Halo: Contact Harvest

Halo: Contact Harvest is the title of a Halo book by Joseph Staten. Published by Tor, it was released on October 30th, 2007. It is the fifth official book in the Halo series, and the second of three that will be published by Tor.

Though not intended as an exclusive prequel for Halo Wars, the novel serves as a good explanation for the then-current nature of the conflict between the UNSC and the Covenant.

Summary
On the UNSC colony Harvest, there is only peace and prosperity. Watched by two A.I., Sif and Mack, the colony produces much of Humanity's food. This peace is interrupted when a Covenant controlled vessel, Minor Transgression, discovers a malfunctioning unmanned human cargo ship. The coordinates registered in the cargo ship's navigation computer lead the aliens to Harvest. A Covenant Grunt, Deacon Dadab, is alarmed when the ship's Luminary seems to register thousands of Forerunner artifacts and an Oracle, (Forerunner AI). The opportunistic Jackals plan to take some artifacts for themselves before reporting the discovery to the Hierarchs, and begin surreptitiously raiding human freighters. Unfortunately for the Jackals, ONI had recently organized a strike team to counteract what they believed to be a growing Insurrectionist group, including one Staff Sergeant Avery J. Johnson. They successfully deceived Minor Transgression into boarding a freighter where they were immediately attacked by Staff Sergeant Johnson and Staff Sergeant Byrne. Staff Sergeant Johnson received a cracked skull from their meeting and Staff Sergeant Byrne was stabbed in the leg with an explosive needle. This raid marked the first meeting of the humans and Covenant forces, and makes the humans aware of a brand new threat they may be facing. Jilan destroys the vessel, with only the Deacon Dadab and his Engineer friend Lighter Than Some escaping in an escape pod. While the UNSC prepares the Colonial Militia for a possible alien invasion, two ambitious Prophets, The Minister of Fortitude and the Vice Minister of Tranquility learn of the large amount of "relics" found on Harvest and begin to plan a coup of the current Hierarchs using this as a fulcrum. To keep the Elites from using this discovery as a way to upset the balance of power, they utilize a Brute-controlled ship, Rapid Conversion, captained by Maccabeus, the Brute Chieftan at that time, and crewed by his pack of Brutes (including a youthful Tartarus). The two began a secret attempt to seize the planet. This marks the beginning of the powerful alliance between the Brutes and the Prophets, and the key to their eventual betrayal of the Sangheili leading to the Covenant Civil War.

Rapid Conversion arrives in the system to find the escape pod containing Dadab and the Engineer, Lighter Than Some, much to the devout Maccabeus' delight. The Brutes use the Deacon as a way to motivate their own lackluster complement of Grunts and the Engineer to repair their intentionally crippled ship. They all soon discover the planet's vast store of reclamations and a message of peace left by Sif and Mack in the form of a crude pictogram displaying a desire for peace. The Brutes land two Spirit Dropships at a specified date, with only the desire to capture the entire planet at any cost. The attempt at peaceful contact falls apart after an errant Grunt attacks a wandering militiaman, and the one-sided Battle of Harvest begins.

Meanwhile, the ambitious Prophets begin their mutiny of sorts by invoking the Prophet of Restraint in a conspiracy that will lead to his removal if revealed. They seek a blessing by the long silent Oracle present on the Forerunner Dreadnought. They visit an old, supposedly senile Philologist, for blessings and advice. When they input the discovery of Harvest and the Luminary's data, the Oracle, which is in fact a fragment of the Forerunner Contender Class A.I. Mendicant Bias, a Forerunner construct, but more advanced than 343 Guilty Spark, suddenly awakens from eons of dormancy and reveals that they've been misinterpreting their findings. What the Jackals thought were artifacts were actually registering the presence of the Humans on Harvest, which it claims are Reclaimers, and refers to them as his makers' or living Forerunners. Realizing that the discovery of living Forerunners would tear the Covenant apart, the Prophets swear to secrecy, induct the Philologist into their conspiracy and accelerate their plans for takeover.

On Harvest, the humans begin to resist the assault by the Brute ship on select towns on the planet by shuttling as many civilians as possible to the town's capital. The Planet's AI, Mack, normally responsible for the agricultural JOTUNS, hands over his vast network to his previously concealed doppelganger, Loki, a ship AI now implemented as a defense mechanism. The Colonial Militia manages to ferry most of the surviving population to Utgard, the capital, and then begin their plan to send these people to safety aboard the Freighters on top of the seven Space elevators present on Harvest, the Tiara. The Brutes, having stationed their Grunt forces in the Tiara, unwittingly allow the Engineer Lighter Than Some to come into contact with Loki and the now nearly destroyed AI Sif. The Engineer, disgusted by the killing and wishing to end it, shows the AI how to duplicate the Forerunner symbol for Oracle and helps lure the Covenant ship in range of the colony's sole mass driver and cripple it. While Johnson leads a small force up the Space Elevator to clear the Grunts on board, Tartarus usurps control of his Pack and counterattacks. During the assault, a jealous group of Drones kill Lighter Than Some. A devastated Dadab wounds Tartarus before being killed, allowing the humans to escape.

