The Cauldron

The Cauldron, designated Site Req//8934-8829, was the UNSC codename for a location on the Forerunner shield world Requiem.

Background
The area known as the Cauldron appears to be a thermal processing system created by the Forerunners to power large-scale tension modifiers, which are used to stabilize atmosphere pockets deep within Requiem.

History
During the Requiem campaign in 2558, Covenant archaeological teams were operating in this location, and the sent Spartan-IV Fireteam Crimson to investigate the area. After dispatching the Covenant forces in the area, Fireteam Crimson was attacked by Promethean forces. The Spartans then found a Forerunner artifact hidden in the facility. The team extracted the artifact and evacuated the area.

A science team was deployed to the base, led by Dr. Morgan Rivera. They came under attack by Covenant forces and were forced to flee behind an energy shield. Fireteam Crimson responded to their distress beacon and cleared out the Covenant forces. The science team was rescued. However, the Cauldron later fell again to the Covenant.

Fireteam Crimson later tracked Jul 'Mdama to this location in their continued pursuit of him and gave chase before he narrowly escaped an airstrike coordinated by Commander Sarah Palmer and Robert Dalton and teleported to safety. In his hasty getaway, he dropped a mysterious artifact known as the 'Didact's Gift', which was later retrieved by Crimson and transported to Galileo Base for further study.

Sometime later, UNSC forces set up a forward operations base known as "Magma" in the area. Magma Base came under attack by Covenant forces, forcing them to send a distress signal. Fireteam Crimson was sent in response. The Covenant focused their attack on the base's generators. The Spartans, along with Marines, Mantises and autoturrets support, were able to hold off multiple Covenant waves. After successfully holding off the attack, Roland noticed Gabriel Thorne's IFF tag in the area, when Crimson went to investigate they only found the tag, leaving Roland and Miller to wonder what happened.

The Covenant later retook the location, where they shot down a UNSC Army D79-TC Pelican, which was then captured and brought back to Lockup. Later, Jul 'Mdama returned to the Cauldron to activate Requiem's self-destruction, prompting the shield world to eventually collide with its sun.

List of appearances

 * Halo 4
 * Spartan Ops