UNSC In Amber Clad

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The UNSC In Amber Clad (FFG-142) was a UNSC Stalwart-class light frigate.

Battle of Earth
As of October 2552, the In Amber Clad was commanded by Commander Miranda Keyes. It was docked with the Orbital Defense Platform, Cairo during an award ceremony. In the middle of the ceremony, however, a Covenant fleet appeared in the system and engaged Earth's defenses igniting the Battle of Earth. Home Fleet ships then began to open fire on the Covenant ships. Though the In Amber Clad did not engage in direct combat over Earth, its crew rescued John-117 after his daring destruction of one of the Covenant's Assault Carriers using their own bomb.

Battle of Mombasa
Afterward, the vessel descended to Mombasa, Kenya, where it dispatched numerous Marine units to reinforce the Marines from the 405th Marine Infantry Division, the 17th Marine Regiment and several other units on the ground. During the battle, the In Amber Clad served as a headquarters for the UNSC forces in the area, reinforcing and resupplying the ground force. The In Amber Clad also began to evacuate wounded marines. Two of the ship's Pelicans were shot down during the battle. In Amber Clad deployed two Scorpion tanks during the battle. The first was abandoned in a tunnel by Master Chief and the second was destroyed by the Covenant Scarab. Two of the ship's ODSTs were also killed, one when his Pelican crashed and another in Hotel Zanzibar.

The High Prophet of Regret suddenly initiated a Slipspace jump inside the city, the In Amber Clad was one of the only vessels close enough to follow it. Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood granted Keyes's request to follow the Solemn Penance through the Slipspace rupture, despite her ignorance of the larger ship's destination. The, , and the  were sent to assist the In Amber Clad.

Battle of Installation 05
The In Amber Clad's Slipspace jump left them at Installation 05. Keyes immediately ordered Spartan-117 and a contingent of ODSTs to the surface in Human Entry Vehicles. With the hope of locating the Prophet of Regret at a Temple. Most of the ODSTs were killed as soon as they hit the ground or were separated from Spartan-117 and killed in individual last stands. John-117 and three ODSTs managed to clear a landing zone, allowing Pelicans to deploy regular Marines, a tank, and a Warthog. Keyes, wanting to obtain the Index, left this force behind. While John-117 moved on to kill the Prophet of Regret, his Pelicans and many of his Marines set up a base of operations.

Meanwhile, Sgt. Major Avery Johnson and a Marine squad accompanied Keyes to the Library in order to retrieve the Index and prevent the Covenant from activating Halo. Upon entering the Library, Keyes and the others were immediately attacked by Flood killing most of the Marines. The Flood quickly captured four of the ship's tanks and several Warthogs, adding to the already large fleet of vehicles the Flood was using to fight the humans, the Covenant, and Sentinels. Shortly after repelling the Flood attack, Keyes, Johnson and what was left of the Marines were ambushed by the Arbiter.

It is likely that the Flood commandeered a Pelican and infiltrated the In Amber Clad, as it was not seen again until it crashed into High Charity. At this point the Flood controlled the ship. It is speculated that Gravemind was aboard.

First Battle of High Charity
In Amber Clad crashed into a tower near the Council Chamber while the Flood commandeered the ship's remaining Pelicans in order to acclimate the city.

Cortana intended to use the In Amber Clad's engines to destroy High Charity, however she chose not to, thus was unable to stop Gravemind from using High Charity to travel through the galaxy. The remnants of the In Amber Clad were likely destroyed when the Flood-infested High Charity was destroyed by John-117 on the surface of The Ark.

Crew Fates
While the majority of the In Amber Clad's UNSC Marine forces were deployed to secure the Delta Halo Activation Index, Flood forces managed to infect the under-strength ship. The remaining crew were infected, and converted into combat forms for use in the invasion of High Charity. A small number, however, managed to outlive their ship, at least for a short while.

Commander Keyes herself survived the Sentinel Wall and the Quarantine Zone, as did Sergeant Johnson along with a handful of Marines. While only Johnson and Keyes managed to reach the Index the other Marines were either killed by the Flood upon arrival at the Index chamber, or captured by the Covenant. Both Keyes and Johnson were captured by the Covenant, only to escape much later thanks to the intervention of a Sangheili-led assault on their captors' base. They would later go on to play pivotal roles in the later stages of the Battle of Earth. The other captive Marines joined John-117 during his rampage through High Charity, but were killed either by the Covenant or by the Flood.

Although several Marine bodies can be found on High Charity well after the planetoid had been totally infested, it remains unknown whether these were survivors of the In Amber Clad or if they had been killed after trying to follow John-117 into the infected city, though it was stated by Cortana that there were no human life signs detected on that ship.

Halo 2

 * The Heretic - Cutscene
 * Cairo Station - Docked
 * Outskirts - Cutscene
 * Metropolis - Cutscene
 * Delta Halo - Cutscene
 * Quarantine Zone - Overhead
 * Gravemind - Flies overhead
 * High Charity - Both cutscenes and gameplay

Halo 3: ODST

 * Prepare To Drop - Briefly seen approaching Solemn Penance.

Trivia

 * In the level Cairo Station, there is a way of walking at the top of the ship. When you come to the first outside part, you head to the diagonal beam in front of the airlock. After jumping to the top by using it as a step, walk to very end of the path. After the last airlock, move to your right and jump. You will land on the ship and be free to walk all around and get back safely.
 * In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, the In Amber Clad was once referred to as a destroyer, however, because the ship carries the FFG hull classification, it is designated as a Frigate.
 * In Amber Clad's hull numbered designation is 142. 1+4+2 =7; alternately, 14/2=7. Another 7 reference amid the Halo universe.
 * In Halo 2, in the cutscenes when you see the interior of the ship, (Delta Halo, Cairo Station) you can see that the monitors show the three MAC orbital cannons, Cairo, Malta and Athens even though they are not present in the level Delta Halo, and the Malta and the Athens were destroyed by the Covenant.
 * In the first four Halo games, a main UNSC ship becomes severely damaged and unable to be used again. The was obliterated, the In Amber Clad crashed into High Charity, and then was blown up during High Charity's destruction at the hands of John-117, the  was cut in half and the  had its FTL drive taken out and would take years to get back to UNSC controlled space as it was incapable of slip space.
 * The name In Amber Clad could refer to the ancient Greek (among other cultures) reverence for amber in jewellery and adornment; thus, In Amber Clad would give the vessel a sense of royalty.
 * The In Amber Clad has the same number in its Hull Classification as the Cairo Station, its number is FFG-142 while the Cairo Station is ODA-142, both the numbers on the In Amber Clad and Cairo Station add up to 7.
 * In Amber Clad has no Point Defense guns unlike the other frigates we've seen. This is most likely because Bungie had not yet come up with the idea until Halo 3.

Appearances

 * Halo 2
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx