Battle of Kamchatka

The Battle of Kamchatka was an engagement fought between the forces of the United Nations Space Command, Jul 'Mdama's Covenant, and the Prometheans in 2558, during which Dr. Catherine Halsey was rescued and Jul 'Mdama was assassinated. The UNSC operation at Kamchatka was designated Operation: ANCHORITE.

Prelude
Before the Great Purification, Kamchatka was an astroengineered Forerunner world, created to serve as a link to the galaxy-spanning network the Domain.

In 2558, a long-dead communications hub on the planet's surface activated, attracting the attention of Jul 'Mdama's Covenant. Jul 'Mdama's Covenant established an outpost while Dr. Halsey, under temporary alliance with Covenant leader Jul 'Mdama, studied the relay and discovered that her old AI Cortana was alive and responsible for recent attacks on the human colonies by awakening Guardians. She contacted the UNSC about her discovery, but they did not take any action for three weeks. In the meantime Halsey made unsuccessful attempts to contact or deter Cortana's transmissions, but her lack of headway led to Jul 'Mdama growing impatient with her.

Battle
In October 2558, the deployed Fireteam Osiris, a Spartan-IV special operations squad, to retrieve Halsey and assassinate Jul 'Mdama if possible. They dropped from low orbit by Pelican and landed amidst an enormous ship and ground battle, as Cortana had taken control of Jul's Prometheans and was unleashing them against him. Jul 'Mdama's Covenant made little headway, with the constructs managing to bring down a blockade runner and force back a Kraken walker. The chaos from the Prometheans' rebellion provided Osiris cover from 'Mdama's Covenant, allowing them to sneak to the temple where 'Mdama and Halsey were stationed.

After reaching the temple, Osiris attacked Jul's Zealot guards while Spartan Jameson Locke faced off against Supreme Leader in melee combat. After a short fight, Locke was able to kill Jul with his combat knife, bringing an end to his tyranny. Fireteam Osiris then took custody of Dr. Halsey and she was brought back to the Infinity to aid in the search for the Guardians.

Aftermath
With Jul 'Mdama dead and the Prometheans now against them, his Covenant troops became desperate. Some of them fled to the Argent Moon to retrieve their soldiers scavenging the station, though most of them were killed in the attempt after Blue Team scuttled the station to keep it out of enemy hands, destroying several Covenant warships in the process. Most of the rest regrouped on Sanghelios, attempting an attack on the Vadam clan burial grounds in hopes of a revenge attack against the Arbiter.

Trivia

 * Halo Waypoint's Canon Fodder article Fifty Caliber states that "unconfirmed reports" about the Battle of Kamchatka claim there might have been a temporary alliance between Fireteam Osiris and the Sangheili Kitun 'Arach of Jul's forces. This is a reference to the Enemy of my Enemy achievement, in which the player(s) can choose to save a Sangheili Warrior assaulting a hill against Promethean Soldiers, turning him from an enemy to an ally.

List of appearances

 * Halo 5: Guardians
 * Halo: Legacy of Onyx
 * Halo: Bad Blood
 * Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual