2524

June

• Mid June: Insurrectionists hit the luxury liner National Holiday above Reach, detonating explosives against its hull. The ship plummets into Reach's atmosphere, burning up via re-entry. ONI manages to portray it as a tragic accident.

• June 16: Staff Sergeants Byrne and Avery J. Johnson lead two four-man teams on a raid in Casbah on Tribute in the Epsilon Eridani System to find rebel bombs . The assault is part of Operation: TREBUCHET.

August

• August 7: Marcille passes away.

• August 10: Johnson arrives in Chicago, Earth, after the botched operation on Tribute. He goes to visit his aunt Marcille, only to find that she passed away three days ago. In grief, he goes on a drinking spree. Eventually, he's found by Lieutenant Downs.

September

• September 2: The UNSC Horn of Plenty emerges from slipspace in error, courtesy of a radiation leak and sends out a distress beacon. It is all for nothing however, the ship being attacked and captured by a Covenant vessel.

• September 3: Horn of Plentys navigation box is retrieved by the Covenant forces, its contents analyzed by the Huragok Lighter than Some. It finds the vessel's point of origin. The Covenant ship (Minor Transgression) heads off to obtain more spoils.

• September 16: Horn of Plentys signal reaches Harvest, being recieved by the AI Sif.

December

• December 21: The UNSC Two for Flinching, carrying Johnson and many others, arrives at the Epsilon Indi System. Simultaniously, al-Cyngi is briefed by the AIs Sif and Mack.

• Late December: Minor Transgression launches a raid on the freighter This End Up, killing its captain Henry Gibson. Awhile later, Sif reports the attack to al-Cyngi, both realising that it was the only ship in the area with a human crew.