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Description
"Welcome to Blue, Spartans. We're going to make a great team."

I've always found there to be something endearing about the ending scene of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. It's a satisfactory denouement to the novel's story but leaves you excited for what's coming next for these characters. It's also very bittersweet because when you think about it, this is also when Nylund parted with them. Oh, he did some more Halo stuff, but the GoO crew was left hanging.

And what happens after this... well. Let's not talk about that.

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The way the characters are posed here isn't fully in line with the way the scene is described, but I wanted to show everyone's faces, which is also why the Spartans aren't wearing their helmets for no reason (can you tell who's who?). I wanted to stay as close to the book(s) as possible with their depictions, though there's obviously some bits where I had to fill in the blanks. I also wanted to include the stone paths and other details described in the novel, though the Forerunner spires are an artistic flourish. The book makes no mention of such things but I thought they worked well to provide some grandeur to the setting.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "They're inside a Dyson sphere, so you should be able to see the landscape curve up beyond the horizon." This isn't actually the case, however: unlike the Shield World in Halo Wars, the Onyx Dyson sphere is so massive that the curve isn't visible with the naked eye, which is actually noted in the novel. I wanted to stay true to this description at the risk of making people think it's a mistake.

The use of default armor for the characters is likewise intentional. I'm aware individualistic and custom-colored armor has become standard for Spartans by now but I still prefer them the way I used to imagine them when I first read the classic books. In hindsight, I could've given them some basic variation but there's a certain charm to the default MJOLNIR.

One other thing I wanted to do is show the SPI armor's stealth properties. Official sources have yet to depict the camo coating so there's quite a bit of freedom to envision how it might look. The reason I chose to show the camo on in a non-combat setting like this, aside from the neat visual effect, is the impression I got from Ghosts of Onyx that it's practically always on, even when the Spartans are outside combat, and hence there are no power issues with keeping it active casually like this. One might note that Olivia's forearms aren't "blending in" with her and Ash's visors. This is intentional, as I reasoned that the camo system might be able to identify surfaces which are clearly part of the suit itself and omit them from the camo patterns it generates, especially when it comes to the rather overt golden faceplate. The visor is probably camouflaged anyway when the suit is active (or when the helmet is on).

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All my Ghosts of Onyx-related art | My artwork commission info

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Halo, Kelly-087, SCPO Franklin Mendez, Dr. Catherine Halsey, Frederic-104, Linda-058, Lucy-B091, Tom-B292, Mark-G313, Ash-G099, and Olivia-G291 © 343 Industries / Microsoft

Description
"Welcome to Blue, Spartans. We're going to make a great team."

I've always found there to be something endearing about the ending scene of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. It's a satisfactory denouement to the novel's story but leaves you excited for what's coming next for these characters. It's also very bittersweet because when you think about it, this is also when Nylund parted with them. Oh, he did some more Halo stuff, but the GoO crew was left hanging.

And what happens after this... well. Let's not talk about that.

----

The way the characters are posed here isn't fully in line with the way the scene is described, but I wanted to show everyone's faces, which is also why the Spartans aren't wearing their helmets for no reason (can you tell who's who?). I wanted to stay as close to the book(s) as possible with their depictions, though there's obviously some bits where I had to fill in the blanks. I also wanted to include the stone paths and other details described in the novel, though the Forerunner spires are an artistic flourish. The book makes no mention of such things but I thought they worked well to provide some grandeur to the setting.

Now, I know what you're thinking. "They're inside a Dyson sphere, so you should be able to see the landscape curve up beyond the horizon." This isn't actually the case, however: unlike the Shield World in Halo Wars, the Onyx Dyson sphere is so massive that the curve isn't visible with the naked eye, which is actually noted in the novel. I wanted to stay true to this description at the risk of making people think it's a mistake.

The use of default armor for the characters is likewise intentional. I'm aware individualistic and custom-colored armor has become standard for Spartans by now but I still prefer them the way I used to imagine them when I first read the classic books. In hindsight, I could've given them some basic variation but there's a certain charm to the default MJOLNIR.

One other thing I wanted to do is show the SPI armor's stealth properties. Official sources have yet to depict the camo coating so there's quite a bit of freedom to envision how it might look. The reason I chose to show the camo on in a non-combat setting like this, aside from the neat visual effect, is the impression I got from Ghosts of Onyx that it's practically always on, even when the Spartans are outside combat, and hence there are no power issues with keeping it active casually like this. One might note that Olivia's forearms aren't "blending in" with her and Ash's visors. This is intentional, as I reasoned that the camo system might be able to identify surfaces which are clearly part of the suit itself and omit them from the camo patterns it generates, especially when it comes to the rather overt golden faceplate. The visor is probably camouflaged anyway when the suit is active (or when the helmet is on).

----

All my Ghosts of Onyx-related art | My artwork commission info

----

Halo, Kelly-087, SCPO Franklin Mendez, Dr. Catherine Halsey, Frederic-104, Linda-058, Lucy-B091, Tom-B292, Mark-G313, Ash-G099, and Olivia-G291 © 343 Industries / Microsoft