Halo: Escalation

Halo: Escalation is a twelve-issue comic book series produced by Dark Horse Comics. It focuses on "how the events of Halo 4 have helped define the destiny not only of the Chief but of the galaxy as a whole". The series continues the story of the a month after the events of Spartan Ops, beginning with their assignment on escort duty for critical peace negotiations between the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae, through the "rediscovery" of the, and ending with the events that followed three days after the ending of Halo 4.

Issue 1

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Issue #1 opens with Commander Sarah Palmer and Fireteam Jackknife inside the 's training simulation deck. Their War Games session is interrupted by Captain Thomas Lasky who asks to speak with Commander Palmer. Lasky informs her that they have been requested to appear before the UNSC Security Council at HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6. At the hearing, the council expresses misgiving about Lasky's handling of the Second Battle of Requiem. Admiral Serin Osman berates Lasky over the complete destruction of Requiem and the failed assassination of Dr. Catherine Halsey. Osman then asks Palmer if Lasky had sent Fireteam Majestic to stop her from eliminating Halsey. Wanting to protect Lasky from any ramifications, Palmer lies and tells Osman that Majestic was there as backup. Shortly after, Admiral Hood arrives onboard Infinity to speak with Lasky. He tells Lasky that the is assigned to pursue Jul 'Mdama as he needs Infinity to aid in peace talks between the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae. Two days later, Infinity arrives at Ealen IV. Lord Hood meets with the Arbiter, Thel 'Vadam, and the Brute Chieftain Lydus. Lasky, Palmer and Jackknife join the delegates inside the plasma center as Paul DeMarco of Majestic and Fireteam Bailey act as overwatch. The delegation is caught off guard when Covenant mercenaries blast into the conference chamber. The Spartan IVs defend the delegation and escort them to a nearby parts depot when their evacuation shuttle is destroyed. With communications with their orbiting fleets blocked, the delegation are left without reinforcements.
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Issue 2

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Issue #2 opens with the delegation attempting to re-establish communication with the orbiting fleet. The Arbiter informs Hood of the planet's fortifications as a means for an escape route. Lasky orders Palmer to get the ambassadors to the redoubt. Palmer tasks Spartan Ray to escort Lasky and utilize her SIGINT background to reestablish communications. Shipmaster Vata 'Gajat and his forces arrive and is informed by Tek that the envoy has retreated into the repair depot. However, a human associate of 'Gajat tells him that they should move quickly before the capital ships respond. In orbit, while Infinity tries to re-establish contact with the delegation, the Jiralhanae contact the ship and demand to know why communication has been blocked. 'Gajat and his forces storm the depot, only to find the delegation missing. The Shipmaster orders his forces to prepare for deployment, noting that his agent would provide the whereabouts of the envoy.
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The company make their way through service conduits leading from the depot. Suddenly, a Type-56 Lich appears and drops off several troops. Palmer takes her helmet filled with grenades and sends it up the Lich's gravity lift, destroying the Lich. Lasky and Ray head down the administrative wing of the facility taking out an Elite Warrior along the way. They find a network console and Ray discovers multiple signals being broadcast blocking out incoming transmissions. The destroyed Lich crashes down onto the service bridge while an Elite Storm unit is taken out by Spartan Scruggs. Palmer orders Fireteam Jackknife to move ahead to the redoubt while Hood searches the downed Elite. Hood discovers a UNSC data pad containing information on the Spartans and believes someone is leaking information about the negotiations. Lasky and Ray secure two Banshees and make their way to the power source of the jammer but observe Covenant forces heading for the redoubt. Palmer is informed by Scruggs that the facility is secure. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group, Scruggs has instead taken out his team and the security detail.

