Operation: RETRIBUTION: Difference between revisions

|date=[[2553#December|December 8–16, 2553]]{{Ref/Reuse|R2}}<ref name="R27">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 27''</ref>

|side3=[[File:Eld-Alternate.png|25px]] [[Dark Moon Enterprises]]<ref name="R5">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 5''</ref>

|commanders1=*[[Rear Admiral|RADM]] [[Serin Osman]]<ref name="R2">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 2''</ref>

Administrator [[Sloan]]<ref name="R21">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 21''</ref>

In May of [[2553]], a  mysterious transmission from the [[Outer Colony]] of [[Gao]] drew the attention of the [[UNSC]], and the [[Marine Corps]]' [[717th Xeno-Materials Exploitation Battalion]] was dispatched to the planet to investigate.<ref>''[[Halo: Last Light]]'', ''Chapter 1''</ref> The battalion was escorted by [[Blue Team]], comprised of eight [[Spartans]] at the time. The transmission had in fact been a request for a status report sent by [[Intrepid Eye]], an ancient [[Forerunner]] [[ancilla]] that had been charged thousands of years ago with protecting the hidden [[Covert Support Base 4276]].<ref>''[[Halo: Last Light]]'', ''Chapter 3''</ref> Intrepid Eye was awakened from stasis following the partial [[glassing]] of [[Shaps III]], site of [[Line Installation 444-447|the]] [[line installation]] the base on Gao had supported. Before long, [[insurrectionist]] elements within the [[Gao Republic]] exploited the UNSC presence to stage a coup with assistance from the [[Venezia]] [[Venezian militia|militia]] and the [[Keepers of the One Freedom]].<ref>''[[Halo: Last Light]]'', ''Chapter 5''</ref> Ultimately, the Spartans managed to secure Intrepid Eye and exfiltrate from the planet.<ref name="LL28">''[[Halo: Last Light]]'', ''Chapter 28''</ref> With them went [[Veta Lopis]], a [[special inspector]] from the [[Gao Ministry of Protection]] who had aided them during [[Operation: JOVIAN WHISTLE|the fighting]]. Lopis was offered a civilian position within the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] and the chance to lead a new "[[Ferret]]" investigative team made up of herself and three [[Spartan-III]]s of the former [[SPARTAN-III Gamma Company|Gamma Company]] which she had forged a bond with.{{Ref/Reuse|LL28}}

Intrepid Eye was delivered to the recently-commissioned ''[[Argent Moon]]'', an [[ONI]] research and development station, where she was kept under heavy guard to be interrogated and studied as part of [[Project Archeon]].{{Ref/Reuse|R5}} Despite the many limitations placed upon her, the [[archeon-class ancilla]] managed to covertly smuggle bits of code off of the station over a span of five months that resulted in the establishment of remote aspects of herself in five different sectors of human-held space.{{Ref/Reuse|R5}} These aspects were used by her to establish and control [[propaganda]] outlets, private security contractors, law practices, and political consulting firms.{{Ref/Reuse|R16}} During her detainment on Gao, Intrepid Eye had been convinced by [[Wendell|another]] [[A.I.]] that [[human]]s were the intended [[Reclaimer]]s the [[Forerunner]]s had meant to inherit all their work.<ref>''[[Halo: Last Light]]'', ''Chapter 24''</ref> Since that revelation, it had become her primary purpose to make the species worthy of the great responsibility inherent in holding the [[Mantle]]. To this end, she began laying the groundwork through her multiple aspects for a series of events that she believed could bring humanity closer to this worthiness.{{Ref/Reuse|R5}} One of her remote aspects presented itself to the [[dokab]] [[Castor]] of the [[Keepers of the One Freedom]], who had nearly been killed on [[Gao]].{{Ref/Reuse|R13}} Eye had little trouble making him think he was being visited by a holy [[oracle]] with his best interests at heart, as she recommended a location for him to grow a new base for the Keepers and began to feed him information she had gathered concerning the routes and itineraries of human vessels. From the moon of [[Taram]], Castor waged a campaign of [[piracy]] to rebuild his forces and had soon ascended to first among the Keepers' dokabs.<ref name="R13">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 13''</ref> It was her belief that Taram and the [[Suluhu Contemplarium]] on its surface would become known to humans eventually thanks to this, as she was concerned that telling them about it outright could compromise her plans. She hoped to keep track of those that would eventually visit the contemplarium and achieve a sufficient amount of spiritual enlightenment through it.<ref name="R16">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 16''</ref> Onboard the ''Argent Moon'', she also handpicked a young ONI [[lieutenant]] by the name of [[Bartalan Cradogg]] to serve her ends. Through the selective supply of information to he and nobody else assigned to Project Archeon, she ensured that he was promoted to higher importance than he rightfully deserved, and she also began to gather evidence of his sexual proclivities with which to blackmail him.{{Ref/Reuse|R5}}

