User:144PA/Battle of Trace

The Battle of Trace was a battle between the UNSC and the Covenant that took place in 2525 on the world of Trace.

Prelude
The planet of Trace was a large world rich with many materials. The UNSC built many factories on Trace to build ships, vehicles, and weaponry. The Covenant also had their eye on Trace. They wanted not only the vast amounts of Deuterium and Tritium, but the many Forerunner artifacts on the world aswell. A total of fifty-three Covenant ships entered the system and was headed straight toward Trace. They were intercepted by a fleet of forty-seven UNSC ships and twelve orbital defense platforms. As the battle raged above Trace, troops on the surface prepared for the more than possible breach of their orbital defenses. The UNSC factories and bases were reinforced and a few SPARTANs were even able to make it to the ground.

Orbital Battle
The battle in the orbit of Trace had begun very swiftly. The UNSC was outnumbered and outgunned by the Covenant but they still had many tactics against the invaders. As the Covenant approached Trace, the UNSC held it's ground and fired on the Covenant from a distance. Zealot Uma 'Fulsamee, the Fleetmaster of the Covenant fleet, had far too much determination to get to Trace which clouded his judgement and put his fleet in danger. As they advanced, they wondered in the UNSC's first line of defense, a massive mine field. The mine field consisted of 3,000 Hunter Mines, all of which were active and had enough explosive force to take out a city block. Many Covenant ships took massive amounts of damage and two of their battlecruisers were rendered no longer combat effective only a few minutes of being trapped in the field. The orbital stations fired MAC rounds giving the Covenant a constant shower of fire. This allowed for the destruction of a bulk of the Covenant fleet.

The Zealous Shadow, commanded by Zealot Goro 'Shurosee, was forced to break off from the main fleet when the ship was attacked by a mine cluster. With his vast strategic skill and capable crew, he managed to survive the mines but he was too far off from the rest of the fleet to rejoin the battle quickly. He was forced to begin travelling toward the surface while the rest of the fleet fought the UNSC. His plan was to catch the Humans offguard and annihilate their ground facilities before the naval force could react. Unfortunately for Goro, Captain Li Cheng had noticed the presence of the Covenant ship far from the rest of the Covenant. With permission from Admiral William Frost, Cheng and the UNSC Law intercepted the Zealous Sovereign. As Cheng and Shurosee began their battle, the UNSC caused a number of the Covenant force to dwindle, however, the UNSC had weakened aswell. Li Cheng managed to destroy the Zealous Shadow but the Covenant had managed to breach the orbital defenses.

Surface Battle
The Covenant managed to make it to the surface of Trace but thet did not destroy all of the UNSC ships protecting it. As some gave chase, a few remaining launched ODSTs and Pelicans carrying Marines, vehicles, and supplies to the surface to provide support for the UNSC troops on the ground. As the Covenant began dropping troops on the ground, they were met with heavy resistance. Most of their dropships were destroyed before they even got close to the surface. Vol 'Olsamee was in one of the first dropships to actually make landfall. He was a Field Master in charge of an entire legion of troops. He sent a group of Elites to attack UNSC anti-air cannons and tanks. After that, he made his way toward a UNSC base. He was met by squads of Orbital Drop Shock Troops fresh from their HEVs.

Major Abasi Buruji left his Pelican with a handful of Marines and ordered SPARTAN-025 and other SPARTANs to attack a group of Wraiths on a hill that have a number of Marines pinned down. As the SPARTANs attacked the Wraiths, Vol 'Olsamee captured a UNSC base and began searching for valuable information to use against the Humans. Major Buruji heard of this and made his way toward the base with a squad of ODSTs and a handful of Marines. SPARTAN-025 and the others destroyed the Wraiths but he recieved a distress signal coming from a nearby base. He and the SPARTANs under his command made it to the base and found dead Humans and Elites along with 'Olsamee standing over an unconscious Buruji. 025 killed Olsamee and helped Buruji flee the base as Hunters entered the base. Hours later, with many casualties to both sides, the UNSC was able to drive off the Covenant.