Skirmish at Librarian's Rest

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Skirmish at Librarian's Rest
Conflict:	Post-Covenant War conflicts Requiem Campaign
Location:	"Librarian's Rest", Requiem, Epoloch system
Outcome:	Jul 'Mdama's Covenant victory Jul 'Mdama escapes with Doctor Catherine Halsey and one half of the Janus Key Minor UNSC victory Spartan Gabriel Thorne gets second half of the Janus Key
Details Belligerents United Earth Government United Nations Space Command Jul 'Mdama's Covenant Didact's Prometheans Commanders Captain Thomas Lasky Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer Spartan Paul DeMarco Supreme Commander Jul 'Mdama Strength Expeditionary Strike Group 1 Spartan Operations SPARTAN-IVs Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer Fireteam Majestic Several Sangheili Several Promethean Knights Casualties None Heavy

"Majestic, I have a personal favor to ask. Doctor Halsey has been abducted."

— Captain Thomas Lasky

The Skirmish at Librarian's Rest was an engagement during the Requiem Campaign taking place at "Librarian's Rest" when Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer attempted to assassinate Doctor Catherine Halsey and Fireteam Majestic attempted to rescue her.

Prelude

During the early stages of the Requiem Campaign, at the location known as "the Cauldron," Spartan Fireteam Crimson recovered a mysterious artifact which sucked in Doctor Henry Glassman when he accessed it aboard the UNSC Infinity. Subsequently, Doctor Catherine Halsey was brought aboard where she determined that the artifact was communicating information from the ship to Requiem.

As Halsey later attempted to understand the artifact, Jul 'Mdama utilized it to contact Halsey via her data pad to entice her into helping him, offering Halsey the truth about a great many things, including the Prometheans. As proof, Jul ensured that Fireteam Crimson retrieved "the Didact's Gift," a Durance containing the "soul" of a Promethean Knight who was originally a human digitized by the Composer during the New Phoenix Incident. Having provided proof, Jul further enticed Halsey by mentioning the Librarian, but Commander Sarah Palmer noticed Halsey's suspicious behavior and Captain Thomas Lasky had her arrested. However, Halsey subsequently escaped using an override code on Infinity's AI Roland and made contact with Jul whose identity she quickly deduced. Halsey offered Jul her help with the Librarian, but the communication was cut off by Roland who regained control of himself and alerted the ship's crew to Halsey's actions. Jul subsequently launched an invasion of the ship that ended with a Promethean Knight abducting Halsey.

On Requiem, Halsey was brought to "Librarian's Rest" where she was able to deactivate the protective shield that Glassman had inadvertently activated and enter the shrine containing the Librarian's imprint. In the shrine, Halsey met with the Librarian herself who provided Halsey with the Janus Key, a Forerunner artifact that provided the real-time location of all Forerunner technology in the galaxy. The Librarian warned that Requiem's time was almost at an end and ordered Halsey to take the Janus Key to the Absolute Record before sending her back to "Librarian's Rest."

After being alerted of the situation, Rear Admiral Serin Osman ordered Lasky to eliminate Halsey. Despite Lasky's objections, Palmer deployed to Requiem to carry out the assassination while Lasky contacted Fireteam Majestic, who had just delivered a rescued Glassman to a Pelican and asked them to rescue Halsey.

Battle

Infiltrating the shrine

Near the entrance to "Librarian's Rest," Commander Sarah Palmer silently assassinated at least one Sangheili as snuck inside. At the same time, Spartan Gabriel Thorne used the active camouflage he had stolen from Gek 'Lhar to try to sneak past the guarding Sangheili. With one sensing his presence, Thorne decloaked to draw the guards' attention while Hoya, Madsen and Grant fired down upon them from above and Paul DeMarco helped him on the ground, Thorne using his cloak to his advantage. DeMarco ordered Thorne to proceed while the rest of Fireteam Majestic dealt with the guards and Thorne recloaked to sneak the rest of the way inside.

Inside "Librarian's Rest," Halsey was expelled from the shrine following her encounter with the Librarian. Jul 'Mdama took one half of the Janus Key from her, failing to notice the second half that she still clutched. A cloaked Thorne assassinated one of the guards from behind and killed a second one with his assault rifle. Spotting Thorne, Halsey called out to him and threw Thorne her half of the Janus Key as Jul held Halsey in front of her and ordered his guards to kill the intruder.

Battle for Halsey

As Thorne examined the Janus Key half, he was saved from an attack by a Sangheili by Palmer who had just arrived. Jul called for the Prometheans to protect him, causing Promethean Knights to translocate in to battle the Spartans. Palmer attempted to kill Halsey with her M6H magnum, but only succeeded in hitting Halsey in the shoulder.

As Thorne and Palmer engaged the Promethean defenders, the rest of Fireteam Majestic arrived to lay down covering fire, allowing Thorne and Palmer to fight their way through the Prometheans towards Jul who backed up against the shrine. Before they could reach him, a Promethean Knight teleported away with Jul, Halsey and half of the Janus Key as the Spartans cleared "Librarian's Rest" of all other enemies.

Aftermath

After Jul 'Mdama escaped with Doctor Catherine Halsey, Palmer confronted Fireteam Majestic about their presence. When Paul DeMarco explained that they had been ordered to rescue Halsey, Palmer angrily declared her to be a traitor, only to have Gabriel Thorne reveal that Halsey had given him half of the Janus Key.

With Halsey missing, Captain Thomas Lasky dispatched all Spartan fireteams from the UNSC Infinity and at least three Vindication-class light battleships to search for her. Fireteam Crimson were able to trace Halsey's signal to several locations on Requiem, but ultimately lost her. Satisfied with what he had gotten, Jul returned to "the Cauldron" and set Requiem on a collision course with its sun, destroying the shield world. However, thanks to the efforts of Palmer and Fireteams Crimson and Majestic, the Infinity was able to escape the destruction with one half of the Janus Key while Jul got away with the other half. However, the attempt on her life causes Halsey to defect to Jul's side and offer him her help as she wants revenge.

List of appearances

• Halo 4
  • Spartan Ops (First appearance)