Halo: Glasslands

Halo: Glasslands
Attribution information
Author(s):	Karen Traviss
Publication information
Publisher:	Tor Books
Publication date:	October 25, 2011
Media type:	Print (Hardcover, paperback), Audiobook
Pages:	464 pages
ISBN:	0765323931, 978-0765323934

Halo: Glasslands is the first novel in the Kilo-Five Trilogy by Karen Traviss. It was released on October 25, 2011 on hardcover, paperback and audiobook. A sequel, Halo: The Thursday War, will be released on October 2, 2012.

Set after the end of the Human-Covenant War in 2553, Halo: Glasslands explores the volatile political situation in the Halo universe following the end of the war. The novel picks up directly where Halo: Ghosts of Onyx left off, with Dr. Halsey, Chief Mendez along with a group of SPARTAN-IIs and SPARTAN-IIIs stranded on a Forerunner shield world locked in a slipspace bubble in the remnants of the artificial planet Onyx. Meanwhile, Office of Naval Intelligence Director Admiral Margaret Parangosky assembles a black ops team known as Kilo-Five, which is assigned on a covert mission to sow discord between disparate Sangheili factions by any means necessary, as well as to arrest Dr. Halsey once she has been located.

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 will also have connections to Halo 4.

Plot synopsis

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The prologue begins with a narration from Catherine Halsey regarding the current situation within the core of Onyx. Continuing from where they left off, Catherine Halsey, 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. Eventually they split into teams in order to cover more ground. With a sense of regret Dr. Halsey begins to wonder about her mission to save the SPARTAN-IIs and the whereabouts of John-117, Cortana, and Miranda Keyes.

The story begins months later on the former human colony New Llanelli in the Brunel system. A meeting is taking place between Captain Serin Osman, accompanied by Professor Evan Phillips, and Avu Med 'Telcam, a former Sangheili Field Master, now a speaker of the Servants of Abiding Truth. 'Telcam believes that Thel 'Vadam and his followers are traitors to the Sangheili’s former religious beliefs and wants to restore their faith by killing Vadam. He requests for Osman to supply his group with weapons and a deal is reached, whereupon victory 'Telcam will leave the human race alone. Osman and Phillips then rendezvous with UNSC Battle of Minden and return to Earth.

In Sydney, Australia, two ODSTs, Corporal Vasily "Vaz" Beloi and Staff Sergeant Malcolm "Mal" Geffen, make their way across the remains of the city in order to reach the ONI Facility Bravo-Six for a meeting they have been summoned to. Before heading there, they travel to the Parthenon, a bar that was a favorite of their fallen comrade, in order to fulfill a promise to have a toast in his memory.

At ONI Facility Bravo-6, Serin Osman is admitted to Admiral Margaret Parangosky's office by her flag lieutenant, Dorsey. Before reaching her office, Parangosky’s personal AI, Black-Box, or “BB”, introduces himself to Osman. Parangosky and Osman then discuss information received about Onyx and how Dr. Halsey is still likely to be alive. Parangosky brings up the Onyx battle report from the UNSC Dusk, detailing how Dr. Halsey committed many acts of war crime and how Halsey discarded Osman from her program. Despite the Onyx situation, Parangosky states that the primary mission is to neutralize the Sangheili and that Osman only needs to divert to Onyx when anything is found by the UNSC Glamorgan. Lastly Parangosky details the members her new team, Kilo-Five, will consist of and hands control of BB over to Osman.

Arriving at Bravo-Six, Mal and Vaz proceed into a room where they meet Lian Devereaux, an ODST from the same battalion. Soon after, Petty Officer Naomi-010 introduces herself. Parangosky, Serin Osman, and Professor Evan Phillips then enter the room and Parangosky discloses the mission, explaining the objective to sow discontent and strife among the Sangheili and to keep them fighting amongst themselves. She further states that they will arm the Sangheili dissidents. Lastly the group is told they will be using the UNSC Port Stanley for the mission and are introduced to AI Black-Box. Before Port Stanley heads out, the crew is notified that the UNSC Ariadne was having technical problems. The ship requested help from Venezia, but the colony refused to cooperate. It is revealed that Venezia had dropped out of contact years ago during the war and became a safe haven for terrorists.

