Halo: First Strike: Difference between revisions

{{Title|''Halo: First Strike''}}

{{Novel infobox

|author=[[Eric Nylund]]

|publisher=[[Del Rey Books]]<br>[[Tor Books]] (2010 edition)

|media=Print (Paperback)

}}

'''''Halo: First Strike''''' is a [[Halo novels|''Halo'' novel]] authored by [[Eric Nylund]]. It was published in December 2003,<ref name="randomhouse">[http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345467812 '''Random House''': ''Halo: First Strike by Eric Nylund'']</ref> after being written in a period of sixteen weeks.<ref name="xbox.com3">[http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/h/halo2/spotlight2.htm '''Xbox.com''': ''First Strike Author Eric Nylund Q&A'']</ref>

===Definitive edition by Tor===

{{Article quote|Rounding out Tor’s series of reissues of the original three Halo novels, this newly edited and revised edition of First Strike is a must-have for all Halo fans. Featuring author Eric Nylund at the helm, this tale bridges the events that take place in the game Halo: Combat Evolved (as novelized in The Flood) and its blockbuster follow-up, Halo 2.  

2552. The theocratic military alliance known as the Covenant is showing no mercy as it continues to assault every human world it encounters, but in the way lies humanity’s greatest champion, the super-soldier Spartan John-117—the Master Chief. Together with his AI companion Cortana and the last remaining Spartans, the galaxy-spanning fight rages on two fronts following the destruction of the human military stronghold Reach by Covenant forces and the mysterious artificial ringworld known as “Halo” at the hands of the Master Chief.

==Plot synopsis==

===Section 0: Reach===

The prologue begins during the [[Fall of Reach]] and flashes back to Chapter 34 of ''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', where [[Jacob Keyes|Captain Jacob Keyes]] informs [[John-117|Master Chief Petty Officer John-117]] about the unsecured NAV database. John makes [[Frederic-104]] the leader of [[Red Team]] and orders him to take the other [[SPARTAN-II Program|Spartan-IIs]] down to [[Reach]] to protect the generators powering the [[Orbital defense platform|orbital MAC guns]].

[[Vice Admiral]] [[Danforth Whitcomb]] contacts Fred and orders the Spartans to extract him and his staff, claiming to be the current officer in charge of the defense of Reach. Fred subdivides Red Team to complete the mission: Beta Team is to defend the generators, Gamma Team is to extract the Admiral, and Delta Team is to secure a fallback point at [[CASTLE Base]]. Fred then takes Kelly and [[Joshua-029]] (comprising Alpha Team) on a mission to destroy a large [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] encampment in the adjacent valley. Taking three [[Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft|Banshees]], they deliver a [[Fury Tactical Nuclear Weapon|Fury tactical nuke]] into [[Unidentified cruiser (Particular Justice)|a Covenant ship]]. During the assault, the Covenant shoots down Joshua's Banshee and he is presumed dead. Fred and Kelly complete the mission without further complications.

===Section 1: Threshold===

Together, the group uses the Longsword to board the flagship, called ''[[Ascendant Justice]]''. They fight their way to the bridge, and along the way, plug Cortana into the vessel's computer. Cortana decompresses most of the vessel's decks, killing most of the crew. She then learns that they're running out of time, as this fleet is a prelude to [[Hierarchs|a Covenant dignitary]]'s arrival at Halo, along with [[High Charity|their vessel]] and a [[High Charity Defense Fleet|massive escort]]. The group makes it to the bridge, only to confront a Spec Ops [[Sangheili|Elite]] wielding an [[Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword|Energy Sword]], whom the Master Chief defeats with the help of Johnson and Locklear, sustaining a slight injury. The defeat of the Elite warrior allows the humans to gain complete control of the Covenant flagship.

===Section 2: Defense of Castle Base===

At the lab, Halsey discovers Colonel Ackerson's plans, which contain extensive lists on "Her Spartans", a star chart reference, and a third file labeled "[[KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN]]". Before she can access these, however, a UNSC [[Smart AI|AI]] named [[Araqiel]] appears and attempts to stop her by threatening to kill her or the Spartans. She destroys it using a bypass code she herself had programmed, but causes some concern with [[Kalmiya|her personal AI]]. The Covenant then invades the base, and the Spartans and Halsey escape to the old titanium mines beneath CASTLE Base right before its destruction, which blocks their only exit. Having no other alternatives, the Spartans and Halsey venture deep into the tunnels.

