Halo: Fractures - Extraordinary Tales from the Halo Canon is an anthology containing several short stories set in the Halo universe.[1]
Content[]
Lessons Learned[]
- Main article: Lessons Learned
- “This story begins on March 29, 2554, more than a year after the end of the Covenant War (Halo 3) - a thirty-year struggle for humanity's survival waged across its embattled colonies - and the subsequent activation of the SPARTAN-IV program, which would eventually undergird the United Nations Space Command's fledgling Spartan branch (Halo: Initiation).”— Official description
What Remains[]
- Main article: What Remains
- “This story takes place immediately following the mysterious and tragic events that transpired in Halo 5: Guardians on the glassed colony of Meridian - a world that had fallen after a series of unrelenting Covenant attacks that stretched from 2548 to 2551 (Halo 2: Anniversary era), shortly before the end of the war.”— Official description
Breaking Strain[]
- Main article: Breaking Strain
- “This story takes place in 2553, during the harrowing final days and aftermath of the Covenant War (Halo 3 era).”— Official description
Promises to Keep[]
- Main article: Promises to Keep
- “This story takes place at the close of recorded Forerunner history, during the events that followed the destruction of the Forerunner capital world by the rogue artificial intelligence Mendicant Bias (Halo: Cryptum) and the subsequent activation of the Halo Array to end the centuries-long war with the extragalactic parasite known as the Flood (Halo: Silentium).”— Official description
Shadow of Intent[]
- Main article: Shadow of Intent
- “This story takes place in 2553 following the Great Schism, a sudden and violent civil war within the Covenant alliance (Halo 2: Anniversary), and in the wake of the thirty-year long Covenant campaign against mankind (Halo 3).”— Official description
A Covenant remnant group stand in a bunker, consisting of two San'Shyuum prelates; two Jiralhanae and a number of Yanme'e. The atmosphere it tense for one prelate, Tem'Bhetek, who is offended by his Jiralhanae guards' odious fear pheromones and Yanme'e singing. Boru'a'Neem, the Minister of Preparation, approaches, and the two look at a holographic security display of three Sangheili warriors they had captured. The three are naked and tied up, with their leg tendons slashed to keep them down. The San'Syuum observe them defiantly singing, the leader's idea to calm their nerves. Tem regrets not slitting their throats, but restrains himself from orders, as they are test subjects. They prepare a Forerunner weapon, a miniature prototype of the Halo Array's weapon. No longer of religious significance, Tem and Boru only consider it for it military capabilities, and fire it at the Sangheili.
Within the test chamber, the three simply disappear, without any remains surviving. As they enter the chamber to investigate, Tem has difficulty explaining to the devout guards the Sangheili did not go on the Great Journey. The prototype is damaged in the test, which the group finds difficult to repair given the Yanme'e team's unfamiliarity with Forerunner repairs (that being a Huragok duty). Boru regrets that the prototype was only discovered after the Halo Array went into standby mode in late 2552, as it prevented him from bringing useful tools from High Charity. He apologises if he aggravated Tem, who was on High Charity with him when the Great Schism began, the two barely escaping. Boru and Tem wish to use the prototype on the Sangheili military commander Rtas 'Vadum as revenge.
'Vadum rides on a Phantom above the Sangheili colony world, Rahnelo. Their lightly-defended world has been attacked, leaving one of their cities in ruins. One of 'Vadum's comrades, an elderly Blademaster named Vul 'Soran, declares it to be a cowardly attack by the Jiralhanae after finding the body of a ninety-year old civilian. The similarly-aged 'Soran seeks to avenge the colonists through a personal confrontation with the Jiralhanae Chieftain, though 'Vadum believes he is too old to succeed.
'Vadum is approached by a group of colonists riding Du'naks; the female leader chastises him for arriving with help two days after the battle. Her younger brother is largely unfamiliar with the Jiralhanae, but develops a hatred when discovering the body, who his sister identifies as Gold 'Rham. 'Vadum and 'Soran help place 'Rham's body on a sled carrying other bodies back to the Keep. The female reveals herself as Tul 'Juran, daughter of the colony's former Kaidon, Tulum 'Juranai. With her father having perished in the attack which claimed a number of elders, 'Juran reveals that the new Kaidon for the past three days has been her younger brother despite being less than ten years of age.
