PixlBit

                                               

                                Human Ton and Handy from The Tick animated TV show

     I finished Karen Traviss's novel Halo: Mortal Dictata, and I’d like to go in depth with this excellently written story, but I feel I MUST re-read the first few chapters of Eric Nylund’s Fall of Reach to understand the origins of the Spartain II program and the personality of project leader Dr. Halsey. The endless demonization of her, comparing her to Hitler, still seems wrong to me.

                                   

                                               Huragok. Otherwise known as Engineer.

      So until then, I’ll just say this. I WANT A HURAGOK! It would be the best pet/friend in the world. It can construct or fix anything, is non-violent (unless you want to destroy Forerunner artifacts - and who wants to do that?), and loves sugary sweets. If I don’t find a plushy at least sometime soon, I think I’ll go insane.

                                         

                                                                        Rasa

      I read Mass Effect Foundation #8. This issue wraps up the story of the vengeful Biotic trainee and begins Rasa’s new mission for the Illusive Man involving The Lazarus Project. Rasa is tasked with getting files on Captain Shepard from The Spectre’s offices on The Citadel so the Illusive Man can put together a perfect clone of him. Little does Rasa know, The Illusive Man’s plan is more complicated than it seems.

                As always, Mac Walters has written a really engaging story with lots of twists and turns to keep you guessing at what will happen next. He also manages to slip in some depth to his main characters, which change every few issues in this series. I always enjoy the Mass Effect comics.

      I read Halo Escalation #3.This issue continues the debacle surrounding the negotiations arranged by Humans between Elite and Brute leaders. Apparently there are renewed Covenant forces dead set to disrupt the meeting and a traitor amidst the human Spartan team sent to protect the Ambassadors. How deep does this betrayal go? We begin to find out in this issue.

         I’m liking this story more and more as this series progresses. I also can’t help thinking about these reunited Covenant forces, the human conspiracy at work, and the connections to other Halo media such as the Karen Traviss books, the Halo 4 game and what might be the plot of Halo 5. It looks to me like we might be seeing a new Covenant that includes some disenchanted human turn-coats. Halo 5 will have to find a new threat to contend with and why not a resurgence of The Covenant with a few human allies. Otherwise we might be playing Halo: Beyond Two Souls or Halo: Shore Leave 4ever… which might actually be kinda of cool now that I think of it. Imagine Spartans, both male and female, playing volleyball sans Mjolnir, getting in touch with their real parents again, crying on the shoulders of their ODST brethren. It’s a reality show on the beaches of planet Cascade or UNSC Spring Breakers.

                                     

I'm thinking this is what Spartan Naomi (from book Halo: Mortal Dictata) looks like without Mjolnir armor.