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Battle over Installation 07

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Battle over Installation 07
UNSC Infinity being rammed by a Banished dreadnought, from the Halo Infinite Campaign Launch Trailer

Conflict:

Post-Covenant War conflicts

Date:

December 12–13, 2559[2]

Location:

In orbit of Installation 07, Ephsu I, Ephsu system

Outcome:

Overwhelming Banished victory[3]

Details
Belligerents
Commanders
Strength

Banished fleet

Casualties

Unknown

Unknown

 

"Do you know how long it took us to neutralize your greatest ship? Four minutes. In four minutes, the Infinity, mankind's finest achievement, became a memory."
War Chief Escharum.[8]

This Battle over Installation 07 was an engagement that took place on December 12, 2559, between the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) and the Banished over the Installation 07 and Ephsu I within Ephsu system.[4] The battle over Installation 07 ultimately resulted in the scattering of both UNSC and Banished forces on Installation 07, as part of the larger protracted conflict on the ring.[3]

Background

In October, 2558, the Created conflict begun, with the leader of the Created, Cortana, claiming the Mantle of Responsibility to enforce peace throughout the galaxy with the Guardian Custodes under her command. She made a general broadcast, inviting numerous species and factions to submit themselves to the guardianship of the Created,[11] but threatened those who would resist her leadership with violence.[12]

In 2559, the Jiralhanae Atriox, the leader of a group of mercenary raiders known as the Banished, discovered the existence of the Xalanyn.[13] Seeking to uncover this secret hidden by the Forerunners, Atriox prepared his Banished forces to travel to Installation 07.[14] During his preparations for the journey to Installation 07, Atriox was personally confronted by Cortana. The Jiralhanae declared his independence from Cortana, and thus, opposition against the Created. In a show of force for Atriox's defiance, Cortana commanded her Guardians to destroy the Jiralhanae homeworld Doisac while communicating with Atriox.[1] Seeking to access the ring's secrets and exact revenge against Cortana, Atriox led his Banished forces to Installation 07, where the Created leader resided.[14]

Meanwhile, the UNSC Infinityand its fleet, which included an advance group of six Mulsanne-class light frigates, also traveled to Installation 07.[15] The UNSC was to carry out a plan devised by Doctor Catherine Halsey: send Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 to the surface of the ring and deploy the Weapon to lock down Cortana, then return her to the Infinity for deletion.[16][17]

Battle

File:HINF John Fighting on Infinity.jpg
John-117 fighting aboard UNSC Infinity

Upon arrival at Installation 07, the advance group of frigates and the UNSC Infinity were ambushed by the Banished,[18][19] with the Infinity sustaining multiple hull breaches from the initial attack.[2] The Banished had arrived at the ring earlier, and begun fortifying the ring's surface to neutralize Cortana.[13] They also sent raiding parties aboard the Infinity,[2] all the while sending occupation forces to the ring's surface by the hundreds.[9]

The Infinity had been prepared for a ground assault and was caught by surprise. Four approaching Banished dreadnoughts attacked the supercarrier and overwhelmed its defenses.[8] Within minutes, the supercarrier had sustained three heavy impacts on its starboard hull and one on its portside hull. As the main engine went offline, Captain Lasky ordered the deployment of the Weapon.[20] John-117 left the bridge after the initial attack to repel the Banished boarding parties,[2] but he returned to escort Captain Lasky to a dropship.[21] Lasky, accompanied by John-117 and several marines,[22] linked up with the Spartan-IVs of Fireteam Taurus and proceeded to the hangar bays, which had been overrun by Banished forces.[23]

Upon arriving at the hangar, John-117 ordered Spartan Hudson Griffin to take Lasky to a dropship while he held off the boarders at the hangar bay.[24] However, despite his efforts, the hangar bay would eventually be lost to the Banished. As one dreadnought rammed the dorsal hull of the Infinity, causing massive structural damage, John-117 encountered Atriox in the hangar bay and lost the duel. The Spartan was thrown from the hangar bay and into space.[4][6] Upon hearing of the loss of the Master Chief, Fernando Esparza, a civilian engineering contractor, panicked and stole a Pelican, Echo 216, and fled from the doomed vessel.[25]