===Section 3: Rescue===

The narrative then flashes back to [[2523|July 14, 2523]], when the young Spartans played capture the flag against [[Tango Company]]. Despite Tango Company's use of live-fire rounds, the teenage Spartans capture the flag and win the "game". While hiding from Tango Company Marines searching for the flag, John uses the "Oly Oly Oxen Free" signal to inform his teammates that all is clear.

Meanwhile, the humans find a canyon with some movement in it. The Chief wanders out to see if there is a trap, and Haverson backs him up. At the bottom of the ramp, Chief receives a signal without a [[Identification friend or foe|friend-or-foe tag]] (or IFF) indicating whom it belongs to, so he proceeds with caution. The Chief draws his pistol; only discover that it is [[Anton-044]], who disabled his IFF tag so the Covenant wouldn't discover his location. Anton leads the Master Chief to the entrance of a cavern, where two Spartans - [[Grace-093]] and [[Li-008]] - operate chainguns bolted to the sides of boulders. Master Chief and Anton, followed by Grace, enter the cavern. Inside, Admiral Whitcomb stands at a foldout card table: [[Camp Independence]].

Using the Covenant dropship, the Chief's group goes to rescue the remaining Red Team members. They enter a huge cavern filled with Covenant forces: a few Elites, Jackals, and mostly [[Unggoy|Grunts]] clearing a cave-in. They land the dropship half a kilometer away from the Covenant forces. After managing to destroy the Covenant, three Spartans - Kelly, Fred, and Will - emerge from cover. Whitcomb asks if there are any more, and Fred replies that there is one: Dr. Halsey, holding a fist-sized crystal. As they are about to leave, they detect more forces and become surrounded by thousands of Covenant - Grunts, Jackals, Elites and several pairs of [[Mgalekgolo|Hunters]] - on each of the gallery's twelve levels. A single Hunter pair fires their weapons at the humans; the rest of the Covenant opens fire a split second later.

===Section 4: Gambit===

John, Fred, Linda, Grace, and Will enter the station without incident, but are forced to detour through a temple complex. There, they encounter [[Jiralhanae|Brutes]]. The Master Chief grapples with one, barely making it out alive, and Grace is killed in the skirmish. After the fight, the Chief activates the fail-safe system in Grace's suit, killing many Covenant in the process. The four remaining Spartans make it to the reactors and rig them to explode. With ten minutes to escape, the Spartans commandeer three Banshees with the help of Linda's sniper fire. The Master Chief then rescues Linda from oncoming Covenant reinforcements.

On the other side of the moon, the Spartans find the ''Gettysburg'', but no sign of the ''Ascendant Justice''. On board, they learn that the crew removed the Covenant ship's slipspace engine and installed it in the ''Gettysburg''. Whitcomb and Haverson, who took the Covenant ship, crashed it into the central section of the ''Unyielding Hierophant''. Faking the crystal's appearance with a [[Holography|holograph]], they broadcast a message to the Covenant fleet in an attempt to lure them onto the ''Ascendant Justice''. When the ''Unyielding Hierophant'' reactors detonate, the explosion destroys the ''Ascendant Justice'' alongside almost five hundred ships of the Covenant invasion force, leaving a dozen left. The five human survivors - John-117, Fred-104, Linda-058, Will-043, and Sergeant Avery J. Johnson - and Cortana proceed to a random location under the Cole Protocol, and then return to Earth to warn them about the impending Covenant invasion.

*[[Danforth Whitcomb]] {{1st}}

*[[Elias Haverson]] {{1st}}

*[[Grace-093]] {{1st}}

*[[Isaac-039]] {{1st}}

*[[Vinh-030]] {{1st}}

*[[Wagner]] {{1st}}

;AI

*[[343 Guilty Spark]] {{Mo}}

***[[Covenant Special Operations]]

***[[Fleet Security]]

*[[Unified Earth Government]]

**[[United Nations Space Command]]

**[[Threshold]]

***[[Installation 04]]

*[[Sol system]] {{1st}}

**[[Earth]] {{1st}}

*[[Human-Covenant War]]

**[[Battle of New Constantinople]] {{Fm}}

**[[Fall of Reach]]

**[[Massacre at Eridanus Secundus]] {{1st}}

**[[Operation: FIRST STRIKE]] {{1st}}

*[[Insurrection]]

