Editing Battle of Meridian

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Battle infobox
|prev=[[Battle of Skopje]]
|conc=*[[Algolis Invasion]]
*[[Siege of Paris IV]]
*[[Second Fall of Arcadia]]
|next=[[Operation: FIRESIDE]]
|name=Battle of Meridian
|image=[[File:H2A Terminals - BattleofMeridian.jpg|300px]]
|conflict=[[Human-Covenant War]]
|date=[[2548]]–[[2551]]<ref name="universe">'''[[Halo Waypoint]]''': [https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/meridian ''Meridian'']</ref><ref name="terminal">'''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]''', ''[[Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary)|Terminal 14]]''</ref>
|place=[[Meridian]], [[Hestia system]]{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
|result='''[[Covenant]] victory'''
*Meridian is [[glassed]]
*Covenant later unknowingly locate [[Earth]] in [[2552]]{{Ref/Reuse|terminal}}
|side1=[[United Nations Space Command]]
|side2=[[Covenant]]
|commanders1=Captain [[Edmund Persie]]<ref name="evacuation intel">'''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''', campaign level ''[[Evacuation]]'' - ''[[Mission Intel]]''</ref>
|commanders2=[[Prophet of Regret|High Prophet of Regret]] {{C|Second stage}}{{Ref/Reuse|terminal}}
*Unidentified [[Sangheili]] commander
|forces1=*[[UNSC Armed Forces]]
**[[UNSC Air Force]]{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
**[[UNSC Navy]]{{Ref/Reuse|evacuation intel}}
***At least one [[UNSC cruiser]]
****{{UNSCShip|Sparrow}}<ref name="BBC25">'''[[Halo: Battle Born]]''', ''Chapter 25''</ref>
*Orbital defense grid{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
*At least one [[Mark IX Mantis ADS]]<ref name="h4evg111">'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 111''</ref>
*[[Spartan-III]]s<ref>'''[[Halo: Fractures]]''', ''[[Breaking Strain]]'', ''page 57''</ref>
**[[Owen-B096]] {{Ref/Reuse|BB}}
*[[Meridian military]]<ref name="HBB11">'''[[Halo: Battle Born]]''', ''Chapter 11''</ref>
**[[Meridian Air Force]]{{Ref/Reuse|HBB11}}
*At least one [[Prowler]]
**[[Sundered Legion Prowler]]{{Ref/Reuse|BB}}
|forces2=
*At least one {{Pattern|Ceudar|heavy corvette}}<ref name="BB">'''[[Halo: Battle Born]]'''</ref>
*18 {{Pattern|Skar'wa|Mantis}}{{Ref/Reuse|h4evg111}}
*At least six {{Pattern|Shua'ee|Locust}}s<ref name="bb194">'''[[Halo: Battle Born]]''', ''page 194''</ref>
*[[Type-26 Banshee]]s
*Reinforced Covenant fleet {{C|Second stage}}
**At least three {{Class|CAS|assault carrier}}s{{Ref/Reuse|terminal}}
***''[[Solemn Penance]]''{{Ref/Reuse|terminal}}
*Heavy Covenant infantry
**[[Sangheili]]
**[[Jiralhanae]]
**[[Kig-Yar]]
**[[Unggoy]]
**[[Mgalekgolo]]
**[[Yanme'e]]
|casual1=*Most vessels
*Heavy infantry casualties
|casual2=*18 Type-27 Mantis{{Ref/Reuse|h4evg111}}
*Heavy infantry casualties
}}
{{Quote|Almost immediately after Meridian was recaptured by the UEG, the Covenant arrived. Captain Edmund Persie of the UNSC Sevenfold Gates fought to the last, but was forced to order what few ships remained to fall back to the edge of the Hestia system. Within five hours of Captain Persie's retreat, Meridian was glassed, and all life there was eradicated.|The History of Meridian, presented by the [[Free Frontier Education]]{{Ref/Reuse|evacuation intel}}}}

The '''Battle of Meridian'''{{Ref/Reuse|h4evg111}} was an engagement of the [[Human-Covenant War]] between the [[United Nations Space Command]] and [[Covenant]] at the [[human]] [[Outer Colony]] of [[Meridian]] in the [[Hestia system]]. Beginning in [[2548]], the Battle of Meridian continued for three years as the Covenant attempted to diminish the UNSC's strong resistance on the world. Ultimately, Meridian was [[Glassing|glassed]] by the Covenant in [[2551]].{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}{{Ref/Reuse|terminal}}

