Camp Independence

Camp Independence is a UNSC encampment located in the Highland Mountains on planet Reach. It is located inside a large cavern in the shadow of a cliff, thereby obscuring the entrance from the casual observer. The cavern is illuminated by florescent lights and reinforced by steel I-beams on the walls and ceiling. It is protected by two Gauss Cannons bolted to large boulders near the entrance of the cavern. It was a fallback position for the high-ranking staff of HIGHCOM.

During the Fall of Reach, Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb and his staff retreated to Camp Independence to escape death at the hands of the Covenant. He then radioed Charlie Company to come in and rescue him. Instead, he discovered that company to be destroyed, and Spartans in its place. He ordered Frederic-104 to rescue him. Frederic dispatched Anton-044, Grace-093, and Li-008 to pick up Whitcomb. They then attempted to fall back to Frederic's position, but it had already be surrounded by the Covenant. They held position and broadcast Oly Oly Oxen Free over the UNSC E-Band for three weeks until John-117 and Cortana, aboard the Ascendant Justice, picked up the transmission and rescued Whitcomb and the Spartans from Camp Independence. During this time the Spartans had performed several hit-and-run attacks against the Covenant. His staff is assumed to be killed and Camp Independence is still intact, one of few places not glassed by the Covenant. The camp is also where Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb might have hidden the NOVA Bomb that was later discovered by the Covenant's supercarrier Sublime Transcendence, and caused an explosion in the orbit of the planet Joyous Exultation.