User:Calipari/Lumorian Campaign

The Lumorian Campaign was a fourteen day conflict between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant Empire on a Forerunner Superstructure known as Lumoria. The UNSC discovered Lumoria’s location, approximately 46,000 light-years northeast of the Sol System, on March 15, 2541. Three years later, Covenant Forces found Lumoria as well. A legion of Covenant Forces led by a Sangheili Field Master invaded Lumoria at full force with no mercy. Human Military units stationed on the planet reacted poorly, and several high priority structures and personnel were lost to the Covenant. The UNSC responded to the Covenant Invasion by shipping an entire division, approximately 20,000 strong, to the surface of Lumoria. The 501st Marine Division made contact with Covenant forces the day after being deployed onto the planet. After hours of bloodshed during the Battle of Decius, the UNSC and Covenant Empire began an all-out campaign that would turn the tide of the entire Human-Covenant War.

Background
UNSC Scientists gathered onboard the UNSC Caesar, a Halcyon-Class Cruiser, in March of 2541 to discuss their findings of an abandoned Forerunner world, Lumoria. With little knowledge of what Lumoria's true purpose was, the Scientists presented their findings to Sir Brendan Halifax, the commanding officer of Caesar. Sir Halifax sent a small invasion force of ODSTs to Lumoria's Surface, only to find the abandoned planet that the Forerunners had left behind. Seeing Lumoria as a low-priority issue, Sir Halifax withdrew his men from Lumoria.

Three years later, Covenant Forces tracked down the location of Lumoria and discovered that the Humans had claimed it as their own. The Covenant landed on the planet and, as Sir Halifax's men had discovered years before, discovered that it was deserted. Covenant Forces secured the planet but did not interfere with the Forerunner arctitecture that existed there.

In January of 2544, the same board of Scientists that discovered Lumoria were sent back to the surface, along with a squad of Halifax's ODSTs, to investigate one of Lumoria's Capitols. After a Pelican Dropship dropped off the men on the surface, the Scientists led the Marines to the Capitol of Decius. To their surprise, however, Covenant Forces had already established their forces inside of the Capitol. The Marines soon after encountered Sangheili scouts inside the structure. After putting up a considerable fight with the Covenant, the Marines were killed. The Scientists, now defenseless, attempted to escape the facility, but were captured. Realizing the importance of the scientists, the Sangheili held them prisoner.

After losing the signal of the Marines' IFF Transpoders, UNSC High Command sent another wave of scouts to Lumoria. The scouts reported Covenant Forces patrolling the planet's surface, and HIGHCOM responded by sending the 501st Marine Infantry Division to fight off the Covenant.

Contact at Decius
On January 8, 2544, a Platoon of UNSC Marines led by Master Sergeant Calvin Brewer touched down on the surface of Decius, one of Lumoria's six Land Masses. Covenant Forces in the area spotted two Pelican Dropships dust off and immediately sent in troops to fight the humans. After a large standoff, Brewer's men secured the landing zone. The Marines' objective was a Forerunner Beam Emitter that was originally held by the Covenant. The Marines secured the Beam Emitter but found no trace of useful Covenant Technology.

Covenant reinforcements arrived on the site shortly after and engaged Sergeant Brewer's Platoon. Brewer rerouted his men to take cover at the top of the Beam Emitter to draw the hostile fire. The distraction worked, and the Marines managed to dispatch the Covenant Forces. Brewer's platoon continued their march to eliminate more hostile forces. After hours of searching for stragglers, Brewer evacuated his platoon. He soon after realized that his Pelican had dropped off miles away from the actual point of interest, Decius's Capitol.

Operation: BRUTUS
The day after Sergeant Brewer's platoon made contact with Covenant Forces at Decius, Captain Brendan Halifax, a senior commissioned officer and seasoned Shock Trooper, organized Operation: BRUTUS, a search and rescue mission in an attempt to rescue a group UNSC Scientists who was captured by Covenant Forces the day before. Little did he know that BRUTUS would lead him straight into Decius's Capitol.

Sir Halifax's ship, the UNSC Caesar, prepared to touch down on Lumoria at 0600 by loading troops and supplies onto the ship. Among these troops was a SPARTAN II, May-073, who was sent to Lumoria to assist Sir Halifax's invasion force of ODSTs. SPARTAN 073 met with Sir Halifax, who informed her of Operation: BRUTUS. Hours later, the Caesar stopped over Lumoria's surface. Brendan, his squad of ODSTs, and May dropped onto the surface via HEV Pods. The squad was separated during the drop, but regrouped with each other after fighting off a considerably large amount of Covenant Scouts. Scarecrow, a Pelican Pilot and personal friend of Sir Halifax, offered to airlift Halifax's men to the Capitol, but Sir Halifax instead suggested that May should take the fight by the ground to gain enemy intelligence while eliminating Covenant Forces on the way to the objective. Scarecrow agreed and airflifted Halifax and his ODSTs; he also delivered a LAAV Warthog and a Fireteam of Marines to assist May.

