Battle of Meridian (2548)

The First Battle of Meridian was a major conflict between the UNSCDF and the Covenant Empire which took place on and above the UNSC colony of Meridian and lasted three years from 2548 to 2551.

Covenant Blockade
Meridian escaped the attention of the Covenant war machine for decades after most other Outer Colonies had fallen. Many on the colony believed that their isolation would keep them from the Covenant's path, but in 2548 a substantial Covenant fleet arrived in system and laid siege to the moon so as to staunch the heavy flow of resources from Meridian to the Inner Colonies.

Hunt for the Luminary
At some point prior to or during the siege of Meridian, it came to the Prophet of Regret's attention that Meridian housed a Forerunner Luminary capable of revealing the location of the Ark, from which the entire Halo Array could be activated simultaneously. The Prophet's personal fleet, the Fleet of Sacred Consecration, joined the siege of the colony and begun methodically glassing Meridian's surface in the hopes of unearthing the Forerunner structure which housed the Luminary. This search would take several years, during which time Meridian's prodigious orbital defense grid and an enormous garrison of the UNSC Air Force would wreak considerable damage upon Covenant forces.

Final Glassing
After three years of continuous searching and fighting, the Covenant finally located the subterranean Forerunner complex where the Luminary was hidden. A small archaeological team led by an unidentified Sangheili commander delved into the ancient complex and retrieved the Luminary, immediately returning it to orbit where the Prophet of Regret waited. As soon as the Prophet determined that it was the Luminary they had been seeking all along, the Covenant evacuated all of its ground forces and the Fleet of Sacred Consecration completely glassed the entire surface of Meridian.

Aftermath
After the end of the Human-Covenant war in 2552, the Liang Dortmund Corporation secured a contract from the UEG to strip the fused glass from the surface of Meridian, in return for property rights to the former colony and the authority to facilitate recolonization efforts.