Palace Hotel

Palace Hotel is one of the stories in Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe. Written by Robert McLees, it is a loose retelling of the events of the level Metropolis in Halo 2 with some differences in events and locales.

Summary
The story is set during the Battle of Mombasa, and follows John-117 as he makes his way to the heart of the city on a mission to board the Prophet of Regret's Carrier, from the other end of the bridge to a Marine outpost in the city where he meets a childhood friend.

John makes his way towards the carrier after his Pelican has been shot down by a Scarab, but finds that the tunnel leading towards the carrier, the Mtangwe Underpass, is blocked. He finds a group of Marines led by Corporal Palmer and helps them escape from a Covenant attack supported by Wraiths. They escape into the city's old sewer system, and resurface near the parking lot of the Kilindini Park Cultural Center. They come across a battlefield with Covenant troops still in the area, but also serviceable Warthogs. Despite Palmer's reluctance to make a run across the open for the Warthogs, John manages to convince her squad to take the chance. The Marines make it to the Warthogs after eliminating several Jackal snipers and escape through the Kilindini Park on a M12G1 Light Anti-Armor Vehicle, destroying a Ghost on the way.

After traversing the city's industrial zone via the Shimanzi Road, Master Chief reunites the Marines with the rest of their unit, and goes to meet with their CO. The Lieutenant actually turns out to be Parisa, a childhood friend of John on Eridanus II, who believed that he had died when in fact he was only abducted for the SPARTAN-II Program. John briefly considers revealing his identity to her, but realizes that doing so would show that the UNSC was willing to kidnap and experiment on children to ensure its survival. Instead, he and Parisa begin to plan for the upcoming battle against the remaining Covenant forces, including the Scarab.

Characters

 * John-117
 * Cortana
 * Parisa
 * Morton
 * Palmer
 * Lance Corporal Pineada
 * Private First Class Locke
 * Private First Class Galliard
 * Private First Class Sullivan
 * Private Emerson
 * Private Jemison