**[[Operation: TREBUCHET]] {{Mo}}

*[[SPARTAN-II augmentation procedures]] {{Mo}}

*[[SPARTAN-II training]] {{Mo}}

|title-6=Vehicles|

**''[[Beatrice]]'' {{1st}}

*[[Clarion spy drone]] {{1st}}

*[[Covenant destroyer]]

*[[Covenant escape pod]] {{1st}}

*[[Covenant tug]] {{1st}}

*[[D77-TC Pelican]]

**''[[Bravo 001]]'' {{1st}}

**''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' {{1st}}

*[[GA-TL1 Longsword]]

*{{Class|Marathon|heavy cruiser}}

**{{UNSCShip|Hannibal}} {{1st}}

*[[Orbital defense platform]] {{Mo}}

*[[Prowler]]

*[[Scarab]] {{1st}}

*[[Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle]] {{Mo}}

*[[Type-26 Banshee]]

*[[Seraph]]

*{{UNSCShip|Basra}} {{1st}}

*[[UNSC corvette]]

*[[Energy stave]] {{1st}}

*[[Fury tactical nuclear weapon]] {{1st}}

*[[Heavy plasma cannon]]

*[[M19 surface-to-surface missile]]

*[[Satchel charge]] {{1st}}

*[[SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifle]]

*[[Type-25 Brute Shot]] {{1st}}

*[[Type-25 plasma pistol]]

|title-8=Equipment and Technology|

*[[Active camouflage]]

*[[Robotic rover]]

*[[Rucksack]]

*[[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]]

*[[Spartan neural interface]]

*A message from [[Charles VanKeerk]] to [[Amy]], where he offers his condolences regarding [[Sam (rebel)|Sam]]'s death, also reminding her of their still-ongoing [[Insurrection|fight]] against the UNSC.

*''[[Tug o' War]]'', a short story about [[Oliver Birch]], a [[Fetching|fetcher]] after the [[Human-Covenant War]].

*''[[Petra]]'', a short story about the reporter [[Petra Janecek]], where she speculates on the events surrounding the final days of the Human-Covenant War.

*At the beginning of the novel, it is stated that twenty-seven Spartans were carried to the surface of Reach aboard ''Bravo 001''; however in ''Halo: The Fall of Reach'' it is stated that "two dozen Spartans" were present at Reach, in addition to the Master Chief, with three other Spartans (later revealed to be Gray Team) "engaged on fields of combat too distant to be easily recalled". Therefore, the Pelican that Fred-104 takes to the surface should only have twenty-two Spartans, (including Fred) since John-117 takes two Spartans with him in a separate Pelican for the mission to ''Gamma Station''. Several recent sources have definitively stated that twenty-two Spartans were assigned to Red Team, with the three-member Blue Team dispatched to ''Gamma Station'' and Gray Team behind enemy lines and thus out of contact.<ref>'''[[Data Drop]]'''</ref><ref>'''Halo Wars''' timeline</ref><ref>'''Halo: First Strike''' (2010) Adjunct)</ref><ref>[http://www.youtube.com/user/HaloWaypoint#p/a/DF8EE7CCE045CAA0/0/jh7Q3fjIIwc '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Defiant to the End'']</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary]]''', [[Library (feature)|Library]] - Pelican</ref>

*In the original printing, the Longsword that John and the other survivors of the Battle of Installation 04 used to board ''Ascendant Justice'' is consistently referred to as a Pelican. This is corrected in the revised edition.

*In the 2010 version, Brutes are no longer described as a never-before-seen Covenant species.

*In the 2010 adjunct section, Fred-104 is incorrectly referred to as a lieutenant during his psychological evaluation, which takes place during the early stages of the [[Battle for Earth]]. He actually held the rank of senior chief petty officer at this time and was not promoted to lieutenant, junior grade until the [[Onyx Conflict]].

==Gallery==

<gallery>

File:HFS Coverart stylised.jpg|Stylised version of the original cover-art.

File:FS_2010_jacket.jpg|Full jacket of the 2010 edition.

</gallery>

==Sources==

===Internal===

*[[List of rectified inconsistencies in the Halo series#Halo: First Strike|List of changes in Halo novel reprints]]

*[http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0345467817/ref=sib_dp_pt/102-6002849-0256936#reader-link '''Amazon.com''': ''Read the First Chapter of Halo: First Strike'']

[[Category:Novels|First Strike]]

[[Category:Canon|First Strike]]