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 that was glassed by the covenant. Here, 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 about the Forerunners and how he wants to restore their faith by killing Vadam. In the ensuing conversation, 'Telcam requests for Osman to supply his group with weapons and for humanity not to interfere with Sangheili affairs. A deal is reached whereupon victory, 'Telcam agrees to leave the human race alone. After the agreement the two part ways. Just before leaving New Llanelli, Osman is contacted by Admiral Margaret Parangosky, who inquires her about the meeting. The shuttle then takes off to rendezvous with the UNSC Battle of Minden before heading back to Earth.

In Sydney, Australia, two ODSTs, Corporal Vasily Beloi and Staff Sergeant Mal Geffen, make their way across the remains of the devastated city in order to reach the ONI Facility Bravo-Six for a meeting they have been summoned to. Before heading to the complex, they search for the Parthenon, a bar that was a favorite of their fallen comrade, Emanuel Barakat, that they would fulfill a promise made to Emanuel by having a toast in his memory. Once they reach the Parthenon, they find that it has been destroyed during the war and is now nothing more than rubble. However one of the construction workers hands the two ODSTs a bottle so they can fulfill the promise. As they continue the journey they ponder the outcome of the war and whether peace will ever be possible. They eventually catch a ride to the ONI facility from a cab driver.

Back in the Forerunner Dyson Sphere, Blue Team, along with Dr. Halsey and SCPO Mendez are still traveling across the abandoned structure. Something catches Halsey’s attention, which turns out to be a small lizard. Despite its lack of sustainability, it means that there is a possible food chain within the Dyson Sphere. They soon discover more wildlife that appear to have originated from Earth. However, most of the animals are considered inedible. Dr. Halsey begins to wonder about the SPARTAN-IIIs, even thinking back to when she first met Noble Team. Eventually Mendez and Halsey have a short discussion about the Spartan-III Program but it is cut short when something unknown is spotted in the sky taking a dive towards Halsey. The unknown object approaches the group, forcing Tom-B292 to cover Halsey for protection. It turns out to be a charcoal, gray cylinder the size of wine bottle. The cylinder stops and hovers near the group. Kelly-087 attempts to grab it, but the cylinder simply shoots up and vanishes out of view.

In the ONI Facility Bravo-6, David Agnoli, Minister for the colonies, is inquiring Serin Osman about Parangosky as she is waiting to meet with her. Parangosky’s flag lieutenant, Dorsey admits Serin Osman into the admiral’s office. Before reaching the doorway Parangosky’s personal AI, Black-Box, who Paragonsky calls “BB”, introduces himself to her. After the short greeting, Osman enters Parangosky’s office. Despite Osman’s need to go over the Kilo-Five squad, Parangosky moves on to another subject. Parangosky discusses the information received from the UNSC Glamorgan, a corvette from Onyx and how she believes Dr. Halsey is still alive. The ship picked up a transponder from Lieutenant Ambrose, being the only confirmed KIA and detected an electromagnetic anomaly. Parangosky brings up the Onyx battle report from the UNSC Dusk detailing how Dr. Halsey kidnapped SPARTAN-087, persuaded Lord Hood to deploy Spartans to Onyx, and how she had access to Forerunner artifacts on Onyx. Parangosky voices her anger towards Halsey and how she discarded her from her program. Serin asks Parangosky about taking Kilo-Five to Onyx, to which Parangosky replies, stating that the mission to neutralize the Sangheili is still the top priority and that she only needs to divert when anything is found by the Glamorgan. Parangosky concludes that Kilo-Five would consist of Staff Sergeant Malcolm Geffen, Corporal Vasily Beloi, Sergeant Lian Devereaux, Naomi-010, and Dr. Evan Phillips. Afterwards, Parangosky hands control of Black Box over to Serin Osman.