Issue 3

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Issue #3 opens with Lasky and Ray attacking a Covenant base and destroying the reactor, the source of the Covenant jamming signal. In the redoubt, Lydus continues to express his skepticism over whether the peace talk will succeed. Hood tells him that the Jiralhanae will need Lydus as a leader if they want to survive. Scruggs suddenly appears and holds Hood at gunpoint, stating that he will reveal his demands once his associates arrive. The situation in orbit continues to worsen as Sangheili and Jiralhanae ships begin to deploy forces against each other. Having cleared the communications interference, Lasky informs Infinity of the Covenant's attack. Upon being updated on the crisis between the Sangheili and Jiralhanae, Lasky contacts the fleets and asks them to cease their infighting and send their forces to the delegates' aid instead. However, both sides refuse to listen to him while a massive Covenant force converges on the redoubt. Meanwhile, 'Gajat and his human accomplice converse aboard the Covenant forces' flagship and it is revealed that 'Gajat is secretly working for an unknown party without Jul 'Mdama's knowledge.
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In the redoubt, Scruggs continues to hold Hood hostage. He denies that he is working for the Insurrectionists and indicates that he is aware of some of ONI's secrets, including the cover-up of the New Phoenix Incident, their covert campaign against the Sangheili and John-117's recent disappearance. Palmer then shoots Lord Hood in the leg, tackles Scruggs and, after a brief struggle, kills the rogue Spartan by stabbing him in the throat with a combat knife. With the Covenant bearing on the site in force, the group find a craft they can use to evacuate. DeMarco and Fireteam Bailey remains behind to cover the ambassadors' escape with a Tyrant AA gun and they are killed when the Covenant destroy the cannon. Thanks to their sacrifice, the delegation, Lasky and the surviving Spartans make it aboard Infinity, prompting 'Gajat's fleet to retreat. A funeral ceremony is held for the Spartans fallen in the battle, with an angry Palmer telling Lasky she wants to be alone. One week later, Lasky and Hood discuss the troubling prospect that someone higher-ranked than Scruggs must have leaked the location of the negotiations, indicating a severe security breach in the UNSC's hierarchy.

Issue 4

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Issue #4 opens with the Infinity under attack by an unknown adversary using UNSC aircraft. The story cuts back 74 hours earlier with Lasky and Hood discussing the failed peace negotiations at Ealen IV. Lasky suggests enlisting help from the outside to find out who leaked the information. Spartan Ray notifies Lasky that the prowler he requested is ready for departure. However, she expresses confusion as to what their mission involves. Lasky tells her that he'll let her know when they leave. Hood gives Lasky 96 hours to return to the ship. Meanwhile Fireteam Majestic and several other SPARTAN-IVs spar against one another. Madsen reveals to Thorne that DeMarco was transferred to Fireteam Bailey because Palmer wanted Thorne to be the new leader of Majestic. Later, Hood requests Commander Bradley to give a demonstration of the Infinity's Forerunner engines. Before Roland can plot a course they are interrupted by Jespersen who has detected a distress signal on an old maritime channel. The Infinity makes a slipspace jump to the Chaudier trade route where the signal originated.
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Lasky and Ray arrive at Escala III and travel through Castiglione where they are to rendezvous with Lasky's contact. Lasky asks Ray what her first name is, which she reveals to be Naiya. Shortly after, they spot Lasky's contact, Petra Janecek, climbing down a balcony. The trio head to a boardwalk where Lasky and Petra catch up on old times. Lasky asks Naiya if she can give him and Petra a few minutes to keep Naiya from hearing anything that could implicate her. In the Artesia-702 system, the Infinity discovers a damaged freighter, Pilgrims Pride. TJ Murphy relays to the Infinity that it is leaking atmosphere and there are faint life signs aboard. Hood orders Bradley to have the ship tugged into one of the sub-vessel deployment bays. A battle ensues inside the bay between the Infinity's Broadswords and UNSC aircraft that deployed from the freighter. Fireteams Majestic, Colossus, and Fenrir infiltrate the freighter to stop it from self-destructing. Upon inspecting the interior they are attacked by an automated weapon emplacement which Madsen swiftly destroys. Hood orders the Broadswords to provide cover for the Pelican tugs as they get the freighter out the deployment bay. With the ship back in space, Grant ejects the core from the ship before it self-destructs. After the core explodes, Majestic notifies Miller that they are alive and request pickup.

