Check out the [url=https://blogs.halowaypoint.com/en-us/blogs/headlines/posts/halo-escalation-4-available-now]Preview[/url], then buy Issue #4 digitally [url=https://digital.darkhorse.com/profile/4176.halo-escalation-4/]here[/url] or buy the physical copy [url=http://www.tfaw.com/incoming.php?sku=22-704&qt=dhprofile1-22704]here.[/url] Miss out on Issue #3? Read the summary and lore notes [url=http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/63695689]here![/url] [url=http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa473/onyx0193/e6ca0475-29a0-4021-be88-075e1241d6cb_zps5fc096cc.png?t=1395844432]Ray in Civillian Clothes[/url] [url=http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa473/onyx0193/a5f6a000-6b2e-474c-b18a-6e3b47caa3dc_zpsa71ef37a.png?t=1395844605]Petra[/url] [url=http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa473/onyx0193/3bd7d72d-b59a-4694-a73a-615b18cf275c_zps7cf66e71.png?t=1395844669]Automated Turret[/url] [url=http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa473/onyx0193/3aab42c0-c395-4f7e-b0e6-ee5a0549c24e_zpsa2290d8a.png?t=1395844737]Freighter[/url] [quote][b][u]Summary:[/u][/b] Three days after the events on Ealen IV, Lasky and Hood determine Scruggs couldn't have leaked the location of the negotiations. They both agree that if they attempted to find the true mole through a formal way, they'll never get anywhere. So they need the investigations to be off the record, and done from the outside. Hood, however, is concerned on who Lasky will give the job too. Lasky assures hood it will be fine. Spartan Ray walks in and informs Lasky their Prowler is prepped. Hood reminds them they've got no more than 96 hours and they soon leave. Inside a sparring room, multiple Spartans are fighting in hand to hand combat. Thorne and Madsen being two of them. Madsen is beating up Thorne, and Thorne knows why. He asks if Madsen wants to talk about something. He retorts that Thorne was the one who wanted to Spar, to which Thorne replies that if beating him up will make him feel better about DeMarco's death, at least carry him to the med bay when he's done. Madsen gets upset at this and points out that DeMarco was put on Fireteam Bailey because Palmer wanted Thorne as squad leader. Thorne attests that if he were there, he would have died alongside DeMarco willingly. Madsen realizes that Thorne isn't the one he should be mad at, and helps him up off the ground. However, Thorne is quick to point out that Palmer isn't happy about what happened either. Aboard the bridge of the Infinity, Lord Hood requests a demonstration of Infinity's Forerunner engines. Roland is given command of the ship and Hood orders him to plot a random Slipspace vector with multiple heading redirects once inside of Slipspace. However, right before they can begin the demonstration, Lieutenant Jespersen announces he picked up a faint distress signal being broadcast on an old maritime channel. Bradley asks if it can be tracked, to which tactical responds that it's near the Artesia-702, close to the Chaudier Trad Route. Hood then orders the Infinity underway to investigate. Inside Castiglione, the capital of Escala III one of the surviving Outer Colonies, Spartan Ray questions Lasky asking him if an outer colony is a good meeting place. He responds saying that with her training, the trouble they might get into shouldn't be a problem. Just then, the two of them spot a woman climbing down a window. She turns out to be Petra, the person they're meeting. Sitting at an outside restaurant, Petra claims that what she was doing wasn't a big deal since the apartment belonged to a minor aide of a backwater diplomat. As both Lasky and Petra talk, Ray realizes that they knew each other and Lasky confirms that they grew up together on Mars. As Petra gets to business, Lasky asks Ray to leave them for a few minutes knowing that the two of them might conduct illegal activity for the UNSC. Meanwhile, on Infinity, TJ Murphy leads a Pelican team sent to investigate the freighter. The ship is venting atmosphere and there's a few faint life signs on board. On the bridge of Infinity, Bradley tells Hood that their Sub-Vessel Deployment Bays have atmosphere in them. So Hood orders the pelicans to tug the freighter into the bay and have a response team on standby. As the ship is brought inside Infinity, it begins to launch numerous Sparrowhawks and Vultures. Broadswords and Spartans are mobilized in response as the freighter's engines begin to overload towards self destruction. Making contact with the ship, Thorne orders Fireteams Colossus and Fenrir to secure the ship, while Majestic moves to prevent the ship from being destroyed. On the way to the engine room, Majestic triggers an automated machine gun. Madsen is quick to intercept and crushes the gun with the butt of his sniper rifle. The enemy forces begin to pull out, and Hood orders the friendly ships in the area to provide cover for the Pelicans as they tow the Freighter out of the deployment bay. Miller informs majestic of what happening and orders them off the ship just as they reach the engine room. Grant access the ships computer systems to figure out how to stop the ship from detonating. She finds out that the ship is armed with an emergency protocol in case an event similar to this happened. Activating the protocol, an explosion opens a hole in the ship, sucking the core into space. Back on Escala III, Lasky tells Petra about the UNSC Mole and what happened on Ealen IV. After he's done explaining, Petra reveals she wants something in return, confirmation of the Master Chief's survival. She goes on to explain she's got credible intelligence of him being alive before the attack on New Phoenix, and that Lasky had something to do with that. So she gives her ultimatum, give her info on the Chief, and she'll find the mole. After the skirmish with the Freighter, Bradley brings Hood down to one of Infinity's bays to show him the wreckage of the attack craft. They had assumed that the attack craft were insurrectionist control due to the old age of the models, however on doing a background check on the ships' IDs, they determined they were registered to the Spirit of Fire. Hood is informed Roland is putting a report on the ship together, but Hood quickly tells them to not waste their time. He is the reason the Spirit of Fire is missing. [/quote] [b][u]Lore Notes:[/u][/b] -UNSC Infinity 2558-03-08 0925 SMT In transit from Ealen IV -Thorne made squad leader of Fireteam Majestic -Infinity's Forerunner engines can redirect their headings in Slipspace -Chaudier Trade Route ---Covenant used to raid it often -Castiglione, Capital of Escala III 2558-03-10 1436 SMT UEG, Outer Colonies -Full Name: Naiya Ray -UNSC Infinity 2558-03-11 1010 SMT Artesia-702 Star System -Freighter: Pilgrims Pride