The Azura Research Facility was a top-secret COG Army weapons laboratory located on Azura, dedicated to the research, testing, and deployment of weapons of mass destruction; such as the Lightmass Missile and Hammer of Dawn. The Azura Research Facility launched a Lightmass Missile at the OZP-11 Cosmonaut Training Facility in Vasgar during the Mutiny at OZP-11, in which the Republic of Gorasnaya attempted to launch their Hammer of Dawn satellites in response to the UIR-COG Armistice that signaled the end of the Pendulum Wars, granting victory to the COG.
During the Siege of Azura by the Locust Horde in 17 A.E., surviving members of the Onyx Guard retreated to this facility and awaited for reinforcements. In 42 A.E., during the Swarm Invasion, Sgt. Marcus Fenix led a mission to the Azura Research Facility, acting on Damon Baird's intel from Adam Fenix's data disk revealing a Hammer of Dawn satellite still within. Fenix and Baird had hoped to launch it in a rogue COG mission against the wishes of First Minister Mina Jinn to use in the war against the Swarm, an evolved form of the Locust.
History[]
Pendulum Wars[]
The underground facility was built on Azura sometime during the Pendulum Wars. After the Coalition of Ordered Governments captured the Hammer of Dawn plans from the Union of Independent Republics in the Battle of Aspho Fields, they were taken to the Azura facility to be analyzed. The facility had multiple rocket silos which were used to build, test, and launch rockets carrying Hammer of Dawn satellites. At least three rockets with a prototype satellite was never launched. The facility was also equipped with Lightmass Missiles.[1]
After the Hammer of Dawn array had been successfully sent into orbit and used to win the Pendulum Wars for the COG, General Bardry Salaman issued an order to fire a Lightmass Missile at OZP-11, a formerly top-secret Union of Independent Republics cosmodrome in occupied Vasgar. At the time, Major Garron Paduk was leading 200 Gorasni soldiers in a mutiny to take over OZP-11 and launch the UIR's own Hammer of Dawn satellites to restart the Pendulum Wars. Fearing the Hammer falling into Paduk's hands, UIR leadership revealed OZP-11's existence to the COG and requested their help in halting the mutiny, which the COG obliged by firing the missile. The missile striking OZP-11, combined with OZP-11's commander triggering a computer virus to render the cosmodrome's systems inoperable, put an end to the Gorasni mutiny.[1] The facility was shut down at some point while Chairman Tomas Dalyell was still in office. It remained mothballed for years, but at some point it was visited by Dalyell's successor, Chairman Richard Prescott, who left his wristwatch in an office there.
Locust War[]
In the final year of the Locust War, when the Locust Horde invaded Azura, a battle between Locust and Gears was fought in the facility and many Gears perished.[1]
Swarm Invasion[]
A Swarm-infested silo at the facility
Azura was abandoned after the Imulsion Countermeasure Weapon was deployed and brought an end to the Locust War. The Locust corpses left behind developed Locust Shells, planting the seeds of a future Swarm infestation. When the Swarm began emerging across Sera in 42 A.E., the Azura facility became a minor Hive.
As the Swarm Invasion began to intensify, Damon Baird sought to restore the Hammer of Dawn to give the COG an advantage, and learned of the facility's existence from Adam Fenix's data disk. Hoping that one of the facility's silo's held a functional rocket and Hammer of Dawn prototype, Baird secretly sent Marcus Fenix, JD Fenix, Delmont Walker, and Kait Diaz to investigate the facility. Although the Swarm had infested much of the facility, and age and weathering had caused the rest to collapse into sinkholes, one silo did contain a functional rocket and satellite, which the group managed to launch into orbit. This gave Baird tentative control of one Hammer of Dawn satellite, the first step in restoring the array, which required locating and reconnecting the original fifteen satellites which the COG had lost track of for 25 years.[1] However, the attempt ultimately failed as Baird could not locate the other satellites[2] and lost control of the one launched during the Evacuation of Settlement 2.[3]
An intact COG Rocket with a Hammer of Dawn satellite payload about to launch
During the mission, Delta's bot, Dave, accessed the facility's computer system after being instructed to open a door using a console and downloaded the data stored there, including a lot of top secret stuff. However, Baird discovered a big hole at the highest security clearance. Realizing that the data had been removed by the facility's commander, Baird had JD and Del check out his office. In the facility commander's safe, JD and Del recovered an external hard drive containing the missing data.[1] This data later led them to the UIR's Hammer of Dawn program and an alternative for bringing the weapon back online.[4]
Appearances[]
- Gears 5 (First appearance)