Halo: Fall of Reach - Covenant

Halo: Fall of Reach - Covenant is the second story arc in Halo: Fall of Reach, a comic-book adaptation of the first Halo novel, Halo: The Fall of Reach published by Marvel Comics.

Consisting of four issues, Covenant chronicles the early days of the Human-Covenant War. The series mostly follows the plot of the novel, though many of the details have been altered to an extent.

Covenant is succeeded by one last story arc; Invasion.

Issue 1
Official summary

Synopsis The first issue begins with Captain Wallace, Dr. Halsey, and the Spartans IIs on board the en route to the Damascus Testing Facility on Chi Ceti IV in 2525. The frigate is immediately attacked by a Covenant vessel. Dr. Halsey and the Spartans escape to the surface of the planet. Upon arriving at the facility, the Spartans are introduced and fitted with the MJOLNIR Mk. IV armor. As the Covenant ship prepares to attack again, John recommends that they take MJOLNIR for a field test. John, Kelly, and Sam board a Pelican and plan to attack the ship by detonating an ANVIL-II Missile inside the vessel. The issue ends as John, Kelly, and Sam leap out of their Pelican prepared to assault the Covenant vessel.

Issue 2
Official Summary

Synopsis The second issue follows John, Kelly, and Sam as they infiltrate the Covenant vessel. As they explore the ship, Sam is struck by an overcharged bolt from a plasma pistol wielded by a Jackal while trying to protect John. They manage to make it to the ship's reactor room and plant the ANVIL-II missile. As they prepare to leave the ship, Sam must remain behind as the vacuum seal in his armor has been compromised. Rather than die in the vacuum of space, Sam volunteers to hold off Covenant forces and allow the missile to explode, destroying the entire ship. John reflects on Chief Mendez's words and tells Kelly that Sam's life was not wasted. The narrative then jumps twenty seven years forward, as the Covenant lay siege to the city of Côte d'Azur on Sigma Octanus IV in 2552.

Issue 3
Official summary

Synopsis The third issue begins with Corporal Harland's squad arriving at the destroyed Alpha HQ. He assumes tactical command but is quickly relieved by a team of Spartan-IIs led by John, now a Master Chief Petty Officer. John splits the Spartans into separate teams and plans to wipe out nearby Covenant forces by detonating a HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon in the city. Meanwhile, as the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV continues in orbit. The led by Commander Jacob Keyes rams a Covenant corvette, stopping ground forces from transmitting data. The narrative then returns to Blue Team as they investigate Covenant activity at the Côte d'Azur Museum of Natural History. They discover that the Covenant are scanning a granite artifact, and sending the information to a ship in orbit. The issue ends with Blue Team suddenly coming into contact with a pair of Hunters.

Issue 4
Official summary

Synopsis The fourth issue opens with the crew of the UNSC Iroquois intercepting the Covenant transmission from the Museum of Natural History in Côte d'Azur. Meanwhile inside the Museum, Blue Team engages in a massive firefight with the two Hunters. The Spartans are victorious and manage to retrieve the artifact. With the artifact secured and remaining civilians rescued from the city, everyone at Alpha HQ is evacuated. Once in orbit, the HAVOK nuke is detonated underneath the city streets. With the Covenant wiped out and defeated, all remaining UNSC ships plot a course back to Reach. The story arc ends with the UNSC Iroquois entering slipspace, unwittingly bringing a Covenant spy probe along with it that will inevitably lead the Covenant to Reach.

Characters

 * Catherine Halsey
 * Captain Wallace
 * Franklin Mendez
 * John-117
 * Kelly-087
 * Samuel-034
 * Frederic-104
 * Linda-058
 * Joshua-029
 * James-005
 * Corporal Harland
 * Private Fincher
 * Private Walker
 * Jacob Keyes
 * Ensign William Lovell
 * Lieutenant Aki Hikowa
 * Lieutenant Dominique
 * Lieutenant Hall

Species

 * Human
 * Kig-yar
 * Mgalekgolo
 * Unggoy

Locations

 * Chi Ceti System
 * Chi Ceti IV
 * Damascus Testing Facility
 * Sigma Octanus system
 * Sigma Octanus IV
 * UNSC HQ – Camp Alpha
 * Côte d'Azur
 * Côte d'Azur Museum of Natural History
 * Reach

