Halo: Glasslands

Halo: Glasslands is the first novel in the Kilo-Five Trilogy by Karen Traviss. It was released on October 25, 2011 on hardcover, paperback and audiobook. A sequel, Halo: The Thursday War, will be released on October 2, 2012.

Set around the events of Halo 3 in 2553, Halo: Glasslands explores the volatile political situation in the Halo universe following the end of the Human-Covenant War. The novel picks up directly where Halo: Ghosts of Onyx left off, with Dr. Halsey, Chief Mendez along with a group of SPARTAN-IIs and SPARTAN-IIIs stranded on the Sharpened Shield, a slipspace-based Dyson sphere now lying in the remnants of the artificial planet Onyx. While they explore the Forerunner construct and attempt to find a way out, Office of Naval Intelligence Director Admiral Margaret Parangosky assembles a black ops team known as Kilo-Five, who's assigned on a covert mission to sow discord between disparate Sangheili factions by any means necessary, as well as to arrest Dr. Halsey once she has been located. Throughout the story, the moral implications of the SPARTAN-II program and those involved with it - including Dr. Catherine Halsey are explored. In addition, the societal and religious impact the sundering of the Covenant had on Sangheili culture is explored in detail.

It has been noted that threads of the story will have connections to Halo 4.

Plot synopsis
The prologue begins with a narration from Catherine Halsey regarding the current situation within the core of Onyx. Continuing from where they left off, Catherine Halsey, Chief Mendez, and the surviving Spartans continue to traverse the shield world as they search for a food source, a way to revive Team Katana and a means of escape. Eventually they split into teams in order to cover more ground. With a sense of regret Dr. Halsey begins to wonder about her mission to save the SPARTAN-IIs and the whereabouts of John-117, Cortana, and Miranda Keyes.

The story begins months later on the former human colony New Llanelli in the Brunel system. A meeting is taking place between Captain Serin Osman, accompanied by Professor Evan Phillips, and Avu Med 'Telcam, a former Sangheili Field Master who refers to himself as a speaker of the Servants of Abiding Truth. 'Telcam converses with Osman about his belief that Thel 'Vadam and his followers are traitors to the Sangheili’s former religious beliefs and wants to restore their faith by killing Vadam. He requests for Osman to supply his group with weapons and a deal is reached, whereupon victory 'Telcam will leave the human race alone. Before rendezvousing with UNSC Battle of Minden, Osman is contacted by Admiral Margaret Parangosky.

In Sydney, Australia, two ODSTs, Corporal Vasily Beloi and Staff Sergeant Mal Geffen, make their way across the remains of the city in order to reach the ONI Facility Bravo-Six for a meeting they have been summoned to. Before heading there, they travel to the Parthenon, a bar that was a favorite of their fallen comrade, in order to fulfill a promise to have a toast in his memory. Continuing the journey, they ponder the outcome of the war and whether peace will ever be possible.

Inside the Forerunner Dyson Sphere, Blue Team, Dr. Halsey, and Mendez travel across the abandoned structure. Halsey sees a small lizard and determines there is a possible food chain within the Sphere but most of the animals are considered inedible. Dr. Halsey has a short discussion with Mendez about the SPARTAN-IIIs program but it is cut short when a small gray cylinder takes a dive towards Halsey. Tom-B292 covers Halsey for protection and Kelly-087 attempts to grab the cylinder but it escapes.

At ONI Facility Bravo-6, Serin Osman waits to meet with Parangosky and is admitted to her office by her flag lieutenant, Dorsey. Before reaching her office, Parangosky’s personal AI, Black-Box, who she refers to as “BB”, introduces himself to Osman. She enters Parangosky’s office and they begin a discussion about information received from the UNSC Glamorgan about Onyx and how Dr. Halsey is still alive. Parangosky brings up the Onyx battle report from the UNSC Dusk detailing how Dr. Halsey committed many acts of war crime and how Halsey discarded her from her program. Despite the Onyx situation, Parangosky states that the primary mission is to neutralize the Sangheili and that Osman only needs to divert to Onyx when anything is found by the Glamorgan. Lastly Parangosky details the members Kilo-Five will consist of and hands control of BB over to Serin Osman.