On Sanghelios, an argument is taking place between Jul ‘Mdama, a former Shipmaster, and his wife, Raia. Jul expresses his 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. Jul insists that everything is normal without them but Raia states that the Sangheili were a self-reliant race before the Prophets made them into their personal army and took away their independence. She elaborates further on the matter arguing that if they continue fighting they will have nothing left. Jul gives up the argument and heads out to see the Arbiter. He meets with his young aide and personal driver, Gusay, who gives Jul a ride to the Kaidon’s keep. Upon arriving, Jul sees his friend and fellow shipmaster, Forze, who is complaining about the council’s lateness prompting Jul to question the need for one. Seconds later Thel 'Vadam, escorted by Kaidon Levu 'Mdama, arrives. Thel expresses his desire for unity and independence, and how he wants to avoid another civil war. He argues that the Great Schism, not humans, has led to their current situation and believes that in order to survive they must eliminate the Prophet’s beliefs. Jul asks Thel about the humans and upon receiving an answer says that they should finish off the humans to eliminate the threat once and for all. However, Thel ‘Vadam states it would be foolish to fight anymore and stability is more important. Thel expresses his plans to reach a peace agreement with humans instead. Jul expresses opposition towards the plans, prompting Thel to tell him that he saw honorable humans and none of them would be alive if there weren’t honorable. Thel stands by his intentions and tells everyone that if they disagree they have the right to attempt to assassinate him. After the assembly is over, Jul ponders on what to do next.

Back at Bravo-Six, Mal and Vaz are making their way down a corridor towards a meeting. They voice their concern for why they have been called to the facility. They proceed into the room and are met by Lian Devereaux, who is of the same battalion. Soon after, Petty Officer Naomi-010 introduces herself and tells the trio they are waiting for Admiral Margaret Parangosky. Parangosky enters the room, wielding her cane for support, followed by Serin Osman, and Professor Phillips. Osman hands everyone a datapad. First Parangosky tells them they are not obligated to undertake the mission, and discloses the mission, explaining the objective is to sow discontent and strife among the Sangheili and to keep them fighting till it was time to deal the final blow. She elaborates further, stating that they will arm the Sangheili dissidents. Serin Osman explains they will be using the UNSC Port Stanley, a corvette with a Forerunner enhanced drive. Parangosky introduces the group to the AI Black Box who will handle the corvette.

In the Dyson Sphere, the Blue Team comes across two Forerunner towers. As they make their way towards them, Tom begins to feel despair for the loss of Kurt. Mendez can only tell him that not even Spartans can hold off a Covenant army. Upon approaching the towers, they stop to observe for an entrance and the safest approach method. The group wonders whether the Forerunners plan for the shield world was foolproof. Eventually Fred’s squad returns having found edible food. Afterwards they approach the towers in search of an entrance. Dr. Halsey inadvertently activates the entrance by getting into an awkward position. Gray cylinders, like the one they saw earlier, fly out the opening and arrange themselves on the wall. Kelly manages to grab one that hovered in front of her. Mendez then decides to explore the tower and gestures for Lucy-B091 to cover him, while he checks inside. After stepping in, the room lights up with Forerunner symbols. Lucy sees something in the shadows that moves away from the group in the distance. Dr. Halsey believes them to be the only ones that found the entrance, but Mendez rebukes her statement, stating that that they simply found the way in, but someone else found the entrance first.

As Serin Osman makes preparations for a slip-space jump to New Llanelli, she checks the status of her crew. Eventually Naomi makes her way to the bridge and Serin Osman reveals to her that she was in fact conscripted into the Spartan program as SPARTAN-019, but she didn’t make it past the augmentation procedures and thus was reassigned. Shortly after, everyone else makes it to the bridge and Osman hands control over to Black Box. Black Box picks up a transmission at the last second before jumping to slip-space. After entering slip-space, 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 Covenant war and became a safe haven for terrorist.

At Mdama, Jul meets with the kiadon, Levu and questions his involvement with the Arbiter. Levu tells him that he doesn’t disagree with the Arbiter but nonetheless, won’t stop an assassination attempt against him either. Levu also states that it’s necessary to make peace with humanity as they are ill-equipped to wipe them out. Jul exits Levu’s quarters and travels back to his keep in Mdama. He goes inside looking for Raia, who questions Jul’s whereabouts and that Relon is going to get rid of a Forerunner spire in order to make space. Jul leaves her side, grabs an arum and heads to an old watchtower. He hears Relon demolish the Forerunner spire. The next morning Jul heads off to the armory to check over his resources. He hears an explosion come from Relon’s keep and tries to contact him but doesn’t get a response. Jul hears a familiar sound in the distance and summons Gusay who tells Jul that Relon’s keep was attacked. Jul suddenly spots a sprit dropship leaving the area. Jul and Gusay ride to Relon’s keep and find Relon and his brother, Jalam, dead. It’s discovered that the Servants of the Abiding Truth were responsible for the killings. 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 the wall into another room.