On [[2553#December|December 12, 2553]], Phase One of the operation saw Veta's [[Ferret]] team and the legendary team of [[Spartan-II]]s, [[Blue Team]], deployed to [[New Tyne]], [[Venezia]].{{Ref/Reuse|R1}}{{Ref/Reuse|R4}} ONI sources within the city had reported that a Keeper gunrunning crew was in port looking for cargo.<ref name="R3">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 3''</ref> In order to trick these Keepers into approaching Veta's team, they would need to create a public scene that would pique their suspects' interests in them. For the past few days, the UNSC had been making a show of stopping and boarding [[S77 Crow|Crow]]s and specifically pretending to be on the lookout for one with [[Archer missile]]s or [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon#Mini-MAC|Mini-MAC]]s. In addition, a story of the {{UNSCShip|Taulanti}} being hit and having ten [[HAVOK]] [[nuclear weapon]]s stolen was permitted to spread. These things were done so that the Ferrets could present themselves as the [[piracy|pirates]] who had raided the ''Taulanti''. In order to really sell the idea that the UNSC was desperate to recover the nukes and that they had indeed been the ones to take them, the plan was for it to appear as if Veta and the [[Spartan-III]]s just barely escaped when Blue Team arrived.{{Ref/Reuse|R1}}

[[File:Venezia.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Venezia is home to all manner of pirates, [[salvager]]s, [[Insurrectionist|rebels]], and others looking to get away from their respective governments.<ref>''[[Halo: Mortal Dictata]]'', ''Chapter 2''</ref>]]

To this end, Veta's [[Spartan]]s disguised themselves to look older than their actual ages and to look like street punks that fit the profile of those belonging to a pirate gang. They got a table at the [[Trattoria Georgi]], where they knew a gunrunner known as "the Goliath" would be that evening.{{Ref/Note|Though the time at which Veta approached Nyeto was only a little after 1430 hours [[Military Standard Time|MST]], it was evening in New Tyne at that time.}} Veta approached the Goliath, who was in fact [[Ross Nyeto]], the son of [[Ross Nyeto|a famous]] [[lieutenant commander]] that had defected from the [[UNSC Navy]] to take up the cause of the [[Insurrection]]. She revealed that she knew who he was to set him and his three men on edge and offered to pay for the transport of her crew aboard one of his {{class|Razor|prowler}}s, the ''[[Ghost Flag]]''.{{Ref/Note|[[Hector Nyeto]] and his theft of the Prowlers, including the ''Ghost Flag'', happened during [[Operation: SILENT STORM]] in [[2526]] as seen in ''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]''.}} Nyeto was resistant to her offer since he was not accustomed to transporting people as opposed to contraband and also had little interest in being paid in [[boson bead]]s, which she had produced whilst stating her case. The beads did, however, provoke [[Marco|one of Nyeto's men]] to place a beefy hand over Veta's when she tried to gather them up off the gunrunners' table. Veta did not hesitate to use a pain-compliance technique on the man that caused all eyes in the restaurant to focus on them and for some patrons to nervously exit. Her Spartans also drew their sidearms at this time. The situation was diffused by the owner of the establishment, [[Georgi Baklanov]], who assured his wary customers that the Goliath would be paying for everyone's tabs. Veta noticed [[Gyasi|two]] [[Ruuht]]ian [[Kig-Yar]] take their seats at a table closer to her than the one they had been at previously, and surmised from this that they could be affiliates of the Keepers and therefore the ones this whole show was for. Continuing her conversation with Nyeto, she casually let it be known to all within earshot that the reason her crew needed transportation was due to a problem with their [[S77 Crow]], which also had been modified to sport Archer missiles and a mini-MAC. The Goliath put the pieces together immediately and changed his tune, now making an offer of his own wherein he would take them to their destination in exchange for ten of the ''Taulanti'''s nukes.{{Ref/Reuse|R1}}

