Operation: ATHENA: Difference between revisions

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(*Hoping someone else will take care of the rest*)
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The Contender AI presented the humans and Jul with a theoretical scenario in which a peaceful species was revealed to posses Flood-resistant biological material that could be used as a vaccine against the Flood. When this material would be harvested from a living member of the species, there would be a thirty-five percent chance of a successful yield. However, the species would be willing to provide the corpses of their kind that passed away naturally, though the deceased bodies only have a thirty-three percent chance of a successful yielding. The Contender then asked them if they would allow the species to live autonomously in exchange for the bodies of the deceased, or extract the biological matter from all living members of the species to create vaccines at a higher speed. Jul believed that the correct answer to the scenario would be to peacefully cooperate with the species, but Halsey decided that the species' freedom should be sacrificed for the greater good of the galaxy. Glassman and the Spartans decided that they would allow the species to maintain its independence and cooperate with them. As the Contender asked each party if the disqualifying participants should be contained or killed, Halsey seemingly hacked into the AI's system and disabled the ancilla. No longer obstructed from their goals, Halsey entered the central chamber of the Absolute Record while many Phantoms protected the entrance.<ref name="HE22"/> She encountered a hologram of the Librarian, who told her that the answers she sought were inside the chamber, containing everything Halsey would need "to begin their work", informing her of the many dormant artifacts across the galaxy that Halsey could choose to awaken. The Librarian imprint suggested an unknown planet surrounded by twelve moons, which contained [[design seed]]s that, when activated, would begin harvesting the surrounding solar system to construct a new facility. One of the moons also stored numerous Forerunner dreadnoughts, available for automated control. Through them Halsey would be able to begin humanity's ascension to the [[Mantle]].<ref name="HE23">'''Halo Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 23|Issue #23]]''</ref>
The Contender AI presented the humans and Jul with a theoretical scenario in which a peaceful species was revealed to posses Flood-resistant biological material that could be used as a vaccine against the Flood. When this material would be harvested from a living member of the species, there would be a thirty-five percent chance of a successful yield. However, the species would be willing to provide the corpses of their kind that passed away naturally, though the deceased bodies only have a thirty-three percent chance of a successful yielding. The Contender then asked them if they would allow the species to live autonomously in exchange for the bodies of the deceased, or extract the biological matter from all living members of the species to create vaccines at a higher speed. Jul believed that the correct answer to the scenario would be to peacefully cooperate with the species, but Halsey decided that the species' freedom should be sacrificed for the greater good of the galaxy. Glassman and the Spartans decided that they would allow the species to maintain its independence and cooperate with them. As the Contender asked each party if the disqualifying participants should be contained or killed, Halsey seemingly hacked into the AI's system and disabled the ancilla. No longer obstructed from their goals, Halsey entered the central chamber of the Absolute Record while many Phantoms protected the entrance.<ref name="HE22"/> She encountered a hologram of the Librarian, who told her that the answers she sought were inside the chamber, containing everything Halsey would need "to begin their work", informing her of the many dormant artifacts across the galaxy that Halsey could choose to awaken. The Librarian imprint suggested an unknown planet surrounded by twelve moons, which contained [[design seed]]s that, when activated, would begin harvesting the surrounding solar system to construct a new facility. One of the moons also stored numerous Forerunner dreadnoughts, available for automated control. Through them Halsey would be able to begin humanity's ascension to the [[Mantle]].<ref name="HE23">'''Halo Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 23|Issue #23]]''</ref>