In the hanger deck of the UNSC Port Stanley, Vaz and Naomi are having a small conversation about the Great Schism. Vaz ask Naomi about the Covenant weapons having transponders and she explains to him that they won’t suspect anything due to the lost of the Prophets and the Engineers. Vaz hears a recording of a conversation between Elites and Evan Phillips reveals to him that he can understand and read Sangheili language. Later BB orders the crew to the bridge for a briefing from Serin Osman who explains to them that the plan is to arm the Sangheili in order to conduct surveillance on them. Not wanting to hold any more secrets from the team, she reveals that she was in the Spartan-II program. After the meeting, the ODST’s and Phillips wonder about Osman’s purpose for the briefing to which BB tells them that the story is long and complex. Vaz ask BB why he doesn’t use a human avatar to which BB replies that he doesn’t feel the need to.

Two hours later, the corvette exits slip-space in the Brunel system, five hours from New Llanelli. BB checks the comms and gathers all the messages they’ve received. Naomi asks BB for an update on John-117 but BB informs her that he’s still missing. While listening for Elite comms frequencies, Osman contacts Mike Spenser, an agent working undercover on a listening station on Reynes. Spenser tells Osman that the Abiding Truth killed several keep elders for wrecking a Forerunner relic. Osman notifies Spenser that she will extract him from Reynes and takeover surveillance. She then contacts ‘Telcam, and arranges to meet at New Llanelli.

Lucy finds herself in a brightly lit chamber and decides to take cover to avoid being spotted. She makes a dash to retrieve her helmet and discovers another room full of machinery. Lucy sees a vessel and realizes that she’s in a Forerunner hanger. She immediately hears a sound, takes cover and stealthily approaches the unseen presence. She then pushes off from the strut of one of the ships and shots in the gap between the two vessels striking an Engineer. Immediately after being hit, the Engineer crashes down on top of her. After realizing her mistake Lucy tries in vain to comfort the Huragok but it dies shortly after. Lucy is left wondering what to think of the situation. Suddenly she hears more Engineers approaching.

In the hanger bay of the UNSC Port Stanley, the crew is equipping themselves for the mission ahead. They enter the drop ship and head towards the surface of New Llanelli. Osman recites that once the mission is complete, they will extract Spenser and transfer him. Mal ask about the Ariadne and BB notifies them that the ship is still under repair and that the UNSC Monte Cassino is headed for it. Kilo-Five finally lands on the surface. Mal immediately 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 of weapons oblivious to the UNSC tags embedded on the weapons. ‘Telcam proclaims that more Sangheili are joining his cause and will check to see if more arms are needed. Afterwards, Telcam has his crew take the crates back to his dropship and they leave. As Kilo-Five prepares to leave Mal spots a man in the distance, and upon catching him, discovers he’s the only survivor of the glassing. The man then grows suspicious of their activities. Osman reluctantly agrees to take the man aboard but has him quarantined. He is told he will be dropped off at the nearest UNSC base. He then reveals his name to be Tom Muir.

Back at Mdama, Jul tells Raia that he is leaving to Ontom. Raia simply believes he’s leaving out of boredom. However Jul lies to her that he’s leaving to talk about how Sanghelios should be run. Raia asks him if he’s still plotting against the Arbiter. He tells her he is and she simply agrees there wouldn’t be lasting peace with humanity. Jul leaves, meets up with Forze and takes a wave-skimmer to Ontom. They discuss the plan to meet with the Abiding Truth and upon landing find a temple which appears to be a Forerunner building. Jul and Forze are greeted by a field master in full armor. Jul tells him that he wants to join their cause. The field master agrees and ushers them into the building. He reveals himself to be Avu Med ‘Telcam, Servant of the Abiding Truth.

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 takes her helmet, dismantling it, then 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 is unable to fix her. Instead he gestures her to follow him.

