Editing Halo: Escalation Issue 24

{{Status|RealWorld}}

{{Article quote|"The Absolute Record: Part 6" — The fugitive Dr. Catherine Halsey makes her final, defiant stand against Spartan Commander Palmer in the explosive conclusion of this epic six-part chapter of the Halo® saga by Duffy Boudreau (BlackAcre) and Douglas Franchin (Person of Interest).{{Ref/Reuse|HE24}}}}

The issue opens in the [[Absolute Record]], with Jul 'Mdama and his Elites fighting off [[Aggressor Sentinel]]s. Jul is under the impression that the [[Invariant Bias|Custodian]] ancilla has regained control and is attacking them, unaware that they're under Halsey's orders to assassinate them. As for the humans, they escort the Sentinel containing the Custodian's personality fragment, who aids them in combat against Halsey's Sentinels.  

Aboard the ''[[Breath of Annihilation]]'', [[Sali 'Nyon]]'s forces have taken control of the ship and secured Jul's vault of [[Forerunner]] artifacts. Sali rejoices in their victory and praises [[Ayit 'Sevi]] for their victory, still unaware that he's an [[Office of Naval Intelligence|ONI]] spy. However, two Zealots are suspicious of 'Sevi after they overheard him speaking English. As Ayit leaves supposedly to help secure the hangar, the Zealots follow him.

Back in the Record, [[Sarah Palmer|Palmer]], [[Holly Tanaka|Tanaka]], and [[Henry Glassman|Glassman]] reach the auxiliary control conduit where they can put the Custodian back in charge of the facility. The Custodian's sentinel sends the initialization code to Palmer's HUD, who reads it to Glassman as he types. However, Halsey realizes what they're up to and interferes with the attempt, halting their progress. The Custodian informs Palmer that Halsey is in the room directly above them, Palmer volunteering to head up there. At the top floor she holds Halsey at gunpoint, giving her three seconds to step away from her console. Instead Halsey activates a containment field around Palmer and prepares a portal to her next destination.

Jul and his forces have managed to repel the Sentinels, and he uses the opening to order his flagship ''[[Song of Retribution]]'' to attack. It fires into the Record, disrupting power across the station. Palmer's containment field falls, and the Custodian Sentinel's mind transfer is interrupted, leaving the droid damaged. Halsey flees to her portal while Palmer shoots at her but misses, the doctor escaping and vanishing. But to her surprise, she lands on top of the shell of the now reactivated Custodian, who has regained control and catches her. It tells her that her performance in its previous test was excellent, but her impatience that led to her hijacking him means he now denies her further access to the Record even though she had nearly earned it. Halsey protests in vain that the Janus Key is Librarian's gift to her, but the Custodian makes it vanish.

Palmer regroups with the others, but they see the Record is suddenly disappearing into slipspace portals. Urgent to escape, Glassman recalls coordinates from the Custodian's examination, which appeared to tell him where Jul's ship carrying all his artifacts is docked. Jul's forces flee the Record aboard the ''Retribution'', recovering Halsey in the process.

Aboard the ''Annihilation'', Sali 'Nyon's warriors rally and celebrate their capture of the ship and Jul's vault. They notice an odd sound, but Ayit passes it off as a sign of the gods and distracts them. They continue rejoicing as Ayit investigates, finding the just-teleported Palmer, Tanaka, and Glassman, who he helps hide.

Palmer tells Lasky that Ayit overheard communications in the ''Retribution'', saying that Halsey was recovered but the Janus Key wasn't, ending its threat. Lasky figures [[Serin Osman|Admiral Osman]] will be disappointed that they couldn't capture it for themselves, but is curious as to why Palmer seems less bitter about Halsey's latest escape. Palmer responds that Halsey had them captured but overplayed her hand when she could've finished them, thinking it satisfying to see the doctor make that mistake.

File:HE24 Nyon secures the vault.png|Sali 'Nyon's forces rejoice.

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