Outside the central chamber, Spartans Sarah Palmer and Holly Tanaka fought off Ibie'shan Kig-Yar and protected Dr. Glassman, after which they were assaulted by a Lich. The humans fled but were cornered by two Sangheili Zealots. However, an Aggressor Sentinel killed both Zealots then spoke in the voice of the Custodian of the Absolute Record. After Halsey shut down its main body and took control of the Record, a failsafe activated that put a fragment of the custodian in the mind of a local Sentinel. Asking their help to restore it to its body, the Sentinel led the humans to a secure location.<ref name="HE23"/>
Outside the central chamber, Spartans Sarah Palmer and Holly Tanaka fought off Ibie'shan Kig-Yar and protected Dr. Glassman, after which they were assaulted by a Lich. The humans fled but were cornered by two Sangheili Zealots. However, an Aggressor Sentinel killed both Zealots, then spoke with the voice of the Custodian of the Absolute Record. After Halsey shut down its main body and took control of the Record, a failsafe activated that put a fragment of the custodian in the mind of a local Sentinel. Asking their help to restore it to its body, the Sentinel led the humans to a secure location.<ref name="HE23"/>


Inside the Record Jul's forces occupy most of the facility, too many for the humans to battle through. They wait outside the central chamber for Halsey, Jul expressing misgivings at her eagerness to command these Forerunner sites. He orders his Zealots to detain Halsey once she exits, as a reminder that she is under his command. Through the Record's communications, Halsey overhears his conversation and remarks that she had another matter to attend to: terminating their alliance. With the Record's controls, Halsey orders the Sentinels to attack Jul and his warriors.<ref name="HE23"/> Jul believes that the Custodian ancilla has regained control and is attacking them, unaware that they're under Halsey's orders to assassinate them. As for the humans, they escort the Sentinel containing the Custodian's personality fragment, who aids them in combat against Halsey's Sentinels. Palmer, Tanaka, and Glassman reach the auxiliary control conduit where they can put the Custodian back in charge of the facility. The Custodian's sentinel sends the initialization code to Palmer's HUD, who reads it to Glassman as he types. However, Halsey realizes they're up to and interferes with the attempt, halting their progress. The custodian informs Palmer that Halsey is in the room directly above them, Palmer volunteering to head up there. At the top floor she holds Halsey at gunpoint, giving her three seconds to step away from her console. Instead Halsey activates a containment field around Palmer and prepares a portal to her next destination.<ref name="HE24">'''Halo Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 24|Issue #24]]''</ref>
Inside the Record, Jul's forces had control of most of the facility, and they were too numerous for the humans to battle through. The humans waited outside the central chamber for Halsey, with Jul expressing misgivings at her eagerness to command Forerunner sites. He ordered his Zealots to detain Halsey once she exited, as a reminder that she was under his command. Through the Record's communications, Halsey overheard his conversation and remarked that she had another matter to attend to: terminating their alliance. With the Record's controls, Halsey ordered the Sentinels to attack Jul and his warriors.<ref name="HE23"/> Jul believed that the Custodian ancilla had regained control and was attacking them, unaware that they were under Halsey's orders to assassinate them. Meanwhile, the humans escorted the Sentinel containing the Custodian's personality fragment, who aided them in combat against Halsey's Sentinels. Palmer, Tanaka, and Glassman reached the auxiliary control conduit where they could put the Custodian back in charge of the facility. The Custodian's sentinel sent the initialization code to Palmer's HUD, who read it to Glassman as he typed. However, Halsey realized what they were up to and interfered with the attempt, halting their progress. The custodian informed Palmer that Halsey was in the room directly above them, Palmer volunteering to head up there. At the top floor she held Halsey at gunpoint, giving her three seconds to step away from her console. Instead Halsey activated a containment field around Palmer and prepared a portal to her next destination.<ref name="HE24">'''Halo Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 24|Issue #24]]''</ref>