On Sanghelios, an argument is taking place between Jul ‘Mdama, a former Shipmaster, and his wife, Raia. Jul desire to see the humans killed off but Raia is more concerned about the problems the Sangheili face now that the San 'Shyuum are gone. Giving up the argument, Jul heads out to see the Arbiter and meets with his young aide and personal driver, Gusay, who gives him a ride to the Kaidon’s keep. Upon arriving, Jul meets with his friend and fellow shipmaster, Forze. Thel 'Vadam, escorted by Kaidon Levu 'Mdama, arrives and expresses his desire for unity and independence, and argues that the Great Schism led to their current situation. Jul says they should finish off the humans. However, Thel ‘Vadam believes it’s foolish and plans to reach a peace agreement with humans instead. Jul continues his opposition prompting Thel to tell the audience if they disagree they have the right to attempt to assassinate him.

Mal and Vaz finally arrive at Bravo-Six, and proceed into a room where they met Lian Devereaux, who is in the same battalion. Soon after, Petty Officer Naomi-010 introduces herself and tells the trio they are waiting for Admiral Margaret Parangosky. Shortly after Parangosky, Serin Osman, and Professor Phillips enter the room and Parangosky discloses the mission, explaining the objective to sow discontent and strife among the Sangheili and to keep them fighting amongst themselves. She further states that they will arm the Sangheili dissidents. Lastly the group is told they will be using the UNSC Port Stanley for the mission and are introduced to AI Black-Box. In the Dyson Sphere, the group comes across a Forerunner tower. Tom begins to feel despair for the loss of Kurt to which Mendez tells him that not even Spartans can hold off a Covenant army. Arriving at the towers, they look for an entrance. Eventually Fred and his team return having found edible food. Shortly after, Dr. Halsey inadvertently activates the entrance and encounters more gray cylinders, and Kelly manages to grab one. Mendez decides to explore the tower and gestures for Lucy-B091 to cover him. Upon stepping in, the room lights up with Forerunner symbols. Lucy spots something in the shadows that moves away from them and decides to investigate.

Before heading to New Llanelli, Serin Osman checks the status of her crew. Naomi makes it the bridge and Serin Osman reveals to her that she was conscripted into the Spartan program but failed the augmentation procedures. Before jumping to slip-space, Black Box picks up a transmission and the crew is notified that the UNSC Ariadne was having technical problems and requested help from Earth. The ship dropped out of slip-space near Venezia and requested to evacuate non-essential personnel, but the colony refused to cooperate. It’s revealed that Venezia had dropped out of contact years ago during the war and became a safe haven for terrorist.

Meanwhile, Jul meets with Levu who tells him that he doesn’t disagree with the Arbiter’s intentions but that he won’t stop an assassination attempt against him. Jul then travels back to his keep in Mdama and is told by Raia that their neighbor Relon was going to get rid of a Forerunner monument in order to make space. Jul heads to an old watchtower and hears Relon demolish the spire. The following morning, Jul heads off to the armory to check over his resources. He hears an explosion come from Relon’s keep and is told that Relon’s keep was attacked. Jul spots a sprit dropship leaving the area and ride over to Relon’s keep. He discovers Relon and his brother, Jalam, were killed by Servants of the Abiding Truth. However Jul contemplates the prospect of joining the Abiding Truth so he can bypass the Kaidon and assassinate the Arbiter.

Inside the forerunner structure Lucy is continuing her search for the mysterious being and finds herself in a darkened room. Mendez tells her to stay put and heads back out to grab Dr. Halsey. Lucy begins to have flashbacks about Operation: Torpedo and suddenly panics but Tom calms her down. Ignoring orders to stay put, Lucy anxiously searches the darkened room where the unknown object was last seen but falls through a wall into another room.

Later Vaz and Naomi are having a small conversation about the Great Schism and the tagged Covenant weapons that were going to be given to the Sangheili. Vaz hears a recording of a conversation between Elites and Evan Phillips reveals to him that he can understand Sangheili language. Later the crew is debriefed by Serin Osman about the plan to arm the Sangheili and reveals that she was in the Spartan-II program. Two hours later, the corvette exits slip-space near New Llanelli. BB checks the comms and gathers all the messages they’ve received and Naomi asks him for an update on John-117 but BB informs her that he’s still missing. Osman contacts Mike Spenser, an agent working undercover on a listening station on Reynes, and he tells her that the Abiding Truth killed several keep elders for wrecking a Forerunner relic. Osman notifies Spenser that she will extract him from Reynes and then arranges to meet with ‘Telcam on New Llanelli.

