[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] theBurgerface [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] tjal [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] SonicJohn I don't believe that it was [i]that[/i] uncovered in that short space of time (a single night? Come on).[/quote] It surprises me that none makes the connection between the atmosphere slipspace jump and the big hole. That's sorta how they found it in the first place. In my opinion, the slipspace jump uncovered a big section of the portal, and the brutes did the rest. This would explain their "slow" digging.[/quote] [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiaQ1IPZR18[/url] This is the closest we get to seeing the damage done by the the slipspace jump. I don't know what the power of a slipspace jump is, but at 3:15, you can kind of see a hole in the ground.[/quote]That's a fair observation. That would mean that they spend 27 days digging the portal out. I could accept that idea, but I still don't think it would be [i]as[/i] uncovered as it was shown on October 21st 2552 at the end of ODST. I do accept that the slipspace jump uncovered enough for them to see it, however.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] tjal [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] SonicJohn I don't believe that it was [i]that[/i] uncovered in that short space of time (a single night? Come on).[/quote] It surprises me that none makes the connection between the atmosphere slipspace jump and the big hole. That's sorta how they found it in the first place. In my opinion, the slipspace jump uncovered a big section of the portal, and the brutes did the rest. This would explain their "slow" digging.[/quote] [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiaQ1IPZR18[/url] This is the closest we get to seeing the damage done by the the slipspace jump. I don't know what the power of a slipspace jump is, but at 3:15, you can kind of see a hole in the ground.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Weylander [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Astrogenesis 1 And found the Cheif in [b]less that 12 hours after Truth[/b]? I don't think so.[/quote] I do. You're forgetting [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxdvGO1oOF0]Halo: Landfall[/url]. An ODST squad tracked his re-entry trajectory, relaying the end co-ordinates for the S&R teams.[/quote]I believe the correct term is SAR. And since we 're talking about military, it's most likely CSAR.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Astrogenesis 1 And found the Cheif in [b]less that 12 hours after Truth[/b]? I don't think so.[/quote] I do. You're forgetting [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxdvGO1oOF0]Halo: Landfall[/url]. An ODST squad tracked his re-entry trajectory, relaying the end co-ordinates for the S&R teams.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] SonicJohn I don't believe that it was [i]that[/i] uncovered in that short space of time (a single night? Come on).[/quote] It surprises me that none makes the connection between the atmosphere slipspace jump and the big hole. That's sorta how they found it in the first place. In my opinion, the slipspace jump uncovered a big section of the portal, and the brutes did the rest. This would explain their "slow" digging.

[quote]* [url=http://youtu.be/XFKoLeOXEDc?t=8m35s]Halo 2 Begin[/url] [b][October 20th 2552][/b] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ZzYQbIZ_M]Halo 2 (Outskirts)[/url] | [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFBCj7klpgU](Another Day At The Beach)[/url] [b][October 20th 2552][/b] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMStlHBhJ3E&feature=related]Halo 2 (Metropolis) - [i]Halo 3: ODST Begin[/i] - In Amber Clad Leaves[/url] [b][October 20th 2552][/b] * [url=http://youtu.be/9ZWzl-WLi74?t=11s][i]Halo 3: ODST End[/i][/url] [b][October 21st 2552][/b] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFaNvs3TFCw]Halo 2 (Delta Halo) - In Amber Clad Arrives[/url] [b][November 2nd 2552][/b] (13 Days for Jump) * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw1bYEW-pc4]Halo 2 (High Charity) - Dreadnought Leaves[/url] [b][November 3rd 2552][/b] * [url=http://youtu.be/kpYRT4Z3hAg?t=1m40s]Halo 2 End - Dreadnought Arrives[/url] [b][*4:00 AM EAT Timezone November 17th 2552][/b] (13 Days for Jump) * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVzKVuCmakY]Halo 3 Begin - Arrival (Night)[/url] [b][*4:00 AM EAT Timezone November 17th 2552][/b] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJB8VIhOz3Y][i]Halo 3: ODST Post-Credits Cutscene[/i] - Johnson/Arbiter/Miranda Arrive[/url] [b][*5:00 AM EAT Timezone November 17th 2552][/b] (13 Days for Jump) * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUyQkSG2PQg][i]Halo 3: ODST Legendary Ending[/i][/url] [b][*6:00 AM EAT Timezone November 17th 2552][/b] * [url=http://youtu.be/jVzKVuCmakY?t=1m2s]Halo 3 Begin - Arrival (Morning / Sergeant Johnson)[/url] [b][*8:00 AM EAT Timezone November 17th 2552][/b] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYwdeJye9d8]Halo 3 (The Storm) - Portal Activates[/url] [b][*6:00 PM EAT Timezone November 17th 2552][/b] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VybS1C-4CAk]Halo 3 End[/url] [b][December 2552][/b][/quote] Revised my timeline. Restructured with times and dates. *All times are rough guesstimates based on lighting and for the sake of fitting a story together coherently. "EAT" Timezone is Eastern Africa Timezone (for Mombasa and Voi). All dates matched up with the ones already figured out on [url=http://halo.wikia.com/]Halo Wiki[/url] so I must be on track. [Edited on 08.03.2011 1:34 AM PDT]

