Editing Operation: RETRIBUTION

Over two hours later, the Kig-Yar vessel still had yet to jump to [[slipspace]]. It had been necessary to retrieve the HAVOKs and bring them aboard after the deal was struck. Unknown to the Jackals, each of them was inoperable and one was in reality a disguised starship emergency locator beacon, or "slipbeacon". Once they arrived at a new destination, it would be able to transmit that location to the {{UNSCShip|Silent Joe}}, the {{Class|Sahara|heavy prowler}} that had brought them to Venezia and which Blue Team was aboard. Around an hour after first arriving at Ziggy's hangar, [[spy gnat]]s covertly placed by [[Ash-G099]] transmitted a conversation between Chur'R-Sarch and her crew in the form of a microburst of data to the ''Silent Joe''. Rear Admiral Osman, Blue Team, and the ship's captain and senior intelligence analyst were present to overhear the Kig-Yar planning to deliver their cargo straight to the Keepers and to murder their guests with [[ostanalus]] gas. Captain [[Piers Ewen]] believed they had no choice but to extract the Ferrets, which was seconded by [[Lieutenant]] [[Anki Hersh]]. Fred was confident in the team's abilities and believed they could handle themselves. Osman and the Spartan-IIs were the only ones that knew about the [[Project CHRYSANTHEMUM|unique augmentations]] Mark, Ash, and Olivia had undergone that marked them as members of the [[SPARTAN-III program]]'s [[SPARTAN-III Gamma Company|Gamma Company]]. The decision was made to withhold from interfering due to Fred's confidence and a sense of owing it to [[Admiral]] [[Graselyn Tuwa|Tuwa]] to take risks in order to see her family returned safely.{{Ref/Novel|Id=R4|Ret|Chapter=4}}

The Kig-Yar's starsloop, ''[[Stolen Faith]]'', eventually departed Venezia for [[Pydoryn]] in the [[Shaps system]]. Having learned of the aliens' plan for them, the Ferrets devised a plan of their own. Before heading off to sleep, Mark secretly killed one crew member and switched out the ostanalus so that the dispersal of gas would be completely harmless. After it was released, the four humans played dead: Veta and Olivia in a sleeping compartment and Mark and Ash in the cargo hold, where they had been permitted to stay to guard the HAVOKs. All caught their would-be murderers by surprise. Veta and Olivia killed three Kig-Yar that came to check on them in their compartment and Mark and Ash did likewise to five more. Inside the casings of the inert nukes were four disassembled [[M7S SMG]]s and ammunition, which the Ferrets at this time put back together. With five Kig-Yar left aboard the ship to subdue, the females made for the flight deck where Chur'R-Sarch was sure to be while the boys went to put down any others. Veta and Olivia surprised one individual in the galley, who had no chance to defend himself whatsoever before three silenced rounds from Veta ended him. Sarch and a co-pilot were seated on the flight deck. The [[Chur'R]] was attempting to reason with Approach Control on the moon, [[Taram]], evidently the location of the Keepers' [[Salvation Base]]. The human on the other end of the communication channel was nervous about the Kig-Yar's stated intention to "deliver" nuclear devices to Castor. After being told they would have to wait for a vigilance squad to inspect their vessel, Sarch tossed her headset away in frustration and turned to find herself face-to-face with the human females. Olivia dropped the copilot as soon as she reached for something, presumably a weapon, but Sarch made excuses for why they had not traveled to Shamsa and denied ever trying to gas them. Her defenses fell away quickly, however, and once she was told they had been playing her all along, she said it was regretful the ostanalus did not work. She was shot and killed while diving for her copilot's controls.{{Ref/Novel|Id=R6|Ret|Chapter=6}}

