Halo: The Flood

***Halo: The Flood***is the second *Halo*book in the main series, and the sequel to *Halo: The Fall of Reach*. It was written by William C. Dietz and published by Del Rey Books. The book is a novelization of *Halo: Combat Evolved*.

The book was released on April 1, 2003, two years after the release of *Halo: Combat Evolved*. It follows the events of the first game, while also more broadly covering the Battle of Installation 04, mostly from the point of view of John-117. The novel attained *Publisher's Weekly* bestsellers list during May 2003.

The novel was reissued on October 13, 2010 by Tor Books, with many of the typos and mistakes present in the original being ironed out; the reissue was also given a new cover art.

## Story Synopsis

### Section I to III

 Date Released
 Price
 Length
 ISBN

*Halo: The Flood*takes place between September 19 and September 23, 2552. The book begins as the *Halcyon*-class light cruiser, UNSC *Pillar of Autumn*, is exiting slipspace (randomized vector due to the Cole Protocol) after retreating from the fallen fortress world of Reach. Cortana's exit vector led the ship to a system found when she had decrypted Forerunner glyphs found by John-117 on Sigma Octanus IV. When the *Pillar of Autumn* drops out of slipspace, she encounters a massive ring-world in orbit around Threshold, a gas giant. This world is called Installation 04, also known as Alpha Halo.

In the system there is a large fleet of Covenant ships, who notice the lone ship. A Prophet forbids the fleet to fire on the *Pillar of Autumn*, for fear of damaging the ring. Instead, the Covenant are willing to sacrifice more lives in order to board and capture the ship rather than blasting the ship to pieces. As a result of this, the *Pillar of Autumn* and her crew are able to destroy four Covenant ships, but not without being further crippled from the Covenant onslaught. Meanwhile, technicians on the *Autumn*are preparing for battle and thawing out a single supersoldier from cryogenic sleep, presumably the last SPARTAN-II, known as John-117.

The Covenant proceed to take out the *Autumn* defenses and board the ship. Deprived of defense options, the *Autumn'*s captain, Jacob Keyes, initiates the Cole Protocol and tells the crew to abandon the ship. John-117 is entrusted with the AI Cortana; given the wealth of tactical information the AI contains (force deployment, weapons research and the location of Earth), Keyes cannot allow Cortana to fall into Covenant's hands. John-117 fights through the Covenant boarders, reaches the last remaining lifeboat, and heads to the surface of the ring-world known as Halo. At the same time, a special contingent of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, or ODSTs, leave the *Autumn*via Human Entry Vehicles. On the ground, the ODST commander, Major Antonio Silva and his second-in-command, Melissa McKay, prepare to establish a ground base from where the human forces will launch their guerilla resistance against the Covenant. Silva is aided by a Class C Military AI named Wellsley, after the Duke of Wellington, who advises them to capture a high butte.

Meanwhile, a Covenant Unggoy named Yayap leads his squad into the *Pillar of Autumn.*Extremely cautious and cowardly by nature, Yayap and his team decide to rescue a Covenant Special Operations Sangheili wounded by John-117, rather than fight the humans. The five small aliens drag the the black-armoured Elite back to their craft and escape the deteriorating *Autumn*as it plunges towards the ring-world's atmosphere.

An Ossoona by the name of Isna 'Nosolee manages to survive using active camouflage to board Keyes' lifeboat after tracking him down in an attempt to take him hostage. However, the Captain sees him and shoots him with a corporal's M6D pistol. Isna's corpse later allows the Covenant to realize that they should capture Keyes. Keyes and his crew are forced to evade Covenant forces after they crash onto Halo. Finally, they are betrayed by Ensign Ellen Dowski. Consequently everyone, including the Ensign, is executed, save the Captain, who is captured for interrogation aboard the *Truth and Reconciliation*.

John-117 lands on Halo and helps rescue marines from their lifeboats, while the ODSTs secure Alpha Base after a clash with Covenant forces. Yayap is rewarded for his rescue of the Elite, Zuka 'Zamamee, with a terribly dangerous assignment as the Elite's assistant.

John-117 and a squad of marines board the *Truth and Reconciliation*, rescuing the Captain. Keyes has learned that the ring-world they are on has vast significance to the Covenant (they believe that "Halo", as they call the ring, is a weapon of unimaginable power). Escaping from the Covenant cruiser, Keyes gives John-117 the mission of finding the Control Room of Halo before the Covenant does. Meanwhile, Zuka 'Zamamee and Yayap are given permission to hunt for John-117, but fail in their attempts. Meanwhile, Lieutenant McKay and her company assault the now Covenant-controlled *Pillar of Autumn*for supplies and vehicles.

