Raid on the Threshold gas mine

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Previous:	Battle of October 10
Concurrent:	Battle for Earth
Next:	Outbreak onboard Mona Lisa
Raid on the Threshold gas mine
Conflict:	Isolated skirmish
Date:	October 20, 2552
Location:	Threshold gas mine, Threshold
Outcome:	Covenant victory All heretic forces annihilated All Flood forms and gas mine destroyed 343 Guilty Spark captured
Details Belligerents Covenant Sesa 'Refumee's heretic faction Forerunner constructs Flood Commanders Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee Commander Rtas 'Vadumee Chieftain Tartarus Heretic leader Sesa 'Refumee† Monitor 343 Guilty Spark Loka 'Bandolee† None (Feral stage) Strength Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee Covenant Special Operations Commander Rtas 'Vadumee Special Operations Sangheili Special Operations Unggoy Unggoy Ultras Kez'katu-pattern Phantoms Sesa 'Refumee Heretic Sangheili Heretic Unggoy Drailaac-pattern Banshees One Kai-pattern Seraph Forerunner constructs Sentinels Combat forms Carrier forms Pod infectors Casualties Light casualties All heretics killed Sesa 'Refumee Loka 'Bandolee Kola 'Baoth's brother All Sentinels destroyed All Flood forms killed

"Be silent and swift, and we shall quell this heresy without incident."

— Rtas 'Vadumee

During the Ninth Age of Reclamation, the forces of the Covenant, under the command of Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee and Special Operations Commander Rtas 'Vadumee, launched a raid against the heretical movement led by Sesa 'Refumee on a Forerunner gas mine over the planet Threshold, near the ruins of Halo Installation 04. The strike force's objective was to assassinate 'Refumee, whom the Hierarchs saw as a threat and offense to the Covenant.

Background

Sesa 'Refumee learns of the Halo Array's true purpose.

During the Battle of Installation 04 in September 2552, the Prophet of Stewardship sent a team led by Third Commander Sesa 'Refumee and Loka 'Bandolee to the gas mine to recover Forerunner artifacts. When the ring was destroyed by Spartan John-117, this artifact retrieval team survived aboard the mine. Some time later, 343 Guilty Spark, the monitor of Installation 04, arrived at the gas mine. While initially met with hostility by Kig-Yar members of the team, a Sangheili intervened and brought the monitor to the commander. 'Refumee proclaimed that the Hierarchs would be pleased that an "Oracle" had survived the destruction of the Halo ring, but the monitor instead revealed that the Halo Array was not in fact a means for the Covenant's faithful to achieve paradise by means of the "Great Journey", but would instead kill all sentient life in the galaxy in order to starve the Flood. Upon hearing the monitor's words, 'Refumee had his forces cut off all communications with the remaining vessels of the Fleet of Particular Justice, as he wished to hear everything that Guilty Spark had to say.

'Refumee and Guilty Spark had a lengthy conversation over the history of the Covenant and the Sangheili, during which it was made clear to 'Refumee the extent of San'Shyuum's manipulation of the Sangheili in order to keep them blindly loyal and subservient, a fact readily apparent by their twisting of the ancient Sangheili title of Arbiter from a position of honor and power into a badge of shame for the Sangheili's most shamed warriors. 'Refumee initially considered conveying these revelations to his commander, Thel 'Vadamee, the only individual that he felt he could trust with 343 Guilty Spark's revelations. However, Thel's disgrace and appointment as Arbiter prevented any detailed conversations. 'Refumee subsequently led the Sangheili, Kig-Yar, and Unggoy under his command to revolt against the Prophets, declaring his intentions to spread the knowledge he had learned to others within the Covenant, making them aware of the lies and falsehoods told to them by the ruling Hierarchs, with the ultimate goal of inciting a full-scale rebellion within the Covenant.

Thel 'Vadamee accepting his role as the Arbiter.

Aware that their proclamations would soon draw hostile attention once they reached the Covenant's leaders, the newly-formed separatist faction fortified their hold on the gas mine; Unggoy and Sangheili patrolled the facility's labyrinthine corridors, numerous Eeo'pimu-pattern Shades were deployed on the exterior surfaces of many of the mine's exterior structures and platforms, supplemented by units of fuel rod gun-wielding Unggoy, and squadrons of Drailaac-pattern Banshees patrolled the airspace surrounding the mine. Guilty Spark mobilized the facility's contingent of Aggressor Sentinels, bolstering the faction's defenses further.

By the following month, the Covenant's supreme leaders, the Hierarchs, became aware of the sect's existence. The Prophets of Truth and Mercy viewed these separatists as a threat to the Covenant and an offense to their religion, thus declaring them "heretics". Against the wishes of the High Council, Truth appointed Thel 'Vadamee, the disgraced former Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice to the rank of Arbiter. The Hierarchs then sent 'Vadamee and a Special Operations te