The next two days combine with today's comic to provide a little more backstory on Viper and their relationship to the UNSC and part of the reason why they went rogue.
Well, I think we can safely assume (although you know what that does…) that this periwinkle-texted (is that periwinkle?) entity is not one of the missing Cavalcada, solely based on his comment about rebellion, but of course this is just speculation. But if this guy is one of the Cavalvada, I'm fairly certain he's not the one trapped in slipspace, but the last one whose name we have yet to be told. So I'm thinking this guy is either the final, unnamed Cavalcada (not my first choice), or he's some new player being tossed into the mix (my personal choice at this time because of what he has said here). I suppose we'll just have to wait and see
I'm 99.999999% sure this is a Viper member. More precisely, one of the first three we encountered, who was "captured" in that comic.
The real question here, is why is the tether so empty? As far as I understood, the virus simply put the "infected" humans into a state of mental lockdown, meaning they would still be on the tether, just motionless.
This is probably why this most likely viper member is so concerned. This isn't the usual MO for Ferial or the Flood. Which means that Ferial is either up to something new, or worse, some new threat is coming.
If I remember correctly, there was a lot of blood and gore from the virus. But this is in the past. My guess is Hendricks or whoever the captured Viper was speaking about a memory he had. The Vipers were assigned to man the station against the Flood and something went wrong?
I don't think that Viper was assigned to man the tether, I think it's 'the tether is empty/barren and shouldn't be' segwayed to 'Viper was created to buy some time against the Flood and rebelled'
The thing that gets me is "The best we could hope to do was buy humanity some time."...
... If I was (just casually) writing it I would probably say something more along the lines of "The best we could hope to do was buy us some time.", this fact makes me believe that Jim's wording may have been more deliberate; Viper could be considered (at least by them) as not being a part of humanity.
And has anyone else noticed Jim has cut down on the 's?
Ok, I just reread the whole thing (just this one, lol) and although the speaker does seem nonhuman, I believe Sangheilioz to correct.
Panel 4:
"We were always certain we would lose the battle against the Gravemind. That was never in doubt. The best we could hope to do was buy humanity some time." —Although the last sentence there makes it seem as though he's not human, read this next passage:
Panel 5:
"It's the very reason why the UNSC created Viper. They needed a weapon that was as cold and ruthless as the Flood itself. It's also part of the reason why we rebelled."
First he starts talking about Viper in the third person, but focus on the phrase "why WE rebelled."
—Sometimes people will talk in the third person, but generally people who are somewhat self-absorbed and slightly insane (insane by human standards, not A.I.). But he then switches to first person when he says "why WE rebelled." If this doesn't mean to you that he's part of Viper, then this should:
Panel 6:
"It's not that we wanted to die. We wanted to live just as much as the next guy. We just weren't so attached to humanity." —This totally nails it. They didn't want to die, which means they are capable of dying, and Viper is mortal after all. Then he goes ahead and says "as much as the next guy." What A.I. would say guy? They have no gender (technically, though they may choose to appear as one or the other), and this sentence seems too casual for an A.I. anyway, unless of course you're talking about Cortana, because this does sound like something she would say…but that's beside the point. And the last line, "We just weren't that attached to humanity" sounds exactly like Viper.
Sorry Jim, this is the first time I've even thought of this, but if I am reading this from the right person, then the Flood have resurfaced and have started fighting humanity. Viper was assigned to fight them, and MC was killed by them. So is Ferial controlling the Flood this time?
Reclaimer killed MC (it's in a previous comic) but other than that…
...to (partly) answer your previous post, no the flood were NOT wiped out by the Halo Array, it merely just killed all the Flood's food, which vast portions (of the Flood) then died off as a result; think of it as if you were to eliminate wheat, corn, rice and most animals used as food, the human population would drop like a rock, not every one would die (or even die right away), but in the end our numbers would probably be in the thousands. Reintroduction of those species (or substitutes) would result in a resurgence, and with the length of the Flood's cycle from Infection form to Infection form being in days or hours, it would go relatively fast for them.
Yes, the implication here is that the Flood are 'alive' and well – and winning the war. I won't comment on Ferial's relationship to the Flood at this time, however. That's a reveal best kept 'til later.
