Halo Wars: Genesis

Halo Wars: Genesis is a prequel to the events in the upcoming video game, Halo Wars. It is included in the Limited Collector's Edition of the game. It reveals why Admiral Cole made the Cole Protocol and how and why Captain Cutter, Sergeant Forge and Ellen Anders all came together for Halo Wars. It also reveals more about the past of the Arbiter in Halo Wars and how he came to be one. It also describes the first battles of the UNSC against the Covenant.

Description
A description of the graphic novel, from the Halo Wars: Collectors Edition announcement: "Halo Wars: Genesis – a beautiful graphic novel by Phil Noto, Graeme Devine and Eric Nylund chronicling the first military campaign against the Covenant. The novel centers around the Spirit of Fire on a mission to discover why the Covenant are so interested in the human colony world of Harvest."

- SOLUS from HaloWars.com

Summary
UNSC Battlegroup 4 arrives at Harvest in order to investigate an unknown aggression on October the 7th 2525: upon receiving a communication message, later translated with "Your destruction is the will of the Gods, and we are their instrument", the Vostok and the Arabia are destroyed by an alien vessel. The Heracles retreats. On the planet Reach, ONI brass compare the event with the Battle of Chi Ceti and ask a retired Vice Admiral Preston Cole to command a force to retake Harvest. He and his fleet arrive at Harvest on the 1st of March 2526, just to find the same ship which destroyed the two frigates a few months earlier. The UNSC ships succeed in defeating the Covenant vessel, losing however 13 ships in the process. Mass media are ordered to keep events regarding the Covenant secret and replace the battle information with that of a communications satellite captured by Insurgents, whom Cole was sent for; the colonies of Second Base and Green Hills are reported as Insurgent bases but were actually glassed. Also the loss of Chi Ceti IV is kept secret. Since the impossibility of keeping the offensive a secret, the news about Cole now commanding the whole UNSC Fleet goes public and he continues to fight the Covenant throughout the Outer Colonies until 2531. Several battles, including those occurring at the Origami Asteroid Field and that of XI Boötis A System are more losses than victories: UNSC forces are decimated just to defeat a few enemy vessels. At the Battle of Groombridge-1830, another pyrrhic victory, Cole learns of the Covenant's resoluteness by a Sangheili survivor and decides to create the Cole Protocol. January 3, 2531: UNSC Spirit of Fire is sent to Harvest to assist the crippled UNSC Prophecy. Before making the jump to the colony world Captain James Gregory Cutter inspects the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine and the Drop bay of the ship, which history is told during the travel. As the ship arrives near the Prophecy, Serina hypothesizes the only reason ONI knew about the crippled ship so fast is they were there when the misdeed occurred. Cutter orders the Prophecy's Nav Database and survivors to be recovered: Fire Teams Echo, India, Lima and November's Pelicans take off while the Spirit of Fire engages 4 Covenant vessels. Sgt. John Forge's Pelican takes off as well and heads to the Prophecy but is hit by a Phantom and crash-lands upon the Prophecy hull. Forge and other EVA Marines breach and enter inside the Prophecy where are attacked by Jackal Rangers. Forge breaks his ankle during combat, but, with Serina's aid, is then able to find the ship's Terminal 4 to recover the ship's Black box and wipe its Nav Core, while the rest of Team Lima rescue the survivors. Serina warns Forge that the Prophecy 's A.I. may "act peculiar" due to high radiation levels, and so happens: upon scanning his retina to gain access to the terminal, Forge is halted by FitzGibbon, who explains he cannot allow him to enter due to his CSV. Forge tells the A.I. he's there to ensure Cole Protocol not to be violated, and the latter lets him in the terminal room enabling radiation repair routines. Forge purges the Nav Database and heads back to the Pelicans as FitzGibbon activates the Prophecy's self-destruct sequence which destroys the ship.