The top aspects of the Halo universe to be explored

By now, everyone has probably heard that a new Halo novel, The Cole Protocol, is in the works. The Cole Protocol follows the journey of Spartan Grey Team who was lost in the outer ridges of space around 2550. While that's all fine and dandy (don't get me wrong, I'll take whatever form of Halo fiction I can get) there are some aspects of Halo that induce burning questions that us Halo fans would like to have answered, and I get the feeling the Cole Protocol won't answer them. The following list are aspects of the Halo universe that I think should be fleshed out- things the fans really want to know about. While the story of Spartan Grey Team or reliving the early battle of the Human-Covenant war are nice, they're not necessary and certainly are no Halo 4. That brings me to the first item on the list: the fate of Master Chief.

1. What has become of the Chief?

Everyone and his grandma who has played Halo has a burning desire to find out what exactly becomes of Master Chief. What is that mysterious planet he's floating towards. Does Cortana wake him when she needs him? Does rescue ever arrive? Rumor has it that Bungie is indeed working on Halo 4. Whether it will be a sequel that unveils the fate of Master Chief remains to be seen, however. Two main theories exist as to the fate of Master Chief.

• He's floating toward some sort of Forerunner world, most likely a shield world. Many believe it is, in fact, the planet Onyx but it cannot be proven one way or another because we don't know how the ending of Halo 3 relates to Ghosts of Onyx time-wise. This one is certainly a possibility, but the Chief's location in space is also unknown. For all we know he could still be outside the galaxy.
  
• The end of Halo 3 is the beginning of Marathon. There is no doubt that many similarities exist between Halo and Marathon, but having Halo 3 be a prequel to Marathon is a tad far fetched. This theory has even less proof backing it than the last one except for the clearly visible Marathon logo on the planet's surface (the logo from the cover of Ghosts of Onyx is also visible). The Marathon logo, however, is all over everything.
  

2. What happened to everyone who was trapped inside Onyx?

Ghosts of Onyx kind of ended with a cliffhanger. Officer Mendez and the remaining Spartans find themselves trapped inside the shield world of Onyx. Then the book ends. I would have preferred a sequel in which we find out their fate than a book about the mysterious Grey Team whom no one cares about.

3. The formation of the Covenant

It's been touched upon, but I think it would be very interesting to learn about the formation and rise of the covenant. How exactly did the Prophets come to know about the Halo rings? Why would they start a religion leave their home planet on High Charity and recruit other races? How did the Elites and Prophets come to a compromise? What exactly was the Grunt Rebellion? What did the Taming of the Hunters entail? What is each individual race's motivation for joining the Covenant? Why do the Elites dislike the Brutes so much? Finally, what happened to Drinol and the Sharquoi? These are just some of the questions to be explored.

4. The UNSC

Before the Humans waged war with the Covenant, they waged war against themself. The Interplanetary War between 2160 and 2170 was a result of overpopulation on Earth. This sparked a number of new political movements which, in turn, caused the UN to boost its forces. This all culminated in the Interplanetary War in which the UN fought the Koslovics and the Frieden. The UNSC was formed as a result of this war and Earth was unified under one government. In the wake of the war however, the Earth faced massive overpopulation, famine, and a huge military with no one to fight. Major battles include:

• The Jovian Moons Campain
• The Rain Forest Wars
• Argyre Planitia Campaign

The Humans were forced to expand outside the solar system and the first Shaw-Fujikawa drive was created that allowed for slipspace travel and resulted in the creation of the Outer Colonies.

Finally, I'd like some clarification about the mysterious ORION project that lead to the creation of the Spartans. What ever became of the Spartan I's anyway?

5. The Insurrection

The Insurrection is never really explained at any point or time during any existing Halo fiction. The most we know is that humanity was caught up in a bloody civil war before the Covenant came along and unified it. Along with the rebellions and insurrection of the early 2500s, even less is known about the Inner Colony Wars of the 2400s that had a significant impact on Earth Culture and the UNSC.

6. The Forerunners and their Flood

Just exactly what were the Forerunners and why were they fighting the Flood? For that matter, where did the Flood even come from? I for one, would like to know more about the Forerunners in general and I think this could best be explained through the story of the Forerunner-Flood war in which the Forerunners were, seemingly, wiped out of existence. The most important points of interest are:

• The Librarian and Didact
• The creation of the Forerunner installations
• Mendicant and Offensive Bias
• Gravemind and the creation of the Flood

In particular, who the Forerunners exactly were and what their relation to Humans is as well as where the flood came from and why they had to be stopped would be good points to touch upon. I believe that a book focusing on The Liberian and Didact during the Forerunner-Flood war with backstory explaining the two species would be the most adequate.

7. The Precursors

The only race more mysterious than the Forerunners. The Precursors were basically the Forerunners' forerunners. They are the only race ever to achieve tier zero on the Forerunners' Technological Achievement Scale. They are "trans-sentient beings having the ability to travel between galaxies and accelerate the evolution of intelligent life."

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