Jul and his forces have managed to repel the Sentinels, and he uses the opening to order his flagship to attack. It fires into the Record, disrupting power across the station. Palmer's containment field falls, and the Custodian Sentinel's mind transfer is interrupted, leaving the droid damaged. Halsey flees to her portal while Palmer shoots at her but misses, the doctor escaping and vanishing. But to her surprise, she lands on top of the shell of the now reactivated Custodian, who has regained control and catches her. It tells her that her performance in its previous test was excellent, but her impatience that led to her hijacking him means he now denies her further access to the Record even though she had nearly earned it. Halsey protests in vain that the Janus Key is Librarian's gift to her, but the Custodian makes it vanish.<ref name="HE24"/>
Jul and his forces have managed to repel the Sentinels, and he used the opening to order his flagship to attack. It fired into the Record, disrupting power across the station. Palmer's containment field fell, and the Custodian Sentinel's mind transfer was interrupted, leaving the droid damaged. Halsey fled to her portal while Palmer shot at her but missed, the doctor escaping and vanishing. To Halsey's surprise, she landed on top of the shell of the now reactivated Custodian, who had regained control and caught her. It told her that her performance in its previous test was excellent, but her impatience that led to her hijacking him meant he now denied her further access to the Record even though she had nearly earned it. Halsey protested in vain that the Janus Key was Librarian's gift to her, but the Custodian made it vanish.<ref name="HE24"/>


Palmer regroups with the others, but they see the Record is suddenly disappearing into slipspace portals. Urgent to escape, Glassman recalls coordinates from the Custodian's examination, which appeared to tell him where Jul's ship carrying all his artifacts is docked. Jul's forces flee the Record aboard the Retribution, recovering Halsey in the process.<ref name="HE24"/>
Palmer regrouped with the others, but they saw the Record was suddenly disappearing into slipspace portals. Urgent to escape, Glassman recalled coordinates from the Custodian's examination, which appeared to tell him where Jul's ship carrying all his artifacts was docked. Jul's forces fled the Record aboard the ''Song of Retribution'', recovering Halsey in the process.<ref name="HE24"/>


==='Nyon resurfaces===
==='Nyon resurfaces===
Meanwhile, several {{Class|DSC|support ship}}s were repairing the hull of the damaged ''Breath of Annihilation'' on a moon. Several Sangheili inside the ship were arguing whether or not their ship and its crew were attacked by Spartans. 'Sevi listened to the heated debate before entering a nearby Phantom that Spartan Thorne was hiding in. 'Sevi decided to use use the ongoing argument as a way to instill chaos aboard the ship and initiate a mutiny. The mercenary wished to have Thorne attack the Sangheili to create panic throughout the ship, though Thorne was reluctant to trust 'Sevi due to [[Mission to Ven III|their previous encounter]] on [[Ven III]].<ref name="HE21">'''Halo Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 21|Issue #21]]''</ref>
Meanwhile, several {{Class|DSC|support ship}}s were repairing the hull of the damaged ''Breath of Annihilation'' on a moon. Several Sangheili inside the ship were arguing whether or not their ship and its crew were attacked by Spartans. 'Sevi listened to the heated debate before entering a nearby Phantom that Spartan Thorne was hiding in. 'Sevi decided to use use the ongoing argument as a way to instill chaos aboard the ship and initiate a mutiny. The mercenary wished to have Thorne attack the Sangheili to create panic throughout the ship, though Thorne was reluctant to trust 'Sevi due to [[Mission to Ven III|their previous encounter]] on [[Ven III]].<ref name="HE21">'''Halo Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 21|Issue #21]]''</ref>


