Editing Sarah Palmer

After the incident, [[Catherine Halsey|Doctor Catherine Halsey]] was brought in to examine the artifact in Glassman's absence. Palmer expressed particular disdain for Halsey, believing that ONI incarcerated her for a reason. Her suspicions were not entirely wrong, as it was later revealed that Halsey was secretly communicating with [[Jul 'Mdama|someone]]. After this discovery, Lasky ordered Palmer to arrest Dr. Halsey. She was not heard from for some time, forcing [[Jared Miller]] to run Spartan operations with ''Infinity'' [[Roland|AI Roland]] in her absence.<ref>'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Catherine]]''</ref><ref>'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Memento Mori]]''</ref>

Palmer eventually returned to run operations again, and later held off Jul 'Mdama's Covenant/Promethean forces when the alliance attempted to retake the artifact that Crimson had recovered.<ref>'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Scattered]]''</ref><ref>'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Invasion (Spartan Ops)|Invasion]]''</ref> However, she failed to realize the true goal of their invasion until it was too late: while arguing with Dr. Halsey, a [[Promethean Knight]] translocated behind her and temporarily incapacitated her before taking Dr. Halsey. Angered by this, Palmer slammed down on the holo-table, denting it, and left the bridge.<ref name="expendable">'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Expendable]]''</ref>

===''Pilgrims' Pride'' and Oth Lodon===

{{Main|Ambush at Oth Lodon}}

{{Quote|no=two|q1=Comms are down. Guess it's our job to save the day again, Spartans.|Palmer|q2=No worries. We've had practice.|Spartan|Palmer and Fireteam Majestic about new course of actions{{Ref/Reuse|HE5}}}}

On March 11, six days after DeMarco's death, ''Infinity'' arrived in the [[Artesia-702 system]] having received a distress signal from the damaged [[freighter]] ''[[Pilgrims' Pride]]''. When the freighter was tugged inside ''Infinity'', an ambush was sprung as the freighter set itself to self-destruct and multiple UNSC assault crafts exited its cargo bay. With the help of SPARTAN-IVs the attack was repelled. Following the attack, ''Infinity'' learned that the assault crafts from the freighter belonged to the long-lost {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}}.<ref>'''Halo: Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 4|Issue #4]]''</ref> Roland discovered that the freighter was launched near [[Oth Lodon]], a gas giant located deep in Jiralhanae space. With the ''Spirit'''s possible location found, Lord Hood authorized Commander Palmer to conduct a search-and-rescue mission. Equipped with [[OF92 Booster Frame]]s, Palmer and Fireteam Majestic scouted the planet's system. As they entered an asteroid field, Palmer, not wanting to listen to [[Jared Miller|Miller]]'s in-mission chatter, shut down communications with ''Infinity'' under the guise of losing the signal in the asteroids. Exploring the asteroid field, the Spartans came across not the ''Spirit of Fire'' but instead a [[Oth Lodon station|former Covenant station]] under control by [[New Colonial Alliance]] insurgents. Palmer restored communications to inform ''Infinity'' about the discovery.<ref name="HE5">'''Halo: Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 5|Issue #5]]''</ref>

===On the run===

{{Quote|no=four|q1=Do you think [[Cortana|she]] should have been committed to [[final dispensation]], Commander?|92738-61842-LC|q2=It wasn't my call, [[Fireteam Apollo|Apollo]]. I was following orders.|Sarah Palmer|q3=I was asking for your opinion, ma'am. Do you personally think Cortana should have been committed to final dispensation?|92738-61842-LC|q4=No, I don't. Maybe stasis, maybe something else. Final dispensation was unnecessary at that time. But did it really matter in the end? Do I need to remind you that we're running from her and the Guardians as we speak?|Sarah Palmer|Commander Palmer freely shares her thoughts on the fraught situation facing the ''Infinity'' and the futility of speculating on what might have been.}}<ref name="lootcrate11">''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]'' ''[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #11]]''</ref>

Palmer and Halsey both managed to survive the downing of their Pelican and by the next day they had made it to [[Thel 'Vadam|the Arbiter]]'s encampment in [[Nuusra]].<ref name="HBB1">''[[Halo: Bad Blood]]'', ''Chapter 1''</ref> Palmer, by that point, was walking with a pronounced limp and sporting facial injuries alongside her now heavily damaged armor.<ref name="H5GGU">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Guardians]]''</ref> Using [[Forerunner]] technology she had been fiddling with since first arriving on the planet, Halsey was able to receive a coded message from [[Roland]] on the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, who informed her that [[Earth]] had been [[Subjugation of Earth|taken offline]] by the rogue A.I.s and that they had just managed to escape.{{Ref/Reuse|HBB1}} He said the ship was now slipspace-hopping on a random trajectory but would be showing up off the far side of [[Suban]] the next day at 1800 hours and remaining there for fifteen minutes. The coordinates the A.I. provided could be reached in a matter of hours with space-capable transportation. Fortunately, after darkness had fallen over the region the approach of [[India 127|a Pelican]] drew Palmer, Halsey, 'Vadam, and two other [[Swords of Sanghelios]] to emerge from a tent to meet it. Spartan Locke and the [[Master Chief]] had barely disembarked before Palmer used comms to direct the bird's pilot, [[Kelly-087]], to shut down all its lights. She explained that a Guardian had blacked out the entire area soon after Cortana's ultimatum had been broadcast, and she certainly did not want it noticing them. The rest of [[Fireteam Osiris]] and [[Blue Team]] followed their leaders. After Halsey explained her recent point of contact with Roland, Palmer had to admit to Locke she'd had nothing to do with the message's receipt, seeing as all her off-world communications systems were shot. Sarah jokingly pointed out that for all she knew the doctor had rigged a [[wavespace|subspace radio]] hidden in her lab coat to send [[Wikipedia:Morse code|Morse code]], which only earned her the older woman's annoyance. Midway through a meal of [[colo]] and [[kuscatu]] served by their [[Sangheili]] hosts, Palmer sat down with Osiris and Blue Team and debriefed with her fellow Spartans, elaborating on the arrival of another Guardian at the planet and its subsequent neutralization of what remained of the [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant]] fleet. The Chief, [[John-117]], asked what had become of this Guardian, to which she replied that they couldn't be sure. Some reports indicated it was on the other side of [[Sanghelios]]. A little less than an hour before sunrise the next day the Spartans and Halsey all piled into the Pelican.{{Ref/Reuse|HBB1}} The ''Infinity'' arrived almost exactly on schedule.{{Ref/Reuse|HBB1}} Kelly docked the Pelican in the ship's Portside Bay Five and all were then met there by a lieutenant who had come to escort Palmer, Halsey, John, and Locke to the bridge to see Captain [[Thomas Lasky|Lasky]].<ref name="HBB2">''[[Halo: Bad Blood]]'', ''Chapter 2''</ref> The commander dismissed the others with a sharp nod, telling them to get cleaned up and decompress for a bit before she met with them again.{{Ref/Reuse|HBB2}}

