Halo: Escalation Issue 12

Halo: Escalation Issue 12 was released on November 26, 2014 and is the twelfth comic in the Halo: Escalation series. It is the second and last part of the two-issue story arc "Exposure".

Plot synopsis
Picking up from where Issue 11 left off, Issue 12 opens with Naiya Ray thwarting a Kig-Yar guard who snuck up on her. After a brief scuffle she kills the ambusher with her combat knife. Ray then re-establishes communication with. Roland informs her that the Infinity has been re-routed towards Ven III. Shortly after Ray discovers a turret-less Spectre and uses it to enter the pirate base. Aboard the Infinity, Sarah Palmer briefs Fireteam Majestic about the operation taking place on Ven III. She informs them that they will be tasked with rescuing Spartan Gabriel Thorne as well as recovering a bioweapon. Meanwhile the Sangheili agent meets with a Kig-Yar pirate queen inside the pirate base to bargain a deal for Spartan Thorne. Before a deal is established the queen questions the Sangheili's purpose for being on Ven III. He tells her he came for a bioweapon and that he captured the Spartan on her planet. He then warns her that the UNSC are aware of their location and will be on their way to rescue the Spartan.

With the impending arrival of the UNSC, one of the queen's underlings suggests turning the Spartan over to the UNSC to maintain secrecy of their base. The queen rejects his suggestion and orders his immediate execution. She declares that the UNSC is already aware of their operation and that the only option is a counter-attack. She orders all ships to launching platform. Upon exiting slipspace the Infinity is met by an advance fleet. The Infinity launches multiple fighters to counter the small fleet in space. The Broadswords clear a path for the rescue convoy to enter Ven III's atmosphere. Meanwhile the Sangheili returns to the chamber holding Thorne so he can complete the exchange. However he and his Kig-Yar allies are ambushed by Ray. Ray destroys the control to the device detaining Thorne and tosses him his helmet. Ray then attempts to hold the Sangheili in-place until the arrival of the Infinity.

On board a Covenant corvette, the Kig-Yar queen is informed by her forces that the Infinity is stationary and that their advance fleet has taken severe losses. The queen decides to ignore the rescue convey and regroup with the fleet in space. However, before she and her forces can advance they are destroyed by a pair of HAVOK missiles deployed by a GA-TL1 Longsword. Inside the base, Sarah Palmer and Fireteam Majestic take out several Kig-Yar pirates while they make their way towards Thorne. After the blast the unidentified Sangheili escapes from the chamber. Thorne orders Ray to pursue the Sangheili despite her wanting to stay to protect him. Ray calls in her position to Palmer and informs her that she's pursuing the Sangheili. However Palmer tells Ray that she is redirecting Majestic to her position to assist in the pursuit. Ray immediately shuts off her locator to force them to rescue Thorne instead while she continues her pursuit.

The Sangheili boards a Ghost and takes off. Ray finds another Ghost and chases him through the base. Eventually they run through a cavern and Ray fires at the Ghost eventually disabling it outside the base. Ray immediately corners the Sangheili and orders him to hand over the canister holding the bioweapon. He starts to explain that the bioweapon isn't actually for him. Seconds later, a prowler lands nearby and several ONI agents run over to their position. One of the agents tell Ray to stand down and hands her a report from Admiral Serin Osman authorizing them to detain the Sangheili and seize the bioweapon. The agents then lead the unrestrained Sangheili to the prowler.

After the mission, Ray resides by a recovering Thorne, while Lasky shares a drink with Palmer onboard Infinity. Discussing the aftermath, Lasky tells Palmer not to be angry at Ray for disobeying orders since Thorne would have died otherwise. He also tells Palmer that his debriefing with Osman went surprisingly well despite the covert operation turning into a battle. Palmer asks if he learned anything about the captured Elite but Lasky explains he was told to drop the subject. He then tells her that he got a look at a memo sent by an ONI analyst to HIGHCOM six months ago concerning a growing number of Kig-Yar pirate bases being set at trade routes and the possible consequences for ignoring the threat. Lasky theorizes that since HIGHCOM ignored ONI's demands for action against the Kig-Yar, ONI hired the Sangheili mercenary and staged the bioweapon accident as an excuse to send a small team of Spartans to the planet, thus forcing a scenario in which Infinity would have to destroy the pirate nest in order to rescue the team. Lasky wonders which was worse: that ONI played them or that they fell for the staged act. Lasky then asks Palmer to promise to not let him forget what happened this day.

Production notes
The human and alien slaves shown in Issue 11 are not mentioned in this issue, leaving their fates ambiguous. They may have been killed when the pirate base was destroyed.