In Mdama on Sanghelios, Jul ‘Mdama, a former Shipmaster, is having an argument with his wife Raia. Jul then heads out to see the Arbiter, and his aide Gusay gives him a ride to Kaidon Levu 'Mdama's keep. There, Thel 'Vadam expresses his desire for unity and independence, and argues that the Great Schism led to their current situation. Jul says they should finish off the humans. However, Thel ‘Vadam believes it is foolish and plans to reach a peace agreement with humans instead. Jul continues his opposition, prompting Thel to tell the audience if they disagree they have the right to attempt to assassinate him. Afterwards, Jul meets with Levu, who tells him that he does not disagree with the Arbiter’s intentions but that he won’t stop an assassination attempt against him. Jul then travels back to his keep, where their neighbor Relon demolishes a Forerunner monument in order to make space. The following morning, Relon's keep is attacked and Relon and his brother are killed by Servants of the Abiding Truth. However, Jul contemplates the prospect of joining the Abiding Truth so he can bypass the Kaidon and assassinate the Arbiter.

Aboard Port Stanley, Vaz hears a recording of a conversation between Elites and Evan Phillips reveals to him that he can understand Sangheili language. Two hours later, the corvette exits slipspace near New Llanelli. Osman contacts Mike Spenser, an agent working undercover on a listening station on Reynes, and he informs her of the situation with the Abiding Truth. Osman notifies Spenser that she will extract him from Reynes and then arranges to meet with ‘Telcam on New Llanelli.

Inside the Forerunner Dyson sphere, Dr. Halsey has a short discussion with Mendez about the SPARTAN-IIIs but it is cut short when a small gray cylinder takes a dive towards Halsey. Tom-B292 covers Halsey for protection and Kelly-087 attempts to grab the cylinder but it escapes. Later, the group comes across a Forerunner tower. Mendez decides to explore the structure and gestures for Lucy-B091 to cover him. Lucy spots something moving away from them in the shadows and ignoring orders to stay put, decides to investigate. Searching a darkened room, she falls through a wall and finds herself in a Forerunner hangar. As she surveys the area, she accidentally attacks a Huragok. Realizing her mistake, Lucy tries in vain to comfort the Engineer but it dies and more of them approach.

Kilo-Five head towards the surface of New Llanelli in a dropship. BB notifies them that the Ariadne is still under repair and that the destroyer Monte Cassino is headed for it. Kilo-Five lands on the surface and Mal gets into an over watch position while Osman, Phillips, and Vaz drive a Warthog hauling a trailer full of weapons over to ‘Telcam, who is accompanied by another Elite and several Brutes. ‘Telcam 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.

On Reynes, Kilo-Five meet up with 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 which results in the death of all the Kig-Yar. Osman orders Mal and Vaz to bring back some of the bodies as she may have use for them. Six hours later, the corvette exits slipspace near Venezia in order to meet with the Monte Cassino to transfer Spenser and Muir. BB estimates that they can reach the Ariadne in two hours but the patrol ship explodes before they can.

Back in the shield world, Lucy encounters three more Engineers and puts away her weapon in a gesture of peace. She tries to communicate to them, attempting to speak but is unable to. An Engineer checks her over but upon failing to fix her, he gestures her to follow him. Meanwhile, the rest of the group search for Lucy. Suddenly, more gray cylinders appear and one of them stabs Halsey in the leg, prompting Linda to destroy it. Picking up the fragments, Halsey determines that it was a first-aid monitor. The group soon splits up in order to continue reconnaissance of the rest of the shield world while Dr. Halsey and Kelly stay behind in case Lucy returns. Eventually the recon team comes across a Forerunner city.

While conducting search and rescue for survivors near the debris field of the Ariadne, the Monte Cassino is contacted by Venezia who warns them they are encroaching on their territory. However, they notify Venezia of their intentions but despite this Venezia fires at the ship with an artillery cannon. The shot misses and the Monte Cassino fires back, destroying the cannon. Port Stanley finishes transferring Spenser and Muir to the Monte Cassino, which then returns to Earth. Mal requests to do a reconnaissance mission on Venezia but Osman tells him they’ll return later.

Back on Sanghelios, Jul and fellow former shipmaster Forze travel to Ontom in order to meet with the Abiding Truth. Upon landing, they find a temple which appears to be of Forerunner origins. Jul and Forze are greeted by ‘Telcam and Jul tells him that he wants to join their cause, and ‘Telcam accepts. Soon after, one of the shipmasters, Buran, offers his warship, the Unflinching Resolve, to the cause. However, they first have to seize it from the shipyard. They make it to the Aanrar Shipyard, where Buran tricks the guard into allowing his crew passage to the vessel. Buran is then given clearance by the dockmaster to take the ship, and flies it to Mdama.

