Remnant War (Ajax 013)

The Remnant War was a large conflict between the Covenant Remnant, lead by the High Prophet of Deliverance, and an alliance of factions opposed to him, including the United Nations Space Command, United Sangheili Republic and it's protectorates, Jiralhanae Alliance, the Kig-Yar Union, and the Yanme'e Hives.

Opening the war with a colossal invasion of their enemies, they were soon bogged down by their enemies. Having grossly underestimated the strength of his foes, the Prophet of Deliverance saw the war turn on him, and his death would mark the end of the war.

Prelude
The Remnant War was almost inevitable. With the allied victory over Doisac, survivors loyal to the Covenant fled into deep space, to distant sectors. With the end of the war, most were scrambling to piece together their broken empires, to assert their dominance and strengthen their position. In the dark sectors, where the Covenant had fled, there were brief and bloody wars of succession, as each warlord attempted to take command of the remaining loyalists. Eventually, a coalition was formed, with the High Prophet of Deliverance in high command.

These remnants would soon begin to gather their strength, and rebuild. Finding a number of relics, including an Oracle, they began to grow, attracting a few lost souls to them. During this time, they were monitored by the Office of Naval Intelligence, but were not a high priority, especially in the wake of the Reclamation Conflict, the growing Insurrection, and the Storm Insurgency. With other galactic events taking precedent, the Covenant Remnant could grow unmolested.

In 2559, they made their presence known, expanding into the contested area of space known as the Frontier. No side had any sort of diplomatic contact with them, and their presence was a totally unknown factor. There were a large number of skirmishes on the borders of Human, Sangheili, Kig-Yar and Jiralhanae space, as the Remnants expansion came into conflict with other factions. This would grow, with slave raids becoming a regular occurrence. This prompted the erstwhile allies to move forces over and begin intense surveillance on the Covenant.

Remnant
Deliverance's goal was always to be to invade his enemies. To this end, he ordered his forces to begin a military build up at a colossal rate. They turned out ships, tanks, weapons and new recruits at a high rate, and their forces earned experience in slave raids. They would also grow exponentially, seizing colonies from humans, Kig-Yar, Jiralhanae and Sangheili, expanding their reach, and their numbers of slaves.

His intelligence agents would begin gathering information on their forces, using contacts in the neutral territories to build a picture of their enemy. In particular, their agents inside the Alliance and Union would gather substantial information, and began to extend talks to Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar clans, who's allegiance could be swayed, and piety could be exploited. His intelligence network grew substantially, extending even to human colonies.

Most important, Deliverance earned the allegiance of several powerful pirate clans, allied under the single banner of Dekd Nok. This alliance was incredibly beneficial to both, as Deliverance supplied the pirates with military hardware, and the pirates replied with tithes of slaves and loot. Dekd Nok put his forces at the disposal of Deliverance, providing him with a massive increase in manpower.

UNSC
The UNSC, caught between the Storm Insurgency and Growing Insurrection, was more than willing to simply ignore the Remnant, believing them to be no threat. ONI, however, was unsure of this, and began their own clandestine investigations. Realising the growing strength of their enemy, they attempted to buy time by placing buffers in front of them, and sabotaging their efforts. However, this would only delay them.

When the Remnant began attacking human colonies beyond the UNSC's jurisdiction, they began to take notice. Diverting forces from the dwindling Storm Insurgency, the UNSC would begin fortifying the sectors, in preparation, but had little idea of the massive scale of the invasion. However, the Hadre-Karida Plan allowed the UNSC to quickly mobilise reinforcements, allowing them to face the enemy on near equal terms.

USR
While most in the Republic were happy to think the Covenant defeated and gone, there were some in military circles who long suspected they still survived, far from prying eyes, and waited the chance to strike back. The Imperator, in particular believed the Covenant would return, and used his considerable leverage to ensure the intelligence agency of the Republic, the Justiciars, kept tabs on his enemies.