As the UNSC Port Stanley is preparing for a slipspace jump to Reynes, Mal is busy arguing with Muir who is complaining about being quarantined. Osman is on the comms talking to Parangosky who reveals to her that she was going to give the Spartan-Four program to Colonel James Ackerson and make Halsey work for him but he had died, and that Halsey’s daughter, Miranda Keyes, had died. Parangosky tells Osman that she can meet up with the Monte Cassino off Venezia to transfer Spenser and Muir. She then asks Osman about her decision to rescue Muir. Osman states that she didn’t want to kill the guy in front of her squad. After the conversation ends, the corvette enters slipspace. Later Osman enters Muir’s cabin and explains to him that he was being quarantined for security reasons. Muir asks who they were and why they were talking to the Covenant and she responds by saying they were exchanging bodies and that he’s aboard a spy ship. Satisfied, 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 they spot Kig-Yar. Spenser tells Vaz that his informers are not around and that the ones they see are scavengers. Upon departing back to the dropship, the Kig-Yar move in front of the group. Devereaux informs the squad that she had Kig-Yar present around the dropship. 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, demanding their dropship. This leads to a firefight between them leaving all the Kig-Yar dead. Osman orders Mal and Vaz to bring back some of the bodies as she may have use for them. They place the bodies in cryo storage. Six hours later, the corvette exits slipspace near Venezia in order to meet with the Monte Cassino. The officer aboard the Monte Cassino states that he is five hours behind them. Venezia still refuses to help the Ariadne. BB estimates that they can reach the patrol ship in two hours. However, the Ariadne explodes.

The group begins searching for Lucy. Halsey grows curious over the Spartan-III program and then questions Mendez about Lucy’s status. Eventually Mark and Ash find a way to turn on the lights in the dark passage. While Halsey is examining the wall of symbols, the grey cylinders return and stop in front of her and Mendez. Halsey heads back to the entrance but is suddenly stabbed in the leg by the cylinder that was following her. In response Linda destroys the cylinder.

Back at Ontom, the Abiding Truth is going through crates of weapons. Having been at the temple for two days, Forze ask Jul if he should contact his wife to which Jul explains that she is aware of his whereabouts. One of the shipmasters, Buran, tells ‘Telcam that they will need warships and decides to offers 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. Buran asks Jul if he has a plan and Jul simply tells him to assemble a crew and take the ship. Afterwards Jul heads back to ‘Telcam requesting to see the rest of the temple. While on the tour Jul sees a side corridor but ‘Telcam explains he cannot go down it. Jul also sees a panel of symbols but ‘Telcam tells him that it should not interfere with them. Jul questions what the Forerunners want from them and ‘Telcam believes they will return.

While conducting a search 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 true intentions. Osman dispatches a dropship containing agent Spenser and Muir to rendezvous with the Monte Cassino. Once again, Venezia demands the Monte Cassino to withdraw from their territory to which they notify them again that they are searching the field for survivors. Minutes later, Venezia fires at the destroyer with an artillery cannon. The shot misses and the Monte Cassino fires back destroying the canon. Port Stanley finishes transferring personnel 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 room that appears to be a control room. Lucy tries to use a panel to communicate but it doesn’t work. She then allows the engineers to go through the contents of her backpack but they settle for her helmet. Then 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 her to use alphabetical letters. Prone asks her about the flood and the Halo array aware that the shield world was activated when the halo array wasn’t fired. Lucy realizes that the Engineer has access to real-time information to normal space events. Regretful, she communicates back to him apologizing for killing his friend.

Jul, Buran, Forze, ‘Telcam, and several of Buran’s crew members make it to the Aanrar Shipyard in orbit above Sanghelios. They spot the Unflinching Resolve and Buran greets Pidar, the guard watching the airlock to the frigate. Buran tricks Pidar into allowing him and his crew passage to the vessel and they search inside. Buran activates the frigate and request for the dockmaster to release the ship from the dock for maintenance assessment. Buran is given clearance and flies the ship to Mdama several kilometers from the Bekan keep. The rebels plan to return in six days after more planning has been made, and disperse.

Later, Dr. Halsey picks up the fragments of the grey cylinder that stabbed her trying to figure out whether it was taking a sample of her blood or injecting something. She figures out that the cylinder was a first-aid monitor. Mendez goes back inside to check on the others as they continue searching for Lucy. Fred suggests to Mendez that they split up and continue reconnaissance of the shield world while Dr. Halsey and Kelly stay behind in case Lucy returns. Eventually the recon team comes across a cluster of forerunner buildings in the same style as the towers, and prepares to explore the inside.

