Operation: TACK HAMMER

Though the UNSC has been extremely reluctant to engage in any military operations on a significant scale since the Reconstruction period began, the attack on Undying Virtue was the exception to this rule. Conducted with the cooperation of the Sangheili Armed Forces Second Fleet of Benevolent Enlightenment, the battle was a significant victory for both participants, and saw the deployment of numerous new technologies. In this regard, it served as a combat test for UNSC prototypes, proving their reliability and effectiveness in the field, and also functioned as a psychological deterrent against further Covenant aggression. For the Sangheili, it saw the liberation of thousands of captured Sangheili slaves from the shipyards, the destruction of three significant Jiralhanae fleets, and denied the Blood Covenant control of a strategically important naval shipyard.