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, the events that followed three days after the ending of Halo 4, and ending with Spartans Ray and Thorne's mission about a secret bioweapon.

A paperback edition of Halo: Escalation - Volume 1 (collecting Issues #1-6) is due for release on October 8, 2014.

Plot synopsis
Issues 1 to 3 focus on UNSC Infinity's mission to provide security for the Sangheili-Jiralhanae peace delegation on Ealen IV and their struggle for survival after Covenant forces under the command of Vata 'Gajat attack the conference. In Issues 4 to 6, the Infinity crew track down the spy in the UNSC's ranks who leaked the location of the negotiations to the Covenant and face down the New Colonial Alliance and Captain Daniel Clayton, the true mastermind behind the attack. Issue 7 focuses on Spartan Gabriel Thorne's trip to the reopened New Phoenix to receive closure for his relatives' death in the Didact's attack on the city. Issues 8 to 10 form a story arc called "The Next 72 Hours", which details Spartan John-117's fate immediately after the events of Halo 4. In Issues 11 and 12, in the last story arc called "Exposure", Spartans Ray and Thorne are deployed on a mission to uncover the secrets of a mysterious bioweapon.

Issue 1


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Issue 2


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Issue 3


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Issue 4


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Issue 5


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Issue 6


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Issue 7


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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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Issue 11 - "Exposure, Part 1"
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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 while the UNSC Infinity struggles to liberate the UNSC Spirit of Fire from Vata 'Gajat. In the released version, Janecek, Lasky, and Ray are not seen until the end of the issue when they return to Infinity without incident. Also, Infinity never actually encounters Spirit of Fire: the former is ambushed by Clayton's forces while the latter (in the midst of Flood infestation) remains stranded.
 * 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.
 * In Issue 7, Oaxaca Station is depicted with a docked, closely mirroring the appearance of Cairo Station and the docked in Halo 2.

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.
 * The Spirit of Fire 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.
 * In Issue 8, Kelly-087 and Linda-058's respective roles as scout and sniper are reversed in one panel.
 * In the same panel Frederic-104's name is incorrectly spelled "Fredric".