Battle of Borealis

### Result (Outcome)

Confederacy of the Great Attractor and allied victory* The Scourge Armada is destroyed, alongside the *Pestilence*, the *Phage* and the *Famine*
* One of the Nine Moons is destroyed and impacts Borealis, creating devastating floods
* Destruction of the *Parabellum* and death of councilman Leonard Hackett
* The Kingdom's plans to take control of the Confederacy are foiled
* Elijah Rayes declares the *Unreliable* an independent ship

The **Battle of Borealis**, also called the **Defence of Borealis** or **Operation Speartip**, was an attempt by the Calculator, via the massive Scourge Armada, to destroy the planet Borealis in order to eliminate the last known sample of "Tsunami". The planet was defended by a fleet of Confederate navy and civilian ships led by the CSS *Unreliable*, which proved victorious in the battle. The battle also exposed the machinations of the Kingdom of the Great Veil, thus preserving the entire Confederacy of the Great Attractor. The second large scale battle of the War of the Armadas, the Battle of Borealis was a major turning point in the Settled Systems' perception of the Scourge, triggering a schism between the Confederacy and the Commonwealth that ultimately resulted in the collapse of the latter and the rise of the Hadronite Empire.

## Background

Between 5405 and 5407, the Kingdom of the Great Veil, an autonomous member of the Confederacy of the Great Attractor, formed a clandestine alliance with the anthropocentric terrorist group Rising Tide and agreed to fund the Tide's development of a curse strain that would not infect humans; dubbed "Tsunami", the modified strain remained connected to the Scourge hive mind and therefore to the Calculator, who believed that the new strain's inability to infect humans - the most populous race in the Settled Systems - would undermine its plans for intergalactic extinction. In 5407, the Kingdom betrayed the Tide and decided to unleash "Tsunami" on Borealis, the Confederacy's political capital, themselves, thus facilitating the Kingdom's seizure of the Confederate government. As Borealis was a human-dominated planet, the Tide assigned their agent Hadron - the reanimated corpse of Elijah Rayes - to infiltrate Elijah's crew on the *Unreliable* and steal "Tsunami" from the Kingdom.

Hadron infiltrated the crew as planned, posing as the true Elijah. Using data gathered by courier Lara Porter, the crew under Hadron's command performed a heist on the transport vessel containing "Tsunami"; Hadron murdered the ship's XO Zelphor Naerth and revealed his true identity as an agent of the Tide, albeit one that fully believed he was the true Elijah.

Meanwhile, the real Elijah, whose consciousness had been transplanted into a new, upgraded body, escaped from a Tide research station with the help of Porter, who brought him to Borealis to form an alliance with the pro-organic A.I. network Deciding Factor, led by an engram of the deceased rock star Jack Platinum. Joined by *Zeroeremento* warrior Ryzen, Elijah and his new crew broke into the office of the Kingdom's Prime Minister to find the "Tsunami" transporter themselves; they also uncovered the Kingdom's plans to unleash "Tsunami" on Borealis, while also meeting up with former *Unreliable* crewmate Amphear, who agreed to rejoin Elijah's crew.

Events came to a head on *Twilight* station, where Hadron handed over the "Tsunami" sample to the Tide; Elijah arrived just in time to thwart the exchange and blew up the "Tsunami" container, destroying the entire sample save for a vein that became embedded in Hadron's cheek; as Hadron was technically undead, he was not affected by the curse. Elijah confronted Hadron, informing him of his true identity, and offered Hadron a place among his crew; Hadron refused, vowing to do whatever was necessary to save mankind from the coming extinction. Elijah ultimately defeated Hadron and reunited with his crew before heading to Borealis. Meanwhile, Hadron, who had survived, decided to lure an armada of Scourge ships to Borealis using the "Tsunami" in his face, communicating with the hive mind via the said sample. He also discovered he could absorb and store c-energy and decided to use his new ability to kill Elijah once and for all.

At Borealis, Elijah reunited with his old friend David Young and helped organize Borealis' defence against the oncoming Scourge armada. Part of this defence was the revelation that Borealis' nine moons were in fact artificial Remnant constructs containing fold weapons, cannons capable to destroying spires.

The planet had only a couple of days to prepare before the armada arrived in the system. It consisting of three spires - the *Darkened Heaven*-sized *Pestilence* and smaller *Phage* and *Famine* - plus tens of thousands of Scourge gunships, all led by the Neo-Forerunner, the Calculator's principle general. With the *Unreliable* at the head of the defenders, Elijah gave the call sign and the two fleets collided.