Events

 * Battle of Chi Ceti IV
 * Battle of Sigma Octanus IV

Organizations

 * United Nations Space Command
 * UNSC Navy
 * Naval Special Warfare Command
 * SPARTAN-II Program
 * Blue Team
 * Green Team
 * Red Team
 * Office of Naval Intelligence
 * Covenant
 * Covenant Navy

Vehicles

 * Covenant destroyer
 * Covenant vessel
 * DAV-class light corvette
 * D77-TC Pelican
 * GA-TL1 Longsword
 * M12 Force Application Vehicle
 * M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle
 * Refit station
 * UNSC Cradle
 * UNSC destroyer
 * UNSC frigate
 * Type-26 Assault Gun Carriage
 * Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft
 * UNSC frigate
 * Type-26 Assault Gun Carriage
 * Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft
 * Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft

Weapons

 * Assault cannon
 * ANVIL-II Missile
 * HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon
 * MA2B Assault Rifle
 * MA5B Assault Rifle
 * M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun
 * M41 Surface-to-Surface Rocket Medium Anti-Vehicle/Assault Weapon
 * Fragmentation Grenade
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle

Technology

 * Black body suit
 * Door
 * Holography
 * Holotank
 * Kig-yar point defense gauntlet
 * MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark IV
 * Spy probe
 * Unggoy combat harness
 * UNSC Marine Corps Battle Dress Uniform

Differences to the novel

 * The Longsword interceptors dispatched by the Commonwealth survive the detonation of the Shiva missile fired at the Unrelenting. In the novel, the Longswords are consumed by the explosion, as they were intentionally sacrificed as a diversion.
 * The Damascus Materials Testing Facility is depicted as a space station, while the novel describes it as an underground installation located on the planet Chi Ceti IV.
 * The Unrelenting is portrayed as a cruiser, similar in design to a CCS-class or CRS-class, whereas in the novel, it is described as an ovoid split by a single lateral line.
 * The Spartans' assault on the Unrelenting is decidedly different. The comic depicts John, Sam and Kelly jumping toward the ship - shown within clearly visible distance - without apparent thrusters, with John-117 dismissing the possibility of missing the ship with a casual remark. The three approach the Unrelenting in a tight formation while discussing their entry strategy and simply glide into the ship. In the novel, the distances involved are much greater. Even though the Spartan use thruster packs, there is a high likelihood of missing the Unrelenting which is traveling at a high velocity, forcing the Spartans to conduct careful maneuvers to intercept the ship. Additionally, all of the Spartans aboard the Pelican partake in the operation, though most, apart from John, Kelly and Sam, miss the Covenant ship and are picked up later. In the novel, the Spartans also do not conduct the EVA flight in a closely packed group and do not converse until regrouping on the hull of the Unrelenting. In the book, the Commonwealth also fires a diversionary salvo of Archer missiles as decoys to cover the Spartans' approach; this is not depicted in the comic. The warheads used by the Spartans during the boarding operation are also different; in the comic, the Spartans use nuclear missiles, perhaps Shivas. In the book, they use ANVIL-II Air-to-Surface Missiles, which have conventional warheads. As seen in this image, the missiles used in the comic are far too large to be ANVIL-IIs.
 * While escaping the Unrelenting, John and Kelly encounter several Jackals; this is not described in the book.
 * Private Cochran of Corporal Harland's fireteam does not appear in the comic adaptation. Instead, Private Walker is able to snap out of his state of shock and perform Cochran's action by shooting down a single, lone Banshee.
 * Inside the Côte d'Azur Museum of Natural History, the Spartans kill the Hunter pair by toppling a stone pillar with grenades, crushing the Hunters. In the novel, the Spartans dispatch the Hunters by creating an opening on the floor below them with grenades, causing them to fall into the basement. In the adaptation, the Spartans are pursued inside the by a large group of Grunts, who are killed by a falling elephant skeleton; in the novel, the Spartans remain undetected during their escape.