Editing Battle of Miridem

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Battle infobox
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|name=Battle of Miridem
|image=
|conflict=[[Human-Covenant War]]<ref name="goo173">'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page 173''</ref>
|date=[[2544]]{{Ref/Reuse|goo173}}
|place=[[Miridem]]{{Ref/Reuse|goo173}}
|result=*[[Covenant]] victory{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
**Miridem is [[Glassing|glassed]]{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
**[[Catherine Halsey]] is captured{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
|side1=[[United Nations Space Command]]{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
|side2=[[Covenant]]{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
|commanders1=[[Vice Admiral]] [[Berlin M. Tursk|Berlin Tursk]]{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
|commanders2=[[Supreme Commander]] [[Luro 'Taralumee]]{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
|forces1=*[[UNSC Navy]]{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
*[[M9 Wolverine]]s<ref>'''Halo: The Essential Visual Guide''', ''page 205''</ref>
*Several [[Spartan-IIs]]<ref name="enc299">'''[[Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition)]]''', ''page 299'' (2011)</ref>
|forces2=[[Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence]]{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
|casual1=*Heavy losses{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
*[[Sheila-065]]{{Ref/Reuse|goo173}}
|casual2=*Heavy casualties{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
*Nearly three thousand soldiers of [[Thel 'Lodamee]]'s [[battalion]]{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}
|civilian=
}}
{{Quote|Sheila is dead. I personally witnessed her killed in the Battle of Miridem.|Doctor Catherine Halsey{{Ref/Reuse|goo173}}}}

The '''Battle of Miridem''' was an engagement of the [[Human-Covenant War]] between the [[United Nations Space Command]] and the [[Covenant]], taking place on the [[human]] [[Inner Colony]] of [[Miridem]] in [[2544]].{{Ref/Reuse|vis63}}{{Ref/Reuse|goo173}} The battle lasted for over two weeks, resulting in heavy losses to both the UNSC and the Covenant. Ultimately, Miridem was [[Glassing|glassed]] by the [[Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence]].{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}

The battle resulted in the capture of Doctor [[Catherine Halsey]] of the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]], leading to [[Operation: WARM BLANKET]].{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}

==The battle==
{{Quote|As you already know, yesterday the UNSC declared the colony of Miridem lost. The fight had gone on for over two weeks and we killed a mountain of those bastards, but apparently not enough.|Vice Admiral Berlin Tursk to Captain Lucius Jiron{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}}}
In [[2544]],{{Ref/Reuse|goo173}} [[Miridem]] became one of the [[human]] [[Human colonies|colonies]] that fell in the way of the [[Covenant]]'s path of [[Siege of the Inner Colonies|destruction]] throughout the [[Inner Colonies]]{{Ref/Reuse|enc299}} when [[Supreme Commander]] [[Luro 'Taralumee]]'s [[Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence]] arrived over the world. A [[fleet]] of the [[UNSC Navy]] led by [[Vice Admiral]] [[Berlin M. Tursk]] defended Miridem,{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}} with several [[Spartan-IIs]] being deployed to the world to aid in the evacuation of [[civilian]]s.{{Ref/Reuse|enc299}}

The ensuing battle lasted for over two weeks, with both sides suffering heavy losses. The Covenant besieged the world, destroying nearly every evacuation vessel that attempted to flee before they even reached Miridem's [[gravity well]]. During the civilian evacuation, Doctor [[Catherine Halsey]]—the chief scientist of the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] who had been present on Miridem—was extracted to [[BL-9400493]], personally protected by [[Sheila-065]]. However, the two were intercepted by [[Sangheili Major|Major]] [[Thel 'Lodamee]] and his [[battalion]]. In the resulting confrontation, Sheila was killed by 'Lodamee, though Halsey managed to escape aboard the evacuation craft.{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}

Realizing that Halsey must be important to the [[United Nations Space Command]] given that Sheila sacrificed her life to defend the doctor, 'Lodamee abandoned his battalion without notice in pursuit of the evacuation craft, accompanied only by a small strike force. BL-9400493 managed to make it to the edge of Miridem's system before the craft was disabled by a Covenant interceptor. The craft was boarded and the entirety of the crew was killed, with the exception of Halsey. While 'Lodamee captured Halsey, his battalion suffered heavy losses in his absence and delayed the Covenant's inevitable victory. Regardless, the Covenant [[Glassing|glassed]] the world, forcing the remaining UNSC forces to abandon Miridem.{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}

Due to the ongoing conflict on Miridem, Dr. Halsey reasoned it to be unlikely that the UNSC would be able to invest resources in following-up research on [[Heian]] - following the discovery of [[Ancestor|ancient]] ruins on the planet in [[Operation: GREY VEIL]].{{Ref/Reuse|S4Intel}}

==Aftermath==
{{Quote|They will follow and we will be ready for them.|Supreme Commander Luro 'Taralumee{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}}}}
The UNSC forces present in the system were quick to react to the capture of Halsey. With [[Blue Team]] deployed under orders from [[UNSC High Command]], Tursk swiftly dispatched [[Captain]] [[Lucius Jiron]]'s [[ONI PRO-49776|ONI stealth ship]] to pursue the Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence, which departed Miridem to rendezvous with the [[Fleet of Furious Retribution|Fleets of Furious Retribution]] and [[Fleet of Rigorous Prayer|Rigorous Prayer]] before returning to [[High Charity]]. However, due to a local magnetic irregularity preventing them from performing an immediate slipspace jump, the fleet was delayed at [[Ascon]], allowing for Jiron's stealth ship to catch up to the Covenant fleet. Meanwhile, 'Taralumee reported the events of the battle to the [[Vice Cleric of Zeal]] at High Charity, informing the [[Vice Cleric|vice cleric]] of Halsey's capture and 'Lodamee's behavior. The UNSC soon launched [[Operation: WARM BLANKET]], with Blue Team led by [[John-117]] attacking the Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence to rescue Halsey.{{Ref/Reuse|adjunct}} Blue Team was eventually successful in their mission, although two of the Spartans were [[killed in action]].<ref>'''[[Halo Legends]]''', ''[[The Package (animated short)|The Package]]''</ref>

Shortly after the operation to rescue Halsey, the UNSC enacted [[Operation: IRON FIST]], in which John-117 ensured asset denial and the partial recovery of critical cyber-infrastructure assets on Miridem.<ref name="H5GLtd">'''[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition]]''', ''Spartan Locke's Classified Orders''</ref> Some of the surviving Miridem residents would seek [[Asylum seeker|refuge]] on [[Minister (planet)|Minister]].<ref name="he367">'''[[Halo: Evolutions]]''', "[[Palace Hotel (short story)|Palace Hotel]]", ''page 367''</ref>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''
**''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach#2010 bonus content|Adjunct]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]'' {{Fm}}
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
**''[[The Package (animated short)|The Package]]'' {{Im}}
*''[[Halo: Reach]]'' {{Im}}

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

{{Human-Covenant War}}

[[Category:Battles of the Human-Covenant War|Miridem]]