spots several times, with cool down portions between Glassings. Really I would see this worry as Justified in the face of the threat the Flood pose.

[Guest ricrery]

Going by Halo 3?

 

Yes.

 

First, the Glassing of the Whole Continent was an exaggeration by Lord Hood. Presumably they only did Glass a few dozen Kilometers around the Flood incursion point.

 

They only glassed half of it, and the Shipmaster almost glassed the entire planet.

 

And Secondly, it was to Counter the Flood, so I'm sure they did a Much More Thorough job of it than any other standard Glassing. They may have gone over the same spots several times, with cool down portions between Glassings. Really I would see this worry as Justified in the face of the threat the Flood pose.

 

That's the funny thing because individuals like MC and Arbiter don't lose to the Flood. Flood aren't that much of a threat if you know how to react to them. If the Forerunners hadn't ignored them, the galaxy would have been a much better place.

[Skirmisher]

That's the funny thing because individuals like MC and Arbiter don't lose to the Flood. Flood aren't that much of a threat if you know how to react to them. If the Forerunners hadn't ignored them, the galaxy would have been a much better place.

Now that's a whole different debate. I can say this though, the Flood are not to be underestimated based on the situations of Two Heroic Main Characters...

[Guest ricrery]

Now that's a whole different debate. I can say this though, the Flood are not to be underestimated based on the situations of Two Heroic Main Characters...

 

Well, they were incapable of being stopped by hordes of them, and the level "Cortana" is all that needs to be said.

[Guest ricrery]

Ah wait, nevermind.

[Guest Ruinus]

As well, IMO Glassing is actually superior to Star Wars Slagging. This is because Slag is actually an impure mixture of various materials found within the crust of a planet. Glassing however implies that the crust has actually been Purified into a substance much like Fused Quartz. This would mean that Waste Materials like naturally occurring Metals would have to either be burned off or sink deep below the layer of Fused Quartz on the Surface.

 

Making Slag takes about a temperature of 1600 to 1700 degrees, while making Fused Quartz requires around 2000 degrees. Therefore Glassing would require More Heat than Slagging.

 

Where does it say it's turned into fused quartz/turned to glass?

[Skirmisher]

Where does it say it's turned into fused quartz/turned to glass?

... In about everything that talks about it...

 

The Covenant's Sanctum of the Hierarchs on High Charity is decorated with Shards of Glass from worlds devastated by the Covenant.

 

Their Bombardments are called Glassing.

 

Planets after Glassing have been likened to Glass Baubles...

 

Etc.^etc.

[Indolent]

Now that's a whole different debate. I can say this though, the Flood are not to be underestimated based on the situations of Two Heroic Main Characters...

Game mechanics. You as the player playing the hero, MUST and WILL prevail over all odds and baddies. Otherwise, would it be a game if the flood easily killed you every time even on the easiest difficulty like they would normal soldiers and people?

[Guest Ruinus]

... In about everything that talks about it...

 

The Covenant's Sanctum of the Hierarchs on High Charity is decorated with Shards of Glass from worlds devastated by the Covenant.

 

Their Bombardments are called Glassing.

 

Planets after Glassing have been likened to Glass Baubles...

 

Etc.^etc.

 

Oh ok. I just found it out how you thought Halo glassing is better than Star Wars slagging, (specifically, since some cities in SW are reduced to glass, and one captain makes mention of the guns on an ISD turning sand into glass too) but that's not here nor there to this thread I guess.

[Guest ricrery]

Please don't start Halo vs SW this time.

[Skirmisher]

Please don't start Halo vs SW this time.

No problem with that, numbers clearly show that it would take ALOT of Halo ships to take out a SW Capitol Ship... However seeing as how the Average Covenant Fleet is usually around a few Hundred Ships, compared to the Dozen or so Ships per "Fleet" in Star Wars (I only count ISD, and similar as Ships since all others are usually made of fail) this would mean that the Covenant at least could win a few engagements, but not any sort of War.

[Guest ricrery]

No problem with that, numbers clearly show that it would take ALOT of Halo ships to take out a SW Capitol Ship... However seeing as how the Average Covenant Fleet is usually around a few Hundred Ships, compared to the Dozen or so Ships per "Fleet" in Star Wars (I only count ISD, and similar as Ships since all others are usually made of fail) this would mean that the Covenant at least could win a few engagements, but not any sort of War.

 

Um, this wasn't my saying but...

 

Halo could win, just hear me out.In Star Wars they didn't always have the clone armies and super weapons. If the Star Wars timeline was episode 2 or before Halo could win. Any time after that would probably end in Halos downfall. I say episode 2 because I believe there were only about 200,000 clones in the first battles. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

You mean back when the Republic still actually actually had a reserve non-clone Grand Army measuring in the trillions, a standing fleet that still numbered in the millions, the backing of a corporate sector with tens of thousands of systems under her control and the ability to marshal and service an entirely new Navy (fabricated from nothing) composed of hundreds of thousands of brand spanking new vessels within the space of three months to wage war against systems that were tens of thousands of light years from the core?

 

Coincidentally around the exact same time it took for the UNSC to marshal a counter-offensive against Harvest with a just a few dozen vessels, a target only a dozen light years from their central military foundation.

 

I doubt they can win a few. Let's just stop there.

[Skirmisher]

Thanks for ruining my thread with this garbage rice.

[Guest ricrery]

Thanks for ruining my thread with this garbage rice.

 

Let me make this up for you.

 

According to Evolutions it takes hundreds of vessels to completely glass a planet, whilst a few dozen are sufficient to wipe out the human population alone.

 

Does that help?