UNSC In Amber Clad

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The  (FFG-142) was a United Nations Space Command Frigate.

First Battle of Earth
As of October 2552, the In Amber Clad was commanded by Commander Miranda Keyes. It was docked with Orbital Defense Platform Cairo during an award ceremony. In the middle of the ceremony, however, a Covenant Fleet appeared around Earth and so the First Battle of Earth began. Home Fleet ships then began to open fire on the Covenant Ships. Though the In Amber Clad did not engage in direct combat over Earth, they did descend to catch John-117 after his daring destruction of one of the Covenant's Assault Carriers using their own bomb.

First Battle of Mombasa
Afterwards, the vessel descended to Mombasa, Kenya, where it dispatched numerous units from the 17th and 77th Marine Regiments. During the battle, the In Amber Clad was the headquarters for all UNSC forces in the area. The ship also reinforced and resupplied the Marines with armor, ground support, and more troops. The IAC also began to Evac and treat injured and wounded Marines.

As the High Prophet of Regret suddenly initiated a Slipspace jump inside the city, the In Amber Clad was one of the only vessels close enough to follow it. Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood allowed Keyes to follow the Assault Carrier through the Slipspace rupture, even though she did not know where it was headed.

The, , , and the were sent to follow and assist the In Amber Clad with the heavy Assault Carrier.

Battle of Installation 05
The IAC ended up at Installation 05. There, Keyes immediately sent Spartan-117 and her contingent of Marine Shock Troopers to the surface in Human Entry Vehicles to track down the Prophet of Regret at the Temple, while she took herself, Johnson and the 77th Marines to the Library in order to retrieve the Index and prevent the Covenant from activating Halo.

As Keyes entered the Library, they were immediately attacked by the Flood and most of her Marines were taken by the flood and became Combat Forms and Carrier Forms, only a few eventually making it to the index. However, Keyes, Johnson, and what was left of the Marines were ambushed by the Arbiter only a few seconds after retrieving the index.

It is likely that the Flood commandeered a Pelican and infiltrated the IAC, as it was not seen again until it crashed into High Charity. At this point the Flood controlled the ship. It is speculated that Gravemind was aboard.

First Battle of High Charity
The ship crashed into a tower near the Council Chamber and immediately the Flood used most of the ship's remaining Pelicans to spread out over High Charity, often crashing the ships to inflict maximum damage on the city. The Flood quickly assimilated most of High Charity's population. At this point, the ship was out of commission, designating it as destroyed.

Cortana intended to use the In Amber Clad's engines to destroy High Charity, but it was never done. It is unclear whether she still could do it because during the Battle of Installation 00, Cortana was unable to stop the Gravemind from using High Charity to travel through the galaxy. It is assumed to be completely destroyed when John-117 blasted the station's reactors causing them to go critical.

Crew Fates
While the majority of the "In Amber Clad"'s UNSC Marine forces were deployed to secure the Delta Halo Activation Index, Flood forces managed to infect the under-strength ship. The remaining crew were infected, and converted into combat forms for use in the invasion of High Charity. A small number, however, managed to outlive their ship, at least for a short while.

Commander Keyes herself survived the trials of the Sentinel Wall and the Quarantine Zone, as well as Sergeant Major Johnson and a small number of Marines. While only Johnson and Keyes managed to reach the Index, the other Marines were either killed by the Flood upon arrival at the Index chamber, or captured by the Covenant. Both Keyes and Johnson were captured by the Covenant, only to escape much later thanks to the intervention of a Sangheili-led assault on their captors' base. They would later go on to play pivotal roles in the Second Battle of Earth, both dying on or near the Ark. The other captive Marines joined the Master Chief during his rampage through High Charity, but were killed either by the Covenant or by the Flood.

Although several Marine bodies can be found on High Charity well after the planetoid had been totally infested, it remains unknown whether these were survivors of the IAC or if they had been killed after trying to follow the Master Chief into the infected city.

Appearances

 * The Heretic - Cut scene (briefly)
 * Cairo Station - Docked
 * Outskirts - Cut scene
 * Metropolis - Cut scene
 * Delta Halo - Cut scene
 * Quarantine Zone - Gondola
 * Gravemind - over bridge
 * High Charity - Both cutscenes and gameplay

Trivia

 * In the level Cairo Station, there is a way of walking over the ship. When you come to the first outside part, you head to the diagonal beam in front of the airlock. After jumping to the top by using it as a step, walk to very end of the path. After the last airlock, move to your right and jump. You will land on the Ship and be free to walk all around and get back safely.
 * In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, the In Amber Clad was once referred to as a destroyer, however, because the ship carries the FFG hull classification, it is designated as a frigate.''
 * In Amber Clad's hull numbered designation is 142. 1+4+2 =7. Another 7 reference amid the Halo universe.
 * In Halo 3, there is evidence that not all of the ship's crew had been infected before the frigate had crashed in High Charity. On the level Cortana, you can find an occasional marine or ODST corpse, often located near a flamethrower, suggesting they tried to burn the corpses so the Flood coudn't infect them.
 * In Halo 2, in the cutscenes when you see the interior of the ship, (Delta Halo, Cairo Station) you can see that the monitors show the three MAC orbital cannons, Cairo, Malta and Athens even though they are not present in the level Delta Halo, and the Malta and the Athens were destroyed by the Covenant.
 * In Amber Clad rested in High Charity until the Planetoids destruction as Cortana failed to activate the self-destruct.
 * The In Amber Clad appears in the level Quarantine Zone. After the cut scene on the Gondola, look to the back. Zoom in to the left and the Frigate can be seen over the Mountains.
 * In all 3 Halo games the main UNSC ship becomes severely damaged and unable to be used again. The Pillar of Autumn crashed on Installation 04, the In Amber Clad crashed into High Charity and the Forward unto Dawn was cut in half.
 * The name In Amber Clad could refer to the ancient Greek (among other cultures) reverence for amber in jewelery and adornment; thus, In Amber Clad would give the vessel a sense of royalty.