Attack on Installation 00

This article is based on canon information, but the article's title is conjectural and/or uses descriptions as the title, as there is currently no official name for the subject.

This article is about the assault on the Ark by the Banished. For other battles that occurred on the Ark, see Battle of Installation 00 (disambiguation).

Previous:	Subjugation of Earth Mission to Luna
Concurrent:	Created conflict
Next:	Boarding of Enduring Conviction
Attack on Installation 00
Conflict:	Post-Covenant War conflicts Second Ark Conflict
Date:	November 25, 2558
Location:	Installation 00
Outcome:	Banished victory Installation 00 occupied
Details Belligerents United Nations Space Command Banished Commanders Atriox Decimus Strength Ark Security Detachment M12 Warthogs Multiple Mantises Enduring Conviction At least 2 Gydrozka Workshop Blisterbacks At least 1 Type-26 Banshee At least 1 Barukaza Workshop Scarab At least 1 Dextro Xur-pattern Spirit Ground forces Jiralhanae Casualties Near total; only fifteen of the research outpost's personnel survived the initial attack Very light

"That ship brought these monsters. Killed everyone I was supposed to protect."

— Isabel on the arrival of the Enduring Conviction

On November 25, 2558, an ex-Covenant mercenary organization known as the Banished launched an attack on United Nations Space Command research outposts established on Forerunner Installation 00. The assault followed the unexpected shutdown of the installation's portal to Earth during Cortana's takeover of Earth.

Background

The extragalactic Installation 00 was first accessed by galactic forces in the closing weeks of the Human-Covenant War in 2552, accessed via a large portal located in Voi, Africa, on Earth. During the fighting, a joint UNSC-Covenant separatists force fought against the predominantly Jiralhanae-led loyalist Covenant forces led by the Prophet of Truth. At the end of the conflict, the Covenant were defeated and a nascent Halo ring detonated over the Ark - causing immense damage to the installation.

The Ark was abandoned after that (save for a small contingent of Covenant remnants left hiding inside the Prophet of Truth's flagship), with only a minor expedition from the scout ship Rubicon in 2553. In 2555, the Ark's monitor 000 Tragic Solitude initiated a plan with the intent of repairing the installation, intending to reactivate the portal on Earth to use human colonies as resource bases through which it would restore the Ark to full operational status. This plan was ultimately foiled by a joint UNSC-Swords of Sanghelios team, after which the portal remained open and a large contingent established on the Ark to explore and study the installation. This contingent was centred on the Henry Lamb Research Outpost, itself named after a scientist who had died in the 2555 excursion onto the installation.

The Banished were formed at the tail end of the Human-Covenant War, initially as a Jiralhanae rebellion against the Covenant empire - before growing into a major splinter faction following the Covenant's collapse into civil war. During the post-war era, the Banished accrued power and prestige, culminating in Warmaster Atriox's interest in the Ark as a means of securing the Banished position in the galactic balance of power. Their first expeditionary group were deployed to the Ark in a fleet led by their flagship Enduring Conviction in 2558, beginning a long journey that culminated in Enduring Conviction's arrival in November of that year.

Prelude

On October 28, 2558, the smart AI Cortana, leader of an AI conglomerate known as the Created, arrived at Earth with Forerunner Guardians. Firing an EMP blast at the planet, Cortana caused the shutdown of Earth's defenses. In the wake of the attack, the Ark's portal, located in Voi, shut down to prevent the Created from being able to access the installation. With the slipspace portal gone the UNSC research teams on the installation's surface found themselves stranded.