History Literature / HaloEvolutions

'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''' is a collection of short stories set in the ''{{Franchise/Halo}}'' universe written by several different authors. Some tell stories from the perspective of the Spartan {{Super Soldier}}s, some from the perspective of [[BadassNormal ordinary human troops]], and some even from the Covenant themselves.

* '''Dirt''' follows a Harvest militiaman, named Gage, from his time before the Human-Covenant War as he joins first the CMA, and then the UNSC with his two friends Eric and Felicia. After joining the [=ODSTs=], the Covenant destroy Harvest, leaving him no home to go back to. On his deathbed after nearly thirty years of war, he recounts his story to a passing rookie so that he won't forget what they're defending their homes for. It was written by Tobias Buckell, author of ''TheColeProtocol''.

* '''Human Weakness''' tells what happened between ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 3'' with Cortana in the clutches of the Gravemind. The Gravemind manages to break Cortana by introducing the fallacies of her existence and the purpose of her service, but through it all he cannot get her to give up one last secret. It was written by Karen Traviss.

* '''The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole''': A series of email transcripts from Codename: SURGEON to Codename: USUAL SUSPECTS, and details in length the life and times of UNSC military leader Preston Cole, including his possible death or survival during his famed last stand. It was written by Eric Nylund.

* BigDamnHeroes: The Insurrectionist Fleet at the Battle of Psi Serpentis in ''The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole''. Despite being treated as the worst kind of traitors by the UNSC, and even blamed for the early colonies lost to the Covenant, they still show up in the heat of the largest single battle in the history of the war, proceed to rip through the Covenant lines, and give Cole enough time to implement his successful last stand. Of course it helps that [[spoiler: Cole's ex-wife (whom he was forced to leave after she was outed as an Insurrectionist)]] is in charge of the fleet.

* FirstGirlWins: Subverted. It's Cole's second wife that wins in the end.

* ExactTimeToFailure: [[spoiler:Subverted. Mo Ye puts up a self-destruct countdown as a joke to panic the Covenant aboard, but then reveals there's actually no need for a countdown. Immediately, the ship explodes.]]

* EnemyMine: In ''Blunt Instruments'', Black Team teams up with a Drone named Hopalong, who will help them into the mine in exchange for freeing his fellow Drones. Black Team is unsure about whether he can be trusted. [[spoiler:He couldn't. The Drones are all psychotic "Unmutuals" who were being imprisoned to keep them from being a danger to others.]]

* TheAtoner: The Shipmaster in ''The Return''.
** The Minister of Discovery in ''Wages of Sin''.
* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:''The Mona Lisa'' ends with Sergeant Lopez and the Elite "Henry" fighting for the last escape pod as the Flood approaches and as the ''Red Horse'' prepares to fire a nuke at the ship.]]
* CloudCuckooLander: Benti from ''The Mono Lisa'' most certainly is one.
* DrivenToSuicide: In ''Wages of Sin'', [[spoiler:the Minister of Discovery ends his memoir then unlocks the doors to his chamber so the Flood may pour in and kill him.]]
* EnemyMine: In ''The Mona Lisa'', the prisoner Rimmer convinces the Marines to not attack his friend "Henry", a Sangheili prisoner. Despite their unease about him, "Henry" turns out to be a powerful ally.
* FromBadToWorse: ''The Mona Lisa'' is arguably built entirely out of this trope. It ''starts'' with an extremely bloodied and dying man falling out of an escape pod...
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Smith in ''The Mona Lisa'' claims this when confronted with the fact that he [[spoiler: knowingly infected both Elites and humans with the Flood for the sake of research.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The Minister of Discovery knew the Great Journey was a lie that the Prophets maintained [[Literature/HaloContactHarvest even after "The Oracle" told them so]]. As [[{{VideoGame/Halo 2}} High Charity is invaded by the Flood]], he feels he is receiving his comeuppance for his crimes.
* {{Troll}}: After regaining control of the ''Heart of Midlothian'', Mo Ye [[spoiler:activates a countdown to the self-destruct. All the Covenant aboard panic and try to flee, but then Mo Ye reveals she was just joking about the countdown. Immediately, she blows the ship.]]
* UngratefulBastard: Dasc. See above.

