Halo: Divine Wind
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Halo: Divine Wind is a Halo novel written by Troy Denning and released on October 19, 2021.[3] The book serves as a sequel to 2020's Halo: Shadows of Reach and 2017's Halo: Retribution. The novel additionally follows up on elements established in the short story Sacrifice.
Official summary[edit]
| “ | October 2559. With the galaxy in the suffocating grip of a renegade artificial intelligence, another perilous threat has quietly emerged in the shadows: the Keepers of the One Freedom, a fanatical and merciless Covenant splinter group, has made its way beyond the borders of the galaxy to an ancient Forerunner installation known as the Ark. Led by an infamous Brute named Castor, the Keepers intend to achieve what the Covenant, in all its might, failed to: activate Halo and take the last steps on the path of the Great Journey into transcendence…
But unknown to Castor and his new, unexpected ally on the Ark, there are traitors to the cause in their midst—namely the Ferrets, composed of Office of Naval Intelligence operative Veta Lopis and her young team of Spartan-IIIs, who have been infiltrating the Keepers to lay the groundwork for Castor’s assassination. But with ONI’s field operations now splintered and cut off by the Guardian threat, Veta’s original mission has suddenly and dramatically escalated in scope. There’s simply no choice or fallback plan—either the Ferrets somehow stop the Keepers or the galaxy faces an extinction-level event….[3] |
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Plot synopsis[edit]
Divine Wind picks up immediately following the end of Halo: Shadows of Reach, with the Keepers of the One Freedom having stolen Atriox's personal Lich Pegoras and mid-transit through the Menachite portal to the Ark. The group intend to travel to the Ark and fire the Halo Array due to their religious beliefs, though a handful of the personnel aboard (Veta Lopis and several SPARTAN-III "Ferrets") are double agents working for the Office of Naval Intelligence.
The Lich emerges from slipspace over the Ark in the middle of a raging battle between the Banished guarding the slipspace portal and both Covenant and human military forces assaulting the Banished lines. This causes confusion for the Keepers, with the humans using massively outdated hardware and the Covenant believed to have been destroyed many years earlier. Upon reentry into normal space, the Lich fuses with a Shortsword bomber, destroying the bomber and severely damaging the Lich. A Sangheili aboard the craft, Inslaan 'Gadogai, surmises that if Atriox is back in the galaxy then Let 'Volir must be in charge of the Ark garrison, and as such attempts to deceive the shipmaster into believing that Atriox is aboard the craft, injured. 'Volir is suspicious of the ruse, but reluctantly assigns an air escort for the Lich. Veta Lopis then tries the inverse, ordered by Castor to contact the UNSC forces in the battle to convince them that the Lich has friendlies aboard. While on the radio with the UNSC, she attempts to call in a final protective fire via a coded message, hoping that the Lich will be shot down so that the Keepers can not try to fire the rings.
Ultimately, the Lich crashes in the Chasm Lands, and the survivors are intercepted by the arrival of several Covenant Phantoms. It is soon revealed that these soldiers are loyalist remnant soldiers of the Covenant that had been stranded on the Ark after the original battle in 2552, and are led by a San'Shyuum Prelate, Dhas Bhasvod. Bhasvod initially wants to kill the group, but he is talked down when a Forerunner ancilla, Intrepid Eye, reveals herself, having hidden inside some of the electronic equipment carried by the Keepers. Intrepid frames herself as an "Oracle" for the religious troops and instructs Bhasvod to work with the Keepers, recognizing that the still-religious soldiers will stand a better chance if they work together to light the Halos. The Covenant then bring the Keepers aboard their Phantoms and depart.
Shortly after the Keepers/Covenant leave, the crash site is visited by the Clan of the Long Shields, a Banished clan led by warlords Pavium and Voridus. Thanks to their previous failures (as depicted in Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare), they had been demoted from the glory of being allowed to participate in the battle, and were instead relegated to acting as the rearguard. In the chaos, the two warlords decide to investigate Pegoras' crash site in the hopes of regaining their lost glory. The Long Shields arrive at the site but are attacked by a group of Kralidonk scavengers. After fending off the creatures, Voridus uncovers a hidden note from Veta Lopis intended for the UNSC to find, and surmises that the Keepers have a spy among their ranks. From the note, the brothers also learn that Castor has joined forces with the Covenant and realize they are the only Banished unit in a position to stop them.
