First Contact

First contact is a term describing the first meeting of two cultures previously unaware of one another.

First contact with extra-terrestrial life
Humans first discovered extra-terrestrial life form during their early colonisation of what would later be known as the Inner Colonies. Even before contact with the Covenant Empire humanity had become de-sensitised to extra-terrestrials, albeit not on a sentient-level. Examples of these are the Moa and Gúeta of Reach, and the Dwarka Squirrel of the planet of the same name.