The year is 2552. Humanity has spread across the galaxy under the Unified Earth Government, but nonetheless remains divided: after years of exploitation, insurrections have swept the outer colonies. The United Nations Space Command, the military wing of the UEG, has responded with brutal crackdowns, even deploying the infamous SPARTAN-II super soldiers against the rebels.
On the planet Madrigal, a rebel movement led by General Jin Ha has seized the planet's deuterium refineries. While local politician Vinsher Grath continues to make public pleas for cooperation with the UNSC, the rebels are convinced that it's only a matter of time before the Spartans are sent to crush them. Despite these concerns, it ultimately proves to be an outside force that poses the most threat, as the rebels' stronghold comes under attack by mysterious aliens known as "the Covenant".
As the battle turns into a slaughter, a UNSC "Condor" dropship arrives carrying a squad of Spartans, Silver Team, consisting of Lieutenants Vannak-134 and Riz-028, Petty Officer 1st Class Kai-125, and their leader, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. The Spartans and the rebels join forces to defeat the aliens, but in the end only one local survives: General Ha's teenage daughter, Kwan. Investigating the Covenant's landing site, Silver Team discovers an excavation containing an artifact of unknown origin. The device reacts to the Master Chief's touch, lighting up and filling his mind with visions of his childhood.
Shaken, John commands the rest of Silver Team to commandeer the abandoned Covenant landing craft while he flies both the artifact and Kwan back to the UNSC headquarters on the planet Reach. On the ride, Kwan is contacted by Commander Miranda Keyes of the Office of Naval Intelligence, who explains the threat of the Covenant and requests her aid in convincing the rebel colonies to rejoin the UNSC. Still in shock, Kwan refuses to cooperate, demanding independence for Madrigal before she'll even consider it.
On Reach, UNSC Fleet Command discusses the events on Madrigal. The Chief's visions are of concern: his enhancements are meant to suppress memories of that sort, and his loyalty comes into question. Dr. Catherine Halsey, the head of the SPARTAN-II program, insists that these concerns are unfounded and John can be trusted, but Captain Jacob Keyes and Admiral Margaret Parangosky disagree. Meanwhile, the sole Covenant soldier to survive the attack reports John's activation of the artifact to one of the Covenant's leaders, the Prophet of Mercy, who in turn delivers the news to a young human woman in his care.
Back on the Condor, John receives a transmission containing orders to kill Kwan Ha for her refusal to cooperate. However, the two have already begun to bond, with Kwan questioning John's unwavering devotion to duty. The Chief ultimately decides to spare her — a hard task when the UNSC have the Condor under total surveillance and can take control of it remotely. John attempts to seize control of the ship, but is thwarted, and UNSC Marines are placed on standby to surround the ship when it lands. Silver Team is sent as well, but receives secret orders from Halsey to fire upon anyone who attempts to harm the Chief.
Just as all hope seems lost and breaching charges are being prepared on the side of the Condor, John once again touches the artifact, triggering yet more visions and releasing a wave of energy that disables the entire base's electronics while powering up the Condor. Taking advantage of the confusion, John and Kwan rush to the cockpit and blast off to parts unknown.
Tropes:
- Almost Out of Oxygen: When the Chief disables the internal cameras on the Condor, the UNSC responds by reducing the oxygen concentration to make Kwan and the Chief pass out. It fails when the Chief manually overrides the system.
- Artistic License – Military: While the Master Chief Petty Officer is the highest enlisted rank it's possible to obtain, with a pay grade of E-9, under traditional military rules, commissioned officers outrank enlisted... even if the officers are lowly O-2s like Vannak-134 and Riz-028. In the fourth episode this will be handwaved using the same excuse as the games: that John is and has always been the leader of the SPARTAN-II True Companions, and their deference to him is rooted in something deeper than rank.