Lucy finds herself in a brightly lit chamber and runs to retrieve her helmet. She discovers a Forerunner hanger and upon hearing a sound, takes cover and stealthily approaches the unseen presence. Lucy pushes off the strut of one of the ships and shots in between the gap of the two vessels striking an Engineer which crashes down on top of her. Realizing her mistake, Lucy tries in vain to comfort the Huragok but it dies and more of them approach.

Kilo-Five head towards the surface of New Llanelli in a dropship. BB notifies them that the Ariadne is still under repair and that the UNSC Monte Cassino is headed for it. Kilo-Five lands on the surface and Mal gets into an over watch position while Osman, Phillips, and Vaz drive a Warthog hauling a trailer full of weapons over to ‘Telcam, who is accompanied by another Elite and several Brutes. ‘Telcam approaches the Warthog and surveys the crate, oblivious to the UNSC tags embedded on the weapons. ‘Telcam’s crew take the crates back to his dropship and leave but as Kilo-Five prepares to do the same, Mal spots and subdues a man by the name of Tom Muir, who reveals himself to be the only survivor left. Osman reluctantly agrees to take the man aboard the ship but has him quarantined.

Back at Mdama, Jul tells Raia that he is leaving to Ontom but lies to her about his intentions for going. He meets up with Forze and discusses the plan to meet with the Abiding Truth. Upon landing they find a temple which appears to be of Forerunner origins. Jul and Forze are greeted by ‘Telcam and Jul tells him that he wants to join their cause.

Lucy encounters three more Engineers and puts away her weapon in a gesture of peace. The Engineers do not immediately respond to her and float to their fallen comrade. Lucy tries to communicate to them by holding out her helmet and one of them dismantles it, reassembles it, and hands it back to her. She notices two unknown symbols displayed on the HUD and activates the first symbol and it amplifies the audio, however the second one does nothing. Lucy attempts to speak but is unable to. The Engineer checks her over but cannot fix her. Instead he gestures her to follow him.

As the UNSC Port Stanley is preparing for a slipspace jump to Reynes, Parangosky reveals to Osman the Spartan-Four program and the death of Halsey’s daughter, Miranda Keyes. Parangosky tells Osman that she can meet up with the Monte Cassino off Venezia to transfer Spenser and Muir. Later Osman gives Muir a false explanation as to why he was being quarantined. Satisfied that he believed her, Osman walks out the cabin and Muir cease complaining. On Reynes, Kilo-Five is waiting for Mike Spenser at the extraction point. He emerges from a mine shaft with all his equipment. Suddenly the group spot Kig-Yar, which begin to move in on them, demanding their material. Mal, Vaz, and Spenser attempt to leave but the leader of the group brings the squad to a standstill with the Kig-Yar surrounding them, now demanding their dropship. This leads to a firefight between the two parties resulting in the death of all the Kig-Yar. Osman orders Mal and Vaz to bring back some of the bodies as she may have use for them. Six hours later, the corvette exits slipspace near Venezia in order to meet with the Monte Cassino. BB estimates that they can reach the patrol ship in two hours but the Ariadne explodes before they can.

Back in the shield world, the group begins searching for Lucy and Halsey questions Mendez about her. Eventually Mark and Ash find a way to turn on the lights in the dark passage where Lucy disappeared. While Halsey is examining the wall of symbols, the gray cylinders return and stop in front of her and Mendez. Halsey heads back to the entrance but is stabbed in the leg by one of the cylinders and in response, Linda destroys it.

Later on, the Abiding Truth is going through crates of weapons. One of the shipmasters, Buran, offers ‘Telcam his warship, the Unflinching Resolve, to the cause. However they would have to seize it from the shipyard. Forze tells Jul not to volunteer for the task but Jul insist he must and offers his services to reclaim the ship. Later, Jul requests to ‘Telcam to see the rest of the temple.

While conducting search and rescue for survivors near the debris field of the Ariadne, the Monte Cassino is contacted by Venezia who warns them they are encroaching on their territory. However they notify Venezia of their intentions but despite this Venezia fires at the ship with an artillery cannon. The shot misses and the Monte Cassino fires back destroying the canon. Port Stanley finishes transferring Spenser and Muir to the Monte Cassino and the destroyer returns to Earth. Mal request to do a reconnaissance mission on Venezia but Osman tells him they’ll return later.

