Editing Halo: Glasslands

{{Title|''Halo: Glasslands''}}

{{Novel infobox

|image=[[File:Glasslands cover.jpg|300px]]

|author=[[Karen Traviss]]

|media=Print (Hardcover, paperback), Audiobook

}}

'''''Halo: Glasslands''''' is the first novel in the [[Kilo-Five Trilogy]] by [[Karen Traviss]].<ref name="release">[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/news/headline/tor-books-reveals-title-cover-art-of-first-halo-novel-from-karen-traviss/86029 '''Halo Official Site''': ''Tor Books reveals title, cover art of first Halo novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Traviss'']</ref> It was released on [[2011|October 25, 2011]] on hardcover, paperback and audiobook.<ref name = "Amazon">[http://www.amazon.com/Halo-Glasslands-Karen-Traviss/dp/0765323931/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308338967&sr=8-1 '''Amazon.com''': ''Halo: Glasslands (hardcover)'']</ref> A sequel, ''[[Halo: The Thursday War]]'', was released on [[2012|October 2, 2012]].<ref>[http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/03/tor-books-announces-next-book-in-halo-series '''Tor Announces next book in ''Halo'' series''']</ref>

   

Throughout the story, the moral implications of the SPARTAN-II program and those involved with it - particularly Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] - are explored. In addition, the societal and religious impact the sundering of the Covenant had on Sangheili culture is explored in detail. Threads of the story also have connections to ''[[Halo 4]]''.<ref name="sparkast">[http://halo.xbox.com/Content/assets/en-us/Podcast/343Sparkast_005.mp3 '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''343 Sparkast 005'']</ref>

==Official summary==

''"The galaxy is in chaos. The aftermath of a star-spanning war has left everything in doubt - and the ruins of two once-mighty civilizations teetering on the brink of collapse. From this chaos, new adversaries will emerge, including a cruel and dangerous organization bent on exploiting the still-fresh passions and prejudices of the war for its own gain (and that's just on the human side). The Covenant-that-was, a seething mixture of religious zealotry and rival alien species, is trying to regain its primacy and find a new path back to its former glory."''

==Plot synopsis==

The prologue begins with a narration from [[Catherine Halsey]] regarding the current situation within the [[The Sharpened Shield|core]] of [[Onyx]]. Continuing from where they left off, Catherine Halsey, [[Franklin Mendez|Chief Mendez]], and the surviving Spartans continue to traverse the [[shield world]] as they search for a food source, a way to revive [[Team Katana]] and a means of escape. With a sense of regret Dr. Halsey begins to wonder about her mission to save the [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-IIs]] and the whereabouts of [[John-117]], [[Cortana]], and [[Miranda Keyes]].  

At [[Office of Naval Intelligence|ONI]] [[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6|Facility Bravo-Six]] in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]], Serin Osman and [[Admiral]] [[Margaret Parangosky]] discuss the formation of Osman's new team, [[Kilo-Five]], and its mission to neutralize the Sangheili. Parangosky also believes Dr. Halsey to be alive, but tells Osman that she only needs to divert to Onyx when anything is found. Afterwards, two [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper|ODSTs]], [[Corporal]] [[Vasily Beloi|Vasily "Vaz" Beloi]] and [[Staff Sergeant]] [[Malcolm Geffen|Malcolm "Mal" Geffen]], arrive at Bravo-Six where they meet another ODST, [[Lian Devereaux]] and [[Petty Officer]] [[Naomi-010]], followed by Parangosky, Serin Osman, and Professor Evan Phillips. Parangosky then discloses the mission, explaining the objective to sow discontent and strife among the Sangheili and to keep them fighting amongst themselves by arming the Sangheili dissidents. Lastly, the group is told they will be using the {{UNSCShip|Port Stanley}} for the mission and are introduced to [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] [[Black-Box]], or “BB”. Before ''Port Stanley'' heads out, the crew is notified that the {{UNSCShip|Ariadne}} was having technical problems. The ship requested help from the [[insurrectionist]]-controlled colony of [[Venezia]], but the colony refused to cooperate.

''Port Stanley'' exits slipspace near New Llanelli and Osman arranges to meet with ‘Telcam. Kilo-Five then lands on New Llanelli and they drive a [[M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle|Warthog]] hauling a trailer full of weapons over to ‘Telcam, who surveys the crates and proceeds to take them to his ship, oblivious to the UNSC tags embedded on the weapons. As Kilo-Five prepares to leave, Mal spots and subdues a man by the name of [[Tom Muir]], who reveals himself to be the only survivor left on the colony. Osman reluctantly agrees to take the man aboard the ship but has him quarantined. Soon after, Kilo-Five travel to [[Reynes]] in order to extract an ONI agent known as [[Mike Spenser]]. Before they can leave, a group of [[Kig-Yar]] appear and begin to move in on them, demanding their material. This leads to a firefight in which all the Kig-Yar are killed. Osman orders Mal and Vaz to bring back some of the bodies as she may have use for them. Six hours later, the [[UNSC prowler|corvette]] exits slipspace near Venezia in order to meet with [[UNSC destroyer|destroyer]] ''[[UNSC Monte Cassino|Monte Cassino]]'' to transfer Spenser and Muir. They also attempt to help the ''Ariadne'', but the patrol ship explodes before they can reach it.