Meanwhile, Lasky, escorted by marines and Fireteam Taurus, fought their way to a lifeboat,[10] allowing the former to escape onboard. Griffin and the other members of Taurus refused to accompany Lasky in his dropship, electing to stay behind. Once inside the ship, Lasky began issuing a general evacuation call, but was cut off mid-sentence as his ship came under fire.[26] After ensuring Captain Lasky’s lifeboat was away, Spartan Griffin ordered the evacuation of the remaining Spartan-IVs.[10] Spartan-IVs, marines, and crew fled onboard drop pods,[27] Pelicans,[28] and lifeboats to the surface of Installation 07.[29] Many escapees came under fire from Banshees, Phantoms, and anti-air artillery,[30] though some were escorted by members of Fireteam Windfall onboard fighters.[31] Dropships and lifepods fled the Infinity, many being shot down seconds after exiting the vessel.[30]

Fireteam Taurus escaped onboard Victor 321, but Spartan Griffin commanded the pilot land near three Banished anti-air artilleries already set up on the ring's surface, to disable the cannons and ensure the safety of the incoming survivors.[30][32]

Aftermath

Installation 07

A view of the fractured Installation 07. From Halo Infinite campaign level Warship Gbraakon.
The Halo was broken after the explosion caused by Cortana to deny the Banished from using it, while as well moved to an unknown star system.

As UNSC forces scattered over the ring and fought against the Banished forces, Atriox confronted Cortana, claiming he had killed John-117, leaving the latter devastated by the news of John-117's apparent death. Having consolidated her presence and core processes at the Silent Auditorium and seemingly locked down by the Weapon deployed from UNSC Infinity,[14] Cortana could not retaliate.[33] Atriox presented her with the terms of her surrender, intending to take control of the ring and unlock the secrets locked within the Silent Auditorium.[34] In an attempt to prevent Atriox from accessing Silent Auditorium or possibly activating the ring, Cortana initiated a local self-dstruction sequence at the Auditorium, killing herself, fracturing the ring's surface, and leaving the installation inoperable.[13][35] Her efforts were proven to be temporary, as the ring begun its self-repair process days later,[36] although it would take a considerable amount of time without the Reformation spires to facilitate the process.[37] Although he survived the explosion, Atriox was left severely scarred,[38] and was also presumed dead by both the UNSC and the Banished.[4] Cortana, in hopes of John-117's survival, predicted he would stop the Banished from accessing the Silent Auditorium and prevented the Weapon's deletion protocol so she could assist him,[35] leaving the Weapon in the ring's subterranean structure for retrieval.[39]

During the destruction event, Cortana also initiated an emergency translcation protocol, intending to disorient the Banished and stall their efforts.[14] Installation 07, along with the debris from the space battle, was transported away from the the Ephsu system to an unknown location.[40] However, the movement was not limited to the ring itself, as debris from the space battle were transported as well. Notably, Echo 216 and its pilot were left adrift near the installation.[41][4]

UNSC and Banished conflict

Main article: Installation 07 conflict

"We lost. Lost everything. There's nothing left for us here. I don't even know where here is."
Fernando Esparza to John-117.[41]

The explosion from the battle affected the ground battle between the UNSC and the Banished. The ring's fragmentation scattered ground forces,[42] but disabled Banished anti-air cannons,[43] allowing more UNSC aircraft to land on the ring. However, the battle resulted in heavy casualties among personnel assigned to the UNSC Infinity, with the Infinity crash-landing on the ring.[3][5][Note 1]

On December 15, Spartan Vedrana Makovich located the wreckage of UNSC Mortal Reverie on one of the ring's fragments. The crash site was established as a UNSC base of operations, gathering other UNSC forces at the site.[44] She contacted Spartan Griffin,[44] and was joined by other Spartans. From there, the UNSC would conduct guerilla warfare against the Banished.

Participants

UNSC

Starships

Fleet Class Name Status
Unknown Infinity-class supercarrier UNSC Infinity Presumed destroyed
Mulsanne-class light frigate UNSC Mortal Reverie Destroyed

Military personnel

Branch Rank Name Status
UNSC Navy Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 Survived, assumed MIA
Captain Thomas Lasky Unknown
Spartan Operations Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer Unknown
Spartan Bertold Vettel Escaped
Bonita Stone Escaped
Henri Malik Escaped
Hudson Griffin Escaped
Intrepid One Escaped
Jameson Locke[25] Unknown
Nina Kovan Escaped
Theodore Sorel Escaped
Tomas Horvath Escaped
Vedrana Makovich Escaped
UNSC Marine Corps First Lieutenant Floyd Escaped
Private First Class Miyazaki Escaped
Private Chamberlain Escaped
Civilian contractors N/A Fernando Esparza Escaped