==Prelude==
[[Meridian]] was a major [[human]] [[Outer Colony]] with a robust economy and a large [[United Nations Space Command]] presence, home to several major military contractors that provided the UNSC with equipment, including [[Chalybs Defense Solutions]]. Within the final years of the [[Human-Covenant War]], most of Meridian's population had believed they had somehow survived the [[Covenant]]'s [[Massacre of the Outer Colonies|onslaught]] throughout the Outer Colonies. However, the Covenant had discovered the world in [[2548]] and, realizing Meridian's value to the rest of the UNSC, sought to blockade Meridian.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

==The battle==
===First stage===
====Space battle====
Meridian was discovered by the [[Covenant]] in [[2548]],<ref name="h5 glassed">'''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''', campaign level ''[[Glassed]]''</ref> and the [[moon]] quickly came under siege as the Covenant attempted to cut off supply lines from Meridian to other fronts in the war. However, the [[United Nations Space Command]] fiercely fought against the Covenant invaders, with Meridian's impressive [[UNSC Air Force]] garrisons and extensive orbital defense grid.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}} The initial battle lasted for a week out near Hestia's moons, aided by the fact that the attacking Covenant fleet was smaller than usual. However, the Covenant eventually broke through and began surface operations.{{Ref/Reuse|HBB11}}

Despite the Covenant breaking through, the human defenses were able to continue to bottle up most of the Covenant forces in orbit.<ref name="BB179">'''[[Halo: Battle Born]]''', ''page 179''</ref> The Covenant were also impeded by the presence of the Forerunner artifact in [[Brume-sur-Mer]] which kept them from [[glassing]] Meridian due to their reverence for Forerunner artifacts and unwillingness to harm them.<ref>'''[[Halo: Battle Born]]''', ''Chapter 13''</ref> The fighting in and around Meridian's atmosphere caused atmosphere disturbances that caused heavier than usual rain storms, even for Meridian's rainy season.<ref>'''[[Halo: Battle Born]]''', ''page 182''</ref>

====Ground battle====
The first prototype for the [[Mark IX Mantis ADS|HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX "Mantis" ADS]] engaged in an action known as the "Cherbourg Run", in which it successfully engaged eighteen heavily guarded [[Skar'wa-pattern Mantis|Type-27 Anti Aircraft Cannons]]. The success of the prototype in the "Cherbourg Run" is one of the theories of why the walker was eventually called "Mantis".{{Ref/Reuse|h4evg111}}

On the ground, the UNSC and Meridian's military mainly focused on defending major population centers, not informing the planet's population of the invasion as per procedure to avoid causing a panic. However, one of the places targeted by the Covenant was the remote town of [[Brume-sur-Mer]] which had a [[Forerunner]] artifact buried under the town that the Covenant was interested in. When the Covenant invaded, bringing a {{Pattern|Ceudar|heavy corvette}} that they anchored over the town, the residents were unprepared and around thirty percent of the population was killed. The rest fled into the town's old bomb shelter where they remained safe as the Covenant focused mainly on excavating the artifact and established a shield barrier around the area to keep the UNSC out. Having been outside of the shelter at the time the invasion began, local teens [[Saskia Nazari]], [[Victor Gallardo]], [[Dorian Nguyen]] and [[Evelyn Rousseau]] linked up with [[Spartan-III]] [[Owen-B096]] who had crashed on the moon while trying to defend it from Covenant forces. Owen trained the teens in combat and they worked on disrupting the Covenant operations and rescuing the townspeople. The five succeeded in rescuing the survivors from the bomb shelter and fled in [[Sundered Legion Prowler|an old]] [[Prowler]] belonging to the [[Sundered Legion]], damaging the corvette when it tried to stop them. The survivors linked up with the [[UNSC cruiser]] {{UNSCShip|Sparrow}} in orbit and were transported to safety. ONI, the [[Xeno-Materials Exploitation Group]] in particular, became interested in the Forerunner artifact the Covenant were after and sought to keep it out of the hands of the Covenant and potentially to use it themselves in the war effort. To this end, they enlisted the aid of the four teens that had helped Owen to get the artifact before the Covenant could.{{Ref/Reuse|BB}}