In the shield world, the Huragok lead Lucy into a control room, where one of them communicates to her using a panel and introduces itself as Prone to Drift. Realizing Lucy is unable to use the panel, he enables the use of alphabetical letters using the text display from Lucy’s helmet. Prone asks her why the shield world was activated when the Halo Array wasn’t fired. Thus Lucy realizes that the Engineers have access to real-time information to the outside. Lucy begs for the Huragok to allow her to communicate with the outside but he refuses, instead he attempts to fix her voice but she explains that she doesn’t need to be fixed. Prone then tells Lucy that her friends are in the "citadel" and she sees them on a panel. Lucy asks him to take her to them and at first Prone is reluctant but she promises not to let them harm him.

Aboard Port Stanley, Mal and Vaz watch on as Devereaux helps Naomi into her Mjolnir armor when Osman enters the room and tells the group that BB detected a Jiralhanae transport with a Huragok aboard headed for Sanghelios and desires to acquire the Huragok. Moments later, Port Stanley intercepts the auxiliary vessel Piety and a firefight ensues, resulting in all the Brutes being taken out. Kilo-Five search the Piety and find the Huragok, wearing a Covenant explosive harness which Naomi disarms. BB communicates to it and finds out its name is Requires Adjustment. Afterwards, BB finds a link to Venezia in the Piety’s comms log. Osman has the dead Kig-Yar with UNSC weapons placed in the ship with the dead Jiralhanae and sends it back towards Sangheili in order to fuel mistrust amongst the different parties. Later, Parangosky informs Osman that Hood is traveling to Vadam to talk to the Arbiter about a memorial service being held at Voi and notifies her that they found an electromagnetic anomaly near Onyx. Afterwards, ‘Telcam contacts the ship, requesting more weapons.

At the Bekan Keep on Sanghelios, Jul and ‘Telcam await the Piety’s return. ‘Telcam explains 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, ‘Telcam arrives in a shuttle with a new shipment and tells the group that he will be heading out for another shipment. 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 leaves 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 from the citadel with Prone to Drift. Dr. Halsey checks Lucy over for any injuries, and Prone modifies Halsey's datapad, enabling him to communicate with the group. Prone asks the group about the Flood and shows them the Forerunner hangar that Lucy previously fell in. Prone to Drift also tells her that Team Katana were placed in 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, Dr. Halsey grows frustrated and eventually threatens Prone with her sidearm, prompting Lucy into punching Halsey and forcing her to the ground. Losing all control, Lucy repeatedly screams out “No!” overcoming her post-traumatic vocal disarticulation.

After the ordeal, Mendez helps calm Lucy down and Tom consoles her while Kelly and Linda help Dr. Halsey to her feet. Prone drifts over to Lucy, who begins using the panel to communicate to him but Olivia convinces her to speak instead. 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.

Meanwhile on Port Stanley, Osman checks on their Sangheili prisoner, contemplating whether or not to tell ‘Telcam. Moments later, Naomi, Vaz and Mal subdue Jul and place Requires Adjustment inside his cell so that he can extract data from his body armor. Phillips then notifies Osman of the Sangheili’s name, whereabouts, and discovers he is known by ‘Telcam. Phillips begins interrogating a defiant Jul and shows him his arum, a type of Sangheili puzzle. Phillips threatens Jul with shame if he doesn’t give up information but Jul still refuses to give in. Minutes later, Osman notifies the crew that they will be accompanying Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood during his visit to the Arbiter and afterwards head for Onyx. She explains that Catherine Halsey is still alive and inside a Dyson sphere located at the Onyx coordinates and says she will personally arrest her.

Later, aboard the UNSC Iceni, Admiral Hood is talking to Osman and Phillips in regards to the Arbiter and the splinter groups among the Sangheili. Afterwards, they travel to Vadam on Sanghelios. Upon landing, they make their way to the Arbiter’s quarters. Hood discusses peace and the problems they must deal with. The Arbiter then takes interest in Phillips and tells him that he can return for a tour of Sanghelios if a cease-fire holds. Hood then invites the Arbiter to a ceremony to those who died in the war and Thel accepts.

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 MIA and that her daughter was killed. Dr. Halsey requests Prone’s assistance with the Forerunner artifacts but he says he must stay behind. However, he and the others create three more Engineers, Perfect Density, Tends To List, and Leaks Repaired, to assist her. 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’s real surname.

