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Halo: The Rubicon Protocol

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Halo: The Rubicon Protocol
Front cover of Halo: The Rubicon Protocol.
Attribution information

Author(s):

Kelly Gay[1][2]

Cover artist(s):

William "Pixelflare" Cameron[1]

Publication information

Publisher:

Gallery Books[1]

Publication date:

August 9, 2022[3]

Pages:

352 pages

ISBN:

9781982147884

 

Halo: The Rubicon Protocol is a Halo novel by Kelly Gay, following surviving members of the United Nations Space Command as they mount a resistance against the Banished following their ambush by them in late 2559.[4] The novel was originally set to be released March 15, 2022, but later was delayed to June 28, 2022,[5] then delayed again to August 9, 2022.[1][3]

In celebration of San Diego Comic Con between July 21–24, 2022, a few limited copies of The Rubicon Protocol were released early through the Simon & Schuster booth at the convention.[6] Additionally, on the 8th and 29 July respectively, two short previews of the book were officially released by 343 Industries, with a third released in a Canon Fodder on 2 August. The links to these previews can be found at the bottom of this page.

Official summary

“ 2560. Humanity finds its back against the wall after the United Nations Space Command flagship Infinity dropped out of slipspace into a devastating ambush launched by the Banished. As this fierce enemy alliance seeks to claim a powerful weapon hidden within the ancient Forerunner ringworld known as Zeta Halo, the surviving UNSC forces now find themselves compromised and its leadership out of reach—with remaining personnel forced to abandon ship and take their chances on the fractured, unpredictable surface of the Halo ring.

Now survival in this strange, alien environment—whether for Spartan super-soldiers or those who never thought they would see the battle up close—is measured day-to-day against a relentless and brutal adversary that always has the upper hand. Desperation grows, but the will to keep on fighting and enduring no matter the odds is never in doubt… even as the Banished seek to unleash a frightening new enemy that could doom them all...[7]

”

Plot summary

Halo: The Rubicon Protocol is told from multiple perspectives, with a focus on characters that were, at some point or another, a member of the boat crew: Bonita Stone, Nina Kovan, Lucas Browning, Tomas Horvath, and TJ Murphy.

On December 12, 2559, the UNSC Infinity was ambushed by the Banished as it arrived at Installation 07. Nina Kovan of Fireteam Shadow evacuated from the flagship on a drop pod; on the surface of the ring, she came to the aid of the occupants of an RLT-85 shuttlepod. Meanwhile, her squadmate Spartan Bonita Stone piloted a Bumblebee, leading its companion lifeboat piloted by TJ Murphy, away from the Infinity to the surface of the ring. Having lost its back section to weapon fire, Murphy's lifeboat spun out of control as it entered the ring's atmosphere; it crash-landed on the surface of the ring, where it was lodged inside a crevice, leaving its occupants trapped. The crew, including Lucas Browning, Isaiah Cameron, and Robin Dimik, took turns transmitting a distress call, which was answered by Spartan Tomas Horvath of Fireteam Intrepid. However, while Horvath made his way to the Bumblebee, Installation 07 suddenly entered slipstream space. Shortly after, an explosion on the ring fractured its surface. The catastrophic event separated Horvath from his fireteam, and disabled his communications system, cutting him off from Murphy's lifeboat. Instead, Spartan Stone rescued Murphy's crew. Stone then led the survivors across region, and rendezvoused with Kovan's group of survivors. Gavin Jo and Erik Bender from Kovan's group, both being support staff, naturally gravitated towards Murphy's crew, which was also entirely made up of noncombatants, thereby forming the "boat crew". Having lost marines in a skirmish, the group—led by Stone and Kovan—travelled to the UNSC stronghold at the wreckage of the UNSC Mortal Reverie; they arrived on December 19.

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Appearances

Characters

Artificial Intelligence

Human

Jiralhanae

Sangheili

Unggoy

Xalanyn

Species

Organizations

Locations

Events

Vehicles

Human

Banished

Weapons

Human

Banished

Technology and equipment

Forerunner

Human

Banished

Miscellaneous


Production notes

Despite having narrative connections to Halo Infinite, Halo: The Rubicon Protocol was reported prior to release to stand on its own and would not be "required reading" for fans to understand the game's story.[1] The novel expands on the narrative depicted in the Halo Infinite audio logs, having incorporated several logs. Notably, Nina Kovan and Tomas Horvath were set to be killed in the audio logs. Kelly Gay, while writing the novel, discussed with 343 Industries to cut the audio logs that depicted their deaths, allowing Gay to expand on the fates of the two Spartans in the novel.[8]

Mistakes

In the novel, Nina Kovan mentions that herself and Bonita Stone had served together for a decade between 2550 and 2560, with the two having first met aboard the warship UNSC Relentless Watch.[9] This would seemingly contradict the birth date given for Stone in the Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), in which Stone is established to have been born in 2535.[10] Were this the case, Stone would have been only fifteen years old when she began serving onboard the Relentless Watch.

Gallery

  • Full cover art with logos.

    Full cover art with logos.

  • Full cover art without logos.

    Full cover art without logos.

  • Early sketch of the cover art.

    Early sketch of the cover art.

Sources

  1. ^ a b c d e Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Parallel Threads (Retrieved on Jun 25, 2021) [archive]
  2. ^ Simon & Schuster, Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (Retrieved on Jul 22, 2021) [archive]
  3. ^ a b Amazon, Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (29) (Retrieved on Jul 16, 2021) [archive]
  4. ^ YouTube - HALO, Halo Infinite | Holiday 2021 Community Stream
  5. ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon fodder - Foundations (Retrieved on Jan 12, 2022) [archive]
  6. ^ Twitter, Gallery Books (@GalleryBooks) (Retrieved on Jul 29, 2022) [archive]
  7. ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Of Protocols and Prisons (Retrieved on Mar 7, 2022) [archive]
  8. ^ Twitter, Kelly Gay (@KellyHGay): "Glad you enjoyed it! :D Fun Fact: During game development Kovan & Horvath were originally KIA in the campaign audio logs story. Writing the book during development, gave me the chance to work w/343 to pick certain Spartans to keep alive & kicking. 🤗"
  9. ^ Halo: The Rubicon Protocol, chapter 30: "'Ten years,' Kovan finally said. 'We met on the reconnaissance starship Relentless Watch before joining the SPARTAN-IV program. Recon was hardwired into her DNA from the beginning.'"
  10. ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 102

External links

Text previews
Audiobook previews

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