Halo: Contact Harvest

Template:Realworld Template:Ratings Template:Book Info Halo: Contact Harvest is a science fiction novel by Joseph Staten, set in the Halo universe. Staten is a longtime employee of Bungie, the developer of the Halo video game series; he directed the cut scenes in the video games and is a major contributor to Halo's storyline. The book was released on October 30, 2007, and is the fifth Halo novel, following 2006's Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, written by Eric Nylund. Staten set out to write a novel that appealed to gamers, as well as those who had never read a Halo novel.

Set in 2524, twenty-eight years before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved, the novel tells the story of the United Nations Space Command's first encounter with the alien collective known as the Covenant on the colony world of Harvest, and the beginning of the long war that follows. The novel is an ensemble piece, with the action being narrated from both human and alien viewpoints. The protagonist is a young Marine, Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson, who also appears in the Halo video games. Upon release, the book was generally well-received and became a New York Times bestseller in its first week. Critics pointed to the novel's success as a sign of the increasing importance of story in video games.

Background

According to Staten, Tor Books asked Bungie Studios if they had someone suited to writing the next novel; Staten, having written much of the Halo series canon, was the obvious choice. The author found that the book was the perfect way to elaborate on the Halo story without stripping it down for a video game: "I always felt we shortchanged [the player]. We don't have a lot of time to tell story while the bullets are flying." In addition, Staten said that the novel was the perfect way to do the character of Sergeant Johnson—who had appeared somewhat one-dimensional in the games—proper justice as a round character. Replying to G4TV's question about writing action, Staten replied that he felt that writing "involves slowing things down", in comparison to a game of Halo. The author also said that the work of his favorite science-fiction authors helped teach him the importance of honing a "strong, consistent voice".

Originally, the novel was due to ship before the September 25 release of Halo 3; Staten stated that due to his involvement with both projects, the novel slipped behind. He also emphasized that he hoped Contact Harvest was a good novel, not just a good Halo novel; "... someone who isn't a Halo fan – someone who hasn't read any of the previous novels – will be able to pick up Contact Harvest and enjoy the read".

This focus on accuracy was a challenge for Staten, as he believes his audience is highly intelligent, willing, and able to report flaws; fellow Bungie employees cross-referenced his drafts with the "Halo Story Bible" to ensure canonical agreement. One example of fans taking Staten to task over the novel occurred soon after the novel's cover was revealed in July of 2007. The cover depicts the protagonist, Sergeant Avery Johnson holding a weapon known as the Battle Rifle. As the weapon was first introduced in the video game Halo 2 and the events of Contact Harvest take place decades before the game, fans were quick to say that Staten had made a mistake. Staten later pointed out he had good reasons for including the offending weapon in the book, and justified the inclusion by stating that the weapon is a prototypical form of the version players use in the game.

Synopsis

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Setting

Contact Harvest takes place in the year 2524 of the Halo universe, where faster-than-light technology has allowed humanity to spread across the galaxy, founding new colonies administrated by the United Nations Space Command, or UNSC. The wealthier "Inner" colonies are politically dominant over the more recently established outer colonies, although the older planets rely on the new worlds for raw materials. Tensions lead to unrest and outright rebellion, with radical members of the outer colonies known as "Insurrectionists" launching attacks on the UNSC in a bid for independence.

Plot

On the UNSC colony, Harvest, there is only peace and prosperity. Watched by two A.I., Sif and Mack, the colony produces much of Humanity's food. This peace is interrupted when a Covenant controlled vessel, Minor Transgression, discovers a malfunctioned human cargo ship. The co-ordinates registered in the ships navcomputer lead the aliens to Harvest. A Covenant Grunt, Deacon Dadab, is alarmed when the ship's Luminary seems to register thousands of Forerunner artifacts and an Oracle, the Covenant term for a Forerunner A.I. The opportunistic Jackals plan to take some artifacts for themselves before reporting the discovery to the Hierarchs, and begin surreptitiously raiding human freighters. Unfortunately for the Jackals, ONI had recently organized a strike team to counteract what they believed to be a growing Insurrectionist group, including one Staff Sergeant Avery J. Johnson. They successfully deceived Minor Transgression into boarding a freighter where they were immediately attacked by Staff Sergeant Johnson and Staff Sergeant Byrne. Staff Sergeant Johnson received a cracked skull from their meeting and Staff Sergeant Byrne was stabbed in the leg.This raid marked the first meeting of the humans and Covenant forces, and makes the humans aware of a brand new threat they may be facing. Johnson destroys the vessel, with only the Deacon Dadab and his Engineer friend Lighter Than Some escaping in a escape pod. While the UNSC prepares the Colonial Militia for a possible alien invasion, two ambitious Prophets, The Minister of Fortitude and the Vice Minister of Tranquility learn of the large amount of "relics" found on Harvest and begin to plan a coup of the current Hierarchs using this as a fulcrum. To keep the Elites from using this discovery as a way to upset the balance of power, they utilize a Brute-controlled ship, Rapid Conversion, captained by Maccabeus, Brute Alpha Male, and crewed by his pack of Brutes (including a youthful Tartarus), the two began a secret attempt to seize the planet. This marks the beginning of the powerful alliance between the Brutes and the Prophets, and the key to their eventual betrayal of the Sangheili.

