Editing Annabelle Richards

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Character infobox
|variant=Human
|name=Annabelle Richards
|image=
|homeworld=[[Earth]]<ref>'''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]''', ''page 315''</ref>
|birth=
|death=
|causeofdeath=
|parents=
|siblings=
|spouses=
|children=
|species=[[Human]]
|gender=Female
|height=
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|hair=Red<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 68''</ref>
|eyes=
|affiliation=[[Office of Naval Intelligence]]
|rank=Captain
|sn=
|notable=
}}

'''Captain Annabelle Richards''' is the head of special operations in the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]]. After spending several years in the [[UNSC Navy|Navy]] during the [[Human-Covenant War]], Richards was promoted to head of ONI special operations by [[2555]].<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 38''</ref>

==Biography==
===Mission to Installation 00===
In [[2555]], Richards was present for a meeting by the Office of Naval Intelligence in [[Sydney]]'s [[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6|HIGHCOM Facility]]. She was joined by [[Commander-in-Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence|CINCONI]] [[Serin Osman]], several military representatives, [[William Iqbal]] and [[Bob Casper]].<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 38-39''</ref> After Iqbal informed them of the countdown [[Luther Mann]] and [[Henry Lamb]] had discovered on [[Installation 07]], Casper told them it was very likely a countdown to the activation of the [[Halo Array]].<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 40''</ref> Richards suggested sending an expedition to [[Installation 00|the Ark]] to stop the activation, to which they agreed to send a joint [[UNSC]]-[[Swords of Sanghelios]] team. Serin Osman then tasked Richards with overseeing the repairing of the [[Portal at Voi]] and the expedition to the Ark.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 46''</ref>

When [[N'tho 'Sraom]], [[Usze 'Taham]] and the [[Huragok]] [[Drifts Randomly]] arrived at [[Earth]] in their [[Covenant corvette|corvette]] ''[[Mayhem]]'', Richards was there to greet them when they departed from their [[Kez'katu-pattern Phantom|Phantom dropship]] near the artifact at [[Voi]], [[Kenya]].<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 68''</ref> She then ordered [[Spartan Operations|Spartans]] [[Frank Kodiak]] and [[Elias Holt]] to bring the Sangheili and Huragok to [[Research Center Alpha (Earth)|Research Center Alpha]] to begin repairs on the artifact.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 74''</ref> Two days passed and the fact the artifact wasn't operational yet was starting to anger Richards, so she called [[Luther Mann|Doctor Luther Mann]] in to explain the situation.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 109''</ref> As she was expressing her concern to Mann about the portal not being active Drifts Randomly managed to reactivate it, within seconds a [[Retriever]] appeared and started excavating near the portal, but it was soon destroyed by {{UNSCShip|Endeavor}}.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 123-124''</ref> A meeting was then organized on ''Mayhem''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s bridge, as per N'tho's request.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 127''</ref> N'tho suggested entering the portal immediately, but Richards insisted they wait for consent by her superiors.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 128''</ref> Not wanting to waste any time, N'tho ordered his crew to fly ''Mayhem'' into the portal, but before they could enter, another Retriever appeared. ''Mayhem'' quickly took care of the sentinel and then entered the portal.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 137''</ref>

Instead of taking weeks, ''Mayhem'' arrived at the Ark in a matter of hours.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 139''</ref> The vessel was soon engaged by multiple armed Retrievers and was overwhelmed, the corvette crashed onto the surface of the Ark and suffered severe damage.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 142-148''</ref> Richards and the rest of the expedition exited the ship and N'tho informed them of where they were heading. After journeying for a while the group were approached by a pack of [[Blind wolf|Blind wolves]] but managed to avoid them thanks to [[Olympia Vale]]'s advice, however they were promptly attacked by a group of [[Chaefka]] and the sound of the fight attracted the blind wolves back. During the fight [[Olympia Vale]] was attacked by one of the animals and her mind started to be controlled by [[000 Tragic Solitude|an unknown force]] which made her walk away with one of the Chaefka.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 172-180''</ref> After learning of her disappearance, Richards ordered three [[Marines]] to take the dead back to the ship, and she split the remaining members of the expedition into two groups, with one team consisting of N'tho, [[Luther Mann]], Spartan Kodiak, [[Zon 'Vadum]], [[Kola 'Baoth]], the remaining four Marines and herself tasked with heading straight to the Citadel and the other team consisting of Usze 'Taham, Spartan Elias Holt and [[Henry Lamb]] tasked with searching for Vale.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 188''</ref> Shortly after, Richards injured her leg after falling into a small crater. N'tho suggested she head back to the ship with the four remaining Marines, to which she agreed.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 191''</ref>

After successfully stopping the activation sequence for the [[Halo Array]] and defeating [[000 Tragic Solitude|the Ark's monitor]], the rest of the team head back to ''Mayhem'' where they find Richards fully healed thanks to the Sangheili's advanced medical technology.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 307''</ref> Several UNSC ships exit [[slipspace]] above the Ark and manage to locate ''Mayhem'' and bring it and the expedition back to Earth.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 351-352''</ref> Upon their return, Richards visits Osman at her office. Osman offers her a [[Medal of Honor]] and a promotion, though she declines the latter as she believes she failed to properly lead those under her command due to her injury.<ref>'''Halo: Hunters in the Dark''', ''page 353-354''</ref>

===Project: BOOKWORM and the ''Ace of Spades''===
In [[2557]], Richards worked as Director of Project: BOOKWORM, a mission to capture [[343 Guilty Spark]] and extract everything ONI could from him, their interest drawn by the [[Halo: Cryptum|Bornstellar Relation]] recovered from [[Sarcophagus]] and the data drop containing Spark's story to the crew of the {{UNSCShip|Rubicon}} which claimed that the [[Librarian]] was still alive. With a distress call from the ''Rubicon'' having been relayed by a cargo ship, Richards directed efforts by the {{UNSCShip|Taurokado}} and {{UNSCShip|Bad Moon Rising}} to recover Spark from the wreckage, only to be thwarted by the crew of the [[salvager]] ship ''[[Ace of Spades]]'', who Agent [[Hahn]] and ONI had previously clashed with by seizing all of their property and assets. After the failed attempt to capture the ''Ace of Spades'' crew, Richards was, however, pleased that Hahn and his agents apparently secured Spark. Richards was the first to realize that something was wrong after viewing footage from the skirmish at [[Port Joy]] and realizing that she was witnessing an [[armiger]] from her experiences of the Ark. Richards deduced that it was Spark, and what he had done too late to stop Spark from shutting down her facility and hacking its records on [[Catalog]]. After [[Mission to Mount Kilimanjaro|the encounter]] between Spark and the [[Librarian]]'s personality imprint under [[Mount Kilimanjaro]], Richards and her team secured and investigated the Forerunner installation, determined to learn everything they could from it and to capture the ''Ace of Spades'' and Spark.<ref>'''[[Halo: Renegades]]'''</ref>

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==Personality and traits==
Richards harbors a great dislike and mistrust for the Sangheili because of the genocide they committed during the War. However, she recognizes that the war is over and fighting the Sangheili is not the right thing to do. She is both willing and able to put her feelings aside for the good of the mission and species relations.

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Renegades]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

[[Category:Human characters|Richards, Annabelle]]
[[Category:Office of Naval Intelligence personnel|Richards, Annabelle]]