Battle at The Refuge

"Crimson, looks like the Covies are mad we broke their portal toy. Get ready to repel invaders."

- Jared Miller

The Battle at The Refuge was an engagement during the Requiem Campaign between the UNSC and the Prometheans and Jul 'Mdama's Covenant at the location known as "the Refuge."

Prelude
Following some power fluctuations related to the slipspace teleportation grid to "the Gate," the Infinity Science Team there fled while Spartan Jared Miller, filling in for the busy Sarah Palmer, dispatched Fireteam Crimson to investigate. As Crimson reactivated science equipment so that the translocation system could be studied, they had to fight off a massive Promethean attack on "the Gate," eventually stopping their ability to translocate into the area by activating a piece of equipment held at "the Gate." After the Promethean attack was repelled, Doctor Leslie Boyd at "the Refuge" opened a portal for Crimson using the data that had been gathered thanks to Crimson's efforts.

Promethean attack
Shortly after Fireteam Crimson arrived at "the Refuge," Promethean Crawlers, Knights and Watchers began translocating in and attacking. With Sarah Palmer still out of contact, Spartan Jared Miller once again took charge of the situation. To Miller's relief, Doctor Leslie Boyd revealed that he had managed to escape into "the Refuge's" safe room when the attack started and so was alright. With three other scientists at the mercy of the Prometheans, Crimson fought to protect them from attack.

As Crimson continued to fight off the Prometheans, Boyd reported that Doctor Ruiz had identified the device that allowed portals to open and was going to shut it down but was interrupted by the attack beginning. Boyd was able to direct Crimson to the device which they accessed, but it failed to stop the Prometheans from translocating in. With Boyd unsure of how Ruiz planned to deactivate it, Miller ordered it destroyed instead. Despite heavy Promethean resistance, Crimson succeeded in destroying the device and shutting down all portals in the area. With the Prometheans unable to translocate in anymore, Crimson cleared out the stragglers and secured "the Refuge." Pleased, Miller dispatched reinforcements ordered Crimson to remain on station until they were sure everything was secure.

Covenant attack
As UNSC Marines from Warbird Company arrived, Jul 'Mdama's Covenant launched a retaliatory attack, angry at the loss of their ability to use portals in the area. As the attack began, Robert Dalton warned that the Covenant were sending in a along with the ground forces and Phantoms. Due to the cruiser, Dalton couldn't do much for backup against the invading force. Fighting off the Covenant, Crimson discovered the survivors from Warbird trapped behind a Covenant energy shield which boxed the Marines in.

With Palmer still out of contact, Miller contacted Fireteam Shadow, going over the head of their handler Spartan Carmichael and deployed them to board the cruiser and destroy it by overloading the cruiser's power core. Shadow Leader agreed and told Miller to give then a few minutes to get over to the coordinates. Crimson managed to kill all of the Covenant in the area while Roland hacked the shield trapping Warbird, allowing Crimson to bring it down with gunfire. Roland then warned Crimson and the Marines about the Covenant special ops team known as the Silent Blade operating in the area. Despite the danger from the Silent Blade, Crimson and the Marines managed to wipe out the team while Shadow Leader informed Miller that they were ten minutes away from attacking the cruiser.

After the Silent Blade was defeated, Doctor Boyd contacted the Infinity and informed Miller that he was stuck in the safe room because the door wouldn't open. Miller dispatched Crimson to open the door for Boyd, but moments later Covenant reinforcements began arriving. As Crimson fought off the Covenant, Shadow Leader contacted Miller to explain that they were experiencing a lot of resistance aboard the cruiser and needed more time before they could destroy it. Crimson and the Marines of Warbird fought off wave after wave of Covenant deployed from Phantoms and heavy orbital insertion pods, including two pairs of Hunters. Finally, as Crimson finished off the Covenant forces in "the Refuge," Fireteam Shadow succeeded in overloading the cruiser's power core, destroying the ship.

Aftermath
With the attack repelled, Miller was pleased to learn that Fireteam Shadow was able to get off the cruiser in time to avoid being killed. As Miller congratulated the Spartans, Roland brought word that Magma Base in "the Cauldron" was under attack and needed backup. As Crimson was closest, Miller redeployed them to help at "the Cauldron."

List of appearances

 * Halo 4
 * Spartan Ops