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The next day, [[Captain (NAVCOM)|Captain]] [[Halima Ascot]], commander of Task Force Yama and captain of the ''Starry Night'', held a meeting to discuss the events of the previous day's battle. John was reprimanded for his maverick actions at the start of the battle, and his Spartans' experience was called into question once more. Due to some of Nyeto's sly comments, the truth about their young ages was revealed to the few personnel present at the meeting. Learning this disturbing fact, Colonel Crowther refused to send the Spartans into battle again, instead ordering them to guard the insurrectionists captured during the fighting and prepare them to be sent to Biko to be processed. While this meeting was being held, a Covenant [[Bloodstar Flotilla|flotilla]] was detected as it arrived in-system and began heading for Seoba.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS11|HSS|Chapter=11}} As the rest of Task Force Yama mobilized to meet the alien vessels, Anton and the other Spartans were sent to [[Subsurface Maintenance Grotto 6M430]] where they would direct the captured insurgents onto [[Emmeline|a transport]]. While the line of roughly 300 prisoners marched onto the vessel, John noticed that a group of them were hiding the presence of an officer, [[General]] [[Harper Garvin]] of the [[United Rebel Front]]. He ordered the officer to step forward, but [[Petora Zoyas|another rebel]] presented herself instead, clearly trying to stall for Garvin. To show that he meant business, John grabbed the woman by her tunic lapels and threatened her with summary execution for interfering with a guard while on the field of combat, as per the [[UNSC Military Code of Conduct]]. John's plan worked and General Garvin presented himself. He began trying to pry information out of John, but this effort was interrupted when a situation with Captain Ascot's [[flagship]] was relayed over the task force's command channel. The ''Starry Night'' had been shot down on takeoff, crash-landing back into the quarry. Crowther was unable to send a unit of his Black Daggers to search for survivors without putting more prowlers at risk. Since they were the only unit available to assist, John decided that he and his Spartans would go for the ''Starry Night'' once the transport was loaded. After sending Garvin back to his people and ordering the transport pilot to launch, John had his Spartans move out, much to the concern of Kurt-051 and [[Joshua-029]]. Not only would they be disobeying a direct order from Crowther, operating without the support of the task force in such a situation would be very risky.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS13|HSS|Chapter=13}} | The next day, [[Captain (NAVCOM)|Captain]] [[Halima Ascot]], commander of Task Force Yama and captain of the ''Starry Night'', held a meeting to discuss the events of the previous day's battle. John was reprimanded for his maverick actions at the start of the battle, and his Spartans' experience was called into question once more. Due to some of Nyeto's sly comments, the truth about their young ages was revealed to the few personnel present at the meeting. Learning this disturbing fact, Colonel Crowther refused to send the Spartans into battle again, instead ordering them to guard the insurrectionists captured during the fighting and prepare them to be sent to Biko to be processed. While this meeting was being held, a Covenant [[Bloodstar Flotilla|flotilla]] was detected as it arrived in-system and began heading for Seoba.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS11|HSS|Chapter=11}} As the rest of Task Force Yama mobilized to meet the alien vessels, Anton and the other Spartans were sent to [[Subsurface Maintenance Grotto 6M430]] where they would direct the captured insurgents onto [[Emmeline|a transport]]. While the line of roughly 300 prisoners marched onto the vessel, John noticed that a group of them were hiding the presence of an officer, [[General]] [[Harper Garvin]] of the [[United Rebel Front]]. He ordered the officer to step forward, but [[Petora Zoyas|another rebel]] presented herself instead, clearly trying to stall for Garvin. To show that he meant business, John grabbed the woman by her tunic lapels and threatened her with summary execution for interfering with a guard while on the field of combat, as per the [[UNSC Military Code of Conduct]]. John's plan worked and General Garvin presented himself. He began trying to pry information out of John, but this effort was interrupted when a situation with Captain Ascot's [[flagship]] was relayed over the task force's command channel. The ''Starry Night'' had been shot down on takeoff, crash-landing back into the quarry. Crowther was unable to send a unit of his Black Daggers to search for survivors without putting more prowlers at risk. Since they were the only unit available to assist, John decided that he and his Spartans would go for the ''Starry Night'' once the transport was loaded. After sending Garvin back to his people and ordering the transport pilot to launch, John had his Spartans move out, much to the concern of Kurt-051 and [[Joshua-029]]. Not only would they be disobeying a direct order from Crowther, operating without the support of the task force in such a situation would be very risky.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS13|HSS|Chapter=13}} | ||