So you saying that Johnson and Arby got back to a covie ship, Flew back to Earth, Went to see the ODST in South America, Searched the African jungle, And found the Cheif in [b]lees that 12 hours after Truth[/b]? I don't think so.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Astrogenesis 1 To be honest, I always thought that the 'Ark Portal' that we see in ODST was just use of Artistic Lisence. Lets face it, in Tsavo Highway, you can still see Covenant ships digging it out, and that is 2 months after starting. Another point, I can't remember where I read it, but I have always been under the impression that the Chief was in his mini-coma in the jungle for about a month before Johnson found him. So, in my time line... - ODST happens. - One month later. Truth arrives. Chief jummps out. Johnson, Miranda and the Arbiter arrive. (ODST after credits + Leg ending take place.) - Another month later. Johnson find Chief. The Portal is fully uncovered. Thats my 2 cents :) [/quote] Chief isn't there for too long. If you look closely he exits during the night period. And is woken up in the morning.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] theBurgerface [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Blitzkrieg460 The Prophet of Truth uncovers the Ark....but not like in Indiana Jones so no face melting of anybody.[/quote] But how'd did he have enough time? Because the beginning of Halo: 3 truth lands with the dreadnought, correct? And by that time the portal to the Ark is mostly uncovered, as seen in at the end of Halo: ODST as the ODST fly away in a phantom. The dreadnought is not present in that cutscene. [/quote] Events for you. Halo 3 ODST happens during Halo 2. -Chiefs' exits with Regrets ship. ODSTs drop. -Events of Halo: ODST and Halo 2 take place. -Arbiter returns with Miranda and Johnson. -Truth exits out of slipspace with the dreadnought. -Halo 3 takes place.

To be honest, I always thought that the 'Ark Portal' that we see in ODST was just use of Artistic Lisence. Lets face it, in Tsavo Highway, you can still see Covenant ships digging it out, and that is 2 months after starting. Another point, I can't remember where I read it, but I have always been under the impression that the Chief was in his mini-coma in the jungle for about a month before Johnson found him. So, in my time line... - ODST happens. - One month later. Truth arrives. Chief jummps out. Johnson, Miranda and the Arbiter arrive. (ODST after credits + Leg ending take place.) - Another month later. Johnson find Chief. The Portal is fully uncovered. Thats my 2 cents :)