Three months after departing Meridian, the teens, now [[Local Team]], returned to Brume-sur-Mer and worked with the Meridian militia to recover the artifact which proves to contain a map to a Forerunner structure in [[Annecy]]. With ONI having trouble extracting them, Owen and the militia forces travel to Annecy where the teens learn that Meridian has actually been besieged for six months rather than three as they were led to believe and that parts of the moon don't even know about it yet. With the recovered artifact proving to be a key to activating the Forerunner structure which the Covenant had excavated some time earlier, Owen, the militia and Local Team removed a piece of the structure as well as the activation statute, despite knowing that without a Forerunner artifact to seek, the Covenant would now inevitably glass the moon.{{Ref/Novel|MerDi}}

Ultimately, the UNSC was able to defend Meridian against the Covenant for three years and was eventually able to repel the alien invaders in [[2551]].{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}<ref name="journal">'''[[Halo: Reach]]''', ''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]''</ref>

===Second stage===
Shortly after the [[Unified Earth Government]] had taken full control of the world, the Covenant returned to Meridian in the same year and the Battle of Meridian continued.{{Ref/Reuse|evacuation intel}} The Covenant's sheer power eventually destroyed most of the world's resistance,{{Ref/Reuse|universe}} though Captain [[Edmund Persie]] of {{UNSCShip|Sevenfold Gates}} continued to fight against the Covenant as the battle neared its end. Eventually, Persie and the remaining vessels in Meridian's defense [[fleet]] were forced to retreat to the edge of the [[Hestia system]]. Five hours after the Navy's retreat, Meridian had been [[Glassing|glassed]] by the Covenant.{{Ref/Reuse|evacuation intel}}{{Ref/Reuse|journal}}

At least three {{Class|CAS|assault carrier}}s glassed the moon, including the [[Prophet of Regret|High Prophet of Regret]]'s ''[[Solemn Penance]]''. Following the battle, a [[Covenant Special Operations]] team was dispatched by the Prophet of Regret to the moon's surface to search for Forerunner artifacts. The team retrieved a [[Luminary]] and delivered it to Regret aboard his [[flagship]].{{Ref/Reuse|terminal}}

==Aftermath==
Some time later in [[2552]], the High Prophet of Regret's [[Steward]]s successfully decrypted the Luminary, which revealed the existence of the [[Installation 00|final home of the Forerunners]], as well as a [[Portal at Voi|portal that led to it]]. The Luminary also revealed the location of this portal, "[[Earth|Erde-Tyrene]]". Regret assembled the [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration]] and ordered the fleet to head for the world at once. Unbeknownst to Regret, Erde-Tyrene was the Forerunner name for Earth—the homeworld of [[human]]ity.{{Ref/Reuse|terminal}}

Meridian was not completely lost; although the UNSC did not return to the world for the rest of the Human-Covenant War,{{Ref/Reuse|h5 glassed}} Meridian's glassing had been rushed and incomplete. While many human settlements were destroyed and the moon's oceans had evaporated, Meridian's atmosphere remained largely intact to allow resettlement,<ref name="ms intel">'''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''', campaign level ''[[Meridian Station (level)|Meridian Station]]'' - ''[[Mission Intel]]''</ref> though it was now polluted with the after-effects of the glassing including tiny glass particles in the air that rendered parts of the world unbreathable without air filters.<ref name="unconfirmed intel">'''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''', campaign level ''[[Unconfirmed]]'' - ''[[Mission Intel]]''</ref> Nonetheless, Meridian was resettled by the [[Liang Dortmund Corporation]], who sought to make the world completely habitable again. The corporation brought former Meridian residents as well as opportunists seeking profit to the world to aid in "deglassing" Meridian's surface and restoring the world to its former state.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

[[Chalybs Defense Solutions]] had numerous facilities on Meridian that were abandoned during the battle, and later destroyed when the world was glassed.<ref name="interactive">[http://www.halowaypoint.com/en-US/halo4guide '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Halo 4 Interactive Guide'' (defunct)]</ref> As a result, companies such as [[Acheron Security]] and [[Naphtali Contractor Corporation]] took over production of many of CDS' products.<ref>'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 110''</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:H2A Terminals - Meridian.jpg|Meridian is glassed
File:H2A - Landfall on Meridian.jpg|Covenant forces hunt for relics on Meridian
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Reach]]'' 
**''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'' {{Fm}}
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'' 
**''[[Terminal (Halo 2: Anniversary)|Terminals]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Fractures]]''
**''[[What Remains]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Breaking Strain]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Retribution]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Battle Born]]''
*''[[Halo: Meridian Divide]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Human-Covenant War}}

[[Category:Battles of the Human-Covenant War|Meridian]]
[[Category:Covenant victories|Meridian]]