Editing Halo: Escalation Issue 13

{{Title|''Halo: Escalation Issue 13''}}
{{Status|RealWorld}}
{{Comics infobox
|prev=Halo: Escalation Issue 12
|next=Halo: Escalation Issue 14
|name=''Halo: Escalation Issue 13''
|image=[[File:HaloEscalation13.jpg|300px]]
|writer=[[Duffy Boudreau]]
|artist=*Sergio Ariño (penciller)<br>
*Rob Lean (inker)
*Michael Atiyeh (colorist)
*Daniel Chavez (cover artist)
|publisher= [[Dark Horse Comics]]
|publication= [[2014#December|December 24, 2014]]
|length=32 pages
|ISBN= 
}}

'''''Halo: Escalation Issue 13''''' was released on [[2014|December 24, 2014]] and is the thirteenth comic in the ''[[Halo: Escalation]]'' series.<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=55484 '''Comic Book Resources''': ''Dark Horse Comics December 2014 Solicitations'']</ref> It is the first part of the four-issue story arc ''"The Janus Key"''.

==Official summary==
{{Article Quote|Requiem has been destroyed, but the real war between Commander Sarah Palmer's Spartans and Jul 'Mdama's New Covenant is just beginning... and everything hinges on control of one all-powerful artifact. Duffy Boudreau (BlackAcre, Bloodshot) and Sergio Ariño (Ms. Marvel) team up for an all-new chapter of the Halo saga and a great jumping-on point for new readers!}}

==Plot synopsis==
Issue #13 begins two months after the events of Issue #12, on [[2558#July|July 15, 2558]], with Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] making a personal journal entry on her views on the Forerunners and their technology, her contribution to humanity's survival and subsequent condemnation by the UNSC, as well as her encounter with the [[Librarian]] on [[Requiem]]. Despite the UNSC turning against her, she remains determined to combine the halves of the [[Janus Key]] and take them to the [[Absolute Record]] to fulfill the Librarian's plan.

The next day, [[Oban]] is [[Battle of Oban|attacked]] by [[Promethean]]s and [[Covenant remnants|Covenant]] forces. Spartans [[Gabriel Thorne]], [[Sarah Palmer]] and [[Joel Thomas]] are deployed to repel the attack. Palmer orders all UNSC forces to search and find [[Jul 'Mdama]], while Thomas orders an airstrike on a pair of {{Pattern|Ru'swum|Phantom}}s. Palmer orders Thorne to get to an [[M12 Chaingun Warthog]] but they are ambushed and pursued by [[Promethean Crawler]]s. After they dispatch the Crawlers Palmer drives the Warthog off a cliff and on top of one of the Phantoms before crashing to the ground, lightly injuring Thorne. The Phantoms prepare to fire on the Spartans but are saved by the airstrike called in by Thomas, with a [[GA-TL1 Longsword]] destroying both Phantoms.

On July 17, onboard the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, [[Thomas Lasky|Captain Lasky]] reprimands Palmer about her attitude on Oban. Palmer asks him why Jul would waste so much resources on attack a small colony; Lasky believes it may have been to stop colonization efforts and that Jul may not have been the one responsible of the attack. Lasky then tells Palmer that she is frustrated by losing not only Jul's track but Halsey's as well, knowing "one will lead to the other". Lasky reveals he wants Dr. Halsey taken back into custody, but Palmer insists on killing the doctor on sight.

The next day, Palmer visits [[Henry Glassman|Dr. Glassman]], who is examining one of the halves of the Janus Key. Palmer orders Glassman to give her the final head count of [[Galileo II]] base and she has prepared a security escort for the team. When the ''Infinity'' jumps to [[slipspace]], the ship suddenly reappears in an [[asteroid]] belt, colliding with an asteroid and causing some damage inside the ship. The ''Infinity'' jumps to slipspace again, just to reappear a quarter of a kilometer of her last position. [[Roland]] tells Captain Lasky that it is not advisable to make another jump. Lasky orders Palmer and Dr. Glassman to go to ''Infinity''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s engine room. Dr. Glassman discovers the [[Slipspace drive#Macedon|''Infinity''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s slipspace drive]] is overriding any coordinate except the one of the location in which they are, sticking the ship in a "Slipspace ''[[Wikipedia:Cul-de-sac|Cul-de-sac]]''". In that moment, Roland finds an unusual energy reading coming from the equator of an [[Aktis IV|uncharted planet]] near their position. Glassman and Lasky suppose that the location is the source of the problem and Palmer orders to gather a team and send them with Dr. Glassman to the planet.

In a {{Pattern|Ket|battlecruiser}}, Dr. Halsey and Jul 'Mdama are in front of a Forerunner [[Requiem communication artifact|artifact]], recovered by 'Mdama before Requiem exploded. Halsey explains to 'Mdama that the artifact allowed her to be able to contact the ''Infinity's'' Forerunner components, including her slipspace drive, and stuck them in the system. 'Mdama then tells Halsey his lieutenants called for her head after the failed attack on Oban, but Halsey tells him that the attack was only a bold move to attract the ''Infinity'' near the artifact and be able to connect the artifact and ''Infinity's'' drive. Halsey then tells him that now they will not need to invade the ship to retrieve the other half of the Janus Key, as it will be ''Infinity's'' crew itself who will give it to them.

==Production notes==
===Mistakes===
The glossary on the inside front cover erroneously indicates the year is 2258, which is a simple, yet grave, typo for the intended year of 2558 referenced later in the story.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Halo Escalation 13.jpg|Full cover art. 
File:HE13 Halsey Key Half.jpg|Halsey with half of the Janus Key.
File:HE13 Thorne Palmer Save.jpg|Palmer saves Thorne from a Promethean Knight.
File:HE13 Hog Hop.jpg|Palmer runs a Warthog on top of a Phantom.
File:HE13 Longsword Combat.jpg|A Longsword destroys two Phantoms.
File:HE13 Discussion.jpg|Lasky and Palmer discuss the mission.
File:HE13 Argument.jpg|Palmer argues with Lasky over Halsey.
File:HE13 Key Tap.jpg|Glassman inspects the Janus Key.
File:HE13 Infinity Impact.jpg|The ''Infinity'' runs into an asteroid.
File:HE13 Pelican Explode.jpg|A Pelican explodes in a hangar bay.
File:HE13 Nowhere Fast.jpg|The ''Infinity'' immediately exits slipspace.
File:HE13 Infinity Eng Rm.jpg|A anomaly in the ''Infinity'''s engine room.
File:HE13 Uncharted Sys.jpg|An [[Aktis IV|unidentified planet]].
File:HE13 Artifact.jpg|Jul and Halsey inspect an artifact.
File:HE13 Jul & Halsey.jpg|Jul and Halsey discuss the Janus Key.
</gallery>

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

==See also==
*''[[Halo: Escalation]]''

{{succession box|before=''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 12|Issue 12]]''|title=''[[Halo: Escalation]]'' comic series|years='''''Issue 13'''''|after=''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 14|Issue 14]]''}}

{{Comics|HE}}

[[Category:Comics|Escalation Issue 13]]
[[Category:Canon]]