Editing Insurrectionist (section)

==Biography==
===Pre-Human-Covenant War===
[[File:TFOR Animated Insurrectionist.jpg|thumb|An insurrectionist armed with an [[M7 SMG]].]]
{{Main|Insurrection}}
Most Insurrectionist movements stirred in the [[Outer Colonies]], with the [[Insurrection|war]] [[Callisto Incident|starting]] in the year [[2494]], where many [[Human colonies|colonists]] started to demand independence from both the [[United Earth Government]] and the [[United Nations Space Command]]. Many citizens of the Outer Colonies considered the [[Earth]] government to be oppressive and imperialistic, partly due to their having to pay taxes to the [[Inner Colonies]] and general opinion that the Earth did not represent them. Over the next two decades, the fighting spread to some of the Inner Colonies, particularly the [[Epsilon Eridani system]], the heart of the UNSC military.

Around [[2511]], the rebels based in the Eridanus system had overthrown the colonial government of [[Eridanus II]] and largely controlled all activities within the system. The UNSC responded harshly, seeking to put down the rebellion forcibly. Also in 2511, a major insurrectionist terrorist attack occurred on [[Mamore]], when rebels detonated a [[nuclear weapon|nuclear device]] in the [[Haven arcology]], killing two million people and injuring 8.3 million.{{Ref/Game|HR|Halo: Reach Limited Edition|Limited Edition|Detail=[[:File:Intersystem News Haven.jpg|Intersystem News: HAVEN TERROR BOMBING KILLS TWO MILLION]]}}

Starting in [[2513]], [[Operation: TREBUCHET]] was one of the largest and farthest reaching operations ever conducted in UNSC military history. It was devised in order to rid UNSC-controlled space of the insurrectionists once and for all. In 2513, a space battle occurred between the Eridanus rebels and the UNSC as part of Operation: TREBUCHET. During the battle, the UNSC achieved a Pyrrhic victory with the loss of four [[UNSC destroyer|destroyers]]. However, elements of the rebellion escaped into the nearby Eridanus asteroid belt and established a major base of operations there.{{Ref/Reuse|TFoR9}}

In [[2525]], the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] reported that it had uncovered a breach within [[UNSC Fleet Command]]: there were several spies for the Insurrectionists within FLEETCOM. They had also discovered that the rebels were led by [[Colonel]] [[Robert Watts]] and that they had connections to the outside world and were being supplied by outside sources such as the cargo [[freighter]] ''[[Laden]]''.{{Ref/Reuse|TFoR9}} That year, a group of [[SPARTAN-II program|SPARTAN-IIs]] underwent a covert operation and captured Watts from the very heart of the rebel operations base, the rebel stronghold at [[Eridanus Secundus]], killing many rebel soldiers and civilians who were present at the base.{{Citation needed}}

===Human-Covenant War===
{{Main|Human-Covenant War}}
Following the [[First Battle of Harvest|beginning]] of the [[Human-Covenant War]] in [[2525]], Operation: TREBUCHET was promptly abandoned due to the [[Covenant]] threat. Despite the common threat for all mankind, many Insurrectionist movements continued to live on, still causing problems for the UNSC and forcing them to fight a two-front war: one against the Covenant and one against the insurrectionists.{{Ref/Novel|Id=GoO2|GoO|Chapter=2}}

Circa [[2525]]-[[2526]], UNSC forces were sent to put down Insurrectionist forces on [[Jericho VII]]. [[ODST]]s were deployed on the planet for over 131 days, being dropped on a rebel stronghold at one point.{{Ref/Film|Id=ReferenceA|Film=Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn|Story=Part 1}} Around the same time, a group of Insurrectionists were engaging UNSC Marines and Spartan-IIs when both sides came under attack by the Covenant; the two groups subsequently fought together against the aliens.{{Ref/Film|Film=Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn|Story=Part 3}} That same year, an Insurrectionist cell on [[Alpha Corvi II]] led by Captain [[Whitaker]] allied themselves with SPARTAN-II [[Blue Team]] when the Covenant [[Battle of Alpha Corvi II|invaded]] the planet. Despite this truce, the Spartans' superiors abandoned their rebel allies, resulting in the complete annihilation of the rebels despite their invaluable assistance to the UNSC.{{Ref/Comic|HCD|Issue=3}}

