by Eric Nylund
We are being careful not to make too many assumptions, but the evidence in some cases is compelling. In others, ambiguous. I direct your attention to the photographs from Heian. There were obvious Forerunner elements in that architecture, but also unmistakable architectural themes from Greco-Roman, East Asian, and Middle Eastern eras. All of those buildings predated human travel to that world by perhaps hundreds maybe thousands of years. We find ourselves wondering if they borrowed from our history, or we from theirs. It is impossible that it was a coincidence.
Furthermore, now that we understand the Halo is an armed weapon array, we must revisit our prior assumptions about how inert other structures are. This applies to the Excession at Voi particularly, and careful exploration is being undertaken as we speak. Those concerned about ONI barging in as a military force needn’t be. The investigation is being undertaken with the greatest care and under rigorous scientific conditions.
We still don’t understand everything about Voi, but we do know that the structure is still active, still drawing power from an unknown source, and as far as we can tell, riddled with passageways and conduits that we have, as yet, minimal access to. There are more secrets locked under our feet than we dare speculate on. We’re looking particularly for answers as they relate to doors, encryption, and other passageways. This isn’t something we can blast or arcweld our way through. It’s something we must think through.
Again, I want you all to understand the entirety of the material you are now investigating. To those of you already at sites, I advise caution and diplomacy in equal measure. The Sangheili have promised nothing—and indeed warned us that they do not yet control either the Covenant client species, or even their own domestic situation. Hostilities may have ceased for now, but we should be alert and logical.
This may be the greatest archaeological boon we have ever received as scholars, but it is certainly the most perilous. Be careful. I expect daily reports filed regardless of slipstream delay. I will reassemble chronology later.
Good luck.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. William Arthur Iqbal
Department of Xenoarchaeology
Edinburgh University
* tiny aberration in the fossil and carbon records of Earth, noted by two Earth geologists in 2332—and matched on several other worlds, demonstrating a gap in certain species so tiny and uniform, that it had been attributed not to a biological catastrophe, but rather had been investigated and then abandoned as odd evidence of warping or stretching of spacetime itself. The Ross-Ziegler Blip is now being opened and reinvestigated in connection to the events of 2552.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The amount of work that goes into a project like this defies understanding. The behind-the-scenes of making a multi-author book that ties into the vanguard of modern science fiction could easily make the stuff of bad reality television. Juggling the franchise’s wonderfully high story expectations while simultaneously maintaining authors’ creative freedoms, all under fun and tortuous time constraints, requires heroic actions from many. This book wouldn’t have been at all possible without the Herculean efforts of Nicolas “Sparth” Bouvier, Alicia Brattin, Gabriel “Robogabo” Garza, Jonathan Goff, Kevin Grace, Alicia Hatch, and Frank O’Connor.
The amazing team at Tor has to be praised as well. Led by Tom Doherty and masterfully marshaled by Eric Raab, the unsung heroes of Karl Gold, Justin Golenbock, Jim Kapp, Seth Lerner, Jane Liddle, Whitney Ross, Heather Saunders, and Nathan Weaver and their efforts in the trenches to make it all happen is legend. Special thanks to Shelley Chung, Patricia Fernandez, and Christina MacDonald for desperately trying to make every story in here read without a blip.
Additional thanks to 343 Industries, Bungie Studios, Ryan Crosby, Scott Dell’Osso, Nick Dimitrov, David Figatner, Nancy Figatner, Josh Kerwin, Justin Osmer, Pete Parsons, Bonnie Ross-Ziegler, Phil Spencer, and Carla Woo.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
TOBIAS S. BUCKELL is a Caribbean-born writer who grew up in Grenada as well as the United States and British Virgin Islands. He has written a number of novels, including Halo: The Cole Protocol. He currently lives in Ohio with his wife and his two daughters, two dogs, and two cats.
B. K. EVENSON is the author of the Aliens tie-in novel Aliens: No Exit. He is currently working on a novel based on the video game Dead Space. He lives and works in Providence, Rhode Island. Under the name Brian Evenson, he is the author of nine books of fiction. These include The Open Curtain, which was a finalist for an Edgar Award and for the International Horror Guild Award, and Last Days.
JONATHAN DAVID GOFF is a writer and artist raised on a healthy diet of Saturday morning cartoons and sugary breakfast cereals. After serving in the United States Air Force, Jonathan spent six years developing creative content for action figure, comic book, and entertainment properties at the McFarlane Companies in Tempe, Arizona, before relocating to the Pacific Northwest where he assists Microsoft Game Studios’ 343 Industries in all manner of Halo-related goodness. He currently resides in Redmond, Washington, with his lovely and infinitely supportive wife, Maria.
