ANVIL Station

Anvil Station
Production information
Role:	Space station
Specifications
Complement:	Squadrons of interceptors; Spartan security units;
Service information
Noteworthy crewmembers:	Doctor Luther Mann; Chief Warrant Officer Dariya Voronkov; Spartan Commander Vinay Sahil;
Known commanders:	Stationmaster Toda 'Murajai
Affiliation:	UNSC; Swords of Sanghelios;

Anvil Station, sometimes written as ANVIL Station,^[2] is a secret UNSC space station in orbit over an unknown planet. The Spartan-IVs and Swords of Sanghelios' Sangheili warriors use the station to run War Games exercises in which they hone their combat skills and test experimental technology.^[3]^[4]

Overview

Spartans and Sangheili working together onboard Anvil Station.

Crew and complement

Anvil Station is defended by dedicated squadrons of interceptors, with their pilots sporting the AVIATOR Mjolnir. The station has an additional internal security detail, with Spartans attached to these units noted to prefer the AIR ASSAULT armor.^[2]^[1] A number of Swords of Sanghelios personnel are additionally attached to the station as part of the ANVIL project, with Sangheili pilots conducting cross-training exercises with their Spartan counterparts. Some of these exercises include the operation of Banshees.^[5] As well, the Riftborn maintain a presence on the station.^[6]

Fighter wings

Amity Wing
Harmony Wing - Consisted of at least four pilots
Sympathy Wing
Union Wing - Consisted of at least two pilots with the callsigns Union 3 and 4.^[5]

Testing

The station has seen the oversight and testing of the following MJOLNIR suits;

COS - ANVIL cyber operations specialists use this chassis to mount experimental counter-intrusion modules.^[2]^[1]
COMPASS - Swords of Sanghelios artisan-armorers aboard the station produced experimental multi-band sensorary receptors for this suit.^[2]^[1]
DEADEYE - Tested on ANVIL Station in cross-training exercises with Sangheili Rangers.^[2]^[1]
DEMO - Tested on the station on behalf of an unidentified third party.^[2]^[1]
HAMMERHEAD - Some Mjolnir prototypes being tested on ANVIL Station are being evaluated for use in exotic atmospheres and irradiated environments.^[2]^[1]
HIVEMIND - ANVIL Station was deemed the perfect testing ground for suits designed for Flood outbreak containment.^[2]^[1]
INFILTRATOR - This suit features experimental intrusion suites devloped by ANVIL's teams.^[2]^[1]
LANCER - This suit features data gleaned from recovered Forerunner technology, integrated for ANVIL testing.^[2]^[1]
NAVIGATOR - Certain MJOLNIR Mark VII technologies have found their way into ANVIL Station testing armor.^[2]^[1]
NOMDAGRO - The assistance of ANVIL Station's Sangheili lorekeepers in deciphering data recovered from ancient vessels have provided unprecedented opportunities for advancement.^[2]^[1]
PIONEER - Following its debut usage on Installation 03, Acheron Security hoped to use ANVIL to test out improvements to the PIONEER suit.^[2]^[1]
RHINE - Even the most carefully crafted tool of destruction requires field testing to refine and sharpen.^[2]^[1]
SOLDIER - This suit was tested on ANVIL and deemed one of the platform's most versatile variants.^[2]^[1]
SUTURE - Recently approved suit tested on ANVIL Station for use by Spartan medics.^[2]^[1]
TANKER - This suit was tested on ANVIL Station, and its resiliency was noted to impress even the Sangheili cohort.^[2]^[1]
WARRIOR - Despite being one of the platform's most mainline kits, WARRIOR was given testing in ANVIL's training courses.^[2]^[1]

Service history

Origins

During the Human-Covenant War, Anvil Station was a repair and resupply outpost, but it fell into disuse. After the formal end of the war against the Covenant, the UNSC looked for a way to put the station to use again, with the task falling to Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood. On July 2, 2553, knowing that there were emerging generations for whom the Covenant War would eventually be a distant memory and seeing the opportunity to lay a foundation of hope for the future, FADM Hood proposed to the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam — leader of the emerging Swords of Sanghelios — to use Anvil Station as the base for the Project: CRUCIBLE: the creation of a multispecies task force, and the development of new technologies between human and Sangheili; Thel 'Vadam would end up accepting Hood's proposal.^[7]

Anvil Initiative

Anvil Station is the result of a classified partnership between the UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios, retrofitted to support the newly-established Anvil Initiative and Project CRUCIBLE. Anvil Station was designed for the UNSC to test skunkworks technologies clandestine prototypes, some destined for full and successful production runs, others merely serving as a stop-gap in the development pipeline of Mjolnir components, weapon advancements, and more. Additionally, the station proved home to combat test simulations for both Spartan and Sangheili troops, hoping to test technologies and hone their combat skills.^[2]

Sangheili lorekeepers would help in deciphering information that would be later used in the NOMDAGRO-class Mjolnir. Anvil would also test armors manufactured by third-parties as well, such as with PIONEER-class Mjolnir for Acheron Security.^[2]^[1] Prior to March 3, 2560, a set of ASSAILER-class armor would be transferred to Anvil Station after an Office of Naval Intelligence operation on Venezia.^[7]

By March 3, 2560, human and Sangheili personnel would receive a distress signal from Nysa, forcing the station to mobilize some of their forces, including three D81-LRT Condors and Amity, Harmony, and Sympathy wings to the A'uzr-pattern sword frigate Sword of Conjunction to answer it.^[7]

Non-canon and dubious canon appearances

Halo Online

Blueprints of the station.

Anvil Station was originally introduced into Halo as the setting for Halo Online and its multiplayer. The game's cancellation means that much of the released details about Halo Online from that era are now-considered non-canon. The below section records information released about Anvil Station that has yet to be corroborated in a more recent canon source.

Design details

Built by the UNSC, Anvil Station was created for the Spartan-IV program for use in training human and Sangheili forces.^[8] The station consists of a large, cylindrical mid-structure featuring a command center on top. The structure is surrounded by two disk-shaped facilities, with the upper one consisting of several decks used for simulation training, and the lower one comprising of living quarters. At the lower end of the station are docking ports for transport modules. The station has a projected operational life of 250 years and in total there are 7,365 humans and Sangheili working on-board.^[9]

History

On January 28, 2552, the designs for the station were approved. As early as 2553, the ANVIL initiative saw a number of very select joint training engagements between Spartan-IVs and Swords of Sanghelios Sangheili.^[10] As of January 28, 2555, the station saw heavy use of experimental technology in use between Sangheili and Spartans.^[9]^[11]

Production notes

During development, Anvil Station was referred to as "Crucible Station".^[12]

Anvil Station was the setting for the cancelled Halo Online game. After the game's cancellation, both the station and the Anvil Initiative have been mentioned in ancillary media, such as Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual. With the arrival of Series 5: Anvil on Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Anvil Station was mentioned for the first time as the testing ground of several new armors added into Halo 3's armor customization and the namesake of the aforementioned Season. It was later the basis for an eponymously titled multiplayer operation in Halo Infinite.