WARNING: the following entry may contain spoilers for those who have not yet completed Halo 2

Spartan 117, a.k.a. 'Master Chief'// 12:01am // Two Spartan-II warriors are spotted entering the outskirts of New Mombassa South African Protectorate. They skirmish with alien Covenant forces along the shoreline, moving towards the city.

// 12:33am // The Spartans reach the bridge leading into the New Mombassa metropolis. Taking a Warthog jeep, they race across and once inside, aid human soldiers in recapturing the city. It is the Spartans who eventually board and destroy the large mechanical Scarab that has been keeping the humans pinned down. In a last-ditch attempt to escape, the Covenant make a slipspace jump but the Spartans, aboard a human vessel “In Amber Clad”, give chase, although the slipstream rupture destroys the city.

// 1:02am // Two Covenant elite Arbiters lead a squad sent on a mission to locate the leader of a heretic group who have hidden themselves in the ruins of installation 04, also known as “Halo”.

// 1:28am // Having located the heretic leader, they cut cables to send the station plunging into freefall, forcing him from his hiding place. A chase ensues on flying Banshees. The heretic leader is slain and a sentient mechanical “Oracle” referring to itself as “343 Guilty Spark” is captured.

covenant elites// 2:12am // “In Amber Clad” follows the Covenant to a second Halo. The Spartans drop to the surface with a squad of humans to enter the Covenant-controlled ruins and search out the Prophet of Regret who is hiding in one of the ancient towers. Traversing many submerged structures, they find and slay Regret, but unable to escape, they drown when the temple is destroyed.

// 3:09am // Meanwhile the elite Arbiters are searching for a sacred icon on this Delta Halo, in a structure controlled by floating machine Sentinals and infested by a parasitic lifeform known as The Flood. Pushing through the quarantine zone, they enter the library and race to acquire the icon before the humans. Although they succeed, they are betrayed by Covenant brutes and left plumetting to their deaths.

// 4:17am // A strange creature called Gravemind saves the Spartans and Arbiters, returning them to the surface with a specific tasks: to hunt down the Prophet of Truth and prevent him from using the icon to activate Halo, a dangerous weapon. The Spartans proceed to do so, while the Arbiters exact vengeance from the treacherous brutes.

// 5:10am // My cousin Jehan and I finally switch off the X-box and go to bed. There’s no lullaby quite like the sound of dual-wielded brute plasma rifles in surround sound…