UNSC In Amber Clad

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 In Amber Clad ended up at Installation 05. There, Keyes immediately sent John-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 In Amber Clad, 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.

Surviving Crew
After Commander Miranda Keyes and her strike force of 6 marines (including Avery Junior Johnson) Gravemind took control of the frigate In Amber Clad. The crew of the frigate was drastically understrengthed when the attack occurred and thus was quickly overwhelmed by the superior force. The flood established a Proto-Gravemind, or transported the Gravemind aboard the vessel and made a Slipspace jump into High Charity.

The Flood next established more Proto-Gravemind inside the remaining Pelicans aboard the In Amber Clad and proceeded to crash them around the city, dispersing numerous Flood Infection Form into the city.

While it is thought that all crew aboard the In Amber Clad had been assimilated by the Flood, it is possible that some aboard the ship escaped without being assimilated. Evidence of this is shown in Halo 3, where in the Mission Cortana, the Master Chief comes across a Pelican in the bowls of the Flood infected High Charity.

The first survivor, a Marine of the 77th Marine Regiment, is found dead outside the bay of the downed Pelican. Around him is found a Flamethrower, SMG, Shotgun, almost empty grenade case, and a supply crate. This Marine is found to be un-affected by the Flood and it can be assumed that he committed suicide with the SMG in his left hand.

The second survivor located in High Charity is an ODST. Found much deeper in the bowels of High Charity, this ODST is found with only a flamethrower. Whether or not this survivor was aboard the same pelican as the other survivor is unknown. What can be known for sure is that this ODST is not one that came through the portal on Earth. All ODSTs from that group had painted shoulders demonstrating which units they came from. All ODSTs aboard the In Amber Clad had only basic grey armor, same as the survivor found inside High Charity. It is unknown how this ODST died, seeing how he is not infected by the flood, and no signs of weapon damage appear on his body.

An explanation for the two marines could be that when the In Amber Clad was captured by the flood, the two marines (and possibly other members of the crew) managed to board a pelican and escape. However the moment they left the bay, the ship arrived in High Charity. This would explain Cortana's statement that "No life signs detected." What could have happened to the Marines on High Charity is unknown, but it is possible that when the Flood "consumed" the city the Marines set out to try and find a way to escape. They set out into the city but where quickly attacked and overwhelmed. The Marine (survivor #1) returned to the Pelican's Landing site, and with no no hope of escape, chose a quick death to a slow one. The ODST (Survivor #2) might have pushed on and hid inside the long power conduit tunnel. How he died is not known.

Other surviving crew members include Miranda Keyes, Sergeant Johnson, Sergeant Stacker and Sergeant Banks, the latter two being the marines who are present with Sergeant Johnson when he overthrows the Brute captors to capture the Scarab. It is also possible, and more likely that the two Marines who help Johnson capture the Scarab are in fact Perez (Marine) and McKenzie (Marine). Both Marines where presumed to be incapacitated by the Arbiter in the library, and it is thought that they were taken prisoner by the Brutes along with Johnson and Keyes.

Trivia

 * In the level Cairo Station, there is a way of walking over the ship. When you come to the first outside part, you grenade-jump onto the thing in front of the lower parts. Then walk up and your out of the level, to walk further on Cairo Station you must walk over IAC's front and jump of at the end.
 * 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.
 * 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 present in the level Cairo Station and the Malta and the Athens were destroyed by the Covenant.
 * In Amber Clad still rests in High Charity because it is apparent that Cortana didn't set off it's reactors.