Line #2 ComicBook/HaloCollateralDamage


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/image_9121.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''Cover art by Zak Hartong'']]
3
4	->''"You wouldn't be human if you weren't grieving. Honor that feeling."''
5	-->--'''Dr. Catherine Halsey'''
6
7	''Halo: Collateral Damage'' is a three-issue comic book mini-series set in the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' universe. It is written by Alex Irvine and illustrated by Dave Crosland, and also serves as the first entry in the ''A Master Chief Story'' sub-series.
8
9	In the first year of the Human-Covenant War, a young Blue Team is sent to the besieged world of Alpha Corvi II, where they are to relieve the UNSC's ground forces while also earning combat experience and the opportunity to test some of the Mjolnir armor's experimental features. Upon arrival, the Spartans are directed to Black Reef, a seemingly unimportant mining settlement that the Covenant nonetheless dedicated a portion of their invasion force to attacking. Blue Team are tasked with discovering what motivated the Covenant's assault on the town, with the added complication that Black Reef is under the jurisdiction of an Insurrectionist group aligned with the United Rebel Front. An uneasy alliance between Blue Team and the group they were originally created to fight is formed, as they plan to fend off the alien invasion and discover the secret underneath Black Reef.
10	----
11	!!Tropes featured:
12	* BlackAndGrayMorality: [[spoiler:This story undoubtedly features one of the most villainous depictions of the UNSC that the series has ever had. Represented by [[GeneralRipper Commander Yao]], who explicitly refuses to evacuate non-UNSC personnel for arbitrary reasons, the story focuses on the idea that the UNSC are paradoxically willing to sacrifice their own humanity to ensure humanity's survival. The only thing that stops them from being outright evil is that they are fighting the Covenant, who are depicted in full GenericDoomsdayVillain mode here]].
13	* BookEnds: The book begins with Samuel-034's funeral and a speech by Dr. Halsey about the human necessity to grieve the fallen, [[spoiler:while the ending features Whitaker's senseless and forgotten death]].
14	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Alpha Corvi II falls to the Covenant, Whitaker and his men are left to die by an uncaring UNSC officer, and Blue Team return empty-handed, having never discovered why the Covenant were interested in Black Reef]].
15	* InternalDeconstruction: [[spoiler:This story picks apart two staple tropes of the ''Halo'' canon: Its love for using LostTechnology to drive the conflict, and the UNSC's largely positive role as humanity's defender. For the former, it turns out that not every Forerunner ruin is going to be some kind of lost superweapon or provide a deep look into their history; sometimes it just really isn't that important. For the latter, the story discusses how easily the UNSC can become HeWhoFightsMonsters, and brings up the question of whether they can really be called "humanity's protector" if they are willing to sacrifice so much for it]].
16	* MetaTwist: [[spoiler:The irrelevance of the Forerunner artifact under Black Reef is this, given how often the series has had stories revolving around Forerunner artifacts that the UNSC and Covenant are racing to secure]].
17	* SenselessSacrifice: [[spoiler:Whitaker's Insurrectionists are left to fend for themselves as the UNSC evacuate, after he and his men willingly put aside their differences to fight the bigger threat]].
18	* SuperPrototype: Blue Team are equipped with an experimental version of the Mjolnir armor fitted with active camouflage, which is absent from the standard version of Mjolnir.
19	* TitleDrop: Courtesy of Dr. Halsey, making it clear that the title refers to [[spoiler:Whitaker's insurrectionists]].
20	--> [[spoiler:You brought your team back safe. That’s what matters. There will always be some collateral damage.]]
21	* TheUnReveal: Why did the Covenant attack Black Reef? [[spoiler:Aside from being something Forerunner-related, we never find out, and the Kindler that could've told us gets unceremoniously destroyed]].

Context ComicBook / HaloCollateralDamage