Ivanoff Station

Ivanoff Station (hull classification symbol: ONIRF IS-004920//001-54) is a UNSC orbital research facility stationed in an asteroid field near Installation 03. It was built after the Office of Naval Intelligence discovered the location of the Installation shortly before the end of the Human-Covenant War.

Design details
Built into the side of a planetary fragment, Ivanoff Station originally began life as a simple makeshift orbital habitat that would be quickly expanded into a permanent facility dedicated to scouring the Halo for secrets of the Forerunners. It is roughly made up of three specifically-built module sections that are all interconnected within the station. The main section of the station is host to its primary hangar bay, known as the Harbor, which can handle small cargo transports, fighters, and dropships. An energy barricade system lines its opening to retain the hangar's atmosphere as ships pass in and out, allowing it to remain pressurized at all times. Two thermal control arrays are also present here adjust the station's temperature by either pumping waste heat back into its host asteroid, or by using two radiator vane panels to release it into space. As with all ONI science stations, Ivanoff is equipped with a variety of specialized laboratories and workshops, although it also possesses additional state-of-the-art facilities for the storage, deconstruction, and analysis of Forerunner machinery. A habitation module is suspended from the station via framework booms. The station has at least two wavecom relays, which are the most advanced superluminal communications system available to ONI.

Many artifacts collected from Gamma Halo were brought to the Station for further study. This included the Halo's Activation index, the eye of a war sphinx, and a Composer.

Crew and complement
Officially, the crew that makes up Ivanoff Station's workforce was a mix of ONI personnel and civilian contractors assigned to the facility for years-long deployments, with the total crew count adding up to 250 individuals. Unbeknownst to most, including the station's personnel, ONI operated an illegal Black Site within the station that used imprisoned scientists and technicians collected from across the UEG to work on dangerous and ethically-dubious research projects. The full scope of this work was lost during the Didact's attack on the station, as information sanitation protocols wiped out the relevant records while the rest of the crew were wiped out by his attack.

A small group of D79-TC Pelicans and D82-EST Darters were assigned to the Station for the purposes of transferring personnel and cargo between Ivanoff and Gamma Halo. 90 ONI Security guards were there to protect the station, along with a wing of F-41 Broadswords. While the exact number of fighters varied, at least three were kept on site at all times. Strangely, although Ivanoff had a complement of Mantises, these were originally configured for hauling cargo.

Armament
Despite being a research station, Ivanoff boasts a network of sixteen Mark 2551 Onager MAC turrets, which are used primarily to protect the station from the occasional rogue asteroid and errant Sentinel. They are, nevertheless, an effective deterrent for any naval assault: a single shot is sufficient to destroy a Covenant dropship or damage small warships. During emergencies, Ivanoff's powerful fusion reactors allow for sustained rapid fire to fend off attackers. It also possessed seven excavation-grade HAVOK tactical nuclear weapons.

Service history
After examining the Floral Express's flight records, and finding a possible Halo installation in the Khaphrae system, ONI contacted and redirected pioneer teams to Khaphrae. Soon after confirming it was Installation 03, the teams attempted to find and secure the installation's Library to recover the activation index. Since Earth was under attack at the time, the teams could not return home, and they did not have the force of arms to remain on the ring, the teams settled in for a long habitation in a makeshift orbital base which they named Ivanoff Station. Shortly after the end of the war Ivanoff was expanded into a permanent UNSC facility. The facility maintained a small fleet of Pelicans and Darters to transport personnel and cargo between the ring and station, protected by squadrons of F-41 Broadsword fighters.

In March 3, 2553, Dr. Catherine Halsey was indefinitely detained here by Admiral Margaret Parangosky, as retribution for lying to her about the creation and deployment of flash clones during the SPARTAN-II Program's early phases. Catherine Halsey was later allowed to work on the, although she was transferred back to the station after finishing.

In 2557, the would transfer an artifact to Ivanoff Station known as the Composer - a machine capable of converting living beings into digital form. As a result of an accident with the Composer, in which several scientists studying the artifact were digitized, the UNSC discovered the coordinates to Requiem.

Raid on Ivanoff Station
Searching for the Composer after being revived on Requiem, the Didact traveled to the station and attacked it with Covenant remnant forces loyal to him. Despite the efforts of the Master Chief who had hitched a ride on a Lich, the Didact succeeded in getting the Composer and fired it at Ivanoff Station, digitizing everyone except the Master Chief who had an immunity to the weapon activated in him earlier by the Librarian. With everyone in the station dead and the Didact leaving, the Master Chief abandoned the station in one of its F-41 Broadsword fighters armed with one of the station's excavation-grade HAVOK tactical nuclear weapons in hopes of stopping the Didact from doing the same to Earth.

With the help of the, the Master Chief succeeded in destroying Mantle's Approach and the Composer, but not before the city of New Phoenix was composed like the station. In the aftermath of the Raid on Ivanoff Station, a handful of the Ivanoff's personnel managed to escape into the nearby asteroid field and were later saved by search and rescue teams. The survivors quickly reoccupied the station in the wake of the attack alongside an ONI security team, as the station had only suffered minor physical damage from the attack.

Current status
Following the Didact's translocation back to Installation 03 after his battle aboard the Mantle's Approach, he had managed to procure the ring's Activation Index from the station with help from 859 Static Carillon as part of a mutual agreement. The station is currently active, as of 2558, though as of 2560 it remains unclear whether it will return to full operational status.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo 4
 * Halo: Escalation
 * Halo: Mortal Dictata
 * Hunt the Truth
 * Hunt the Signal
 * Halo: Spartan Strike
 * Halo Mythos