cannot reinstall High Sierra - not your typical issue! Mid 2017 MBP

This is not the typical High Sierra reinstall issue. Macbook Pro Mid 2017 Intel Will not boot off USB-C (there are no security settings to change) Will not boot from command-option R or shift-command-option R Have erased disk, created APFS which is the system default; and get this error upon reinstallation from (copied from installer log) "the recovery server could not be contacted" The date is correct I've received 2 different errors see attachments! - 1st is the Jan 15 21:27 (bottom image) Next is this one: Jan 15 21:51 (top image) I have seen where you can change the https:// to http:// but that had failed also (gave me a "could not create a preboot volume for APFS install". Can you please help? I would love to just install a newer OS - but like I previously stated I've tried 4 different OS installers and it will NOT boot to USB-C and they work just fine on other Macs with the USB - truly hope you can help!