If you're eager to learn more about the story surrounding Halo Infinite, you might want to keep an eye out for Halo: The Rubicon Protocol - a new Halo novel by the acclaimed author Kelly Gay.

It's arriving next month on 9th August, and ahead of release, Halo Waypoint has shared the first of three previews - taking a look at the Banished assault on the UNSC Infinity from a different perspective.

This novel explores some of the events in the six months before Master Chief was reawakened and players step out onto Zeta Halo. You can read the first chapter of The Rubicon Protocol over on the Halo website, or listen to the 20-minute audio book preview above.

HI Infinity Attack
Image: Xbox

December 2559. Humanity has its back against the wall after the United Nations Space Command flagship Infinity drops out of slipspace into a devastating ambush launched by the Banished. As this fierce enemy alliance seeks to claim a mysterious object hidden within the ancient Forerunner construct known as Zeta Halo, the surviving UNSC corps now find itself compromised and its leadership out of reach—with remaining personnel forced to abandon ship and take their chances on the fractured, unpredictable surface of the Halo ring.

Now survival in this strange, alien environment—whether for Spartan super-soldiers or those who never thought they would see the battle up close—is measured day to day against a relentless and brutal adversary that always has the upper hand. Desperation grows, but the will to keep on fighting and enduring no matter the odds is never in doubt… even as the Banished seek to unleash a frightening new enemy that could doom them all....

Will you be adding The Rubicon Protocol to your library when it launches this August? Comment below.