To Veta's relief, the group of keepers in the Tronto came aboard using standard procedures and did not feel the need to use breaching charges. [[Creon|The first]] Jiralhanae that stepped out of the airlock was confronted by Veta alone, standing next to a pile of the starsloop's former masters. Naturally, seeing the corpses arrayed so caused him to train his [[Paegaas Workshop Spiker]] on her. The two were able to communicate through the Brute's use of a [[translation disk]], so Veta raised her hands and promised she could explain. She also revealed that she was holding a detonator in her hand. Pressing the button would have released the ostanulus gas throughout the ship, which the Jiralhanae naturally figured must be linked to the HAVOK devices Chur'R-Sarch had mentioned. Veta went along with this line of reasoning, telling him that getting everyone blown up probably wouldn't be of great service to the [[Covenant religion|True Path]]. He barked a command and three more Jiralhanae entered the ship to subsequently spread out and search for other humans, despite Veta's warnings against it. Each of the Spartans had taken a hidden position down one of three passageways that led away from the [[airlock]] and each soon had killed one of the Jiralhanae. The one in charge did not permit any further excursions down the hall, but did threaten Veta that she would not leave the system alive. At this, she countered with a threat of her own. She truthfully told him about the slipbeacon they carried with them, but instead of saying it had given their location to the ''Silent Joe'', she told him that they had been in touch with the Banished, who would certainly come there if they did not receive the ordnance that had been promised to them. The Jiralhanae was racked with uncertainty then and decided the appropriate course of action would be to bring the humans to the chief [[dokab]] on Taram, [[Castor]]. He could evaluate them and their devices and determine whether they spoke truthfully. Relieved that she had bought more time and a possibly greater chance at discovering what happened to the Tuwas, Veta handed over the detonator, but not before transferring the ability to release the gas to a remote hidden within Ash's lowest shirt button.{{Ref/Reuse|R7}}

Having ostensibly disarmed herself, the rest of the boarding party entered, consisting of six humans and two Kig-Yar. The Keepers took control of the craft and piloted it toward the moon while the Ferrets were herded into the galley unarmed and under guard. [[Seruphi|A young woman]] entered to inform the [[chieftain]] after the secretly-inactive nukes had been secured and sat down to speak with the four "pirates". The woman let them know she had discovered one of the devices was in fact the slipbeacon Veta had mentioned. Lopis reiterated what she had told the chieftain concerning their agreement with the Banished to see those nukes safely to them. The human Keeper told them that avoiding a feud with the Banished was certainly something she wished for, but she considered allowing the murderous group to be given thermonuclear weapons to be just as bad. She casually floated the idea that Veta's crew might be able to redeem themselves by helping to doing significant damage to the Banished. When Veta asked if she was offering to let them go if they complied, the woman clarified that they would never be free to go. They knew too much. If they would share the arming codes for the weapons, they would be allowed to live. That is, of course, she reminded them, unless Castor decided they were ONI spies and ruled otherwise.{{Ref/Reuse|R7}} Veta shared the accurate codes and then, hooded and with their hands tied behind their backs, she and the Spartans were led down the boarding ramp to a spaceport within Salvation Base. Ash pretended to accidentally run into Olivia so that she could release the gas with the detonator in his shirt button. At the sound of canisters being blown within the ship, everyone sprang into action. Veta drove headfirst into the woman who had spoke with them. They both fell off the side of the ramp, with Veta landing on her shoulder. Veta headbutted her captor repeatedly in the temple until she was dead, while the three Spartans had little trouble breaking free of their restraints and dealing with the four other Keepers that had made it off the ship.{{Ref/Reuse|R8}}

{{Quote|no=four|q1=We're going to need more firepower--a lot more.|Mark-G313|q2=Slow Down. First, we need a plan.|Veta Lopis|q3=We don't have time to start planning. I saw we find the Tuwas, grab them, and get out before the Keepers have a chance to react. Our plans have a way of going sideways lately.|Mark-G313|q4=Maybe. But sideways is always better than backwards--or dead.|Veta Lopis|Mark and Veta argue over how to proceed on Taram.}}{{Ref/Reuse|R8}}

