User:Ynoss/sandbox/Mission to destroy Installation 04

Previous:	Battle for the Control Room
Concurrent:	Battle for the Truth and Reconciliation
Next:	Skirmish over Threshold
Mission to destroy Installation 04
Conflict:	Human-Covenant War Battle of Installation 04
Date:	September 22, 2552
Location:	UNSC Pillar of Autumn landing zone, Installation 04
Outcome:	Decisive UNSC victory Total destruction of Truth and Reconciliation and all forces involved
Details Belligerents United Nations Space Command Covenant Covenant Special Operations Forerunner constructs Flood Commanders Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee 343 Guilty Spark Strength John-117 Three D77-TC Pelicans 312 humans 235 Marines and ODSTs 76 Naval personnel Sangheili Unggoy Kig-Yar Mgalekgolo Pod infectors Combat forms Carrier forms Casualties Total (Save for John-117 and Cortana) Total Total (Save for 343 Guilty Spark) Total

During the climax of the ongoing campaign on Installation 04, the Ket-pattern battlecruiser Truth and Reconciliation became the focus of an ongoing battle between the forces of the Covenant defenders, the Flood and the United Nations Space Command.

Background

On September 19, 2552, the Truth and Reconciliation was one of the several Ket-pattern battlecruisers to take part in a space engagement over Installation 04. During the fighting, the Reconciliation was heavily damaged by UNSC Pillar of Autumn and forced to land to conduct maintenance and repairs, leading to the vessel being employed as a base of operations for Covenant ground forces on the ring. That evening, the ship was the subject of a raid conducted by a team led by John-117, using the simultaneous raid on the downed Autumn as a distraction.

The raid was very damaging to the Covenant on the ring, with the ship's commanding officer Lat 'Ravamee killed and the fact proven that humans could trick the Covenant's detection systems. In response, the perimeter surrounding the ship's gravity lift was fortified and teams began a compartment-by-compartment sweep of the ship to ensure no humans remained in hiding.

Later on in the conflict, a series of squabbles between the Fleet of Particular Justice's fleetmaster, Thel 'Vadamee and the assigned Minor Prophet, the Prophet of Stewardship, saw the former attempt to board the carrier Ascendant Justice - resulting in the Minor Prophet retreating groundside and establishing the still-grounded Truth and Reconciliation as his base of operations.

Battle

Having been extracted from the war between the Covenant and Flood, Fireteam Raven were deployed via M12B Warthog with a new mission; assist a convoy of UNSC Marine forces making one final assault on the Pillar of Autumn. The assault consisted of a handful of Falcon gunships, Warthogs and Pelicans attempting to distract Covenant forces to buy time for John-117 to complete his mission. The convoy fought through heavy Covenant resistance, including Phantoms and Wraiths before being alerted to the arrival of the Spartan in a Banshee commandeered from the Truth and Reconciliation. Although the Covenant aircraft largely ignored the Banshee - thinking it one of their own - the Deutoros-pattern Scarab in the region began to bear down on it, chased by Fireteam Raven.

The Spartan, through Cortana's instruction, fought his way to the ship's bridge. The UNSC AI started the ship's self-destruct sequence, only to discover to her dismay that the Guilty Spark had halted the sequence. Cortana deduced that the Monitor was in Engineering and was attempting to take the Autumn's engines offline. John-117 decided to overload the engines by manually cracking the engine's magnetic containment fields.

During the battle aboard the Autumn, the few remaining UNSC survivors rallied for a final defensive action around the crash site to prevent the Covenant or the Flood from interfering with the Chief's mission, having learned of his intentions to destroy the ring. The Covenant sent a Deutoros-pattern Scarab to destroy the UNSC forces and then to ambush the Chief aboard the cruiser, but this assault was thwarted by the ODSTs of Fireteam Raven. The remaining Marine forces were then overrun and all survivors in the immediate vicinity were left at the mercy of the Autumn's imminent detonation.

The Autumn's engines detonate, destroying the Halo Installation.

The Spartan fought his way through Cryo B to reach Engineering. Following Cortana's instructions, he destroyed each of the four engines by launching explosives into the open shafts, destabilizing the containment fields. Cortana calculated that the pair had 15 minutes to evacuate the ship before the engines detonated. The Spartan headed for the shaft of elevator V-1269, where he was ambushed by Zuka 'Zamamee. The trap almost succeeded, but with Cortana's help, the Chief killed Zuka 'Zamamee by knocking the Sangheili to the bottom of the shaft. He then rode the elevator to a Class-7 Service Corridor located along the ship's dorsal structure. Using a Warthog, he drove along the length of the Corridor to External Access Junction 4C, where Echo 419 was to pick the Chief up one last time. However, two Banshees shot down the Pelican, killing Foe Hammer. John-117 was then forced to drive to Launch Bay 7, where a single Longsword fighter was still docked. The Spartan successfully boarded the ship and escaped Halo. Moments later, the Autumn's engines detonated, blowing a five-kilometer hole in the region around the ship and destroying Halo - bringing the battle to an end.

Realising the impending fate of the ringworld, Supreme Commander 'Vadamee ordered all remaining ships of the Fleet of Particular Justice to take cover behind the gas giant Threshold, ignoring the request made by the Minor Prophet.

Aftermath

Cortana: "Just dust and echoes... we're all that's left... We did what we had to do! For Earth! An entire Covenant armada obliterated and the Flood! We had no choice! Halo... it's finished."

John-117: "No. I think we're just getting started."

— Conversation between Cortana and the Master Chief following their escape.

List of appearances

• Halo: Combat Evolved (First appearance)
• Halo: The Flood
• Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
• Halo Mythos (Mentioned only)