This would pay off, when the Justiciars not only discovered a build up of force and aggression, but also the existence of their spy network. The Imperator made a impassioned speak to the High Council to launch a pre-emptive strike, but was turned down in favour of a prolonged military campaign to take Hesduros from the Storm Covenant. Once this campaign was completed, he again attempted to get forces for a pre-emptive strike, but instead received forces with the authorization to defend Republic (And only Republic) space in the event of an invasion. 'Vadam would take these forces and prepare for the approach of his enemy.

Jiralhanae Alliance
Life inside the alliance would always be marked by internal conflict, but as clans with known Covenant links began to actively resist the rule of the High Chieftains, the4 Alliance began to actively prepare for the Covenant invasion. Measures were taken to attempt to limit the rebellious clans, but ultimately, many would not be swayed.

The High Chieftains would instead strengthen their unified army as well as their private forces, in preparation. Deals would also be struck with neutrally aligned clans to bring them to their side.

KYU
The Kig-Yar Union was woefully under-prepared for this, instead being consumed by their need for expansion and trade. The Republic would tell them how dangerous their position was, but ultimately they went unheeded. The Union would pay dearly for this, as the many clans would be swayed to the Covenant, and many more would turn to piracy.

Yanme'e Hives
The Yanme'e Hives were technically a protectorate of the Republic, but unlike the Unggoy or Lekgolo protectorates, they lay directly in the path of the invasion. Their cluster of worlds would be placed in danger, and to counter this they made preparations. The Yanme'e's freedom was at stake, and while they had warships of their own, they were too few in number to resist a full scale invasion. To this end, the Republic sent ships and troops, intending to bolster their positions, and fortify their hives.

Remnant Invasion
When the Remnant began their invasion, it was huge, unannounced and catastrophic. A dozen fleets invaded twenty different star systems simultaneously across multiple fronts. Unprecedented in size and scale, the huge forces involved threw defenders off guard as they huge attack rampaged through numerous sectors.

UNSC Front
The UNSC front was initially one of their largest gains, but repeatedly the Covenant discovered their progress slowed, as slipspace anomalies prevented them from dropping out of slipspace close to their targets, instead being ejected at the far edge of the sector. The fully implemented Slipspace Scrambler system prevented easy access, and slowed them down enough for the UNSC to muster significant strength against them.

Greenwell, Initial Conquests
Greenwell was the first planet struck in their invasion, but few details were discovered by the UNSC concerning the planet's fate. All that is known is that a massive Covenant force dropped out of slipstream space close to planet's moon. With no Scrambler system installed, it was possible for the Covenant to get as close as they liked. The colonial garrison briefly transmitted information concerning the size of the force attacking them, but the only communications satellite was destroyed just an hour after they initiated landings.

Rapid response forces would arrive nearly a day later, with a handful of frigates to scout the enemy. Closing on the planet, they found it totally deserted. The world of 25,000 was completely destroyed, with major population centres bombed from orbit, and the wrecks of the handful of corvettes, and a few civilian craft, littering the planet's orbit. Landing a few teams to investigate, they managed to piece together what scant information they could. The Covenant Remnant invaded in force, bombing most of the settlements before landing, and butchering any who resisted. Looting and pillaging began, and many were taken prisoner, dragged into the holds of slave ships, and many others killed. Shortly after, they pulled back to their ships, obliterated any surface left standing on the surface, then jumped to slipspace. Now a number of fleets were penetrating into UNSC space.

Now reports flooded in of multiple assaults across UNSC space. At least three more plaents had fallen, and another two under siege. The UNSC NAvy's local forces were no mobilising for battle, but had little intelligence on their next few strikes, resulting in catch up as they arrived shortly after the Covenant left. However, as the Covenant approached systems protected by the Scrambler Network, they found themselves lethally exposed. Dropping out of slipspace far from their target, their enemy not only had time to evacuate, but also to cause casualties without taking many of themselves. This changed at Castellum.