The Brutes raze Harvest while the refugees flee. The scheming Prophets usurp the Hierarchs and become the High Prophets of Truth, Regret and Mercy, and finally declare Holy War on the Humans, to prevent any of the Covenant from ever discovering their true place as the Forerunner's heirs. They recommission the Luminary as a means to locate human planets, and begin the Human-Covenant War.

United Nations Space Command

 * Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson
 * Lieutenant Commander Jilan al-Cygni
 * Captain Ponder
 * Staff Sergeant Nolan Byrne
 * Petty Officer First Class Healy
 * Governor Thune
 * Attorney General Rol Pedersen
 * Private First Class Wallace A. Jenkins
 * Private Forsell
 * Loki
 * Mack
 * Sif
 * Squad Leader Dass

Covenant

 * Jiralhanae Chieftain Maccabeus
 * Tartarus
 * Huragok Lighter Than Some
 * Kig-yar Chur'R-Yar
 * Kig-yar Zhar
 * Unggoy Dadab
 * Minister of Fortitude aka (Prophet of Truth)
 * Vice Minister of Tranquility aka (Prophet of Regret)
 * Philologist aka (Prophet of Mercy)

Other

 * Dr. Catherine Halsey

Trivia

 * Contact Harvest was the first Halo series book written by Joseph Staten.
 * Joseph Staten voiced some of the grunts in Halo 2 as seen in the end-credits.
 * In 2524, the BR-55 was a prototype ONI weapon. Before the book was released many people were confused as to why a Battle Rifle was being wielded by Avery Johnson. Joseph Staten in Bungie Podcast III hinted as to why the BR-55 was in Contact Harvest, and it was confirmed that it was a prototype weapon in 2525.
 * In an excerpt found in OXM, it is revealed that the Hornet appears in Contact Harvest in the sense that they have been in service since at least 2524. An explanation as to why the Hornet was not used in earlier conflicts such as the the events on Halo and the First Battle of Earth has yet to be revealed.
 * Lighter Than Some, the Engineer featured in the story was the creator of the Brute Chopper, an invention originally intended as a peace offering and modeled after Human farming plows.
 * The Unggoy Dadab could refer to Tim Dadabo, the voice actor of 343 Guilty Spark.
 * One of the Unggoy of Rapid Conversion makes reference to a cousin, Yayap, who is a soldier under the Elites. This is the same Yayap featured in Halo: The Flood that is Zuka 'Zamamee's assistant.
 * The Brutes were described wearing some type of energy shielded Power Armor, similar to what they wore in Halo 3.
 * On the cover, between the "A" and the "L" in the word Halo, there is a Marathon symbol. This is the same for all of the Halo Novels.
 * Catherine Halsey makes a very brief "appearance" in the post-epilogue conversation between Mack and Sif under the pseudonym "Charlie Hotel".
 * On page 189, Dadab describes how the Prophets knew how Mendicant Bias betrayed the Forerunners to the Flood.
 * Apparently, the Jiralhanae have been in the Covenant since before Halo: Combat Evolved, but are not featured due to the fact that the Sangheili don't trust them.
 * The Seropian Center for Active Retirement is possibly named for Bungie Co-Founder Alexander Seropian.
 * This is currently the only Halo book not to feature SPARTAN-IIs, as well as the first to mention female members of the Covenant.
 * With the addition of the Yanme'e into the story, it shows they were already incorporated into the Covenant before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.
 * Halo: Contact Harvest, is the first book or piece of information to mention a female Kig-yar.
 * The novel is also available as an audio book CD. The price of the audio book CD in the US is $29.95.
 * Even though the Prototype BR-55's magazine capacity is stated to be 60 rounds, on the cover of Halo: Contact Harvest, the Battle Rifle Avery Johnson is holding has 36 rounds, although it is possible he hasn't reloaded.
 * Joseph Staten received advice from Eric Nylund; the author of previous Halo Books, while writing the initial chapter of Halo: Contact Harvest.
 * This is the first and currently only novel not to reference the Spartan-II project, though it does perhaps reference the Spartan-Is with the ORION Project.