Near Sanghelios, Mal and Vaz watch on as Devereaux helps Naomi into her Mjolnir armor. Mal curiously asks about the armor features and the Spartan-II program. Osman enters the conversation and reveals the existence of the Spartan-III program and more disturbing facts about it. She then tells the group that BB picked up a small Jiralhanae transport with a Huragok aboard headed for Sanghelios and that she desires to acquire the Huragok.

Moments later the Port Stanley is set on an intercept course for the auxiliary vessel Piety. The crew listens in on the voice traffic and discovers the crew is loyal to ‘Telcam. A plan is made to use the Port Stanley’s EMP cannon to shut down the ship and use the dropship to grapple the hull and pull it into the hanger. Minutes later, BB maneuvers the ship into position and fires the EMP cannon at the Piety. Devereaux settles the dropship on top of the Piety, latches on, and drags the Piety into the hanger.

In the hanger, Mal and Vaz plants charges on the hatches while Naomi prepares to rip out the emergency release plate. They detonate the charges and a firefight ensues resulting in all the Brutes being taken out. They search the Piety’s loading bay and find the Huragok hiding. It tries to escape but Vaz and Mal subdue it and discover it’s wearing a Covenant explosive harness and Naomi immediately disarms it. BB communicates to it and finds out its name is Requires Adjustment. Afterwards they check the Piety’s navigation computer.

Back in the dyson sphere, the team continues to search the abandoned towers. Mendez and Fred discover an elevator and use it to look for a vantage point on top of the tower. They make it to the seventh floor and look out to an abandoned forerunner city. Mendez radio's Kelly for any sign of Lucy but Kelly tells him she’s still missing. However she tells him that she found more edible items. Mendez and Fred take the elevator back down to the lobby and catch up with Olivia and Linda. The two women go off to search another building. Eventually Linda contacts the group and tells them she may have found a food warehouse. Fred and Mendez make their way over and discover a dome like structure. However they find no food supply causing Tom to wonder why they didn’t finish building the place.

Meanwhile, Osman checks over the Piety to extract any useful information and 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 contacts Osman and notifies her of the situation with ‘Telcam. Parangosky tells Osman that Hood is traveling to Vadem to talk to the Arbiter about a memorial service being held at Voi. Osman surprises Parangosky by telling her about the Huragok they acquired. Parangosky then tells Osman that they found the anomaly left near Onyx.

At the Bekan Keep, Jul paces around awaiting ‘Telcam’s arrival. Telcam eventually shows up in a Kig-Yar shuttle. He then asks where Manus is, explaining that he had lost contact with him earlier and that he was bringing him a Huragok he recovered from Serene Certainty. Jul tells him to wait longer and moves on to unloading the shuttle. Jul questions ‘Telcam about where he is getting his supplies and he replies that he gets them from many sources as donations. Later Jul and ‘Telcam sit in the shuttle waiting for the Piety’s return. ‘Telcam notices that it’s comms are working but no one answers. The Piety finally arrives but both Jul and ‘Telcam are immediately suspicious. They investigate the ship and find Manus and the rest of the Jiralhanae dead, along with dead Kig-Yar clutching human rifles, but the Huragok missing. ‘Telcam checks the communication logs and finds that the Kig-Yar had radio contact with Venezia.

Later Dr. Halsey begins to wonder about her diary and her own morality. Eventually Kelly emerges with many dead animals that she hunted. Kelly asks Halsey about Lucy but she tells her that she will be found in time. Eventually the rest of the team arrives with more catches. Halsey attempts to make small talk with Mendez in regards to the Spartan-III’s but it eventually leads to an argument. Later the group feast down on their catch. Halsey gets up and uses her data pad to check the Forerunner symbols. It eventually interprets one of them as vessels. She then asks Mendez if he’s seen anything that looks like a garage.

In the control room, Lucy continues to communication 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. She explains to Prone that she doesn’t need to be fixed and that she has deep feelings about missing family and friends. Prone tells her that her friends are in the citadel. Lucy notices everyone on a panel and asks him to take her to them. At first he is reluctant but she promises not to let them harm him.

