Halo: Outcasts
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464 pages[5] | |||
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Halo: Outcasts is a print novel by Troy Denning that was released on August 8, 2023.[4][6] The novel was originally set to release on October 18, 2022, but was ultimately delayed to July 25th, 2023 due to Denning's own personal health complications.[1][7][8] In March 2023, the novel was delayed once more seemingly due to supply chain issues, this time to August 8, 2023.[4]
The novel follows Thel 'Vadam and Olympia Vale's efforts to recover a rumored artifact on Netherop that could stop Cortana, unaware that they're being manipulated by someone else. The novel's focus on Netherop follows on from the planet's establishment and heavy feature in previous Denning novels Silent Storm and Oblivion.[2] Several of the novel's Sangheili cast of characters follow on from the 2015 novel Halo: Hunters in the Dark and some of the other characters were ones introduced in Silent Storm and Oblivion.
Official summary[edit]
| “ | 2559. Formerly one of the Covenant's greatest and most fearsome warriors, Arbiter Thel 'Vadam is now allied with his former human enemies while deeply entrenched in leading the Sangheili people to a new era of unification. But his aspirations are under constant threat, whether by the dangerous, warring factions of rival Sangheili keeps, or the relentless shadow of oppression spread by the renegade artificial intelligence Cortana.
An opportunity to break Cortana's chains has suddenly presented itself through the rumored existence of an ancient artifact located on the hostile world of Netherop. Spartan Olympia Vale, trained with the skills to live and thrive among the Sangheili, also recognizes this alien prize as an essential means to aid humanity in reaching the same goal of freedom. But behind the scenes, both 'Vadam and Vale are being manipulated by a mysterious figure with their own agenda. And to make matters worse, all involved are unknowingly placing themselves at perilous odds with forces beyond their comprehension.[2] |
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Plot synopsis[edit]
Outcasts begins on November 11, 2559,[9] picking up at the conclusion of a meeting of Sangheili elders on Sanghelios in response to the destruction of Doisac days earlier by Cortana. As the Arbiter travels back to his home, frustrated at the Sangheili peoples' reluctance to unite to face their oppressors, his vehicle is stopped and searched by several Created armigers, who cite increased security protocols after a recent bombing elsewhere on the planet.
After arriving home, the Arbiter is introduced to Crei 'Ayomuu, an Oath Warden charged with upholding contracts between two given parties. 'Ayomuu reveals that he was responsible for the terror bombing in the valley to distract the Created and allow him to travel to Vadam keep unnoticed, and that he is on Sanghelios to hunt down a human female xenoarchaeologist who had signed-then betrayed-a contract with his undisclosed client. As Vadam allows a contingent of humans to live in Vadam as part of his cooperation with the United Nations Space Command, the Oath Warden wishes to hunt her down there. After some interrogation, 'Ayomuu divulges that his target is Keely Iyuska, and he believes her to have stolen funding for a research mission to Netherop to investigate a potential superweapon that could kill a Guardian. The Arbiter realises that if the client were to control such a weapon, they could have the authority to unite the Sangheili under them, putting his own position at risk.
At the UNSC compound, Iyuska arrives to meet with Spartan Olympia Vale and informs her of her research into Netherop, and of an opportunity to defeat the Created and gain humanity a substantial advantage. The two then travel to Paraiso, Gao to recruit an expert on Netherop, Rosa Fuertes - one of several "Castoffs" who had grown up on the planet decades earlier. Simultaneously, the Arbiter covertly departs Sanghelios for Netherop, arriving on November 22,[9] wishing to obtain the superweapon for his own people and finding a small flotilla of his allies already there including kaidons Olabisi Varo'dai and Ghe 'Talot. The group spend some time debating how to get through an orbital mine shell surrounding the planet (left there in a previous battle) though ultimately decide to slowly clear the orbit by shooting down the mines. The Sangheili flotilla is soon joined by a UNSC stealth cruiser, UNSC Hidden Point, which prompts the Sangheili to speed up their effort, not wanting to risk the superweapon falling into human hands, deploying a small team to the surface in a trio of stealth-modified Mikpramu-pattern Phantoms. Hidden Point deploys a battalion of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers in dropships alongside a single stealth D102 Owl carrying Vale and her team. As the UNSC force enters atmosphere, they are destroyed by a massive energy blast originating from below, destroying all aircraft in the sky save for the stealth ships.
On the surface, the Arbiter's landing party are able to observe a large structure in the middle of a plain which they believe houses the superweapon they seek. Shortly after landing, they also notice a vehicle of some kind leaving the structure and heading towards them. While they decide what to do they are ambushed by several humans, survivors under command of Commander Amalea Petrov who had been left marooned on the world in the previous battle there and spent the last thirty years in a guerilla war on the surface fighting against a similar contingent of Sangheili survivors holed up in the structure, still under the belief the Human-Covenant War was ongoing. After managing to talk to the humans, the Arbiter is able to convince them that he has no ill intent towards them, and that if they help him he can evacuate them from the planet and back to human space. The humans agree, and are interrupted by the superweapon firing upon Hidden Point's dropship deployment.
