User:DirgeOfCerberus111/Fall of Venezia

Prelude
Operation: TERMAGANT, destabilization operation to disrupt insurrectionist activity and sow instability amongst the rebel ranks.

HYDRA Team marked high priority targets for UNSC bombers.

Undercover ONI planted bombs in key areas to take out rebel assets and sow confusion as well as a distraction.

UNSC Prowler covertly inserts a team of Special Forces operators to silence the Insurrecetionist listening post on Venezia’s moon. Would help them achieve near total surprise.

Ground Assault
With the rebel space resistance all but annihilated, the UNSC began to land troops on the planet itself. Alpha and Bravo Companies of the 1st Shock Troops Battalion performed an orbital drop assault, landing on the New Tyne Airfield with the objective of taking it and depriving the rebels of air power.

The orbital drop began at 0530 on the 25th, initially the ODSTs faced moderate resistance from M-71 Scythe anti-aircraft guns, fortified machine gun nests on the runways, and several M-801 light tanks, the latter of which were knocked out by M41 SPNKRs. Overhead GA-TL1 Longswords provided close fire support for the drop troopers as well as knocking out enemy aircraft still on the ground. Venezian resistance was soon overpowered by the ODSTs who then moved to seize the area surrounding the airfield. Several more companies of ODSTs deployed and repulsed several hasty Venezian counterattacks with gunship support and sniper fire, driving the Insurrectionists back and forcing them to give up on retaking the Airfield.

By 1000 hours, the air strip had been cleared of obstructions and transport ships were able to land directly and began unload additional reinforcements, including the 51st Marine Regiment, with M12 Warthogs and M808 Scorpion Tanks.

On the west bank of the Valencio River the UNSC forces landed unopposed and set up a firebase to provide artillery support for the invasion. Meanwhile east of New Tyne, the UNSC set up their primary base of operations and landing zone to put pressure on the rebel defenders and forcing them to split their forces in multiple directions.

Artillery bombardment forced the rebels in the outer defenses and check points to hunker down and eventually abandon the initial defense in favor of fighting in the interior of New Tyne. There the UNSC advance was met with fierce fighting, their progress into New Tyne was slowed by elaborate defenses – including roadblocks, booby traps, roadside bombs, and snipers – and by the presence of civilians. The UNSC were forced to fight house-to-house and clear each building before moving on to the next one.

Air War
The Venezian fighters made fast attacks against UNSC air formations from several directions. Usually the FA-13s performed head-on attacks and the FA-34s attacked from the rear. After shooting down a few UNSC planes and forcing some of the bombers to drop their bombs prematurely, the Insurrectionists did not wait for retaliation, but disengaged rapidly and returned to their hidden airfields. This "guerrilla warfare in the air" proved very successful in disrupting UNSC aerial bombardment.

That night, Stealth bombers took out AAA emplacements and defenses marked by Special Forces units with precision-guided munitions. At midnight on October 25, Spartan soldiers made a HALO jump into New Tyne.