Meanwhile, Lucy looks for a way to communicate with the Engineers. They eventually lead her into a control room and she tries using the panels to communicate but fails. One of the engineers communicates to her using another panel and introduces itself as Prone to Drift. Realizing Lucy can’t use the panel, he fixes it using the text display from Lucy’s helmet, enabling the use of alphabetical letters. Prone asks her why the shield world was activated when the halo array wasn’t fired. Thus Lucy realizes that the Engineers have access to real-time information to the outside.

Jul, Buran, Forze, ‘Telcam, and several of Buran’s crew members make it to the Aanrar Shipyard and spot the Unflinching Resolve. Buran greets Pidar, the guard watching the airlock to the ship and tricks him into allowing his crew passage to the vessel. They search inside, activate the ship, and request for the dockmaster to release it from the dock for maintenance assessment. Buran is given clearance and flies the ship to Mdama.

Dr. Halsey picks up the fragments of the gray cylinder that stabbed her and determines that it was a first-aid monitor. Mendez goes back inside to check on the others as they continue searching for Lucy. Eventually the group splits up in order to continue reconnaissance of the rest of the shield world while Dr. Halsey and Kelly stay behind in case Lucy returns. Eventually the recon team comes across a forerunner city.

Later, Mal and Vaz watch on as Devereaux helps Naomi into her Mjolnir armor when Osman enters the room and reveals the existence of the Spartan-III program. She then tells the group that BB detected a Jiralhanae transport with a Huragok aboard headed for Sanghelios and desires to acquire the Huragok. Moments later the Port Stanley is set on an intercept course for the auxiliary vessel Piety. The crew listens to the voice traffic and discovers the Jiralhanae are loyal to ‘Telcam. Minutes later, BB maneuvers the ship into position and fires an EMP cannon at the Piety disabling it. Devereaux settles a dropship on top of the Piety and drags it into the Port Stanley’s hanger. They detonate charges placed on the Piety’s hatch and a firefight ensues resulting in all the Brutes being taken out. They search the Piety’s loading bay and find the Huragok. However it’s wearing a Covenant explosive harness but Naomi disarms it. BB communicates to it and finds out its name is Requires Adjustment.

Back in the shield world, the team continues to search the abandoned city and Mendez and Fred find a high vantage point in one of the towers. Mendez radio's Kelly for any sign of Lucy but Kelly tells him she’s still missing. Mendez and Fred head back down to the lobby and catch up with Olivia and Linda. The two women go off to search another area and find a food warehouse. However they find no food causing Tom to wonder why the Forerunners didn’t finish building the place.

Meanwhile, BB finds a link to Venezia in the Piety’s comms log. Osman decides to place the dead Kig-Yar with UNSC weapons in the ship with the dead Jiralhanae and send it back towards Sangheili in order to fuel mistrust amongst the different parties. Later Parangosky tells Osman that Hood is traveling to Vadam to talk to the Arbiter about a memorial service being held at Voi and notifies her that they found the electromagnetic anomaly left near Onyx.

At the Bekan Keep, Jul waits for ‘Telcam who eventually arrives in a Kig-Yar shuttle. ‘Telcam asks where Manus is, explaining that he lost contact with him and that he was bringing a Huragok he recovered from Serene Certainty. Jul tells him to wait longer and moves on to unloading the shuttle. Jul then asks ‘Telcam who he gets his supplies but he swiftly explains that he gets them from many sources. Later Jul and ‘Telcam await the Piety’s return. ‘Telcam notices that it’s comms are working but no one answers. The Piety finally arrives and they investigate the ship but find Manus and the rest of the Jiralhanae dead, along with dead Kig-Yar clutching human rifles, and the Huragok missing. ‘Telcam checks the communication logs and finds that the Kig-Yar had radio contact with Venezia.

Halsey attempts to make small talk with Mendez in regards to the Spartan-III’s but it eventually leads to an argument. Later Halsey uses her data pad to check the Forerunner symbols and it eventually interprets one of them as “vessels”. She then asks Mendez if he’s seen anything that looks like a garage. Back in the control room, Lucy continues to communicate to Prone to Drift. Lucy begs for the Huragok to allow her to communicate with the outside but he refuses, instead he attempts to fix her voice but she explains that she doesn’t need to be fixed. Prone then tells Lucy that her friends are in the citadel and she sees them on a panel. Lucy asks him to take her to them and at first Prone is reluctant but she promises not to let them harm him.

