Wendosa

Wendosa, also known as Wendosa Village, is a small village on the human Outer Colony of Gao, located in the Montero Jungle in the Campos Wilderness District. Wendosa is one of the many villages that operate in the jungle, near the openings of the Montero Cave System.

UNSC occupation
"There is Wendosa. The village is held by Charlie Company: a hundred and fifty heavy infantry Marines with all of their toys: HMGs, missile pods, nonlinear lasers, rocket and grenade launchers. The sole road into the village is blocked by a pair of Warthogs with M41 anti-aircraft guns, and they allow only UNSC personnel to pass. Every ground approach has been trapped and fortified, and the other entrances to this part of the cavern all lie on footpaths strung with UNSC motion sensors."

- Petora Zoyas, on the village's defenses

In May 2553, the United Nations Space Command's 717th Xeno-Materials Exploitation Battalion was deployed to Gao to search for Forerunner ancilla Intrepid Eye on the planet. After negotiations with President Tejo Aponte, the Gao Republic allowed the research battalion to conduct their investigation on the planet. Establishing their headquarters in the nearby Montero Vitality Center, the battalion posted Charlie Company to Wendosa to guard the numerous entrances to the Montero Cave System, where the UNSC suspected Intrepid Eye to be. The company maintained patrols within a five-kilometer radius of the village, with monitored motion sensors distributed out to ten kilometers to prevent intruders from infiltrating the caverns.

To protest the UNSC's apparent occupation of Wendosa, the Committee to Preserve Gao Independence triggered and disabled hundreds of the UNSC's motion sensors to annoy the UNSC Marines on guard and to disrupt their operations. While the UNSC searched for the ancilla, Gao Minister of Protection Arlo Casille provided the Keepers of the One Freedom and the Venezian Militia with passage to Wendosa. Casille intended for the Keepers and insurrectionists to force the UNSC off the planet, while he retrieved the ancilla for himself.

Battle for Wendosa
"Attack with everything. Immediately. Concentrate all fire on the plaza at the village entrance. That Pelican must not depart."

- Castor, ordering his forces to attack Wendosa

On July 4, 2553, Keeper and insurrectionist forces gathered a kilometer outside of Wendosa, preparing to infiltrate the Montero Cave System in search of the ancilla. Meanwhile, a UNSC Pelican landed in Wendosa, carrying the bagged bodies of Gao citizens that had been murdered by Intrepid Eye in the caves. However, Dokab Castor—commander of the Keepers' forces on the planet—believed that the concealed object was actually Intrepid Eye and ordered for his forces to immediately attack the village. Destroying the dropship, the UNSC and Keeper forces began to exchange fire, with Blue Team provided Charlie Company with assistance in the battle. The Keepers took out a large amount of Charlie Company's support personnel in the first wave of attack, while Major Tereem Wingate launched a ground support mission to aid the unit. Meanwhile, the Keepers also assaulted the battalion's headquarters at the Vitality Center and destroyed a majority of the UNSC's aircraft.

By July 5, 2553, the fighting in the village heavily damaged Wendosa's infrastructure. Gao's Cabinet of Ministers called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation, though ultimately decided to remain neutral in the conflict upon the insistence of Minister Casille. Meanwhile, the Committee to Preserve Gao Independence had joined the Keepers in combating the UNSC, publicly claiming that the battalion had attacked them after their allegedly peaceful protests. At Wendosa, the Keepers now outnumbered the UNSC by four degrees and had succeeded in decimating most of Charlie Company, forcing most of the surviving unit to hole up in Hotel Wendosa. Blue Team continued to combat Keepers forces, disrupting their formations and efforts to launch a charge on the remnants of Charlie Company. With the primary road to Wendosa and most UNSC aircraft destroyed, the rest of the battalion was facing difficulties reinforcing Charlie Company at Wendosa. However, Major Wingate had Alpha Company and another combat company move on foot through the jungle to reach Wendosa to support Charlie Company. With Blue Team's help, Captain Baldric Breit was able to lead the company in a counterattack against their attackers. However, Intrepid Eye, now moving freely through the village, jammed the entirety of the planet's communications network, disrupting plans on both sides.

After the Spartan recovered the ancilla, Breit ordered for Fred-104 to return to the Vitality Center aboard the remaining UH-144 Falcon. However, as the aircraft departed the village, it was shot down by Keeper forces and crashed at the nearby Briones Ridge. Blue Team and most of the remaining Keeper forces left the village in an effort to recover the ancilla. Fortunately for the UNSC, the timely arrival of Alpha Company and the second unit helped the remnants of Charlie Company defeat the remaining hostiles at Wendosa and allow Blue Team to recover both the ancilla and Fred.

Geography
Located in the Montero region of the Campos Wilderness District, the village of Wendosa is situated within the rugged Montero Jungle. The village's surrounding area is home to numerous entrances to the vast Montero Cave System, most notably the "Wendosa Entrance Chamber" and "Entrance 77". The amount of entrances to the caves made Wendosa a popular tourist destination on Gao. Wendosa was built atop a broad crest on a relatively tall, long ridge in the jungle. The village is located thirty kilometers from the Montero Vitality Center.

Avelos Avenue was the single road that led into Wendosa from the jungle, originating at the Montero Vitality Center. This road leads to the village's entrance plaza. Most buildings in the village have white stucco walls and steeply pitched, red tiled roofs. The village's street layout resembles a braided labyrinth of cobblestone lanes running between Wendosa's buildings. Wendosa is about three times as long as it is wide. The village was the location of Hotel Wendosa, a hotel nearby one of the cave system's entrances. Next to the village's museum is a warren of supply warehouses and taverns. Nearby, there was a fruit bazaar and a meat market, the latter of which sold reptiles, fish, mollusks, cephalopods, and poultry including idjoms and shirms.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Last Light