User:DirgeOfCerberus111/Sandbox

This where I draft upcoming articles.

Future Ideas in the Works

 * Toma(?) 'Sefum/Sol 'Sagon - A honest minded Sangheili Minor during the ending years of the war, atleast in time for Reach (bad day). Has a huge crisis of faith and somewhat warily joins Mdama's remnant for a sense of purpose, regrets it, and then buggers off to do something (maybe brief tour of information brooking? Maybe then a librarian and even archaeologist?)
 * Badab - Unggoy Ultra turned rebel leader. Lead the Thirteenth Unggoy Disobedience until his demise.
 * Eivard 'Yandamee - Elderly but beloved Fleet Master during the early years of the war. Veteran of many battles and wars; Unggoy Rebellion, Jiralhanae War of Conversion, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Unggoy Disobedience, and Heresy of Fell Glory. When the Prophets call for the extermination of the humans and NOT conversion to their faith, he becomes suspicious of their motives. Gets executed for showing mercy to humans. Death results in the rebellion on his fleet. Heresy of False Commitment.
 * GENOME Program - Plan to enhance regular soldiers by using gene therapy. Viral vectors replace parts of their genome with superior genes to create superior soldiers. It won't be anything near the Spartan programs but probably will make some badass ODSTs or something. Still deciding how much of an affect it will have, noticeable obviously but not much.
 * Ryan-A101- Former-Spartan-III Headhunter. Did a bunch of things and survived the war but not before losing his partner. Almost participated in Operation SUNSET. Hated the Covenant with a passion and refused to ally with the Sangheili after the war, calling it a betrayal. Going renegade he formed his own militia called Ryan's Warhawks to continue the war against the Covenant species. Attacks a summit to kill Ragan 'Tagrah and disrupt the peace-talks, but is killed by Spartans of Firteam Raptor defending the summit.
 * Operation SUNSET- A last-ditch op concocted by ONI in the months between the Fall of Reach and the Battle of Earth. After the loss of RED FLAG, ONI decided on a new op. Declaring code Dragon, spartan REAPER Team would infiltrate enemy territory and deploy the UNSC's remaining stockpile of NOVA Bombs and bombard major covenant worlds, hopefully forcing them to retreat. Should the war be lost the Spartan group be reassigned to vengeance-actions on Covenant worlds and would sow despair and terror in atrocious ways, including the use of vile terror tactics and an arsenal of NBC weapons to exact a measure of vengeance and cause as much suffering as possible. REAPER Team composing of various ruthless, psychotic, or unstable soldiers. Narrowly aborted.
 * Ryan's Warhawks- A anti-alien militia formed by renegade Spartan-III Ryan-A101. Composed of the former crew of the Charon-class UNSC Saber at Ready 700 former soldiers and civilian recruits who refused to accept the UNSC's alliance with the Sangheili and wanted to strike back at the Covenant. Renamed ship the Valkyrie.
 * Code Dragon. Dragon is a UNSC emergency code declaring the deployment of NOVA bombs.
 * Viral 'Tramamee - A rogue Fleet Master who during the Great Schism attempt to lead his fleet to attack human worlds. Disfigured by human chemical weapons deployed on Chi-Rho. Visits a military base and procures a deadly biological weapon he intends to use on human worlds and Earth which would very well may have been the end of mankind. Ragan 'Tagrah refused to allow him continue with this and battles his forces and eventually kills him. Description is pale and thin, white armor.
 * Gun 'Durak - Mercenary Sangheili. Has a thing for particular human weapons.
 *  Inka 'Ikashardamee - Basic name is Inka 'Shardam. Once the personal aid to the Prophet of Piety, grew up in staunch religious zealotry. A religious fanatic who leads a violent and destructive doomsday cult called the "Children of the Ancients", who still worship the Forerunners but regard the San 'Shyuum as false prophets, the humans as unholy creatures, and Thel 'Vadam as the arch-heretic. Description is very tall, 8'5 but wiry.