In Reclaimer verse the flood is on the rampage but this is before Halo CE. The rings only fired eons ago and wiped out the forerunners, not the flood. They were contained and survived
Essentially correct. The rings were designed to destroy the things the Flood feed on. As we saw in Halo: CE, the Flood survived that cataclysm. It's no different here in the Reclaimerverse, except that the Flood are an even greater danger than they are in the original Haloverse.
When you look at the entire second half of this one, it's almost plain to see that this entity, whomever it is, is almost certainly part of Viper. So I'm with Sangheilioz on this one: 99.999999% sure it's Viper.
I love this thread. It's nice to see some quality thought and analysis going into this. I'll tell you right now that the next two days will provide some very interesting backstory.
It seems to me that there's a little bit "lost in translation", I am with you and Sangheilioz, THIS IS VIPER, I was just saying that I don't think Viper was assigned to the tether (as xSOB a DooBy possibly thought); and that Viper doesn't consider themselves to be a part of humanity (and thus why they didn't fight the Flood)
P.S. after reading the first post I thought you were saying that the speaker was Sangheilian, not referring to the user (sorry Sangheilioz), after the third it's all clear.
May not have been assigned to the tether, but I wrote that wrong. What I meant was that they were assigned to fight the Flood, but went to this station and found it abandoned…
OMG! Does this mean that Earth and all of humanity got their (our?) asses kicked? I guess if MC was killed by the Flood on Earth and if the space station was the last line of defense against the Flood. Wait…. I think I have something wrong here…....Didn't the Flood get wiped out by the rings?
Hehe, I've been having the same problem with all the other Halo comics out there. Because the characters all look the same, they all tend to blend together after a while.
At first i assumed this could be a memory record of a Forerunner…i think its because of the talk about losing the war against the Flood and the Gravemind…but then it mentioned Viper and that went out of the window. Although i suppose if Master Chief was killed by the Flood, the rest of humanity must have had a war with them…and if we placed bets, i think the Flood would be the winning team anyway. Orbital looks cool, CTF and Assault should be good there. Im still overly psyched to see Sandbox…im a great fan of Forge so thats to be expected…a map where you can completely let your imagination run wild is a haven for a guy that has so many ideas.
oh don't get me wrong, i'm looking forward to it as well. i'm just amazed at what they did when restricted. with no restrictions on space(or practically none) it will be interesting to see…
Wish there was some more. Everyone has the same armour now that more people have been able to get Security and Katana, so it's just boring in matchmaking
I'm not really sure what this one is about. Although I love the shots of Mythic Maps you are including!
So it's viper, but they aren't fully human or something?
I'm going to tentatively say yes, it is viper. It also seems to be the same one that "narrated" the previous few comics
Yes on both counts. It was confirmed in the comments on Friday that this is a former Viper member.
Oooo, Orbital.
Very nice. Viper confuses me more than Ferial does. Hopefully you'll be shedding some light on them. _
With Jim, uh no. That was probably the last little tidbit for a while.
The next two days combine with today's comic to provide a little more backstory on Viper and their relationship to the UNSC and part of the reason why they went rogue.
Well, I think we can safely assume (although you know what that does…) that this periwinkle-texted (is that periwinkle?) entity is not one of the missing Cavalcada, solely based on his comment about rebellion, but of course this is just speculation. But if this guy is one of the Cavalvada, I'm fairly certain he's not the one trapped in slipspace, but the last one whose name we have yet to be told. So I'm thinking this guy is either the final, unnamed Cavalcada (not my first choice), or he's some new player being tossed into the mix (my personal choice at this time because of what he has said here). I suppose we'll just have to wait and see
I'm 99.999999% sure this is a Viper member. More precisely, one of the first three we encountered, who was "captured" in that comic.
The real question here, is why is the tether so empty? As far as I understood, the virus simply put the "infected" humans into a state of mental lockdown, meaning they would still be on the tether, just motionless.
This is probably why this most likely viper member is so concerned. This isn't the usual MO for Ferial or the Flood. Which means that Ferial is either up to something new, or worse, some new threat is coming.
Does this have anything to do with 151 (chain of events). I think that dreamstate may have something to do with why the place is so barren?
If it is, it's only a distant relationship.
