Joint Occupation Zone

Joint Occupation Zones, colloquially referred to as J-O Zones and collectively termed as the Joint Occupation Zone are regions of space cooperatively held by both the Unified Earth Government (and its United Nations Space Command) and the various alien species of the Milky Way galaxy. The species that jointly occupy territories with humanity are generally ex-Covenant in nature, with the Swords of Sanghelios being one of the most prominent active joint-occupation forces following the Human-Covenant War.

Locations

 * Holdhome system
 * Carrow
 * Ven system
 * Ven III
 * Zeta Doradus system
 * Sarcophagus
 * Alpha Shard

History
Prior to or during 2555, Edward Buck participated in reconnaissance and strike operations in one such zone as part of Operation: KINETIC STORM. Between May 6 and June 1, 2557, Shadow of Intent participated in an operation with UNSC Navy elements against pirates in a Joint Occupation Zone. In early 2558, there was an increase of Jiralhanae raids on these territories due to the Jiralhanae's dwindling resources.

Even between humans and Sangheili, inter-species coexistence in the zones was not always seamless. On the jointly settled colony of Carrow, tensions came to a head after the militantly anti-human Sangheili Thars 'Sarov rose to power among the planet's Sangheili populace, resulting in an outbreak of violence between Thars' followers and the planet's human militia. This later escalated into full-scale civil war after Thars made a deal with the Jiralhanae Chieftain Hekabe for his help. The situation was complicated by the fact that Hekabe had in fact come to the planet seeking to use the Sharquoi as a weapon to destroy his enemies. Thars, Hekabe and the Sharquoi were defeated with the aid of SPARTAN-II Gray Team, released from their captivity during the battle by Melody Azikiwe, but the fight left both the humans and Sangheili with heavy casualties and Carrow without any sort of a defensive fleet. As a result, the Sangheili on the planet became more cooperative with the humans. A new interspecies team was formed to protect both species from Forerunner artifacts that kept surfacing in the JOZs and endangering everyone where the UNSC was too far away to respond quickly. Gray Team agreed to become a part of this new team, albeit mainly acting on their own, with the promise of a formal pardon for destroying Glyke. They currently operate in a joint strike team alongside Sangheili personnel based out of a personal,.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Escalation
 * Halo: Hunters in the Dark
 * Halo 5: Guardians
 * Limited Edition dossiers
 * Halo: Fractures
 * Oasis
 * Halo: Envoy