Keyes, along with a squad of marines and Sergeant Johnson, are dropped into a swamp in an effort to discover a weapons cache. The marines took prisoner a disillusioned Elite named 'Qualomee, who claimed to be delivering a shipment of weapons to a force guarding the structure. Pushing deep into a mysterious structure, the squad finds something unlike anything they have seen before - dead Covenant freakishly ripped open and scattered about. In a locked room, the squad discovers the cause of the fatalities - the Flood. These bulbous aliens attempt to latch themselves onto the marines, and despite being fragile, the sheer number of the creatures overwhelm the entire squad, tapping into their nervous systems and taking over their bodies. One soldier, Private Jenkins, is left still semi-conscious and painfully aware of his predicament. He has a limited ability to control his movement or actions, because the infection form was weakened due to many millenia of hibernation.

### Sections IV and V

The John-117 and Cortana discover the location of the Control Room. John-117 then inserts Cortana into Halo's computer network. However, Cortana realizes that the ring isn't a weapon, or at least not as they understood it. However, before John-117 can press her with questions, Cortana tells him to find the Captain, unaware that they are too late. John-117 is dropped alone into the swamp where Keyes disappeared. Heading into the same structure, John-117 follows the subterranean passages down to the same room where Keyes and his men were attacked. He finds out their fate through a recording from Jenkins' helmet cam, and fights his way to the surface. There, he meets up with marines and heads to a tower for evac. Suddenly, John-117 is teleported away from the swamp by 343 Guilty Spark, Alpha Halo's AI caretaker. John-117 is informed that the creatures he has encountered are called the Flood, a virulent parasite that infects its enemies to produce more of itself. Guilty Spark wishes to activate Halo's defenses to wipe out the Flood, but needs John-117's help in recovering the "Index" to the installation, which allows the activation of the ring. Fighting more and more Flood, the John-117 recovers the Index and is teleported back to Halo's control room.

Meanwhile, the UNSC forces of Alpha Base are forced to defend themselves from a surprise attack by Covenant forces who were attempting to kill John-117, unaware that he was absent. After the failed attack, UNSC forces attempted to ambush a Covenant recovery team, but were interrupted by a Flood attack. Jenkins attempted to commit suicide by throwing himself into the line of fire, but was instead captured.

Back in the Control Room, Guilty Spark gives John-117 the Index to activate Halo, but is stopped by a furious Cortana. Cortana explains that Halo is a weapon, but it doesn't kill the Flood - it kills their food, mentioning humans, Covenant, and any other sentient life in the galaxy. Realizing that they have to stop Guilty Spark from activating Halo, Cortana and John-117 decide to destroy Halo by detonating the *Pillar of Autumn'*s fusion reactors. In order to do this, they need Captain Keyes' neural implants to activate the countdown. In order to slow Guilty Spark's progress, the pair overload three phase pulse generators that amplify Halo's weapon. In order to fire Halo, they would have to be repaired. Cortana discovers the Captain is still alive, held prisoner again aboard the *Truth and Reconciliation*, now in the hands of the Flood who are trying to escape Halo with the ship. John-117 fights the Covenant and Flood to reach the Captain, but finds out they are too late; Captain Keyes, after successfully resisting an interrogation by the Flood, was being transformed into a proto-Gravemind. John-117 retrieves the implants and leaves the *Truth and Reconciliation* for the *Pillar of Autumn.*

### Section VI

While John-117 and Cortana head to the *Autumn*, Alpha Base is evacuated. Silva decides to retake the *Truth and Reconciliation*and pilot the ship away in order to avoid being on Halo when the *Autumn*blows. The ship is taken successfully, but McKay realizes that Silva is blinded by the thought of promotion and glory to the danger of the Flood; ignoring Wellsley's objections, he fails to realize that if even one Flood specimen escaped containment on Earth, the entire planet could fall. An engineer notifies McKay of a vital power line (should it be severed, the unregulated energy should destroy the ship). Jenkins, who is infected but still coherent, attempts to destroy the line, but falls short. Realizing that the destruction of the Flood is far more important then Silva's promotion, McKay cuts the cable by activating a frag grenade, sending the *Truth and Reconciliation*crashing into Halo, killing everyone, and everything, onboard.