 * Assault on Earth - The Children of the Ancients launch a stealthy assault on Earth to gain control of the Portal to gain access of the Ark and starting the Great Journey. They slip past orbital defenses using sixteen . They land and use stealth-pylons and communications-jammers to go unnoticed and translocation Spires to bring more troops (from where?).
 * Anico Szántó - Member of the Colonial Militia on Reach during the Fall. Closest thing to a real professional leader, responsible maintaining the militia as a cohesive force by organizing it and stealing several shipments of weapons and procuring others when the UNSC wouldn't provide. During the Fall of Reach she gathered 500 militiamen from surround areas and launches an effective but brief guerrilla campaign and then last stand. Survives and leads the remaining 200 men to New Alexandria.
 * Prophetess of Severity - Minister of Conservation and member of the High Council. Description: Beautiful, serene, elegant, subtle, and crafty. Called Severity but actually was known to be occasionally fairly lenient or making exceptions, depending on the situation, case-in-point being Oruna. Survives the Great Schism by not being on High Charity. On a different world. Escapes on private ship. Rescues other Prophets, 52. Flees Brutes and Sangheili to escape the war, requests UNSC for asylum in exchange for covenant secrets. Moved to the colony Elysium IX, guarded by Fireteam Mecca. Actually isn't evil and works to keep the Covenant at peace.
 * Oruna 'Soramee - Disgraced Ultra turned Honor Guard. Personal bodyguard of the Prophetess of Severity. Was originally a Ultra before being disgraced for retreating in battle and was stripped of his rank then imprison but did not commit suicide. Rather than be shamefully be executed, Severity made him her personal bodyguard. Eternally grateful and undyingly loyal. Has a very close connection to Severity.
 * Khul 'Warhakee - Field Master during the Trace Campaign. Black-skinned from being from a desert clan. Tough and mean, pretty violent for a commander. Artillery collapsed a building on him during a attack and he's killed when his own ship begins to glass the area.
 * SPARTAN Yellow Team - Team of SPARTAN-IIs consisting of Cody-016, Vladmir-078, Spartan-twins: Spartan-098 and Spartan-099, Tyrone-055. All die before or during Reach.
 * SPARTAN-150 - The last SPARTAN-II candidate recruited by Dr. Halsey. He's going to be "a very different kind of Spartan".
 * While most of the other Spartans were siblings to eachother, 150 was the outcast. 150 was the worst preforming Spartan-II in the program, hands down. Even Serge-011 could beat in him hand-to-hand sparring and he was the softest of them all. However for that, he was exceptionally dangerous in his own way (have to think how). Tenacious, cunning, lethal, totally unconcerned with morality.
 * Absolutely hated losing which made it all the worse that he never could seem to win. The result was that he hated everything and everyone. To quote arthurian legend his "heart would be eternally cold"
 * Had a toxic personality, acid tongued, antisocial, hated everything and everyone.
 * Violet Team? - Fun toss-around idea. Team of SPARTAN-II who's members represent the seven deadly sins. Members brought together because their social traits made them unable to function with other units.
 * Pride = Alexander-001, considers himself one of the chosen for being part of the Spartan-II Program, more so for being the first candidate. Aims to be #1. Massive ego and sense of superiority. Still an effective commander, can keep the others in line.
 * Gluttony = SPARTAN-110, defined by his gross waste of ammunition and his excessive use of force
 * Greed = SPARTAN-100,
 * Sloth = SPARTAN-149, could be one of the most skilled Spartans, also the least motivated and wasteful of his talents. Or maybe indifferent to humanity's plight? Could have saved some people but didn't?
 * Wrath = SPARTAN-088, defined by his violent and destructive behavior.
 * Envy = SPARTAN-119

