Editing Frederic-104

{{Status|Canon|Featured}}
{{disambig header|the Spartan-II|other people with this name|Fred (disambiguation)}}
{{Character infobox
|variant=Human
|name=Frederic-104
|image={{Pageimage|H5G PK Fred Screenshot 1.jpg}}[[File:Fred104 TFoR.jpg|300px]]
|homeworld=[[Ballast]]{{Ref/Site|Id=universe|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/characters/frederic-104|Site=Halo Waypoint|Section=Universe, Characters|Page=Frederic-104|D=11|M=11|Y=2020}}
|birth=[[2511|April 3, 2511]]{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
|death=
|causeofdeath=
|parents=
|siblings=
|spouses=
|children=
|species=[[Human]]
|gender=Male
|height={{Convert|216.3|cm|ftin|sp=us}} {{C|with armor}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
|mass=*{{Convert|129.6|kg|lb}} {{C|without armor}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
*{{Convert|600|kg|lb}} {{C|with GEN 2 Mjolnir}}{{Ref/Novel|Id=R145|Ret|Page=145}}
|hair=Black, with silver streaks{{Ref/Novel|Id=for78|FoR|Page=99}}{{Ref/Note|Fred is depicted with brown hair in ''The Package'' and ''Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp''.}}
|eyes=Blue-green{{Ref/Novel|Id=ll214|LL|Page=214}}{{Ref/Game|Id=H5GLtd|Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition|[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition dossiers#Frederic-104|Dossier files]] - Frederic-104}}
|affiliation=* [[UNSC Navy]]
** [[UNSC Special Forces|Naval Special Warfare Command]]
*** [[SPARTAN-II program]]{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
|rank=[[Lieutenant, junior grade]]{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
|sn=S-104{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}
|notable=
}}
{{Quote|As Spartans we anticipate our involvement in any military campaign. It's who we are. It's what we were born to do. We're here to win this war and we're eager to do just that.|Frederic-104, shortly before the Battle of Earth{{Ref/Reuse|Adjunct}}}}
[[Lieutenant, Junior Grade]] '''Frederic-104''', born '''Frederic "Fred" Ellsworth''', is a [[SPARTAN-II program|Spartan-II supersoldier]] of the [[United Nations Space Command]]'s [[UNSC Special Forces|Naval Special Warfare Command]]. A skilled close-quarters combatant and marksman,{{Ref/Reuse|FS12}} Fred is a natural leader and a brilliant strategist.{{Ref/Reuse|H5GLtd}} Having been a regular member of [[Blue Team]] almost since the unit's inception, Fred typically held the [[call sign]] of "Blue-Two".<ref name="waypoint blue team">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/factions/blue-team ''Halo Waypoint'': ''Blue Team'']</ref>{{Ref/Novel|Id=for205|FoR|Page=205-214}} Since [[2552]], Fred has served as the commander of Blue Team, though he often defers leadership to close friend [[Master Chief Petty Officer]] [[John-117]].{{Ref/Reuse|H5GLtd}}

Fred participated in numerous engagements throughout both the [[Insurrection]] and the [[Human-Covenant War]]. In [[2525]], Fred participated in [[Operation: TALON]], the first [[operation]] of the Spartan-IIs. As the Covenant War began, Fred participated in numerous battles throughout the war, including the [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV|Battle]] of [[Sigma Octanus IV]]. Notably, Fred served as the leader of [[Red Team]] during the [[Fall of Reach|Fall]] of [[Reach]], which ultimately saw the highest single operation death count of Spartan-IIs.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}} Fred later participated in the [[Battle for Earth|Battle for]] [[Earth]] and the [[Onyx Conflict|Battle of]] [[Onyx]], commanding several of his fellow Spartans.{{Ref/Reuse|H5GLtd}}

Following the end of the Covenant War in [[2553]], Fred has continued to serve as the leader of Blue Team and has since participated in numerous operations under the authority of the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]].{{Ref/Reuse|H5GLtd}} One of the few remaining Spartan-IIs, Fred holds the highest rank among his active-duty peers.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}} As of [[2558#August|August 2558]], Fred has participated in 197 individual military operations and engagements, 139 of which were full campaigns.{{Ref/Reuse|H5GLtd}}

