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 ships 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.