Feeling that the narrative about who she and her team were had been effectively communicated, she signaled Blue Team to move into position by working a certain phrase into her talk with Nyeto. They would be breaching the trattoria in four minutes and it did not take long before lookouts paid by Baklanov spotted [[M121 Jackrabbit]]s driven by [[Frederic-104]] and [[Kelly-087]] turning onto [[Via Notoli]]. The place cleared out due to fear of the encroaching Spartans and threats from its owner. Among those that hurriedly left were the two suspicious Kig-Yar. Now all the [[Ferret]]s had to worry about was making their escape convincing. A deal was struck between Veta and the Goliath, who came up with the idea to have his [[Jiralhanae]] bodyguard, [[Picus]], knock a hole in one of the exterior walls so that they wouldn't be flushed right through a doorway where an ONI [[sniper]] could be waiting for them. Things would have gone well enough had Baklanov interfered by making it clear that such an affront to his building would not be tolerated. He believed that he only needed to turn over these troublemakers to the Spartans to make them go away. He and his henchmen drew on Veta's team and though she convinced him he was in danger as well, it was too late. The delay made it so that her team was still present when Fred and Kelly crashed their Jackrabbits through the Georgi's front window and began a firefight. In the carefully-controlled engagement that resulted, [[Mark-G313]] was hit in the shoulder and everyone but Veta, Ross, and the [[Spartans]] were killed, including Georgi Baklanov, who was shot by Kelly as a target of opportunity as soon as she rolled away from her vehicle. Picus did manage to create an exit before being taken out by [[Linda-058]], who had been well aware that Veta and others weren't going to be coming out a door thanks to all the UNSC operatives being linked via an encrypted comm net. Nyeto glimpsed Linda briefly nodding at Veta before the Spartan-II knocked him out with a clean strike to the hinge of his jaw with her [[assault rifle]]. The Ferrets sprinted away from the wreckage of the restaurant, as Blue Team could only give them so much time before the need to make all this believable required that they pursue. Linda did fire a single shot at the fleeing "pirates" that tore into one of [[Olivia-G291]]'s thighs before giving her full attention to securing Nyeto for transport to an ONI interrogation facility. Capturing the Goliath had not been a primary objective of the operation, but it was a bonus. A shallow-draft airboat had been left floating on the water beneath a trapdoor in a building ahead of the running Ferrets. The plan was for them to use it to escape through the swamp that this part of New Tyne had been built on. Before they could reach it, however, a tri-wheeled minivan  driven by a Kig-Yar screeched to a halt in front of the Ferrets. The side door opened, and another Jackal told them to climb inside if they wanted to live.<ref name="R1">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 1''</ref>

Over two hours later, the Kig-Yar vessel still had yet to jump to [[slipspace]]. It had been necessary to retrieve the HAVOKs and bring them aboard after the deal was struck. Unknown to the Jackals, each of them was inoperable and one was in reality a disguised starship emergency locator beacon, or "slipbeacon". Once they arrived at a new destination, it would be able to transmit that location to the {{UNSCShip|Silent Joe}}, the {{Class|Sahara|heavy prowler}} that had brought them to Venezia and which Blue Team was aboard. Around an hour after first arriving at Ziggy's hangar, [[spy gnat]]s covertly placed by [[Ash-G099]] transmitted a conversation between Chur'R-Sarch and her crew in the form of a microburst of data to the ''Silent Joe''. Rear Admiral Osman, Blue Team, and the ship's captain and senior intelligence analyst were present to overhear the Kig-Yar planning to deliver their cargo straight to the Keepers and to murder their guests with [[ostanalus]] gas. Captain [[Piers Ewen]] believed they had no choice but to extract the Ferrets, which was seconded by [[Lieutenant]] [[Anki Hersh]]. Fred was confident in the team's abilities and believed they could handle themselves. Osman and the Spartan-IIs were the only ones that knew about the [[Project CHRYSANTHEMUM|unique augmentations]] Mark, Ash, and Olivia had undergone that marked them as members of the [[SPARTAN-III program]]'s [[SPARTAN-III Gamma Company|Gamma Company]]. The decision was made to withhold from interfering due to Fred's confidence and a sense of owing it to [[Admiral]] [[Graselyn Tuwa|Tuwa]] to take risks in order to see her family returned safely.<ref name="R4">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 4''</ref>