May advanced past a Forerunner Bridge, now overrun by Covenant, and entered a Tunnel System, leading to the other side of the Canyon. She then stealthily infiltrated multiple rooms of Covenant to reach the controls of an Energy Bridge, allowing her Warthog to pass through to the Forerunner Bridge Room. May navigated her Warthog to the northern canyon, the location of Decius's capitol, and regrouped with Sir Halifax's ODST Lance, alerting Covenant Forces within the Capitol in the process. Several Sangheili acted quickly to defend the Capitol's entrance, deploying Shade Turrets and Spectres to eliminate the UNSC Forces below. May successfuly forced her way upwards, destroying the Covenant in her path. Sir Halifax sent a set of arranged extraction coordinates to Scarecrow and proceeded into the structure.

Inside the Capitol, Sir Halifax's team met heavy Covenant Resistance. Mgalekgolo and Yanme'e reinforced the Sangheili that had been killed by May outside. After engaging the reinforcements, two of Halifax's ODSTs were gunned down. May eliminated the Mgalekgolo Pair while the surviving Marines shot down the Yanme'e that swarmed from above. Halifax's team regrouped and continued their approach to the core of the Capitol.

In the next section of the Capitol was the path to the main data center, which was the location of the captured scientists. After realizing that he had found the objective, Sir Halifax ordered May to get to the Scientists' position. May took the surviving Marines with her to the top of the landing, facing Unggoy and Sangheili Ultras armed with Fuel Rod Cannons on the way. May was forced to fall back into cover. Acting quickly, she ordered the ODSTs to flank to the right, while she rerouted to the left. Her plan was successful and her team eliminated the opposing forces. All that remained was a Sangheili Field Marshall at the top of the landing. May sent the Marines back to the surface, as her intent was to duel with the Field Marshall on her own.

The Field Marshall drew an Energy Sword and charged towards May. In response, she evaded the attack and pumped three Shotgun shells into the Elite, taking its shield down. Reacting quickly, May pinned the Elite onto the ground, drew a Combat Knife, and slit the Field Marshall's throat.

Sir Halifax and his Marines met May at the top of the landing. The Scientists, relieved that they were free, approached Sir Halifax and explained what Lumoria was: a database containing information on all celestial objects in the galaxy. Sir Halifax disregarded the Scientists' words and realized that Covenant Reinforcements were closing in from all directions. He contacted Scarecrow and raced to the pre-arranged evac coordinates. May attempted to fight off the Covenant to give Sir Halifax some time to escape the facility. She soon after followed behind, realizing that she could not hold off the opposing force. Sir Halifax's team escaped the Capitol and reached the evac point with May trailing behind slowly. The Marines boarded the Pelican, taking heavy fire from behind, and prepared to leave the area as they believed May to be dead. Sir Halifax then spotted May and ordered Scarecrow to wait. May, close to the Pelican's troop bay, dived into Sir Halifax's grip. He pulled May into the troop bay and gave Scarecrow a green light to fly away.

Lear and the Flood
UNSC High Command rerouted Master Sergeant Brewer's Platoon to Lear, the second Lumorian Land Mass. Along with Oscar Platoon, HIGHCOM sent a second Platoon of Marines to assist Sergeant Brewer. The Platoons divided into eight different squads and split up into the Lear Territory. First Squad, led by Staff Sergeant Troy MacTavish, encountered Lear's Capitol less than five miles away from where they landed. Eager to see what was inside, Brewer ordered MacTavish to lead his men inside the structure. HIGHCOM then rerouted all ground teams to the Capitol.

Inside the Capitol, MacTavish found corpses of Unggoy and Sangheili corpses scattered throughout the facility. A second squad led by Sergeant Brewer entered the Capitol moments later and regrouped with MacTavish's squad. MacTavish requested to abort the operation, but Brewer ultimately denied his request. After digging deeper into the Capitol, First and Second Squads split into opposite directions. MacTavish encountered a series of locked doors in the heart of the facility, triggering him to ask Second Squad for a sitrep. Brewer reported that everything was clear. MacTavish and his men located Sergeant Brewer's squad, who was attempting to open a second series of locked doors at the time.

After a tech specialist from Brewer's squad cracked a door through the use of a Spoofer, Brewer's men were immediately ambushed by Infection Forms. Sergeant Brewer, standing the closest to the door, was latched onto by an Infection Form first. The rest of the Marines were ultimately caught off guard and, as a result, were also infected. Sergeant MacTavish immediately fell back and fired his Assault Rifle at the incoming horde. Within seconds, however, his Marines had already undergone the transformation process and were now Combat Forms. MacTavish was attacked and wounded by the infected Marines. Regardless of his condition, he escaped the Capitol and regrouped with another ground team.

The Flood began to spread like wildfire after being released by Brewer's men. Within hours, half of Lear was infested and contaminated. Another platoon of Marines from the 501st was sent to control the outbreak. The Flood ultimately overwhelmed all UNSC Forces on the surface. Sergeant MacTavish ordered surviving Marines to fall back into a bunker, sealing his men from the Flood. While securing the Marines, he called for an evac Pelican to rescue the trapped Marines. Two Pelicans arrived at the Capitol within the hour and cleared a suitable Landing Zone. MacTavish's Marines loaded onboard the Pelicans and left Lear and the Flood behind.