Very interesting new look for the space station
If I remember correctly, there was a lot of blood and gore from the virus. But this is in the past. My guess is Hendricks or whoever the captured Viper was speaking about a memory he had. The Vipers were assigned to man the station against the Flood and something went wrong?
I don't think that Viper was assigned to man the tether, I think it's 'the tether is empty/barren and shouldn't be' segwayed to 'Viper was created to buy some time against the Flood and rebelled'
The thing that gets me is "The best we could hope to do was buy humanity some time."...
... If I was (just casually) writing it I would probably say something more along the lines of "The best we could hope to do was buy us some time.", this fact makes me believe that Jim's wording may have been more deliberate; Viper could be considered (at least by them) as not being a part of humanity.
And has anyone else noticed Jim has cut down on the
's?
Ok, I just reread the whole thing (just this one, lol) and although the speaker does seem nonhuman, I believe Sangheilioz to correct.
Panel 4:
"We were always certain we would lose the battle against the Gravemind. That was never in doubt. The best we could hope to do was buy humanity some time." —Although the last sentence there makes it seem as though he's not human, read this next passage:
Panel 5:
"It's the very reason why the UNSC created Viper. They needed a weapon that was as cold and ruthless as the Flood itself. It's also part of the reason why we rebelled."
First he starts talking about Viper in the third person, but focus on the phrase "why WE rebelled."
—Sometimes people will talk in the third person, but generally people who are somewhat self-absorbed and slightly insane (insane by human standards, not A.I.). But he then switches to first person when he says "why WE rebelled." If this doesn't mean to you that he's part of Viper, then this should:
Panel 6:
"It's not that we wanted to die. We wanted to live just as much as the next guy. We just weren't so attached to humanity." —This totally nails it. They didn't want to die, which means they are capable of dying, and Viper is mortal after all. Then he goes ahead and says "as much as the next guy." What A.I. would say guy? They have no gender (technically, though they may choose to appear as one or the other), and this sentence seems too casual for an A.I. anyway, unless of course you're talking about Cortana, because this does sound like something she would say…but that's beside the point. And the last line, "We just weren't that attached to humanity" sounds exactly like Viper.
Sorry Jim, this is the first time I've even thought of this, but if I am reading this from the right person, then the Flood have resurfaced and have started fighting humanity. Viper was assigned to fight them, and MC was killed by them. So is Ferial controlling the Flood this time?
Reclaimer killed MC (it's in a previous comic) but other than that…
...to (partly) answer your previous post, no the flood were NOT wiped out by the Halo Array, it merely just killed all the Flood's food, which vast portions (of the Flood) then died off as a result; think of it as if you were to eliminate wheat, corn, rice and most animals used as food, the human population would drop like a rock, not every one would die (or even die right away), but in the end our numbers would probably be in the thousands. Reintroduction of those species (or substitutes) would result in a resurgence, and with the length of the Flood's cycle from Infection form to Infection form being in days or hours, it would go relatively fast for them.
Yes, the implication here is that the Flood are 'alive' and well – and winning the war. I won't comment on Ferial's relationship to the Flood at this time, however. That's a reveal best kept 'til later.
sigh as always
Of course. I have a timetable for these things.
How many years away is it set?
Timetable? I thought your timetable was MWF, you totally abandoned that timetable.
PS please stop ignoring me Jim
Read the note attached to Sunday's comic for the reason behind this week's pell-mell comic distribution.
And ignore you? I don't understand…
after i complained about the Forum section, was not at all "spoken" to by you and it didn't feel like a coincidence. but know you've stopped
I still don't understand…
This is awsome! Nice use of orbital I want my mythic!
In Reclaimer verse the flood is on the rampage but this is before Halo CE. The rings only fired eons ago and wiped out the forerunners, not the flood. They were contained and survived
Essentially correct. The rings were designed to destroy the things the Flood feed on. As we saw in Halo: CE, the Flood survived that cataclysm. It's no different here in the Reclaimerverse, except that the Flood are an even greater danger than they are in the original Haloverse.
I think a good question would be, what is this space tether, and why should we care that's its empty?
That, my friend, is an excellent question.
Sounds like "You must ask the right question" all over again
Jim seems to like responding musch the same as that hologram in I Robot. once you ask the right question he leaves….