== Biography ==
=== Early life and conscription ===
{{Quote|multi=yes|Fred-104|q1=How come I have to stay and play sniper?|John-117|q2=Because you're our second-best shot. And our best spotter. Our plan hinges on the sniper team. Now just do it.|Fred and John during a training operation against Tango Company{{Ref/Reuse|FS12}}}}
[[File:Fred age 6.png|thumb|150px|left|Fred at the age of six, following his conscription.]]
Frederic Ellsworth was born on the [[human]] [[Inner Colony]] of [[Ballast]] on [[2511|April 3, 2511]].{{Ref/Reuse|universe}} In around [[2517]], Fred was identified as an extremely talented child, and marked as a potentially exceptional soldier and a candidate for Doctor [[Catherine Halsey]]'s [[SPARTAN-II program]] as a result. On [[2517|September 23, 2517]], Fred was abducted by the [[United Nations Space Command]]'s [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] at the age of six to be conscripted into the SPARTAN-II program. He was then replaced with a [[Flash cloning|flash clone]] and sent to [[Reach]] in the [[Epsilon Eridani system]] with the other Spartans.{{Ref/Novel|FoR|Page=44}} His flash clone would die shortly after Fred's own abduction. Fred was [[SPARTAN-II training|trained]] with the other Spartans at Reach by [[dumb AI|"dumb" AI]] [[Déjà]] and [[Chief Petty Officer]] [[Franklin Mendez]], with the two serving as the Spartans' teacher and [[drill instructor]], respectively. Fred also participated in numerous training exercises, including the Spartans' mission to the [[Military Wilderness Training Preserve]] in [[2519]].{{Ref/Film|Id=TFoR AS|TFoRAS}} During one training exercise, Fred and the other Spartans traveled to [[Emerald Cove]] for an underwater mission, where they abandoned Mendez and lived on their own on an island for a few days.{{Ref/Reuse|FS24}}

During his training, Fred quickly proved himself to be one of the SPARTAN-II program's top candidates. Both Doctor Halsey and Chief Mendez identified him as one of four emerging leaders within the program's candidates, along with [[Kurt-051]], [[Jerome-092]], and [[John-117]].{{Ref/Book|Dr. Halsey's personal journal|Detail=December 10, 2518}} By [[2523|July 14, 2523]], Fred and his fellow Spartan-IIs had begun facing the formidable and ruthless [[UNSC Marine Corps]]' [[Tango Company]] in simulated war games.{{Ref/Novel|Id=FS17|FS|Chapter=17}} On [[2525#March|March 9, 2525]], Fred and the rest of the Spartan-II candidates underwent their [[SPARTAN-II augmentation procedures|augmentation procedures]] at [[Medical Facility Endurance]] orbiting Reach.{{Ref/Film|TFoRAS|Detail=Act Two}} After successfully enduring the procedures, Fred later attended a military funeral aboard [[UNSC carrier|carrier]] {{UNSCShip|Atlas}} in the [[Lambda Serpentis system]] for the Spartans who died during the augmentation process. Afterwards, the Spartans returned to Reach for their final training phase in the [[Highland Mountains]].{{Ref/Novel|FoR|Page=79}}

=== Infiltration on Eridanus Secundus ===
[[File:HTFOR AS - Fred in body suit.jpg|thumb|250px|Fred on watch during Operation: TALON.]]
{{Quote|multi=yes|Samuel-034|q1=You questioning orders? Scared?|Fred-104|q2=No, but this is no training mission. Our targets won't be firing stun rounds. I just don't want to fail.|Sam and Fred, while aboard ''Laden''{{Ref/Novel|FoR|Page=104}}}}
On [[2525#September|September 14, 2525]], shortly after the Spartans had recovered from augmentations, Fred was selected by John-117 to join [[Blue Team]]—also composed of [[Samuel-034]], [[Linda-058]], and [[Kelly-087]]. The team was then chosen for the Spartan-IIs' first mission, [[Operation: TALON]]. The [[operation]]'s objective was to capture [[Colonel]] [[Robert Watts]], a UNSC Marine turncoat officer and the leader of the [[United Rebel Front]]. ONI had recently discovered that Watts was residing within [[Eridanus Secundus]], a large [[asteroid]] settlement and [[insurrectionist]] [[military base]] in the [[Eridanus system]]'s largest asteroid belt.{{Ref/Novel|Id=for98|FoR|Page=98-99}}<ref name="watts">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/characters/colonel-watts ''Halo Waypoint'': ''Colonel Watts'']</ref>