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] theBurgerface I see what your going at, and it does make sense. But at the end of Halo: ODST most of New Mombasa is glassed already, and the portal is mostly uncovered.[/quote]You're implying that Truth could access the portal from the surface of the portal. I'm implying that you have to go underground in order to access the underside of the portal. Which is why I think Truth went down. [quote]The Post-Credits cutscene is 1 month after the drop. Does the battle of Delta halo take 1 month? If it does, then how is there still parts of New Mombasa left for Truth to come and check it out.[/quote]According to [url=http://halostory.bungie.org/halostory.timeline.html]HBO[/url], Halo 3: ODST begins on October 20th 2552. The ODST story takes place overnight, so it ends on October 21st 2552. It takes roughly a month for In Amber Clad to arrive at Delta Halo, and we know this partly because we've learned from various sources that slipspace travel is not instantaneous, as well as the fact that Cortana sends a message out about the Gravemind on November 3rd 2552, when it's received by Dr. Halsey. On December 9th 2552, the Chief re-enters Earth's atmosphere. That's about 2 months of time (roughly 2 weeks per jump) between ODST's ending and Halo 3's beginning. So yes, there is a lot of time between Regret's exit and Truth's entrance. However, Truth arrives at Earth for the first time [i]with[/i] the Chief, so the only window of opportunity he has to explore is whilst the Chief is unconsious. [quote]Does that also mean Truths fleet arrived on Earth 1 month before Truth actually did? Wouldn't the Humans be in serious trouble if that was the case? As in there would be no human resistance left on Earth? Unless the fleet was preoccupied with digging up the portal. But still, how would the portal take 1 month to dig up, when they dug up a huge portion of it already under such a short amount of time?[/quote][url=http://images.wikia.com/halo/images/e/e8/Portal_odst.png]This is the only image I could find of the portal in ODST[/url]. I personally find this non-canon and misrepresentative of time. Bungie will have done this for two reasons: 1) To make it recognizable to the everyday person from far away (essentially the player who sees everything cinematically and only plays the games, so doesn't understand the concept of "There are 2 months between New Mombasa and Sierra 117") 2) Reusable model; just had to retexture it. I don't believe that it was [i]that[/i] uncovered in that short space of time (a single night? Come on). [Edited on 08.03.2011 12:45 AM PDT]

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] SonicJohn My take on the timeline (with some bonus videos for fun/reference): * [url=http://youtu.be/XFKoLeOXEDc?t=8m35s]Halo 2 Begin[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ZzYQbIZ_M]Halo 2 (Outskirts)[/url] | [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFBCj7klpgU](Another Day At The Beach)[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMStlHBhJ3E&feature=related]Halo 2 (New Mombasa) - [i]Halo 3: ODST Begin[/i][/url] * [url=http://youtu.be/9ZWzl-WLi74?t=11s][i]Halo 3: ODST End[/i][/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFaNvs3TFCw]Halo 2 (Delta Halo)[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJB8VIhOz3Y][i]Halo 3: ODST Post-Credits Cutscene[/i][/url] * [url=http://youtu.be/kpYRT4Z3hAg?t=1m40s]Halo 2 End[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVzKVuCmakY]Halo 3 Begin - Arrival (Night)[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUyQkSG2PQg][i]Halo 3: ODST Legendary Ending[/i][/url] * [url=http://youtu.be/jVzKVuCmakY?t=1m2s]Halo 3 Begin - Arrival (Morning / Sergeant Johnson)[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VybS1C-4CAk]Halo 3 End[/url] Truth has plenty of time to head down the path the portal's activation control room and then returns to the Dreadnought in a Phantom whilst the portal warms up. This all happens whilst the Chief is unconscious after his surfing down to the surface from the Dreadnought. I also believe that the Chief lands just before sunrise, which gives the portal about 3-4 hours before it warms up and finally activates.[/quote] I see what your going at, and it does make sense. But at the end of Halo: ODST most of New Mombasa is glassed already, and the portal is mostly uncovered. The Post-Credits cutscene is 1 month after the drop. Does the battle of Delta halo take 1 month? If it does, then how is there still parts of New Mombasa left for Truth to come and check it out. Does that also mean Truths fleet arrived on Earth 1 month before Truth actually did? Wouldn't the Humans be in serious trouble if that was the case? As in there would be no human resistance left on Earth? Unless the fleet was preoccupied with digging up the portal. But still, how would the portal take 1 month to dig up, when they dug up a huge portion of it already under such a short amount of time? [Edited on 08.03.2011 12:14 AM PDT]

