Halo: Shadows of Reach
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Halo: Shadows of Reach - A Master Chief Story is a Halo novel written by Troy Denning, released on October 20, 2020[4] after a delay from its original release date of September 22, 2020.[1] It is the third novel instalment of the A Master Chief Story project. Limited-edition copies exclusive to Wal-Mart contained an additional short story, Sacrifice,[5] though the story was later released as a free PDF download.
On October 15, 2020, a short excerpt of the story was released on YouTube, narrated by Steve Downes - the voice actor for John-117 in the Halo games.[6]
Shadows of Reach follows up on some of the plot threads established in Denning's non-Master Chief novels Last Light and Retribution. Similarly, the book has a direct sequel outside of the Master Chief Story format, 2021's Halo: Divine Wind.
Official summary[edit]
| “ | October 2559. It has been a year since the renegade artificial intelligence Cortana issued a galaxy-wide ultimatum, subjecting many worlds to martial law under the indomitable grip of her Forerunner weapons. Outside her view, the members of Blue Team—John-117, the Master Chief; Frederic-104; Kelly-087; and Linda-058—are assigned from the UNSC Infinity to make a covert insertion onto the ravaged planet Reach.
Their former home and training ground—and the site of humanity’s most cataclysmic military defeat near the end of the Covenant War—Reach still hides myriad secrets after all these years. Blue Team’s mission is to penetrate the rubble-filled depths of CASTLE Base and recover top-secret assets locked away in Dr. Catherine Halsey’s abandoned laboratory—assets which may prove to be humanity’s last hope against Cortana. But Reach has been invaded by a powerful and ruthless alien faction, who have their own reasons for being there. Establishing themselves as a vicious occupying force on the devastated planet, this enemy will soon transform Blue Team’s simple retrieval operation into a full-blown crisis. And with the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance, mission failure is not an option…. |
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Plot synopsis[edit]
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The story opens with the Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 and the other Spartan-IIs of Blue Team—Fred-104, Kelly-087, and Linda-058—aboard the UNSC Special Delivery, an D102 Owl stealth insertion craft, en route to the surface of Reach, a once-thriving colony and the heart of the UNSC military that had been glassed by the Covenant seven years prior to their mission. Blue Team had been ordered to retrieve potential war altering assets from within CASTLE Base, hidden deep under the Highland Mountains. The Owl's small flight crew of three of the UNSC's best remaining operatives—crew chief Stella Mukai, pilot Major Eznik Van Houte, and co-pilot First Lieutenant Maks Chapov—had been tasked with the delivery of Blue Team and their excavation equipment to the planet's surface. However, they soon realize that the simple snatch-and-grab mission will be considerably more difficult than expected. The Special Delivery is spotted and attacked by enemy aircraft. They narrowly makes it to the ground while under fire from Seraphs.
Back on solid ground, the Spartans aren't given much time to recover before the attacking Seraphs make another pass. Blue Team is forced into a defensive hold while attempting to unload their cargo and crew from the wreckage of the Owl. After briefly gaining control of the situation thanks to Fred's improvisation with the excavation equipment's plasma drill, John notices the sigil of the Banished on the hull of a downed Seraph, revealing that the ruthless faction of mercenaries had occupied Reach. As per protocol, the Owl is destroyed via an internally-stored octanitrocubane charge to cover their tracks.
Meanwhile, Castor, a Jiralhanae Dokab of the Keepers of the One Freedom, investigates the charred remains of the insertion craft, considering why the humans might have come to Reach. He and Inslaan 'Gadogai, a Sangheili blademaster serving the Banished, consider the possibility that it may be for the same reason that the Banished and their newly acquired factions—the Keepers of the One Freedom, the Legion of the Corpse-Moon, and the Ravaged Tusks—are on the planet. War Chief