Aboard the Covenant Phantoms, Dhas Bhasvod is brought up to speed on the state of the postwar galaxy. As the conversion continues and the two leaders clash, they full into an uneasy silence only broken by the announcement that the Covenant squadron is being tailed by a Banished Seraph and a UNSC Pelican. Bhasvod orders the ships to land so that they can drive the rest of the way to the Cartographer on the ground, not wanting to draw any more attention in the sky. While dismounting, Veta Lopis stages a fight between some of the Covenant and Banished troops and then uses the chaos as a distraction to try and send a coded transmission to the Pelican with a laser aiming module. However, she is noticed by 'Gadogai, who remains suspicious of her intent and calls her away from her observation point, informing her that she and the other humans will join the convoy to the Cartographer as they will be the ones to fire the rings due to their reclaimer status.
While en-route to the Cartographer, Bhasvod urges Castor to kill any humans they don't need, though Castor refuses due to his own affinity for Veta and her Spartans. 'Gadogai wonders whether to tell Castor of his suspicions regarding the humans' true allegiances, though elects not to (especially in front of Bhasvod). The group ultimately arrive at the Cartographer and are able to find out, from its submonitor, the location of the closest Clarion facility - a construct from which they can fire the Halos. The group then retreat from the structure and back to their encampment so that they can fly to the Clarion. As they near their Phantoms, they find that the encampment has been attacked by the Long Shields of the Banished, tricking the nearby Sentinels into attacking the camp while causing no Banished casualties. The survivors board the two remaining Phantoms, with Veta separated from the Spartans to ensure that if one Phantom is shot down there will be at least one human left alive to light the rings. However, while she sleeps, Intrepid Eye reveals the humans' betrayal to Castor, who in turn vows to exact his revenge in due course.
The Covenant squadron is pursued by a Banished force under the Long Shields. They notice one of the Covenant Phantoms rising unusually high and broadcasting, making its position known to everyone on the Ark while they call for reinforcements to the site of the Clarion facility. The Banished intercept an order for the Covenant to bring several Weevil artillery pieces forward to target the Clarion, intending to use their plasma mortars to melt through the 83 metres (270 ft) of ice that surrounds and disguises the complex. Pavium prepares to bring the rest of the Long Shields forward from their assigned positions, understanding that the Clarion's position will be revealed when the Covenant bombardment starts.
The Covenant squadron comes to a rest close to the Clarion, allowing the troops to disembark while the Weevils are set up. The humans are encouraged to take watch, which tips them off that their ruse has been blown. They signal to the pursuing observation Pelican that they need extraction and cover, and decide to eliminate the Covenant's artillery spotters to delay the excavation. Bhasvod orders an air strike on the humans' observation post, though the humans survive and are extracted by a Pelican commanded by Commander Barre. The Pelican debrief and interrogate Veta and the Spartans to prove they are not Banished infiltrators, though once satisfied, they show them a concurrent air strike being conducted by a flight of Vulture gunships on the Covenant vehicle encampment, with Barre reasoning that striking the artillery doesn't matter if they can take out the Covenant leadership on the ground. However, on closer inspection, the craft targeted by the Vultures are not Covenant, but instead the Long Shields' Seraphs - the Covenant coordinate broadcast was a ruse to get the UNSC to eliminate their Banished pursuers.
In the nearby Maze Rift, the main Long Shields air force come under attack from both local fauna and a Covenant air ambush. However, they fend off the attackers and continue on a suborbital path to the Clarion, now set to beat the Covenant there. Intrepid Eye urges Castor to let the Long Shields occupy and set up defenses at the site, as she will be able to use the Ark's defenses to disrupt the Long Shields' line anyway. The Covenant begin their assault on the Clarion (now massively outnumbered by the Banished) and lose several aircraft, though are able to deploy a small force to the base of the facility, including a human from the Keepers' ranks-Quenbi-who they can use to activate the Halos. Seeing that the Banished have failed to prevent the insertion, Veta Lopis and her team deploy after the Covenant-Keeper force to try and assassinate Quenbi, while the UNSC call for UNSC Spirit of Fire to provide orbital support.
