UNSC In Amber Clad

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The UNSC In Amber Clad (FFG-142) was a in service with the UNSC Navy during the Human-Covenant War.

Early History
The In Amber Clad was launched from Naval Yard AS-9 over Reach on February 9, 2547, alongside fifteen other frigates. By 2549, the Clad was the sole survivor of its group, its sister ships having perished in the battles of Paris IV, Iota and Arcadia.

Battle for Earth
Following her victory at the Battle of Gamma Pavonis VII in 2550 and the Clad ' s partial repairs and replenishment at Tribute, Lieutenant Commander Miranda Keyes was given command of the In Amber Clad on April 7, 2550 after her ship, the, was destroyed in the engagement.

As of October 2552, the In Amber Clad was still commanded by now-Commander Miranda Keyes. It was docked with the orbital defense platform Cairo Station of Earth during an award ceremony. In the middle of the ceremony, however, the Fleet of Sacred Consecration appeared in the system and engaged Earth's defenses, igniting the Battle for Earth. UNSC Home Fleet ships then began to open fire on the Covenant ships. After the Home Fleet managed to take down the shields of the Day of Jubilation, Keyes requested permission to engage, but Lord Hood refused as the frigate would be outgunned by the assault carrier. Instead, the Master Chief, after deactivating the Covenant bomb on Cairo Station, launched an attack using the bomb. The Master Chief used the bomb to destroy Day of Jubilation from the inside and then made a jump to the In Amber Clad which headed to the planet's surface to help in the defense against the ground forces of the Solemn Penance.

Battle of Mombasa
Afterward, the vessel descended to Mombasa, Kenya, where it dispatched numerous Marine units to reinforce the Marines from E2-BAG/1/7, A Company, and several other units on the ground. During the battle, the In Amber Clad served as a headquarters for the UNSC forces in the area, reinforcing and resupplying the Marines with armor, ground support, and troop reinforcements. The In Amber Clad also began to evacuate and treat injured and wounded Marines.

As the Solemn Penance suddenly initiated a slipspace jump inside the city when the Prophet of Regret tried to flee the system, the In Amber Clad was one of the only vessels close enough to follow it. Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood, although hesitant, allowed Keyes to follow the Solemn Penance 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, as they were the closet, fastest UNSC ships to the carrier with charged slipspace capacitors. The ships intended to find out where the assault carrier was heading, or destroy the ship entirely to kill Regret. Although the In Amber Clad, as well as the Dusk, was separated and lost contact with all following ships after entering slipspace.

Battle of Installation 05


Piggybacking in the slipspace field of the Solemn Penance, the In Amber Clad ended up at Installation 05 in the Coelest system. With depleted engine cores and the frigate's weapons currently unavailable, Keyes demanded all information on the installation from Cortana. Then, Keyes immediately sent John-117 with the ship's contingent of Marine Orbital Drop Shock Troopers to the surface in Human Entry Vehicles, along with two D77-TC Pelicans, to track down the Prophet of Regret at the Temple. After discovering Regret required the installation's Activation Index to fire the Halo, she took herself, Johnson and his Marines to the Library in order to retrieve the Index and prevent the Covenant from activating Halo and ordered John-117 to assassinate the Prophet of Regret. The In Amber Clad remained parked at low-altitude over the Library grounds, remaining on station for the return of its captain.

As Keyes entered the Library, they were immediately attacked by the Flood and most of her Marines were infected, with only a few eventually making it to the Index. Keyes, Johnson, and what was left of the Marines were ambushed, however, by the Arbiter only a few seconds after retrieving the index.

Some time later, the In Amber Clad was commandeered by the Flood and was used as a means by the Gravemind to gain access to High Charity.

Fall of High Charity
Performing a slipspace jump inside the central dome of the Covenant's holy city, the Flood-controlled In Amber Clad soon crashed into one of the towers lining the city's edge and immediately released the Flood into the city. The Flood made use of the ship's remaining Pelicans to spread out over High Charity, often crashing the ships to inflict maximum damage on the city. The majority of the population was quickly assimilated. At this point, the ship was irreparably damaged and considered destroyed.

Cortana intended to use the In Amber Clad's engines to destroy High Charity and Installation 05 in the event the Covenant succeeded in activating the ring. Soon after the ring's activation sequence was halted, the Flood overwhelmed High Charity and Cortana fell under the clutches of the Gravemind, depriving her of the opportunity to destroy the engines even if she wanted to.

The remnants of the In Amber Clad were likely destroyed when the Flood-infested High Charity was destroyed by John-117 on the surface of Installation 00 on December 11, 2552. When John-117, the Arbiter, and Cortana escaped from High Charity after destroying its fusion reactors, they used a damaged but still operational Pelican left in the city.

Fate of the crew


Shortly after the In Amber Clad's arrival at Delta Halo, the surveillance team RECON 127 was deployed to investigate a large structure located on an island, but were killed in action by a Covenant detachment shortly after their Albatross crash-landed.

While the majority of the In Amber Clad's UNSC Marine forces were deployed to secure the Delta Halo Activation Index, Flood forces managed to infect the under-strength ship. The remaining crew were infected, and converted into combat forms for use in the invasion of High Charity. A small number, however, managed to outlive their ship, at least for a short while.

Commander Keyes herself survived the trials of the Sentinel Wall and the Quarantine Zone, as did Sergeant Major Johnson and a small number of Marines. While only Johnson and Keyes managed to reach the Index, the other Marines were either killed by the Flood upon arrival at the Index chamber, or captured by the Covenant. Both Keyes and Johnson were captured by the Covenant, only to escape much later thanks to the intervention of a Sangheili-led assault on their captors' base. They would later go on to play pivotal roles in the later stages of the Battle for Earth. The other captive Marines joined the Master Chief during his rampage through High Charity, but were killed either by the Covenant or by the Flood.

Although several Marine bodies can be found on High Charity well after the planetoid had been totally infested, it remains unknown whether these were survivors of the In Amber Clad or if they had been killed after trying to follow the Master Chief into the infected city, though it was stated by Cortana that there were no human life signs detected on that ship.

Trivia

 * In the level Cairo Station, there is a way of walking at the top of the ship. When you come to the first outside part, you head to the diagonal beam in front of the airlock. After jumping to the top by using it as a step, walk to very end of the path. After the last airlock, move to your right and jump. You will land on the ship and be free to walk all around and get back safely.
 * In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, the In Amber Clad was erroneously referred to as a destroyer.
 * In Amber Clad's hull numbered designation is 142. 1+4+2 =7; alternately, 14/2=7.
 * 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 not present in the level Delta Halo, and the Malta and the Athens were destroyed by the Covenant.
 * The name In Amber Clad could refer to the ancient Greek (among other cultures) reverence for amber in jewelery and adornment; thus, In Amber Clad would give the vessel a sense of royalty. in the same vein, this could also be a reference to the Norse goddess Freyja - whose name means "Lady" - who wore (or was clad in) the magical amber necklace Brisingamen.
 * The In Amber Clad has the same number in its hull classification as the Cairo Station, its number is FFG-142 while the Cairo Station is OWP-142. Both the numbers on the In Amber Clad and Cairo Station add up to 7.

List of appearances

 * Halo 2
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo: Reach
 * Dr. Halsey's personal journal
 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Halo: Shadow of Intent
 * ''Halo: Warfleet – An Illustrated Guide to the Spacecraft of Halo
 * Halo Mythos