At the wrecked *Autumn*, John-117 is forced to destabilize the fusion reactors manually as 343 Guilty Spark and his robotic Sentinels try to stop them. On the way to the Engine Room, John-117 is nearly infected by the Flood, but Cortana saves him. Once the countdown until detonation has begun, Cortana radios for dropship evacuation, but the transport is shot down by Covenant aircraft. A disgruntled Zuka 'Zamamee attempts to ambush John-117, but is killed by a hail of grenades. Cortana directs John-117 to a Longsword interceptor still docked in the *Pillar of Autumn* hangar. Gunning the engines, John-117 and Cortana escape the ring just as the *Autumn*explodes, ending the threat of the Flood. Cortana scans for survivors and realizes that they are seemingly the only two who have survived. Cortana tells John-117 that the fight is finished, to which he replies, "No, the Covenant is still out there, and Earth is at risk. We're just getting started."

## Features

### Characters

#### UNSC

* John-117
* Cortana
* Wellsley
* Jacob Keyes
* Antonio Silva
* Melissa McKay
* Avery Johnson
* Wallace A. Jenkins
* William Lovell
* Gail Purdy
* Thom Shephard
* Samuel Marcus
* Aki Hikowa
* Ellen Dowski
* Hall
* Mary Murphy
* Pauley
* R. Abiad
* Singh
* Wang
* Carol Rawley
* Cullen
* Peterson
* Rick Hale
* Frye
* Lister
* Dalu
* Oros
* Tink Carter
* Marvin Mobuto
* Corly
* Parker
* Waller
* Lovik
* Wilkins
* Suzuki
* Yutrzenika
* "Snaky" Jones
* Chips Dubbo
* Hosky
* M. Fitzgerald
* Bisenti
* Kappus
* Manuel Mendoza
* Marie Postly
* McKenzie
* Riley
* Satha
* Valdez
* Al-Thani
* Unidentified Private

#### Covenant

* 'Qualomee
* Soha 'Rolamee
* Noga 'Putumee
* Orna 'Fulsamee
* Thel 'Vadamee
* Rtas 'Vadumee
* Prophet of Stewardship
* Minister of Etiology
* Igido Nosa Hurru
* Ogada Nosa Fasu
* Linglin
* Gagaw
* Bok
* Jak
* Zuka 'Zamamee
* Yayap
* Yeg
* Sesa 'Refumee
* Loka 'Bandolee
* Lak 'Vadamee

#### Forerunner

* 343 Guilty Spark
* Librarian (mentioned)

### Species

* Flood
* Forerunner (mentioned)
* Human
* Kig-Yar
* Mgalekgolo
* San'Shyuum
* Sangheili
* Unggoy

### Organizations

* Covenant Empire
	+ Covenant Armed Forces
		- Covenant Navy
			* Covenant Fleet
				+ Fleet of Particular Justice
					- Council of Masters
	+ High Council
	+ Special Warfare Group
		- Covenant Special Operations
		- Fleet Security
* Unified Earth Government
	+ United Nations Space Command
		- UNSC Defense Force
			* UNSC Marine Corps
				+ Fireteam Charlie
				+ Fireteam Zulu
				+ Orbital Drop Shock Troopers
					- 105th Shock Troops Division
			* UNSC Naval Command
				+ UNSC Navy
					- Squadron
						* 23rd Naval Air Squadron
					- Naval Special Warfare
						* ORION Project (mentioned)
						* SPARTAN-II Program
					- Office of Naval Intelligence

### Locations

* Charybdis System (mentioned)
	+ Charybdis IX (mentioned)
* Epsilon Eridani System (mentioned)
	+ Reach (mentioned)
* San'Shyuum Home System
	+ Janjur Qom (mentioned)
* Soell System
	+ Threshold
	+ Installation 04
		- Alpha Base
		- Silent Cartographer
		- Control Room
		- Flood Research Facility
		- Library
			* Index Chamber
		- The Core
* Sol System
	+ Earth (mentioned)
* *High Charity* (mentioned)

### Events

* Human-Covenant War
	+ Fall of Reach (mentioned)
	+ Battle of Installation 04
		- Battle of Alpha Base
		- Battle of the Silent Cartographer
		- Raids on the *Truth and Reconciliation*
		- Skirmish on *Infinite Succor* (mentioned)

### Weapons

#### Human

* Archer Missile
* Combat Knife
* M41 Surface-to-Surface Rocket Medium Anti-Vehicle/Assault Weapon
	+ M19 102mm High-Explosive, Shaped-Charge Surface-to-Surface Missile
* M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun
* M6D Personal Defense Weapon System
* M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose Fragmentation Grenade
	+ ComL
* M90 Close Assault Weapon System
* MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System
* Magnetic Acellerator Cannon
* Point-Defense Gun
	+ M910 Point-Defense Gun
* SRS99 Series
	+ SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
		- 14.5x114mm
* M512 Smooth Bore High Velocity Cannon

#### Covenant

* Antimatter Charge
* Assault Cannon
* Covenant Charge
* Energy Garrote
* Energy Projector
* Heavy Plasma Cannon
* Heavy Plasma Mortar
* Plasma Turret
* Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword
* Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenade
* Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol
* Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle
* Type-29 Anti-Infantry Stationary Gun
* Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon
* Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher

### Vehicles

#### Human

* Class-3 Bumblebee Lifeboat
	+ Lima Foxtrot Alpha 43
	+ Lima Foxtrot Alpha 19
	+ Kilo Tango Victor 17
* D77-TC Pelican
	+ *Bravo 022*
	+ *Charlie 217*
	+ *Echo 136*
	+ *Echo 206*
	+ *Echo 419*
	+ *Victor 933*
* HRUNTING Mark III (B) Exoskeleton (mentioned)
* M12 Force Application Vehicle
	+ M12 Light Reconnaissance Vehicle
* M808B Main Battle Tank
* Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle
* GA-TL1 Longsword Interceptor

#### Covenant

* Type-25 Troop Carrier
	+ *Brilliant Gift*
* Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle
* Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft
* Type-26 Assault Gun Carriage
* Type-28 Intrusion Vehicle
* Type-31 Exoatmospheric Multi-role Fighter

### Ships and Platforms

#### UNSC

* *Halcyon*-Class Light Cruiser
	+ UNSC *Pillar of Autumn*

#### *​*​Covenant

* DCS-Class Support Ship
	+ *Infinite Succor*
* *​*CCS-Class Battlecruiser
	+ *Truth and Reconciliation*
* ​DDS-Class Carrier
	+ *Ascendant Justice*

## *​*2010 Bonus Content

The Tor Books edition of *Halo: The Flood* features a new "Adjunct" section at the end, which features several pieces of short fiction:

* A priority broadcast log of the activities of the Fleet of Particular Justice during the Battle of Installation 04, sent to Lak 'Vadamee to Thel 'Vadamee.
* An audio transcript of an emergency broadcast recorded by a panicked Flood survivor on Alpha Halo, heavily redacted and under analysis by ONI.
* "Hunger", a poem depicting the thought process of a Flood victim, on Installation 04, in the process of transformation.
* Excerpts from the journal of Zuka 'Zamamee while aboard the *Truth and Reconciliation.*
* A private status report by 343 Guilty Spark after the outbreak of the Flood on Installation 04.
* A status report filed by the Librarian on the progress of her categorization of life on Earth, presented as a Terminal transcript.

## Production

William C. Dietz was originally reluctant to accept this work because of two main reasons. First, he had no prior knowledge of *Halo*. Second, Bungie and Random House (the parent company of Del Rey Books) only gave him ten weeks to write the novel, while Dietz would usually take six months to write a book. He nevertheless changed his mind after checking *Halo'*s popularity at his local videogame store, and after his agent negotiated a good pay because of the counterproductive delay. He was also confident in this kind of work, as he had already written the Dark Forces trilogy for *Star Wars*.

Before he started the writing, Dietz played *Halo: Combat Evolved* several times, and he took the time to write notes and copy down some dialogues. He came to love *Halo* to the point that he still plays the game from time to time, more than a decade later. He also read *Halo: The Fall of Reach*, considering that the universe had already been firmly established (e.g.: the character of the John-117). The author worked closely with Bungie, who wanted to make sure the book would fit their universe. They had an e-mail correspondence, and Dietz would also come to the studio as he lived close to Bungie.

It was Dietz who asked for the permission to include additional stories and characters that were not in the original game—especially the Covenant side—, as it would make the book more appealing for readers who already knew the game's story. Bungie were reluctant as they did not want these new characters to be "imposed" on them, though they eventually accepted these additions as the characters would die at the end of the novel. Dietz was satisfied with the choices and compromises, as he felt it was a good deal for a contracted work. Ironically, *Halo 2* would later explore more deeply the Covenant side of the universe.