Operation: TRAPDOOR
Operation: TRAPDOOR, also known a the Battle of Twycross. When the Covenant discovered Earth the planet fell under massive attack. ONI, desperate to stem the tide of Covenant forces, concocted a plan to divert inbound Covenant reinforcements away from Earth. By sending false signals from the abandoned colony of Twycross, ONI successfully fooled the Covenant fleet into believing that the planet was still occupied and held a Forerunner relic. What they found instead was a trap set by the UNSC and were drawn into protracted urban battle with concealed Army forces and a Spartan-III fireteam who delayed and reduced the amount of Covenant forces that would reach Earth.

Signal Corps broadcast false signals from the ground, faking the presence of major populations.

UNSC/ONI hack the Covenant battlenet which has been thrown into chaos by their civil war, with both opposing sides using it.

Falsify orders of human-held relic sites on Twycross. Truth isn't there to say otherwise.

Location of the fake relics defended by a company of ODSTs who are unaware they are defending an illusion.

Inquiry on Demonic Heresy
The Inquiry on Demonic Heresy was a secret Covenant military operation and research program. Covertly launched by the Prophet of Regret without the approval of the High Council or the other two hierarchs. It was headed by the then-Special Operations Commander of the Covenant, Sharos 'Imamee who conspired with Regret. It's purpose was the study and elimination of human Demons, also known as SPARTANs. The operation was a undertaking lasting more than eight years in which an elite division of Covenant Special Operations would work tirelessly to observe and analyze the Demons, developing counter-tactics and equipment in which to more effectively combat and slay their kind. One of their most ambitious sub-objectives would be the capture of a Demon, alive, for study and experimentation.

The Inquiry as it came to be called met with a great deal of success in some areas, they gathered a great deal of data on the SPARTANs as well as succeeding in slaying several of their number, including the live capture of one, Mason-020. However their successes were at a steep cost, hundreds if not thousands of soldiers and assets were lost over the course of Inquiry on Demonic Heresy's duration. In 2542 the operation suffered staggering setbacks as the Demons counterattacked, starting first with the destruction of their forward bases, research facilities, and listening posts. They destroyed their primary research vessel and then finally assaulting the Inquiry Initiative's own headquarters on Shadowed Solace and in the process Special Operations Commander Sharos 'Imamee was killed. The Demons would succeed in rescuing their captive comrade though he would later die by _______(?)

With the operation effectively gutted, Inquiry on Demonic Heresy was shut down and it's remaining assets and facilities redistributed.

Prelude
The Inquiry on Demonic Heresy was the brainchild of the then-current Covenant SpecOps Commander Sharo 'Imamee, a cunning and secretive high ranking Sangheili who held much political influence in the Covenant Military. When the Human-Covenant War erupted he was tasked with overseeing covert operations pertaining to the persecution of the human race. During the early years of the war all kinds of rumors reached his ears. Of nigh-unkillable armored warriors who already were responsible for the deaths of thousands of their warriors. At first he dismissed these as mere rumors and tall-tales but it was not long until evidence could not be denied.

After the loss of the over the world of Chi Ceti IV, 'Imamee watched recovered footage recorded on the ship and by ground forces confirmed the existence of such warriors. His interest piqued, 'Imamee began keeping tracking their movements and compiling data.

Within a few short years 'Imamee realized what a grave threat these humans posed. First hand accounts from the battlefield and recordings from the human world of Arcadia and fourteen other battles showed their deadly battlefield prowess as well as their corrosive effect on troop morale. Stories were being spun as the legend of the "Demons" spread throughout the Covenant's ranks. In a short span of time the Demons had achieved a legendary infamy, one that cannot be ignored, the battles on Arcadia, Jericho VII, and Metisette. Unsparing Proffer was a red flag.

He presented his case to the Hierarchs and proposed that they devote resources to specifically hunt down the Demons before they did more damage. In his private audience with them he reported that the Demons appeared to be multiplying. He cited that at first appearing only in the handfuls but at they attacked in the hundreds. The Hierarchs reaction however, was to deny him. Mercy was spiteful of the idea of any human soldiers requiring such attention and Truth was lukewarm to devoting so much resources. Only Regret was silent on the matter.

Frustrated, 'Imamee decided to take matters into his own hands and moved ahead with the operation to eliminate the Demons and began organizing a special covert unit taskforce in preparation. Everything almost came to an end when the Prophet of Regret himself made a surprise visit. 'Imamee were sure that he would come with a full Legion behind them to apprehend him. Instead, Regret appeared magnanimously and revealed that he knows what he was up to. But rather than arrest him, Regret "confided" that he was dismayed with his brother Hierarchs inaction, and commended the warrior's with his initiative and offered his patronage and blessings to the Commander. 'Imamee knew better than that this was pure charity and suspect that Regret was trying to get back at Truth for his humiliation at Metisette. Nevertheless, the two conspired and the plan was dubbed the Inquiry on Demonic Heresy.

