Editing Operation: RED FLAG

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Battle infobox
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|image=[[File:DD REDFLAG.PNG|300px]]
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|result=Operation abandoned
|side1=[[File:Halopedia Era UNSC.png|25px]] [[United Nations Space Command]]
|side2=[[File:H5Covenant Logo2.png|25px]] [[Covenant]]
|commanders1=*[[CINCONI]] [[Margaret Parangosky]]
*[[Vice Admiral|VADM]] [[Michael Stanforth]]
*[[Captain|CAPT]] [[Jacob Keyes]]
*[[Master Chief Petty Officer|MCPO]] [[John-117]]
|commanders2=*[[High Prophet of Truth]]
*[[High Prophet of Regret]]
*[[High Prophet of Mercy]]
|forces1=*[[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|1]] {{Class|Halcyon|light cruiser}}
*25 [[Spartan-II]]s
*[[Cortana|1]] [[Smart AI|"smart"]] [[Artificial intelligence|A.I.]]
|forces2=*[[High Charity defense fleet]]
*[[Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity]]
|casual1=
|casual2=
|civilian1=
|civilian2=
}}
{{Quote|Assembled here tonight are all surviving Spartans save three, who are otherwise engaged on fields of combat too distant to be easily recalled. In the last decade of combat there have only been three KIAs and one Spartan too wounded to continue active duty. You are to be commended for having the best operational record of any unit in the fleet. It is very good to see you all again.|Dr. Halsey beginning her briefing.}}
'''Operation: RED FLAG''' was a planned [[United Nations Space Command]] operation designed to put an end to the 27-year struggle of the [[Human-Covenant War]]. It was initiated by [[Office of Naval Intelligence|ONI]] [[Office of Naval Intelligence#Section Three|Section Three]] in mid-[[2552]] as a desperate attempt to avert humanity's imminent defeat at the hands of the [[Covenant]]; however, the operation was never carried out due to the [[Fall of Reach]] and the UNSC's subsequent retreat to [[Earth]].<ref>'''[[Halo: Reach]]''', ''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]''</ref>

[[Vice Admiral]] [[Michael Stanforth]] began work on recommendation docs in [[2552#March|March 2552]]. [[Admiral]] [[Margaret Parangosky]], [[Commander-in-Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence]], would first reference RED FLAG in a letter to Stanforth on [[2552#July 19|the 19th four months later]].<ref name="three">'''Halo Waypoint''', ''[[Data Drop]] 3''</ref>

==Operation==
The operation was to be executed in four phases,<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''pages 240-245''</ref> around a colony under attack by the Covenant; Admiral Stanforth preferred one with a large amount of Forerunner relics. [[Reach]] was at first only a hypothetical option, but [[ONI]] was willing to sacrifice the planet after calculating the inevitability of its discovery.{{Ref/Reuse|three}}<ref>'''Halo Waypoint''', ''Data Drop 4''</ref> Although the operation was initially planned to be a Spartans-only mission, a battalion of [[Orbital Drop Shock Troopers]] under the command of [[Major (UNSC)|Major]] [[Antonio Silva]] were also assigned to RED FLAG possibly out of concern that the Navy would be unable to handle it alone.<ref>'''Halo Waypoint''', ''Data Drop 6''</ref>

*'''Phase One''' — The first objective of the operation consisted of the disabling and capture of a Covenant flagship carrier (either a [[CAS-class assault carrier]] or a {{Pattern|Sh'wada|supercarrier}}). For the first phase, [[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Halsey]] selected [[Captain (Navy)|Captain]] [[Jacob Keyes]] for [[Keyes Loop|his exemplary performance]] during the [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV]], and his newly fitted cruiser, the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}. For the completion of the mission, Stanforth was willing to risk his own ships in order to bait any artifact-retrieval ships into going planetside.

*'''Phase Two''' — Involving the boarding of the captured Covenant vessel by a group of [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-II]]s. They would then neutralize the onboard defenses and commandeer the ship. They, with help from a then-unidentified [[Cortana|mission specialist]], would then crack the navigation database of the ship and discover the location of the Covenant capital world, "[[High Charity]]".

*'''Phase Three''' — With the help of the mission specialist, the Spartans would then pilot the captured Covenant carrier to High Charity.

*'''Phase Four''' — The final phase of the operation involved the infiltration of High Charity and the capture of one of the three Covenant [[San'Shyuum|Prophet]] [[Hierarchs]] for negotiating purposes. The UNSC hoped that by capturing a Hierarch and holding him hostage, they could force the Covenant into agreeing to a truce, thereby ending a war that the UNSC would most certainly have lost. Killing the Hierarch was out of the question, as ONI's analysts predicted it would just incite the Covenant to vengeance, thereby escalating the war.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', ''page 217''</ref>

==Results==
Despite the [[Fall of Reach]], the loss of most of the SPARTAN-II force assigned to the operation, the death of almost all ''Pillar of Autumn's'' crew, and the destruction of the vessel at [[Battle of Installation 04]], [[John-117]] had every intention of continuing Operation: RED FLAG, despite arguments against it by [[Elias Haverson|Lieutenant Elias Haverson]] and Cortana. During the [[Skirmish over Threshold]], the Master Chief actually succeeded in part of the operation by capturing the {{Pattern|Ruma|light carrier}} ''[[Ascendant Justice]]'', but lacked the personnel to continue the mission. The Master Chief only agreed to not continue the mission after proper instructions were given by the [[UNSC High Command|Admiralty]] on Earth.{{Ref/Novel|FS|Page=90-93}} RED FLAG was also considered as a possible way to stop the planned Covenant attack on Earth, but was discarded as an option as John-117 knew that they couldn't risk the ''Gettysburg''-''Ascendant Justice''. Instead, the Spartans went with [[Operation: FIRST STRIKE]].