Olivia freed Veta from her restraints with a knife, and the team looked around for the first time to assess their situation. Luckily for them, the starsloop had been set down in a quiet area. The nearest hub of activity seemed to be paying no attention to where they were. The spaceport lay within a giant crater. From their vantage point, the team members could see [[Fleet of Glory|a fleet]] of ships being prepared to take off, which they reasoned must be due to the threat of the Banished being taken seriously. Mark and Olivia secured the bodies of the Keepers inside the ship by piling them on its boarding ramp and then closing it. While they did this, Veta policed the corpses' weapons and Ash kept watch. In addition to an assortment of small arms, chronometers, and a datapad, Veta also collected three comm headsets. Blue Team would not arrive for another five hours at the earliest, but simply hunkering down and waiting until then was not a viable option, since [[Castor]] would learn something had gone awry soon since he was expecting to receive prisoners. Locating the Tuwas was the first priority, and a nearby cliff face with artificial grottoes carved into it was determined to be a likely holding spot for them. Since they had been hostages themselves only a short time ago, it was reasonable to think that the starsloop would have been brought near a detention center. Veta gave a headset to Olivia and Ash, keeping the third for herself. With these they would be able to listen in on Keeper channels.{{Ref/Reuse|R8}}

Each Spartan went a separate way, with Veta trailing Mark toward the presumed detention facility. He walked as if his hands were bound while she pointed a [[Type-52 Mauler]] at his back. Ash, on the other hand, purposefully made a cut on his forearm and made his way toward the direction of the Keeper fleet half a kilometer away, purposefully trailing blood to make it look as if they had gone that way should anyone come looking for them soon enough. Olivia rewrote the ''Stolen Faith's'' security routines so she could seal it shut, then set her sights on an ONI [[Reverse Engineering and Prototyping–Xenotechnology department|REAP-X]] [[Turaco]] located just seventy meters from where they had landed. The plan was for her to commandeer the reconnaissance craft and have it ready to fly by the time the Tuwas were rescued. Mark and Veta passed the ship on their way to the cliff grottoes, and noted that it appeared to have only arrived recently. Additionally, Mark picked up a trail that had been left by whoever it had carried. Wherever one trod, pale ripples of shadow were left in the [[hard light]] surface that made up the ground of the clearly Forerunner ruin the Keepers had taken for their base.{{Ref/Reuse|R8}} About a dozen paces from the entrance to the grotto Veta noticed that behind them, a lake of water had suddenly appeared so that the spacecraft were partially submerged beneath its waves. Before she could comment on the strange phenomenon to Mark, he disappeared within the mouth of the grotto and she found she could not communicate with him, even as Ash and Olivia responded to her hail. Unbeknownst to her, this was due to the fact that the installation had been designed by Forerunners to create a time differential between those within the [[Suluhu Contemplarium]]'s grottoes and those without. The lake was largely an illusion only visible to those standing in relative proximity to the detention center, though some real water was also summoned around the subjects' feet to be convincing.{{Ref/Reuse|R8}}{{Ref/Reuse|R11}}

===The cavalry's arrival===

{{Quote|Sorry we're late.|Lieutenant, Junior Grade Frederic-104 to Inspector Veta Lopis.}}{{Ref/Reuse|R15}}

