: I tend to believe that only ONE universe exists and that when the marine
: leaps back, the future is erased. That is, everything that has happend
: after he leaps into the past is erased and only exists in the marines
: mind. If this is true then the marine is probably always leaping into a
: time right after M2, but we only play the last few hours of that timeline
: simply because the game would be like a million hours long if we played
: through every part of that timeline. Let me explain further: everyone
: knows the timeline were we fight for Tycho to control a ship (forgot the
: name of the level, but its the second level with all the fighters that
: help us) I believe that there is a story BEHIND all of that and that we
: didn't simply leap right into that particular time, instead we leaped
: perhaps years before it. Perhaps the story was taht the marine somehow
: betrayed durandal and joined up with Tycho and did a few errands before we
: begin playing that level.
That's a really great way of explaining things and it really makes a lot more sense than what has been posted before in the Volunteers series. Unfortunately, it's not consistent with the story that Bungie tells. At the end of Ne Cede Malis, there is mention of another ship that you should get to and -guess what, you're next on Tycho's ship. And then at the start of Rise Robot Rise - the level you refer to - Tycho begins by saying that you came around sooner than the scientist thought you would (and that he would have the scientist executed). This implies that the marine was captured and conditioned, and that this all took place fairly soon after Ne Cede Malis. I really like your idea, but it's not the one Bungie used.