Unbeknownst to the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios, the entire operation on Netherop is being watched by the Banished, who had entered the Ephyra system sometime prior to the Swords of Sanghelios and done a great amount of work to destroy the automated probes left there by the Created in preparation for their own mission to retrieve the superweapon on the surface. After the Arbiter's arrival, they had retreated to one of Netherop's moons and hid under a cloaking generator to mask their presence, content to allow the UNSC and Swords to do the hard work for them.
Thanks to her Owl dropship's stealth features, Olympia Vale, Iyuska, Fuertes, and a handful of ODSTs are able to survive the superweapon's firing and proceed to land close to the structure with intent to enter the complex and retrieve it. Vale experiences post-traumatic shock at the destruction of the entire battalion and blames herself, as the commander of the mission. Miles away, the Arbiter's party notice the Owl dropship landing and make haste to the structure, not wanting to be beat to the weapon by the UNSC. Commander Petrov distrusts the Arbiter due to his wish to beat the UNSC to the weapon, and remains skeptical of his intentions.
At the structure, Vale and her troops are ambushed by a cadre of Sangheili under the command of self-appointed Worldmaster Nizat 'Kvarosee. As with Petrov's troops, the Sangheili are still loyal to the Covenant and unaware of the empire's fall, and thus believe humanity to be heretics. They attack the ODSTs on the structure using a mysterious technology to manipulate the environment around them, and wearing special armour seemingly-resistant to most attacks. In the chaos, Fuertes is captured and taken hostage. The Arbiter arrives shortly after and attempts to negotiate with 'Kvarosee, informing him of the war's end and the new status quo in the galaxy. The Worldmaster comes close to agreeing to work with the Arbiter, but is enraged when he sees High Kaidon 'Varodai, as his more conservative beliefs do not permit female Sangheili to hold such an esteemed title. After this, he retreats further inside the complex with his hostage, warning the Arbiter not to follow.
The Arbiter and a small number of his troops immediately pursue 'Kvarosee and his men, though are repeatedly ambushed inside the mazelike complex, with the defenders seemingly able to manipulate the internal geometry of the structure and emerge from inside walls and their armour resistant to even plasma weaponry. To incapacitate the enemy, Crei 'Ayomuu unleashes one of several gadgets on his toolbelt, a toxic gas that their armour is not equipped to filter. In the chaos, the Arbiter and several of his men are either knocked out or killed and the ceiling collapses. One of the defenders, blademaster Meduz 'Ra'ashai, is injured in the fighting and captured by the Arbiter's forces. Upon interrogation he reveals that 'Kvarosee's hold over the Sangheili defenders inside the structure is weakening, and that they are few in number. He then pledges himself to the Arbiter's cause in return for extraction offworld, and reveals the secrets of the structure: the entire complex is filled with a form of nanotechnology which binds to a given person and can be used to manipulate the world around them based on their thoughts. This includes fitting them with the special resistant armour, manipulating the walls and floors of the structure, and even allowing fresh crops and water to be provided inside the structure for the Sangheili to live on. Believing this technology to be the work of the Forerunners, the Sangheili resigned themselves to defend it to the death.
Amid the ceiling collapse, Rosa Fuertes is buried alive, though is not killed. She is instead saved by a mysterious entity-a surviving single or group of Precursors- that refers to itself as "Nothing" and which claims it can save Fuertes and even cure her preexisting Prion disease. However, this comes at a price: Fuertes may not mention the entity's existence to anyone. After trying (and failing) to commune with the entity for answers, Fuertes agrees, and is then transported to the surface, where she is reunited with the humans above. Upon learning that the Arbiter is engaged in combat with the defenders, the humans agree to breach the complex from behind as to take the superweapon for themselves.
In the ensuing firefight, the defenders are pushed back on two fronts, eventually using the active camouflage abilities of their armour to hunt down several of the ODSTs before they are finally killed by the Arbiter and his troops. By this time, 'Kvarosee is severely injured and his steward Tam 'Lakosee is on the verge of realising the truth that the Arbiter is preaching. Outnumbered, 'Lakosee agrees to show the human-Sangheili forces the superweapon they seek, named the Divine Hand, and brings them into the Inner Sanctum - a chamber inside which only 'Kvarosee had ever been permitted. Using the same nanotechnology that powered many of the other technologies of the structure, from the chamber 'Kvarosee could channel massive amounts of energy to destroy any target he wanted - something he had done several times to prevent the UNSC from recovering Petrov's troops earlier in the war and something he did to Hidden Point's dropships.
