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Concurrent:	Algolis Invasion Siege of Paris IV Second Fall of Arcadia
Next:	Defense of Concord
Battle of Meridian
Conflict:	Human-Covenant War
Date:	2548–2551[1][2]
Location:	Meridian,Hestia system[1]
Outcome:	Covenant victory Meridian isglassed Covenant later unknowingly locateEarth in2552[2]
Details Belligerents United Nations Space Command Covenant Commanders CaptainEdmund Persie[3] High Prophet of Regret(Second stage)[2] UnidentifiedSangheili commander Strength UNSC Armed Forces UNSC Air Force[1] UNSC Navy[3] At least oneUNSC cruiser UNSCSparrow[4] Orbital defense grid[1] At least oneMark IX Mantis ADS[5] Spartan-IIIs[6] Owen-B096[7] Meridian military[8] Meridian Air Force[8] At least oneProwler Sundered Legion Prowler[7] At least oneCeudar-pattern heavy corvette[7] 18Skar'wa-pattern Mantis[5] At least sixShua'ee-pattern Locusts[9] Type-26 Banshees Reinforced Covenant fleet(Second stage) At least threeCAS-class assault carriers[2] Solemn Penance[2] Heavy Covenant infantry Sangheili Jiralhanae Kig-Yar Unggoy Mgalekgolo Yanme'e Casualties Most vessels Heavy infantry casualties 18 Type-27 Mantis[5] Heavy infantry casualties

"Almost immediately after Meridian was recaptured by the UEG, the Covenant arrived. Captain Edmund Persie of the UNSC Sevenfold Gates fought to the last, but was forced to order what few ships remained to fall back to the edge of the Hestia system. Within five hours of Captain Persie's retreat, Meridian was glassed, and all life there was eradicated."

— The History of Meridian, presented by theFree Frontier Education^[3]

TheBattle of Meridian^[5] was an engagement of theHuman-Covenant War between theUnited Nations Space Command andCovenant at thehumanOuter Colony ofMeridian in theHestia system. Beginning in2548, the Battle of Meridian continued for three years as the Covenant attempted to diminish the UNSC's strong resistance on the world. Ultimately, Meridian wasglassed by the Covenant in2551.^[1][2]

Prelude[edit]

Meridian was a majorhumanOuter Colony with a robust economy and a largeUnited Nations Space Command presence, home to several major military contractors that provided the UNSC with equipment, includingChalybs Defense Solutions. Within the final years of theHuman-Covenant War, most of Meridian's population had believed they had somehow survived theCovenant'sonslaught throughout the Outer Colonies. However, the Covenant had discovered the world in2548 and, realizing Meridian's value to the rest of the UNSC, sought to blockade Meridian.^[1]

The battle[edit]

First stage[edit]

Space battle[edit]

Meridian was discovered by theCovenant in2548,^[10] and themoon quickly came under siege as the Covenant attempted to cut off supply lines from Meridian to other fronts in the war. However, theUnited Nations Space Command fiercely fought against the Covenant invaders, with Meridian's impressiveUNSC Air Force garrisons and extensive orbital defense grid.^[1] The initial battle lasted for a week out near Hestia's moons, aided by the fact that the attacking Covenant fleet was smaller than usual. However, the Covenant eventually broke through and began surface operations.^[8]

Despite the Covenant breaking through, the human defenses were able to continue to bottle up most of the Covenant forces in orbit.^[11] The Covenant were also impeded by the presence of the Forerunner artifact inBrume-sur-Mer which kept them fromglassing Meridian due to their reverence for Forerunner artifacts and unwillingness to harm them.^[12] The fighting in and around Meridian's atmosphere caused atmosphere disturbances that caused heavier than usual rain storms, even for Meridian's rainy season.^[13]

Ground battle[edit]

The first prototype for theHRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX "Mantis" ADS engaged in an action known as the "Cherbourg Run", in which it successfully engaged eighteen heavily guardedType-27 Anti Aircraft Cannons. The success of the prototype in the "Cherbourg Run" is one of the theories of why the walker was eventually called "Mantis".^[5]

