Battle of Oban

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.

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Battle of Oban
Conflict:	Post-Covenant War conflicts
Date:	July 16, 2558
Location:	Saviron, Oban
Outcome:	UNSC victory
Details Belligerents United Earth Government United Nations Space Command Didact's Prometheans Jul 'Mdama's Covenant Commanders CAPT Thomas Lasky CDR Sarah Palmer Supreme Commander Jul 'Mdama Strength UNSC Infinity 1 GA-TL1 Longsword UNSC Marine Corps Several SPARTAN-IVs Gabriel Thorne Joel Thomas Sarah Palmer Holly Tanaka 1 M12 Chaingun Warthog Kig-Yar Unggoy Third Dignitary Schema Knights TDS-009 Crawlers At least two Phantoms Twelfth-order escort Casualties Several soldiers At least two Phantoms Several Kig-Yar Several Unggoy At least one Promethean Knight Several Promethean Crawlers

The Battle of Oban was an engagement fought on the planet Oban on July 16, 2558 between Jul 'Mdama's Covenant, and their Promethean allies, and the United Nations Space Command (UNSC). The battle was a part of a larger struggle between the Covenant and the UNSC's Expeditionary Strike Group 1, led by UNSC Infinity, both seeking to secure the other's half of the Janus Key. To that end, the Covenant's Supreme Commander Jul 'Mdama staged an attack on Oban with the aim of drawing Infinity into a vulnerable position. While the raid was repelled by Infinity's responding forces at high costs to the Covenant, it succeeded in drawing the vessel into the trap that 'Mdama had devised.

Presumably while Infinity was present at Oban, Spartan forces including Holly Tanaka partook in Operation: WHITE VAN, an unrelated operation that involved a Spartan security and testing detachment for Misriah Armory's classified Project SENIOR ICE prototype.

Background

During the Requiem Campaign in February 2558, Doctor Catherine Halsey was gifted a Forerunner artefact, the Janus Key, by an essence of the Librarian. The Librarian intended for humanity to use the key to learn the location of the Absolute Record, allowing them to attain the Mantle of Responsibility and fulfill their role as reclaimers of the Forerunners' legacy. Earlier in the campaign Halsey had defected from the UNSC to work for Jul's Covenant in order to gain access to the site of the Librarian. When Fireteam Majestic were dispatched to bring Halsey in, she attempted to pass the key onto Spartan Gabriel Thorne. In the ensuing fighting, Halsey was shot by Spartan Commander Sarah Palmer and the key was split in half, with each side obtaining one piece.

For Halsey, the attempted (and unsanctioned) assassination by Palmer led her to believe that the UNSC were now dead-set on killing her, and fuelled her want for revenge. The split key also set both sides on a new path; while Requiem was destroyed at the end of the campaign, both sides wished to attain the Absolute Record and gain control of the Forerunners' technology.

Five months after Requiem's loss, the Covenant set this new plan into motion. In it, the Covenant would stage a raid on Oban with the goal of drawing the attention of Infinity, at which point they cou