Rapid Conversion arrives in the system to find the escape pod of Dadab and the Engineer, Lighter Than Some, much to the devout Maccabeus' delight. The Brutes use the Deacon as a way to motivate their own lackluster compliment of Grunts and the Engineer to repair their intentionally crippled ship. They all soon discover the planet's vast store of reclamations and a message of peace left by Sif and Mack in the form of a crude pictogram displaying a desire for peace. The Brutes land two Spirit Dropships at a specified date, with only the desire to capture the entire planet at any cost. The attempt at peaceful contact falls apart after an errant Grunt attacks a wandering militiaman, and the one-sided Battle of Harvest begins.

Meanwhile, the ambitious Prophets begin their usurping by invoking the Prophet of Restraint in a conspiracy that will lead to his removal if revealed. They seek a blessing by the long silent Oracle present on the Forerunner Dreadnought. They visit an old, supposedly senile Philologist, for blessings and advice. When they input the discovery of Harvest and the Luminary's data, the Oracle, a Forerunner construct much like 343 Guilty Spark, suddenly awakens from eons of dormancy and reveals that they've been misinterpreting their findings. What the Jackals thought were artifacts were actually registering the presence of the Humans on Harvest, which it claims are Reclaimers, and refers to them as his makers' or living Forerunners. Realizing that the discovery of living Forerunners would tear the Covenant apart, the Prophets swear to secrecy, induct the Philologist into their conspiracy and accelerate their plans for takeover.

On Harvest, the humans begin to resist the assault by the Brute ship on select towns on the planet by shuttling as many civilians as possible to the town's capital. The Planet's AI, Mack, normally responsible for the agricultural JOTUNS, hands over his vast network to his previously concealed doppleganger, Loki, a ship AI now implemented as a defense mechanism. The Colonial Militia manages to ferry most of the surviving population to Utgard, the capital, and then begin their plan to send these people to safety aboard the Freighters on top of the seven Space elevators present on Harvest, the Tiara. The Brutes, having stationed their Grunt forces in the Tiara, unwittingly allow the Engineer Lighter Than Some to come into contact with Loki and the now nearly destroyed AI Sif. The Engineer, disgusted by the killing and wishing to end it, shows the AI how to duplicate the Forerunner symbol for Oracle and helps lure the Covenant ship in range of the colony's sole mass driver and cripple it. While Johnson leads a small force up the Space Elevator to clear the Grunts on board, Tartarus usurps control of his Pack and counterattacks. During the assault, a jealous group of drones kill Lighter Than Some. A devastated Dadab wounds Tartarus before being killed, allowing the humans to escape.

The Brutes glass Harvest and the refugees flee. The scheming Prophets usurp the Hierarchs and become the High Prophets of Truth, Regret and Mercy, and finally declare Holy War on the Humans, to prevent any of the Covenant from ever discovering their true place as the Forerunner's descendants. They recommission the Luminary as a means to locate human planets, and begin the Human-Covenant War. Template:Spoiler End

Main Characters

Contact Harvest introduces characters new to the Halo franchise, but also features several characters seen previously in the video games. The main character is Avery Johnson, a Marine who is sent to the colony of Harvest to deal with suspected Insurrectionist activity; Johnson had previously appeared in the video game Halo: Combat Evolved and its sequels, as well as the novel Halo: First Strike. A side character is Wallace Jenkins, a hapless Marine who is assimilated by the parasitic Flood in Halo: Combat Evolved and plays an important role in the novelization of the game, Halo: The Flood. Contact Harvest also illuminates the origins of several alien Covenant characters who play important roles in the video games, such as the Brute Chieftain Tartarus and the three Prophet Hierarchs, Truth, Mercy, and Regret.

United Nations Space Command

• Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson
• Lieutenant Commander Jilan al-Cygni
• Captain Ponder
• Staff Sergeant Nolan Byrne
• Petty Officer First Class Healy
• Governor Thune
• Attorney General Rol Pedersen
• Loki
• Mack
• Sif

Covenant

• Jiralhanae Chieftain Maccabeus
• Tartarus
• Huragok Lighter Than Some
• Kig-yar Chur'R-Yar
• Kig-yar Zhar
• Unggoy Dadab
• Prophet of Truth
• Prophet of Regret
• Prophet of Mercy

Other

• Dr. Catherine Halsey

Trivia

• In 2524, the BR-55 was a prototype ONI weapon. Many people were confused as to why a Battle Rifle was being fielded by Avery Johnson before the book was released. Joseph Staten in Bungie Podcast III hinted as to why the BR-55 was in Contact Harvest, and it was confirmed that it was a prototype weapon in 2525.

• In an excerpt found in OXM, it is revealed that the Hornet appears in Contact Harvest in the sense that they have been in service since 2524.

• Lighter Than Some, the Engineer featured in the story was the creator of the Brute Chopper which was originally intended as a peace offering and modeled after Human farming plows.

• The Unggoy Dadab could refer to Tim Dadabo, the voice actor of 343 Guilty Spark.

• One of the Unggoy of Rapid Conversion makes reference to a cousin, Yayap, who is a soldier under the Elites. This is most likely the same Yayap featured in Halo:The Flood.

• The Brutes were described wearing some type of energy shielded power armor, similar to what they wore in Halo 3.

• Catherine Halsey makes a very brief "appearance" in the post-epilogue conversation between Mack and Sif under the pseudonym "Charlie Hotel".

• On page 189, Dadab describes how the prophets knew how Mendicant Bias betrayed the Forerunner for the Flood.

• The Oracle in the Dreadnought is most likely Mendicant Bias. Also on page 276, the Oracle says "I will reject my bias and will make amends."

• At the end of the book in the post-epilogue it says Harvest has its first snowfall.