As the Arbiter takes control of the weapon he becomes aware of the ships in orbit alongside a new threat: a Created harrier attacking the human and Sangheili ships in orbit and the emergence of the hidden Banished flotilla. The Arbiter uses the Divine Hand to target the Created and Banished ships, though he is interrupted when 'Lakosee realises the ships he is about to destroy are Forerunner starships. 'Lakosee also steps into the chamber and as such, the weapon targets and destroys everything in orbit. The only survivors are the Banished, as Atriox had sacrificed his drekar Hammer of Fate to distract the controller of the weapon, leaving his flotilla of karves untouched. As such, with all threats in orbit now destroyed and the Created now alerted to the situation on Netherop, the Banished launch an invasion of the planet-deploying hundreds of soldiers in drop pods to retrieve the superweapon by force.
Having observed the destruction around Netherop, one of the Created's harrier ships is able to escape the system before the Divine Hand fires, and is able to warn the Created of the threat: that one of their subjugates may be about to retrieve a weapon capable of challenging their rule. This is brought to the AI Sloan, one of the senior AIs of the Created, who is undergoing rampancy. Sloan petitions another AI Kathara to deploy a Fortress-class vessel, Long Reverence, to the Ephyra system to shut down the operation. Kathara is initially hesitant, citing Sloan's rampancy, though agrees to dispatch Long Reverence immediately after seeing the harrier's evidence.
Despite their differences, the Arbiter and Olympia Vale both recognise that regardless who retrieves the superweapon, the Banished can not be permitted to get control of it. They agree to treat with Atriox in the hopes of deceiving him, though the ruse is foiled when 'Ayomuu reveals that the Banished lore-master Eto 'Saljhoo was in fact his client. The Arbiter is forced to give up the Divine Hand to Atriox, who in return promises to leave the humans and Sangheili alive for their cooperation. After the Banished depart, the allied soldiers on the ground are retrieved by a handful of Condor dropships and return home empty-handed. Tam 'Lakosee refuses to leave his now-dying Worldmaster, and as such the two are once again left stranded on Netherop, now-alone. With the Divine Hand stolen from them, the nanotechnology that allowed them to live at the sanctum for decades no longer works, and as such the two will soon starve to death. 'Lakosee mercy-kills 'Kvarosee and is left to die alone.
The adjunct depicts a moment in time several million years in the past, during the reign of the Forerunners some time after the Forerunner-Precursor war. A member of Netherop's native species, Chynndokahli, observes the arrival of a Forerunner Guardian over their world. While unable to comprehend the nature of the construct, they are communicated with by one of the surviving Precursors on the planet and instructed to gather their fellows inside a temple, where they are directed to use the Divine Hand to destroy the Guardian. The chapter then ends with Nothing echoing some of the language used by the Flood.
Appearances[edit]
Trivia[edit]
- The novel's existence was first hinted at in an Easter Egg on the Halo Infinite multiplayer map Streets. Various books placed near the map's arcade room reference real Halo novels, with one particular title bearing the word "Outcast".
- Rosa Fuertes' internal thoughts in chapter 16 were inspired by Denning's own dream-like experience during his recovery from a surgery he had undergone when he was penning Halo: Outcasts.[10]
Gallery[edit]
Full cover art without logos.
A parody of the novel's cover art created by community writer Alex Wakeford.
Another parody of the novel's cover art, with several Troy Dennings pointing relevant elements.
An official illustration of the state of Vadam, done for the novel.
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b c Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Shippin' Out (Retrieved on Feb 2, 2022) [archive]
- ^ a b c Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Of Protocols and Prisons (Retrieved on Mar 7, 2022) [archive]
- ^ Amazon, Halo: Outcasts (Retrieved on Mar 25, 2023) [archive]
- ^ a b c Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Echoes With-Dinh (Retrieved on Mar 25, 2023) [archive]
- ^ a b Simon & Schuster, Halo: Outcasts (Retrieved on Mar 25, 2023) [archive]
- ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Lore of the Jungle (Retrieved on May 4, 2022) [archive]
- ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Auditory Additions (Retrieved on Dec 15, 2022) [archive]
- ^ Twitter, Troy Denning (@TDenningauthor): "Some HALO: OUTCASTS news: As some of you may have noticed already, we're delaying my next Halo book. The reason is that a congenital heart defect (a bicuspid aortic valve) has started to act up earlier than expected, and I need to have open-heart surgery." (Retrieved on May 5, 2022) [archive]
- ^ a b Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Tasty Tomes (Retrieved on Mar 24, 2025) [archive]
- ^ Halo Waypoint, Halo: Outcasts | Spartan Chatter (Retrieved on Aug 12, 2023) [archive]
External links[edit]
- Text previews
- Halo Waypoint, Halo: Outcasts - Preview 1
- Halo Waypoint, Halo: Outcasts - Preview 2
- Halo Waypoint, Halo: Outcasts - Preview 3
- Audiobook previews
- YouTube, Halo: Outcasts – Preview #1 - Audio Excerpt
- YouTube, Halo: Outcasts – Preview #2: Arbiter Thel 'Vadam - Audio Excerpt
- YouTube, Halo: Outcasts - Preview #3: Spartan Olympia Vale - Audio Excerpt
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