- Back-to-Back Badasses: Silver Team forms a three-man version of an Infantry Square when they prepare to protect Chief from the gathered Marines at FLEETCOM HQ.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Kwan wants nothing more than to leave Madrigal. She gets her wish, but in the worst possible way.
- Big Brother Instinct: The Chief bonds like so with Kwan, even defying orders and going on the run with her.
- Big Damn Heroes: Silver Team is dropped in to neutralize the Covenant as the Elites are tearing through the colony. Though they succeed, all but Kwan are killed.
- Blood-Splattered Innocents: Kwan is splashed with blood when her friends are blown apart by Covenant plasma weapons.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Played with. Kwan has actually met the Chief before, as he and Silver Team were sent to put down a protest her mother was participating in. He doesn't indicate that he remembers her specifically, but he does recall the mission and the precise orders he was given.
- Cool Starship: The Condor, a larger version of the Pelican with a slipstream drive. Chief and Kwan spend the second half of the story together in Silver Team's Condor while most of the rest of the plot takes place on Reach.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Two in quick succession during the Covenant attack on the Madrigal colony. The colonists are completely outmatched by the Covenant Elites, whose shielding and plasma weapons make them unstoppable against 21st century firearms that are 500 years out of date. Even absent that shielding, the bullets are so weak the Elite Commander is able to power through Jin firing on him full-auto. Once Silver Team arrives on the scene, the Elites are quickly proven to be equally outmatched against the Spartans despite having a 5-to-1 numbers advantage (20 Elites versus 4 Spartans). Only Kai is ever seriously threatened, after being surrounded by three Elites and unable to retreat or flank them.
- David vs. Goliath: The Elites are a fair bit taller than the Spartans in this adaptation, but this doesn't stop the Spartans from kicking their asses in hand-to-hand in spite of the size difference.
- Deflector Shields: The Elites wear personal shielding that completely shrugs off the antiquated small-arms fire of the colonists. The only weapon they have that can penetrate are truck-mounted Heavy Machine Guns, and the Elites wisely flip the trucks so they can't be used against them. The Spartans, equipped with modern weapons, easily overwhelm the shielding.
- Destruction Equals Off-Switch: The Chief instructs Kwan to disable a certain component while he disables another in a different panel. Unable to actually pull the indicated wire free, Kwan shoots up the panel, achieving the same effect.
- Dramatic Unmask: When Kwan holds him at gunpoint, the Chief points out the rounds would never penetrate his armor. He then unmasks himself and tells her to aim for his head to gain her trust. It also serves as Removing the Earpiece as he'd earlier told her he didn't remove the helmet because all of his diagnostic, command and control systems run through it.
- EMP:
- A directed EMP is used to knock down the Chief's ship when he manages to disable the AI controlling it.
- The artifact releases an EMP when the Chief interacts with it a second time, disabling power to the control center while at the same time restoring power to his disabled Condor.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Some of the Marines realize something is off when Silver Team takes up a Back-to-Back Badasses fighting position... in the middle of the gathered Marines. But then Chief activates the Artifact and escapes before the fight can start.
- Gatling Good: The Chief uses a Heavy Machine Gun (one that's mounted on a Warthog in the video game) to mow down several Covenant Elites who are giving Kai-125 a difficult time.
- He Knows Too Much: The Covenant initially ignore the colony, but when Kwan stumbles upon their operation, they gun down her friends and slaughter the colonists when she takes refuge behind the walls.
- Hope Spot:
- The colonists are being slaughtered by the Elites, but Silver Team is dropped in and begin to turn the tide. It's not enough to save the colonists, however, because the Spartans can't kill the Elites fast enough.
- Kwan and her father Jin survive the battle, but a wounded Elite stumbles in and Jin gives his life trying to drive it off. The Chief then kills the Elite, leaving Kwan alone.
- The Chief manages to disable the ship's AI and enable manual control, only for Jacob Keyes to order his ship pulsed to ground it before the Chief can possibly start firing on them.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: The Elite Commander Neck Lifts Jin then runs him through with an energy sword. Spartan Vannak also impales an Elite with a pipe.
