[Long] Ponderings.. Known lore spoilers ahead
.
First,
Halo: Hunters in the Dark is scheduled to be released on
June 16th, 2015. Microsoft has not yet announced the date of their E3 conference, but if they go off prior years it
should be on
June 15th, 2015.
Hunters in the Dark summary..
Since the book comes out a day after the E3/Halo 5 conference, I would guess it's going to be tied in to the narrative somehow. Something they don't want us to explicitly know BEFORE the conference. Except.. the book takes place in 2555, 3 years before the events in Halo 5.
Now.. after the cover/Blue Team reveal I got to thinking.. what if Hunters in the Dark has Blue Team (minus Chief obviously) working with the Elites?
Linda-058's bio on Waypoint says:
It would make a perfect segue to seeing them again in Halo 5. A bit of "what the heck were they doing this entire time?". I could also see them using it as a chance to explain why we never saw Blue team in Halo 3 (through flashbacks/exposition). This would also give newcomers to the fiction time to read the book and learn more about "Blue Team" before Halo 5 drops later in the year.
Flaws in this theory? The Spartan depicted on the cover is
NOT Kelly, Fred or Linda. At least judging from the armor. Though it's entirely possible someone else was assigned to Blue Team in John-117's absence. Putting that Spartan on the cover would keep the secret better.
Other thoughts? Locke's team? Unlikely, as the Sedra mission (
Halo: Nightfall) takes place in early 2556, so it's extremely unlikely that Locke is a Spartan/Has Spartan armor. Could be Buck & Romeo, as they finished their mission on Talitsa in August 2555 and requested to be on a new team. This mission seems like an ONI op, so their presence would make sense, and would also be another good primer for their inclusion in Halo 5 (#TeamLocke).
Second,
The
Hunters in the Dark cover obviously shows very alive Blind Wolves on Installation 00 "The Ark". If Blind Wolves managed to survive, would it not stand to reason that The Flood would have/could have survived as well?
In the "Eleventh Hour Reports", when the UNSC Rubicon was dispatched to The Ark in 2557 it was noted that some creatures could have survived:
Curious to see how this will line up with
Hunters in the Dark, as it takes place 2 years later. Why wasn't 343GS found then?
Third,
The last issue of Escalation (at least the current arc) releases on
July 29th, 2015. Summary:
The digital single, Halo: Saints Testimony, by one Mr. Stinkles is scheduled to be released on
July 27th, 2015. With that date proximity I can't imagine they are not intertwined in some way.
We've got so much Halo goodness coming our way.. I am excite!