* ZombieApocalypse: While the Flood were already this, ''Mona Lisa'' actually feels like a zombie movie.

* TheLastDance: Admiral Preston Cole. After being depended upon for so long in the Human-Covenant War by the UNSC (compared in ''The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston Cole'' as being in command of the battles of the Alamo, Termopylae, Stalingrad, and Cold Harbor, and repeating them over, and over), it was believed that he began to fall under the psychological strain, to the point it was speculated that he fell into another HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath... [[spoiler: but one that led him to face three hundred Covenant ships around a gas giant, killing plenty of them with slingshot maneuvers, using gravity as both a lure and a shield against the Covenant plasma shots, mocking them with a BadassBoast that angers them and drives them towards him, and ending with an implosion using said goddamn gas giant into a sun, killing all three hundred Covenant ships.]]

* AllOfThem: Admiral Cole in ''The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole'':
** ''"How many of the Archers, sir?” the Chief Weapons officer asked. "How many Shivas?" Cole glared at the man like he was crazy. "All of them, Lieutenant."''
* TheAtoner: The Shipmaster in ''The Return''.
** The Minister of Discovery in ''Wages of Sin''.
* BadassBoast: ''"Listen to me, Covenant. I am Vice Admiral Preston J. Cole commanding the human flagship, Everest. You claim to be the holy and glorious inheritors of the universe? I spit on your so-called holiness. You dare judge us unfit? After I have personally sent more than three hundred of your vainglorious ships to hell? After kicking your collective butts off Harvest - not once - but twice? From where I sit, we are the worthy inheritors. You think otherwise, you can come and try to prove me wrong."''
* BigDamnHeroes: The Insurrectionist Fleet at the Battle of Psi Serpentis in ''The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole''. Despite being treated as the worst kind of traitors by the UNSC, and even blamed for the early colonies lost to the Covenant, they still show up in the heat of the largest single battle in the history of the war, proceed to rip through the Covenant lines, and give Cole enough time to implement his successful last stand.
** Of course it helps that [[spoiler: Cole's ex-wife (whom he was forced to leave after she was outed as an Insurrectionist)]] is in charge of the fleet.
* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler:''The Mona Lisa'' ends with Sergeant Lopez and the Elite "Henry" fighting for the last escape pod as the Flood approaches and as the ''Red Horse'' prepares to fire a nuke at the ship.]]
* ChildhoodMarriagePromise: In ''Palace Hotel'' [[spoiler: the Master Chief meets a female soldier named Parisa who shows him a photograph of herself and him(!!!) by a lake on their homeworld. She says that they'd promised that they'd get married someday and that he had saved her from drowning, but he (or rather, his degenerate clone) died. His decision to not tell her who he is was quite the TearJerker.]]
* CloneDegeneration: Flash clones are highly prone to mental disorders, organ failure and an early death. In ''Halo: Evolutions'', the Master Chief learns from a now-grown childhood friend that his clone was dead within a few years.
* CloudCuckooLander: Benti from ''The Mono Lisa'' most certainly is one.

* DrivenToSuicide: In ''Wages of Sin'', [[spoiler:the Minister of Discovery ends his memoir then unlocks the doors to his chamber so the Flood may pour in and kill him.]]