Or, optionally, he just has other things to do.
Besides, I can't reveal all my secrets.
Just wish someone could figure you out Jim!
When you look at the entire second half of this one, it's almost plain to see that this entity, whomever it is, is almost certainly part of Viper. So I'm with Sangheilioz on this one: 99.999999% sure it's Viper.
I love this thread. It's nice to see some quality thought and analysis going into this. I'll tell you right now that the next two days will provide some very interesting backstory.
It seems to me that there's a little bit "lost in translation", I am with you and Sangheilioz, THIS IS VIPER, I was just saying that I don't think Viper was assigned to the tether (as xSOB a DooBy possibly thought); and that Viper doesn't consider themselves to be a part of humanity (and thus why they didn't fight the Flood)
P.S. after reading the first post I thought you were saying that the speaker was Sangheilian, not referring to the user (sorry Sangheilioz), after the third it's all clear.
May not have been assigned to the tether, but I wrote that wrong. What I meant was that they were assigned to fight the Flood, but went to this station and found it abandoned…
No harm no foul. =)
Have you ordered Halo Wars LE yet?
yup
Hopefully get it tomorrow.
England?
Australia. It's released today but by the time I get it, well I hope it's tomorrow and not next Monday
As I said in yesterdays comic I'm going to buy it at Target but I also might just order it now to be safe.
Orbital is going to be one of my favorite maps. I can't emphasize how much it will come in handy for future comics.
It's pretty sweet. The layout is still a little confusing to me, but I can't wait to see how CTF and Assault play out on it.
OMG! Does this mean that Earth and all of humanity got their (our?) asses kicked? I guess if MC was killed by the Flood on Earth and if the space station was the last line of defense against the Flood. Wait…. I think I have something wrong here…....Didn't the Flood get wiped out by the rings?
Orbital's style is always one I've wanted to see in a map. Win.
Orbital is probably the map I look forward to the most. The map packs have been lacking in good quality BTB maps so far.
It will definitely be good from some close-quartered BTB.
Hope it's not gonna be like Rats Nest. That wasn't too good for BTB indoors…
i was like: "hhhhmmmmmm. i dont remember viper in chaos theory". then i remembered which comic i was reading.
Hehe, I've been having the same problem with all the other Halo comics out there. Because the characters all look the same, they all tend to blend together after a while.
At first i assumed this could be a memory record of a Forerunner…i think its because of the talk about losing the war against the Flood and the Gravemind…but then it mentioned Viper and that went out of the window. Although i suppose if Master Chief was killed by the Flood, the rest of humanity must have had a war with them…and if we placed bets, i think the Flood would be the winning team anyway. Orbital looks cool, CTF and Assault should be good there. Im still overly psyched to see Sandbox…im a great fan of Forge so thats to be expected…a map where you can completely let your imagination run wild is a haven for a guy that has so many ideas.
i'll be honest, i always was amazed at what people could do when restricted(ie. foundry) it seemed to spark a new level of creativity.
I can't wait to see what people do with Sandbox. It's an amazing canvas for building.
oh don't get me wrong, i'm looking forward to it as well. i'm just amazed at what they did when restricted. with no restrictions on space(or practically none) it will be interesting to see…
Jim I'm correcting your above post, the
is now a 
lol
Jim I'm going to take that out of context and say that you want Bungie to come out with more Armor Permutations, excellent suggestion.
Hehe, wouldn't hurt my feelings, actually.
Wish there was some more. Everyone has the same armour now that more people have been able to get Security and Katana, so it's just boring in matchmaking
Personally, I'm a fan of the ODST helmet (though I'll be wearing Recon – at least for awhile – once I acquire it this fall).
Sandbox is gonna be way better
Orbital's actually pretty sweet. The more I run around in it, the more I like it.
I wonder if this could somehow change tack and become about a way to win the war against the Flood?
Aaww…You got the Mythic Map Pack! I gotta get me a 360 now!...
Yeah, it was a nice surprise!
Yes, a surprise that wasn't a surprise.
I see how that works. 
I don't 
flips a coin
Is that how you choose which way to take the comic Jim? JIM?
That's good. At least that'll stop some confusion.