- Inscrutable Aliens: The UNSC thus far has no idea why the Covenant are attacking them. They seemingly come from nowhere and attack with no stated intent.
- Just Following Orders: When Kwan calls out the Chief for executing her mother for being an "imminent threat", he replies that those above him know the big picture and if he questioned their orders, he'd have to question everything.
- Lack of Empathy: When the battle is finished, the Chief does a quick check and confirms no survivors, before amending his assessment to one when Kwan crawls out from under a truck. He and Silver Team then leave to find the Covenant landing site, not sparing her a second thought. This is to contrast with his behavior after touching the artifact, showing that its influence has broken him out of the robotic adherence to duty he had previously exhibited.
- Lock-and-Load Montage: When Admiral Parangosky issues a kill order to eliminate John-117 (also known as the Soren Protocol), there's a long sequence of platoons of Marines arming themselves, pilots getting in their Pelicans, the Spartans of Silver Team donning their armor and taking weapons, and even a mass driver being armed with the intention to put down the Condor carrying John-117, Kwan and the Forerunner artifact.
- MacGuffin: The artifact the Elites were trying to retrieve, and which activates when the Chief touches it.
- Mama Bear: When a termination order is issued for the Chief for his disobedience, Halsey intercepts the rest of Silver Team and countermands those orders, telling them to retrieve the Chief alive even if it means firing upon UNSC personnel. They very nearly do it, only being interrupted by the Chief using the artifact and knocking out power to the base.
- Neck Lift: Kwan's father Jin suffers one at the hands of a Elite Commander, who then runs him through with an energy sword.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The Chief is given the order to terminate Kwan, but doesn't follow it. This freaks out everyone at UNSC command.
- Pet the Dog: Mercy catches Makee reading a human novel, but rather than put her in an embarrassing position, suggests she's merely doing this to better understand their enemy.
- Sole Survivor: Kwan becomes one after she survived the Covenant assault on Madrigal, even with the arrival of Silver Team.
- Shout-Out: After Miranda's conversation with Kwan, there is an announcement for a Commander Shepherd to be at the Skillian Response Center.
- Skewed Priorities: The Insurrectionists on Madrigal treat the UNSC as the greater threat despite being slaughtered by Elites, to the point that Kwan's father tries to shoot Master Chief despite him being the only thing standing in the way of the Elite he was powerless to stop moments before. They do at least take the hint when the Spartans focus their attention solely on the Elites.
- True Companions: When Halsey orders Silver Team to protect John from any who might mean him harm, Riz asks with hesitation if they are being ordered to fire upon friendlies if necessary. Vannak simply replies that anyone trying to hurt John isn't a friendly, a sentiment Halsey agrees with.
- Wham Shot:
- The Covenant agent known as the Blessed One, whom even the Prophet of Mercy shows some deference to, being revealed as a young human girl. She's the only one among them that can use the artifact, suggesting it needs a human to work.
- The second time the Chief touches the artifact, in his memories he sees a drawing of it, suggesting he or his family has a deeper history with it.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Miranda is pissed when her father tells her that a kill order has been put on Kwan.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Elites intentionally slaughter a group of non-combatants, including children. The UNSC then place a termination order on the Sole Survivor when she proves difficult.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
- Miranda tries to convince Kwan to see the other colonies on the benefits of the Spartans against the Covenant, thereby convincing the colonies to join instead of remaining independent. She instead threatens to blame the attack on the Spartans and convince the colonies to push even harder for independence, out of spite for Miranda trying to get her to participate in propaganda right after her entire colony was slaughtered. In response, the higher-ups place an Article 72 execution order on her, intending to cover it up as her dying of her wounds on route, so the UNSC can take over Madrigal's deuterium refinery.
- Master Chief is ordered terminated almost as soon as he disobeys orders, as the whole point of the Spartan program is that they should never be able to do that.