The ''Infinity'' then began a series of randomized [[slipspace]] jumps in order to avoid detection by Cortana's [[Guardian Custode|Guardian]]s, emerging from slipspace at its first vector point that very day.{{Ref/Reuse|HBB2}}<ref name="lootcrate12">''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]'' ''[[Halo Legendary Crate/Data Drops|Data Drop #12]]''</ref> That same day [[Roland]] answered a distress call from the {{UNSCShip|Sentry of El Morro}} with the affirmation that the supercarrier was on its way to assist it.<ref name="HFRW">''[[Halo: Fractures]]'', ''[[Rossbach's World (story)|Rossbach's World]]''</ref> By the start of November, the ship exited slipspace at one point to receive the recently reassembled Spartan team [[Alpha-Nine]], which had just concluded a mission on the [[United Rebel Front]]-held world [[Cassidy III]].<ref name="HBB21">''[[Halo: Bad Blood]]'', ''Chapter 21''</ref> Returning with the team was Captain [[Veronica Dare]] of ONI [[ONI Section One|Section One]], who rushed to debrief with Palmer and Lasky as soon as she was back. In addition to going over the events of the mission Dare also argued for the team's reinstatement of [[Spartan]] [[Michael Crespo]], who had been convicted of [[treason]] years prior. After taking a shower [[Edward Buck]], now leading the team as he had in the past, joined Palmer and Lasky in the captain's main conference room situated next to the observation deck. The commander was seated to Lasky's right at one end of a long table. Once they'd heard what happened at Cassidy III recounted by him they both assured him everyone on his team would be officially commended for their actions before standing to send him on his way. Buck couldn't keep himself from asking about [[Michael Crespo|Mickey]], however. Just by reading the look Lasky gave Palmer at this he could tell this was a point of contention between them. Palmer voiced that Mickey was lucky the UEG disagreed with capital punishment, even for traitors, and then chuckled when Buck asked to speak freely, as if he hadn't been doing so already. Buck argued that Mickey would never have turned on his teammates if they had still been fighting the [[Covenant]]. Sarah made the point in kind that they could only deal with reality as it was, but to this Buck argued that reality had just changed for them. Mickey had been used to make an alliance with the [[United Rebel Front|URF]] on Cassidy III and he suggested the man could further be made their official liaison to cement it. This reasoning ultimately won the day and both Palmer and Lasky tacitly agreed to the proposal.{{Ref/Reuse|HBB21}}

Following her return to the ''Infinity'' Commander Palmer spent some time running other Spartans through various [[Warzone]] simulations, offering commentary and advice during their matches.{{Ref/Reuse|HBB21}}<ref name="H5GW">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', [[Warzone]]</ref>{{Ref/Note|The presence of [[031 Exuberant Witness]], [[monitor]] of the [[Builder]] world [[Genesis]], as a [[multiplayer]] announcer in ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', may indicate that the ''Infinity'' had to receive her at some point. [[343 Industries]] writer [[Jeff Easterling]] has said, however, that Witness' presence on the ship may not be entirely canonical.}} By [[2559#January|January 23, 2559]], they were still on the run, performing erratic jumps to evade discovery.{{Ref/Reuse|lootcrate12}} On that date at around 0852 hours Palmer was interviewed by a Spartan from [[Fireteam Apollo]] with the serial number [[92738-61842-LC]].{{Ref/Reuse|lootcrate11}} This individual had been tasked by Captain Lasky with investigating what was being dubbed "the Guardian Incident". Sarah wanted to hit the combat deck before 0900 so she urged her interviewer to get through the questions they had for her quickly. She granted her permission to be recorded and also let them know she was well aware of the directive the captain had given them, seeing as she was required to sign off on all Spartan asset reprioritizations. Even so, she was unsure what she could add to the Spartan's investigation. They answered this by bringing up the day less than two years prior on which Palmer had first encountered Cortana on [[Requiem]]. Asked to describe the A.I.'s condition at that time, Palmer said she had been unstable but not necessarily [[Rampancy|rampant]], having perhaps days or weeks remaining to her in her estimation. The commander confirmed the events of that day on the bridge of the ''Infinity'' to her questioner and asked after their purpose in going over such details. When her opinion on whether or not Cortana should have been committed to final dispensation was requested Palmer said she didn't think it had been necessary. Without any further questions to answer she wished the Spartan luck and began to taker her leave, but not before being asked one more question. Palmer had briefly suggested during their short discussion that Cortana's unique creation could have had something to do with what had happened with her recently, so when asked who could tell them more about that, she pointed them to Halsey.{{Ref/Reuse|lootcrate11}}