Moments later, the UNSC Port Stanley and Glamorgan as well as two auxiliary ships, the UNSC Belleisle and UNSC Dunedin, rendezvous in the vicinity of the slipspace anomaly. The shield world expands into normal space and Kilo-Five enter the sphere. Inside, Halsey greets Naomi-010 and has a brief conversation with Osman before Osman places her under arrest. Kelly tries to intervene but Halsey convinces her not to. As they return to Port Stanley, Osman tells the Spartans that they will be headed back to Sydney for a debriefing. She then tells BB that Halsey will be transferred to Compton-Hall when it arrives. Shortly after, Jul is removed from the ship and transported to the shield world, now designated ONI Research Facility Trevelyan, where he is greeted by Dr. Magnusson.

Back aboard Port Stanley, Vaz is guarding the entrance to Halsey’s compartment when the Spartan-IIs approach, demanding to talk to Halsey. He denies them access to her door and convinces them to leave. However, Naomi asks Vaz to look over her records as she doesn’t have the courage. Vaz checks her records and discovers that her mother committed suicide after her clone died and that her father believed the clone wasn’t his daughter. Out of hatred, Vaz approaches Dr. Halsey’s compartment in an attempt to kill her but BB convinces him to walk away.

Days later, Kilo-Five is attending the Voi Memorial. Parangosky and Osman have a brief discussion about Phillips being inserted into Sanghelios and Parangosky informs Osman that she has sent Spenser to spy on Venezia. She then tells Osman that she will be appointed rear admiral and her successor next month. Later, in accordance with Parangosky’s instructions, BB presents a project called Infinity to Osman. Meanwhile, Phillips arrives in Vadam. After waiting for some time, he is eventually greeted by the Arbiter. Phillips requests for a tour of their most ancient cities, which Thel approves. Upon departure, Phillips notices parts of the land have been glassed and is told there was fighting amongst the Sangheili.

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 clones used in the Spartan program and they have a heated argument about the issue. Parangosky also tells Halsey that she has her journal and that she is heading a new Spartan program that will only use consenting adults and that she may integrate the remaining Spartan-IIIs into the program. She then hands Halsey a picture of a plaque with her name and epitaph on it before leaving.

Before Port Staley makes a slipspace jump to Venezia, Phillips lets Osman know that he is in Ontom and that ‘Telcam’s temple is within the city. Upon landing on Venezia, Mal and Vaz put on disguises and meet up with Spenser, then head into the city of New Tyne. On the way, they spot several former Covenant species and gun batteries. Once in Spenser's hideout, the ONI agent shows them pictures of all the insurrectionist leaders based on the planet. Vaz looks through the pictures and one of them turns out to be Naomi’s father.

While in Ontom, several Sangheili gather around Phillips, amazed that he can speak their language and unlock the arum. Another Sangheili hands him a different arum. Phillips eventually unlocks it but a note falls out instead of a gemstone. The note turns out to be a warning from the Abiding Truth. BB immediately notifies Captain Osman about the incident and she request to talk to ‘Telcam. However, ‘Telcam doesn’t respond but approaches Phillips and warns him of the dangers. ‘Telcam takes Phillips to the entrance of his temple and asks him about Jul ‘Mdama, but Phillips says he doesn’t know him. Suddenly, an unknown object appears at the entrance and Phillips’ cam feed goes white as an explosion is heard. Seconds later, another explosion goes off and Phillips' cam feed is lost. Osman immediately orders Devereaux to retrieve the rest of the squad from Venezia and prepares the ship for a slipspace jump back to Sanghelios.

Trivia

• The cover of the novel was illustrated by former Bungie concept artist Eddie Smith.
• Halo: Glasslands features Easter eggs that reference Red vs Blue, as Karen Traviss is an avid fan of the machinima series.
  • These include Black-Box saying "Yoink", one of the ODSTs commenting on thinking a Sangheili said "Blarg.", and a Sangheili mispronouncing the name "Phillips" as "Phyllis", which is the phonetic pronunciation of the AI F.I.L.L.S from Red vs. Blue.
• An excerpt of the novel's first chapter was released in the September 2011 issue of Official Xbox Magazine. The excerpt was then republished on Tor's official website. An excerpt of the novel's second chapter was released on October 12th's Halo Bulletin on Halo Waypoint.