** In ''The Mona Lisa'', the prisoner Rimmer convinces the Marines to not attack his friend "Henry", a Sangheili prisoner. Despite their unease about him, "Henry" turns out to be a powerful ally.
* FourStarBadass: Cole, undoubtedly. He's the only reason the Covenant had any reason to pause, after all.
* FirstGirlWins: Subverted. It's Cole's second wife that wins in the end.
* FromBadToWorse: ''The Mona Lisa'' is arguably built entirely out of this trope. It ''starts'' with an extremely bloodied and dying man falling out of an escape pod...
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: Smith in ''The Mona Lisa'' claims this when confronted with the fact that he [[spoiler: knowingly infected both Elites and humans with the Flood for the sake of research.]]
* ISurrenderSuckers: After [[YouAreInCommandNow gaining command of the]] ''Las Vegas'', Cole signaled the Insurrectionist ship ''Callisto'', declaring the crews' surrender. However, he then ordered his crew to place their last missile in the docking bay. When the ''Callisto'' docked with the ''Las Vegas'' the missile was fired directly into the corvette.\\
\\
Cole's faked distress signal was both a stroke of genius and breach of protocol so severe that UNSC CENTCOM dithered over whether to award him the Legion of Honor or to have him court martialed. Ultimately they did neither, to avoid setting precedent. However, from that point on Cole resolved to never again send a distress signal in enemy territory; no one would believe it. As he stated in his personal log: "Surrender, quite literally, is no longer an option for me.”
* TheLastDance: Admiral Preston Cole. After being depended upon for so long in the Human-Covenant War by the UNSC (compared in ''The Impossible Life and Possible Death of Preston Cole'' as being in command of the battles of the Alamo, Termopylae, Stalingrad, and Cold Harbor, and repeating them over, and over), it was believed that he began to fall under the psychological strain, to the point it was speculated that he fell into another HeroicBlueScreenOfDeath... [[spoiler: but one that led him to face three hundred Covenant ships around a gas giant, killing plenty of them with slingshot maneuvers, using gravity as both a lure and a shield against the Covenant plasma shots, mocking them with a BadassBoast that angers them and drives them towards him, and ending with an implosion using said goddamn gas giant into a sun, killing all three hundred Covenant ships.]]
* MindRape: The Gravemind does this to Cortana in ''Human Weakness'', [[spoiler: in an attempt to get her to procure Halo's index.]]
* MoreThanMindControl: The Gravemind manages this to Cortana, along with the [[MindRape mind raping]], somehow hijacking her audio output to alter whatever she intends to say.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: The Minister of Discovery knew the Great Journey was a lie that the Prophets maintained [[Literature/HaloContactHarvest even after "The Oracle" told them so]]. As [[{{VideoGame/Halo 2}} High Charity is invaded by the Flood]], he feels he is receiving his comeuppance for his crimes.

* HypocriticalHumor:
-->'''Elite:''' You are assassins. Weak and timid, you hide in the shadows.
-->'''Jonah:''' [[DeadpanSnarker Says the alien shit-heel who invented active-camo.]]

* OhCrap: Jonah gets this when [[spoiler: Roland gets stabbed by a cloaked elite, only to find five more, and realizing they planned this trap all along.]]
** Black-Two also gets one when she realizes that [[spoiler: the drones the Covenant had there were convicts, and she'd just helped freed them en-masse, both from their wardens and their collars.]]
*** Her realization complimented by a freakin' ''Hunter'' running away.

* RedOniBlueOni: Jonah and Roland are undoubtedly this respectively.
* SociopathicSoldier: Roland feels that Jonah is one.

* BuryYourGays: [[spoiler:Alison gets taken out by an Insurrectionist bomb, and Felicia is killed by some rogue ODST's.]]
** [[http://goingrampant.blogspot.com/2010/03/examination-of-female-characters-part-3.html The story's author, Tobias Buckell, has admitting to doing this unintentionally, but feels it's justified within the plot's context]] as a KillEmAll story.

* ColonelBadass: [[spoiler:Felicia.]]

* HeroicSacrifice: Gage's [[spoiler: plan to blow himself and all the Covenant after him and the artifact he stole with a Shiva nuke he picked up.]]
* HowWeGotHere: Gage's story in ''Dirt'' to the rookie was this.

* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: WordOfGod is that the unnamed Rookie ODST in ''Dirt'' is in The Rookie in ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST''.

* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Gage and Felicia realized this all too well when Harvest fell.
** The Prophets themselves have all disappeared by the time of ''The Return''. Some say they went extinct, some say they went on the Great Journey, but nobody knows for sure.

* KillEmAll: Several stories end this way. [[spoiler:''Dirt'', ''Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss'', ''The Mona Lisa'', and ''Headhunters''.]]

* LongTitle: The full title of the book is ''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''.

[[folder]]

!Halo: Evolutions provides examples of the following tropes:

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Soren disappears into the woods at the end of ''Pariah''. Nothing is ever discovered about his fate.

'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''' is a collection of short stories set in the ''{{Franchise/Halo}}'' universe written by several different authors.

* '''Beyond''': A poem that describes an individual's opinion on the Halo rings and the implications of their existence. It written by Jonathan Goff, with cover art done by Nicolas "Sparth" Bouvier.

* '''Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss''' tells the story of an ONI agent named Connor Brien, who is sent to investigate Brutes on Beta Gabriel. Brien eventually gets captured by the Brutes. The ONI agent conspires with a spiritual guru, Dasc Gevadim, to escape. While the pack's unity slowly breaks down, the prisoners make a distraction, which gives Brien and Dasc a chance to escape. The ONI agent and the spiritual guru eventually escape from the Brutes, but Brien is killed by Dasc (to preserve his reputation) before the help can arrive. It was written by Eric Raab.

* '''Dirt''' follows a Harvest militiaman, named Gage, from his time before the Human-Covenant War as he joins first the CMA, and then the UNSC with his two friends Eric and Felicia. After joining the [=ODSTs=], the Covenant destroy Harvest, leaving him no home to go back to. After nearly thirty years of war, he is reunited with a few of his old friends from his CMA days, but is presented with a moral crisis that eventually leads to his heroic death. It was written by Tobias Buckell, author of ''TheColeProtocol''.

* '''Acheron-VII''': A poem written by Jonathan Goff and illustrated by Sparth.

* '''Blunt Instruments''' follows SPARTAN-II Black Team which is given the task to disable a Covenant energy supply station. During the course of the operation, Black Team made an uneasy alliance with the Yanme'e, who tricked them into organizing their escape. It was written by Fred Van Lente.

* '''Palace Hotel''' follows the Master Chief's movements from getting on the other side of the bridge in the Halo 2 level "Metropolis" to right before he boards the Scarab. It also discusses Master Chief's discovery of a childhood friend. The story was written by Robert [=McLees=].

* '''Human Weakness''' tells what happened at the end of ''Halo 2'', with Cortana in the clutches of the Gravemind. The Gravemind manages to break Cortana by introducing the fallacies of her existence and the purpose of her service, but through it all he cannot get her to give up one last secret. It was written by Karen Traviss.

* '''The Return''' follows a Sangheili Shipmaster as he travels back to the human colony world Kholo, which he had led the destruction of years earlier, to reflect on his actions and look for guidance in the wake of the Great Schism. It is set after the events of Halo 3. It was written by the 343 Industries Managing Editor Kevin Grace.

* ItGotWorse: ''The Mona Lisa'' is arguably built entirely out of this trope. It starts with a extremely bloodied and dying man falling out of an escape pod. And it [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin only gets worse]].

* '''From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal'''l is an email transcript from Dr. William Arthur Iqbal to his colleagues, and details the progress of their research on the Forerunner structure in Kenya.

'''Halo: Evolutions''' is a collection of short stories set in the ''{{Franchise/Halo}}'' universe written by several different authors.

* '''Pariah''': Pariah tells the story of Soren-066, a Spartan who was one of a dozen unfortunate candidates who washed out of the program due to complications arising from the biological enhancements, and the struggles he faced afterwards. It was written by B.K. Evenson.

* '''Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss''': Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss tells the story of an ONI agent named Connor Brien, who is sent to investigate Brutes on Beta Gabriel. Brien eventually gets captured by the Brutes. The ONI agent conspires with a spiritual guru, Dasc Gevadim, to escape. While the pack's unity slowly breaks down, the prisoners make a distraction, which gives Brien and Dasc a chance to escape. The ONI agent and the spiritual guru eventually escape from the Brutes, but Brien is killed by Dasc (to preserve his reputation) before the help can arrive. It was written by Eric Raab.

