Halo: Bad Blood

Halo: Bad Blood is a print novel by Matt Forbeck, released on June 26, 2018. It serves as a sequel to Halo: New Blood and is set immediately after Halo 5: Guardians. It follows Spartan Edward Buck and his old squad Alpha-Nine following the events of Halo 5: Guardians.

Plot synopsis
In a report for the Office of Naval Intelligence, Edward Buck reflects on the events that transpired after Michael "Mickey" Crespo betrayed him and Kojo "Romeo" Agu in Operation: COALPEPPER on Talitsa: his recruitment on Fireteam Osiris, his missions with them on Kamchatka, Meridian, and Sanghelios, and rescuing Blue Team from Cortana's grasp on Genesis. After saving them, both Fireteam Osiris and Blue Team fought against several armigers until they found India 127, a D79-TC Pelican that crash-landed on Genesis; Linda-058 managed to hold off the armigers long enough to allow both teams aboard the Pelican, extract Linda, and allowing 031 Exuberant Witness to open a Slipspace portal to transport both teams to Sanghelios. Their Pelican exits near Sunaion, and they regroup with Thel 'Vadam's Swords of Sanghelios, Spartan Sarah Palmer and Doctor Catherine Halsey in Nuusra. Both teams are informed that one of Sanghelios's hemispheres was completely shut down by a Guardian Custode immediately after Thel's victory against Jul 'Mdama's Covenant, and that same Guardian is enforcing Cortana's law on the planet's other hemisphere after the Sangheili's refusal to allow themselves be subjugated by the Created. Halsey also informs them the managed to escape from Earth, one of Cortana's first targets, and the ship will arrive to the system to extract them the next day. Thel 'Vadam invites both teams to a victory feast, in which John-117 talks alone with Halsey, and share some stories with Thel. At the next day, both teams, Palmer, and Halsey depart to the Infinity, with Thel wishing them luck in the upcoming battle against the Created.

During India 127 ' s flight to the Infinity, they are contacted by Veronica Dare, who authorizes them to land on Portside Bay Five. After arriving, a lieutenant informs them Captain Thomas Lasky needs John-117, Spartan Jameson Locke, Commander Palmer, and Dr. Halsey on Infinity ' s bridge, while the rest of the Spartans go to S-bay to remove their MJOLNIR armors. After spending some time alone together, Dare informs Buck that the Office of Naval Intelligence needs them and the rest of Alpha-Nine for a mission, including Mickey]] (to act as a liaison between the UNSC and the United Rebel Front). At first, Buck refuses to be part of the mission, but after a short conversation with Captain Lasky, he agrees to work with Dare and Alpha-Nine. Dare informs Buck about the mission: investigate and discover how a URF colony named Cassidy III has not been detected by Cortana and her Guardians, even if the other colonies on the system were neutralized by the Created. Buck and Dare depart on Foxtrot 111, a D81-LRT Condor, to Balaho, the Unggoy's homeworld, to recruit Romeo, who was assigned to guard the UNSC embassy on the planet. Upon arriving, they see the Unggoy have accepted Cortana's offer, and Romeo being pinned down in a building by Unggoy and Promethean Soldiers; after rescuing him, Romeo tells them the Unggoy and the Created destroyed the UNSC embassy on Balaho's capital, Gedgow, killing almost everyone in the embassy, and escorting the survivors to Kabakera as prisoners. At Romeo's request, he and Buck ambush the Unggoy escort and manage to defeat their forces, including two Goblins, but the embassy survivors are killed when several Z-1800 Phaetons appear and destroy the vehicles carrying the survivors. Several Promethean forces head to Alpha-Nine's location, but Dare manages to bring the Condor to extract Buck and Romeo, and then they leave the planet.

Alpha-Nine's next stop is an ONI installation on Luna, where the Huragok Quick to Adjust/Vergil and his handler Sadie Endesha were placed after Operation: COALPEPPER. Once arriving at the ONI facility, they discover that Cortana's forces have already seized the base and have taken its occupants hostage. Vergil and the other Huragok are hiding in the ventilation system when Buck and Romeo find them with the help of the Huragok Likely to List, who Buck initially mistakes for Vergil. However, Vergil refuses to leave without Sadie. Buck then makes a detour to where the Promethean Soldiers are keeping the humans captive. Once at the location, Buck secretly has everyone secure themselves to something in the room. Buck then shoots out a viewing window, exposing the room to the vacuum. The Prometheans are ripped out onto Luna's surface, and the emergency shutters close just in time to save the facility workers. Once Sadie and Vergil are reunited, they board the Condor and head to retrieve Mickey.

En route to collect Mickey, Dare reveals that he had been held at the same SPARTAN-IV training facility that Buck, Romeo, and Mickey had trained at, located in a remote star system orbiting a dwarf planet. Dare finds that a report from the station’s AI, Leonidas, labels supervisor Jun-A266, the primary recruiter of the Spartan-IV program, current supervisor of the station, and Buck's recruiter, as "indisposed," which leads the crew to believe the AI had turned to Cortana's side. Posing as the only one onboard the Condor, Buck contacts Leonidas as they near the station, who tells him to report to Musa, the de facto supervisor of the SPARTAN-IV program, that "everything here is fine." Buck insists to board, and is then aided by two technicians, who ask to refuel and clean his ship, to which he denies in an effort to prevent Leonidas from locating his crew through the station's crewmates. Walking down the corridors while reminiscing his time training at the facility, Buck encounters a walking holographic projection of Leonidas. The AI reiterates that Jun is asleep, only to be woken in an emergency, to which Buck is highly suspicious, but Leonidas still cheerfully provides Buck with Mickey's location in the dorms-turned-brig of the station. Buck arrives at the brig to find Mickey, serving his life sentence, but eventually leaves after a heated moral argument, despite the prisoner agreeing to join him. Instead, Dare convinces Buck to neutralize Leonidas first.

Production notes
Matt Forbeck finished the first draft of Halo: Bad Blood on the October 19, 2017. On February 15, 2018, Matt Forbeck finished the revisions for the book. On March 25, 2018 Matt Forbeck finished looking over the copy edits for the book.