Equipped with [[black body suit]]s and [[MA2B assault rifle]]s, Fred and the rest of Blue Team were brought to the [[Eridanus II]] space docks by the {{Class|Halberd|light destroyer}} {{UNSCShip|Pioneer}}. Once at the docks, the Spartans then infiltrated the URF-operated {{Class|Parabola|freighter}} ''[[Laden]]'' en route for Eridanus Secundus. While aboard the [[freighter]], the Spartans learned that a crate of luxury goods was headed for Watts' location. The crate was tagged with a [[NAV marker transmitter]], allowing the Spartans to track the crate to Watts' position once they reached the asteroid. When ''Laden'' arrived at one of the docking bays of Eridanus Secundus, Blue Team fought their way through Eridanus Secundus and URF soldiers until they reached Watts' apartment, located using the NAV marker they had placed on the crate. After killing several of Watts' security guards, Fred and the rest of Blue Team secured Watts inside a crate and returned to one of Eridanus Secundus' docking bays.{{Ref/Novel|FoR|Page=112}} With Sam detonating several [[C-12 shaped charge|C-12 explosives]] on the asteroid's main [[hangar bay]] doors, the Spartans escaped the rebel facility in a stolen [[D77 Pelican]] [[dropship]] with Watts, as the doors blew open and the hangar bay decompressed.{{Ref/Novel|Id=for115|FoR|Page=115}} With the mission complete, Blue Team had effectively severed the head of the United Rebel Front, at least for the time being.{{Ref/Reuse|watts}}

=== The Covenant War begins ===
{{Quote|Sam fell first. And yet he showed us that the Covenant could be killed. Sam proved we could win this war. Every battle won is built on the foundation of that sacrifice. If we survive this, it's because Sam showed us the way.|Fred-104 on Sam's sacrifice aboard ''Unrelenting''{{Ref/Film|Id=for as act3|TFoRAS|Detail=Act Three}}}}
After the [[Covenant]] [[First Battle of Harvest|attack]] on [[Harvest]] and the beginning of the [[Human-Covenant War]], Fred and the rest of the Spartan-IIs were brought to the [[Reach FLEETCOM Military Complex]], where [[Rear Admiral]] [[Michael Stanforth]] and the AI [[Beowulf]] briefed them on the emerging Covenant threat. In response, the training of Fred and the rest of the Spartan-IIs was accelerated, and the Spartans were sent to [[Chi Ceti IV]] in the [[Chi Ceti system]] to receive their new [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor]] from [[Damascus Materials Testing Facility]] to aid in combat against the Covenant.{{Ref/Novel|FoR|Page=121}} While en route to Chi Ceti IV aboard {{Class|Paris|heavy frigate}} {{UNSCShip|Commonwealth}}, the [[frigate]] was [[Battle of Chi Ceti|attacked]] by Covenant [[warship]] ''[[Unrelenting]]''.{{Ref/Novel|FoR|Page=127}} ''Commonwealth'' was able to ward off ''Unrelenting'' and the Spartans were deployed to Chi Ceti IV with Halsey, where they each retrieved a set of armor.{{Ref/Novel|Id=for141|FoR|Page=141}} While the Spartans were returning to ''Commonwealth'', ''Unrelenting'' returned and engaged the frigate. To provide aid to ''Commonwealth'', John had Fred and the other Spartan-IIs use [[thruster pack]]s to embark towards ''Unrelenting'' to destroy the warship with [[Anvil-II air-to-surface missile|Anvil-II AS missiles]], though only John, Kelly, and Sam made it aboard. Ultimately, Sam sacrificed himself to destroy ''Unrelenting'' by detonating the missiles, while John and Kelly escaped and returned to ''Commonwealth''.{{Ref/Novel|FoR|Page=147-150}}{{Ref/Note|''Halo: The Fall of Reach — The Animated Series'' depicts Fred, John, Kelly, Sam, and Linda taking a Pelican to board ''Unrelenting'', with all five boarding the warship. However, this contrasts from other depictions of the event and is regarded as non-canon, particularly as the animated series was intended to serve as an introduction to the members of Blue Team playable in ''Halo 5: Guardians''.}} However, Sam's death proved to Fred that the Covenant could be killed and the UNSC could win the war.{{Ref/Reuse|for as act3}} Fred and John briefly were later sent to support a group of Marines fighting rebels, but the skirmish quickly changed as the Covenant's arrival forced the UNSC troops to side with the rebels to combat the Covenant.{{Ref/Film|H4FuD|Detail=Part 3}}