Midway through the ''[[Silent Claw]]'s'' stealthy insertion, [[Damon]], a fifth-generation [[Dumb AI|"dumb" A.I.]] riding in Fred's [[Mjolnir]] armor, intercepted a recall order that went out from [[Taram]] to [[Fleet of Glory|the Keeper fleet]].{{Ref/Reuse|R14}} All vessels which had launched from Salvation Base had suddenly been commanded to inexplicably return. For Blue Team and the Owl's pilot, [[Ashveld]], breaking comm silence to request an intelligence update from the ''Silent Joe'' would instantly alert the enemy to their presence. Though the ''Claw'' had already been detected in other ways, it was still outside of the visual range of any other ships and could pass itself off as one of them. In order to keep up this facade, Ashveld piloted them in as if they were part of the fleet. Plan Charlie had outlined that Blue Team would be inserted just over the horizon from Salvation Base and make its way there on [[M274 Mongoose]]s. The prime objective was then to secure the Turaco and if possible, the team would attempt to reactivate the nukes still on the ''Stolen Faith'' with the required tritium boosters and wipe the Keepers' base from the moon. Their Owl was eventually recognized for what it was, however, and began to be shot at. Plan Charlie changed in an instant to plan Delta, as they would now be dropping from the craft under heavy fire. One particular hit sent the ''Claw'' spinning after it had already entered the atmosphere. Knowing the dropship was doomed, the Spartans begin launching themselves from the rear compartment when they were just under seventy meters from the ground. Fred followed last, from a height of fifty meters.{{Ref/Reuse|R14}}

===Return to Gao===

{{Quote|I'm telling you, Dark Moon has played us both. They set Gao up to take the blame.|Arlo Casille pleads ignorance when questioned by Veta Lopis.}}{{Ref/Reuse|R18}}

The journey to Gao in the [[Cordoba system]] took the ''Silent Joe'' roughly sixteen hours.{{Ref/Reuse|R18}} The prowler stayed hidden but Veta, the Spartans, and a [[Covert Services]] pilot by the name of [[Taj McAvoy]] made for the planet's surface in the Turaco taken from Taram. The [[Spartan-III]]s had now donned their [[SPI|semi-powered infiltration armor]] but Veta had chosen to go with a light battle dress uniform composed of little more than a ballistic vest. A false transponder code was used to placate the [[Gao Republic]]'s [[Ministry of Aeronautics]] with full understanding that they would be receiving greater scrutiny once their tiny craft disappeared from the traffic control system without landing at any designated zones. Taj originally aimed for a landing pad in the [[Yosavi Jungle]] thanks to Olivia's comparative analysis, but changed course after thick smoke could be seen boiling from the remains of the [[New Leaf Extractions]] [[New Leaf Field Complex|Field Complex]] from five kilometers away. There had evidently been some sort of attack within the last hour or two. Bodies were strewn about the complex and some had even been draped with sheets. Given the fact that the [[GMoP]] could be there to investigate at any moment, the teams wasted little time. The six Spartans established a secure perimeter while Veta studied a large crater the Turaco was hovering a meter above, which she discovered was actually made up of five craters. She was able to determine that the explosions that had created them had come from inside the building that had stood there just before McAvoy alerted her to a cluster of unknowns heading their direction. The individuals were bunched up in a group, which Veta took to mean they must have been [[civilian]]s. Fred reluctantly permitted her to disembark the craft so it could vacate the scene in case of hostilities.{{Ref/Reuse|R18}}

[[File:Halo 5 - Meridian space elevator.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Pinnacle Station, pictured here in [[2558]], was still being built at the end of [[2553]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=R20|Ret|Chapter=20}}]]