Back in Castiglione, Lasky tells Petra that they need help rooting out a mole inside the UNSC. He states that a secret diplomatic meeting was ambushed despite its location being highly classified. Petra agrees to do the job but wants the whereabouts of John-117 in exchange. Back aboard the Infinity, Hood and Bradley inspect the remains of the aircraft that the freighter was carrying which were composed of Vultures and Sparrowhawks. They run an I.D. check on the vessels and trace the craft back to the. Before they can file a report on the ship, Hood reveals that he was the reason why the starship went missing.

Issue 5

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Issue #5 opens with Lasky, Ray, and Petra arriving at a trading port on Karava, set out to meet with Petra's informant. Along the way, they discover this Sangheili colony is a melting pot of species, with even non-UNSC humans passing through. Ray expresses her nervousness and remarks how she wishes she had a gun. Petra tells her that no one here carries a gun. Unfortunately, Ray ends up provoking a few Elites by giving them the wrong look. Pulling their swords out, Petra diffuses the situation by pulling out a revolver and kills one of the Elites. Confused as to what happened, Ray confronts Petra on carrying a firearm, and she reveals she lied to Ray in order to keep things from escalating even more. She elaborates saying that shooting the Elite was a display of dominance, and half-jokingly says the surviving Elites think Lasky and Ray are her pets. At the meeting place, a bar, they find Petra's informant, a Sangheili mercenary called Zef 'Trahl.
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Meanwhile on Infinity, Roland begins his presentation on what he's found about the Pilgrims Pride. It was supposedly built five years ago, despite its assault craft being from the Spirit of Fire, which has been missing for 30 years. Palmer suggests the craft were smuggled off beforehand, but Roland disagrees as the craft were in too good of condition. Moving on, he reveals the ship's logs were wiped and then filled with false data. Despite that, he was able to retrieve the real data, coordinates from where it originated: Oth Lodon, a gas giant located deep in Jiralhanae space. Before progressing any further, Hood decides it is time to let everyone know the history he and James Cutter had: Hood served as XO on the Spirit of Fire under Captain Cutter. It was Cutter who made sure Hood got his own ship, the. Three months after Hood's new posting, they got word of the conflict on Arcadia. As the Spirit of Fire jumped out of system, it dropped a log buoy that the Roman Blue was assigned to retrieve. At that point in time, Arcadia was deemed lost. The Roman Blue was not to engage Covenant forces. However, Hood was tired of humanity's losses, and he engaged the Covenant forces. Overwhelmed, Hood was forced to retreat. Because of his recklessness, the buoy was never recovered, and the Spirit of Fire was never found.

With the Spirit's possible location found, Palmer expresses that the ship might not even be there. Hood orders Palmer to conduct a search and rescue operation without being detected. Deployed on OF92 Booster Frames to scout the system, Palmer and Fireteam Majestic have their op handled by Miller. Not wanting to listen to Miller, Palmer shuts off comms under the guise of losing the signal in an asteroid field. Exploring the area, they unknowingly pass by a Covenant scanner, which tips off Shipmaster 'Gajat, who orders shields and weapons to be brought online at half power so as to not be detected. Landing on an asteroid, Palmer and Majestic discover an SDV-class heavy corvette docked at a Covenant space station. Palmer radios Hood and informs him what they've found and that the Spirit is not here.

Back on Karava, Lasky and Zef discuss the relationship between Brutes and Elites. Getting down to business, Zef reveals that the forces who attacked the peace summit were led by Vata 'Gajat, a Sangheili mercenary. He used to work for Jul 'Mdama, and before that, served as a soldier in the Covenant. Lasky asks if he is still apart of the Covenant anymore, but Zef explains that the term 'Covenant' has lost its meaning. Then Zef reveals who the UNSC mole is: Captain Daniel Clayton, who served under Rear Admiral Horatio Temkin, the ambassador to Sanghelios and the one who set up the meeting. Concluding the meeting, Lasky confides to Ray and Petra that Captain Clayton is Cutter's son.

