Battle over Installation 07

"I wish I could tell you it was difficult... but it wasn't."

- Escharum to John-117.

A battle for Installation 07 was an engagement that took place in late 2559 between the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) and the Banished. The battle was a major engagement, ultimately resulting in the scattering of both UNSC and Banished forces on Installation 07, leading to a protracted conflict on the ring.

Prelude
When the Created conflict began with the rogue AI Cortana subjugating major planets and governments across the galaxy with her Guardians, the UNSC Armed Forces were broken with the forced into hiding. Cortana ushered in a new era with her Created as rulers, enforcing martial law across their territory. The Infinity conducted operations against the Created in limited capacity.

Eventually, Dr. Catherine Halsey came up with a way to stop Cortana. By using a copy of her known as "The Weapon", the UNSC could defeat Cortana. The copy would lock Cortana down, preventing her from controlling her vast Guardian and Promethean forces and isolating her in her current location, Installation 07. A plan was formed, with the initial intent to send Blue Team to the surface to retrieve Cortana, though this was later revised to be just John-117 and The Weapon, accompanied by the ship's Spartan and ODST complement. Halsey had plans for Frederic-104, Kelly-087, and Linda-058, but they were reassigned by Captain Thomas Lasky to another mission unknown to Halsey, much to her chagrin.

Battle
At least one escort fleet of six s followed shortly by the went to Installation 07 and were ambushed by a group of mercenary raiders known as the Banished. The UNSC’s intent was to send John-117 down to the surface once Dr. Halsey gave the signal that the Weapon was ready for deployment. John-117 was on the bridge with Captain Lasky when their plan went awry. The Banished had ambushed the advance group of frigates and were waiting for the Infinity when it came out of Slipspace, all the while sending occupation forces to the Ring's surface by the hundreds.

The Infinity had been prepared for a ground assault and was caught by surprise, with Lasky initially believing they'd been attacked by Guardians. Four Banished dreadnoughts attacked the supercarrier and overwhelmed its defenses. Several engines were taken offline within minutes of the opening salvo. Lasky ordered the deployment of the Weapon. One dreadnought rammed the dorsal hull, causing massive structural damage, prompting a general evacuation as Banished forces boarded the Infinity. John-117 left the bridge after the collision to repel the Banished boarding parties, but he returned after realizing that the enemy outnumbered the UNSC to escort Captain Lasky to a dropship. Lasky, accompanied by John-117 and several marines, linked up with the Spartan-IVs of Fireteam Taurus and proceeded to the hangar bays, which had been overrun by Banished forces.

Upon arriving at the hangar, John-117 ordered Spartan Hudson Griffin to take Lasky to a dropship while he covered their retreat. Lasky and Fireteam Taurus fought their way across the hangar until they came across a functioning Pelican. Griffin and the other members of Taurus refused to accompany Lasky in his dropship, electing to stay behind and assist with the rest of the evacuation. Once inside the ship, Lasky began issuing a general evacuation call, but was cut-off midsentence as his ship came under fire.

After ensuring Captain Lasky’s ship was away, Spartan Griffin and the rest of Fireteam Taurus organized the evacuation of the remaining Spartan-IVs, marines, and crew to the surface of Installation 07 under fire from Banished artillery. Dropships and lifepods fled the disintegrating Infinity, many being shot down seconds after exiting the vessel. The leader of the Banished, Atriox, boarded the Infinity and defeated Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 as he fought off Banished forces in the hangar bays before tossing him into space as the hangar was engulfed in flames. Upon hearing of the loss of the Master Chief, Fernando Esparza, a civilian engineering contractor, panicked and stole a Pelican, Echo-216, and fled from the doomed vessel.

The Spartans who made it to the ground began organizing to take out Banished artillery to ensure the safety of the incoming survivors. However, as they did so, a massive explosion rocked the ring as Cortana began her plan to prevent Atriox from finding the secrets of the ring, severely damaging it. The Spartans switched their tactics to saving as many lifepods that were heading for the damaged portion of Installation 07, some of them noting the Infinity's resilience as she was bombarded. The Infinity suffered heavy damage and eventually broke apart, the remains crash landing on the ring in the process.

Aftermath
"We lost. Lost everything. There's nothing left for us here. I don't even know where here is."

- Echo 216's pilot to John-117.

The conflict resulted in extensive damage to Installation 07, as well as leaving Echo 216 and its pilot adrift near the installation. Additionally, the battle resulted in heavy casualties among personnel assigned to the, with the ship crash-landing on the ring. At some point, the ring was moved from the Ephsu system, alongside UNSC and Banished assets.

Despite the damage, the Banished would occupy the ring, leaving UNSC forces to group up on one of the fragments. They would form a resistance which included three Spartans. A large group of survivors would create a base in the ruins of a crashed Mulsanne-class frigate Mortal Reverie discovered by Spartan Makovich, led by Spartan Hudson Griffin. They established it as the UNSC’s new HQ on the surface, taking advantage of the frigate’s still-active point defense system.

Griffin would determine that the only way to survive would be to take out Escharum, the Banished leader, and selected a 4-man Spartan team, led by him, to assassinate the Brute. He left Spartan Vettel in charge of Reverie while the team traveled on foot to Escharum’s citadel. However, Escharum anticipated Griffin’s actions and was waiting for them. He slaughtered his team, while sending the entirety of his forces to wipe out Reverie, which did not hold out against the assault, despite Griffin managing to send out a warning to Reverie. The Banished, led by Tremonius, would rename the base Outpost Tremonius. Griffin would later meet his end after being tortured by Warlord Chak 'Lok and freed by John-117, while Escharum himself would eventually meet his end at the hands of John-117.

The surviving UNSC personnel were forced to conduct mostly defensive tactics over the next few months, their numbers slowly whittled down as they were either captured or killed. They were unable to stage any major offensives due to the loss of most of the Spartan-IVs and ODSTs, but what Spartans remained enacted the Rubicon Protocol; doing all they could to slow down the Banished, seize the Ring, and protect Earth. By the time John-117 was recovered by Echo-216, most surviving marines were captured by the Banished, and almost all Spartan-IVs were slain, with the possible exception of Spartan Horvath. It was not until John-117 arrived on the surface that the UNSC managed to turn the tide against the Banished.

List of appearances

 * Halo Infinite
 * Halo: The Rubicon Protocol