=== Defense of Alpha Corvi II ===
{{Main|Battle of Alpha Corvi II}}
when the [[Covenant]] attacked the city of [[Jamshid]], Fred and the the three other remaining members of [[Blue Team]] were quickly briefed on the situation, and were being prepped to launch an attack from behind enemy lines. After the crew of the [[UNSC Persian Gate]], the [[Halcyon-class light cruiser]] Blue Team was aboard, gained Intel the the Covenant were striking a mining island settlement known as [[Black Reef]] occupied by a [[Insurrectionist]] militia affiliated with the [[United Rebel Front]], Fred and Blue Team's target was changed to investigate what the Covenant were trying to do.After having been sent down with the members of Blue Team in [[X-24 FAV]]s, Fred immediately began being fired at by the local insurgent force. Fred and fellow member of Blue Team, [[Kelly-087]] recommended taking the insurgents out to move farther in to deal with the covenant, but [[John-117]] opted for a different option.{{Ref/Comic|Id=CD1|HCD|Issue=1}} 
{{Stub|section=yes}}

=== Skirmish over Netherop ===
{{Main|Skirmish over Netherop}}
Leading up to [[2526#March|March 5, 2526]], Fred and Blue Team, along with [[Gold Team]] and [[Green Team]], were stationed on the [[Razor-class prowler]] {{UNSCShip|Starry Night}} over [[Netherop]] as part of an operation with the goal of capturing a Covenant vessel for ONI's [[Beta-3 Division]] to examine.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS1|HSS|Chapter=1}} Using a flight of patrolling {{Pattern|Elsedda|Banshee}}s as cover, the three teams went [[EVA]] and [[Skirmish over Netherop|boarded]] the [[Covenant frigate|frigate]] [[Radiant Arrow]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS2|HSS|Chapter=2}} Once within the vessel's hangar, the Spartans eliminated the crew with cold efficiency and prepared to move deeper into the vessel. Blue Team spearheaded the assault, clearing rooms along the ship's main corridor. Midway through their sweep, a sensor operator aboard one of the prowlers "accidentally" broadcast a transmission on the Spartans' [[COM|SQUADCOM]], revealing their presence to the rest of the Covenant aboard the frigate. In reality, this apparent mistake was actually part of an [[insurrectionist]] plot orchestrated by [[Hector Nyeto]]. With their cover blown, Blue Team rushed deeper into the ship with the intent to find and capture the bridge. The fight soon took the four Spartans into a [[gravity lift]] tube where they were set upon by [[Sangheili]] warriors wielding [[Vostu-pattern carbine|carbines]] and [[Anskum-pattern plasma grenade|plasma grenades]]. Intending to keep the Spartans from reaching the bridge, the Covenant crew reversed the direction of the lift, pulling Fred, Kelly, and Linda rapidly downward while John managed to grab a maintenance ladder. At the bottom of the tube, Fred, Kelly, and Linda laid in a pile, their armors locked up to protect them from the fall. However, the combined mass of Fred and Linda had landed on top of Kelly, and she received a compound rib facture as a result. John ordered Fred to extract Kelly from the tube and for the three of them to rendezvous with Green Team while he secured the bridge. When John found that the vessel's shipmaster had prepared the ''Radiant Arrow'' to self-destruct, he ordered Fred and the rest of the Spartans off the vessel. They all made it clear just before it detonated.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS3|HSS|Chapter=3}}

=== Operation: SILENT STORM ===
{{Main|Operation: SILENT STORM}}
Shortly after this failed attempt at capturing a Covenant vessel, Blue, Gold, and Green Teams were selected to participate in [[Operation: SILENT STORM|a daring operation]] to thin the Covenant's navy through similar boarding tactics. For this mission, the Spartans would be attached to [[Task Force Yama]] and deployed alongside the veteran [[ODST]]s of the [[21st Space Assault Battalion]], known as the "Black Daggers." For its proximity to the front, the [[Outer Colonies|Outer Colony]] of [[Biko]]—specifically [[Seoba Ice Quarry|an ice quarry]] on its third moon, [[Seoba]]—was selected as the staging ground for the operation.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS5|HSS|Chapter=5}} 

