The Tactical Intercept Station, or TIS, was a spatial countermeasure developed by the United Nations Space Command during the Human-Covenant War, in response to the vulnerability of UNSC warships to Covenant ship-to-ship fire. As UNSC warships lacked shields and equipped both inferior armour and weaponry than the Covenant, UNSC ships were woefully outmatched in spatial combat. However, operational experience gained at the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, and later replicated at the Fall of Reach, demonstrated that refit stations could be used as a sacrificial shield against incoming Covenant energy weapon fire. Development began after the Fall of Reach on the Tactical Intercept Station, known more commonly as the TIS, as a remote-operated, unmanned station comprised of Titanium-A armour and equ