Editing Menachite Mountain

{{Status|Canon}}
{{disambig header|the mountain atop CASTLE Base|other articles of the same name|Menachite}}
'''Menachite Mountain''' was a mountain in the [[Highland Mountains]] on [[Reach]]. Housed underneath it was the secret [[ONI]] [[CASTLE Base]], built out of a [[titanium]] mine,<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', page 108, ''ONI Section Three's secure-and-secret research facility buried under Menachite Mountain. Two decades ago it had been a titanium mine, and then the abandoned tunnels were used as storage until Section Three had taken over the mountain for their own purposes.''</ref> which was in turn placed above a network of volcanic tunnels and further down, a series of [[Menachite portal complex|Forerunner ruins]], which housed a [[Forerunner crystal]]. The space under the base was filled with explosives powerful enough to level the whole facility. Oftentimes the [[SPARTAN-II program|Spartan-IIs]] would [[SPARTAN-II training|train]] in the tunnels.

==History==
===Fall of Reach===
{{Main|Fall of Reach}}
When the Spartan-II [[Red Team]] was deployed to the surface of Reach, [[Frederic-104]], Red Leader, split the Spartans into four groups. Team Delta was assigned to secure Menachite Mountain as a fallback point for Red Team if necessary. Team Delta consisted of all the seriously wounded Spartans and the surviving Marines of [[Charlie Company]], but only some Spartans actually managed to reach the mountain.

Team Beta was destroyed and contact with Team Gamma was lost, so only Frederic-104 and [[Kelly-087]] managed to actually fall back to the mountain when the Covenant began [[glassing]] Reach.

As the Covenant surrounded the mountain, the surviving Spartans managed to enter the facility using the secret [[Oly Oly Oxen Free]] code, where they encountered Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]], who had stayed behind to clear information and data inside the base should the Covenant gain entrance. Halsey treated the Spartans of their various wounds as the Covenant began to dig in the mountain, searching for a [[Forerunner crystal|Forerunner artifact]]. The humans only barely escaped with experimental prototype weapons and [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V|MJOLNIR Mark V]] armor upgrades, and as they retreated, they destroyed what was left of the mountain behind them to annihilate CASTLE base.

===Post-war era===
It is rumored that ONI intended to dispatch [[Spartan-IV]]s to search CASTLE Base under Menachite Mountain for an unspecified object.<ref name="osfm94">'''[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]''', ''page 94''</ref>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Shadows of Reach]]''

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

[[Category:Reach locations]]
[[Category:Mountains]]