My take on the timeline (with some bonus videos for fun/reference): * [url=http://youtu.be/XFKoLeOXEDc?t=8m35s]Halo 2 Begin[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ZzYQbIZ_M]Halo 2 (Outskirts)[/url] | [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFBCj7klpgU](Another Day At The Beach)[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMStlHBhJ3E&feature=related]Halo 2 (New Mombasa) - [i]Halo 3: ODST Begin[/i][/url] * [url=http://youtu.be/9ZWzl-WLi74?t=11s][i]Halo 3: ODST End[/i][/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFaNvs3TFCw]Halo 2 (Delta Halo)[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJB8VIhOz3Y][i]Halo 3: ODST Post-Credits Cutscene[/i][/url] * [url=http://youtu.be/kpYRT4Z3hAg?t=1m40s]Halo 2 End[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVzKVuCmakY]Halo 3 Begin - Arrival (Night)[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUyQkSG2PQg][i]Halo 3: ODST Legendary Ending[/i][/url] * [url=http://youtu.be/jVzKVuCmakY?t=1m2s]Halo 3 Begin - Arrival (Morning / Sergeant Johnson)[/url] * [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VybS1C-4CAk]Halo 3 End[/url] Truth has plenty of time to head down the path the portal's activation control room and then returns to the Dreadnought in a Phantom whilst the portal warms up. This all happens whilst the Chief is unconscious after his surfing down to the surface from the Dreadnought. I also believe that the Chief lands just before sunrise, which gives the portal about 3-4 hours before it warms up and finally activates. [Edited on 08.03.2011 12:03 AM PDT]

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Blitzkrieg460 [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] theBurgerface [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Blitzkrieg460 The Prophet of Truth uncovers the Ark....but not like in Indiana Jones so no face melting of anybody.[/quote] But how'd did he have enough time? Because the beginning of Halo: 3 truth lands with the dreadnought, correct? And by that time the portal to the Ark is mostly uncovered, as seen in at the end of Halo: ODST as the ODST fly away in a phantom. The dreadnought is not present in that cutscene. [/quote] In my opinion, it may not be official canon (like the Halo CE legendary ending). Bungie works in mysterious ways. And as an edit to my original post, I forgot to say its the portal to the Ark, not the Ark itself.[/quote] It's okay, I knew what you mean't :) Yeah, but it gets confusing with what legendary ending is canon and which is not. Because Halo:3's is now officially canon (the continuation with Halo:4.) I don't know about Halo: 2's though, is it? [Edited on 08.02.2011 11:18 PM PDT]

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] theBurgerface [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Blitzkrieg460 The Prophet of Truth uncovers the Ark....but not like in Indiana Jones so no face melting of anybody.[/quote] But how'd did he have enough time? Because the beginning of Halo: 3 truth lands with the dreadnought, correct? And by that time the portal to the Ark is mostly uncovered, as seen in at the end of Halo: ODST as the ODST fly away in a phantom. The dreadnought is not present in that cutscene. [/quote] In my opinion, it may not be official canon (like the Halo CE legendary ending). Bungie works in mysterious ways. And as an edit to my original post, I forgot to say its the portal to the Ark, not the Ark itself.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Blitzkrieg460 The Prophet of Truth uncovers the Ark....but not like in Indiana Jones so no face melting of anybody.[/quote] But how'd did he have enough time? Because the beginning of Halo: 3 truth lands with the dreadnought, correct? And by that time the portal to the Ark is mostly uncovered, as seen in at the end of Halo: ODST as the ODST fly away in a phantom. The dreadnought is not present in that cutscene.

When, after all the events transpire in ODST, obviously, and it happens in Section 9 or whatever it's called, deep inside the planet, where the Superintendent is housed. The long forerunner structure is one of the branches of the immense circular platform that surrounds the Forerunner dreadnought that Truth uses to activate the portal to the Ark, in Halo 3.

The Prophet of Truth uncovers the Ark portal. [Edited on 08.02.2011 11:15 PM PDT]

I don't know but I'll give it one free bump. *Bump* There you go!