Vehicles

Type Name Status
Pelican Echo 216 Escaped

Artificial intelligence

Main article: Artificial intelligence
Name Status
"The Weapon" Survived

Banished

Military personnel

Branch Rank Name Status
Command Warmaster Atriox Survived

Gallery

List of appearances

Notes

  1. ^ a b Although Game Informer has reported that the Infinity crashed on the surface on the ring, the ship was never explicitly mentioned as having crashed on the ring's surface in-game, with Echo 216 unable to locate the supercarrier, casting some doubt on the Infinity's true fate.

Sources

  1. ^ a b Halo Infinite, campaign mission Reckoning: Repository
  2. ^ a b c d Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Infinity's Approach #04 - Arrival
  3. ^ a b c d e Halo Infinite Campaign Gameplay Premiere
  4. ^ a b c d e f Halo Infinite, campaign mission Ringfall: Warship Gbraakon
  5. ^ a b Game Informer, Off The Golden Path – Progression And Exploration In Halo Infinite: "[...] while rallying the UNSC forces that have crash-landed there after the devastating destruction crash of the UNSC Infinity." (Retrieved on Nov 11, 2021) [archive]
  6. ^ a b c Game Informer, Issue #341 - page 43
  7. ^ Halo Infinite, campaign mission Ringfall: Foundation
  8. ^ a b c Halo Infinite, campaign mission Reckoning: House of Reckoning: "You were there when we struck the Infinity. The first dreadnought came from the side. In the chaos that followed, you hardly had time to notice the other three bear down upon you. Do you know how long it took us to neutralize your greatest ship? Four minutes. In four minutes, the Infinity, mankind's finest achievement, became a memory." - Escharum
  9. ^ a b Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Infinity's Approach #07 - Objectives
  10. ^ a b c Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Evacuation #01 - Infinity Down
  11. ^ Halo 5: Guardians, campaign level Guardians
  12. ^ Halo: Fractures - What Remains
  13. ^ a b c Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 25
  14. ^ a b c d Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 423
  15. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Infinity's Approach #01 - Preparations
  16. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Recovered Files #04 - The Weapon
  17. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Infinity's Approach #03 - Duty Clearance
  18. ^ Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Parallel Threads (Retrieved on Jun 25, 2021) [archive]
  19. ^ Halo: Shadows of Reach, chapter 1
  20. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Infinity's Approach #05 - Zero Hour
  21. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Infinity's Approach #06 - Ingress
  22. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Infinity's Approach #08 - Losing Ground
  23. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Infinity's Approach #09 - Taurus
  24. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Infinity's Approach #10 - Priorities
  25. ^ a b Halo Infinite, campaign mission Graveyards: Pelican Down
  26. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Infinity's Approach #12 - Abandon Ship
  27. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Evacuation #07 - Intrepid Descent
  28. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Ringfall #01 - Enemy Territory
  29. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Ringfall #02 - The Calm Before
  30. ^ a b c Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: evacuation #03 - Touchdown
  31. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: evacuation #06 - Buying Time
  32. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Ringfall #03 - Priority One
  33. ^ Halo Infinite, campaign mission Endless: Silent Auditorium: "Look around, Cortana. Your Empire. Over! Your great plan? Ended at the hands of those who made you." - Atriox
  34. ^ Halo Infinite, campaign mission Endless: Silent Auditorium: "I have learned so much, Cortana. this Ring is different. It has secrets within... That I will have. This... Silent Auditorium. Do you know its history? Its true purpose? I have little needs for a failed god. This Ring is all I need. Surrender it to me." - Atriox
  35. ^ a b Halo Infinite, campaign mission Endless: Silent Auditorium: "It was her. She destroyed the Ring. Stopped my deletion." - The Weapon
  36. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Reverie #04 - On the Mend
  37. ^ Halo Infinite, campaign mission Connections: Spire
  38. ^ Halo Infinite, post-credits cinematic
  39. ^ Halo Infinite, campaign mission Ringfall: Foundation
  40. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Outpost Intel #09 - To Andrew Valleros
  41. ^ a b Discover Hope
  42. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Ringfall #07 - Alone
  43. ^ Halo Infinite, UNSC Audio log: Ringfall #04 - Run and Guns
  44. ^ a b Halo Infinite, Spartan Audio log: Reverie #01 - Home Away From Home