Editing Richard Lash

'''Commander Richard Lash''' is a [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] [[UNSC Navy|Naval]] officer who served from the mid-2540s until the end of the [[Human-Covenant War]]. He became the commander of the [[Sahara-class heavy prowler|Sahara-class]] [[prowler]] [[UNSC Dusk|Dusk]] after [[Iglesias|Captain Iglesias]] was [[Wounded in action|wounded in action]] shortly before the [[Battle of Earth]] in [[2552]]. Lash and his crew were among the first humans to witness the outbreak of the [[Great Schism]] among the [[Covenant]].<ref name="goo22">'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', Chapter 22</ref>

Lash transferred to the [[Prowler Corp]]s in [[2545]]. By [[2552]], he was the [[first officer]] of the [[UNSC Prowler|prowler]] ''[[Dusk]]''.{{Ref/Reuse|goo22}}

Lash's father was a welder on the ''[[Cradle]]'' and was killed when it was destroyed during the [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV]] on July 17, [[2552]]. Lash knew his father wanted an opportunity to be a hero during the war, and was glad in a sense that he got the chance to.{{Ref/Reuse|goo22}} For eighteen months prior to the [[Battle of Earth]], Lash and the crew of the ''Dusk'' had seen constant action, including the fall of four [[Human colonies|human colonies]] and the deaths of billions of people, and were all heavily fatigued as a result.<ref name="goo32">'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', Chapter 32</ref>

Shortly before the [[Battle of Earth]], [[Iglesias|Captain Iglesias]] was injured and undergoing radiation treatment Earthside. As a result, Lash had to take command of the ''Dusk''. When the Covenant [[Fleet of Sacred Consecration]] arrived in the [[Sol system]] on [[2552#October|October 20, 2552]], the ''Dusk'' was caught between crew rotations, and Lash was forced to take the ship into combat with a crew of only forty-three, as opposed to the normal ninety.{{Ref/Reuse|goo22}}

During the early stages of the battle, the unprepared Fleet of Sacred Consecration was engaged by the [[UNSC Home Fleet]]. While most of the fleet would be destroyed in the orbital battle, the [[Prophet of Regret|High Prophet of Regret]], on board the [[CAS-class assault carrier|assault carrier]] ''[[Solemn Penance]]'' managed to make it to to Earth's surface, deploying troops into the city of [[Mombasa]], [[Kenya]]. As UNSC ground forces pushed the Covenant troops back toward the assault carrier's [[Landing zone|landing zone]], the Hierarch opted to perform a [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] jump while still in the planet's atmosphere. With no time for heavier ships to intercept the fleeing Covenant vessel, [[Miranda Keyes|Commander Miranda Keyes]] of the {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}} pursued the ''Solemn Penance'' into slipspace. The ''Dusk'', along with fellow corvette {{UNSCShip|Coral Sea}} and [[UNSC frigate|frigates]] {{UNSCShip|Paris}} and {{UNSCShip|Redoubtable}} were the only four UNSC ships near enough to follow the ''Solemn Penance'' and ''In Amber Clad'' into slipspace. During the chase, the other three ships quickly outran the ''Dusk'', with the prowler losing contact with them.{{Ref/Reuse|goo22}}

As the ship prepared to leave slipspace, Lash ordered his executive officer [[Julian Waters|Lieutenant Commander Julian Waters]] to jettison the ''Dusk's'' arsenal of [[M441 Hornet Remote Explosive System|Hornet mines]], due to the fact that the [[Čerenkov radiation]] given off by the mines would give away their presence despite the prowler's stealth systems. Lash then ordered his crew to make ready to take the ship out of slipspace with its stealth systems fully engaged. The ship arrived in the [[Coelest system]] at 1440 hours on November 3, 2552, and immediately detected the presence of the Covenant mobile capital [[High Charity]] and it's massive [[High Charity defense fleet|defense fleet]] near [[Installation 05]]. Lash, after shaking off the massive shock of seeing so many Covenant vessels in close proximity, ordered navigations officer [[Bethany Durruno|Lieutenant Bethany Durruno]] to move the ship dead slow into a nearby asteroid field. Waters reported that there was no trace of the ''In Amber Clad'' or any of the other three UNSC ships, before detecting weapons discharges from the Covenant ships that curiously wasn't aimed at the ''Dusk''. While hiding within the shadow zone of the [[Substance|gas giant's]] moon [[Opusculus]], Commander Lash and his bridge crew witnessed the splintering of the [[Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity]], as the [[Great Schism]] erupted within the Covenant. After recording footage of the orbital battle near the [[Halo Array|Halo]] ring for some time, Lash ordered the crew to make ready to jump to slipspace.{{Ref/Reuse|goo22}}  