As 'Vadum and 'Soran receive information as to the attack from the new Kaidon, they realise that it was coordinated by a Prelate. With advanced technology no doubt possessed by this Prelate, 'Vadum reasons the only reason any Sangheili survived the attack was because the Prelate wanted to take prisoners. Hearing her father may still be alive, Tul 'Juran asks 'Vadum to be allowed in his crew so she can enact the Right of Release and restore his honour. 'Soran is disgusted by the idea of a female serving on the ship, which would go against ancient military tradition; 'Vadum is more accepting, and notes a veteran Unggoy leading a group of Rangers as a sign of changing times. 'Vadum's crew stay at Rahnelo to assist in the clearing of Jiralhanae corpses, which were to be buried to suffer the indignity of being walked over rather than burnt in a funeral pyre.
The Shadow of Intent's crew return to their assault carrier. Only two hundred strong, the assault carrier has been left almost dangerously undermanned due to the fragmented nature of the Sangheili military who are close to civil war. The only operational assault carrier left, the Arbiter had ordered it away from Sanghelios to keep it from being captured. Only two Phantoms make up the ship's vehicular complement now, everything else having been abandoned due to maintenance costs. Though 'Soran is confident their ship can destroy Tem's, 'Vadum is concerned Tem's skills could win out. 'Vadum visits Stolt, the sole Unggoy on the ship. Stolt had joined the crew during the Human-Covenant War as a Ranger, an uncommon specialist branch within the Covenant military. He had become their unit's leader in recognition for an uncharacteristically successful career which culminated in injuring a SPARTAN-II. As an experienced soldier with nontraditional tactical knowledge, 'Vadum asks for Stolt's advice. Stolt believes the crew can defeat Tem, but only if they find help.
Back on his ship, Tem dreams of his wife, Yalar'Otan'Elat and their new child, who's sex and name he was never told while away in order to keep it a surprise. In the dream, their happy life is destroyed by the arrival of the Flood. Yalar accuses Tem of betraying her for not coming to her rescue, and then turns into a Flood form and is hacked to death by Sangheili warriors. Tem rescues their child, but the two are killed when the Shadow of Intent glasses the Holy City rather than saving anyone. Tem wakes from his nightmare. Having always woken up after Yalar's transformation, the rest had been new to him. In real life, Tem was leading a Jiralhanae ship during the Great Schism and, returning to High Charity to rescue Boru, was forced back into their ship by Honour Guards before he had a chance to rescue Yalar. Due to the Shadow of Intent ordering all Sangheili ships to destroy any craft leaving High Charity, military or civilian alike to prevent the Flood spreading, Yalar blames all Sangheili for his family's deaths, as they had absolutely no chance of escaping. Tem's ship exits slipspace over the Sangheili colony Duraan. Tem orders that radio signals not be jammed so that 'Vadum can hear screams for help in the next attack.
The Ballad of Hamish Beamish[]
- Main article: The Ballad of Hamish Beamish
Defender of the Storm[]
- Main article: Defender of the Storm
- “This story takes place near the end of the Forerunners' three-hundred-year war with the Flood, a little more than 100,000 years BCE (Halo: Cryptum, Halo: Silentium).”— Official description
A Necessary Truth[]
- Main article: A Necessary Truth
- “This story takes place three months after the United Nations Space Command's extraction of the 717th research battalion by the elite Spartan Blue Team from the volatile and besieged colony of Gao (Halo: Last Light).”— Official description
Into the Fire[]
- Main article: Into the Fire
- “This story takes place four years after the Covenant's brutal and costly rampage across human-occupied space (Halo 3 era) and Kilo-Five's brief mission on Venezia, culminating in the destruction of the highly-sought-after Covenant battle cruiser Pious Inquisitor (Halo: Mortal Dictata).”— Official description
Saint's Testimony[]
- Main article: Saint's Testimony
- “This story takes place on January 17, 2558, five years after Operation: BLOWBACK involving the specialised military artificial intelligence Iona (Halo: Bloodline), and six months after the pyrrhic destruction of Cortana in order to stop a significant and immediate threat against Earth (Halo 4).”— Official description
Rossbach's World[]
- Main article: Rossbach's World
- “This story takes place in October 2558, during the galaxy-spanning event involving the resurrection of ominous and powerful Forerunner Guardian constructs across a number of populated worlds (Halo 5: Guardians).”— Official description
Oasis[]
- Main article: Oasis
- “This story takes place in July 2558, five years after the Covenant War came to a sudden conclusion (Halo 3 era) and a year after the shocking and deadly attack on Earth by the Forerunner commander known as the Didact (Halo 4).”— Official description
Anarosa[]
- Main article: Anarosa
- “This story takes place in March 2556, three years after the end of the Covenant War (Halo 3 era) and one year after FAR STORM, a joint military operation between humans and their former Sangheili enemies in order to secure the remote and mysterious Forerunner installation known as the Ark (Halo: Hunters in the Dark).”— Official description
Sources[]
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