The invasion force broke into four tendrils, pushing ever further into UNSC territory. The main push was made up of large Fleet of Divine Will, lead by Chieftain Lakvanus, while on his left and right flank was Chieftain Caesercus and the Prophet of Absolution, leading the Fleet of Expedited Vengeance, and on his left flank was the Prophet of Pity, Objection, and Chieftain Malearnus, leading the Fleet of Quickening Destiny and Fleet of Righteous Iconoclasm. Taking the far flank was the Chieftain Harunum, and the Fleet of Unspoilt Piety. At Castellum, the Covenant forces finally got the breakthrough they needed.

Castellum
During a hard fought battle to take the colony of Hen Sha, the fleet suffered losses while approaching the small colony, defended by only a frigate squadron. Caesercus' fleet made it in time to see the UNSC leave with most of the colonists. This occurred on two more worlds, leading Caesercus to postulate the UNSC devised some kind of gateway system, similarly to the legendary Maginot Line of Forerunner myth.

At Castellum, Caesercus happened upon an event of great luck. During the battle to take the colony, a UNSC Destroy was scissored into pieces by the focused energy projector fire of a battleship. The resulting microdebris, travelling at high speeds, perforated a cloaked Prowler in orbit and sent it crashing onto the planet. The ship wreck was secured by Caesercus' men, and the survivors, including a number of key operatives and officers, as well as any intact data, were taken to Caesercus' flagship. Under torture, many of the individuals spilled secrets, including scraps of information on the UNSC's Slipspace Scrambler technology. Eventually, piecing it together with information recovered from the wreck of the Prowler, he discovered their network of scramblers as well as their access codes, allowing him to bypass them. Rather than immediately disseminate this data, he kept it to himself and a few loyal officers, seeing it as a bargaining chip to rise in the ranks even further. To keep it secret, he threw the prisoners into the slave holds, or executed them, his officers feasting on them. Before he could act on his intelligence however, the Prophet of Pity committed large numbers of his forces to conducting a flanking manoeuvre.

Operation: DEFIANT STAR
The Prophet of Pity, a hedonistic and impatient individual, had quickly become bored of the speed of his fleet's conquest. Pity instead took the advice of his top officer, Malernus, and diverged off to the east of the main advance, seeking to flank the bulk of the UNSC's defences. Followed by one of the Remnant's appointed Pirate Princes, Mak Kur, his substantial force looked to be in position to quicken the advance once again. Securing his inner flank was the Prophet of Objection, taking a fleet with him.

To this end, they conducted a massive invasion of the Argon Sector, a collection of twenty-four sectors. Defence of these systems fell to the thirty-nine ships of Task Force Vengeance, who would be alone in stopping the several hundred-strong force until the arrival of Task Force Reaver in several days, and 16th Fleet in a week.

The prowler, UNSC Raven, intercepted high level communications between Pity and Malearnus, showing that they intended to attack Argon Sector. In response, Task Force Vengeance headed to Ankara, their first target, towing several orbital defence platforms into position and laying mines in front of the enemy's point of arrival. Fighting valiantly to hold the colony until fully evacuated, the ever multiplying enemy numbers forced them to retreat, leaving thousands behind.

They would retreat from world to world, inflicting casualties and ambushing the enemy where possible, while simultaneously fortifying their fleet base at Guinevere, as their final stand. Eventually, they were boxed in around the planet, forced into hit and run strikes to keep the Covenant at bay, while Malearnus was content to besiege them, and fortify the worlds he took. Pity proceeded off with his own ships, to plunder and burn as he liked. The Remnant took fourteen of the worlds in the sector, while a further six remained totally undefended. Eventually they managed to break through the defences around Guinevere, but on the surface found a mass of fortifications and determined defenders, who would throw them back after every assault.

Thankfully, Task Force Reaver arrived and lifted the siege. They did this by ambushing the Prophet of Pity, forcing Malearnus to send the bulk of his forces to aide the Prophet, and then punch a whole through the encirclement so they could resupply the defenders. Reaver, facing the implacable advance of Pity and Objection, had to stall for time, at least long enough for the 16th Fleet to arrive. To do this, they would divide into smaller units and perform clandestine warfare, attempting to stall their advance.