Anton and the other Spartans proceeded to the grotto's access vestibule and entered its airlock, sealing the inner hatch. With that, they stepped out into the dense sublimation fog coating the quarry floor. Visibility was so poor that each of them could barely even see the ends of their rifles, but the flashes of plasma bolts could be seen dancing through the clouds above. John accessed the command channel and requested that he and his teammates receive a [[Navigation point|waypoint]] leading to the downed prowler. Crowther quickly responded by asking what he thought he was doing. John stated that they were checking on the status of the ''Starry Night'' as they were the only unit that could do so at the moment, carefully choosing his words so that Crowther could deflect blame onto the Spartan if need be. This would make it more likely for Crowther to not stand in the way of their self-assigned mission. While John waited for a response, he signaled Kurt and Joshua to spread out their teams in a hundred-meter-wide search line. Anton and the rest of Green Team spaced out on the left of the more tightly-gathered Blue Team, as Gold Team spaced out on the right. Doing this, the Spartans would be more likely to find any debris from the ''Starry Night'' that might have otherwise been missed in the fog. John also ordered them to advance at a trotting speed, leading them away from the dockyards where Blue Team had engaged insurgents the day before. When Crowther still had not responded, John added over the command channel that they would simply take a look at the crash site and report what they found.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS14|HSS|Chapter=14}} | |||
Finally, Crowther acknowledged John's plan, but ordered him to not take action unless immediately warranted. He also informed the Spartans of Biko's naval response to the alien bombardment of Seoba and that Nyeto believed that the small Covenant flotilla would either be in full retreat or destroyed within the hour by the approaching overwhelming force. An inexact waypoint was placed on each of the Spartans' HUDs and John had them all adjust course to match the new trajectory. With the fog still as dense as ever, John ordered them to advance at a full run while keeping their eyes on their feet, since that was all they could see anyway. As they ran, the ''Emmeline'' departed the grotto and flew over the Spartans, churning up the fog and allowing a brief moment of visibility. Through the haze, they could see five Covenant vessels fire towards the transport as it crested the horizon.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}} | |||
As the twelve Spartans neared the provided waypoint, the fog had lowered to shoulder-height, allowing the Spartans to discover that the ''Starry Night'' was indeed seemingly intact, but sat atop a large avalanche about seven hundred meters up the quarry wall. [[Frederic-104]] spotted a Covenant intrusion corvette sliding over the rim of the quarry and descending over the prowler. Kelly-087 theorized that they may be trying to recover the ''Starry Night'' themselves. Realizing the danger, John declared to his teammates that the mission was no longer a rescue mission. Their primary objective was now to deny the Covenant from recovering the prowler and the data stored within. Opening the command channel again, John relayed this information to Crowther, who echoed his concerns and insisted that they could not let the Covenant take possession of the ''Starry Night''. The vessel's [[navigation computer]] and other onboard data devices could reveal the locations of UNSC outposts, entire force deployments, or worse. Crowther asked Nyeto if there was any way to remotely activate the prowler's [[Fury tactical nuclear weapon|nuclear]] self-destruct system, to which the lieutenant commander responded in the affirmative. However, there were only three positions that had access to that ability. The first two were the flight commander and wing commander, both of which were roles held by Captain Ascot, who was either dead or unable to be reached aboard the ''Starry Night''. The final person with the ability to remotely detonate the prowler was the captain of the ''Vanishing Point'', which was holding station two planetary orbits out from Seoba. At that distance, it would take nearly an hour for the request to be sent to the cruiser and for the return signal to arrive. By then, the Covenant might already have retrieved sensitive data from the wrecked prowler. Crowther began to reluctantly order the Spartans to prevent the ''Starry Night''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s capture, but John cut him off, assuring him that they would not fail. The Spartan requested that Task Force Yama assist them by keeping the assaulting corvettes off their backs. Nyeto began to say that their prowlers were not designed for ship-to-ship combat when Crowther interrupted him, promising that they would find a way. Crowther started to tell John to standby for instructions on how to manually activate the prowler's self-destruct, but he reassured the colonel that his Spartans already knew how to activate a [[Nuclear weapon|nuke]].{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}} | |||