====Raid on Camp New Hope====
{{Main|Operation: SMOKING ACES}}
By 2531, Insurrectionists had repeatedly had its operations disrupted by a four-man team of Spartan-II supersoldiers known as [[Blue Team]]. The team disrupted Insurrectionist operations including [[Station Jefferson]], the destroyer ''[[Origami]]'' and a saboteur cell on Reach, as well as an incident in [[wikipedia:Micronesia|Micronesia]], and a high-explosives manufacturing facility at an unspecified location.{{Ref/Reuse|GoO1}}

In response, the rebels gathered together three stolen [[FENRIS nuclear warhead]]s at [[Camp New Hope]] in a way so sloppy that the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] could not help but notice, then contacted the UNSC and offered to trade the nukes in exchange for medicines for their people suffering from [[Boren's Syndrome]]. They then set a trap for Blue Team, whom they anticipated would be sent. They successfully ambushed [[John-117]], [[Frederic-104]], [[Kelly-087]] and [[Linda-058]] using an [[antigravity plate]], however were unaware of the presence of a fifth Spartan and new addition to the team, [[Kurt-051]], who had avoided the trap. Kurt was able to free the other members of Blue Team and they then retreated from the camp with the recovered warheads before the camp could launch a proper counterattack. Rebel leader General [[Howard Graves]] was killed in the process.{{Ref/Reuse|GoO1}}

====Implementation of the Cole Protocol====
Due to the threat of the Covenant finding [[Earth]], [[Vice Admiral]] [[Preston Cole]] implemented the [[Cole Protocol]] to protect Earth and her remaining colonies. As a result, civilian cargo transport was relegated to either finding other arrangements for cargo leaving UNSC protected space or to joining a convoy where their navigation would be handled by UNSC communications AIs while their navigation data had to be wiped out.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP4|TCP|Chapter=4}} As a result, due to the fact that the Cole Protocol ended all non-Navy travel, the rebels were predicted to be unable to communicate with or resupply each other. [[ONI]] operative [[Major]] [[Akio Watanabe]] felt that this incidental side effect isolated the Insurrectionists across the Colonies and dealt something of a killing blow to them.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP10|TCP|Chapter=10}}

In response, when the {{Class|Stalwart|light frigate}} {{UNSCShip|Midsummer Night}} attempted to search the freighter ''[[Finnegan's Wake]]'' and enforce the Cole Protocol, Insurrectionists aboard the freighter laid a trap for the boarding [[ODST]]s with the intention of using the freighter itself, rigged with explosives, as a bomb to destroy the ''Midsummer Night''. Thanks to the quick thinking of [[Lieutenant]] [[Jacob Keyes]], the plot was foiled though the ODSTs suffered heavy casualties in the initial attack.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP5|TCP|Chapter=5}} A single Insurrectionist was captured alive and interrogated by Watanabe, but didn't know much beyond the details of the ambush due to the Insurrectionists' cell tactics.{{Ref/Reuse|TCP10}}

====Weapons Smuggling and Charybdis IX====
{{Main|Scyllion Warehouse District riot}}
During the war, Insurrectionists operating out of [[the Rubble]] asteroid colony, particularly [[Peter Bonifacio]], traded Covenant weapons they got from the [[Kig-Yar]] [[Reth]] to their compatriots in the Colonies. Unbeknownst to the Insurrectionists, these weapons were tampered with to be traceable as part of the [[Prophet of Truth]]'s plan to locate and destroy humanity quickly.{{Citation needed}} While recovering from being captured and tortured, [[Major]] [[Akio Watanabe]] becomes aware of this while working for a branch of [[ONI]] dedicated to data gathering and analysis. With the implementation of the [[Cole Protocol]], stopping this becomes a priority.{{Ref/Reuse|TCP10}}

