Operation: HYPODERMIC

Summary
DATE: July-August 2552

LOCATION: Various systems around Epsilon Eridani.

Involved: UNSC ONI forces.

Synopsis: This operation was actually not a battle. It was a plan by ONI to send prowlers to various systems to collect intelligence on the Covenant. It may seem inconsequential, but it led directly to the Master Chief's boarding of the Pillar of Autumn during The Battle of Reach.

Outcome: Operation is scrubbed with the destruction of REACH

UNSC
Commander: Classified. ONI Codename: SURGEON

Dozens of ONI Prowlers.

Timeline

 * July? 2552: The operation begins. ONI prowlers begin moving through UNSC controlled space, searching for any sign of Covenant forces. Their mission is to gather any and every bit of intelligence possible.
 * August 28, 2552: Cortana the AI intrudes into the ONI database and discovers three of the involved Prowlers involved in the operation are docked in the Reach orbital stations: the Circumference, the Applebee, and the Lark.
 * August 29, 2552:


 * 0000 Hours: Before the Covenant fleet is detected around Reach, an ONI operative, Codename: COALMINER, detects the intrusion. He/She removes the Circumference from the database of Reach, afraid that the mission will be uncovered. For some reason it is highly sensitive and classified.
 * 0558 Hours: Reach Dockmaster AI Doppler detects the isolation. It is in violation of the Cole Protocol and the Covenant have detected it. He informs the admirality, which informs Captain Keyes.
 * 0616 Hours: Instead of going to defend the Orbital Generators, SPARTAN-117 goes to destroy the Circumference. He then goes to Installation 04 instead of ending up on the surface of the planet, like he would have otherwise.

Ships

 * UNSC Euphrates
 * Circumference
 * Applebee
 * Lark

Characters

 * Codename: SURGEON
 * Codename: COALMINER