Aboard the UNSC Port Stanley, Osman tells the crew that a memorial dedication will be held at Voi the following month, the UNSC has declared Catherine Halsey dead, and that Admiral Hood was planning to visit Sanghelios to see the Arbiter. She also explains 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. Vaz goes to see Naomi and finds her to be troubled with the conversation she had earlier with Osman.

At the Bekan Quarry, Jul and the rest of his crew discuss where to move the Unflinching Resolve. They consider the cleansed planet ‘Telcam receives his weapon shipments. However Jul doesn’t know it’s as ‘Telcam has kept it a secret from him. ‘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 explains that he cannot reveal that information. Then Jul requests to accompany him but ‘Telcam insists that he can bring no one else. After ‘Telcam leaves, Jul rushes to a 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.

Mendez and Fred continue to search for Lucy. Suddenly a noise is heard and they turn around. Lucy finally emerges from the tower bringing Prone to Drift with her. Fred immediately heads over to Dr. Halsey to notify her of the engineer. Dr. Halsey checks Lucy over for any injuries but Lucy instead requests to use her Halsey’s datapad. Prone “fixes” the datapad so he can communicate with the squad. 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 was once in and Dr. Halsey discovers the vessels all 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 the slipspace pods because they were too damaged for them to be repaired. 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 or for the Forerunners to return. Dr. Halsey decides to leave in search of the control room but Prone insist on maintaining silence. Dr. Halsey continues to resist his demands to leave the control panels alone eventually threatening Prone with her sidearm. This prompts Lucy into grabbing Halsey, punching her in the face, and forcing her to the ground. Lucy loses all control and repeatedly screams out “No!” thus 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 Jul’s body armor. Afterwards Osman decides to check on Hood’s status. Phillips then notifies Osman of the Sangheili’s name and whereabouts and discovers he’s known by ‘Telcam.

After the ordeal, Mendez helps calm Lucy down who is now crying. Tom consuls her and tries to convince her to keep talking 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 uncontrollably over the situation. Seeing that Mendez is losing his temper, 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 answers.

Meanwhile Phillips interrogates Jul and notifies him that his friends are looking for him. Jul remains defiant against his interrogation so Phillips shows Jul his arum. Jul is surprised to see Phillips figure it out. However, Phillips threatens Jul with shame if he doesn’t give up information. Jul still refuses to give him any information but 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 that they will be heading for Onyx. She explains that there is a dyson sphere located at the Onyx coordinates and that it’s enclosed in a slipspace bubble and plans to recover Forerunner technology once the sphere is brought into realspace. She also tells them Catherine Halsey is still alive and inside the sphere. Osman then explains to the crew that she will be arresting Dr. Halsey. Naomi doesn’t take the news too well. Later BB details to the rest of the crew Halsey’s journal to mixed reaction.

Later, aboard the UNSC Iceni, Admiral Terrance Hood is talking to Captain Osman and Evan Phillips in regards to meeting with 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. Hood then notifies her that the ONI budget has been extended so Margaret can complete the Spartan-Four program. Afterwards they enter the shuttle and depart to Vadam. They soon land and make their way down a corridor to the Arbiter’s quarters. Hood tells the Arbiter that he’s looking for peace and that they have their own problems to deal with. The Arbiter takes interest in Phillips and tells him that he may return one day for a tour if a cease-fire holds. Hood then invites the Arbiter to a ceremony to those who died including the Master Chief and he accepts. They later exit and rendezvous with the Iceni. Minutes later the Arbiter extends an invitation to Phillips for a visit which he gladly accepts.

Back in the dyson sphere, Dr. Halsey continues to talk to Parangosky about the situation. Parangosky informs her of the current status of normal space while Dr. Halsey tells her that Forerunner slipspace 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. Mendez then speaks to Parangosky who request coordinates of an entry point on the sphere. Later Dr. Halsey request Prone’s assistance with the Forerunner artifacts but says he must stay behind. However he agrees to make more engineers to assist her and transition the shield world into normal space. Afterwards, Mendez makes a request to Parangosky to designate shield world Ambrose but Dr. Halsey disagrees and insist on calling it Trevelyan in honor of Kurt’s surname.

