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 the. 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 Unidentified Sangheili meets with a Kig-Yar pirate queen inside the pirate base to bargain a deal for Spartan Thore. 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, a Kig-Yar servant of the queen suggest turning the Spartan over to the UNSC to maintain secrecy of their base. The queen rejects his suggestion stating 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 convey 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 till 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 advanced 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 replies stating that the bioweapon isn't 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, handing her a report from Admiral Serin Osman ordering 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. Discussing the aftermath, Lasky tells Palmer not to be angry at Ray for her actions due to the circumstances. He also tells Palmer that his debriefing with Osman went well despite the covert operation turning into a battle. Palmer asks if any details were undisclosed 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 concerning a growing number of Kig-Yar pirate setting up bases at trade routes and possible outcome for ignoring the threat. Palmer downplays the threat due to her belief that there are more important issues to worry about. Lasky deduces that ONI set up the bioweapons incident, as a means to lure the Spartans to the planet, and then force them to destroy the pirate base. He then 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 about the mission.

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.