A Master Chief story and original full-length novel set in the Halo universe&;based on the New York Times bestselling video game series!
October 2559. It has been a year since the renegade artificial intelligence Cortana issued a galaxy-wide ultimatum, subjecting many worlds to martial law under the indomitable grip of her Forerunner weapons. Outside her view, the members of Blue Team&;John-117, the Master Chief; Fred-104; Kelly-087; and Linda-058&;are assigned from the UNSC Infinity to make a covert insertion onto the ravaged planet Reach.
Their former home and training ground&;and the site of humanity&;s most cataclysmic military defeat near the end of the Covenant War&;Reach still hides myriad secrets after all these years. Blue Team&;s mission is to penetrate the rubble-filled depths of CASTLE Base and recover top-secret assets locked away in Dr. Catherine Halsey&;s abandoned laboratory&;assets which may prove to be humanity&;s last hope against Cortana.
But Reach has been invaded by a powerful and ruthless alien faction, who have their own reasons for being there. Establishing themselves as a vicious occupying force on the devastated planet, this enemy will soon transform Blue Team&;s simple retrieval operation into a full-blown crisis. And with the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance, mission failure is not an option&;
