Editing Halo: Fireside

{{Title|''Halo: Fireside''}}
{{Status|RealWorld}}
{{Redirect|Fireside|the military [[operation]]|Operation: FIRESIDE}}
{{Novel infobox
|name=''Halo: Fireside''
|variant=Anthology
|image=[[File:Fireside Cover.jpg|300px]]
|author=
*[[Alex Wakeford]]
*[[Jeff Easterling]]
|cover artist=[[:Category:Images by William Cameron|William Cameron]]
|illustrator=
|editor=
|audio=[[Alex Wakeford]]
|publisher=[[343 Industries]]
|publication=[[2024#February|February 21, 2024]]
|media=Short story
|length=
|ISBN=
|series=[[Halo Waypoint Chronicle]]s
|preceded=''[[Halo: Hippocratica]]''
|followed=''[[Halo: The Third Life]]''
|multiseries=
|notable=
}}
'''''Halo: Fireside''''' is a short story entry in the [[Halo Waypoint Chronicle]] series, written by [[Alex Wakeford]] and published by [[343 Industries]] online on [[Halo Waypoint]] on [[2024#February|February 21, 2024]] - the seventh anniversary of ''[[Halo Wars 2]]''{{'}}s release. Accordingly, the story acts as a compilation of snippets from the ''Halo'' universe, revolving around the crew of {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}} and their [[Second Ark Conflict|conflict]] on [[Installation 00|the Ark]] following the conclusion of ''[[Halo Wars 2: Operation: SPEARBREAKER]]''.{{Ref/Site|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/halo-fireside|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Halo: Fireside|D=21|M=02|Y=2024}} ''Fireside'' is set to be included in the [[2026]] print anthology collection ''[[Halo: Waypoint Chronicles - Volume One]]''.{{Ref/Site|Id=HWCCover|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/halo-waypoint-chronicles-volume-one-cover-reveal|Site=Halo Wapypoint|Page=Halo: Waypoint Chronicles – Volume One <nowiki>|</nowiki> Cover Reveal|D=03|M=07|Y=2025}}

==Official Summary==
{{Article quote|May [[2559]]. Having emerged into the unknown after twenty-eight years adrift in space, the crew of the [[UNSC Spirit of Fire]] find that new foes are not the only challenge they face on the enigmatic [[Installation 00|Ark]]—but the past they left behind.}}

==Plot Synopsis==
{{Spoiler/begin}}
''Halo: Fireside'' is set on May 21, 2559 - shortly after [[Operation: SPEARBREAKER]]. The story is divided into a number of short segments, each focusing on a different set of characters predominantly from ''[[Halo Wars 2]]'' and its [[Downloadable content|DLC expansions]], and depicting day-to-day life aboard the ship and in the [[Second Ark Conflict]]. The story begins with a short monologue written by [[Isabel]] on the nature of hope, with her hoping to gain more of an understanding of the concept and how the various crew of the ship (including [[Mary]], [[Andrew Sandmoore]], and [[Jerome-092]]) percieve it - with the goal of being able to factor it into her calculations on how to fight against the war. The monologue then concludes with her wondering what the [[Banished]] hope for.

The second section of the story focuses on [[Captain (NAVCOM)|Captain]] [[James Cutter]] heading to the [[bridge]] of ''Spirit of Fire'', and reminiscing on his service aboard the ship immediately prior to and during the events of ''[[Halo Wars]]'' - including his interactions with [[Serina]] and [[Ellen Anders]], both of whom now missing from the ship's crew.

The third section of the story focuses on [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Morgan Kinsano]] and her [[Firestorm Battle Group]], and depicts an alternate perspective on the events first detailed in the [[Phoenix Logs|Phoenix Log]] for the [[multiplayer]] map [[Sentry]]. Kinsano and her forces are deployed to [[Site Ricochet]] (the in-universe codename for the Sentry multiplayer map), with the goal of reconnoitering the site and how large of a presence the Banished have there. While scouting, Kinsano reminisces on her own youth as a child on [[Reynes]] and her early career as an [[insurrectionist]]. The scouting party is then interrupted by the emergence of a [[Forerunner]] construct, which fires upon the Banished troops and leaves all [[Jato 'Ratum|but one]] dead. Kinsano reports as such to Cutter, before being ordered to retreat in light of new intelligence about a Banished attack on [[Fort Jordan (location)|Fort Jordan]].

The fourth section of the story depicts [[Sunray 1-1]]'s celebrations at [[Quebec Base]] following the completion of a successful mission - a long-range assassination of a [[Jiralhanae Chieftain]] first mentioned in the 100th issue of [[Canon Fodder]].{{Ref/Site|Id=CF100|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/sweet-centennial|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Sweet Centennial|D=24|M=09|Y=2021}} The section focuses on characterising the [[Orbital Drop Shock Troopers]], the majority of whom were never given any screen time in ''Operation: SPEARBREAKER'', and fleshing out their intra-team interactions - showcasing a rare moment of downtime for the team.