The UNSC ''Dusk'' made the slipspace jump back to Earth in record time, arriving in mere hours having followed in the slipspace wake of the [[Anodyne Spirit|Forerunner Dreadnought]] which had left High Charity for Earth. While unaware of the reason behind the slipspace wake, Lash reported it to [[Terrence Hood|Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood]], who ordered Lash to use the information from the report to follow in the wake of the Covenant [[CPV-class heavy destroyer|destroyer]] ''[[Bloodied Spirit]]'', which had been captured by [[SPARTAN-II program|Spartan]] [[Blue Team]], until they reached remote station ''[[Tripoli]]'', where they would rendezvous with [[Carl Patterson|Admiral Carl Patterson's]] [[Battle group|Battle Group]] [[Battle Group Omicron|Omicron]] and accompany the task force to [[Onyx]], to assist Blue Team in obtaining technologies to turn the tide of the [[Human-Covenant War|war]]. Lash had been forced to leave Earth without having a chance to resupply the ''Dusk's'' armaments or fill out their full crew roster as they had only a brief window to catch the rapidly-dissipating wake of the ''Bloodied Spirit''.{{Ref/Reuse|goo32}}

The ''Dusk'' arrived in the [[Zeta Doradus system]] at 2040 hours on November 3, 2552. Lash had orders to gather tactical data for Patterson's battle group, a task of which he had fifteen minutes to accomplish before rendezvousing with the battle group. As the ''Dusk'' approached Onyx, her [[X-ELF radar system|radar systems]] detected the presence of a pair of [[Joyous Exultation Covenant|Covenant]] [[Covenant destroyer|destroyers]] in high planetary orbit. When Waters suggested attempting communication with the hope of one of the vessels being the Spartan-captured ''Bloodied Spirit'', Lash reaffirmed that their orders were only to observe and gather data. The 'Dusk' detected debris in orbit, of which showed signs of combat, but was of inadequate volume to account for even one Covenant vessel. Lash ordered Durruno to cut the ''Dusk's'' engines and told Waters to enable the prowler's stealth systems while they drifted in a tight orbit of the planet. He ordered his sensor station officer [[Joe Yang|Lieutenant Joe Yang]] to scan for any traces of [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear detonations]], as well as planetary energy sources, of which she answered in the negative for both requests. As their allocated time for the scouting mission ran down, Lash realised that Lieutenant Commander Waters, having lost his family on [[Harvest]] at the beginning of the war, was eager to close in and engage the Covenant vessels which was a suicidal action for the prowler crew. As a result, Lash firmly told him that they would follow Admiral Patterson's orders to the letter, and would leave after the fifteen minutes. While Lash was suspicious of the low number of Covenant ships, he nonetheless withdrew to rendezvous with Battle Group Omicron.{{Ref/Reuse|goo32}}

As Battle Group Omicron arrived at Onyx, Lash ordered the ''Dusk'' to move away from the rest of Patterson's ships and into an elliptical orbit of the dark side of the planet, with the intention to complete their scan of Onyx. Lash had requested that he take the prowler on a second recon mission before Omicron's arrival, and was dismayed with Admiral Patterson's brash plan to simply charge the Covenant ships without a greater strategic picture. Lash and his crew watched as the battlegroup clashed with the two Covenant destroyers, one of the vessels destroyed by a trio of nuclear detonations and the other damaged and forced to flee, but not before firing a salvo of plasma charges at Patterson's flagship {{UNSCShip|Stalingrad}}. They watched the [[UNSC destroyer|destroyer]] ''[[UNSC Glasgow Kiss|Glasgow Kiss]]'' intercept the charges, sacrificing itself for the ''Stalingrad''.  Lash was concerned by the Covenant vessel's apparent retreat, as Covenant ships generally fought to the death when overwhelmed. He ordered his chief enginner [[Xaing Cho|Lieutenant Commander Xaing Cho]] to power up the ''Dusk's'' engines, despite this making them visible to other ships. As the ''Dusk'' approached the dark side of Onyx, Lieutenant Yang detected a hot spot that resolved into a fleet of twenty Covenant vessels - elements of the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity - accelerating through the planet's atmosphere on an intercept course with Battle Group Omicron. Lash immediately ordered his bridge crew to cut their engine speed and re-enable their stealth protocols. Lash partially wished that the Covenant ships had noticed them, if only to buy Omicron some time. He watched as the human and Covenant vessels clashed above Onyx; Omicron losing almost half of their number and the destroyer ''[[UNSC Iwo Jima|Iwo Jima]]'' self-destructing and destroying a pair of enemy vessels. While the Covenant were disoriented, Patterson's battle group retreated, arcing around Onyx. Immediately afterward, Lash witnessed the arrival of thousands of [[Onyx Sentinel|Onyx Sentinels]]. The tiny drones engaged the Covenant fleet, nullifying their weaponry by capturing their plasma rounds with energy shields before destroying a trio of Covenant destroyers. A pair of Covenant ships remained behind to engage while the rest of the fleet escaped from Onyx's gravity well, sacrificing themselves. Lash pondered the origins of the Sentinels, wondering if they were a new species or a type of weapon used by the Spartans on the surface. He ordered Lieutenant Durruno to watch for escape pods while he took the ''Dusk'' to Lagrange-Three. A transmission on the UNSC's [[COM#E-BAND|emergency broadcast channel]] from the [[Artificial intelligence|artificial intelligence]] [[Endless Summer]]. Knowing that Admiral Patterson's fleet were too far away to receive the message and unwilling to jeopardise their stealth with potential enemies in close proximity, Lash ordered the deployment of a [[BLACK WIDOW communications satellite]] and sent a single beam transmission notifying the AI that they were listening. {{Ref/Reuse|goo32}}

