ither to ▁und is closed . ▁J arr ard ▁explained ▁that ▁" The ▁stories ▁that ▁happen ▁off ▁camera , ▁the ▁parallel ▁events ▁to ▁the ▁ar cs ▁that ▁our ▁fans ▁know ▁from ▁the ▁existing ▁medium s , ▁are ▁the ▁stories ▁we ▁really ▁wanted ▁to ▁tell ." ▁J arr ard ▁further ▁described ▁this ▁as ▁an ▁attempt ▁to ▁move ▁away ▁from ▁the ▁story ▁of ▁the ▁Master ▁Chief , ▁the ▁central ▁character ▁of ▁the ▁franch ise , ▁and ▁focus ▁instead ▁on ▁what ▁they ▁believed ▁to ▁be ▁the ▁core ▁them es ▁that ▁lay ▁behind ▁the ▁game ▁universe , ▁such ▁as ▁maintain ing ▁hope ▁in ▁the ▁face ▁of ▁over wh el ming ▁odd s ▁and ▁human ity ' s ▁struggle ▁for ▁surv ival ; ▁them es ▁that ▁extended ▁beyond ▁"... a ▁gen et ically ▁en hanced ▁super ▁soldier ▁pick ing ▁up ▁two ▁guns ▁and ▁kick ing ▁some ▁al ien ▁but t ." ▁The ▁four ▁stories ▁that ▁ended ▁up ▁in ▁the ▁final ▁publication ▁were ▁" the ▁most ▁interesting ▁to ▁[ B ung ie ], ▁and ▁the ▁writers ▁of ▁[ the ▁novel ] ". ▁Although ▁B ung ie ▁created ▁the ▁story ▁ar cs ▁present ▁in ▁the ▁H alo ▁Graph ic ▁Nov el , ▁the ▁studio ▁described ▁the ▁importance ▁of ▁providing ▁a ▁framework ▁for ▁each ▁story ▁that ▁the ▁various ▁artists ▁and ▁writers ▁could ▁tell ▁without ▁je op ard izing ▁their ▁own ▁voice . ▁Art ist ▁Simon ▁Bis ley ▁said ▁that , ▁" The ▁stress ▁was ▁to ▁make ▁the ▁characters ▁look ▁very ▁much ▁as ▁they ▁do ▁in ▁the ▁game . ▁Bey ond ▁that