Initially, Reaver would perform hit and run strikes against their staging areas, damaging ships and inflicting casualties. As the Covenant began adapting tactics to halt this, Reaver switched gears, instead attacking their supply convoys as they moved through slipspace, destroying vital supplies, including fuel and weapons, as well as attacking troop transports. Their attacks stretched their supplies thin, forcing them to postpone attacks and pull back to their defensive positions on Guinevere. Pushing the fleet to their limit, Reaver continued near unimpeded in their operations. This was teamed with their Prowlers laying minefields in their space lanes and around their fleet bases. These Prowlers would hamper the Covenant's ability to coordinate by jamming communications, or inserting false communications, leading them astray.

They were later reinforced by Spartan special forces from Bravo Company, who were ordered to 'Butcher and Bolt'. They conducted numerous clandestine raids, including stealing large consignments of fuel, attacking bases with fireships, improvised slipsteam bombs and nuclear charges, attacked their listening posts, attacking their systems with viruses, and even starting a slave uprising on a occupied world. However, in their most destructive operation, they captured the Prophet of Objection and spirited him away for interrogation. In retaliation Malearnus released the pirate prince, Mak Kur, to sow discord behind enemy lines.

Finally, the 16th fleet arrived, and their first action was luring Mak Kur into a trap, ambushing his entire raider fleet and pinning them against a gravity well, then destroying or capturing each and every ship in their fleet. The fleet was then split into three forces. Force Z broke the siege over Guinevere, destroying the Covenant ships still attacking it, and ousting them from the surface. Force X penetrated deep behind enemy lines and attacked their largest refuelling station, obliterating it from orbit and destroying any means of the enemy resupplying, before pulling out. The final unit, Force V, penetrated even further into the enemies territory, took their base of operations then turned it into an enormous trap, littering their base with nuclear charges.

Now stretched beyond their limit, the Covenant forces pulled back to defensive positions under Malearnus, while Pity fell into a catatonic state. Learning from a captured communications post that Malearnus intended to rally his entire force and counter attack, 16th Fleet instead jumped head long into battle against him, intending to destroy him before he could rally his ships. Malearnus was almost immediately killed in the opening salvo, but the Covenant forces rallied, forcing the 16th to withdraw. Intercepted communications revealed that the Covenant survivors were being brought back into the main blitzkrieg assault. Once this reached UNSC command, Fleet Admiral Vancamp was ordered to move the bulk of his fleet to support 4th Fleet in facing the main advance. As such, Operation: DEFIANT STAR was considered over.

Vancamp himself would be left with a skeleton force to resist the numerous pirate bands and raiders that remained. This force was too few in number to take back the dozen or so worlds the Covenant conquered, giving them time to entrench. These worlds would be taken back until November, during a planet hopping campaign.

The Covenant took heavy casualties during the campaign, losing their three leaders, and nearly half of their ships and manpower. Those remaining would to be rerouted other war zones, or entrench themselves, fortifying their positions. One the eleven worlds the Covenant still held on to, they dug in, turning former settlements into imposing citadels, the colonists themselves sweating and bleeding to build these for their new masters. Those unfortunate few that couldn't be evacuated suffered the fate of being made slaves, or taken deeper into Remnant territory to be sold on.

The UNSC took heavy casualties, but ultimately come out victorious. However, their infrastructure in the sector was so badly damaged it'd be years before they returned to a measure of their former strength. The forces were left so drained they could only respond to skirmishes on the new border, and were incapable of taking back their lost worlds. They would stay that way for several more months.

Crowe's Landing
Telling the Prophet in command of his fleet group, Absolution, of his discovery, Caesercus asked for all fleets in the region to be placed under his command so he could lead an all out attack on the human territory. Absolution, weary of this, demanded that he be allowed to supervise. Begrudgingly, Caesercus agreed. Caesercus now had a monstrous fleet at his disposal, with battle hardened crews and elite Legions. Under his flag he also had Absolution's close ally, Prince Jor Ruk, of the Bloodied Claw raiders. Drawn to the scent of blood, two allied Jiralhanae clans, the Akulus and Tyremus, and and allied clan of Kig-Yar, the Rath. They set course for Crowe's Landing.