* '''Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian''': Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian tells the story of an ODST who is put under for a surgery to remove a tumor before participating in his next mission. When the ODST awakens, he finds that he is the only human left alive on the the UNSC ''The Heart of Midlothian'' after a Covenant Special Operations team has boarded and taken the ship. Living on borrowed time, the ODST has to stop the Covenant from capturing the shipboard AI and learning the location of Earth. It was written by Frank O'Connor.

* '''Dirt''': Dirt follows a Harvest militiaman, named Gage, from his time before the Human-Covenant War as he joins first the CMA, and then the UNSC with his two friends Eric and Felicia. After joining the [=ODSTs=], the Covenant destroy Harvest, leaving him no home to go back to. After nearly thirty years of war, he is reunited with a few of his old friends from his CMA days, but is presented with a moral crisis that eventually leads to his heroic death. It was written by Tobias Buckell, author of ''TheColeProtocol''.

* '''Headhunters''': Headhunters follows the story of a two-man SPARTAN-III team, sent deep into Covenant territory to deal serious damage behind enemy lines. It was written by Jonathan Goff.

* '''Blunt Instruments''': Blunt Instruments follows SPARTAN-II Black Team which is given the task to disable a Covenant energy supply station. During the course of the operation, Black Team made an uneasy alliance with the Yanme'e, who tricked them into organizing their escape. It was written by Fred Van Lente.

* '''The Mona Lisa''': The Mona Lisa follows the crew of the UNSC Red Horse as they are sent to investigate the fate of the ''Mona Lisa'', a prison ship which has mysteriously come to rest near the destroyed Installation 04. After boarding the ship, a team of Marines discovers that the ship has been overrun by the Flood, making unexpected and uneasy alliances, and beginning a desperate struggle for survival against the parasite. It was written by Tessa Kum and [=JeffVanderMeer=].

* '''Icon''': Icon is a poem that describes the lives of John-117, the [=SPARTANs=], and the legacy they left. Cover art was done by Gabriel "Robogabo" Garza, and was written by Jonathan Goff.

* '''Palace Hotel''': Palace Hotel follows the Master Chief's movements from getting on the other side of the bridge in the Halo 2 level "Metropolis" to right before he boards the Scarab. It also discusses Master Chief's discovery of a childhood friend. The story was written by Robert [=McLees=].

* '''Human Weakness''': Human Weakness tells what happened at the end of ''Halo 2'', with Cortana in the clutches of the Gravemind. The Gravemind manages to break Cortana by introducing the fallacies of her existence and the purpose of her service, but through it all he cannot get her to give up one last secret. It was written by Karen Traviss.

* '''Connectivity''': Connectivity is a poem that describes the connection between Cortana and John-117. Cover art was done by Gabriel "Robogabo" Garza, and was written by Jonathan Goff.

\Cole's faked distress signal was both a stroke of genius and breach of protocol so severe that UNSC CENTCOM dithered over whether to award him the Legion of Honor or to have him court martialed. Ultimately they did neither, to avoid setting precedent. However, from that point on Cole resolved to never again send a distress signal in enemy territory; no one would believe it. As he stated in his personal log: "Surrender, quite literally, is no longer an option for me.”

* '''The Return''': The Return follows a Sangheili Shipmaster as he travels back to the human colony world Kholo, which he had led the destruction of years earlier, to reflect on his actions and look for guidance in the wake of the Great Schism. It is set after the events of Halo 3. It was written by the 343 Industries Managing Editor Kevin Grace.

* '''From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal''': From the Office of Dr. William Arthur Iqbal is an email transcript from Dr. William Arthur Iqbal to his colleagues, and details the progress of their research on the Forerunner structure in Kenya.

* TheAtoner: The Shipmaster in ''The Return''.