After learning of efforts to stealth the {{Class|Stalwart|light frigate}} {{UNSCShip|Midsummer Night}}, a deal was made between the UNSC Navy and ONI for ONI to help stealth the ship in exchange for helping Watanabe stop the Insurrectionists from selling Covenant weaponry in the Colonies which, under the Cole Protocol, was an act of [[treason]] due to the danger of such weapons leading to the Colonies. A slow freighter carrying over four thousand Covenant weapons was intercepted on its way to [[Charybdis IX]] and seized by ONI agents led by [[Captain (NAVCOM)|Captain]] [[Corinthia Hansen]], leading to an opportunity to discover the responsible parties behind the Covenant weaponry.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP10|TCP|Chapter=10}} Posing as the crew of the Insurrectionist freighter, ONI agents led by Hansen attempted to perform a sting operation,{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP12|TCP|Chapter=12}} meeting with well-known Insurrectionist [[Jason Kincaide]]. However, a riotous mob in the area forced ONI to cut its operation short and arrest Kincaide and his two henchmen but they came under attack by RPGs, stopping their escape.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP13|TCP|Chapter=13}}

Kincaide and his Insurrectionists stirred up the rioters, forcing the ONI agents and [[Lieutenant]] [[Jacob Keyes]] to retreat into a nearby warehouse while Keyes called [[Petty Officer]] [[Jeffries]] for a hot extraction, but Jeffries and [[Pelican 019]] were shot down by RPGs, forcing Watanabe, Hansen and Keyes to hold out for twenty minutes until [[ODST]]s from the ''Midsummer Night'' could arrive as backup.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP15|TCP|Chapter=15}} During that time, Kincaide led an attack on the roof using a firetruck ladder. Though Kincaide was able to kill Watanabe, he was killed in return by Keyes with his own plasma rifle and Keyes used the destruction of the ladder and Kincaide's body to force the rioters to rethink their actions.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP16|TCP|Chapter=16}} The arrival of ODSTs led by [[Major]] [[Faison]] shortly thereafter caused the rioters to flee while two ODST snipers killed the Insurrectionists armed with RPGs, bringing the crisis to an end.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP17|TCP|Chapter=17}}

After escaping, Hansen revealed that Kincaide had been so desperate to stop them because he'd told her the name of the next ship delivering Covenant weapons, the ''[[Kestrel]]''. However, they received news that a [[Covenant]] fleet was on its way to [[Battle of Charybdis IX|destroy the planet]]. Hansen ordered the ''Midsummer Night'' to follow up on the ''Kestrel'' rather than attempt to aid in the planetary defense.{{Ref/Reuse|TCP17}} At the same time, the [[Prophet of Regret]] learned of the modified weapons, not knowing of the Prophet of Truth's role in their creation and distribution. Having learned of where they came from, the Prophet of Regret pulled [[Shipmaster]] [[Thel 'Vadamee]] from taking part in the destruction of Charybdis to travel to the [[23 Librae system]] and hunt down the source of the weapons.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP19|TCP|Chapter=19}}

====The Rubble====
{{Main|Battle of the Rubble}}
While on a mission to seek out and destroy any remaining sources of navigation data behind enemy lines, [[Spartan-II]] [[Gray Team]] discovered the asteroid habitat known as [[the Rubble]],{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP7|TCP|Chapter=7}} the source of the smuggled [[Covenant]] weapons and discovered that they were trading with a [[Kig-Yar]] named [[Reth]] for the weapons.{{Citation needed}} Grey Team mainly focused their efforts on retrieving the navigation data protected by [[Ignatio Delgado]], the only source of navigation data left on the Rubble{{Ref/Reuse|TCP7}} aside from that on the ''[[Kestrel]]'s'' computers and which [[Peter Bonifacio]] plotted to sell to the Covenant. At the same time, [[Thel 'Vadamee]] discovered the Rubble before [[Retribution's Thunder|his ship]] was attacked by the [[Kig-Yar raider]] ''[[A Psalm Every Day]]'' and destroyed, leaving Thel and a few other [[Sangheili]] to be captured by Reth's forces. However, they managed to escape their prison and learn the extent of Reth's operation. After capturing Reth,{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=29}} Thel and his comrades learned that he was actually working for the [[Prophet of Truth]] before Reth escaped with the help of some [[Unggoy]].{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=34}}{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=36}}

