First Battle of Ares IV

The Ares colony in Gamma Arietis was colonised by the Forerunners in 97187 BC, fifty two years before the activation of the Halo Array. Originally set up as a civilian colony, including an orbital and groundside defence force, the real purpose was to research and study the Flood, and ways to combat them effectively without resorting to the use of the Array. It was a last-ditch attempt, and though it made several leaps in Forerunner understanding of the organism, it found no long-term solutions.

Research specimins were moved to the facility several days within its completion, under the watchful eye of JD/907 Archivist, the facility's Monitor. Civilian colonists regarded this poorly, with numerous attempts by inexperienced colonists to destroy the samples, percieved as a threat. Once within the facility, the Archivist began his research of the organism.

Separate from the Archivists authority were another two AI's - LV-666 Caretaker, and 07/306 Overseer, who were designated as the controllers for the orbital and ground forces respectively. The Caretaker was based on the planets moon, Juno, using it as a launch and resupply site for the orbital fleet. The ground forces were controlled by the Overseer, consisting of Constructors, Sentinels, Super Sentinels, Protectors, Enforcers, and Guardians. Most of these were commandeered by the Archivist for security and maintenance of the facility, but a sizeable portion were used by the Overseer for overyday traffic control and colonial maintenance.

When the Flood entered the system in 98676 BC, eleven years before the activation of the Array, the orbital forces engaged a massive fleet sent by the Flood to capture the planet and assimilate its populace. The Caretaker, realising the threat, withdrew the Archivists authority, hoping to avoid the latter's inevitable response to the threat the populace posed to Containment Protocol, designating it to the Overseer. At the same time, he ordered his ships to engage the enemy, managing to wipe out the majority of the fleet - only twenty two single ships, out of a fleet of thousands, made it past the orbital perimeter. But even this was enough to doom the planet.

As the Flood gained its foothold on the planets surface, it began making incursions into populated areas. As the Overseer tried to route the invading forces, he found that control of the Sentinels had once again reverted to the Archivist - who proceeded to target the Forerunner colonists, eliminating a percieved infection vector. The Overseer managed to wrest a small number of Sentinels and Protectors from his control, using them as escorts as the surviving colonists tried to reach the translocation pads to safety. Even still, most of them fell to the Flood. With what little was left of his charges safely within the Facility, the Overseer allowed the Caretaker to begin drastic measures - bombarding the planets surface from orbit, cleansing it of all Flood. His task acconmplished, his fleet in tatters, the Caretaker went into hibernation mode and withdrew to Juno, as the facilities there began to repair the fleet.

On the planet, the surviving colonists were shepherded through a slipspace rift to a world within the Maginot Line, where it was hoped they would find safety. As with the rest of their species, none survived the activation of the Array. With no purpose left, the Overseer began to rampant, metastabilising quickly as he was contained by the Archivist - who, rather than destroy him, sought him out as company.

And as silence settled upon the planet, it lay dormant for 101217 years, until it was colonised by the Reclaimers.