Conception
With Regret's patronage, resources and funding began being secretly redirected towards their un-sanctioned operation. With their vast combined political power it was simple enough for them to keep their activities hidden from the High Council and the other Hierarchs and established their operation's headquarters on the fortress world of Shadowed Solace, a major hub for Covenant military activity. 'Imamee, as a SpecOps Commander, was used to operating covertly without outside scrutiny as so amassed a task force in which to operate with, composed of some his most brilliant and fierce soldiers some of whom had faced Demons before. An entire Field Group, enough for a demi-legion, of elite warriors was amassed, and each was blessed by the High Prophet who deemed the "Raging Shadows".

Something something and plot happens.

Mission on Sequestered Entreaty
...Sequestered Entreaty, also known as K6-18 to the humans.

The TYPHON Program was a illegal and unsanctioned program that covertly ran parallel to the SPARTAN-II Program. The project was secretly green-lighted by operatives of Office of Naval Intelligence Section 0's top secret Theta-2 Cell in order to create SPARTAN-caliber hyper-lethal vectors on Section 0's leash to counter Section III's ever increasing number of SPARTAN commandos and they used extremely questionable and unethical means to create their product with the SPARTANs as a model. The TYPHONs were a different breed of supersoldiers but with capabilities and skills on par with that of the SPARTANs.

It was apparent from the start that the TYPHONs were dangerous and extremely unstable.

[They displayed extreme signs of psychopathy, emotional instability and lability, hyper aggression, a need for adrenal stimulation, and complete lack of moral direction.] (?)

They were kept mostly in line by memory modification, drug dependency, and their own restraining armor. In spite of that they remained extremely effective assets for ONI. Rather than be sent out to fight the Covenant juggernaut like the SPARTAN-IIs, the TYPHONs operated off the records as the black hand of Sections 0 as part of it's directive to monitor internal affairs. However they would be misused by Theta-2. The head of the project and original proponent of TYPHON, Dr. Jacob Wallvern, would twist the program ___. The TYPHONs were sent unleashed against other elements of ONI, the Insurrection and the Covenant as psychological weapons to further Theta-2's agenda.

The TYPHONs would eventually be wiped out by attrition and the final two along with Dr. Wallvern would be eliminated by vengeful SPARTANs of White Team. The rest of the rogue Theta-2 would be shut down by ONI forces for it's countless circumventions of the law and illegal projects.

History

 * Started by Dr. Jacob Wallvern who once worked on the Spartan Program as Halsey's assistant researcher, but was booted because his methods endangered the trainees. Believed Halsey was too soft? After his expulsion from the program, he was picked up by Section 0. After the formation of Alpha Company he approached Section 0 and proposed a "counter balance". His knowledge of the Spartan-II augmentation procedures _____
 * Doesn't recruit, test tube babies and trains from birth, used highly unstable chemicals (high-risk high-reward mentality), memory modifications and neural reconstruction to encourage "favorable traits". Drug-slaved to ensure loyalty. Uses knowledge of SPARTAN-II augmentations to match SPARTAN abilities.
 * Used as psychological weapons? Against ONI elements, rebels, and Covenant?

Conception

 * Section 0 wanted it's own private reapers? Maybe in case Section III gets too powerful with all the Spartans running around?
 * Mad Scientist Mastermind sends TYPHONs to hunt a SPARTAN to test them. Some SIII Teams? Roger-133 is killed. Sparks a war with White Team.
 * ONI cracks down on the now rogue Theta-2 cell. White Team joined by Black Team.
 * White Team fights two TYPHONs, Wallvern activates self destruct to try to kill the Spartans, doesn't work of course.
 * White Team hunts down TYPHONs, with ONI's help. Destroys Theta-2 Cell.