Meanwhile, Osman tells the crew about the memorial dedication to be held at Voi, Admiral Hood’s planned visit Sanghelios to see the Arbiter, and Onyx’s disappearance and the presence of an anomaly. Afterwards she talks to Naomi privately in regards to Dr. Halsey. Later, ‘Telcam contacts the ship requesting more weapons.

At the Bekan Quarry, Jul and the rest of his crew discuss where to hide the Unflinching Resolve. They consider the cleansed planet ‘Telcam receives his weapon shipments. However Jul doesn’t know where it is as ‘Telcam has kept it a secret from them. Later ‘Telcam arrives in a Contrition-class shuttle with a new shipment and tells the group that he will be heading out for another shipment. Jul suggest to ‘Telcam that they should move the frigate, and ask ‘Telcam where his base is located. However ‘Telcam refuses to reveal that information, so Jul requests to accompany him but ‘Telcam insists that he can bring no one else. ‘Telcam leaves but Jul rushes to another shuttle and follows him to the Narumad system. Upon landing on Laquil, Jul observes ‘Telcam and discovers that he’s receiving weapons from humans. Suddenly Jul is ambushed and captured by Naomi.

While everyone is continuing their search for Lucy, she finally emerges from the citadel bringing Prone to Drift with her. Dr. Halsey checks Lucy over for any injuries but she requests to use Halsey’s datapad. Prone “fixes” the datapad so he can communicate with the group. He asks about the Flood and indicates that there are sensors that can view normal space events. Prone then shows the group the Forerunner hanger that Lucy previously fell in and Dr. Halsey discovers the vessels have slipspace drives. Minutes later, Dr. Halsey converses with Prone to Drift about adapting Forerunner slipspace technology for Humans. However Prone to Drift tells her that they cannot contact the outside because of a presence near them and then explains that team Katana were placed in slipspace pods because they were too damaged for them to repair. He also reveals that the shield world’s time is moving slower than normal space. Mendez request to signal their ships but Prone states they must remain concealed until the object is identified as not being a threat. Dr. Halsey impatiently leaves in search of the control room but Prone insist on maintaining silence. Dr. Halsey resists his demands to leave the control room and threatens Prone with her sidearm prompting Lucy into punching Halsey in the face, and forcing her to the ground. Lucy loses all control and repeatedly screams out “No!” overcoming her post-traumatic vocal disarticulation.

Aboard the UNSC Port Stanley, Osman checks on their Sangheili prisoner contemplating whether or not to tell ‘Telcam. Moments later, Naomi, Vaz and Mal subdue Jul and place Adj. inside his cell so that he can extract data from his body armor. Phillips then notifies Osman of the Sangheili’s name, whereabouts, and discovers he’s known by ‘Telcam.

After the ordeal, Mendez helps calm Lucy down and Tom consuls her while Kelly and Linda help Dr. Halsey to her feet. Prone drifts over to Lucy, who begins using the panel to communicate to him but Olivia convinces her to speak instead. Prone then ask her if she wants to go home and she tells him to show them the threat in normal space. Mendez and Halsey begin to argue over the situation but Fred steps in to break up the fight. Afterwards Prone comes back agreeing that Lucy is “repaired” and grants them access to the control panel. Dr. Halsey speaks into the comms several times and eventually Admiral Parangosky responds.

Meanwhile Phillips interrogates a defiant Jul and shows him his arum. Jul is surprised to see Phillips figure it out very quickly. However, Phillips threatens Jul with shame if he doesn’t give up information but Jul still refuses to give in. However Phillips tells him to think about the conversation before leaving. Minutes later everyone meets on the bridge. Osman notifies the crew that they will be accompanying Hood during his visit to the Arbiter and afterwards head for Onyx. She explains that Catherine Halsey is still alive and inside a dyson sphere located at the Onyx coordinates and says she will personally arrest her.

Later, aboard the UNSC Iceni, Admiral Terrance Hood is talking to Osman and Phillips in regards to the Arbiter. Osman pulls Hood to the side and makes him aware of splinter groups among the Sangheili that despise the Arbiter and he lets her know he’s aware. Afterwards they enter the shuttle and depart to Vadam. Upon landing they make their way down a corridor to the Arbiter’s quarters. Hood discusses peace and the problems they must deal with. The Arbiter then takes interest in Phillips and tells him that he can return for a tour of Sanghelios if a cease-fire holds. Hood then invites the Arbiter to a ceremony to those who died in the war and Thel accepts.