The Kig-Yar's starsloop, ''[[Stolen Faith]]'', eventually departed Venezia for [[Pydoryn]] in the [[Shaps system]]. Having learned of the aliens' plan for them, the Ferrets devised a plan of their own. Before heading off to sleep, Mark secretly killed one crew member and switched out the ostanalus so that the dispersal of gas would be completely harmless. After it was released, the four humans played dead: Veta and Olivia in a sleeping compartment and Mark and Ash in the cargo hold, where they had been permitted to stay to guard the HAVOKs. All caught their would-be murderers by surprise. Veta and Olivia killed three Kig-Yar that came to check on them in their compartment and Mark and Ash did likewise to five more. Inside the casings of the inert nukes were four disassembled [[M7S SMG]]s and ammunition, which the Ferrets at this time put back together. With five Kig-Yar left aboard the ship to subdue, the females made for the flight deck where Chur'R-Sarch was sure to be while the boys went to put down any others. Veta and Olivia surprised one individual in the galley, who had no chance to defend himself whatsoever before three silenced rounds from Veta ended him. Sarch and a co-pilot were seated on the flight deck. The [[Chur'R]] was attempting to reason with Approach Control on the moon, [[Taram]], evidently the location of the Keepers' [[Salvation Base]]. The human on the other end of the communication channel was nervous about the Kig-Yar's stated intention to "deliver" nuclear devices to Castor. After being told they would have to wait for a vigilance squad to inspect their vessel, Sarch tossed her headset away in frustration and turned to find herself face-to-face with the human females. Olivia dropped the copilot as soon as she reached for something, presumably a weapon, but Sarch made excuses for why they had not traveled to Shamsa and denied ever trying to gas them. Her defenses fell away quickly, however, and once she was told they had been playing her all along, she said it was regretful the ostanalus did not work. She was shot and killed while diving for her copilot's controls.<ref name="R6">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 6''</ref>

Olivia righted the ship, which had pitched forward during Chur'R-Sarch's death throes. Veta confirmed with Mark and Ash that all Kig-Yar aboard had been eliminated just as the Chur'R's abandoned headset began making noise. Veta grabbed it and covered the microphone as best she could. A [[Seraph]] fighter and a [[Tronto]] boarding craft were headed their way. It became clear in that moment that hiding in the system until the ''Silent Joe'' arrived was not going to be an option. Mark and Ash both suggested that they take defensive measures and meet the approaching craft with force, but Veta shot that notion down, reminding them that they were supposed to be covert operatives. She was forced to admit to herself, however, that she simply was more concerned with their survival at that moment than with completing the mission. She declared to her team that they would be allowing the Tronto's boarders to enter, but she did tell Ash to gather the ostanalus he had stored in acetylene bottles and prepare it for quick dispersal through the starsloop's ventilation system in case things came to that. So that the ''Silent Joe'' would know which moon the Keepers were located on when it arrived in-system, Olivia loudly declared Taram to their target so the spy gnat attached to Sarch's corpse would broadcast it when the prowler arrived. Veta took her hand off of the mic and spoke to the voice on the other end, letting them know they were speaking to the ''Stolen Faith'''s new captain.{{Ref/Reuse|R6}}

[[File:Turaco.jpg|250px|thumb|right|The Turaco is an experimental reconaissance craft that had only begun being tested a couple of months prior to Operation: RETRIBUTION.{{Ref/Reuse|R8}}]]

