Raid on Harvester

"We have four blank IFFs and zero bodies. What am I not understanding, Miller? Crimson, keep an eye out for any other signs of Switchback, and make sure the Covenant don’t reactivate the Harvester."

- Sarah Palmer

During the Requiem Campaign, Fireteam Crimson and Lieutenant TJ Murphy launched a raid on a Covenant archeological dig.

Prelude
While searching for the missing Spartan Gabriel Thorne, Fireteam Crimson was ambushed at the "Quarry" and captured. Taken to "Lockup," Crimson managed to escape with the help of Jared Miller and Robert Dalton and rescued Icebreaker squad who were held captive at the facility as well. Lieutenant TJ Murphy of Icebreaker squad successfully managed to hijack a Covenant Phantom which he and Crimson used to escape from "Lockup."

Following their escape, Crimson's Phantom, mistaken by the Covenant for one of their own, was ordered to land at "Control." Crimson was able to infiltrate the facility and access three Covenant comm relays, allowing Roland to implant computer worms into them in order to access the data. Crimson then made their escape after eliminating the Covenant reinforcements. In the "Warrens," Crimson accessed a central intel center revealed by the data extracted at "Control." The information in the intel center revealed a Covenant archeological dig that Fireteam Switchback was sent to investigate while Fireteam Crimson was deployed to investigate the supply depot. However, while Crimson succeeded in destroying three plasma stockpiles at "Cyclone," Switchback experienced heavy resistance and called for backup. As Crimson was closest, they were redeployed to help Switchback.

Search for Fireteam Switchback
Lieutenant TJ Murphy transported Fireteam Crimson to the Covenant dig site in his stolen Phantom. Spartan Jared Miller noted that the Harvester in the area looked disabled, but he couldn't be sure. At Sarah Palmer's request, Robert Dalton sent in a trio of F-41 Broadswords to bomb the area and soften up the opposition as Crimson landed.

As Crimson moved out, Miller reported that he'd had no luck reaching Switchback's leader, but he had a lock on the team's IFF tags which were near the Harvester. However, there was no movement or radio contact from any of the Spartans. As Crimson fought through attacking Prometheans, Palmer ordered them to track the IFFs and either bring Switchback home or collect the heads of the Covenant responsible for their deaths. Fighting through heavy Promethean forces, Crimson collected each of the IFF tags. However, there was no sign of Switchback themselves or what had happened to them with each of the tags empty of any records that could help to solve the mystery.

Disabling the Harvester
Crimson fought their way through the remaining Prometheans back towards the Harvester as Palmer, though confused by the fate of Fireteam Switchback, ordered them to ensure the Harvester couldn't be reactivated by the Covenant. As Crimson battled the Prometheans around the sealed up Harvester, Miller noted that the only way to disable the Harvester for sure was to get inside and Palmer ordered Miller to find a way to draw the Covenant crew out.

Once the Prometheans were eliminated, Miller determined that if they blew a few of the Covenant computer terminals in the area, they would likely get the Covenant's attention. Crimson activated one of the consoles, setting off a series of explosions. As Miller predicted, the sabotage caused the Covenant crew to open up the Harvester and attack. Crimson was able to eliminate the Covenant that emerged and make their way inside of the Covenant excavation walker. Inside, Crimson successfully eliminated the crew and Miller directed them to the control center. Miller determined that while the Harvester was disabled, it wouldn't take much to bring it back online. On Palmer's orders, Crimson destroyed two control consoles in the room, permanently disabling the Harvester.

Extraction
As Crimson prepared to make their way out of the Harvester for extraction, several Prometheans translocated in, but were quickly eliminated by the Spartans. Heading back outside, Crimson was engaged by more Promethean reinforcements which surrounded the Harvester. Despite heavy resistance, Crimson managed to eliminate all of the Prometheans and clear the area of enemy forces.

With the Prometheans gone, Crimson made their way back to the landing zone where they were extracted by Murphy in his stolen Phantom. As they departed, Palmer was delighted to hear that the Harvester was offline for good, but was confused by the disappearance of Fireteam Switchback without a trace.

Aftermath
Though Fireteam Switchback's exact fate remained unknown, they were later found by Fireteam Crimson in the "Warrens" during a later mission, having been captured by the Covenant. Crimson was able to rescue the survivors of Switchback and extract them via Pelican back to the.

Crimson subsequently returned to the area after learning that one of the artifacts trapping the Infinity on Requiem was located there. After finding out that the artifact was located by a massive rock wall, it was realized that the purpose of the Harvester had been to burn through the wall in order to reach the artifact they needed. Crimson rescued scientists captured by the Covenant in an effort to repair the Harvester, but learned that it was useless as the power supply had been destroyed. After leaving to get a new power supply based on a plan by Roland, Crimson were able to repair the Harvester and use its plasma drill to reach the artifact.

List of appearances

 * Halo 4
 * Spartan Ops