At the [[Bekan keep]] on Sanghelios, Jul and ‘Telcam await the ''Piety’s'' return. ‘Telcam explains to Jul that he lost contact with his Jiralhanae contact named [[Manus]] and that he was bringing a Huragok he recovered from ''[[Serene Certainty]]''. The ''Piety'' finally arrives, and the Sangheili find Manus and the rest of the Jiralhanae dead, along with dead Kig-Yar clutching human rifles, and the Huragok missing. ‘Telcam checks the communication logs and finds that the Kig-Yar had radio contact with Venezia. Later, Jul suggests that they should move the ''Unflinching Resolve'' to the planet where ‘Telcam receives his weapon shipments, but ‘Telcam refuses to reveal its name or location. Jul requests to accompany him but ‘Telcam insists that he can bring no one else. ‘Telcam heads out for another shipment but Jul follows him to New Llanelli, where he discovers that ‘Telcam is receiving weapons from humans. Suddenly Jul is ambushed and captured by Naomi.

While everyone is continuing their search for Lucy, she finally emerges with Prone to Drift. Using Halsey's [[data pad]] to communicate with the group, Prone asks about the situation on the outside, the status of the [[Flood]], and shows them the Forerunner hangar that Lucy previously fell in. The Huragok also tells them that Team Katana were placed in [[Slipspace field pod|slipspace pods]] because they were too damaged for them to repair. He also reveals that the shield world’s time is moving slower than normal space and that there are sensors that can view normal space events. Mendez requests to signal their ships but Prone states they must remain concealed until a presence near them is identified as not being a threat. As Prone insists on maintaining silence, Halsey grows frustrated and threatens the Huragok with her sidearm, prompting Lucy into punching Halsey and forcing her to the ground, simultaneously overcoming her post-traumatic vocal disarticulation as she repeatedly screams out “No!” Mendez then restrains Lucy and calms her down while the Spartan-IIs help Dr. Halsey to her feet. Mendez and Halsey begin to argue over the situation but Fred steps in to break up the fight. Afterwards, Prone comes back and grants them access to the control panel. Dr. Halsey speaks into the comms several times and eventually Admiral Parangosky responds.

Back in the Dyson sphere, Dr. Halsey and Parangosky converse about the situation within and outside the sphere and Dr. Halsey tells her that Forerunner technology is available to them. Then Parangosky informs Halsey of the bad news; Master Chief and Cortana are [[Missing in action|MIA]] and that [[Miranda Keyes|her daughter]] was killed. Afterwards, Prone and the other Huragok create three more Engineers to assist Halsey with the Forerunner artifacts as he and the others must stay behind in the sphere. Prone then agrees to transition the shield world into normal space. Mendez makes a request to Parangosky to designate the shield world “Ambrose” but Dr. Halsey insists on calling it “Trevelyan” in honor of [[Kurt Ambrose|Kurt]]’s real surname.

Catherine Halsey, now detained aboard the station ''[[Ivanoff]]'', is being interrogated by Parangosky. First Parangosky tells her that she is confirmed dead to the rest of the UNSC until Parangosky states otherwise. She then accuses Halsey of lying to her about the [[Flash cloning|clones]] used in the Spartan program and they have a heated argument about the issue. Parangosky also tells Halsey that she has her [[Dr. Halsey's personal journal|journal]] and that she is heading [[SPARTAN-IV Program|a new Spartan program]]. Before leaving, she hands Halsey a picture of a plaque with her name and epitaph on it.

{{Spoiler/end}}

*[[Emanuel Barakat]] {{Fm}}

*[[Franklin Mendez]]

*[[James Ackerson]] {{Mo}}

*[[John-117]] {{Mo}}

*[[Magnusson]] {{1st}}

*[[Malcolm Geffen]] {{1st}}

*[[Mark-G313]]

*[[Mike Spenser]] {{1st}}

*[[Unified Earth Government]]

**[[United Nations Space Command]]

****[[SPARTAN-IV program]] {{Fm}}

***[[UNSC Army]] {{Mo}}

**{{UNSCShip|Ariadne}} {{1st}}

*''[[Serene Certainty]]'' {{Fm}}

*[[UNSC corvette]]

**{{UNSCShip|Glamorgan}} {{1st}}

|title-7=Weapons|

*[[Combat knife]]

*[[M6 series|M6 series magnum]]

*[[M71 Scythe]]

**[[SRS99D-S2 AM sniper rifle]]

*[[Type-1 energy sword]]

|title-8=Technology and equipment|

*[[14.5×114mm]]

*[[Weapon attachment]]

**[[Muzzle brake]]

}}

==Trivia==

*The novel introduces the titular "glasslands" as an in-universe term for human colony worlds [[glassing|glassed]] during the war.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''pages 113, 267''</ref>

==Sources==

[[Category:Novels|Glasslands]]

[[Category:Canon|Glasslands]]