The story concludes with a final monologue from Isabel, noting that she has found the most obvious symbol for hope to have emerged in the form of fire; something that can symbolise many things to many people, and concluding that "''a spirit of fire is a spirit of hope''".
{{Spoiler/end}}
==Appearances==
{{Featurelist|secondcolumn=title-5
|title-1=Characters|
;Artificial intelligence
*[[Isabel]]
*[[Serina]]

;Animal
*[[Spock]] {{Mo}}

;Human
*[[Alice-130]] {{Mo}}
*[[Jerome-092]] {{Mo}}
*[[Ellen Anders]]
*[[James Cutter]]
*[[Morgan Kinsano]]
*[[Helena Gruss]]
*[[Terrence Hood]] {{Mo}}
*[[Mary]] {{Mo}}
*[[Andrew Sandmoore]] {{Mo}}
*[[Devon Sparks]]
*[[Chloe Turpin]]
*[[János Varga]] {{1st}}
*[[Elijah Vaughan]]
*[[Robert Watts]] {{Mo}}

;Jiralhanae
*[[Atriox]] {{Mo}}

;Sangheili
*[[Jato 'Ratum]]

|title-2=Species|
*[[Dengkra]]
*[[Forerunner]] {{Mo}}
*[[Human]]
*[[Jiralhanae]]
*[[Sangheili]]
*[[Thorn beast]]
*[[Unggoy]]

|title-3=Organizations|
*[[Covenant]]
*[[Covenant remnants]]
**[[Banished]]
*[[Unified Earth Government]] {{Mo}}
**[[United Nations Space Command]]
***[[UNSC Navy]]
***[[Unified Ground Command]]
****[[UNSC Marine Corps]]
*****[[Orbital Drop Shock Troopers]]
******[[Hellbringers]]
*******[[Firestorm Battle Group]]
********[[Scout Team Wajikol]] {{1st}}
********[[Scout Team Nawal]] {{1st}}
******[[Boomerang Company]]
*******[[Sunray 1-1]]
*******[[Lotus Squad]]
*****[[UNSC Navy]]
******[[SPARTAN-II program]]
*******[[Blue Team]] {{Mo}}

|title-4=Locations|
*[[Installation 00]]
**[[Site Ricochet]]
**[[Fort Jordan]] {{Mo}}
**[[Echo Base]] {{Fm}}
**[[Quebec Base]] {{1st}}
*[[Epsilon Indi system]]
**[[Harvest]] {{Mo}}
*[[Installation 09]] {{Mo}}
*[[Kezu system]]
**[[Reynes]] {{Mo}}
*[[Korinth Prior system]]
**[[Trove]] {{Mo}}
*[[Procyon system]]
**[[Arcadia]] {{Mo}}

|title-5=Events|
*[[Insurrection]] {{Mo}}
*[[Human-Covenant War]] {{Mo}}
**[[Harvest campaign]] {{Mo}}
**[[Battle for Arcadia]] {{Mo}}
**[[Battle of Trove]] {{Mo}}
*[[Post-Covenant War conflicts]]
**[[Second Ark Conflict]]
***[[Operation: SPEARBREAKER]] {{Mo}}

|title-6=Weapons|
;Human

|title-7=Vehicles|
;Human
*[[AV-14 Hornet]]
*[[M808S Scorpion]]
*[[Warthog]]
**[[M12F Flame Warthog]]
*{{Class|Phoenix|colony ship}}
**{{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}} {{Mo}}

;Covenant
*[[Covenant cruiser]]
*{{Pattern|Syfon|assault carrier}}
**''[[Enduring Conviction]]'' {{Mo}}

|title-8=Technology and equipment|
*[[MQ-96 Support Drone]]
**[[Hank]]
*[[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]] {{Mo}}
*[[Shield world]] {{Mo}}
*[[Refugia]] {{Mo}}
*[[Smart AI]]
}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:HW2 SpiritOfFire ObersvationDeck Concept.jpg|''Halo Wars 2'' concept art for ''Spirit of Fire''{{'}}s observation deck, reused in the short story.
File:HW2-Sentry.jpg|Artwork for the map [[Sentry]], the location of [[Site Ricochet]] in the story.
File:HW2 Sunray Concept Clean.jpg|Concept art of Sunray 1-1.
</gallery>

==External links==
*[https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/halo-fireside Halo: Fireside]- The official Waypoint post in which the short story was released for free.
*[https://content.halocdn.com/media/Default/community/waypoint_chronicle_fireside-988f46fd42e14430a31505e872a6360f.pdf Official ''Halo: Fireside'' PDF] - The PDF of the short story released on Halo Waypoint ({{file link|Fireside.pdf|Archived copy}}).
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWm9Vf7c0X4 Halo: Fireside | Audiobook] - The audiobook narrated by Alex Wakeford.

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Waypoint Chronicles}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fireside}}
[[Category:Halo Waypoint Chronicles|Fireside]]
[[Category:Canon]]