By tracking the ''Kestrel'' from [[Charybdis IX]], the {{UNSCShip|Midsummer Night}} was able to locate the Rubble.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=23}} However, the ship was sabotaged by [[Lieutenant]] [[Badia Campbell]], a bridge crew member who was actually an Insurrection sympathizer who was aware of the Rubble. Campbell sabotaged the ship's engines and after taking a [[Rumbledrug]], attempted to take out the bridge crew. Though she succeeded in mortally wounding [[Commander]] [[Dmitri Zheng]], Campbell was stopped from killing everyone by Lieutenant [[Jacob Keyes]] and committed suicide. Under attack by the Rubble, Zheng launched and detonated the ''Midsummer Night's'' [[Shiva-class nuclear missile]]s while Keyes enacted the Cole Protocol and wiped the ship's databases. Before dying, Zheng surrendered to the Rubble while leaving Keyes in command.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP26|TCP|Chapter=26}} The crew was taken to the Rubble and given the chance to join the population which many decided to do while Keyes, the bridge crew and others were jailed instead when they refused.{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP30|TCP|Chapter=30}}

After the ''Kestrel'' was fried by Gray Team with an [[EMP]] bomb and its navigation databases wiped,{{Ref/Novel|Id=TCP31|TCP|Chapter=31}} Bonafacio set out to get the last of the navigation data from Delgado to hand it over to Reth. After tricking Delgado into leading him to the data on the ''[[Distancia]]'', Bonafacio revealed his true colors{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=33}} and shot [[Diego Esquival]] before leaving him and Delgado trapped in a broken airlock with communications cut off to die as he took ''Distancia'' to meet with Reth. Delgado was able to activate a beacon that [[Adriana-111]] had given him,{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=35}} signaling Grey Team who rescued Delgado with the ''[[Petya]]''. With Bonafacio in possession of the data and Kig-Yar ships moving out, Grey Team decided to chase down ''Distancia'' while working with the crew of the ''Midsummer Night'' to board a Kig-Yar ship with the Rubble's AI [[Juliana]] in order to find out the Kig-Yar's plan.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=37}} Adriana and [[Michael-120]] were successfully able to catch ''Distancia'' and retrieve the navigation data, but Bonafacio got away in an escape pod.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=42}} When the Prophet of Regret's fleet later arrived, Bonafacio was killed when he attempted to surrender to a [[Covenant cruiser]] that instead destroyed his escape pod.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=68}}

After recruiting the imprisoned crew of the ''Midsummer Night'',{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=39}} an invasion was launched upon the Kig-Yar ship ''[[Infinite Spoils]]'' by [[Jai-006]], Keyes and several ODSTs{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=43-44}} while Thel attacked at the same time in order to take control of the ''Infinite Spoils'' for himself.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=45}} By plugging Juliana into the ship's systems, Keyes was able to grant her access to the [[proselytization network]] and she learned the full extent of the Covenant plans for the Rubble and its inhabitants. Although five ODSTs died, including Faison, the mission was a success while Thel escaped with the ''Infinite Spoils''.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=46-50}}

{{Main|Battle of Metisette}}
From the data she stole, Juliana was able to learn about [[the Redoubt]] on the nearby moon of [[Metisette]] and the army of hundreds of thousands of Unggoy gathered there. Juliana warned the Rubble Security Council which initiated evacuation via the [[Habitat Exodus|Exodus]] asteroid while Keyes devised a plan to use the Rubble itself as a weapon to destroy the Redoubt and the Covenant forces there while they were still on the ground. Keyes agreed that if they succeeded, the navigation data would be handed over to the Rubble to be used in their escape.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=57}} Working together, ODSTs, Jai and Adriana launched from the ''Midsummer Night'' to attack the Redoubt and destroy its scanning systems and antiaircraft batteries in order to leave it unable to see the coming attack or shoot down the pieces of the Rubble.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=60-62}} The attack was successful and the Redoubt was left blind and defenseless when the Rubble rained down upon it, destroying the Redoubt and killing Reth and the hundreds of thousands of Unggoy gathered there, only leaving alive the limited numbers that had launched before the attack occurred.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=64}}

After the destruction of the Redoubt, the navigation data was handed over to Exodus while the [[Rubble Defense Force]] dealt with the surviving Unggoy who had been sent by Thel who chose to stand off with the ''Infinite Spoils'' rather than risk facing the ''Midsummer Night''.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=65-66}} With the Exodus lacking the engine power to reach the depths of the galaxy, the Security Council agreed to head to the Inner Colony of [[Falaknuma]] escorted by the ''Midsummer Night'' where the frigate got a rescue effort moving{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=67}} while the Covenant found two more Colonies to attack through the smuggled weapons.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=72}} Additionally, bringing the civilians from the Rubble brought an unknown number of Insurrectionists back with them. Over the next few weeks, the Insurrectionists began slipping away from the refugee camps on Falaknuma, something that [[Commander]] [[Hadley]] of ONI believed would come back to haunt them one day.{{Ref/Novel|TCP|Chapter=73}}