On the ground, the UNSC and Meridian's military mainly focused on defending major population centers, not informing the planet's population of the invasion as per procedure to avoid causing a panic. However, one of the places targeted by the Covenant was the remote town ofBrume-sur-Mer which had aForerunner artifact buried under the town that the Covenant was interested in. When the Covenant invaded, bringing aCeudar-pattern heavy corvette that they anchored over the town, the residents were unprepared and around thirty percent of the population was killed. The rest fled into the town's old bomb shelter where they remained safe as the Covenant focused mainly on excavating the artifact and established a shield barrier around the area to keep the UNSC out. Having been outside of the shelter at the time the invasion began, local teensSaskia Nazari,Victor Gallardo,Dorian Nguyen andEvelyn Rousseau linked up withSpartan-IIIOwen-B096 who had crashed on the moon while trying to defend it from Covenant forces. Owen trained the teens in combat and they worked on disrupting the Covenant operations and rescuing the townspeople. The five succeeded in rescuing the survivors from the bomb shelter and fled inan oldProwler belonging to theSundered Legion, damaging the corvette when it tried to stop them. The survivors linked up with theUNSC cruiserUNSCSparrow in orbit and were transported to safety. ONI, theXeno-Materials Exploitation Group in particular, became interested in the Forerunner artifact the Covenant were after and sought to keep it out of the hands of the Covenant and potentially to use it themselves in the war effort. To this end, they enlisted the aid of the four teens that had helped Owen to get the artifact before the Covenant could.^[7]

Three months after departing Meridian, the teens, nowLocal Team, returned to Brume-sur-Mer and worked with the Meridian militia to recover the artifact which proves to contain a map to a Forerunner structure inAnnecy. With ONI having trouble extracting them, Owen and the militia forces travel to Annecy where the teens learn that Meridian has actually been besieged for six months rather than three as they were led to believe and that parts of the moon don't even know about it yet. With the recovered artifact proving to be a key to activating the Forerunner structure which the Covenant had excavated some time earlier, Owen, the militia and Local Team removed a piece of the structure as well as the activation statute, despite knowing that without a Forerunner artifact to seek, the Covenant would now inevitably glass the moon.^[14]

Ultimately, the UNSC was able to defend Meridian against the Covenant for three years and was eventually able to repel the alien invaders in2551.^[1][15]

Second stage[edit]

Shortly after theUnified Earth Government had taken full control of the world, the Covenant returned to Meridian in the same year and the Battle of Meridian continued.^[3] The Covenant's sheer power eventually destroyed most of the world's resistance,^[1] though CaptainEdmund Persie ofUNSCSevenfold Gates continued to fight against the Covenant as the battle neared its end. Eventually, Persie and the remaining vessels in Meridian's defensefleet were forced to retreat to the edge of theHestia system. Five hours after the Navy's retreat, Meridian had beenglassed by the Covenant.^[3][15]

At least threeCAS-class assault carriers glassed the moon, including theHigh Prophet of Regret'sSolemn Penance. Following the battle, aCovenant Special Operations team was dispatched by the Prophet of Regret to the moon's surface to search for Forerunner artifacts. The team retrieved aLuminary and delivered it to Regret aboard hisflagship.^[2]

Aftermath[edit]

Some time later in2552, the High Prophet of Regret'sStewards successfully decrypted the Luminary, which revealed the existence of thefinal home of the Forerunners, as well as aportal that led to it. The Luminary also revealed the location of this portal, "Erde-Tyrene". Regret assembled theFleet of Sacred Consecration and ordered the fleet to head for the world at once. Unbeknownst to Regret, Erde-Tyrene was the Forerunner name for Earth—the homeworld ofhumanity.^[2]

Meridian was not completely lost; although the UNSC did not return to the world for the rest of the Human-Covenant War,^[10] Meridian's glassing had been rushed and incomplete. While many human settlements were destroyed and the moon's oceans had evaporated, Meridian's atmosphere remained largely intact to allow resettlement,^[16] though it was now polluted with the after-effects of the glassing including tiny glass particles in the air that rendered parts of the world unbreathable without air filters.^[17] Nonetheless, Meridian was resettled by theLiang Dortmund Corporation, who sought to make the world completely habitable again. The corporation brought former Meridian residents as well as opportunists seeking profit to the world to aid in "deglassing" Meridian's surface and restoring the world to its former state.^[1]

Chalybs Defense Solutions had numerous facilities on Meridian that were abandoned during the battle, and later destroyed when the world was glassed.^[18] As a result, companies such asAcheron Security andNaphtali Contractor Corporation took over production of many of CDS' products.^[19]

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Meridian is glassed

• 

  Covenant forces hunt for relics on Meridian

List of appearances[edit]

• Halo: Reach
  • Dr. Halsey's personal journal(First mentioned)
• Halo 2: Anniversary
  • Terminals(First appearance)
• Halo 5: Guardians(Mentioned only)
• Halo Fractures
  • What Remains(Mentioned only)
  • Breaking Strain(Mentioned only)
• Halo: Retribution(Mentioned only)
• Halo: Battle Born
• Halo: Meridian Divide

Sources[edit]

• Battles of the Human-Covenant War
• Covenant victories