Xeno-Materials Exploitation Group

The Xeno-Materials Exploitation Group (XEG) is a division of the United Nations Space Command's Office of Naval Intelligence that specializes in the recovery and reverse-engineering of technology from alien sources, including the Covenant, the Forerunners, and the Ancestors. The XEG's activities may indicate them to be under the jurisdiction of ONI Section Four.

History
In 2548, after being brought aboard the UNSC cruiser following their escape from the Battle of Meridian, Saskia Nazari, Victor Gallardo, Evelyn Rousseau and Dorian Nguyen were reminded by ONI Captain Daniella Dellatorre that the conversation they were about to have was classified as part of ONI's XEG presence aboard the ship. When Dorian questioned what exactly the XEG was, Daniella stated that it was the Xeno-Materials Exploitation Group, but refused to explain more for the moment. Daniella eventually revealed that the XEG wanted to recover the Forerunner artifact that the Covenant were attempting to excavate underneath Brume-sur-Mer and if possible, use it themselves in the war effort. After some hesitation, the four teens agreed to form a specialized team to help ONI recover the artifact from Meridian.

In May of 2553, the 717th Battalion of the Xeno-Materials Exploitation Group was posted to the human Outer Colony of Gao to capture the archeon-class ancilla, Intrepid Eye. The battalion succeeded, though it lost half of its forces. Around the time of the operation on Gao, the battalion also deployed a company to Shaps III to survey the Line Installation 444-447, where the unit discovered valuable boson beads created when Sav Fel had glassed a hard light device within the Forerunner ruins on the planet. In 2554 an underwater research facility by the name of Fathom Station was constructed by Imbrium Machine Complex on behalf of the group beneath the waters of the Cortez Ocean on Beta Gabriel. Fathom Station was designed to locate the crash sites of Splendid Intention and, two ships that crashed in the sea during the Human-Covenant War; the staff of Fathom intended to rediscover the valuable weapon plans carried by the Covenant carrier--plans that would supposedly render the energy projector obsolete.

In 2555 the group created a task force to assist ONI's Zeta Halo project following the discovery of Installation 07. During a routine search conducted by twenty-three explorers from Fathom Station in 2556, Splendid Intention suddenly shifted from its resting place in the Aleutian Rim and violently slid down a nearby trench, sending debris and water in Fathom Station's northern terminal. The complex was torn apart and forty-one researchers were killed in the incident. Splendid Intention and the twenty-three explorers trapped inside the carrier were lost, and operations at Fathom Station did not continue. At some point, the Xeno-Materials Exploitation Group filed report 15Y1198, which detailed the discovery of an archeohominina vessel at Site Yankee-002-G3 and an assessment of it tactical capabilities. The report recommended that further analysis of the ship should be immediately assigned to Project ARC DREAM and noted that investigation of its weaponry was already underway by a team on AZURE MOON.

By 2559, Spartans were assigned to work with the group in work on Installation 07. These Spartans were equipped with the Mark V Zeta armor. The XEG has also developed the "MOTHACID" target acquisition system for the CELOX-class Mjolnir helmet, intended for use in detecting and analysing alien technology and signal sources.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Hunters in the Dark
 * Halo: Last Light
 * Halo Mythos
 * Halo: Retribution
 * Halo: Battle Born
 * Halo: Renegades
 * Halo: The Television Series
 * Halo Infinite