====Psi Serpentis====
During the [[Battle of Psi Serpentis]] in [[2543]], Insurrectionists actually helped [[Preston Jeremiah Cole|Admiral Cole]]. During the battle, an insurrectionist fleet led by the ''[[Bellicose]]'' suddenly entered the battle and launched a blitzkrieg-style attack against the Covenant fleet, decimating it, then just as it appeared the insurrectionist fleet jumped right back into slipspace. Ironically, this was the same ship Cole engaged three times earlier in his career.{{Ref/Anthology|Id=cole|Evo|Story=The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole}}

By [[2552]], most remaining Insurrectionist factions had ceased active aggression against the UNSC in order to concentrate on surviving the seemingly unstoppable Covenant advance. Still, some rebel movements actively opposed the UNSC on worlds such as [[Harmony]] and [[Reach]] as late as 2552.{{Citation needed}}

====Massacre at Eridanus Secundus====
{{main|Massacre at Eridanus Secundus}}

On September 12, [[2552]], [[Vice Admiral]] [[Danforth Whitcomb]], Fred, the Master Chief, [[Cortana]], [[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Halsey]], and [[Lieutenant]] [[Haverson]], aboard the ''[[UNSC Gettysburg|Gettysburg]]''-''[[Ascendant Justice]]'', returned to the Eridanus asteroid belt aboard the {{UNSCShip|Gettysburg}}-''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' hybrid vessel to make repairs.

[[Jacob Jiles|Governor Jacob Jiles]] was the leader of the rebels at that time. Jiles engaged in a brief "showdown" with UNSC [[Vice Admiral]] [[Danforth Whitcomb]], in which Whitcomb threatened to fire ''Ascendant Justice''{{'}}s [[plasma turret]]s, while Jiles claimed to aim nuclear weapons at ''Ascendant Justice''. The two soon revealed to one another that all but one of Whitcomb's plasma cannons were nonfunctional and that Jiles' nukes were fake. Suddenly, a Covenant cruiser that had followed the trail of the vessel appeared in the system. After a short fight, the Covenant ship was destroyed after dealing severe damage to the ''Gettysburg''-''Ascendant Justice''. Several days later, three dozen Covenant vessels appeared in the system, forcing the ''Gettysburg''-''Ascendant Justice'' to retreat. The Covenant then eradicated the base entirely. The Eridanus rebels were massacred in the process.{{Citation needed}}

===Post-Human-Covenant War===
{{Main|Post-Covenant War conflicts}}
After the [[Voi Memorial|end]] of the Human-Covenant War in [[2553]], many Insurrectionist movements which had ceased their operations during the war began to resurface. Entire colonies under Insurrectionist control had intentionally cut themselves off the UNSC's [[communications relay]] network during the war. Despite the UNSC's attempts to broker peace with the surviving Outer Colonies and [[Fleet Admiral]] [[Terrence Hood]] embarking on a diplomatic mission to discuss reconstruction, entire colonies refused and cut all ties with the UNSC, which, according to them, had abandoned them during the war.{{Ref/Novel|Gla|Chapter=2}} After the end of the war, many Insurrectionist cells were also able to acquire copious amounts of Covenant and UNSC weapons and equipment circulating in the [[black market]].{{Ref/Reuse|Halo page 448}}

Of particular significance to the reemerging Insurrectionist movement was the colony of [[Venezia]], which had become a nexus for rebel operations during the war, its Insurrectionist government having declared itself sovereign and eliminated the local CAA authorities.{{Ref/Novel|Id=Gla3|Gla|Chapter=3}}

The [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Wetwork|Wetwork]] armor, a variant of the [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor (GEN2)|MJOLNIR (GEN2)]] armor, was tested against the United Rebel Front on [[Talitsa]].{{Ref/Game|Id=H4|H4|WETWORK-class Mjolnir|WETWORK-class Mjolnir description}}  The [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Oceanic|Oceanic]] armor was used against the United Rebel Front as well on [[Terceira]].{{Ref/Game|H4|OCEANIC-class Mjolnir|OCEANIC-class Mjolnir description}}

