The [b]Summa Deep Space[/b] Incident in 2536 was an event that changed the way the UNSCDF operated Orbital stations. It was initialy covered up by the Office of Naval Intelligence, but when the UN Council demanded that ONI release the files regarding the incident, a massive political firestorm erupted. Not only that, but many military operations were shut down and several EVA units were either disbanded or reassigned. [quote] [u][b]Influening Events[/b][/u] There were several things that either directly or indirectly led to the SDSI. 2493: UNSCDF Corps of Engineers begins work on new grenade to replace aging M57 HE 2497: ONI defies UN Council by witholding evidence of General Joseph Malony's involvment in UN Judiciary vs. Udgurd UN Council dismisses case, Udgurd goes free 2502: UN Council accuses Secretary of Defence Leland Osbourne of improper conduct after Osbourne almost releases plans of Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE to the United Rebel Front ONI overturns UN Council decision, Osbourne aquitted 2503: UNSCDF CoE issues M9 DE-HP grenade to UNSCDF-MC troops, battlefield testing begins 2304: UNSCDF establishes 39-Point System Upgrade to all Orbital Installations 2505: UN Council secretly begins recording ONI movements ONI, in turn, begins monitoring the UN Council 2507: UNSCDF-N Orbital Installation-325 completed in Summa System 2510: UNSC records several UFOs on outerlying Harvest colony 2511: ONI classifies all information regarding the planet Onyx 2514: I-325 Summa Station begins research into Dark Matter, Squarks and a new metal called "Heterotinium" 2523: ONI attempts to classify all activities on I-325 Summa Station, overturned by Department of the Navy 2525: UNSC encounters Covenant Hegemony for the first time, immediate hosilities accelerate all research in I-325 Summa Station ONI disregards 39-Point System Upgrade in order to quicken I-325 Summa Station's research UN Council attempts to shut down I-325, but ONI, acting of it's own accord, disregards the UN Council 2526: Large shipment of M9 DP-HE grenades arrive at I-325 Summa Station for advanced testing 2532: 39-Point System Upgrade replaced by 76-Point System Upgrade Since ONI disregarded the 39-Point System Upgrade on Summa Station, Summa dosen't recieve the upgrade 2535: Cole Protocol established Again, ONI disregarded the 76-Point System Upgarde, Cole Protocol ignored 2536: Summa Deep Space Incident [/quote] Beginning at 1235, 5 April 2536, when the first shipment of M9 DP-HE grenades arrived at Summa, the chain of events became as follows; [quote][u][b]The Incident[/b][/u] The UNSC Jordan unloads it's package to I-325 Summa Station and departs. Summa, having been tasked with finding a way to upgrade the M9 with a higly flammable Heterotinium shell, unloads them and begins testing. However, what they didn't expect was the M9's highly volitile inards reactions with the metal. Had either the 39-Point or 76-Point System Upgrade been installed in Summa, they would have had to scan the interior of each grenade, analyze it and determine it's volitility to all other subjects on I-325 Summa Station. However, when ONI had cut corners in order for their research to progress further and faster, they had effectivly signed everyone on I-325's death warrant. The chemicals of the grenade came into contact with the Heterotinium and instantly ignited, causing all 155 grenades to go off, destroying Sections 3-24 of the station. Stuned by the outcome, the scientists were attempting to lock off the exposed areas, but radiation from the Heterotinium's vaporisation made it suicide to enter it's lethal field. Those that were exposed to space lived only seconds longer. I-325 sent a distress call to the UNSC Jordan, which promptly came about and headed back to Summa ASAP. Once within range, they began deploying EVA teams to assist in locking off the affected areas so evacuation could begin. The EVA teams, however, were worried that the still-sparking ruins would catch some of the radiation from the explosion and ignite them. The Jordan acknowledged this but ordered them to assist anyways. The EVA teams moved in, but their intuition proved right; the radiation was sparked by a high-voltage control box that exploded as the EVA teams were cutting it out. Most of the teams were incinerated instantly, but a few unlucky ones were sent tumbing into space at velocities that no human could survive, due to their EVA packs going past full blast. After the Jordan calls for backup at Summa, several ships arrived, but they had to make evacuation quick, before Covenant ships spotted them in Deep space. They managed to rescue 46% of the station's population, but many were stranded by collpased sections and unmoveable barriers. However, the ships had to enact the Cole Protocol in order to keep information out of the Covenant's hands. The Captains reluctantly agreed to destroy the station, in order to follow the Protocol and to spare the remaining Summa Station crew from death at the hands of the Covenant. The entire sorry incident ended at 0132, 6 April 2536. [/quote] [i]"May God forgive us all for the wrongs that happened here today"[/i] ―Captain Carlson Lieberman ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Information from HaloFanon.