On board the Covenant space station, Clayton talks to 'Gajat about his father, revealing he is an illegitimate son, and that he and his mother were taken care of even after Cutter's disappearance. Soon after, Infinity jumps in system right in front of the space station. Expecting this, Clayton opens a channel to Infinity. Talking to Hood, he identifies him as being the one who sent his mother and him money because he was the one responsible for the Spirit's disappearance. At the same time, Hood greased the wheels for Clayton, making him feel like his entire UNSC career was built off of nepotism. Upset at feeling like he never accomplished anything, he turned to Admiral Mattius Drake, leader of the New Colonial Alliance, when he offered him an opportunity. Revealing that he had intended for Scruggs to kill Hood, he announces that he lured the Infinity to the station to kill Hood. He orders the station's glassing cannon to fire on Infinity, piercing all the way through the side of the ship.

Issue 6

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Issue #6 opens with Hood remembering his actions during his military career, and watching the chaos on the Infinity after three successive attacks of the station's glassing cannon. Commander Bradley is killed during the attack and Hood himself is impaled, blaming himself for letting the Infinity fall into a trap. Palmer and Majestic proceed to board the station and stop Clayton while the glassing cannon overheats, forcing it to cool down for some time. NCA forces detect Spartans' Booster Frames and Clayton activates the station's point defenses. Clayton orders 'Gajat to stop the Spartans, but 'Gajat, in a burst of ambition, decides to destroy Infinity instead. The NCA forces attack Majestic and Palmer with missiles but the Spartans manage to avoid them. Hoya notices 'Gajat's SDV-class corvette undocking from the station, but the Spartans decide to enter the station and use it to destroy the ship. Inside 'Gajat's flagship, 'Gajat receives an emergency call from the station but he decides to ignore it and proceed with his plan to destroy Infinity. Meanwhile, the Spartans quickly capture the station and its crew. Madsen knocks Clayton unconscious as revenge for DeMarco's death on Ealen IV. 'Gajat contacts the station to tell Clayton he is about to destroy Infinity, but he is answered by Palmer, who orders Thorne to fire the cannon, destroying 'Gajat's ship.
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Three days later, the UNSC sends a task force comprising an Autumn-class cruiser, a Charon-class frigate and a Paris-class frigate to repair the Infinity and monitor the station. At the same time, Lasky and Ray return to Infinity after his mission with Petra on Karava. Palmer apologizes to Lasky for her behavior after the battle on Ealen IV. Lasky forgives Palmer and tells her that his mission to find the spy, despite having been a success, failed to report to the UNSC in time to prevent the attack. Palmer tells him that it was Hood's fault for making decisions without his consent. In Clayton's cell, Hood (now in a wheelchair) visits him and asks him why Admiral Drake wanted to destroy the Infinity despite wanting to capture it five years before. Clayton tells Hood the NCA is stronger than before and have agents on every colony, even Earth. Hood orders to his men to take Clayton to Midnight Facility, but Clayton tells him they will meet again. After this encounter, Hood wonders if the UNSC will find the Spirit of Fire, wishing to find Cutter and ask for his forgiveness.

In an unknown system, the Spirit of Fire drifts on a collision course with a planet. Inside, the ship is put on alert and a lone Flood infection form is seen scurrying across the Spirit's now vacant cryo storage room.

Issue 7

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Issue #7 opens with Thorne remembering his childhood in New Phoenix and how his parents died on Alluvion. In Oaxaca Station, Thorne is awakened by Grant, who can't sleep well. Thorne and Grant talk about the former's nightmares about the attack on New Phoenix eight months ago. Despite the immediate reopening of the city, Thorne doesn't want to go. Grant insists that because the Infinity is under repair and they have nothing to do for three weeks, he should go to New Phoenix, and that she will accompany him as a "backup". Two days later, the President of the UEG, Dr. Ruth Charet, presides over the reopening of the city. Thorne and Grant go to the former's house, where Grant discovers a holographic photo of Thorne's graduation as a Private with his grandparents and a Master Chief figure bought by Thorne's grandmother.
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While exploring the house, Thorne enters a room and discovers a holographic panel with Mozart music and a violin belonging to his grandmother. Thorne concludes that his grandmother was practicing violin when the attack occurred. Thorne decides they have had enough and wants to leave, but Grant tells him the story of how she was on her home planet, Arcadia, when it fell. Grant tells Thorne that he should be happy to have a home to return to and that his dreams are trying to tell him to relieve all the pain he has inside. Thorne decides he must honor his grandparents and plays his grandmother's violin.