Aboard ''Breath of Annihilation'', Thorne decided to follow 'Sevi's plan and he began attacking the Sangheili, with 'Sevi directing Thorne around the ship. 'Sevi had Thorne go into hiding again, as numerous Sangheili and Kig-Yar soldiers began searching for him. As a result, a mutiny was carried out by those who believed that the Didact's Hand lied to them about the presence of Spartans aboard the ship. A Zealot brutally beat a Sangheili Storm, demanding the answer of why their Supreme Commander lied to them, but the Sangheili Storm claimed 'Mdama knew nothing about the attack and he would gain nothing from the deception. The Storm then said the traitors were the only ones who would benefit about the truth of those rumors, then he is executed by Ayit 'Sevi. A Zealot then orders him to join several other Covenant forces near the main gravity lift to hunt for Spartan Gabriel Thorne. Ayit warns Thorne that he is about to be surrounded by the Covenant, only for the Spartan to come under fire from three Type-26 Wraiths operating by Kig-Yar. Thorne escapes ''Breath of Annihilation'' through a breach in the carrier's hull and dives into a swamp on the moon where the ship is undergoing repairs. Type-26 Banshees and Kig-Yar soldiers search for Thorne in the swamps. The Spartan manages to kill two of the Kig-Yar with his combat knife, but one of the Kig-Yar is able to wound him with a Type-33 Needler. Meanwhile, Ayit travels to the carrier's holding cells, where he kills the guards and releases ex-rebellion leader [[Sali 'Nyon]] to create more chaos on the ship. Though Sali is doubtful of his ability to lead Covenant rebels after he failed to do so the first time, Ayit manipulates him into doing so by using his zeal to inspire him.<ref name="HE22"/>
Aboard ''Breath of Annihilation'', Thorne decided to follow 'Sevi's plan and he began attacking the Sangheili, with 'Sevi directing Thorne around the ship. 'Sevi had Thorne go into hiding again, as numerous Sangheili and Kig-Yar soldiers began searching for him. As a result, a mutiny was carried out by those who believed that the Didact's Hand lied to them about the presence of Spartans aboard the ship. A Zealot brutally beat a Sangheili Storm, demanding the answer of why their Supreme Commander lied to them, but the Sangheili Storm claimed 'Mdama knew nothing about the attack and he would gain nothing from the deception. The Storm then said the traitors were the only ones who would benefit about the truth of those rumors, and was then executed by Ayit 'Sevi. A Zealot then ordered him to join several other Covenant forces near the main gravity lift to hunt for Spartan Gabriel Thorne. Ayit warned Thorne that he was about to be surrounded by the Covenant, only for the Spartan to come under fire from three Type-26 Wraiths operating by Kig-Yar. Thorne escaped ''Breath of Annihilation'' through a breach in the carrier's hull and dove into a swamp on the moon where the ship was undergoing repairs. Type-26 Banshees and Kig-Yar soldiers searched for Thorne in the swamps. The Spartan managed to kill two of the Kig-Yar with his combat knife, but one of the Kig-Yar was able to wound him with a Type-33 Needler. Meanwhile, Ayit traveled to the carrier's holding cells, where he killed the guards and released ex-rebellion leader [[Sali 'Nyon]] to create more chaos on the ship. Though Sali was doubtful of his ability to lead Covenant rebels after he failed to do so the first time, Ayit manipulated him into doing so by using his zeal to inspire him.<ref name="HE22"/>
[[File:HE24 Nyon secures the vault.png|thumb|250px|left|Sali 'Nyon's forces rejoice.]]
[[File:HE24 Nyon secures the vault.png|thumb|250px|left|Sali 'Nyon's forces rejoice.]]
'Nyon takes Ayit 'Sevi's advice to raid Jul's vault in the ship full of Forerunner artifacts from Requiem. His followers cause panic aboard the ship, and Jul's forces on the Breath call for their field scouts at the moon's swamps to return to the ship to help them. However, the surviving Kig-Yar of the two that Thorne fought refuses to return, instead out to hunt the Spartan for the death of his friend. Thorne opens fire on the Jackal but gets stuck in the swamp, almost allowing the Jackal to kill him. He manages to shoot its head, but it falls on him and he continues to sink the swamp. Thorne manages to pull himself out of the swamp, but he is badly wounded. He calls Ayit for help, but he is too occupied with the rebellion onboard the Breath, currently in the middle of overwhelming Jul's followers. Ayit advises him to stay off the ship, but Thorne insists on returning because of his urgent wounds. He takes flight in a vacant Banshee and tells Ayit to meet him at the ship, over the Elite's protests.<ref name="HE23"/>
'Nyon took Ayit 'Sevi's advice to raid Jul's vault in the ship full of Forerunner artifacts from Requiem. His followers caused panic aboard the ship, and Jul's forces on the ''Breath'' called for their field scouts at the moon's swamps to return to the ship to help them. However, the surviving Kig-Yar of the two that Thorne fought refused to return, instead out to hunt the Spartan for the death of his friend. Thorne managed to kill the Jackal, nearly sinking to the swamp himself in the process. Badly wounded, he called Ayit for help, but the Sangheili was too occupied with the rebellion onboard the ''Breath'', currently in the middle of overwhelming Jul's followers. Ayit advised him to stay off the ship, but Thorne insisted on returning because of his urgent wounds. He took flight in a vacant Banshee and told Ayit to meet him at the ship, over the Elite's protests.<ref name="HE23"/>