Equipment

 * MORLOCK Armor = Lighter than MJOLNIR, and more agile. Not as powerful as MJOLNIR but Compensates by removing structural weaknesses (giant visors and soft armor). Infiltrator, Wetwork, Counter Intelligence capacity. Concealed knife carrier. Will have GUNGIR-style helmet.
 * Armor doubles as a restraining harness and a fail-safe. Can lock down or detonate by remote if the wearer gets out of hand.
 * Armor releases endorphins directly into the body as a reward-system. Slaved.
 * Armor has capacity for biological warfare.

Skirmish over New Tyre
The Skirmish over New Tyre, also called the Theft of the Illustrious, was a brief but fierce skirmish in orbit over New Tyre. The United Independence Front had successfully orchestrated the theft of an Marathon-class cruiser, renaming it the UIF Spartacus.

The UNSC response was swift and heavy and the resulting fight ended in several ships being damaged. Before the battle could continue a fleet of Covenant ships appeared within the system and the battle ceased. Shortly afterwards the two sides allied with each other to fight the Covenant in the Battle of New Tyre.

Prelude
Since 2515, the United Independence Front had been operating on the world of New Tyre with the aim of making it independent from the UNSC. For the past several years they had slowly been gaining momentum as popular support for their cause rose.

Encouraged by their recent success, including the capture of a frigate and a corvette, insurrectionist General Hale planned for their greatest move yet, the theft of a cruiser. With it, he intended to make savage strikes at the UNSC's military infrastructure, attacking shipyards, military bases, and logistics chains surrounding New Tyre without risking civilian or collateral damage. "throwing the UNSC a curveball" as Hale put it, and that was the inspiration of the operation's codename.

Operation: CURVEBALL
Hale's goal was the capture the UNSC Illustrious, a fairly new ship laid in New Tyre's orbital docks for repairs after an engagement with an as-of-yet unknown enemy (Covenant). The plan called for several maneuvers to be pulled off. The UIF launched several decoy attacks on New Tyre around New Tyzena and Korae, including smaller but overt raids on UNSC bases. Trusting that this would keep the UNSC's eyes off the ship while the UIF made their move, Hale commenced phase two of CURVEBALL.

Most of the ship's crew were away while repairs were underway, leaving only a security detail and a minimal amount of crew to occupy it. Passing themselves off as part of the repair crew, a covert commando team slipped by security and infiltrated the ship before rushing the bridge and deactivating it's onboard AI and plugging in their own AI, Marco, and deactivating the ship's anti-air defenses. As the alarm sounded across the shipyards the rest Hale's handpicked assault group landed in the  Illustrious'  hangar bay from dropships.

In the confusion of several attacks the UNSC could not mount an effective response in time, and the UIF were able to take control of the ship and escaped with it into the out rim of the system. With a cruiser class vessel on the loose, the UNSC battlegroup with it's few frigates was scattered. The UIF made maximum use of this victory for propaganda and morale, leaking the act directly to the media and taking their own soldiers to tour the ship in a post-victory celebration. The theft made instant headlines; Rebels Steal Cruiser, Rebels on the Warpath, Cruiser Stolen, it all made for excellent propaganda.

General Hale was purported to have only partaken only briefly in the celebration before leaving to prepare for the expected UNSC counterattack.

Opening Skirmish
CENTCOM did not take this lying down and panicked over the prospect of a cruiser in rebel hands. The UNSC immediately organized it's ships to hunt down the Illustrious.

Battle of New Tyre
The Battle of New Tyre, also called the Fall of New Tyre, was a major engagement in the early years of the Human-Covenant War. For decades New Tyre had been a battleground between the UNSC and various rebel and secessionist forces attempting to break away from the Unified Earth Government. Host to almost a dozen disparate rebel groups, three of which had exo-assets, the planet had become a major hotspot for the Insurrection.

Shortly before the battle, conflict flared across the planet as the United Independence Front made their big gambit to capture the Illustrious, a Marathon-class cruiser, and use it against the UNSC. The ensuing skirmish left both sides bloodied but intact. But the situation completely changed as a Covenant Fleet entered the system.