The UNSC Port Stanley and Glamorgan as well as two auxiliary ships, the Belleisle and Dunedin, rendezvous in the vicinity of the slipspace anomaly. Everyone stares out the view screen awaiting the appearance of the shield world. Immediately the shield world expands into normal space and completely obscures the view of the stars. Kilo-Five boards the dropship and depart to the shield world. Upon arrival navigation lights guide them to the entry point. The surface then restructures itself around their dropship thus transporting them inside the sphere. Moments later they head through a passageway and prepare to arrest Halsey.

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 gives Halsey 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 eventually Serin Osman. Halsey and Osman have a brief conversation before Osman places her under arrest. Kelly tries to intervene but Halsey convinces her not to. She is then taken away towards the dropship while Osman informs her that she won’t be taken back to Earth.

Later Jul is still in the confines of the brig and demands to speak to Phillips. BB materializes and tells him that he will be transported to ONI. Jul, out of anger, inadvertently reveals his non-affiliation with the Arbiter. 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 instructs him not to resist as he will be removed from the ship. Jul is restrained, taken into the hanger, and transported to ONI Research Facility Trevelyan where he is greeted by Dr. Magnusson.

Back aboard Port Stanley, Vaz is guarding the entrance to Halsey’s compartment when Naomi approaches and demands to talk to Halsey. He refuses but then the rest of the Spartan-II’s arrive to talk to her as well. Vaz stays firm and eventually convinces them to leave. However Naomi asks Vaz to look over her records as she doesn’t have the courage to. Later he talks to the Spartan-III’s and informs them they will be taken for a debriefing at HIGHCOM in Sydney. Eventually Vaz has a short confrontation with Mendez about Dr. Halsey which eventually leads to an argument with Mal. Vaz leaves in the middle of it in order to get the records about Naomi. He discovers that her mother committed suicide after the clone died and that her father believed the clone not to be his daughter. Out of hatred, Vaz heads to Dr. Halsey’s compartment in an attempt to kill her but BB convinces him to walk away.

Days later, Kilo-Five and the rest of the squad are 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 also tells her she will be appointed rear Admiral and her successor next month. Kilo-Five eventually leaves the memorial and head back to Port Stanley.

While in route to Sanghelios, Devereaux is talking to Phillips about his invitation worried about the hostile environment. Nonetheless Phillips is enthusiastic about the task. They enter the dropship and make their way to Sanghelios while being escorted by fighters. Later, in accordance with Parangosky’s instructions, BB presents a project called Infinity to Osman and explains that it’s a prototype warship that Andrew Del Rio will be assigned to and that several Spartan-Fours have already been assigned to it. Later the dropship arrives in Vadam. 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 is now detained aboard the UNSC Ivanoff, a research station orbiting Installation 03 and is being interrogated by Parangosky. First she 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 her why they were necessary. Halsey believed the clones would bring the parents relief and make her fell less guilty, and states she wasn’t aware that 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 status. 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 her. Feeling ashamed of herself she refuses to. The Port Stanley then makes a slipspace jump to Venezia. Later they exit slipspace several hours from Venezia. Osman contacts Spenser and he gives her coordinates of his location.

On Venezia, several kilometers from New Tyne, Mal and Vaz put on disguises before heading into town. Spenser arrives in a civilian Warthog and reveals that he disguised himself as an electrician. They depart their hiding position and head towards New Tyne. On the way they spot a Kig-Yar driving a vehicle and several gun batteries including a Covenant T-38. Spenser tells the pair that several Covenant species are residing on the planet. They eventually make it into town and arrive where Spenser “works” which was a house. 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. 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. While playing with it, BB checks on the status of Port Stanley and the rest of Kilo-Five. Phillips eventually unlocks it but instead of a gemstone coming out, a note falls out. His "minder", Cadan, examines the arum and tells him that the monks make them. The note turns out to be a warning from the Abiding Truth. BB immediately notifies Captain Osman about the incident. She request to talk to ‘Telcam and brings up Phillips cam feed. ‘Telcam doesn’t respond. However ‘Telcam approaches Phillips and warns him of the dangers. Phillips tells him he was invited by the Arbiter. ‘Telcam takes Phillips to his temple and stop at the entrance. He then asks what Phillips knows about Jul ‘Mdama. Phillips says he doesn’t know him. Something is spotted at the entrance and suddenly 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 head back to the ship. She then 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.