===Alternative===
[[File:H2A JohnVsRegret.jpg|300px|thumb|Death of the Prophet of Regret.]]

Ultimately, the plans would be canceled by a lack of resources and manpower. The [[Battle for Earth|invasion of Earth]] began shortly after the remains of RED FLAG arrived back at the homeworld, effectively scrubbing any chances of a high-risk offensive by special warfare units accompanied by fleet support.{{Ref/Level|H2|[[Cairo Station]]}} However, events initiated within the ranks of the [[Hierarchs]] and [[High Council]] would provide a similar outcome to that envisioned by High Command and Naval Intelligence just months before. An ongoing feud between the increasing [[Jiralhanae]] threat encroaching on [[Sangheili]] commanders throughout the military planned by the Hierarchs would ultimately culminate in its fall, the [[Great Schism]] tore a rift between these two castes, with the former of the two species becoming the favored guardians of the [[Great Journey]].{{Ref/Level|ODST|[[Tayari Plaza]]}}{{Ref/Level|H2|[[Gravemind (level)|Gravemind]]}} These events came to a head following Supreme Commander [[Thel 'Vadam]]ee's failure to prevent the [[Battle of Installation 04|destruction of Installation 04]], causing considerable turmoil within the Covenant. Taking advantage of these brewing events, on November 2, 2552, the former Spartan leader of RED FLAG managed to infiltrate a heavily-occupied area on [[Installation 05]], defeat a detachment of [[Honor Guard of the Covenant|Sangheili Honor Guardsmen]], and [[Assassination of the Prophet of Regret|assassinate]] the [[Prophet of Regret|High Prophet of Regret]], having been informed of the Covenant's ultimate goal: the firing of the Halo rings.{{Ref/Level|H2|[[Regret (Halo 2 level)|Regret]]}} Just days after during a [[Flood]] assault on ''[[High Charity]]'', the [[Prophet of Mercy|High Prophet of Mercy]] was killed by the spreading infection in front of John-117.

A month later, a joint Human-Sangheili force of the [[Fleet of Retribution]] led by [[Miranda Keyes|Commander Miranda Keyes]] began an [[Battle of the Citadel|operation]] to destroy the remaining command elements of the [[Prophet of Truth|High Prophet of Truth]] and his fleet at the [[Installation 00 Citadel|Citadel]]. This joint force destroyed a handful of Covenant infantry forces, in addition to their armor and aerial assets. The push to the Citadel ultimately led to end of the Human-Covenant War with the assassination of the Prophet of Truth by [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]], with John-117 as witness.{{Ref/Level|H3|[[The Covenant (level)|The Covenant]]}}

The eventual assassination of the three Hierarchs resulted in the death of the Covenant, ending the hostilities of the [[Human-Covenant War]].

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==Trivia==
*The capture of ''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' effectively completed the first part of Operation: RED FLAG. Ironically, while the mission was slated to be performed by Spartans aided by the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}, ''Ascendant Justice'' was captured by [[John-117|a single Spartan]], [[Locklear|an ODST]], [[Avery Johnson|a Marine]], [[Elias Haverson|an ONI officer]], [[Shiela Polaski|a pilot]] and [[Cortana|an AI]] using only a [[D77-TC Pelican|Pelican]] dropship and a [[Longsword]] fighter. Later, [[Blue Team]] also effectively completed the first part of the mission again when they captured the Covenant {{Pattern|Sinaris|heavy destroyer}} ''[[Bloodied Spirit]]'' during the [[Battle for Earth]], an operation that was aided and made much easier by what was learned from the earlier capture of the ''Ascendant Justice''.
*The hijacking of the {{Pattern|Ceudar|heavy corvette}} ''[[Ardent Prayer]]'' during [[Operation: UPPER CUT]] could also be considered a completion of the first part of this operation. However, ''Ardent Prayer'' was only taken over for the sole purpose of destroying the Covenant {{Pattern|Sh'wada|supercarrier}} ''[[Long Night of Solace]]'' with both ships being destroyed at the end of the operation.
*In ''[[Halo Infinite]]'', the first part of the Master Chief's deletion code for [[the Weapon]] is RED FLAG followed by [[Samuel-034|034 SAMUEL]].

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{1st}}
**''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach#2010 bonus content|Adjunct]]'' {{Im}}
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Reach]]''
**''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]]''
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion|Invasion]]''
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''
**''[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition dossiers|Limited Edition dossiers]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Mythos]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Infinite]]'' {{Mo}}

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

[[Category:Operations|RED FLAG]]