Having previously battled the Covenant, the Banished rose to power in wake of the empire's fall in 2552 by gaining control of numerous assets from the Covenant. Led by Captain James Cutter, the crew of Spirit of Fire encounter the mercenary faction known as the Banished, led by the cunning Jiralhanae warlord Atriox. The remaining crew of the Spirit of Fire are awoken from cryo-sleep above the Forerunners' Installation 00, previously the setting for Halo 3. Halo Wars 2 takes place 28 years after the events of Halo Wars in 2531, after Phoenix-class colony ship UNSC Spirit of Fire had floated adrift in space for decades and declared by the rest of the United Nations Space Command as 'lost with all hands'. ' There's a sense of scale and scale that I think was maybe missing from Halo Wars.' - Frank O'Connor 5.21 The Flood Vidoc - Awakening The Nightmare.