Development of Project Daybreak

This page covers the development of Project Daybreak, up until now and in the future. Ongoing projects are also listed here.

The project's development is loosely split here loosely into phases (the first two retroactively). Each of these phases represents a major stage in the development of the project, and is defined by the primary milestones and/or overarching goals of that phase.

Phase 1 (2016-2019)
Project Daybreak first emerged as an aggregate of miscellaneous fanon ideas collected over the years. The most notable output of this era were various astrographic mapping efforts, the basis of the Covenant's political makeup and the overall broad strokes of our version of the postwar setup. In this phase, the confluence of Not All Who Wander and Daybreak became official and the project was established on the SpaceBattles forums after a brief stint on the now-defunct Archive Installation forums.

Phase 2: Schism and Solace (2020-ONGOING)
In-universe, Phase 2 has been marked by continued development of both the post-war era and the setting overall, including the emergence of more detailed ideas for the Interplanetary War. Out of universe, it has seen an increase of interest in the project and a steady growth of its contributor base. The overall goal of this phase is to satisfactorily chart the universe's course from 2552 to 2579, setting the stage for the next major event.

This phase remains in progress.


 * To do
 * Finish figuring out the politics of the Concord of Reconciliation and its major sub-entities
 * Definitively establish other major post-Covenant factions, what they want + their development over the decades and rough ideas for their future.
 * Diverging tech bases in more concrete terms!
 * Thoughts on the Banished? Probably not gonna be a major thing
 * Future of the Strewn Shore & Via Casilina Community
 * Delineate the main beats of the timeline from 2552 to 2580.
 * Surviving Gammas & Blue Team's activities; Gamma missions; Incorporation of Ferrets & Veta Lopis and the Gao conflict? Other S-IIIs and SCPO Mendez.
 * Define the post-war UEG, Phoenix Initiative and colonies' politics better - what are the degrees of cooperation within the PI, and how do new technologies like FTL comms affect the political process? Is the Assembly involved at all at this point?
 * Define the timeline and nature of the UNSC's post-war modernization initiatives (new ships, naval weapons, defenses, gear, etc)
 * Outline what the GoO crew encounters in the shield world and how exactly they escape + what happens with Halsey
 * The Hoplite program and the rise of augmentations within both the UNSC and the private sector
 * Colonel James Ackerson's activities
 * Delta Company
 * The search for Cole
 * The Assembly's activities
 * Minor Flood outbreaks & scale and extent?
 * Outline of other galactic societies, namely ones the Covenant knew about, and possible border tensions with splinter factions
 * Outline of Covenant history/named ages (ongoing)
 * Meta: Finish setting up the wiki (e.g. adding staple articles & templates), pave the way for more potential contributors in the future.

Projects are listed in descending order of priority.
 * Ongoing projects


 * Projects/Post-War Era - Creating a basic overview of Daybreak's version of the post-Covenant War situation: Who are the key players and where, what are their motives and goals, and what are their relative strengths and weaknesses.
 * Projects/UNSC Fleet Modernization - Closely related to the post-war era project, this one is a more in-depth look at the modernization of the UNSC Navy in the post-war decades, along with the technologies used.
 * Projects/Interplanetary Wars - A kind of side project covering everything on early human history, from the 21st century to the Interplanetary Wars in the 22nd, including the political, military and technological underpinnings of that era. Due to its many differences from mainstream Halo, can be treated as almost its own sub-setting.

Phase 3: Conflict and Concordance
C. 2580-2630


 * Themes, ideas and plot beats
 * The Excession Conflict & Siege of Earth and the Diasporic Age
 * UNSC mobility increase & the Scattering of Mankind; refocus toward Cygnus-Cassiopeia and spinward flight. Mobile habitats?
 * UNSC technological advances, continuing AI development (next-gen and lifespan extensions?), percolation of advanced cybernetics, augmentation and cloning across society. S-IV project. Teleportation, at least short-range?
 * UNSC civil conflict/split? Factionalism?
 * Human cultural splintering in the Diaspora
 * Concord & Covenant Sphere civil wars
 * Jul 'Mdama: his persona, his grievances and arc; his faction, their power level and ties/allies and the circumstances that enable his rise to preeminence.
 * Political situation in the human sphere post-invasion; other warlords and conflicts. Human integration into some post-Covenant groups.
 * Retake of Earth & strip-mining crisis
 * Discovery of Installation 03? (occupation/involvement by a non-Covenant civ?)
 * Ultimate fate of the Excession; continued presence or asset denial?
 * Quest for the Ark portals & Recovery of the Ark
 * Recoalescence of the Concord & Cleansing of the Faith
 * Emergence of a more Covenant-like polity opposed to the Concord, start of a cold war of sorts

Phase 4: Truth and Reconciliation
C. 2630-2700?


 * Themes, ideas and plot beats
 * Picking up the Master Chief and Cortana/Mendicant Bias plotline?
 * Return of the Covenant galactic circumnavigation fleet + more info on the state of other galactic civilizations (Migrant fleet is not the first, but part of a tradition started by the Reformists pre-Covenant)
 * Benefactor/Nomad conflict, reveal of Forerunner backup sanctuary populations?
 * Return of Onyx and Halsey? (may be later)
 * Continued AI development and AI integration in society
 * Other galaxies & fate of the surviving Forerunners?
 * Recovery of the Ark, Onyx & gradual transition toward a more stable age

Future Phases

 * Themes, ideas and plot beats
 * Cortana Letters' dark sun? (W'rkncacnter expy or something else)
 * The Flood & other galaxies
 * Ultimate fate of the Universe & the Real Great Journey