During the ten-day voyage through [[slipspace]], Fred and the others trained with the ODSTs in the {{UNSCShip|Vanishing Point}}'s mission preparation hold. The Spartans made short work of the veteran marines in each exercise until [[Staff Sergeant]] [[Avery Johnson]] taught them some unorthodox strategies that proved to be much more effective against the supersoldiers. After four days of training, [[Colonel]] [[Marmon Crowther]] had them all gather in the ship's drop hangar to be briefed on the specifics of the operation. Despite their exemplary performance against his ODSTs, Crowther was still skeptical about deploying the Spartans to the front lines due to their inexperience on the battlefield, as well as their apparent young age, much to their frustration.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS5}}

===Seoba===
{{Main|Battle of Seoba}}
When the [[prowler]] task force arrived in-system on [[2526#March|March 18]], it was discovered that [[insurrectionist]] forces had holed up in that very quarry and the UNSC would need to uproot them before the Covenant inevitably arrived.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS7|HSS|Chapter=7}} Fred and the rest of Blue Team followed John as he disobeyed orders and leapt from the deployment bay of the {{UNSCShip|Ghost Song}} while under fire. During the insertion, one of the prowlers managed to damage the insurrectionist base's communications relay, severing its connection with any potential reinforcements. The Spartans regrouped in the quarry's abandoned and frozen docks to discuss how they would destroy the [[Civet]] convoy travelling up the side of the quarry to fix the relay. With approval from [[Captain (UNICOM)|Captain]] [[Zelos Cuvier]] and [[Lieutenant]] [[Nelly Hamm]], they planned to travel up the tube of a derelict [[mass driver]] that rose five kilometers up and out of the quarry, using [[thruster pack]]s to outpace the convoy.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS8|HSS|Chapter=8}} As the accelerator tube was mostly full of ice, Fred was worried that they wouldn't be able to advance quickly enough without a larger flamethrower and more time. He also suggested the possibility that the Spartans were simply being used as a diversion to allow Hamm and her troopers to eliminate the convoy. Nevertheless, they went forward with the plan, having Linda stay back to cover them with her [[MA5B assault rifle]] and to watch for any hint that the insurrectionists had discovered what they were doing. John led the way, with Fred and then Kelly trailing behind. The vibrations of them bumping into the tube began launching ice crystals into the sky. Despite their ongoing firefight with the Black Daggers, the insurgents soon discovered the Spartans' plan and began sweeping a portion of the tube ahead of them with [[M41 Vulcan]] fire. To distract the gunners, John and Fred rigged their [[thermite-carbon cord]] and [[M7057 flamethrower|I-JeT]] to explode as they moved past the Vulcan fire. Shortly thereafter, Blue Team discovered that Fred was right and that Hamm's men had intercepted the convoy via a prowler drop while the enemy was distracted by the Spartans. The ODSTs had also planted explosives on the communications relay by the time Blue Team exited the tube. John expressed his team's misgivings to Hamm about being lied to and used as bait, but she dismissed him, saying that this was what happens when he disobeys orders.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS10|HSS|Chapter=10}} 

The next day, [[Captain (NAVCOM)|Captain]] [[Halima Ascot]], commander of Task Force Yama and captain of the ''Starry Night'', held a meeting to discuss the events of the previous day's battle. John was reprimanded for his maverick actions at the start of the battle, and his Spartans' experience was called into question once more. Due to some of Nyeto's sly comments, the truth about their young ages was revealed to the few personnel present at the meeting. Learning this disturbing fact, Colonel Crowther refused to send the Spartans into battle again, instead ordering them to guard the insurrectionists captured during the fighting and prepare them to be sent to Biko to be processed. While this meeting was being held, a Covenant [[Bloodstar Flotilla|flotilla]] was detected as it arrived in-system and began heading for Seoba.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS11|HSS|Chapter=11}} 