Back in the dyson sphere, Dr. Halsey and Parangosky converse about the situation within and outside the sphere and Dr. Halsey tells her that Forerunner technology is available to them. Then Parangosky informs Halsey of the bad news; Master Chief and Cortana are MIA and that her daughter was killed. Later Dr. Halsey request Prone’s assistance with the Forerunner artifacts but he says he must stay behind. However he agrees to make more engineers to assist her and agrees to transition the shield world into normal space. Afterwards, Mendez makes a request to Parangosky to designate the shield world “Ambrose” but Dr. Halsey insists on calling it “Trevelyan” in honor of Kurt’s surname.

Moments later, the UNSC Port Stanley and Glamorgan as well as two auxiliary ships, the Belleisle and Dunedin, rendezvous in the vicinity of the slipspace anomaly. The shield world expands into normal space and completely obscures the view of the stars. Kilo-Five boards a dropship, depart to the shield world, and upon arrival, navigation lights guide them to an entry point. The surface then restructures itself around their dropship thus transporting them inside the sphere. Prone to Drift informs Dr. Halsey that the shield world is back in normal space and that their allies have entered the sphere. He then creates three Huragok, Perfect Density, Tends To List, and Leaks Repaired, to look after the forerunner technology. Later the group spots Kilo-Five approaching them. Halsey greets Naomi-010 and has a brief conversation with Osman before Osman places her under arrest. Kelly tries to intervene but Halsey convinces her not to. She is then taken back to the dropship.

Still in the confines of the brig Jul demands to speak to Phillips. BB materializes and tells him that he will be transported to ONI. Eventually he hears commotion as more people enter the ship. Osman tells the Spartans that they cannot see Halsey and that they will be headed back to Sydney for a debriefing. She then tells BB that Halsey will be transferred to Compton-Hall when it arrives. Shortly after, BB reappears in Jul’s compartment and tells him that he will be removed from the ship. Jul is then transported to ONI Research Facility Trevelyan and greeted by Dr. Magnusson.

Back aboard Port Stanley, Vaz is guarding the entrance to Halsey’s compartment when Naomi and the rest of the Spartan-II’s approach demanding to talk to Halsey. He denies them access to her door and convinces them to leave. However Naomi asks Vaz to look over her records as she doesn’t have the courage. Vaz checks her records and discovers that her mother committed suicide after the clone died and that her father believed the clone wasn’t his daughter. Out of hatred, Vaz approaches Dr. Halsey’s compartment in an attempt to kill her but BB convinces him to walk away.

Days later, Kilo-Five is attending the Voi Memorial. Parangosky and Osman have a brief discussion about Phillips being inserted into Sanghelios and Parangosky informs Osman that she has sent Spenser to spy on Venezia. She then tells Osman that she will be appointed rear Admiral and her successor next month.

While in route to Sanghelios, Devereaux feels concerned about Phillips’ invitation but he is enthusiastic about the tour. They enter the dropship and make their way to Sanghelios. Later, in accordance with Parangosky’s instructions, BB presents a project called Infinity to Osman. Eventually the dropship arrives in Vadam and Phillips walks down a long hallway before Devereaux waves him goodbye and leaves. He is greeted by one of the Arbiter’s staff and is taken to a small room which turns out to be a Sangheili bathroom. He is finally greeted by the Arbiter and request for a tour of their most ancient cities. Upon departure Phillips notices parts of the land have been glassed and is told there was fighting amongst the Sangheili.

Catherine Halsey, now detained aboard the UNSC Ivanoff, is being interrogated by Parangosky. First Parangosky tells her that she is confirmed dead to the rest of the UNSC until Parangosky states otherwise. She then accuses Halsey of lying to her about the clones used in the Spartan program and asks why they were necessary. Halsey believed the clones would bring the parents relief and make her feel less guilty, and states she wasn’t aware they would die. However Paragonsky asks why they weren’t used in the program to which Dr. Halsey has no answer but proclaims that the parents had closure. Parangonsky tells her that some of the parents are still alive and lets her know that she has her journal. She tells her that she’s heading a new Spartan program that will only use consenting adults and that she may integrate the remaining Spartan-III’s into the program. She then hands Halsey a picture of a plaque with her name and epitaph on it before leaving.

