Halo: Mortal Dictata

This article is about the novel. For the legislation, see UN Colonial Mortal Dictata.

Halo: Mortal Dictata
Attribution information
Author(s):	Karen Traviss
Publication information
Publisher:	Tor Books
Publication date:	January 21, 2014
Media type:	Print (paperback, hardcover); audiobook
Pages:	496 pages
ISBN:	0765323958, 978-0765323958

Halo: Mortal Dictata is the third and last novel in the Kilo-Five Trilogy by Karen Traviss, and a direct follow-up to Halo: The Thursday War. The book was released on January 21, 2014.

Plot synopsis

Mal Geffen and Vaz Beloi are deployed on Venezia disguised as UNSC deserters to infiltrate into the local militia and find Pious Inquisitor, a Covenant battlecruiser which the local insurrectionist Staffan Sentzke seeks to acquire. Sentzke plans to use the ship to threaten Earth with glassing in order to coerce the authorities into providing answers about his daughter's disappearance decades earlier. Pious Inquisitor is in the possession of the Kig-Yar Sav Fel, who stole the ship from the Sangheili rebel faction known as the Servants of the Abiding Truth. Avu Med 'Telcam, leader of the Abiding Truth, hires the Kig-Yar Shipmistress Chol Von to hunt down Fel and Inquisitor, but Von has plans of her own: she intends to keep the ship to herself as part of her effort to build a unified Kig-Yar navy.

While selling Pious Inquisitor to Sentzke, Sav Fel demonstrates the destructive power of the battlecruiser's ventral beam, destroying a Forerunner ruin on Shaps III. Sometimes Sinks, a Huragok aboard the ship, is horrified about this and develops a particular loyalty to Sentzke after he convinces the Kig-Yar to test the beam away from the ruins. Sentzke then buys Pious Inquisitor and the Huragok with it, dubbing the ship Naomi in honor of his daughter. After Mal and Vaz have infiltrated Sentzke's organization, they are soon taken to see the ship. Using a tracer planted by Vaz, Kilo-Five attempt to remotely seize control of Pious Inquisitor from Venezia, but Sometimes Sinks blocks the intrusion and reports it to Staffan Sentzke. Sentzke has Mal and Vaz captured and interrogated; Vaz soon reveals that he has information about Staffan's daughter. While Sentzke continues to question Vaz in a secure location, Black-Box uses Mal and Vaz's neural transponders to locate them. Naomi takes the team's new dropship, Bogof, to free Mal from the rebels' compound while Lian Devereaux goes after Vaz, also taking Sentzke prisoner. They make it to UNSC Port Stanley and Staffan Sentzke is soon allowed to reunite with his daughter. After the initial shock, he states that he is willing to make a deal with the UNSC: as long as Naomi is given the choice to decide whether to continue her Spartan career or join her family, he will leave Earth alone.

Meanwhile, Chol Von's crew, having taken Sav Fel captive, locate Pious Inquisitor and make their way inside. However, Sometimes Sinks, only compliant to Sentzke's orders, places the ship in complete lockdown and transitions it to coordinates designated by Sentzke. After Kilo-Five locate the ship, Sentzke convinces Sometimes Sinks to allow Kilo-Five to come onboard. The humans make way toward the bridge and after they kill several of Chol Von's crew when upon their refusal to leave, Von has her crew set the ship to explode. While Kilo-Five escape to their dropships, Sentzke takes a Spirit from the shuttle bay but stays in range until he can ensure Naomi is safe, stating that he would rather die in the explosion than allow ONI to hold him in confinement for the rest of his life. However, it is revealed that Sinks had secretly installed a slipspace drive on the dropship and Sentzke escapes without Kilo-Five's knowledge; Black-Box is aware of his survival but wipes his memory of the incident.

After a debrief with Admiral Parangosky, Osman finally chooses to look at her personal file and uncover the truth about her family after years of reluctance. She learns that her mother was a drug addict and prostitute who abandoned her in an early age and that the only one who cared about her was her schoolteacher. Osman goes to meet her teacher on her former homeworld of Cascade while the rest of the team take a short shore leave. In the epilogue, the identity of Black-Box's brain donor is revealed as Graham J. Alban, a scientist and personal friend of Admiral Parangosky who worked on the SPARTAN-II program and committed suicide over the perceived ethical violations he had been part of.

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Characters

Humans Alkmini Leandro (First appearance) Andrew Remo Template:First mentioned Arthur Remo Catherine Halsey (Mentioned only) Damien Hogarth (Mentioned only) Edvin Sentzke (First appearance) Evan Phillips Franklin Mendez (Mentioned only) Gareth Graham Alban (First appearance) Hedda Sentzke (First appearance) Jakob (First appearance) Janey Sentzke (First appearance) John-117 (Mentioned only) Kerstin Sentzke (First appearance) Laura Sentzke (First appearance) Lena Sentzke (First appearance) Lian Devereaux Malcolm Geffen Margaret Parangosky Mike Spenser Nairn (First appearance) Naomi-010 Peter Moritz (First mentioned) Pinar Çelik (First appearance) Saul (First mentioned) Serin Osman Staffan Sentzke Vasily Beloi

Kig-Yar Ais (First appearance) Bakz (First appearance) Chol Von (First appearance) Dhak (First appearance) Eith Mor (First appearance) Gon (First appearance) Hiiq (First appearance) Huz (First appearance) Isk (First appearance) Jec (First appearance) Kij (First appearance) Laik (First appearance) Lig (First appearance) Noit (First appearance) Nulm (First appearance) Ril (First appearance) Sav Fel Skal (First appearance) Ved (First appearance) Vek (First appearance) Zim (First appearance) Sangheili Avu Med 'Telcam Dural 'Mdama (Mentioned only) Jul 'Mdama (Mentioned only) Raia 'Mdama (Mentioned only) Thel 'Vadam (Mentioned only) Huragok Leaks Repaired Prone to Drift (Mentioned only) Requires Adjustment Sometimes Sinks (First appearance) Artificial intelligence Black-Box Cortana (Mentioned only) Araqiel (Mentioned only)

Trivia

• The name of the novel is a reference to the UN Colonial Mortal Dictata, a piece of legislation associated with the ethics of medical science. Dr. Catherine Halsey broke the Dictata on several occasions, namely when flash cloning humans. The novel further elaborates on the specifics of the Dictata, which had previously been mentioned only in passing in Dr. Halsey's personal journal.
• The cover art depicts a young Naomi-010 looking at a Mark V(B) helmet, foreshadowing her induction into the SPARTAN-II program. However, the Mark V (B) was issued only to Spartans of the UNSC Army's SPECWAR Group Three. This may reflect her armor's stated resemblance to the first-generation Mark V, though the cover art for Halo: The Thursday War and the text of Mortal Dictata indicate that her armor is blue, not gray.
• Dr. Alban's suicide note in the epilogue is dated March 2523, yet it refers to the Covenant's campaign of genocide. The Covenant's existence was actually unknown until 2525.
• An online excerpt of the novel's prologue was released at Tor.com on July 17, 2013. A preview consisting of the novel's first chapter and the audiobook's second chapter was released at HaloWaypoint.com on January 16, 2014. The second chapter was released online at Tor.com on January 17, 2014.