The battle marked the first recorded incident of cooperation being the UNSC and the Insurrection against the Covenant as the UNSC and UIF allied to face the new threat. Through a combination of delicate planning, fortune, and self-sacrifice, the combined human forces was able to successfully hold off the Covenant and ensure the complete evacuation of New Tyre.

Initial Contact
At 8:13 on May 13th, without warning long-range scanners detected seventeen slipspace ruptures at the edge of the system. From them a fleet of unidentified vessels emerged and their first act was the outright annihilation of the civilian space station Barbados and all two thousand lives aboard it. It was the Covenant. This slaughter was soon followed by numerous outposts over the next two hours. Civilian freighters and vessels were also chased down and destroyed without mercy. The situation between the UNSC and rebels quickly changed as a new force encroached further into the system, slowly and methodically destroying any human life along the way, station by station and ship by ship. What few picket ships that were out there tried vainly to stop the Covenant fleet before they were destroyed by powerful energy-based weapons.

The UNSC fleet under Rear Admiral Colt knew what they faced and what little time they had and immediately turned his attention away from the rebels. Colt contacted the planetary government and declared and ordered to begin the total evacuation of New Tyre effective immediately. The Admiral prepared to deploy his fleet against the Covenant, however with a mere twelve ships they were horribly outmatched and defeat was assured.

An Unlikely Alliance
"Admiral, you know just as well as I that your fleet doesn't stand a chance against these...things. This world is our home. If you fail then everyone on it, everyone we love and cherish...is forfeit. You need our help, Admiral. And I am willing to offer it, for the sake of our world."

- General Hale, leader of the United Independence Front to Admiral Colt

Colt would be surprised to be contacted by the insurrectionist leader, General Hale. Hale contacted the UNSC Admiral and demanded to meet with him and in a surprising move offered his assistance in repelling the alien invaders. Colt was of course skeptical and questioned why he should trust a rebel, let alone one he was only moments ago fighting. Hale retorted that the UNSC was completely outmatched anyway and reminded him that New Tyre was his home and that if they failed to protect that everyone will die. Colt contemplated this for a moment, his second in command, Captain Robert Gates, was skeptical that the rebels intentions were honest and suspected that they would turn on them the first chance they got. Colt considered this and made his decision, Colt reopened communications with Hale and accepted the rebel's offer.

Many of Hale's officers were outraged and railed against this calling it an act of betrayal to aid their long time enemy. Still Hale held a lot of support from his men, the more rational supported his decision, including his second in command, Lt. Golding. The dissidents, lead by Lieutenant Lancer Millers demanded that they use this opportunity to rally the people and overthrow the UNSC. UIF Command descended into fierce arguments of barely controlled aggression until Hale silenced them. He reminded them that they would achieve nothing and unless they, fellow humans, pulled together to stop the invaders, or else New Tyre would burn and everything they had worked for would be for nothing. For now Lieutenant Millers backed off and seemed to accept this.

"I don't suppose you have another secret fleet lying around somewhere do you?"

- Jeriah Colt to Hale on their situation

As a sign of good faith, Hale took a Pelican to the UNSC flagship, the Terra Firma, to discuss battle plans with Colt. With Covenant forces mere hours away the two discussed strategy. Even with there forces combined their prospects looked grim. Colt did his best to bring Hale and the UIF up to speed with the capabilities of the Covenant, their strengths, religious nature, and technological capabilities. He revealed that Battle Group Terra Firma was originally on it's way to rendezvous with Admiral Cole's fleet to confront the Covenant before they were pulled aside by the UIF's theft of the Illustrious. He half seriously inquired if Hale "had anymore secret fleets lying around" which Hale admitted he did not.

Colt then made it clear that they did not have the strength to fight the Covenant head on, and that their only chance was to draw out the fight as only long as they can for evacuations to complete, and if the Covenant decide to ignore or bypass them then they stood no chance. The insurrectionist General deferred command of their naval actions to Colt but also stressed that Colt should heed any his recommendation if the battle takes to the ground. After finalizing the last details of the plan, General Hale returned to the Spartacus and issued orders to not engage the UNSC and to prepare for "foreign" attack. Colt deployed the 20th Marine Division, 11th Shock Troops Battalion, and 3rd Air Wing to the surface to link up and dig in with the disparate Colonial Militias and the depleted 16th and 62nd Infantry Regiments below.