Each Spartan went a separate way, with Veta trailing Mark toward the presumed detention facility. He walked as if his hands were bound while she pointed a [[Type-52 Mauler]] at his back. Ash, on the other hand, purposefully made a cut on his forearm and made his way toward the direction of the Keeper fleet half a kilometer away, purposefully trailing blood to make it look as if they had gone that way should anyone come looking for them soon enough. Olivia rewrote the ''Stolen Faith'''s security routines so she could seal it shut, then set her sights on an ONI [[Reverse Engineering and Prototyping–Xenotechnology department|REAP-X]] [[Turaco]] located just seventy meters from where they had landed. The plan was for her to commandeer the reconnaissance craft and have it ready to fly by the time the Tuwas were rescued. Mark and Veta passed the ship on their way to the cliff grottoes, and noted that it appeared to have only arrived recently. Additionally, Mark picked up a trail that had been left by whoever it had carried. Wherever one trod, pale ripples of shadow were left in the [[hard light]] surface that made up the ground of the clearly Forerunner ruin the Keepers had taken for their base.{{Ref/Reuse|R8}} About a dozen paces from the entrance to the grotto Veta noticed that behind them, a lake of water had suddenly appeared so that the spacecraft were partially submerged beneath its waves. Before she could comment on the strange phenomenon to Mark, he disappeared within the mouth of the grotto and she found she could not communicate with him, even as Ash and Olivia responded to her hail. Unbeknownst to her, this was due to the fact that the installation had been designed by Forerunners to create a time differential between those within the [[Suluhu Contemplarium]]'s grottoes and those without. The lake was largely an illusion only visible to those standing in relative proximity to the detention center, though some real water was also summoned around the subjects' feet to be convincing.{{Ref/Reuse|R8}}{{Ref/Reuse|R11}}

Shortly after reaching Pydoryn, [[Blue Team]] was ready to deploy to Taram in ''[[Silent Claw]]'', an [[Owl]] [[dropship|insertion craft]].{{Ref/Reuse|R10}} Before it could leave, however, the team was recalled by Captain Ewen to the situation room. There, the Spartans were made aware of the big picture regarding the status of the operation. The Keepers' fleet had been visibly mobilized around Taram, indicating that the group was expecting trouble. In addition, recordings from the spy gnats within the ''Stolen Faith'' painted an unclear picture of what had happened after the Ferrets had been led off the ship. They indicated to those on the ''Silent Joe'' that the Keepers may have simply been preparing for the Banished assault they thought would be coming, but the sounds of gasping and wailing that followed the point at which the ship had landed were impossible to draw conclusions from. What had made the captain recall them just then, however, had been a microburst of data from just minutes ago. It confirmed that the Keepers had discovered the gnats, since they spoke of them and then presumably destroyed them. But more importantly, it confirmed [[Castor]] was present. Owing to his position as one of the Keepers' most important [[dokab]]s, Ewen was faced with a decision to make regarding the furtherance of the mission. There was nothing to suggest the Ferrets had accomplished their objectives or were even still alive, and if the ''Silent Joe'' pinged their TEAMCOM, it was likely that it would be giving away its position to every Keeper ship in the area. The best option left to them, Ewen thought, might have been to simply eliminate Salvation base with M947 [[Shiva-class nuclear missile]]s. All three Spartans of Blue team strongly opposed this idea, but Fred conceded that he understood the captain's perspective and signaled for Linda and Kelly to stand down. Preparations were made for a launch against the base, but the captain stopped just short of giving the final authorization. He made sure Fred understood that even if they could know any of their own were still alive down there, Blue Team wouldn't be deployed to the surface unless it furthered the goals of their mission. Once Fred stated that he was in agreement regarding that point, Ewen told [[Anki Hersh]] to signal the Ferret team. Olivia responded to their probe with a message wherein she informed them that she was alone within a captured Turaco and had been waiting for more than five hours to hear from the rest of her teammates. After the briefest mention of [[Argie]], whom she named an "uncooperative AI", the message cut out since Argie had terminated the connection in response. In what little she had been able to verbalize, however, she had given enough to hint through precisely-chosen language that [[Dark Moon Enterprises]] might have been involved in what was happening. It didn't take long for the Keepers to get a bead on the ''Silent Joe'''s location following the communication and relocating became necessary. The contact with Olivia convinced Captain Ewen that sending in Blue Team was now justified, since he wanted to know if Dark Moon truly was involved and why. Recovering the Turaco also was added as a new mission objective.{{Ref/Reuse|R10}}