As the rest of Task Force Yama mobilized to meet the alien vessels, Fred and the other Spartans were sent to [[Subsurface Maintenance Grotto 6M430]] where they would direct the captured insurgents onto [[Emmeline|a transport]]. While the line of roughly 300 prisoners marched onto the vessel, John noticed that a group of them were hiding the presence of an officer, [[General]] [[Harper Garvin]] of the [[United Rebel Front]]. He ordered the officer to step forward, but [[Petora Zoyas|another rebel]] presented herself instead, trying to stall for Garvin. To show that he meant business, John grabbed the woman by her tunic lapels and threatened her with summary execution for interfering with a guard while on the field of combat, as per the [[UNSC Military Code of Conduct]]. John's plan worked and General Garvin presented himself. He began trying to pry information out of John, but this effort was interrupted when a situation with Captain Ascot's [[flagship]] was relayed over the task force's command channel. The ''Starry Night'' had been shot down on takeoff, crash-landing back into the quarry. Crowther was unable to send a unit of his Black Daggers to search for survivors without putting more prowlers at risk. Since they were the only unit available to assist, John decided that he and his Spartans would go for the ''Starry Night'' once the transport was loaded. After sending Garvin back to his people and ordering the transport pilot to launch, John had his Spartans move out, much to the concern of [[Joshua-029]] and [[Kurt-051]]. Not only would they be disobeying a direct order from Crowther, operating without the support of the task force in such a situation would be very risky.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS13|HSS|Chapter=13}}

Fred and the others proceeded to the grotto's access vestibule and entered its airlock, sealing the inner hatch. With that, they stepped out into the dense sublimation fog gathered at the quarry floor. Visibility was so poor that each of the Spartans could barely even see the ends of their rifles, but the flashes of plasma bolts could be seen dancing through the clouds above. John accessed the command channel and requested that he and his teammates receive a [[Navigation point|waypoint]] leading to the downed prowler. Colonel Crowther responded by asking what he thought he was doing. John stated that they were checking on the status of the ''Starry Night'' as they were the only unit that could do so at the moment, carefully choosing his words so that Crowther could deflect blame onto the Spartan if need be. This would make it more likely for Crowther to not stand in the way of their self-assigned mission. While John waited for a response, he signaled Joshua and Kurt to spread out their teams in a hundred-meter-wide search line. Green Team spaced out on the left of the more tightly-gathered Blue Team, and Gold Team spaced out on the right. By doing this, the Spartans would be more likely to find any debris from the ''Starry Night'' that might have otherwise been missed in the fog. Kelly pointed out that Nyeto had said the prowler went down intact, but John was not convinced that it stayed that way once the vessel dropped into the quarry. John also ordered them to advance at a trotting speed, leading them away from the dockyards where they had engaged insurgents the day before. When Crowther still had not responded, John added over the command channel that they would take a look at the crash site and report what they found.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS14|HSS|Chapter=14}}

Finally, Crowther replied and acknowledged John's plan, but ordered him to not take action unless immediately warranted. He also informed the Spartans of Biko's naval response to the alien bombardment of Seoba and that Nyeto believed that the small Covenant flotilla would either be in full retreat or destroyed within the hour by the approaching overwhelming force. An inexact waypoint was placed on each of the Spartans' HUDs, to which Fred reacted with a sarcastic remark. Ignoring the comment, John had them adjust course to match the new trajectory. At this point, Fred and the rest of Blue Team were arrayed in a diamond formation with only five meters between them, with only their [[motion tracker]]s revealing the locations of their teammates. John ordered them all to advance at a full run while keeping their eyes on their feet, since that was all they could see anyway. As they ran, the ''Emmeline'' departed the grotto and flew over the Spartans, churning up the fog and allowing a brief moment of visibility. Through the haze, they could see five Covenant vessels fire towards the transport as it crested the horizon.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}}

As the Spartans neared the provided waypoint, the fog had lowered to shoulder-height, allowing the Spartans to discover that the ''Starry Night'' was indeed seemingly intact, but sat atop a large avalanche about seven hundred meters up the quarry wall. Fred spotted a Covenant intrusion corvette sliding over the rim of the quarry and descending over the prowler. Kelly theorized that they may be trying to recover the ''Starry Night'' themselves. Realizing the danger, John declared to his teammates that the mission was no longer a rescue mission. Their prim