=====Insurrectionist attack on the ''Infinity''=====
[[File:Rebels on the Infinity.png|thumb|250px|NCA forces on the UNSC ''Infinity''.]]
{{Main|Raid on UNSC Infinity}}
Of major significance in the post-war era was the rise of the [[New Colonial Alliance]], founded by rogue UNSC Admiral [[Mattius Drake]], which in early 2553 attempted to hijack the newly-commissioned {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}. In this attack, former [[SPARTAN-IV]] candidate [[Ilsa Zane]] and her NCA combatants staged a mutiny on the vessel and managed to briefly seize control of the bridge. The attack was foiled by Spartan forces aboard the ''Infinity'' and the boarders were all killed or captured, leading to the UNSC's discovery of the new movement's existence.{{Ref/Comic|Id=HI3|HInit|Issue=3}}

=====Battle of Ealen IV=====
{{Main|Battle of Ealen IV}}
In [[2558#March|March 2558]], Captain [[Daniel Clayton]] joined Admiral Drake's New Colonial Alliance and sought vengeance on [[Terrence Hood|Admiral Hood]] after discovering he acted as a benefactor throughout his entire career in an attempt to make up for the loss of his father, [[James Cutter|Captain James Cutter]], and the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}}.{{Ref/Comic|Id=HE5|HE|Issue=5}} Having learned of Lord Hood's diplomatic mission to [[Ealen IV]], Captain Clayton leaked intel about the peace talks and employed the help of a [[Sangheili]] [[Vata 'Gajat's mercenary group|mercenary]], [[Vata 'Gajat]]. On March 5, they led [[Battle of Ealen IV|an attack]] on the peace conference.{{Ref/Comic|HE|Issue=1}} The tide of the battle changed when the delegation reestablished communications with their orbiting fleets and escaped from the planet. Not wanting to risk being identified, Clayton and 'Gajat retreated before the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} and their allied Sangheili and Jiralhanae ships could engage them.{{Ref/Comic|HE|Issue=3}}

=====''Infinity'' ambushed=====
{{Main|Ambush at Oth Lodon}}
After their failed assault on Ealen IV, Captain Clayton lured Admiral Hood and the UNSC ''Infinity'' into a trap. They launched a freighter, the ''[[Pilgrims Pride]]'', which sent out a distress signal that was later picked up by ''Infinity''. When ''Infinity'' arrived in the [[Artesia-702 system]], it found the damaged freighter leaking atomic matter with faint life signs aboard and tugged the ship into one of its deployment bays. An ambush was sprung within the bay when the freighter set itself to self-destruct and multiple UNSC aircraft exited its cargo bay. The attack was repelled and ''Infinity'' later discovered the assault crafts used were from the ''Spirit of Fire''.{{Ref/Comic|HE|Issue=4}} ''Infinity'' tracked the freighter's origin to [[Oth Lodon]] where it found a [[Oth Lodon station|Covenant space station]] operated by NCA forces. Captain Clayton revealed himself and his motives to Lord Hood and fired on ''Infinity'' with the station's [[energy projector]].{{Ref/Reuse|HE5}} In the battle that followed, Admiral Hood was injured and the ''Infinity'' suffered serious casualties among its command crew, but remained operational and deployed its Spartan-IV personnel commanded by [[Sarah Palmer]] to retaliate against the NCA assault. The NCA operatives aboard and Captain Clayton himself were quickly incapacitated and captured, but their allies in Vata 'Gajat's mercenary faction were also present and attempted to assault ''Infinity''. This attacked failed when the Spartans used the station's main cannon to destroy 'Gajat's vessel, killing him and subsequently taking the surviving NCA personnel into custody as the damaged ''Infinity'' was reinforced by the UNSC.{{Ref/Comic|HE|Issue=6}}

=====The Guardians=====
On the remote [[human colony]] of [[Conrad's Point]], NCA rebels and mercenaries led by an unidentified colonel were transferred to the command of Ilsa Zane when she arrived on the planet. Zane organized the rebels into a more formidable force, operating ruthlessly and killing anyone who did not perform up to her standards. Under her command the NCA forces on the colony started to prepare for war with the [[UEG]] and accumulated a large amount of [[nuclear weapon]]ry. Near the end of Oct