Recovery of John-117

"We must go. The Brutes have our scent."

- Thel 'Vadam

The Raid on Kilimanjaro was a small engagement between the United Nations Space Command against the Covenant loyalists in late 2552 near Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Earth. The raid was significant because of the recovery of the SPARTAN-II commando John-117, who would play a vital part in the ending of the Human-Covenant War.

Recovery of SPARTAN-117
On November 17, the Prophet of Truth arrived at Earth aboard the Forerunner Dreadnought, landing in the center of The Portal, a Forerunner structure near the town of Voi. SPARTAN-117, onboard the ship, bailed out as it entered atmosphere, and using a hatch as a heat shield, landed in a jungle near Mount Kilimanjaro. Because of force of the impact, he went unconscious for hours.

Due to the efforts of a group of Marines in the Battle of Sector Six, the UNSC was able to track the descent of SPARTAN-117 and quickly pinpoint his crash site. In the morning, a squad of Marines led by Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson, accompanied by the Sangheili Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, found its way to the Spartan's position. The SPARTAN was initially thought dead from the impact, but recovered just as Johnson prepared to call in VTOL support to carry the Spartan's body away.

Advance through the forest
Johnson sent his team's First Squad forward as the scouts. Bravo Team, led by Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds, was scouting the jungle some kilometers away, and Johnson ordered him to fall back to the extraction point at the Nkuu River located nearby. Soon, a Covenant Phantom appeared overhead, and Johnson decided to split the squads in order to go undetected. With the Second Squad, he would find another way to the extraction point while the First Squad and GySgt Stacker went with John-117 and the Arbiter and headed straight to the river. Reynolds' squad was ambushed by a Jiralhanae Chieftain and a Phantom, with the Gunnery Sergeant as the only survivor. After some time, John-117 and the Arbiter discovered Reynolds. He was being tortured by a Jiralhanae, who tried to force him to tell the location of the UNSC base in the area. Reynolds then joined Arbiter and John on their way to the river. As the Arbiter and John-117 arrived at the river, Johnson and the Second Squad had already been picked up by a Pelican, Echo 051, with another Pelican hovering nearby and providing fire support against the numerous Covenant ground troops around the river. Suddenly, two Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft appeared and shot down the Pelicans. Echo 051, its thruster heavily damaged, crashed about half a kilometer away, while the other one plunged straight to the river.

Recovery of Johnson
The Arbiter and SPARTAN-117 then made their way to the crash site, where Johnson and his Marines were holding position. However, Johnson and his squad were captured by the Jiralhanae and taken to GWC's A2 Hydroelectric Facility nearby. SPARTAN-117 and the Arbiter made their way to the dam, where Johnson and his Marines were being held. After defeating the Covenant on the dam, including the Jiralhanae Chieftain in command of the Covenant forces in the area, the human prisoners were freed. After this however, two more Phantoms appeared, dropping off Covenant reinforcements on the dam. The UNSC forces held off the attacking Covenant for some time, and not long after, the Pelican Kilo 023 arrived, destroying the Phantoms. The Marines, John-117 and the Arbiter boarded the dropship, and set course for the UNSC base, Crow's Nest.

List of appearances

 * Halo 3