Less than two days after the run-in with President Casille on Gao, the ''Silent Joe'' arrived at Meridian, a moon of [[Hestia V]] in the [[Hestia system]].{{Ref/Reuse|R22}} The Turaco was used to dock at Berthing Bay 12 on [[Pinnacle Station]], an under-construction [[space elevator]] extending from the moon's surface. Veta and Olivia disembarked while the remainder of the Spartans waited in full armor for a signal to join them. It had been decided that the two would pose as UNSC security inspectors on a surprise construction review. Upon moving beyond the berthing bay, they noticed [[Pinnacle Station Security Force|station security]] swarming around a [[Liang-Dortmund]] cargo transport that had evidently seen violence recently. They attempted to use their hastily forged credentials to gain access to its hold, but were initially rebuffed. Only after a supervisor cleared them for entry were they then given jumpsuits to be worn by visitors and allowed free reign of the station, including the transport in question. Inside, they found another Dark Moon Enterprises Turaco and dead bodies, whom they presumed had belonged to the couriers of the cryo-jars they were after. Following a path of carnage, emergency services personnel, and security officers led them to the ''[[True Light]]'', a {{Class|Laden|freighter}}. Using thruster harnesses to maneuver in the microgravity, inside they found horribly mangled and burned bodies of Kig-Yar and Jiralhanae. Agnes Sabara was also floating amidst the alien corpses and while still clinging to life, she had been hurled against a hatch jam so hard that her torso had folded backward and she had sustained a dent to her skull that caused her to lose brain matter.{{Ref/Reuse|R22}} Inspector Lopis let a guard positioned outside the freighter know about Director Sabara, but he told her that neither he not any other Pinnacle Station personnel were interested in helping anyone but their own. He clicked his mic off to tell Veta plainly that her cover wasn't fooling anyone. He said he knew they were ONI and that they could clean up their own messes. Veta replied that she would still like to be able to interrogate the woman, but at that moment they were interrupted by the voice of Administrator Sloan, which boomed from the guard's helmet and from deep within the ''True Light''. Sloan offered to tell Veta everything he knew about the current situation. She instructed the guard to kill anyone that followed them aboard, signaled Fred to be ready, and made for the freighter's flight deck. There, a [[holographic]] projection of Sloan stood upon a [[Holotable|holoplinth]].{{Ref/Reuse|R22}} Veta began with an attempt at blackmail thanks to what she knew about his creation, but he let her know that was unnecessary and that he was intending to be fully cooperative. He mentioned that he had honored their arrangement and that an ONI unit called [[Papa-10]] had hit the Dark Moon couriers, which caught Veta by surprise. She covered for her lack of understanding by claiming to have simply been trailing the Keepers when a call came in for the services of a relief team being needed. He claimed that the Dark Moon operatives had paid for a hidden berth which he had provided, knowing that ONI would then be taking possession of the jars. He had not expected the couriers to be executed or for the Keepers of the One Freedom to show up, however. He said that last he knew, there were three survivors from Papa-10 that had gone to the surface with the jars and that four Keepers were chasing after them.{{Ref/Reuse|R22}}

Veta and Olivia returned to the Turaco and before long Taj was piloting it through Meridian's atmosphere in hot pursuit of Papa-10 and the Keepers.{{Ref/Reuse|R23}} All Spartans and Veta were now fully armed and armored. Fred cautioned Veta against her direct participation in their mission's next stage but was rebuffed. The ''Silent Joe'' had been informed regarding the latest developments and to the teams' surprise, Captain Ewen broke comm silence to order them via microburst to provide combat support to the ONI survivors. The Turaco's atmospheric entry caused an ionization blackout which allowed Veta to speak freely without having to worry about anyone on the prowler listening, so she took the opportunity to express her suspicion concerning Papa-10. The others agreed that something was off, but Fred reminded them that Osman might be working an angle unknown to them and that their orders did not involve capturing fellow naval operatives. He ultimately decided that they would give whatever support they could to Papa-10, but that the cryo-jars would be taken from their possession until someone with more authority could decide what to do with them. Once the landing zone atop a mountain terrace was less than a kilometer below them, two personnel shuttles could be seen. One still had a number of workers from Pinnacle Station aboard, but there were no signs of hostilities. Taj had been expecting a hot drop, and the lack of any immediate danger made him nervous.{{Ref/Reuse|R23}} He took a sheltered approach around the mountain and dropped everyone off quickly. Footprints showed humans pursued by Jiralhanae into one of two [[Wikipedia:Adit|adits]] that ended at a cliff face where they were. Blue Team entered first, followed by the near-invisible Gammas in a five-second staggered formation. Just before Ash was to bring up the rear behind Olivia and in front of Veta, he noticed what appeared to be a map. It showed an extensive network of underground passageways they were once part of the [[Jenny Lynn Tantalite Mine]]. Veta got permission from Fred for she and Ash to use their hand-lamps to illuminate it. The details were transmitted to Veta's [[TACMAP]] and shared with everyone else via [[TEAMCOM]]. [[Damon]] analyzed it and concluded there were ninety-seven kilometers of mapped passageways within the mine.{{Ref/Reuse|R23}}