'Nyon's forces have taken control of the ship and secured Jul's vault of Forerunner artifacts. Sali rejoices in their victory and praises Ayit 'Sevi for their victory, still unaware that he's an ONI spy. However, two Zealots are suspicious of 'Sevi after they overheard him speaking English. As Ayit leaves supposedly to help secure the hangar, the Zealots follow him. Thorne flies to its hangar in a Banshee while Ayit prepares to meet him. But the Zealots confront him there, accusing him of being a spy for the humans. Ayit tries to deny it, but the Zealots hear Thorne's voice over their COM. Guise revealed, Ayit tells the Zealots he'll surrender and let them have Thorne. The Zealots do not relent, telling Ayit that selling out his partner still won't spare his life. The very next second, Thorne's Banshee runs over both of them. Ayit helps him out, thanking the confused Thorne for saving his life.<ref name="HE24"/> 'Nyon's warriors rally and celebrate their capture of the ship and Jul's vault. They notice an odd sound, but Ayit passes it off as a sign of the gods and distracts them. They continue rejoicing as Ayit investigates, finding the just-teleported Palmer, Tanaka, and Glassman, who he helps hide.<ref name="HE24"/>
'Nyon's forces had taken control of the ship and secured Jul's vault of Forerunner artifacts. Sali rejoiced in their victory and praised Ayit 'Sevi for their victory, still unaware that he was an ONI spy. However, two Zealots were suspicious of 'Sevi after they overheard him speaking English. As Ayit left supposedly to help secure the hangar, the Zealots followed him. Thorne flew to its hangar in a Banshee while Ayit prepared to meet him. However, the Zealots confronted him there, accusing him of being a spy for the humans. Ayit tried to deny it, but the Zealots heard Thorne's voice over their COM. Guise revealed, Ayit told the Zealots he would surrender and let them have Thorne. The Zealots did not relent, telling Ayit that selling out his partner would still not spare his life. The very next second, Thorne's Banshee ran over both of them. Ayit helped him out, thanking the confused Thorne for saving his life.<ref name="HE24"/> 'Nyon's warriors rallies and celebrated their capture of the ship and Jul's vault. They noticed an odd sound, but Ayit passed it off as a sign of the gods and distracted them. They continued rejoicing as Ayit investigated, finding the just-teleported Palmer, Tanaka, and Glassman, who he helped hide.<ref name="HE24"/>


==Aftermath==
==Aftermath==
[[File:HE24 battle.png|thumb|250px|The ''Song of Retribution'' and ''Breath of Annihilation'' battle.]]
[[File:HE24 battle.png|thumb|250px|The ''Song of Retribution'' and ''Breath of Annihilation'' battle.]]
Sali was so proud of having capturing the ''Annihilation'' that he flew the carrier into Sangheili space, where Ayit flew the humans off-ship and they rendezvoused with an ONI Prowler in a safe zone. Their pickup came just in time, as Jul's and the ''Retribution'' followed and battled the ''Annihilation'', though the fight ended with Sali and their ship escaping.<ref name="HE24"/>
Sali was so proud of having capturing the ''Annihilation'' that he flew the carrier into Sangheili space, where Ayit flew the humans off-ship and they rendezvoused with an ONI prowler in a safe zone. Their pickup came just in time, as Jul's and the ''Retribution'' followed and battled the ''Annihilation'', though the fight ended with Sali and their ship escaping.<ref name="HE24"/>


==Gallery==
==Gallery==
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