Intrepid Eye convinces the Clarion's monitor to use the region's defenses against the Banished, gaining access to the facility for the Covenant. During the firefight, Veta is captured by 'Gadogai and brought to Castor as a prisoner, who intends to use her to light the Halos and then torture her afterward. The Covenant retreat into the Clarion, with the Spartans now caught between them and a Long Shields assault force. The Banished ambush the Covenant inside the structure, pressuring the last remaining Keepers and Covenant soldiers further in. As they near the control room, Lopis accuses Intrepid Eye of having the logic plague, forcing the installation submonitor to stand down and cease its attacks on the forces outside. Intrepid Eye is able to hack into the monitor and take over its systems, resulting in Lopis broadcasting to Spirit of Fire that an orbital MAC strike is required on her position.
Castor, having heard the Forerunner AIs discuss the Halos' true purpose as a weapon of quarantine and genocide, is finally pushed over the brink and realizes that his faith has been a lie all his life, and that he has been manipulated by Intrepid Eye for reasons unknown to him. The Covenant are attacked by the Spartans, intent on either rescuing or killing Veta, and then an orbital strike hits the Clarion, disrupting the battle and damaging the facility. With the bombardment about to destroy the facility, Castor and 'Gadogai choose to evacuate and pursue the humans in spite of Intrepid Eye's protests. The bombardment finally destroys the facility, killing Intrepid Eye along with it.
Outside the facility, Pavium and Voridus survive the MAC bombardment and spot Dhas Bhasvod emerging from the ruins. They consider engaging him, though elect to retreat when a UNSC Pelican appears and drops off Mark-G313. While on the ground, Mark is ambushed by Bhasvod, who kills him by breaking his neck. Bhasvod curses Castor's refusal to listen to his advice and mourns that a chance to fire the Halos and remake the galaxy according to San'Shyuum tastes has been wasted, and wonders if his fellows on Cloister even still survive. Upon hearing the sounds of a Pelican emerging to recover the remaining humans, he retreats to fight another day. The SPARTAN-IIs of Red Team are deployed and assist the remaining SPARTAN-IIIs in loading an unconscious Veta and dead Mark into their dropship before retreating from the battle site back to Spirit of Fire. Castor and Inslaan 'Gadogai, the final two survivors of the Keepers of the One Freedom, vow to enact vengeance on all of their enemies, now disavowed of any illusions of Forerunner worship.
After Lopis recovers from her injuries, a funeral is held for the dead aboard Spirit of Fire. During the funeral, Veta Lopis is debriefed aboard by Captain James Cutter, who informs her that they would be welcome to join the ship's crew and help its continued war effort on the Ark. Despite Lopis' reservations about Cutter's service as part of the UNSC against her homeworld in the Insurrection, she accepts, and the bodies of the dead are ejected into space to slowly drift back to the Milky Way.
Appearances[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- The novel's title makes reference to the Prophet of Mercy's quote in Halo 2 when he describes Installation 05 and how it will begin the Covenant's Great Journey. It is also a reference to a quote from the Psalm of the Journey on page 3: "the galaxy will be cleansed by a Divine Wind."
- The term "Divine Wind" is also a direct translation from "Kamikaze" in Japanese.
Gallery[edit]
Back cover.
The novel's full cover art, illustrated by Benjamin Carré.
![Artwork of Krelis, intended for inclusion (but cut from) the Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition).[4]](https://halo.wiki.gallery/images/thumb/e/ed/Enc22_Krelis.jpg/93px-Enc22_Krelis.jpg)
Artwork of Krelis, intended for inclusion (but cut from) the Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition).[4]
![Artwork of Krelis, intended for inclusion (but cut from) the Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition).[4]](/File:Enc22_Krelis.jpg)
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Hot Drops (Retrieved on Feb 28, 2021) [archive]
- ^ Simon & Schuster, Halo: Divine Wind (Retrieved on Jan 27, 2025) [archive]
- ^ a b c Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Parallel Threads (Retrieved on Jun 25, 2021) [archive]
- ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Zeta Testing (Retrieved on Oct 26, 2021) [archive]
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