About a hundred paces into the adit the teams came upon a charging station stocked with vehicles used for mining.{{Ref/Reuse|R24}} A [[JOTUN]] [[Arilus]] and a [[Traxus]] [[powder wagon]] both bore tires that had been recently slashed, and someone had evidently taken [[laser drill]]s from the Arilus' [[Wikipedia:Drilling jumbo|drilling jumbo]]. The powder wagon's loading hatch had been jimmied, which indicated to Veta and the Spartans that [[Papa-10]] had been looking for explosives. Newly-made tire tracks from a missing vehicle also led away from an empty equipment bay deeper into the adit. The map of the mine Veta had acquired showed that there should be a explosives storage magazine about two-hundred meters further ahead of them. At that moment, however, she and the others were suddenly thrown off their feet by a powerful pressure wave. The blast knocked out Ash's [[HUD]], disabled Olivia's mic, and rendered the photoreactive panels on Mark's SPI armor incapable of camouflaging him. Fred, Kelly, and Linda confirmed in rapid succession that no hostile contacts were immediately present and Damon suggested that a [[Wikipedia:Gelignite|gelignite]] packet had been made into a makeshift grenade. And explosions within the confines of the mine's narrow passageways would naturally result in very focused pressure waves like the one that had just struck them all. Mark and Ash joined the [[Spartan-II]]s in pursuing the source of the blast while Veta and Olivia hung back somewhat to provide counter-ambush cover. Olivia occasionally made sure diverting passages were clear as they moved forward, beginning with an access tunnel leading to Adit 1 on their left and then continuing with multiple [[Wikipedia:Stoping|stopes]] that had been dug to a large cavern where the ore body had once been extracted by the mining operation. Veta eventually joined her in this endeavor, as the two took turns clearing the many stopes before continuing behind the others. At last, the teams came upon both survivors of Papa-10 and their Jiralhanae pursuers, who had cornered the humans at the site of a cave-in. Both sides appeared to be out of ammo, as the Brutes were chucking rocks at the humans who were defending themselves with laser drills. Blue Team moved to eliminate the Jiralhanae while Mark and Ash went to relieve and resupply the other ONI team.{{Ref/Reuse|R24}} The Jiralhanae realized what was happening as soon as the Spartans began to fire. Fred was struck in his helmet by a large boulder hurled at him by [[Castor]], who had been hidden within the darkness of a stope Fred had been trying to clear.{{Ref/Novel|Id=R25|Ret|Chapter=25}} The Papa-10 operatives took this opportunity to make a move of their own as well. The massive ten-ton [[Wikipedia:LHD (load, haul, dump machine)|load, haul, dump machine]] the three had hijacked lurched forward and ran right over the [[MJOLNIR]]-clad Spartan without a second thought given by its operators for him. Olivia managed to hit the [[dokab]] with a few shots as he jumped onto the back of the vehicle.{{Ref/Novel|Id=R26|Ret|Chapter=26}} Veta spied one of the two men in the LHD's loading bucket preparing a gelignite grenade, but still gave them the benefit of the doubt, as she could also see that Olivia was shooting at someone else. Lopis switched off her SPI armor's [[active camouflage]] and ran into the path of the oncoming LHD in the hopes that she could signal its driver to stop. When instead she accelerated and raised its loader bucket to shield herself from attack, Veta instantly knew that Papa-10 was not friendly. She could do nothing else to save herself from the LHD barreling down on her but to throw herself prone in the center of the adit. The LHD passed overtop of her harmlessly, but not before she grabbed a cross member on its underside with both hands to be yanked along for the ride.{{Ref/Novel|Id=R24|Ret|Chapter=24}}