Midway through the ''[[Silent Claw]]'''s stealthy insertion, [[Damon]], a fifth-generation [[Dumb AI|"dumb" A.I.]] riding in Fred's [[Mjolnir]] armor, intercepted a recall order that went out from [[Taram]] to [[Fleet of Glory|the Keeper fleet]].{{Ref/Reuse|R14}} All vessels which had launched from Salvation Base had suddenly been commanded to inexplicably return. For Blue Team and the Owl's pilot, [[Ashveld]], breaking comm silence to request an intelligence update from the ''Silent Joe'' would instantly alert the enemy to their presence. Though the ''Claw'' had already been detected in other ways, it was still outside of the visual range of any other ships and could pass itself off as one of them. In order to keep up this facade, Ashveld piloted them in as if they were part of the fleet. Plan Charlie had outlined that Blue Team would be inserted just over the horizon from Salvation Base and make its way there on [[M274 Mongoose]]s. The prime objective was then to secure the Turaco and if possible, the team would attempt to reactivate the nukes still on the ''Stolen Faith'' with the required tritium boosters and wipe the Keepers' base from the moon. Their Owl was eventually recognized for what it was, however, and began to be shot at. Plan Charlie changed in an instant to plan Delta, as they would now be dropping from the craft under heavy fire. One particular hit sent the ''Claw'' spinning after it had already entered the atmosphere. Knowing the dropship was doomed, the Spartans begin launching themselves from the rear compartment when they were just under seventy meters from the ground. Fred followed last, from a height of fifty meters.{{Ref/Reuse|R14}}

While Blue Team had been rocketing toward them, Ash had raced to find Veta and Mark within the grottoes affected by the time differential.{{Ref/Reuse|R15}} When he did find them dragging the bodies of the Tuwas near the point they had initially entered through, their chronometers told them it was still around 1524 hours, even though Olivia had told Ash it was 2035 hours only a short time ago. Ash took as little time as possible bringing his compatriots up to speed. They were shocked to hear that Blue Team could be there any minute, and when he mentioned Dark Moon Enterprises, the mysterious delivery squad finally made sense to Veta. She and the Spartans each grabbed hold of a Tuwa and began dragging them with haste away from the detention center. They emerged just as the ''Silent Claw'' careened into the ground in the distance, causing a fiery explosion which engulfed Ashveld. The sights and sounds of a battle became known to them as they left the tranquility of the contemplarium's illusions behind and rejoined reality. Blue Team was engaging the Keeper host that had piled around the ''Stolen Faith''. Before exiting the ''Claw'', Fred-104 had armed himself with a [[MA5D assault rifle]] and Kelly-087 had a [[MA5C]] with a [[M301 grenade launcher]] attachment, but Linda-058 held only a [[M6G magnum]], since she had been unable to reach for her [[BR55 battle rifle]] in the midst of the tumultuous tailspin. The four individuals from Dark Moon had not yet reached their Turaco, as they had been contending with fire from the Keepers prior to the arrival of Blue Team. One of them had been injured and was being dragged along by two others. Just as the single female in the group was felled by a shot to the head, Mark asked for permission to engage the remaining three. Veta shot down his request, stating that they needed to find out what they knew and why they were here. To this end, she had Mark and Ash take shots at the humans' limbs in order to pacify them and halt their approach. Curiously, the dorsal turret on the Turaco started shooting laser pulses in its own crew's direction at the behest of [[Argie]], who was fighting Olivia for control of the craft. Its output mirror had been damaged, so it didn't hit any of its targets before Mark put an end to it altogether. Realizing new combatants had joined, a mass of around thirty remaining Keepers (evenly divided between Jiralhanae, humans, and Kig-Yar) charged the Ferrets' position. This effort was short-lived thanks to the efficiency of the three [[Spartan-II]]s still in the fray, which allowed Mark and Ash the chance to sprint for the Dark Moon operatives.{{Ref/Reuse|R15}} Linda vanished into the ''Stolen Faith'''s hold to arm the HAVOK devices. Most of the surviving Keepers were fleeing, but [[Castor]], [[Orsun]], and two other Brutes took cover behind a pile of bodies near the Turaco. Kelly swiftly dispatched one of the cluster with a [[40mm grenade]] but the other three managed to lay down enough suppressive fire to cover their own escape. Mark and Ash, unarmored as they were had to fall back from where the Dark Moon agents were to avoid being killed by them. Another blast from Kelly's grenade launcher took out another Brute, but Orsun still was able to stomp on the head of one of Dark Moon's people and scoop up the remaining two. It was only as he and the dokab were retreating that Veta realized one of them was Castor, who she had shot almost six months prior [[Operation: JOVIAN WHISTLE|during the fighting]] on [[Gao]].{{Ref/Reuse|R15}}