KEVIN GRACE is the managing editor for 343 Industries, working closely with the internal and external talent who bring the Halo universe to life across books, comics, animation, and games. He is an editing veteran of Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and a variety of other games published by Microsoft Game Studios. He comes from a Midwestern attorney upbringing and now enjoys living in Seattle, Washington, with his wife, Karen, and twelve furry paws.
By day, TESSA KUM sits at her computer and types. By night, she also sits at her computer and types. Hers is the very definition of a rock ’n’ roll lifestyle. She is a graduate of the Clarion South Writers Workshop, editorial assistant for Weird Tales, and assistant editor for the Best American Fantasy series. She has been published in Daikaiju 3 and ASIM, with forthcoming fiction appearing in anthologies such as Baggage and Last Drink Bird Head, and her short-story collection 7wishes is currently free to read online. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, and owns neither an Xbox nor a TV (which is, you know, a bit of a drag).
ROBT McLEES does two things well: kill zombies and speak in a robot voice. Both of these life-skills have served him well in his fourteen years at Bungie. He married his best friend and has produced, with the help of his wife, two wonderful boys. If you give Robt a bite of your pizza, he’ll ask for a beer. And when you get back from grabbing a beer from the fridge, like half the damned pizza is gone! WTF, Rob?!?
ERIC NYLUND is the New York Times bestselling author of Halo: Ghosts of Onyx and World Fantasy Award–nominated Dry Water, among several other novels, which have sold more than two million copies. His latest novel, Mortal Coils, is the start of an epic five-book series.
FRANK O’CONNOR has worked in and around the video game industry for fifteen years, as both journalist-observer and active participant in game development—first at Bungie, the creators of Halo, and then at Microsoft Game Studios’ 343 Industries. Frank has been working in and on Halo fiction for the greater part of six years, having developed fiction, stories, and characters for Halo games, comic books, novels, and animation. The thirty-nine-year-old western Washington, resident enjoys reading, cycling, and corralling the ever-more-elaborate escape attempts of his baby daughter.
ERIC RAAB was born in the city of Newburgh, New York, which rests majestically on the western bank of the Hudson River. He’s currently an editor at Tom Doherty Associates and has been the editor for Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, Halo: Contact Harvest, and Halo: The Cole Protocol, among other projects well worth your time and money. His passions include skipping rocks on water and driving nowhere.
#1 New York Times bestselling author KAREN TRAVISS has received critical acclaim and award nominations for her Wess’har series, as well as regularly hitting the bestseller lists with her Star Wars and Gears of War novels. A former defense correspondent and TV and newspaper journalist, she lives in Wiltshire, England.
World Fantasy Award–winner JEFF VANDE
RMEER grew up in the Fiji Islands and has had fiction published in more than twenty countries. He is the bestselling author of City of Saints & Madmen, as well as Predator: South China Sea, released by Dark Horse Books in 2008. He reviews books for, among others, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, and Barnes & Noble Review, as well as being a regular columnist for the Omnivoracious book blog. Current projects include Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for Twenty-First Century Writers, the noir fantasy novel Finch, and the forthcoming definitive Steampunk Bible from Abrams Books. He currently lives in Tallahassee, Florida, and serves as assistant director for Wofford College’s Shared Worlds writing camp for teens (Spartanburg, South Carolina).
FRED VAN LENTE is the New York Times bestselling author of Incredible Hercules (with Greg Pak) and Marvel Zombies 3, as well as the American Library Association award-winning Action Philosophers. He created Spartan: Black for the graphic novel Halo: Blood Line, illustrated by Francis Portela and serialized by Marvel Comics beginning in December 2009. Van Lente’s other comics include Comic Book Comics, MODOK’s 11, XMen Noir, and Amazing Spider-Man.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
ROBOGABO (GABRIEL GARZA) has been a professional artist for the last ten years. Born in Mexico, he now lives in Seattle, working for 343 Industries. His artwork is heavily influenced by his years of experience working at a newspaper. His passion for video games attracted him into the concept art community and led him to live and work across the United States working on video games. When Gabo is not painting, he likes to spend time at home with his family, while trying to enjoy life outside his art cave. Visit his website at www.robogabo.com.
SPARTH (NICOLAS BOUVIER) has been an active concept designer in the gaming industry since 1996. Born in France, he now lives in Seattle, Washington, working for Microsoft. He has contributed to the development of several released games since 1997, including Alone in the Dark 4 (2001), Cold Fear (2005), Prince of Persia—Warrior Within (2004), Assassin’s Creed (2007), and Rage, a project still in development at id Software. Sparth has also utilized his talents to illustrate numerous book covers. His images have been actively chosen by publishers to adorn the covers of multiple French and English authors. When he is not working, he finds time to relax with his wife, Lorene, and his three children, Arthur, Leopold, and Zelie.