Meanwhile, the LHD was being driven deeper into the mine. Its driver had taken two sharp left turns so that it now was within Adit 1.{{Ref/Reuse|R26}} As Veta clung to its belly, she tried to transmit an update to her squadmates, but the attempt was in vain, given the extensive amounts of rock between they and her. She had spied Castor's foot hanging off the back of the LHD, but after it disappeared she began to painstakingly climb backwards toward the vehicle's rear. Through letting her SPI-clad feet drag for a bit on the ground, Veta managed to flip over and hoist herself onto the back. She quickly climbed into the bed of an ore box to keep herself from flying off of the speeding machine. Within, she spied three cryo-jars and the wounded dokab, though he did not see her. His attention was on the other humans and it wasn't long before he had waited long enough to spring his attack. Despite his injuries, he crawled out of the box and into the loading bucket occupied by the two with laser drills. Veta rushed to pack [[C-12]] around the jars so that she could destroy them if necessary while Castor battled the others. The LHD hit a corner, which sent one of the operatives flying out of the bucket to be crushed under the LHD's tires. Castor appropriated the dead man's drill but could not dispatch the other with it before the driver tipped them both back into the ore box where Veta was. Castor got his kill anyways, slicing the man in half. Lopis remained as still as she could, but the mud on her armor made her presence obvious to the Jiralhanae in spite of her active camouflage. Realizing she couldn't hide, she chose to deactivate the camo and drew her mud-caked inoperable magnum on Castor in the hopes that he couldn't tell it wouldn't fire. As they fast approached the mine's exit, Veta motioned to Castor to jump out, having fully resolved at this point to destroy the jars and the organs within them. Castor did not take seem to kindly to her signal of a truce in light of their common enemy, but as he raised the drill a support beam caught him on the back of his head. As the LHD careened into open air and landed to race across the mine's tailings basin, its driver intentionally trying to shake off her uninvited passengers, Castor was tossed from the vehicle.{{Ref/Reuse|R26}} Veta soon followed by her own design, abandoning the machine for the safety of firm ground beneath her feet. The LHD slowed to a stop next to a Pinnacle Station utility skiff. [[Bartalan Craddog]] descended its ramp and pointed the LHD's driver to pay attention to Veta behind them. The driver snatched Craddog's assault rifle and aimed it at her, but Veta detonated the C-12 at that moment. The LHD, the two humans, the skiff, and the cryo jars were all torn asunder and engulfed in a fiery explosion.{{Ref/Reuse|R26}}

The next day, the ''Silent Joe'' rendezvoused with another ship in deep space in the [[Geryon sector]]. According to Admiral [[Osman]], the [[Ferret]]s were needed back at the [[Mill]] as soon as possible to complete their training. She let Veta know that something big was coming and that she needed them ready for it. Before departing, Lopis said goodbye to Fred, who was recovering in the prowler's medical bay. His wounds would heal soon enough, but Damon's status was less certain, as the A.I.'s [[data crystal chip|data crystal]] had been cracked during the violence done to the Spartan hosting it.{{Ref/Reuse|R27}}

