Draetheus V

Draetheus V was a human colony world in the Draetheus system. It had one moon, designated X50; unbeknownst to the colonists, the moon was actually a Forerunner orbital reformer. The planet had a unique magnetic signature.

Topography
The planet had "forests" of exotic plant-like life.

Locations

 * Epsilon Expanse
 * Faraday Base
 * Red Slate Plateau

History
The planet was once a Forerunner colony and a part of their ecumene.

Post-war
Following the Human-Covenant War, the United Nations Space Command discovered the world and established a number of research facilities on the planet and its moon to study objects left behind by the Forerunners. Numerous magnetic reactor stations were also built around the planet.

Battle of Draetheus V
In 2554, a faction of the former Covenant attacked the planet, and X50, and clashed with the UNSC for the Forerunner relics present there, led by Zealot Merg Vol. Two SPARTAN-IVs, Sarah Palmer and Edward Davis, participated in the campaign. The UNSC was successful in alerting the planet of the remnant's attack, and evacuation began. While Merg Vol's Covenant quickly took control of the moon, Palmer was holding ground with numerous Marine forces on the planet's surface. Palmer helped defend Draetheus V's main military outpost, Faraday Base, against the attacking forces. Although the Marines were taking heavy casualties, they succeeded in defending Faraday and the planet's reactor facilities, largely due to the help of Spartan Palmer.

Later in the battle, Merg Vol discovered the true purpose of Draetheus V's moon. It was a Forerunner device that was used to build or destroy planets. Merg Vol's Covenant forces activated the primary weapon of the X50 construct. Directed toward the planet, the beam began to disintegrate Draetheus V, destabilizing it. Spartan Davis managed to stop the device, but it was too late, as Draetheus V had already begun to break up. Enormous slabs of rock were slowly floating away from the planet's surface and both UNSC and Covenant troops were scrambling to get to safety as the UNSC continued to evacuate the planet. Merg Vol's Covenant continued to attack the planet and the UNSC quickly realized that Draetheus V was ill-prepared for a full evacuation. There was not enough transportation to allow everyone to leave Draetheus V. However, the UNSC raided a Covenant airfield and stole numerous Covenant aircraft. With Palmer's help, 23 Covenant Spirit dropships carrying civilians made it off the planet.

While defending the moon, Davis was killed by an overwhelming amount of Sangheili forces. In order to ensure the safe evacuation of the colonists, Palmer was dispatched to X50 to kill Merg Vol, so he couldn't rally his forces. Palmer succeeded in killing Merg Vol and sabotaging X50 to ensure that no one would ever be able to use it again, allowing the Draetheus V colonists to escape safely.

Shortly after the battle, the UNSC discovered a looping transmission of low-frequency static from X50. Palmer and UNSC forces returned to the moon to investigate. However, the UNSC quickly realized that Covenant forces remained on the moon. It was discovered that the disintegration of Draetheus V had caused large chunks of the planet's crust to crash into the moon's surface, revealing parts of a massive Forerunner structure miles wide. After fighting through numerous Covenant soldiers, Palmer discovered that the message had originated from her Spartan compatriot Davis, moments before his death. She shut the device down in order to allow her friend to pass away peacefully.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Spartan Assault