Editing Skirmish over Threshold

{{Status|Canon}}
{{References}}
{{battle infobox
|prev=[[Battle of Installation 04]]
|conc=
|next=[[Raid on Reach]]
|conflict=[[Human-Covenant War]]
|name=Skirmish over Threshold
|image=[[File:Fight on Ascendant Justice.png|315px]]<br>John-117, and two Marines fighting on the ''Ascendant Justice''.
|date=September 22nd, 2552
|place=[[Soell|Soell System]], around remains of [[Installation 04]]
|result='''Tactical UNSC victory'''
*''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' captured 
|side1=*{{Icon|UNSC HCW}} [[United Nations Space Command]]
|side2=*{{Icon|Covenant FB}} [[Covenant]]
|commanders1=
*[[Artificial intelligence|AI]] [[Cortana]]
*[[Master Chief Petty Officer|Master Chief]] [[John-117]].
|commanders2=
*[[Thel 'Vadam]]ee
|forces1=
*1 [[Longsword]]
**1 [[Pelican]]
**2 [[SPARTAN-II]] super soldiers (one in Cryogenic suspension)
**4 Other UNSC Personnel (1 Marine, 1 ODST, 2 Naval crewmen) 
|forces2=[[Fleet of Particular Justice]]<ref name="reprint">'''[[Halo: The Flood|Halo: The Flood (2010)]]''', ''bonus content''</ref>
*1 {{Pattern|Ruma|light carrier}}
**''[[Ascendant Justice]]''
*** 100 Elites
***Grunts
***Engineers
**6 {{Pattern|Ket|battlecruiser}}s
|casual1=
*1 Pelican
|casual2=
*Majority of Covenant on board ''Ascendant Justice''
}}

The '''Skirmish over Threshold''' was an [[battle|engagement]] that took place after the [[Battle of Installation 04]] on [[2552#September|September 22, 2552]]. It was fought between human survivors from the [[Installation 04]] and the remnants of the [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] [[Fleet of Particular Justice]] in the debris field of the Halo ring in orbit around the gas giant [[Threshold]] in the [[Soell|Soell system]].<ref name="fs">'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', "Chapter 5-9"</ref>

== The battle ==
By the morning of September 22, the majority of the Covenant ships of the Fleet of Particular Justice abandoned [[Installation 04|Alpha Halo]] and took cover behind Threshold to avoid debris from the ring.{{Ref/Reuse|reprint}} The remaining [[seven]] ships under the command of the ''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' eventually moved out of the cover of the gas giant and begun to search the debris field, likely to monitor for any Flood activity or survivors.

Unbeknownst to the Covenant, [[John-117]] and several other [[UNSC]] personnel escaped before the destruction of Installation 04. John, onboard a [[GA-TL1 Longsword-class Interceptor|Longsword interceptor]] and with the aid of [[Cortana]], managed to locate the [[cryo-chamber]] of [[Linda-058]], which had been jettisoned from the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} before it crashed on the ring. Soon, another signal was detected from a UNSC [[D77-TC Pelican|Pelican dropship]], hiding behind a piece of debris from Installation 04. Unfortunately, the Covenant soon spotted the humans. Cortana maneuvered the Longsword into a slingshot orbit around [[Basis]], Threshold's [[moon]], and while on the moon's far side, they picked up the survivors from the Pelican. The survivors abandoned the dropship, loaded it with multiple [[M1011 Moray space mine]]s and sent it ahead of them as they prepared to hijack the ''[[Ascendant Justice]]'', the flagship of the Covenant fleet. Coming around Basis, they faced multiple [[Type-31 Seraph|Seraph fighters]], but managed to destroy them with Moray mines. 

[[File:Polaski cam.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Johnson and John raid the Covenant ship.]]
Piloted by [[Shiela Polaski]], the Longsword managed to fly into the flagship's [[hangar bay]]. From there, the humans made their way to the [[bridge]], where John faced a [[Special Operations Sangheili|Sangheili warrior]] in single combat, barely winning the duel. Cortana then vented the atmosphere out of the rest of the ship, killing most of the Covenant aboard.

After the rest of the Covenant vessels realized the ''Ascendant Justice'' had been captured by the UNSC, they started to fire on it. The [[Associated Intelligence|Covenant AI]] in the ship's systems also blocked Cortana's access to the ship's navigation controls and the slipspace drive, preventing them from escaping. During the engagement, Cortana maneuvered the ship deep into Threshold's [[Gravity well (physics)|gravity well]], and the other Covenant ships pursued. Meanwhile, John-117 took a [[Huragok]] to fix the ship's power coupling that kept Cortana from accessing the slipspace drive. At the last moment, the creature managed to fix the coupling, and while Cortana had thought a slipspace jump, as deep into the atmosphere as they were, would be impossible, she soon realized that the extent of Covenant slipspace technology was far greater than she had imagined and managed to perform an in-atmosphere slipspace jump away from Threshold.{{Ref/Reuse|fs}}

The ''Ascendant Justice'' would arrive at Reach in a matter of hours. From there, the human survivors were joined by the other surviving Spartan-IIs and [[Vice Admiral]] [[Danforth Whitcomb]].{{clear}}

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: First Strike]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo Mythos]]'' {{Mo}}

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

{{Human-Covenant War}}
[[Category:UNSC victories|Threshold]]
[[Category:Battles of the Human-Covenant War|Threshold]]