Three weeks later, the Infinity is fully repaired, and Thorne no longer has nightmares about New Phoenix. He thanks Grant for the support and the Infinity makes a slipspace jump.

Issue 8 - "The Next 72 Hours, Part 1"

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Issue 9 - "The Next 72 Hours, Part 2"

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Issue 10 - "The Next 72 Hours, Part 3"

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Production notes

 * Though the series primarily uses Halo 4 ' s designs for the Covenant species and their equipment, the Halo 3 and Halo: Reach incarnations of certain elements appear occasionally throughout the series. Most notably, Lydus resembles the Brutes seen in Halo: Reach, yet his bodyguards are clearly drawn in their Halo 3 likeness. Curiously, despite his recognizable classic appearance, Escalation depicts the Arbiter much like the Sangheili in Halo 4 with regard to his skin tone and mouth structure. Vata Gajat's combat harness is based on a piece of concept art for Halo 4, exploring the possibility that hard light technology could be incorporated into Sangheili armor.
 * The solicitation for Issue 5 claims that Petra Janecek infiltrates a Sangheili holy land in search of the UNSC traitor. In the issue proper, no mention is made of the planet Karava having any religious significance; the port town of Kor Delban (the only location visited), seems to be entirely secular in function.
 * The solicitation for Issue 6 claims that Petra's life is endangered by her investigation. In the released version, Janecek, Lasky, and Ray are not seen until the end of the issue when they return to Infinity without incident.
 * In Issue 6, Palmer's booster frame is painted with the number "0069", making it identical to Solomon-069's booster frame in The Package.

Mistakes

 * On a panel recounting the conclusion of the Second Battle of Requiem in Issue 1, Requiem's parent star Epoloch is depicted as disproportionately small, barely larger than the shield world.
 * In some panels in Issue 1, Kig-Yar are seen with four fingers instead of three.
 * In Issue 1, the visor color of the Spartan with War Master armor is orange, yet in Issue 2 it is blue.
 * Throughout the first three issues Banshees are depicted in their unpiloted stance even though they are flying. Similarly, in Issue 1 they are shown firing thin beams at DS-004, rather than the bolts that they canonically fire. This is similar to the Halo: Combat Evolved box art and very well may be a deliberate homage.
 * In Issue 4, Commander Bradley is accidentally referred to as Lasky in one panel.
 * In Issue 5, the Unggoy in Kor Delban are depicted wearing combat harnesses without breathing apparatuses or methane tanks.
 * Zef 'Trahl's hand is erroneously depicted with a single thumb; the Sangheili have bilaterally symmetrical hands with two thumbs.
 * During his flashback to the Battle of Arcadia, then-Captain Hood is shown wearing a flag officer's white service uniform, essentially his modern uniform with different insignia and no cap. At first its shoulder boards and sleeve stripes do not properly correspond to any rank; three panels later the shoulder boards are bare yet the sleeve stripes (now closer to the cuff) denote the rank of lieutenant. His tunic mistakenly bears the twin vertical bars of a UNICOM captain or a Navy lieutenant rather than the perched eagle of a Navy captain, as is the case with Captain Keyes in each of his visual appearances.
 * Throughout Issue 6, Lord Terrence Hood's first name is consistently misspelled as "Terrance".
 * The New Colonial Alliance's raid on Infinity is repeatedly said to have occurred four years prior, rather than five.
 * Spirit of Fire ' s is erroneously painted with the hull number CFV-38 rather than the correct CFV-88. This is likely a result of careless referencing of an image of the ship from Halo Wars, in which the first number "8" on the hull resembles a "3" due to worn paint.