JAWBREAKER

Since we first announced it back in March, Halo: Shadow of Intent has had fans incredibly excited for a variety of reasons, from its sought-after subject matter to its legendary author, Joseph Staten. If you have been following the glorious gruntmaster on Twitter, you’ve already seen a few character-constrained glimpses of the upcoming digital-first novella. After conferring a bit with Mr. Staten however, we thought it might be more fun to provide a slightly wider view for our ravenous readers…

The longer the countdown went, the more the bunker smelled

like fear.

The Prelate scowled at the two Jiralhanae looming beside him.

One was covered with rust-red hair, and the other with dirty white.

Both warriors were so tall that they had to duck their helmeted

heads to keep from banging them on the bunker’s low, flat ceiling.

The thickly muscled, sharp-toothed Brutes stood still and silent,

like monuments to violence. But all male Jiralhanae were prone

to pungent pheromones that mirrored their emotions, and now,

so close to the activation of the device, these usually fearless

creatures’ panicked stench permeated the cramped, dark room.

The Prelate, Tem’Bhetek, wanted to shout a reprimand. He

had handpicked the two Jiralhanae for their strength and mental

fortitude. And besides: they were adults, certainly mature enough

to regulate their pheromones. But Tem held his tongue, partly

because he didn’t want to startle the insectile Yanme’e nervously

monitoring the device’s final activation sequence, but mostly

because the Prelate knew the Jiralhanae weren’t the real cause of

his slowly building rage.

As much as the Prelate’s nostrils recoiled at his warriors’

sharp, sour scent, it was the noise filling his lobeless ears that

made him truly angry. A noise that rose over the rapid clicking

of the Yanme’e’s claws on the luminous glyphs shining through

the surface of the bunker’s obsidian walls. A noise that muted the

rumble of the device in the test chamber many levels above. A

noise so infuriating that the Prelate finally broke his silence with a

strangled hiss: “Why would they sing at a time like this?”

As you’ve noticed, the aforementioned excerpt notes a so-far-unknown character in the Halo universe, the Prelate – a San’Shyuum unlike any that Halo fans have encountered before. While we don’t want to give away anything more than that, we did feel it would be fun to not just give you a taste in words alone, though they do say a picture is worth a thousand of them… Keen-eyed readers will have already noticed a never-seen-before image gracing the header of this week’s issue, which features two characters from Halo: Shadow of Intent – one that you’ve seen before, when we revealed the cover and description of the story in early September, and the other, well, the other you will get to know even better once the full release drops on December 7^th. The image, by the way, comes from an upcoming product you’ve likely seen a tiny slice of already, and one we’re excited to talk more about soon.

Taking place after the events of Halo 3, Halo: Shadow of Intent show readers a new side of the post war landscape, and gives fans a glimpse of the trials and tribulations tangled in the aftermath of fresh wounds and fractured alliances…

After decades of grim combat against the humans and then the traitorous Covenant Prophets, the Sangheili warrior Rtas ‘Vadum—the Half-Jaw—has earned a long rest. But not all of the Prophets perished in their holy city, High Charity, and now one of their fearsome Prelates has sworn his vengeance. This powerful threat has set a cataclysmic plan in motion—a plan to lure the Half-Jaw into a trap that will herald the utter destruction of the entire Sangheili race…

If you haven’t already, make sure you grab your preorder for Halo: Shadow of Intent from our friends and partners at Simon & Schuster, and get excited for Monday’s release!