First Volley
With virtually every last outpost in the system destroyed the Covenant fleet converged on the planet itself. The combined UNSC-UIF fleet, a total of twenty ships, lay waiting in orbit. Colt had their fleet array itself in a checkerboard style formation in order to bring all their MAC cannons to bear on the incoming enemy. The Covenant moved as a single mass, their escorts orbiting their single massive CAS-class Assault Carrier that sat at the center of their formation.

The UNSC-UIF fleet did not wait for the Covenant to enter New Tyre's orbit or allow them to make the first move. As soon as they entered targeting range the fleet fired staggered volleys of magnetic-accelerated rounds at the Covenant fleet. MAC rounds slammed into ten of their ships, most of them were absorbed by their shields but one Covenant frigate was destroyed and another was damaged. The Covenant took the bait and rather than deploy to the surface moved into attack speed straight at them.

Even before the first shots struck the UNSC-UIF fleet was already turning to retreat. Colt knew that they wouldn't be able deal enough damage even if they concentrated their fire more efficiently. Having the escorts target the Covenant frigates while their capital ships blunted the shields of the cruisers was only to get their attention, if the Covenant took them too seriously then it would simply mean their own swift destruction.

The human fleet accelerated away from the pursuing Covenant and kept the planet's curvature between them. Colt kept their ships just barely within firing range of the Covenant, not moving at full power as to reveal their full capabilities, and keeping their attention on them. For the next twenty-six hours Colt led the Covenant all around the planet. Periodically the human fleet would briefly turn to form up and fire another volley at the Covenant from extreme range while their fighters duke it out. Each brief clash led the Covenant along further, but the cost was bloody.

Over the course of eight clashes more than half of UNSC-UIF fleet was lost. The UNSC lost four of their frigates, the Magdalene sacrificed itself to intercept a plasma torpedo meant for the Terra Firma. Two of their precious cruisers, the Falkland and the Sedan, were also destroyed. Meanwhile the UIF fair little better, having lost four of their five armed freighters in the second engagement and the Vercingetorix was nearly cut in half by a pulse laser. So far the other cruisers in the combined UNSC-UIF fleet only escaped long range fire by the Covenant by desperately using premature archer missile detonations inspired by the. At this point they had managed to destroy a further two Covenant cruisers and damaging a third.

This run-and-gun battle continued for another grueling ten hours, after which the Covenant caught on. Their Fleet Master had thought they could simply destroy the fleet at their leisure before deploying to the surface but that was taking too long. At noon of the second day of the battle, the Covenant fleet split in two. Four cruisers and four corvettes broke off from the main fleet and headed straight for New Tyre's main continent. And they were not alone. The rest of the fleet, including the massive Assault Carrier, deployed hundreds of dropships and fighters with the breakoff group as an escort. With the gig up the UNSC-UIF fleet fired a salvo of archer missiles at the descending invasion force but ironically their carefully maintained distance prevented that.

Covenant Landfall
The Covenant army landed in overwhelming strength. They assaulted six of New Tyre's seven largest population centers and center-points of evacuations. The cities of New Tyzena, Azores, Korae, Aegea, Verde, and New Nassau all came under attack. Two cruisers lead the attack on New Tyzena while the other two cruisers attacked Korae and New Nassau respectively, meanwhile the four corvettes broke up in to two groups, one assaulting Aegea and the other Verde.

The two cruisers attacking New Tyzena, dubbed CCS-U166 and CCS-U167, began low-level plasma bombardment of the city and it's outskirts, devastating whole city blocks and suburban sections within minutes. The UNSC sent in a strike force of eight Longsword fighter and Shortsword bomber squadrons outfitted with GBU-2494/T MSNOs (Massive Shaped-charge Non-nuclear Ordnance) in an attempt to destroy the two cruisers. Despite a valiant effort, the strike force fails to destroy either of the cruisers, their warheads proving ineffective at piercing their shields.As a result the were devastated as a result with the surviving 14% returning to base. However, the force of the bombardment succeeded in forcing the two cruisers to break off their attack and retreat several kilometers. Despite this momentary reprieve thousands of Covenant warriors were still mustering at their landing zones and within hours would lay siege to New Tyzena.