## Reception

Reception for *Halo: The Flood* was generally mixed, with most criticism about Dietz's characterization of John-117. Some commented on the fact that the storyline did not separate itself from the game too well, which made it less exciting, as it was made more predictable. It was also said that the book was like the game in that it "ground down to meaningless repetition of gunning down bad guys", saying that the repetition of it would bore readers. Another commented that Dietz's writing was not as good as Nylund's, saying it was detailed, but redundant. However, others praised it, saying "it fulfills its duty and elaborates on the major plot points and subtleties in ways the game never could".

343 Industries Franchise Development Director Frank O'Connor has addressed some of the criticisms against the novel, referring to it as the "odd one out" of the novels and stating that the perceived flaws in the narrative are a result of adapting the story from a game to a novel. In addition, he mentioned that Dietz was forced to work with a far tighter schedule than that of Eric Nylund when writing *The Fall of Reach.*

## Trivia

* On the placeholder cover art (pre-release), the Banshees flying overhead, just like on *Halo: Combat Evolved*and *Halo: The Fall of Reach'*s covers, have their covers up. In the actual canon, a cover closes when a pilot enters the vehicle; covers up means the vehicle has no pilot. However, the Banshees all three of the products mentioned are in flight, suggesting they do have pilots. This mistake remained consistent in *Halo*material until the release of *Halo 2*. Since then, this mistake has not been seen since.
* The original cover art of the book is remarkably similiar to the cover art of iD Software's Doom. Both depict the main character gunning down hordes of enemies against a reddish background while holding a weapon one-handed.
	+ It should also be noted that the 2010 cover art isn't all that different from the original; the only real difference is that John-117's shotgun is swapped for dual-wielded SMGs in the 2010 reissue, and Flood tentacles are added.
* The 2010 reissue cover depicts what is meant to be the MJOLNIR Mark V armor, although it does not follow any established iteration of the Mark V, instead being a mix of features from the various depictions of MJOLNIR Mark IV, Mark V and Mark VI. He is also dual-wielding SMGs, neither of which are in the book or *Halo: Combat Evolved.*
* As the novel was written before many of the Covenant's beliefs were further detailed in *Halo 2*, it bears several discrepancies with later material. For example, the Covenant show no particular reverence toward 343 Guilty Spark and the Sentinels, and regard them as enemies; *Halo 2* later established that the Sentinels are revered by the Covenant as "holy warriors of the sacred rings" while monitors are among the most holy of Forerunner creations as "Oracles". In addition, John-117 or the other Spartans are never referred to by the epithet "Demon" and are discussed with more pragmatic terms by the Covenant, although their battlefield prowess and high kill counts are acknowledged. However, the later-established nomenclature is used in the *Adjunct* section of the 2010 edition, such as 'Zamamee's journal entries.
* Sergeant Stacker is not present in this novel, having been replaced by Sergeant Waller and an unnamed marine, though the characters have the same dialogue.
* On the placeholder cover art (pre-release), John-117 holds an assault rifle; on the officially released cover art, he is holding a shotgun.
* In the part of the book where John-117 first interacts with the controls for the hardlight bridge, he feels that the controls are alien, though still recognizable. This may be due to the Geas implanted in humanity in general and him in particular by The Librarian.
* This book, along with *Halo: The Fall of Reach* and *Halo: First Strike*, were collected in the *Halo* Box Set, while their reprint editions were included in the *Halo* Box Set II.

## Gallery

Placeholder cover artThe original 2003 cover artFull cover art for the 2010 reissue

## Links

### External Links

1. **^** **Gaming Age**: *Halo novel cracks bestseller*
2. **^** **Kotaku**: *Halo Novel Trilogy to be Republished with Updates, New Content*
3. ^ **a** **b** **c** **Halo.fr**: *(Interview Exclusive) William C. Dietz* (French)
4. **^** **The Junkyard**: *Reviews*
5. **^** **Josh Carter**: *Halo: The Flood*
6. **^** **Talking About Games**: *Halo: The Flood Review*
7. **^** **Halo.ugo**: *The Flood*
8. **^** **Halo Waypoint**: *Greg Bear Talks Halo: Cryptum*
9. **^** **Wikipedia**: *Doom box artwork*