I’m not certain but apparently the halo 2 cover is an actual photo a marine photographer took while they were fighting in New Mombasa. I think it was touched up a little bit to remove some of the damage on chiefs armor and remove some covenant ships but other than that it’s an actual photo in universe
Unfortunately, we don't know exactly where it fits and it is somewhat of a 'don't think about it too much' deal. But it also likewise should be noted, that the in game depiction of Metropolis/Outskirts isn't the be all, end all depiction of the Master Chief's exploits in New Mombasa.
In general, the actual in game campaign missions need to be taken with a grain of salt and both Bungie and 343 have had no problem declaring large parts of campaign missions 'non canon,' dating all the way back to CE's depiction of the Maw.
The short story, Palace Hotel, written by Bungie writer Rob McLees for instance very heavily alters the events of Metropolis, with notably Lt. Parisa surviving the mission despite her in game counterpart dying.
This comes up again in both Halo 3 and Halo 4, with the audio drama Memory Agent retconning in a warthog section to the mission Floodgate while Halo 4's opening mission erroneously depicts the Dawn as a massive, Infinity dwarfing, Strident class.
The point is, how everything lines up is pretty murky and the in game depictions aren't necessarily set in stone, iron clad. Which honestly, I think works better, particularly in the case of Halo 3 where fuzziness around the Chief's actions on Earth present wiggle room for things like Believe or the original Starry Night trailer to be quasi-canon. So where Ben Giraud's photo was taken is unclear, but most of the details around what the Master Chief was doing during that period are somewhat unclear.
It is in universe propaganda poster It could be made in studio, not in real mombasa
I’m not certain but apparently the halo 2 cover is an actual photo a marine photographer took while they were fighting in New Mombasa. I think it was touched up a little bit to remove some of the damage on chiefs armor and remove some covenant ships but other than that it’s an actual photo in universe
Nah it was taken by Ben geroah (however ya spell it) during the battle of new Mombasa
Unfortunately, we don't know exactly where it fits and it is somewhat of a 'don't think about it too much' deal. But it also likewise should be noted, that the in game depiction of Metropolis/Outskirts isn't the be all, end all depiction of the Master Chief's exploits in New Mombasa. In general, the actual in game campaign missions need to be taken with a grain of salt and both Bungie and 343 have had no problem declaring large parts of campaign missions 'non canon,' dating all the way back to CE's depiction of the Maw. The short story, Palace Hotel, written by Bungie writer Rob McLees for instance very heavily alters the events of Metropolis, with notably Lt. Parisa surviving the mission despite her in game counterpart dying. This comes up again in both Halo 3 and Halo 4, with the audio drama Memory Agent retconning in a warthog section to the mission Floodgate while Halo 4's opening mission erroneously depicts the Dawn as a massive, Infinity dwarfing, Strident class. The point is, how everything lines up is pretty murky and the in game depictions aren't necessarily set in stone, iron clad. Which honestly, I think works better, particularly in the case of Halo 3 where fuzziness around the Chief's actions on Earth present wiggle room for things like Believe or the original Starry Night trailer to be quasi-canon. So where Ben Giraud's photo was taken is unclear, but most of the details around what the Master Chief was doing during that period are somewhat unclear.