On the others fronts a similar situations was playing out as Covenant vessels on the surface began low level bombardments of their targets.

As night fell of the second day of the battle the ground campaign began in earnest.


 * UNSC-UIF hold the line in several cities. Well placed but stretched thin. Trying to hold back for evacuations to complete.
 * Many UNSC positions being overrun while others are just barely holding on. Army and Militia forces devastated. Outnumbered by Unggoy legions, outfought by Sangheili warriors.
 * UIF lead ODSTs troops under Major Rolph Macer through secret tunnels and passages. Begin to outmaneuver Covenant force and they successfully blunt the first assault.
 * UNSC-UIF forces begin to consolidate their positions.
 * Snipers, explosives, collapse buildings.

Fight for Ticonderoga

 * Tunnel fighting and evacuation
 * Covenant forces break off from the New Tyzena siege towards Camp Ticonderoga.
 * UIF open fire from concealed positions; hidden bunkers, camoflauged trenchlines

Coup D'etat

 * URF take the moment to overthrow UEG-government. Take over something city, engage UNSC-UIF forces.
 * Lt. Millers defects and leads defectors on the Spartacus to try and assassinate "Hale's traitors" in a coup.

The Axe Falls

 * Last stand in orbit
 * Blackjack deploys TARATANULA stealth mines.
 * Assault Carrier devastating them. Key to winning is to destroy it. Hale wants to "break it's stupid neck" and has inspiration.
 * Takes the damaged Spartacus behind the moon and waits. Fleet lures Covenant into minefield and when shields are weakened charges in from above, fires everything it got, and rams the ship into Carrier's neck, decapitation.

Space assest
Cruisers Destroyers Frigates Prowlers
 * UNSC Terra Firma, super-heavy cruiser
 * UNSC Verdun, Marathon-class heavy cruiser
 * UNSC Sedan, Marathon-class heavy cruiser
 * UNSC Falkland, Marathon-class heavy cruiser
 * UNSC Neptune, Marathon-class heavy cruiser
 * UNSC Havoc
 * UNSC Dusk and Dawn
 * UNSC Magdalene
 * UNSC Hornet
 * UNSC Arcadia
 * UNSC Lapis Lazoli
 * UNCS Blackjack

Ground forces

 * 11th Marine Expeditionary Force
 * 20th Marine Division
 * 11th Shock Troops Battalion
 * Echo Company
 * Kilo Company
 * 3rd Air Wing
 * 5th Artillery Regiment
 * 275th Tank Battalion
 * 16th Infantry Regiment
 * 62nd Infantry Regiment
 * New Tyre Colonial Militia
 * New Tyrian Police Forces

Personnel

 * Admiral Jeriah Colt
 * Captain Robert Gates
 * Colonel Jean Callahan
 * Colonel Richard Galloway
 * Major Rolph Macer
 * Captain Roimata Kiri
 * Captain Rika Mogami

Space assets

 * UIF Spartacus, Marathon-class heavy cruiser
 * UIF Vercingetorix, Paris-class heavy frigate
 * UIF Guevara, Mako-class corvette
 * UIF William Wallace, armed freighter
 * UIF Boudicca, armed freighter
 * UIF Washington, armed freighter
 * UIF Joan d'Arc, armed freighter
 * UIF Fawkes, armed freighter

Ground forces

 * UIF Revolutionary Forces
 * UIF Commandos

Personnel

 * General Nathaniel Hale
 * Lieutenant Naston Golding
 * Lieutenant Lance Millers

Space assets

 * URF Lafayette, modified Gorgon-class heavy destroyer
 * URF-aligned Freighters

Ground forces

 * URF 24th Volunteer Battalion
 * URF Commandos
 * UIF defectors

Personnel

 * Colonel Jacobs Keller
 * Captain Julia Myers
 * Lieutenant Lance Millers (post-defection)