User:Imperial Misanthrope/Third Battle of Earth (Imperial Misanthrope)

The Third Battle of Earth was a naval and planetary based battle between UNSC Home Forces, the Sangheili Fleet of Decisive Judgment, and the Marionette Fleet of Vengeful Justice. The Battle took place in 2595CE, the 1st Age of Realization, and is considered one of the major battles in

Battle Specifications


Date: 1st May, 2595CE

Area: Earth, Sol System

Forces
Initially Human vs. Marionette, later Sangheili involvement


 * Human:
 * 3rd Fleet
 * Gamma Force Fleet
 * 8th Fleet
 * Emergency Aggression Fleet
 * 300 Mark.VI S-MAC Stations.


 * Sangheili
 * The Fleet of Decisive Judgment


 * Marionette
 * The Fleet of Vengeful Justice

Commanders
Sangheili: Fleet Mistress Yamn ‘Zealonf

Human: Admiral Lord George Hood

Marionette: Mind Afajus Cuu

Outcome
Human-Sangheili victory, near total destruction of the Marionette Fleet, and the human Home Forces

Change in the Marionette strategy: Unlike almost all previous encounters, the Marionettes had started this battle, and brought it directly to the Allies

The Battle
This battle, was one of the strangest occurrences to the Allied forces. At approximately 11:00 Hours, standard Greenwich Earth time, the UNSC probes on the moon of Io, traced a Slipspace disturbance. Believing that like the First Battle of Earth an enemy Fleet was now either under attack or about to be engaged, Lord Terrence Hood assembled the surrounding Home Fleet to a perimetre in front of the S-MAC stations (It is worthy to note that S-MAC Stations had been upgraded to fire super accelerated Plasma cartridges by this point). He also called in the Emergency Aggression Fleet from the Harvest System, which would arrive approximately 6 hours into the battle.

3 Hours after the alert, several S-MAC platforms and defending vessels had reported enemy ships on their scanners. The AI Artemis of the MAC Platform Munich evaluated it to be a Marionette force, and relayed how many ships there were to Lord Hood who was present on the Baghdad Station.

It was at this point that the UNSC informed the ISE, however many thought that it would not do much good.

Without warning, the Marionette Fleet spearheaded its way towards the Earth defence line, sending several waves of Slipspace Pods into several of the stations. Human defenders were caught off guard, unaware at the time that the Marionettes had such accurate and small Slipspace technology at their disposal. Several stations were lost in the first hour of the battle, Marionette forces engaging the human defenders and battling their way towards the control centres before mysteriously leaving.

The Marionette ships at the time were being held off by the several Fleets accorded to the Earth defence, however after the first hour, the Enlightened-Class Destroyers began to push through. This marked the beginning of a dire and bloody battle, as they came closer and closer to the MAC platforms, each one that came within range of the alien vessels was disabled directly from their control centres.

Lord Hood immediately figured out what they had done, but it was too late, within mere minutes an entire section of the MAC-platform grid was floating limply over the Earth. The Marionette Destroyers then began to form, creating a large perimetre around the disabled defenses, as Hollow-Class Carriers began to lumber towards the Earth.

On Earth, the Marine Corps and UNSC army had mounted incredible defenses, using large Plasma AA-Batteries borrowed from the Sangheili, many of the larger cities on Earth were able to fend off the majority of Marionette forces before they touched ground. However it was at this point that the Marionettes sent a transmission


 * Your Impeding of our noble cause has gone on long enough! I, Mind Afujus Cuu, shall rend you from this galaxy once and for all!

Multiple attempts to send messages back were tried and ignored, as the Marionette forces began their land invasion. The Marionette land forces were incredibly well coordinated, but what made them truly terrifying, was what they brought with them. In several sites where Marionette ships had landed, reports of giant insect-like creatures rampaging across the world began to flood into UNSC High command, which itself was under attack.

With the legions of Marionettes came a product of their biotechnological engineering capabilities. Gigantic creatures with six legs, numerous whip-like tails, and a roar that would put a Mgalekgolo to shame, these huge green beasts smashed human resistance, and lead the way to advancing alien legions.

Meanwhile, in space the battle was closing to a stalemate, the surrounding S-MAC platforms were able to barrage the perimetre of the Marionette lines, and the surrounding fleets, now including the Emergency Aggression Fleet, pounded away at the seemingly unstoppable alien lines. At approximately 19:30 hours, a Sangheili Fleet Slipped near Earth about 30 miles outside of the battle zone, sending a brief message to the MAC-Station Baghdad.


 * This is the ISE Fleet of Decisive Judgment under the direction of Fleet Mistress Yamn ‘Zealonf. All cruisers, fire at will!


 * This is the Orbital MAC station Baghdad. Music to my ears, Fleet Mistress, welcome to the fray

Engaging in a Pincer-Movement, the Sangheili fleet broke a significant hole in the Marionette forces, trapping them between Human defenders and Sangheili assault ships, as numerous Carriers swarmed toward the Earth.

Once upon the Earth, the Carriers began to drop armies of Sangheili, Unggoy and Mgalekgolo, deploying much needed reinforcements and armour, including Type-47 Ultra Heavy Assault Platforms (Scarab Tanks), which did successful battle against the large insectoid walkers employed by the Marionettes.. Already weakened from their battle with the thoroughly entrenched human defenders, the Marionettes all over the planet did not expect to be enclosed between humans and ISE forces.

The Third Battle of Earth ended with the near annihilation of the Marionette Fleet. After sustaining heavy losses from numerous poundings from both sides, the remaining 15-20 ships entered Slipspace to an unknown vector after scooping up as many of their ground forces as possible.

The battle was costly on both sides, it was suspected that the Marionette Flagship had been destroyed and its Commander killed, but the state of the Earth left after the assault was utterly devastating. Not only had much of the Home Fleet been annihilated, but an entire section of the orbital MAC platform grid had been ripped asunder from the inside out. Lord George Hood remarked on the Battle:


 * If it were not for the greater threat of these Marionettes, I suspect we would be overthrown by our allies, and we would have little at our disposal to stop them with. That’s probably my father talking, the Elites have proven our greatest allies since the Covenant War, but you know… you never truly know someone as well as you think