Operation: DARK DESCENT

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Operation: DARK DESCENT is an isolated engagement that took place between a rogue sect of the and a joint Dominion of Retribution- (URF) outfit above the partially- colony of Aragon. The largest single deployment of since the , DARK DESCENT served as the trial-by-fire for the secretive Delta Company and had major ramifications for the unit's continued existence.
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== Prelude ==
Once a thriving , in the years since its depopulation Aragon has remained a ghost world ignored by the UNSC, the , and the majority of in existence. Too far away from major trade routes and devoid of valuable resources in-system, Aragon is home only to a handful of smuggling groups and pirates, who had established hidden caches of goods that would be spread across human space. Few external groups are willing to stake a claim on the world, as it is close enough to human population centres for UNSC forces to effortlessly overwhelm any sustained claim on the planet. The only exception is rebel groups, who frequently enter the system to trade weapons, consumables, and men in order to help each other overthrow the UNSC oppressors.
As a result, Aragon was the perfect form of neutral ground for ex-Covenant warlords to negotiate with human insurgents. Rapidly losing ground ever since the end of the , the Dominion of Retribution needed any sort of advantage over the UNSC. It was because of this that the United Rebel Front was able to strike up a deal with the Jiralhanae faction: in exchange for military support, his rebels will wage a guerrilla-war against supplies chains close to . Already, several deals had taken place, and the URF was clever enough to use their access to Covenant weapons to their advantage. As a result, the Dominion was willing to negotiate the terms of use of large capital ships.