Crowe's Landing was defended by a Carrier Group, a Patrol Group, a dozen defence platforms, an Army Division and a air force, and the planet itself had been heavily fortified in preparation for the upcoming assault. Crowe's Landing itself was a extremely important target for the Covenant, as it was a military and trade hub, that linked to Republic territories.

In order to maintain surprise, Caesercus dropped his fleet in behind a gas giant, and intended to scout the enemy position. However, he was given away when his allies, the Rath Clan, attacked a small mining station, alerting the defenders. Knowing their scrambler network was breached, they initiated short ranged scrambling, preventing the Covenant from jumping in. Punishing the Reth Clan, Caesercus was forced into a headlong rush, fronted by his allies who would absorb most of the fire.

Despite an early advantage, sheer numbers overwhelmed the defenders, and Admiral Yuan was forced to signal a retreat, slipping out to behind one of the gas giant's moons, to regroup. From here Yuan would launch hit and run strikes, attacking the Covenant's supply lines.

On the ground, a poorly coordinated orbital assault was launched, and was in turn hampered by an order by the Prophet that the planet cannot be bombed from orbit. On the ground, the allied clans went into a frenzy, aiming to capture and secure any and all loot they could, a portion of which would be paid as a tithe to the Covenant. At almost all positions the defenders dug in, forcing the enemy into bloody sieges. The one exception was the capital. Attacked by Caesercus himself, he attempted to capture the capital, and it's population, intact, so hye wore down the defenders with precise attacks.

The first wave of reinforcements consisted of three Spartan companies, deployed via stealth ships. Making planetfall, they attacked the Covenant's rear, causing horrendous casualties then vanishing. Blackjack company, again deployed, chased the Akulus clan, and annihilated an entire clan in retribution for their massacre of a whole town.

More reinforcements would arrive in the form of the Shadowed Night. Abandoning their defensive positions in Republic space, the secretive force assaulted the Covenant in an attempt to protect the population, and in defiance of the orders from the High Council not to render any direct aide to the UNSC. First reinforcing the beleaguered vessels, the Shadowed Night then dropped substantial warriors, each of them from the special forces of the Republic, allowing them to support the defenders. Despite this, they were still losing ground by the hour.

Closing in on the capital, Caesercus' advance was slowed by Absolution's countermanding orders, and when he finally captured the city, he was ordered to give all his slaves as his tithe to the Covenant. This formed a gulf between the two, that would result in Absolution's downfall. The other major settlements fell one by one, but not without a fight. The Reth clan was almost totally annihilated by Cobra company, who stalked, hunted and sabotaged them at every turn.

Finally, reinforcements arrived in the form of Task Force Gladiator. Composed of the 13th fleet, and numerous ground combat units, they linked up with the remains of the defence fleet and the Shadowed Night behind the gas giant, and formulated a plan. They elected to simply starve the enemy into submission, attacking their supply ships, denying them fuel, ammo and fresh personnel. This was combined with Prowlers attacking Covenant supplies deeper in their territory, even attacking them during slipspace travel. However, the desperation on the ground, and intel suggesting encroaching reinforcements, forced their hand. Fleet Admiral Meir rallied her ships for an attack, despite being out numbered three to one.

Charging in under the cover of electronic warfare, their opening salvo looked promising, knocking out a number of high profile vessels, but the obvious disadvantage in numbers started to show, and they looked to be overwhelmed. The tide was turned by the sudden arrival of these unknown reinforcements, taking the form of A Republic fleet. Tearing their way into the heart of the fleet, and lead by the Imperator himself, they tore the enemy fleet asunder. The Imperator had been told to retrieve Kasr 'Revsar for disobeying orders, but interpreted those orders quite ingeniously, bringing with him a fleet to 'secure' the wayward commander, and would of course be forced to destroy any Jiralhanae in their paths.