Before jumping into slipspace, Osman checks on Phillips. He lets her know that he is in Ontom and that ‘Telcam’s temple is within the city. BB tells Osman that Vaz has shown Naomi her files but asks if she wants to see hers. Feeling ashamed of herself, Osman refuses. The Port Stanley then makes a slipspace jump to Venezia. Later Osman contacts Spenser and he gives her coordinates of his location on the planet.

On Venezia, Mal and Vaz put on disguises before heading into New Tyne. Spenser arrives in a civilian Warthog and they depart their hiding position towards the city. On the way they spot several Covenant species and gun batteries. They eventually make it into the city and arrive where Spenser “works”. Spenser then shows them pictures of all the insurrectionist leaders based on the planet. Vaz looks through the pictures and settles on one after checking the name and it turns out to be Naomi’s father.

While in Ontom, several Sangheili gather around Phillips amazed that he can speak their language and unlock the arum. Another Sangheili hands him a different arum. Phillips eventually unlocks it but a note falls out instead of a gemstone. The note turns out to be a warning from the Abiding Truth. BB immediately notifies Captain Osman about the incident and she request to talk to ‘Telcam. However ‘Telcam doesn’t respond but approaches Phillips and warns him of the dangers. ‘Telcam takes Phillips to the entrance of his temple and ask him about Jul ‘Mdama but Phillips says he doesn’t know him. Suddenly, an unknown object appears at the entrance and Phillips’ cam feed goes white as an explosion is heard. Seconds later another explosion goes off and Phillips cam feed is lost. Osman immediately orders Devereaux to retrieve the rest of the squad and prepares the ship for a slip-space jump back to Sanghelios.

Characters
{{Scroll box
 * 1 = ===Human===
 * Akeyo Oduya {{First mentioned}}
 * Andrew Del Rio {{First mentioned}}
 * Ash-G099
 * Catherine Elizabeth Halsey
 * Cortana {{mo}}
 * Damien Hogarth {{First mentioned}}
 * David Agnoli {{1st}}
 * Evan Phillips {{1st}}
 * Emanuel Barakat {{First mentioned}}
 * Franklin Mendez
 * Fred-104
 * John-117 {{mo}}
 * Kelly-087
 * Kurt-051 {{mo}}
 * Lian Devereaux {{1st}}
 * Linda-058
 * Lucy-B091
 * Magnusson {{1st}}
 * Malcolm Geffen {{1st}}
 * Margaret Orlenda Parangosky
 * Mark
 * Mike Spenser {{1st}}
 * Miranda Keyes {{mo}}
 * Naomi-010 {{1st}}
 * Olivia
 * Pasquale
 * Ruth Charet {{First mentioned}}
 * Saeed Shafiq {{First mentioned}}
 * Serin Osman {{1st}}
 * Staffan Sentzke {{First mentioned}}
 * Terrence Hood
 * Tom-B292
 * Tom Muir {{1st}}
 * Vasily Beloi {{1st}}

AI

 * Black-Box
 * Cortana
 * Harriet

Sangheili

 * Avu Med 'Telcam
 * Jul ‘Mdama
 * Levu 'Mdama
 * Thel 'Vadam
 * Asum
 * Buran
 * Cadan
 * Dural
 * Forze
 * Gmal
 * Gusay
 * Jalam
 * Kimal
 * Pidar
 * Raia
 * Relon

Huragok

 * Prone to Drift
 * Requires Adjustment
 * Effortlessly Buoyant
 * Refill Needed
 * Leaks Repaired
 * Perfect Density
 * Tends To List

Jiralhanae

 * Manus

San 'Shyuum
}}
 * Prophet of Truth

Trivia

 * The cover of the novel was illustrated by former Bungie concept artist Eddie Smith.
 * Halo: Glasslands features Easter eggs that reference Red vs Blue, as Karen Traviss is an avid fan of the machinima series.
 * These include Black-Box saying "Yoink", one of the ODSTs commenting on thinking a Sangheili said "Blarg.", and a Sangheili mispronouncing the name "Phillips" as "Phyllis", which is the phonetic pronunciation of the AI F.I.L.L.S from Red vs. Blue.
 * An excerpt of the novel's first chapter was released in the September 2011 issue of Official Xbox Magazine. The excerpt was then republished on Tor's official website.
 * An excerpt of the novel's second chapter was released on October 12th's Halo Bulletin on Halo Waypoint.