New Phoenix Incident: Difference between revisions

*Population of New Phoenix composed (seven million)

|side1=*{{Icon|UEG}}[[Unified Earth Government]]

**{{Icon|UNSC Post}} [[United Nations Space Command]]

|side2=*{{Icon|Didact}}[[Didact|Didact's]] [[Prometheans#Mechanical Prometheans|Prometheans]]

|commanders1=[[Thomas Lasky|CAPT Thomas Lasky]]

*1 [[Broadsword]]

**MCPO [[John-117]]

The '''New Phoenix Incident''',<ref name="departure">'''Halo 4''', ''[[Spartan Ops]]'', ''[[Departure]]''</ref> or the '''Fall of New Phoenix''',<ref name="HE7">'''[[Halo: Escalation]]''' - ''Issue #7''</ref> was a brief engagement fought between the [[United Nations Space Command]] and the [[Ur-Didact]] and his [[Promethean]] forces in close proximity to [[Earth]] on [[2557|July 25, 2557]].{{Ref/Reuse|HE7}}<ref name="midnight">'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Midnight]]''</ref>

Having retrieved the [[Composer]] from [[Ivanoff Station]], the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]] set out to attack Earth in his ship, ''[[Mantle's Approach]]''. The Didact was unaware, however, that [[John-117]] and [[Cortana]], in a [[F-41 Broadsword|Broadsword]] fighter, had managed to breach the ship's shields and make the [[Slipstream space|slipspace]] journey along with it.<ref>'''Halo 4''', campaign level ''[[Composer (level)|Composer]]</ref> As the ship emerged near Earth, the [[UNSC Home Fleet]] was mustered in Earth's defense; including the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, now under the command of [[Thomas Lasky]]. Despite this preparation, the fleet's efforts were rendered useless by the advanced technology of the Didact's ship. Earth's orbital defense grid went into Red Alert, but even the [[Orbital Defense Platform]]s proved ineffective. Hunting for the Composer aboard ''Mantle's Approach'', John-117 and Cortana proceeded to destroy the turrets defending the ship's main weapon, allowing the ''Infinity'' to fire upon the Didact's ship to open a hole for the Master Chief's Broadsword. However, the interior defenses made the passage too narrow for the fighter to pass through and caused it to crash, forcing the Chief and Cortana to carry their [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon|HAVOK]] payload to the Composer on foot.{{Ref/Reuse|midnight}}

Due to uncertainty over the finality of the Didact's defeat, the [[UNSC Security Council]] decided to hide the details of the attack from the public, concealing it as an attack by the [[Covenant remnants]] stopped by the return of humanity's greatest hero, the Master Chief.<ref name="esc8">'''Halo: Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 8|Issue #8]]''</ref> Additionally, the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] quarantined [[New Phoenix]] for a year. Six months later, however, ONI public relations officer [[John Sullivan]] released a statement to the press confirming the Covenant were not responsible for the attack.{{Ref/Reuse|departure}}

The UNSC leadership's doubts about the Didact's "death" were not unfounded; the Promethean general had actually survived his fall into the Composer's slipspace rupture. The portal took him to the vicinity of the [[Composer's Abyss]] on [[Installation 03]], where he slaughtered Spartan [[Black Team]]. Allying himself with [[monitor]] [[859 Static Carillon]], the Didact then traveled to the [[Composer's Forge]] through a portal in the Composer's Abyss, intending to acquire new Composers and other instruments for his crusade against humankind. John-117 and [[Blue Team]] were [[Skirmish on Installation 03|deployed to Gamma Halo]] immediately after the massacre and confronted the Didact in the Composer's Forge.<ref>'''Halo: Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 9|Issue #9]]''</ref> Although their confrontation with the Didact proved perilous and nearly fatal, the Spartans eventually managed, with the aid of Static Carillon (who turned on the Didact after the latter broke an agreement between them), to "contain" the Didact as a threat.<ref>'''Halo: Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 10|Issue #10]]''</ref>

On [[2558#March|March 24, 2558]], eight months after the battle, the city's quarantine was lifted. A "Rebirth" ceremony was held in the city, presided over by [[President of the Unified Earth Government|UEG President]] [[Ruth Charet]].{{Ref/Reuse|HE7}}