Operation: MORNINGSTAR

Operation: MORNINGSTAR was a massive operation carried out by a coaltion of UNSC forces and the Swords of Sangheilios to destroy an underground Flood hive in New Mombasa and prevent any chance of Flood survival in the following glassing of the city by the Fleet of Retribution.
==Background==
After the arrival of the flood-infected ship, Indulgence of Conviction, on Earth, the city of New Mombasa quickly became an infested warzone as the occupants fought through the twilight to defend it. However, by nightfall the majority of the region was considered lost, with the Sangheili fleet resorting to glassing measures to stop the outbreak. However, after concerns were brought up about the Flood constructing a deep terrestrial hive to survive the cauterization, a group of marines and Sangheili volunteered to head into the containment zone to set a HAVOK nuclear charge in a deep strike dubbed "Operation: MORNINGSTAR".
==The operation==
In the late hours of November 17th, 2552, the operation commenced, with coalition forces quietly inserting into New Mombasa. However, they were quickly discovered by the Flood, who descended on them instantly with hundreds of Flood forms, killing or infecting several marines, but the initial assault was eventually stifled as the infected were gunned down by their own former brothers-in-arms.
Throwing infection pods from the tallest skyscrapers of New Mombasa, the coalition continued to suffer losses as they moved through the city, the Flood resistance growing even stronger as they approached the hive location. From previous fighting in the city, the Flood had also infected several UNSC M12 Warthog MAAVs and used them to ram groups of marines. Swarms of infection forms and infected marines, Sangheili, and Jiralhanae, assaulted the force.
After discovering the entrance into the Flood hive, the remaining forces of the coalition entered the hive, which proved to be an extensive network dug deep under the city by the Flood and was swarming with enemies. Blasting their way to the core of the hive, but suffering horrific losses in the process, the HAVOK nuclear charge was planted and armed.
After planting the charge, the coalition was given 25 minutes to evacuate the city before the device detonated, destroying the hive and leveling the city, along with anyone still in it. Multiple D77-TC Pelicans were dispatched to evacuate survivors as they battled their way out of the hive.
At the evacuation site, now in the early morning hours of the next day, the Flood relentlessly attacked the survivors as they set up defenses and awaited the evacuation. Once the Pelicans arrived, the Flood swarmed over the vehicles, either completely destroying them or infecting them as the survivors' defenses crumbled.
Observing the chaos from afar, an executive decision was made to remotely trigger a premature detonation of the nuclear device in order to prevent Flood forms from potentially escaping aboard a Pelican. The nuclear detonation could be seen for miles and it instantly vaporized the Flood hive, along with all Flood forms and remaining coalition survivors in the area.
==Aftermath==
Despite heavy losses, the operation was successful, seeing the complete destruction of the Flood hive and leaving no sanctuary for the parasite as glassing operations by the Sangheili Fleet of Retribution in the hours after the operation. The glassing saw the complete destruction of the Flood forces in New Mombasa, as well as the destruction of the city itself. Combined with a concurrent effort in the nearby city of Voi, the cite of the initial outbreak, that saw the Flood forms there eliminated, and the area sterilized, the Flood was completely removed from Earth, sparing it from total infection.
The Human-Covenant War ended soon after at the Battle of Installation 00, which saw the remains of both the Covenant and Flood defeated by the coalition. Thanks to the efforts of the coalition, the Flood outbreak was completely contained and prevented from spreading further across the planet. However, the operation was devastating to Ignis Corps, seeing the near-total destruction of the unit, with the only members remaining being the ones who didn't participate in the battle.
Category:Gamestrider1
Category:Operations
Category:Battles
Category:Battles of the Human-Covenant War
Category:Ignis Corps