They combined fleet quickly landed reinforcements, alleviating the besieged cities, and attacking the capital. The majority of his armour was defeated by a pincer attack on the ground, and the arrival of the dreaded 7th Expeditionary Force and elite Republic Legions forced him into a retreat. Absolution fled back to his own capital ship using a Spire teleporter, but found himself with a Sangheili boot to his throat, since the officers loyal to Caesercus had pulled back, leaving his ship vulnerable. On the ground Caesercus posted the Tyremus clan, and all forces loyal to Absolution at the forefront of the fighting, while retreating with his own warriors, their loot, and as many slaves as they could. On the ground, the Tyremus clan and the forces loyal to absolution were destroyed.

In orbit, Caesercus found himself surrounded and surrounded, with no means of escape. Believing himself doomed, his force was saved by the 'timely' intervention of Prince Jor Ruk. Jor Ruk reached him on a private channel and asked him if he required assistance. Knowing the scheming creature intended to ask for a price, Caesercus asked him what he wanted. Jor Ruk wanted 1/3rd of Caesercus' slave bounty. Caesercus begrudgingly agreed. Jor's force of agile and skilled raider ships punched a hole in the encirclement, crippling a number of vessels and drawing off more, allowing Caesercus to escape. Despite giving chase, Caesercus escaped to slipspace, the allied fleet unable to pursue because of their own casualties and substantial enemy presence remaining. Shadowed by a Prowler, the UNSC wouldn't easily forget what happened over the last few days.

Despite achieving their strategic goals of destroying one of the UNSC's major trade centres, the loss of life and materiel was of catastrophic damage of the Remnant. Such was their losses, their blitzkrieg assault, in effect rolling over the UNSC, Republic and Alliance, was blunted. Losing nearly three quarters of the entire strikeforce, their loss of warships was unimaginable. Similarly, entire legions, and whole clans, were rendered extinct on the ground. Their colossal failure to protect their supply lines resulted in a massive loss of vital materiel, which starved their other assaults of desperately needed supplies, with many other strikes rolling to a stop as they ran out of food, ammunition and fuel. So many officers were lost, including Absolution, one of Deliverance's favoured lieutenants, that the upper echelons of the Remnant were torn wide open, a rift that wouldn't be sealed for another year. Forced to give up their gains, much of the Remnant's advances had to be surrendered in the face of renewed counter attacks by their enemies.

Caesercus returned in shame, knowing he had failed so completely that his fate was all but sealed. Only his links to some of the old families that formed the high command of the Covenant prevented his trial and execution. It mattered little. Four months afterwards he was assassinated by a survivor of the Tyremus clan, who survived the near extinction of his clan during the battle. Caesercus' actions also caused a division between the Remnant and its allies. The clans allied to them felt they were being used as expendable cannon fodder, and Caesercus' actions proved this beyond a doubt. Many of these clans would distance themselves, or break away entirely.

Prince Jor Ruk however, rose in fame. One of the few commanders to succeed during the battle of Crowe's Landing, of the 300,000 slaves captured, Jor owned almost half. Pragmatic and business like in his approach to the battle, his extortion of Caesercus resulted in wealth and bounty he could not imagine. His armada grew in size and strength and Jor would enjoy a great many more years of success, before the Office of Naval Intelligence turned their baleful gaze upon him, and he encountered and steady and slow decline as ONI chipped away at his empire.

The UNSC however, had gained strong links to the Republic military, who had come to their aid without cause. Their fragile alliance had been cemented, and Republic public opinion was swung by the Battle of Sastaras two weeks later. For Kasr, the next month was difficult. While Imperator Vadam's liberal interpretation of his orders allowed him to lift the siege, he was forced to bring his wilful protege back to Sanghelios for trial. Faced with a military tribunal, Kasr's direct defiance of order from the civilian government created friction between the council and the Republic military, many of whom sympathised with Kasr. When news of the battle of Sastaras reached Sanghelios, public opinion rallied behind Kasr, and many on the tribunal feared that punishing him would make him a martyr for the people, while rewarding him would deepen tension between the military and high council, so they did neither, and allowed him to return to his command.