After confirming her intuition was correct, the civilians were secured to make sure they didn't cause any problems for the teams and Veta and the Spartans hastily put a trap into motion.{{Ref/Reuse|R19}} Just under five kilometers remained along [[Yosavi Route 4]] when a [[Wikipedia:Cyathea|cyathea]] tree fern was felled to split up a convoy that was driving on the jungle track. The convoy had been led by a disaster-response [[Bronto]] and followed by a [[Roamer]] sandwiched front and back by two [[Murat]] gun trucks. The tree fern cut off the rest of the convoy from the Bronto, which continued to barrel on ahead once its driver realized they were under attack. A Spartan-III had no trouble subduing the lead Murat's gunner and taking over the [[Sawtooth chaingun]]. In a panic, the Roamer's [[Ramond|driver]] put the vehicle in reverse but another tree fern dropped behind the aft Murat, cutting off an escape in both directions. Another Spartan-III took over the other Murat and both Fred and Linda handled their drivers. Kelly pacified the Roamer's driver and [[Rodas|guard]] and Olivia pulled [[Duena Sandos]], the Republic's [[Minister of the Environment]], from the backseat. That left only President Casille himself, who was naturally surprised when Veta Lopis seated herself where Sandos had been a moment prior. She immediately began to question him about his role in the murders of Admiral Tuwa and her family, but Arlo denied any involvement.{{Ref/Reuse|R19}} Through threatening him with incarceration at a fictitious "Borodyne facility", Veta eventually got Casille to admit that he had agreed to allow Dark Moon to use the lab on Gao. He adamantly maintained that he hadn't known about any bioweapons or their plans to target a UNSC admiral, however. He relayed that Dark Moon had promised to get the UNSC to handle his "Keeper problem" in exchange for the use of the facilities, in addition to other compensation they provided. He claimed that he had only learned two weeks ago that UNSC captives were being held on his planet. Lopis believed his story and pressed for further information concerning how they could find the ones responsible. To that end, Casille let her know that he had originally been introduced to [[Dark Moon Enterprises]] through the [[smart AI|A.I.]] boss of [[Pinnacle Station]] on [[Meridian]], Administrator [[Sloan]].<ref name="R19">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 19''</ref>

[[File:Halo 5 - Meridian space elevator.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Pinnacle Station, pictured here in [[2558]], was still being built at the end of [[2553]].<ref name="R20">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 20''</ref>]]

