Meridian: Difference between revisions

|government=*[[Stewards]]<ref name="unconfirmed intel">'''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''', campaign level ''[[Unconfirmed]]'' - [[Mission Intel]]</ref> {{C|formerly}}

*[[Unified Earth Government]] {{c|formerly}}

}}

{{Quote|The Covenant glassed this planet in '48. It was a UNSC colony then, but we never came back. Run by a private corp now, chipping away the glass, making her livable.|[[Spartan Operations#Rank structure|Spartan]] [[Holly Tanaka]]<ref name="glassed"/>}}

Meridian was colonized in [[2431]] by [[human]]ity,<ref name="universe"/> and settled in [[2432]]. One hundred and thirty-nine vessels carrying 70,003 colonists—most of which came from the country of [[Wikipedia:France|France]] on [[Earth]]—arrived on Meridian and established the town of [[Avignon]].<ref name="glassed intel"/> Aided by [[Star Charter-class colony support ship|colony support ships]],<ref name="m5a">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/vehicles/meridian-5-alpha '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Meridian 5-Alpha'']</ref> Meridian colonists initially settled equatorial coastlands, before migrating to the moon's vast supercontinent, which would serve as the center of civilization for decades on Meridian.<ref name="universe"/> Early in the moon's history, there was a large debate over Meridian's future. While some of the world's population wished for Meridian's surface to remain untouched and largely undeveloped, others wanted to expand and build settlements across the world; the population divided themselves into two political parties known as the [[Stewards]] and the [[Prospector Party]].<ref name="glassed intel"/>

===Human-Covenant War===

Following the Covenant War's end, Meridian was recolonized by the [[Liang-Dortmund Corporation]], though the world remained independent from the Unified Earth Government. Using the colony support ships abandoned in orbit around [[Hestia V]] during the Covenant War to facilitate their work,<ref name="m5a"/> Liang-Dortmund established a [[space elevator]]—[[Pinnacle Station]]—on the colony and hired workers to help resettle the moon and aid in the "deglassing" efforts; the settlers were comprised mainly of former Meridian residents wishing to rebuild their home or opportunists seeking profit.<ref name="glassed intel"/> Liang-Dortmund's intentions were to pay excavators to mine away the glass on Meridian's surface so that in a generation or two, the corporation would have land rights to an entire colony world.<ref name="unconfirmed"/>

In [[2553#December|December 2553]], the chase for the Tuwa family's killers during [[Operation: RETRIBUTION]] led both the UNSC and the [[Keepers of the One Freedom]] to Meridian after learning that Sloan had been responsible for putting President [[Arlo Casille]] of [[Gao]] in contact with [[Dark Moon Enterprises]] who were responsible for the Tuwa family's deaths as part of a plot to weaponize [[asteroidea merozoite]]. As the Keepers and UNSC converged on [[Pinnacle Station]], the [[archeon-class ancilla|''archeon''-class ancilla]] [[Intrepid Eye]], the true mastermind behind the [[bioweapon]] plot, sent [[Lieutenant]] [[Bartalan Craddog]] and [[Papa-10]] to eliminate the Dark Moon couriers and retrieve the Tuwa family's organs. A fight broke out on Pinnacle Station between the Keepers and rogue operatives, leading to both sides taking the fight to Meridian's surface with Papa-10 aided by Sloan after Intrepid Eye's remote aspect [[Oriel]] made a deal with him to help fund Liang-Dortmund's efforts. Shortly thereafter, [[Spartan-II]] [[Blue Team]] and ONI's [[Ferret]] team, made up mainly of [[Spartan-III]]'s, arrived in pursuit. In an abandoned mine on Meridian, the three factions engaged in combat, with most of the Keepers and Papa-10 being eliminated. The last member of Papa-10 nearly succeeded in escaping Meridian with the Tuwa's organs in [[cryo-jar]]s, but Ferret leader [[Veta Lopis]] destroyed the organs with [[C-12 shaped charge|C-12]] explosives, killing the last member of Papa-10 and destroying the Pinnacle Station utility skiff that had been acting as their escape craft. Unknown to anyone but Intrepid Eye, Oriel was also destroyed in the explosion, leaving her unable to confirm the results of her efforts. The UNSC was left satisfied that the bioweapon plot was thwarted, unaware that Intrepid Eye was the true culprit. The Keeper [[Dokab]] [[Castor]], the only survivor of the battle from that faction, was left stranded on Meridian with a broken [[translation disk]] and looking for a way off of the moon.<ref>'''[[Halo: Retribution]]'''</ref>

===Rise of the Created===

A small world with a diameter of 3,073 kilometers (1,909 miles), Meridian was once a green world with impressive, [[Earth]]-like features, which made the [[moon]] a prime target for [[human]] colonization. The world is home to a vast supercontinent, with verdant equatorial coastlands.<ref name="universe"/> Residents enjoyed the world's temperate climate and fertile soil. Meridian was home to rich mineral deposits<ref name="canon fodder"/>—particularly in the [[Mathon Mountain Range]]<ref name="glassed intel"/>—that helped fuel the moon's economy.<ref name="evacuation intel"/>

A high concentration of [[Forerunner]] artifacts exists on Meridian; their presence is known to the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]].<ref>'''[[Data Drop]]''', ''[[:File:DD - 93893-PRELIM.pdf|93893-PRELIM]]''</ref> Beneath Meridian's surface, there were at least two vast Forerunner structures built into natural cave formations, though both structures were possibly connected. One structure contained a [[Luminary]] that had the location of the [[Halo Array]], which was collected by the Covenant during their attack on the world in 2551.<ref name="h2a"/> The second one was home to a Forerunner [[Guardian]], as well as numerous host bodies of the [[Warden Eternal]].<ref name="unconfirmed"/> Beneath [[Brume-sur-Mer]] was another Forerunner artifact. though its purpose is unclear.<ref name="BB" /><ref name="MD" />

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*''[[Halo: Meridian Divide]]''

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==Sources==