Before this discussion came to an end, a Covenant [[Type-32 Ghost|Ghost]] appeared out of the fog and began firing at John, who managed to kill its [[Jiralhanae]] driver with his [[MA5B assault rifle|MA5B]]'s [[M301 grenade launcher|underbarrel grenade launcher]]. Shortly after that was handled, he noticed more Ghosts entering the quarry, so John ordered Green and Gold Teams to deal with them as Blue Team went to handle the prowler. At this point, the looming intrusion corvette had begun deploying EVA-equipped [[Sangheili]], Jiralhanae, and [[Kig-Yar]] warriors via its gravity lift, with the first already looking for a way inside the ship. Another corvette crested the edge of the quarry, firing its main cannon on the Spartans. With the situation quickly deteriorating and Nyeto's support still setting up, John realized that immediate action was necessary. While Anton and the others were still dealing with the Ghosts, John ordered Blue Team to simultaneously fire on the avalanche just below the ''Starry Night'' with their grenade launchers to cause the vessel to fall to quarry floor and prevent the Covenant from gaining entrance. Despite Fred and Kelly's warnings that such an action could bring the whole slope down on top of them, each member of the team acknowledged and followed his order. As they has feared, the volley of [[grenade]]s worked a bit too well, bringing the avalanche down on top of all twelve Spartans, but successfully delaying the Covenant in their boarding attempt.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS14}} | |||
{{Expand-section}} | {{Expand-section}} | ||
===Fall of Reach=== | ===Fall of Reach=== | ||
{{Main|Fall of Reach}} | {{Main|Fall of Reach}} | ||
Anton was among the 25 Spartan-IIs assembled on Reach for [[Operation: RED FLAG]] in [[2552#August|August 2552]]. Like the other Spartans, Anton was deliberately kept uninformed of the [[Covenant]]'s ongoing invasion of the planet.<ref>[[Data Drop]]</ref> Anton and the other Spartans were embarked on the cruiser {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} (which was set to leave the [[Epsilon Eridani system|system]]) when the Covenant's [[Fleet of Particular Justice]] arrived at Reach. He was assigned to [[Red Team]] and given the callsign "Red-Twenty One". Red Team, under the command of | Anton was among the 25 Spartan-IIs assembled on Reach for [[Operation: RED FLAG]] in [[2552#August|August 2552]]. Like the other Spartans, Anton was deliberately kept uninformed of the [[Covenant]]'s ongoing invasion of the planet.<ref>[[Data Drop]]</ref> Anton and the other Spartans were embarked on the cruiser {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} (which was set to leave the [[Epsilon Eridani system|system]]) when the Covenant's [[Fleet of Particular Justice]] arrived at Reach. He was assigned to [[Red Team]] and given the callsign "Red-Twenty One". Red Team, under the command of Fred-104, was tasked with traveling to the planet's surface to defend the [[orbital defense generator|generators]] that powered the planet's network of 20 [[orbital defense platform]]s. | ||
As the team descended to the surface of Reach, their [[D77-TC Pelican|Pelican]], ''[[Bravo 001]]'', was shot down. The Spartans were forced to jump from the vessel before it crashed. Anton then rendezvoused with the rest of the Spartans at [[ODG Facility A-331]]. There, Anton was given command of [[Team Gamma]], which also included [[Li-008]] and [[Grace-093]]. Fred sent the trio to evacuate [[Vice Admiral]] [[Danforth Whitcomb]].<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 24''</ref> Though they were successful in picking up the Admiral, they were unable to meet up with [[Team Delta|Delta]] and [[Team Alpha|Alpha]] teams due to Covenant activity.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 111-112''</ref> | As the team descended to the surface of Reach, their [[D77-TC Pelican|Pelican]], ''[[Bravo 001]]'', was shot down. The Spartans were forced to jump from the vessel before it crashed. Anton then rendezvoused with the rest of the Spartans at [[ODG Facility A-331]]. There, Anton was given command of [[Team Gamma]], which also included [[Li-008]] and [[Grace-093]]. Fred sent the trio to evacuate [[Vice Admiral]] [[Danforth Whitcomb]].<ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]''', ''page 24''</ref> Though they were successful in picking up the Admiral, they were unable to meet up with [[Team Delta|Delta]] and [[Team Alpha|Alpha]] teams due to Covenant activity.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 111-112''</ref> | ||