Halo: A Fistful of Arrows
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This article contains information about a fan-made subject that is not considered a part of the official Halo universe. |
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halo.bungie.org |
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Publication date: |
October 15, 2010–November 11, 2011 |
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Webcomic |
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100 pages |
Halo: A Fistful of Arrows is a fan-made Internet graphic novel about Jun-A266's past and fate after the events of Halo: Reach. The graphic novel explores new characters and events but is generally consistent with the canon of official Halo franchise media. Since its release, the comic has received a great deal of attention from the Halo community, including Bungie and 343 Industries.
It is written and drawn by Levi "Leviathan" Hoffmeier, who also drew the cover for the Halo: Evolutions short story Pariah and contributed artwork to the Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition).[1] The graphic novel was initially published in Hoffmeier's DeviantArt gallery on October 15, 2010, but Claude Errera later constructed a blog format for Hoffmeier in bungie.org.[2] An interactive flip book, constructed by OneBitRocket, was later released on November 11, 2011. A soundtrack, composed by Sean Mortensen, is released on the website, for people to listen as they read the novel.[3]
Plot[edit]
Prologue[edit]
On May 2552, in Reach's coastal city Nastrond, NOBLE Team faces an insurrectionist holding a woman hostage on a building rooftop. Temporarily at stalemate, Carter tells Jun who is riding on a Falcon hovering nearby, that they need an "accurate solution". Jun calmly challenges Carter's order, since the rebel is former UNSC. Hearing this and worried that Jun is hesitating, Carter demands that he shoots him anyway, only for Jun to do so just as he finishes his sentence.
With the hostage in shock but rescued, Carter reports to Colonel Urban Holland while Emile and Jorge discuss Jun's actions. Wearing a standard, uncarved EVA helmet, Emile claims that Jun was hesitant, something that will get a military man killed, while Jorge tells him that Jun has a conscience, something Emile would "have to look up sometime." Emile only mocks this, asking if the whole team is going AWOL now. As they climb aboard a Pelican extracting them, Jorge reassures Emile that he doesn't need to worry about him, nor Jun, since he knows that Jun's "got our back, and we'll always have his." The Falcon and Pelican, carrying NOBLE Team and the rescued hostage, leave the city.
Act One[edit]
The scene moves to the present, August 30, 2552, the Fall of Reach, where a Pelican, piloted by Doctor Catherine Halsey and with Jun on board, flies over a mountain range to CASTLE Base. Jun voices his concern about their current flight path, since they're heading straight for a Covenant fleet. Halsey explains to him that since the fleet is headed for the HIGHCOM headquarters, they'll soon be distracted by the impending battle. However, Banshees are quickly approaching,and Jun takes down a few with the Pelican's rear turret, before Halsey's "distraction", a UNSC fleet, arrives. However, one last hurdle remains, a Covenant Assault Carrier. Several UNSC frigates manage to bring down its shields, but are unable to destroy it until the Marathon-class heavy cruiser UNSC Daedalus Wing sacrifices itself by ramming into the carrier while simultaneously detonating its Shiva-class nukes. Jun, staring at the explosion, experiences a flashback.
On the night NOBLE Team rescued the hostage, as they return to a UNSC base, Carter discusses with Jun what happened earlier on that day. Jun expresses his suspicion about the rescued woman, but Carter tells Jun that he needs some rest. That night, as Carter takes off his armor, he and Kat have a conversation about Jun's rationality. Their conversation is interrupted by an explosion in the base's main structure. Carter, realizing the rescue hostage is responsible for the sabotage, sends Emile, the only Spartan who is still combat ready, to chase after the woman. While Carter and Kat get back into armor, Emile eliminates a couple of rebels who attempt to cover the woman. Just as Emile corners her, an insurrectionist Warthog arrives and the gunner fires at Emile, who the rest of NOBLE Team loses contact with subsequently. Carter and Kat, now equipped and armored, get in their own Warthog to search for him.
The two find Emile injured but alive, with his damaged helmet off. Noting the damage to it, Kat tells him that "[he] can paint a pretty picture over it [and] no one will notice." They return to the base while their Falcon searches for the insurrectionists. A Pelican douses the base's fire while Jun and Jorge help search for the wounded. Jun looks at a buried body in the debris, only with a hand visible.
Jun's flashback is cut off as Halsey calls to him, asking if he is okay. Halsey asks Kalmiya about the status of CASTLE Base, which is currently out of the Covenant's suspicion since its defenses are down. Halsey is so far the only known ONI personnel fall back to the facility. Halsey then asks Kalmiya to access NOBLE Team's reports, believing that she will probably spend a lot of time in CASTLE alone with Jun, who she resents, so she might as well as know more about the Spartan. Kalmiya finds a partial footage of a NOBLE Team mission accessed from the Superintendent AI in Quezon. When Kalmiya says she is uncertain about accessing such data without clearance, Halsey activates her nullification code, "whateverittakes".
Act Two[edit]
The scene switches to July 2552, before SPARTAN-B312 joined NOBLE Team. NOBLE had hunted down each of the members of the Insurrectionists on Reach, save one, their leader Eliza Ingrid, who was the false hostage caught earlier. Having traced her to Quezon City, Jun took charge of tracking the target while on a construction crane, while the others, with the help of the city's Superintendent, were to capture her. Finding her heading down the highway leading to the Quezon Interstellar Spaceport, the Spartans activate its roadblocks, closing off the traffic and trapping Ingrid's taxi.
While Ingrid forces the taxi driver at gunpoint to find another way to the ship port, Emile (now with his skull-carved helmet) appears beside the taxi. The Spartan rips open the taxi door, but the taxi takes off and Emile loses his hold in the process. Carter, Kat, and Jorge pursue the taxi on a Falcon, but one of Insurrectionists riding inside fires an EMP grenade, temporarily disabling it. Carter falls off the Falcon from the blast, but Kat, wearing a Series 8 jetpack, dives off and saves him. The damaged Falcon lands on top of a tower east of the highway, while Carter and Kat landed safely, but they were unable to chase after Ingrid.
Deciding to snipe Ingrid, Jun makes his way to another construction crane and aims for the moving car. Carter tells him that ONI wants her alive, so Jun shifts the reticule to the terrified driver, before apparently reconsidering and shifting his reticle once more to the vehicle's front tire. He fires his sniper rifle, initially impressed with his shot, only to witness the taxi lose control and fall off the highway. Ingrid is ejected from the vehicle on impact, whereas the driver was crushed under the vehicle's frame, killing him. Emile captures Ingrid moments later, with Jun evidently feeling remorse at his failure to keep the driver alive as well. As Jorge comes to pick Jun, he tells the discouraged Spartan something Chief Franklin Mendez once said to him, only for his speech to be cut off as the footage ends.
Kalmiya apologizes for the inability to learn the message, but Halsey decides that whatever it was helped Jun to fight in the Fall of Reach. At that moment, Halsey looks behind her and sees Jun standing there, having overheard their conversation. This tense moment is interrupted as Kalmiya informs them the Pelican has arrived at their destination: Menachite Mountain, home of CASTLE Base.
Last Act[edit]
Halsey is greeted by ONI Captain Laird MacLean at CASTLE Base's landing pad. MacLean's ODSTs, near the base's entrance, show their distastes in Spartans immediately. Halsey tells MacLean that only one personnel is required for Operation: WHITE GLOVE, and MacLean should leave with his ODSTs if they know a safe extraction point. MacLean argues that he and his ODSTs are staying, declaring that many of his men died in the drop to the mountain and they will not let them have died for nothing. Their conversation is cut short as they see a Covenant SDV-class Heavy Corvette being shot down.