About a hundred paces into the adit the teams came upon a charging station stocked with vehicles used for mining.{{Ref/Reuse|R24}} A [[JOTUN]] [[Arilus]] and a [[Traxus]] [[powder wagon]] both bore tires that had been recently slashed, and someone had evidently taken [[laser drill]]s from the Arilus' [[Wikipedia:Drilling jumbo|drilling jumbo]]. The powder wagon's loading hatch had been jimmied, which indicated to Veta and the Spartans that [[Papa-10]] had been looking for explosives. Newly-made tire tracks from a missing vehicle also led away from an empty equipment bay deeper into the adit. The map of the mine Veta had acquired showed that there should be a explosives storage magazine about two-hundred meters further ahead of them. At that moment, however, she and the others were suddenly thrown off their feet by a powerful pressure wave. The blast knocked out Ash's [[HUD]], disabled Olivia's mic, and rendered the photoreactive panels on Mark's SPI armor incapable of camouflaging him. Fred, Kelly, and Linda confirmed in rapid succession that no hostile contacts were immediately present and Damon suggested that a [[Wikipedia:Gelignite|gelignite]] packet had been made into a makeshift grenade. And explosions within the confines of the mine's narrow passageways would naturally result in very focused pressure waves like the one that had just struck them all. Mark and Ash joined the [[Spartan-II]]s in pursuing the source of the blast while Veta and Olivia hung back somewhat to provide counter-ambush cover. Olivia occasionally made sure diverting passages were clear as they moved forward, beginning with an access tunnel leading to Adit 1 on their left and then continuing with multiple [[Wikipedia:Stoping|stopes]] that had been dug to a large cavern where the ore body had once been extracted by the mining operation. Veta eventually joined her in this endeavor, as the two took turns clearing the many stopes before continuing behind the others. At last, the teams came upon both survivors of Papa-10 and their Jiralhanae pursuers, who had cornered the humans at the site of a cave-in. Both sides appeared to be out of ammo, as the Brutes were chucking rocks at the humans who were defending themselves with laser drills. Blue Team moved to eliminate the Jiralhanae while Mark and Ash went to relieve and resupply the other ONI team.{{Ref/Reuse|R24}} The Jiralhanae realized what was happening as soon as the Spartans began to fire. Fred was struck in his helmet by a large boulder hurled at him by [[Castor]], who had been hidden within the darkness of a stope Fred had been trying to clear.<ref name="R25">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 25''</ref> The Papa-10 operatives took this opportunity to make a move of their own as well. The massive ten-ton [[Wikipedia:LHD (load, haul, dump machine)|load, haul, dump machine]] the three had hijacked lurched forward and ran right over the [[MJOLNIR]]-clad Spartan without a second thought given by its operators for him. Olivia managed to hit the [[dokab]] with a few shots as he jumped onto the back of the vehicle.<ref name="R26">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 26''</ref> Veta spied one of the two men in the LHD's loading bucket preparing a gelignite grenade, but still gave them the benefit of the doubt, as she could also see that Olivia was shooting at someone else. Lopis switched off her SPI armor's [[active camouflage]] and ran into the path of the oncoming LHD in the hopes that she could signal its driver to stop. When instead she accelerated and raised its loader bucket to shield herself from attack, Veta instantly knew that Papa-10 was not friendly. She could do nothing else to save herself from the LHD barreling down on her but to throw herself prone in the center of the adit. The LHD passed overtop of her harmlessly, but not before she grabbed a cross member on its underside with both hands to be yanked along for the ride.<ref name="R24">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 24''</ref>

*'''0824 hours''': Keepers board the ''Stolen Faith'' via a Tronto.<ref name="R7">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 7''</ref>

*'''1445 hours''': The Ferrets are escorted off of the ''Stolen Faith'' at Salvation Base.<ref name="R8">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 8''</ref>

*'''1509 hours''': Ash-G099 kills a group of Keepers within the [[Suluhu Contemplarium]].<ref name="R11">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 11''</ref>

*'''1514 hours''': Veta and Mark discover captives held within the grottoes of the contemplarium.<ref name="R12">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 12''</ref>

*'''1524 hours''': Ash reconvenes with Veta and Mark, after having previously established contact with Olivia at 2035 hours outside of it, thanks to the time differential.<ref name="R15">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 15''</ref>

*'''2005 hours''': Olivia powers down the Dark Moon Enterprises team's Turaco for a system restore.<ref name="R9">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 9''</ref>

*'''2027 hours''': Blue Team enters the situation room aboard the ''Silent Joe'' to convene with Captain Ewen.<ref name="R10">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 10''</ref>

*'''2032 hours''': The ''Silent Claw'' rockets toward [[Taram]] with [[Blue Team]] aboard.<ref name="R14">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 14''</ref>

*'''2117 hours''': The Ferret team and Blue Team are debriefed within a wardroom on the ''Silent Joe''.<ref name="R17">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 17''</ref>

*'''1403 hours''': Blue Team and Veta Lopis' Ferret team are dropped off at the [[New Leaf Extractions]] [[New Leaf Field Complex|Field Complex]] in [[Gao]]'s [[Yosavi Jungle|Yosavi]] [[Yosavi Diversity Reserve|Diversity Reserve]].<ref name="R18">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 18''</ref>

*'''0349 hours''': Veta and Olivia board the ''[[True Light]]'' to investigate recent violence between the Keepers, Papa-10, and the [[Pinnacle Station Security Force]].<ref name="R22">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 22''</ref>

*'''0354 hours''': [[Taj McAvoy]] flies the captured Turaco through Meridian's atmosphere to insert Blue Team and the Ferrets.<ref name="R23">''[[Halo: Retribution]]'', ''Chapter 23''</ref>