Battle of Installation 09
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- Ellen Anders: "We've got to get that Control Room so I can deactivate the Halo's firing systems and plant our signal beacon. If I can't do that, we won't be sending an SOS back home - we'll be sending a very large - and very live - bomb."
- Captain James Cutter: "If Atriox gets control of this Halo, he'll be holding a gun to the head of all life across hundreds of light years. We have to clear the Banished off this ring. It's up to you, Red Team."
- — Ellen Anders and Captain Cutter discussing the ring's importance.
The Battle of Installation 09 was a battle fought between United Nations Space Command forces from the UNSC Spirit of Fire and the Banished on the newly-constructed Installation 09 circa April, 2559.[1][2][Note 1]
Background[edit]
The Halo[edit]
In September 2552, a large military campaign was fought between the forces of the UNSC and the Covenant empire for control of the Halo Installation 04. This battle proved disastrous for the ring itself, which was ultimately destroyed by John-117 at the culmination of the conflict to prevent the Covenant from using it. Within the firing sequence of the Halo Array, Installation 04 was designated Alpha Halo, to indicate that it is the first of the rings to fire. Due to the ring's destruction, there were now only six of the seven required Halos left - resulting in Installation 00 (the Ark) to begin finalising the construction of a replacement ring for Alpha Halo. The Ark is designed to keep a Halo installation within its foundries at all times, meaning that a new ring can be finished relatively quickly should one be disabled.[4] As such, by December of 2552, that replacement - Installation 08 - was finalising its construction and almost ready to be deployed back into Installation 04's original place.[5]
Unfortunately for the ring, this finalisation was occurring around the time of another large engagement between the UNSC and the Covenant, this time at the Ark itself. Late into the battle, a massive outbreak of the Flood meant that destroying the ring and the Ark was seen as the best option to contain both the Flood and the threat of the Halos for good. The ring was prematurely activated by John-117, resulting in Installation 08 shattering and severely damaging the Ark, unable to contain and properly manage the energy of the firing.[6]
With Installation 08 now destroyed, the Ark began the process of constructing yet another replacement ring for the Alpha Halo position - this time designated Installation 09. By 2558, the Henry Lamb Research Outpost on the Ark had reported to the UNSC at large that there were signs that the Ark was beginning the construction of a new Halo to replace Installation 04 again. In April of the following year, Installation 09 was completed and ready to be sent back to the Soell system in the galaxy to resume normal operations.
Conflict on the Ark[edit]
- Main article: Second Ark Conflict
Following the initial battle for the Ark in 2552, the installation was heavily scarred - though not damaged. This resulted in the closing of the Excession until 2555, during which time the Ark's monitor 000 Tragic Solitude worked to repair the facility. Following a brief attempted invasion by the monitor in an attempt to harvest the Sol system's resources to repair the megastructure, the portal was reopened and the Henry Lamb Research Outpost established on the Ark to begin exploring and observing the facility. For the next three years, the staff of the outpost were able to observe the facility's restoration thanks to extensive terraforming and astroengineering, until the portal once again unexpectedly closed in October 2558 due to an ongoing crisis with a faction of rogue AI in the Milky Way.
A month after the portal shutdown, a new threat arrived at the Ark - the Banished. Originally deployed months prior to the Created crisis, the Banished were led by Atriox with the aims of securing the Ark for their own benefit. After attacking and destroying the research outpost on the ring, the Banished settled in for a long-term occupation of the Ark, especially amid the backdrop of the Created domination of the Milky Way. As such, when the old Phoenix-class colony ship Spirit of Fire arrived at the Ark six months later, both the Banished and Spirit of Fire's crew were taken aback by the surprise. Spirit had lost its slipspace drive during its previous battle to destroy the shield world Trove, and had been left drifting through space for decades.
Despite this, Spirit of Fire's crew quickly got to work fighting against the Banished for control of the Ark - and looking for a way off it to return home. This culminated in the destruction of the Banished Syfon-pattern assault carrier Enduring Conviction, also stranding the Banished on the Ark with no ability to return home. Instead, Ellen Anders discovered a different solution for how to get back to the Milky Way; with Installation 09 ready to launch and occupy Installation 04's original position in Soell, that would put the ring fairly close to human space - close enough for a beacon and a chance at rescue. With the Banished and Spirit of Fire now both stranded on the Ark, the release of Installation 09 from the foundries saw both sides begin to contest control of the ring for themselves.[7]
