The Battle of Sydney

=Battle of Sydney= The Battle of Sydney was a large engagement between the UNSC and the Covenant Empire in 2552. This took place during the Covenant invasion of Earth when multiple large large Covenant fleets jumped in from Slipspace after Regret retreated from Earth.

Though the battle of Sydney was long and brutal, the UNSC and the newly aligned Separatist forces defeated the Covenant Loyalists. This also concluded the Battle of Earth.

First Contact
After Regret's task force jumped in at the African orbital defense grid, all stations were put on the highest alert status. This included the 20 SMAC stations located over Australia, specifically defending the key city of Sydney. However, due to the information attained by a defected Huragok, the Covenant were searching for a portal to the fabled Ark, which happened to be in what was known as New Mombasa. The relocation of several battle groups to the African ODG weakened several other ODGs, including the Australian orbital defense grid. What the UNSC didn't know, was that the Covenant recently detected a Forerunner artifact near Sydney, and discovered the city's important to the UNSC.

As a result, the UNSC naval forces were caught off guard when a Covenant fleet of 80 ships jumped in from slipspace.

Naval Engagement
The UNSC still had a prominent naval force over Australia, a fleet of 85 ships and 20 SMAC stations. They coordinated a impressive defense that used the SMAC's power to it's fullest. To counter this strategy, the invaders utilized their multiple DDS-class carriers to their advantage, and sent huge swarms of boarding craft and fighters. Despite fierce resistance, 12 of the 20 guns were eliminated, and the Covenant charged the inferior defenders, and many ships simply bypassed what was left of the defense grid.

However, they were met with veteran ship captains, with a notable tactic known as the Rogers Entrapment. Captain Donald Rogers was commanding a Thanatos-class destroyer. 6 Covenant (4 CPV-class and 2 CCS-class) has surrounded his destroyer, 3 on the left, and 3 on the right. As they fired their plasma torpedoes, Roger's ship began to loop around the Covenant ships, their own plasma torpedoes hitting themselves. When their shields went down, Roger's destroyer fired a volley of archer missiles into these ships' energy projectors, effectively crippling them from the inside. After destroying 5 ships, the last ship, a CCS-class battlecruiser, had had been caught in the wreckage of the destroyed ships. While preoccupied with evading the debris, Rogers used his speed and maneuverability and charged at the cruiser, firing his dual-mac guns(thus disabling the shields of said cruiser), and unleashed an huge volley of archer missiles into the cruiser's hanger bays and energy projector, in which the ship vaporized from the chain reaction of it's own plasma explosions.

But the humans never really had a chance, as the Covenant ships obliterated the Australian ODG, and proceeded to siege the key city of Sydney.

Preparations
After the destruction of the naval defenses, the UNSC forces realized that the attackers must searching for something in Sydney, otherwise the covenant would of already started to glass the surface. Being saved of certain annihilation, the defenders prepared ambush points and fortified key locations, to the best of their ability with the time they had.

Beginning Blitzkrieg
The Covenant ships wasted no time and immediately created landing zones very close by the city and in the city in an attempt to cut off the UNSC forces from each other. However, the UNSC resistance was strong with AA guns and missile pods covering the city sectors. But of course, after many attempts, defenses were cleared in several areas for somewhat secure landing zones.

Faltering Defenses
After weeks of fighting, the morale in the UNSC began to falter. The Covenant attack waves seemed to be endless, and the UNSC forces(and the Covenant) had taken heavy casualties. Key locations like the AMG Transport Dynamics facility fell to the Covenant. The ground forces changed their logic from "Will this city fall?" to "How long until it does fall?". Many of their friends had died in combat, and the hope of surviving began to slip from their fingers.

New Cards to Play
Firefights raged in the streets and key locations were heavily assaulted(and some taken), but Sydney never fell. The UNSC had determination, wits, and a newly-acquired ace up their sleeve; a Spartan II. James-005, originally listed MIA, made a stunning entrance that involves him escaping out of a DDS-class carrier in a banshee(and the carrier exploding soon after escaping), crashing the already damaged aircraft onto a wraith, and saving several marines from a brute chieftain and his pack. James-005 also he had help with destroying the ship from the Sangheili, and that they are now on humanity's side.

Counterattacks
Now, with more morale than ever before, the UNSC forces began offensive operations into the Covenant landing zones. Small strike teams, comprised of UNSC special forces and Sangheili, would infiltrate the landing zone's outer perimeters, and soften up defenses before infiltrating the covenant ships hovering above. This tactic would prove to be incredibly successful, with 4 of the 8 Covenant landing zones being put out of commission, but with a drawback of the remaining ships of each landing zone pulling back to another landing zone, effectively reinforcing it.

The Artifact
The UNSC didn't understand; these landing zones were taken more easily than anyone would expect. They soon found out that Covenant forces were preoccupied with excavation operations nearby the city, and UNSC recon teams reported they had unearthed a Forerunner artifact. Sangheili spec-ops teams also gathered information that if activated, it would "enlighten the Covenant with its destination", in which the Sangheili translated it into that it would reveal a set of coordinates. Now