SUMMARY
Operation: BIRD IN HAND was a UNSC mission carried out by Spartan-II Blue Team to infiltrate and recover the Office of Naval Intelligence research vessel Argent Moon on October 23rd, 2558. During the mission, Covenant remnant forces under command of Jul 'Mdama arrived in the area, forcing Blue Team to scuttle the Argent Moon. Blue Team successfully managed to overload the ship's reactors, and escaped on ONI prowler Acristius, headed towards the colony world of Meridian.
RELATED MEDIA
These events are depicted in the video game Halo 5: Guardians, which was the subject of a Spoilercast on November 9th, 2015.