Self-destruct: Difference between revisions

{{Era|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post|RW}}

The '''self-destruct''' is an integrated mechanism present in starships and [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] [[military base]]s and is used to cause a massive explosion to completely destroy itself in order to prevent vital navigational data and strategically-valuable information from falling into enemy [[Covenant]] clutches, as per paragraph five of the [[Cole Protocol]]. Self-destruct mechanisms are also employed by the [[Covenant]] and [[Banished]] in their [[Covenant citadel|citadels]] and [[Outpost]]s.

=== UNSC ''The Heart of Midlothian'' ===

When the [[UNSC destroyer|destroyer]] {{UNSCShip|The Heart of Midlothian}} was captured and [[Boarding|boarded]] by the Covenant, the ship's [[AI]], [[Mo Ye]], told Sergeant [[Michael Baird]] to go to the bridge to reconnect Mo Ye to the rest of herself and the ship in order to enable the self-destruct and destroy the ship along with its data and all the Covenant aboard. ''The Heart of Midlothian's'' self-destruct occurred by shaped nuclear charges detonating inward and igniting the fissionable material in the ship's reactor, causing a greater explosion that destroyed the surrounding Covenant ships.<ref>'''Halo Evolutions''', ''Midnight in the Heart of Midlothian''</ref>

While originally sent to reclaim the ONI space station ''[[Argent Moon]]'', after a [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|Covenant]] [[fleet]] showed up, Blue Team decided to scuttle the station instead by overloading the reactor to keep ''Argent Moon'' out of Covenant hands. However, although [[John-117]] started the overload, a containment protocol was initiated to cool the reactor and prevent it from melting down. Blue Team followed the reactor to an outside area where coolant would be pumped to the reactor to prevent the meltdown. Blue Team exposed the coolant pipes and then destroyed them with [[Type-54 Banshee|Banshees]], fighting off Covenant interference. With the cooling system destroyed, the reactor melted down unimpeded. Blue Team escaped in the [[ONI Acrisius|ONI ''Acrisius'']], a {{Class|Winter|prowler}} in ''Argent Moon's'' docking bay while the explosion destroyed all nearby Covenant ships.<ref>'''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''', campaign level ''[[Blue Team (level)|Blue Team]]''</ref>

During the [[Skirmish over Netherop]], the [[Shipmaster]] of the [[Covenant frigate]] ''[[Radiant Arrow]]'' activated the ship's self-destruct after it was boarded by [[SPARTAN-II]] [[Blue Team|Blue]], [[Green Team|Green]] and [[Gold Team]]s. The Shipmaster depressed a dead man's switch to give his crew time to abandon ship before detonating it. As the rest of the Spartans fled the ship, [[John-117]] attempted to stop as many of the crew escaping as possible. With his last breath, the Shipmaster released the dead man's switch, causing the ''Radiant Arrow'' to explode. However, John was able to escape using one of the ship's escape pods and only the ''Radiant Arrow's'' crew died in the explosion.<ref>'''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]''', ''chapter 3''</ref>

After being shot down during the [[Battle of Seoba]], the [[Prowler]] {{UNSCShip|Starry Night}} had its self-destruct, a one-megaton [[Fury tactical nuclear weapon]] in the engineering compartment activated by [[Linda-058]]. The self-destruct took out the ''Starry Night'' and the [[Covenant]] {{Class|Intrusion|corvette}} that tried to capture it.<ref>'''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]''', ''Chapter 15''</ref>

Realizing it was the only way to save his people Dr. [[Chen Bax]] used a remote to detonate the self-destruct mechanism of the crashed {{UNSCShip|Promise of Dawn}}, in order to create an avalanche which buried a large amount of Covenant troops bearing down on his people.<ref name="HLW4">''[[Halo: Lone Wolf]]'', ''[[Halo: Lone Wolf Issue 4|Issue #4]]''</ref>

During an insertion to [[Netherop]] during the [[Battle of Netherop]], the {{Class|Razor|prowler}} {{UNSCShip|Night Watch}} was shot down by forces from the [[Flotilla of Unsung Piety]]. In order to keep the Prowler and its technology out of enemy hands, [[Lieutenant Commander]] [[Amalea Petrov]] armed the ship's self-destruct, a [[Fury tactical nuclear weapon]] and set it to be remote-detonated. The ship's crew worked to get as far away as possible before the detonation, with [[Fred-104]] clearing a culvert of the danger of avalanches burying the survivors taking cover there. As the Covenant began launching their aircraft from the crash site, Petrov activated the self-destruct and ensured that no Covenant who had been aboard the vessel got out alive to report on what they found. However, while the Prowler crew was safe, two of the [[Castoffs]] who had gotten too close to the blast site were killed.<ref name="Oblivion" />

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