Later, Commander Lash oversaw Lieutenant Commander Cho as he had the ''Dusk'' lay a field of [[M441 Hornet Remote Explosive System|HORNET mines]] in the space over Onyx, the mines having been transferred from the damaged UNSC destroyer ''[[UNSC Brasidas|Brasidas]]''. Admiral Patterson intended to use the remaining vessels of his battlegroup to lure the Covenant fleet into the minefield, which Lash realised was their only option as the Covenant still outnumbered then four to one. While Lash was inwardly shaken by the dangerous nature of their task, he retained his composure, ensuring the Dusk remained stealthed as it laid the minefield. Despite his entire bridge crew needing sleep, including himself, Lash knew he had to keep them all in play as he had no replacement officers. As the ''Dusk'' observed the distant Covenant fleet, Lash ordered Yang to monitor the UNSC COM bands as the Spartans on the surface might radio for evac. Lash continued to watch as Battle Group Omicron re-engaged the Covenant fleet, firing several MAC rounds that led the alien vessels into a pursuit as Admiral Patterson had hoped. As the UNSC battlegroup took cover behind the moon, the Covenant fleet split, moving to opposite sides of the moon, hoping to catch Omicron in a fatal crossfire. However, they failed to see the battlegroup moving away from the moon and soon entered the killzone of the alpha and beta minefields. Lash ordered his crew to arm the mines and detonated them when the Covenant fleet was within range. The HORNET mines successfully destroyed all but four of the Covenant ships. At that moment, Patterson's battlegroup attacked, their MAC rounds and [[Archer missile]]s quickly destroying two of the weakened enemy vessels. As Battle Group Omicron approached the final pair of Covenant ships, Lash wondered if future historians would look upon the battle as the turning point of the Human-Covenant War; where the enemy had been defeated and vital technologies were discovered and used to bring about an end to the long, disastrous conflict. When he realised that the two Covenant ships were going to attempt a slingshot orbit that would bring then into contact with the ''Dusk'', Lash ordered Lieutenant Durruno to orient the ''Dusk'' so that it presented the minimum possible aspect to the alien ships as they approached. He ordered them to stay dark as the Covenant destroyers completed their slingshot orbit and passed the ''Dusk'', so close that Lash felt the sensation of quantum fluctuations from the vessel's [[repulsor engine]]s. Just as battlegroup Omicron took up a firing position on the surviving Covenant ships, Yang detected a sudden energy spike originating from neither the UNSC or Covenant ships. Lash, along with his bridge crew, watched in horror as an armada of thirty-two Covenant vessels emerged from slipspace; surviving ships of the [[Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose]]. Taking position between the two Covenant ships and the UNSC battlegroup, the newly-arrived fleet proceeded to massacre Omicron, slaughtering the UNSC vessels in a short, one-sided battle. With his hope for a victory completely crushed, Lash had the ''Dusk'' continue to stay dark, floating lifelessly in space as the Covenant armada approached.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', Chapter 35</ref> Lash and his crew were forced to inch meter-by-meter towards Onyx's moon, passing throught the debris field of the destoyed battlegroup, the harrowing experience of passing the corpses of the thousands of crewmen considered by Lash to have been the bravest in the [[UNSC Navy]] having a profound effect on the Commander and his crew. Eventually reaching the far side of the moon undetected, the ''Dusk'' took cover within the shadow of a crater on the moon's surface and Cho deployed three BLACK WIDOW satellites to monitor the Covenant fleet.<ref name="goo40">'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', Chapter 40</ref>

A short time later, the ''Dusk'' detected the energy signatures from a pair of [[FENRIS nuclear warhead]]s, detonated manually by [[Kurt-051]] to deny Covenant ground forces access to Onyx's internal [[Dyson sphere]], followed by larger energy signatures, which unbeknownst to Commander Lash and his crew was the beginning of the planet Onyx's disintegration into its trillions of component Sentinels. Hoping that these new energy signatures would distract the nearby Covenant fleet and allow them to escape, Lash ordered Cho to ready the ''Dusk's'' slipspace capacitors. At first assuming that the Covenant were [[glassing]] the planet, the truth became apparent as the entire surface of Onyx shattered, revealing to the crew of the ''Dusk'' that the planet was artificial and composed entirely of Sentinels. As the Sentinels proceeded to vaporize the entirety of the nearby Covenant fleet and with the loss of their BLACK WIDOW satellites, Lash ordered his crew to take the ''Dusk'' into slipspace immediately.{{Ref/Reuse|goo40}}

The ''Dusk'' later returned to Earth. After surviving the war, the prowler's battle records would later be examinted by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]].<ref name>'''[[Halo: Glasslands]]''', ''page 48''</ref>