Operation: ATHENA
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Indecisive
Sali 'Nyon's Covenant strategic victory
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Operation: ATHENA was the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) codename for a military operation fought at the Forerunner installation known as the Absolute Record in 2558.[1]
Prelude[edit]
- Main articles: Requiem Campaign, Battle of Aktis IV
After the events on the shield world of Requiem, Jul 'Mdama and Dr. Catherine Halsey allied themselves to recover both halves of the Janus Key and discover the location of the Absolute Record.[2] On Aktis IV, they planned to steal the UNSC's half of the Janus Key, but a rebellion led by the Sangheili Sali 'Nyon threatened their plans.[3] Halsey was able to recover the second half of the Janus Key thanks to a Minor who betrayed 'Nyon. Even when Commander Sarah Palmer captured Halsey,Jul 'Mdama's Covenant was able to rescue the doctor and recover the Janus Key, emerging victorious. Days later, Jul and Halsey discovered the location of the Absolute Record using the combined Janus Key.[4] Unknown to them, Ayit 'Sevi, a Sangheili working with the Office of Naval Intelligence, was able to infiltrate inside Jul's faction and provided ONI with information about their plans. The UNSC then formed a specialist team of Spartans Sarah Palmer, Gabriel Thorne and Holly Tanaka, Dr. Henry Glassman and 'Sevi.[1]
The human members of the team would infiltrate the Breath of Annihilation in a Covenant box with a cloaked interior compartment, transported to the ship aboard a Ru'swum-pattern Phantom piloted by 'Sevi. Once at the Absolute Record they would separate from the fleet and find a place to land. Because they lacked real-time superluminal communications options, they planned to use a state-of-the-art model of telemetry probe that would transmit their location back to the UNSC.[1]
The battle[edit]
Initial stages[edit]
On September 17, 2558, Ayit 'Sevi's Phantom entered Breath of Annihilation, just before the fleet made the slipspace jump toward the Absolute Record. Upon their exit from slipspace three hours later, 'Mdama's fleet entered the upper atmosphere of an unusually hot gas giant with a metallic hydrogen core, noted by Dr. Halsey as being likely artificial. The Janus Key began to react, leading Halsey to conclude that they were close to their destination — a slipspace portal to the Absolute Record. As the portal began to form, however, slipspace ruptures materialized into several ships of the fleet, tearing them apart. Breath of Annihilation was damaged as well and the Spartans and Glassman were thrown about uncontrollably in their crate. 'Sevi blew the box open and told the others that they must move out as the entire ship was breaking apart. The telemetry probe was destroyed in the chaos as well, meaning the team had no way to contact the UNSC.[1] The Annihilation's crew attempted to remediate damages done to their ship while the Spartans, Glassmand and Ayit discussed their next course of action. 'Sevi decided to steal another Phantom in a nearby hangar and ordered the rest of the team to follow him to the hangar a minute after he left, giving him time to take out Jul 'Mdama's Covenant soldiers outside of their Phantom.[5]
To prevent giving away their position, 'Sevi armed the humans with Covenant weaponry and left the Phantom to engage Jul 'Mdama's Covenant soldiers in the hangar alone. Creating a smoke screen, 'Sevi was able to begin eliminating all hostiles without alerting any unwanted attention. Inside the Phantom, Glassman was knocked unconscious when the damaged carrier shuddered and threw him against the Phantom's hull. Palmer had Tanaka carry Glassman and orders the Spartans to forego 'Sevi's wait time. Exiting their Phantom, Palmer killed the last remaining Kig-Yar in the hangar and the Spartans and Glassman escaped just as their dropship exploded behind them. Traveling down a hallway to the next hangar bay, 'Sevi's smoke screen provided the Spartans cover but also impaired their vision. Thorne activated his Promethean vison and discovered that they were surrounded by oncoming Covenant forces. A firefight ensued and the Spartans managed to fight their way to the hangar. As a Wraith appeared and prepared to fire upon the Spartans, the tank was destroyed by a Phantom manned by 'Sevi. The team decided to travel to the Song of Retribution.[5]
On the bridge of the Song of Retribution, 'Mdama was enraged about the damage done to his fleet caused by the portal's activation. Furious, 'Mdama blamed Doctor Halsey for the incident and threw her against a wall. 'Mdama and Halsey argued about their situation and Halsey reminded 'Mdama that once they traveled to the Absolute Record, they would discover technology beyond their comprehension that would more than compensate for the ships that were destroyed when the portal opened. To further calm the irate 'Mdama, Halsey claimed that once he is in control of the Absolute Record's "treasures", 'Mdama will be seen as a god. 'Mdama decided to make another attempt to travel to the Absolute Record, though only Song of Retribution would enter the portal while Breath of Annihilation made emergency repairs at a nearby moon.[5]
'Sevi learned of 'Mdama's intentions and informed the rest of the team. Glassman reminded them that once they entered the portal, they would have even less of a chance at re-establishing contact with ONI. Palmer ordered 'Sevi and Thorne to travel back to Breath of Annihilation to attempt to contact ONI, while the rest of the team remained on Song of Retribution to travel through the portal. As the two traveled back to the damaged carrier in the Phantom, 'Sevi informed Thorne that there were rumors of a possible Spartan attack spreading aboard the ship. 'Sevi discovered that prisoners from Retribution were being temporarily transferred to Annihilation, one of which is traitor Sali 'Nyon. 'Sevi considered using 'Nyon to create a distraction for them. Aboard Retribution, the rumors of the Spartan attack reached 'Mdama. Halsey dismissed 'Mdama's worries and stated that the Spartans would be unable to stop them from