Project SLEEPING STAR moved forward unimpeded from that point aboard the ''Argent Moon''. By [[2557]], [[Creatures aboard Argent Moon|at least four]] [[human]]s with [[Wikipedia:Delta-beta thalassemia|delta-beta thalassemia]] that had been exposed to [[asteroidea merozoite]] had been brought aboard the ''Argent Moon''. They had become severely deformed as a result of their prolonged infection and were kept within large tanks within one of the station's laboratories.{{Ref/Reuse|R17}}{{Ref/Reuse|blue}}{{Ref/Reuse|TDTwit}} [[Kig-Yar]] prisoners were also being actively experimented on with asteroidea.{{Ref/Reuse|blue}} On March 3 of that year, an accident caused the protist to be unintentionally released throughout the ''Argent Moon'' via its ventilation system, killing everyone aboard by March 17.<ref name="blue team intel">''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', ''[[Blue Team (level)|Blue Team]]'' - [[Mission Intel|mission intel]]</ref> Rooker broadcast a message warning of the disaster and put the station on a course that would keep it away from all inhabited systems.{{Ref/Reuse|blue team intel}} By June, ONI had discovered Intrepid Eye's machinations and the mistakes made in dealing with the ancilla had been learned from.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HRen13|Ren|Chapter=13}} Kig-Yar scavengers chanced across the ''Argent Moon'' in [[2558#October|October 2558]] and sold their find to [[Jul 'Mdama]]. One week later, [[Blue Team]] [[Operation: BIRD IN HAND|was deployed]] to recover the station for ONI, but chose to [[self-destruct|scuttle]] the station instead after a Covenant fleet arrived. Blue Team overloaded ''Argent Moon's'' reactors and escaped on the {{Class|Winter|prowler}} [[ONI Acrisius|ONI ''Acrisius'']] as ''Argent Moon'' and the nearby Covenant ships were destroyed. The destruction of ''Argent Moon'' also eliminated all of the asteroidea and research data on it that was located on the station.{{Ref/Reuse|blue}} Due to the top secret nature of SLEEPING STAR, UNSC investigators who examined the remains of ''Argent Moon'' remained unaware of the scope of the project, though they did discover that bioweapons had apparently been manufactured there.<ref name="universe">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/vehicles/argent-moon Halo Waypoint: ''Argent Moon'']</ref>

==Production notes==

{{Quote|Halo: Retribution details maverick detective Veta Lopis' first assignment as a reluctant ONI agent, and it's a direct outgrowth of my first Halo novel, Halo: Last Light.|Troy Denning}}{{Ref/Reuse|interview}}

Operation: RETRIBUTION was created for ''Halo'' author [[Troy Denning]]'s second full-length novel in the series, ''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', in which its events form the narrative of the story. By the time he was drafting the final chapter of his first ''Halo'' novel, ''[[Halo: Last Light]]'', Denning knew he wanted to write more stories about [[Veta Lopis]] and the [[Spartan-III]]s she'd met on [[Gao]].{{Ref/Reuse|interview}} He came up with the idea of a "[[Ferret]]" team based on that relationship; that of a wary, embittered homicide investigator whose maternal instinct was unexpectedly awakened by a trio of battle-hardened Spartan-IIIs working their way through a very strange adolescence. It seemed natural to him to make his next book about that team's first mission. ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', the fifth numbered video game in the series, was released on October 27, [[2015]], just over a month after ''Last Light'' was published.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/games/halo-5-guardians Halo Waypoint: ''Halo 5: Guardians'']</ref><ref>[http://books.simonandschuster.com/HALO-Last-Light/Troy-Denning/9781501103377 Simon and Schuster: ''Halo: Last Light'']</ref> It was while playing through ''Halo 5: Guardians''' [[campaign]] that Denning realized he wanted to know more about the backgrounds of [[Governor]] [[Sloan]] and ''[[Argent Moon]]''. After asking individuals at [[343 Industries]] about them both, he learned that their backstories were in fact relatively undeveloped, so he began formulating a way to tie them into a story involving Veta's team.{{Ref/Reuse|interview}} When a second novel starring Lopis had first been approved, all 343 Industries requested is that it be set in [[2553]] and include [[Arlo Casille]], [[Castor]], and [[Intrepid Eye]], three characters introduced in ''Last Light''.{{Ref/Reuse|interview}}<ref name="HPETTDI">[https://www.halopodcastevolved.com/episodes/episode-168 Halo: Podcast Evolved Episode 168 - The Troy Denning Interview]</ref>  Other suggestions were also made, especially relating to details relevant to the story in ''Guardians''.<ref name="interview">[https://www.gamecrate.com/interview-halo-retribution-author-troy-denning-talks-about-his-epic-new-novel/17012 Interview: ''Halo: Retribution'' Author Troy Denning Talks About his Epic New Novel]</ref>