User:Where'sWerdaf?/Battle of Askhan

"It's something worth fighting for" "No, it was something worth fighting for" -Lt. Irwin Jason and Dr. James Cox respectivel

The Askhan system was the furthest of the Inner Colonies, holding the UNSC's Freighting capital world Akarvic and the ONI ran Inverness, a planet filled with ancient artifacts. Also in the system were three minor planets. The planet fell between the 5th May and the 1st June 2547.

Timeline
5th May 2547: ONI Prowler Horizon Detects two Covenant Destroyers heading towards the system's furthermost planet, Neron.

6th May 2547: Covenant Assault Carrier Honour in Crusades exits slipspace over Neron after the destroyers decimate its orbital defenses. Honour in Crusades is followed by thirty Covenant Cruisers, including the Cradle of Spirits, mastered by Ship Master Rok, a Kig-Yar.

7th May 2547: The Covenant Battle Group move on to the snow-covered world of Inverness after obliterating Neron's population centres.

8th May 2547: The Askarvic Colonial Office Rapid Response Branch- closely connected to the UNSC Navy, draws up Operation: LANCELOT, a mission to cripple the Covenant Group at Inverness before they could launch an attack on Askarvic.

10th May 2547: 4 Halcyon Class Cruisers, manned by UNSC Marines, are brought to the Miami Shipyards in the Askarvian Province of Gull. Their mssion was to launch a surprise attack on Glory in Crusades, board and destroy it.

11th May 2547:

00:04: UNSC Harsh Winter exits Slipspace over Inverness. They are told the Carrier has moved, so they must alter their course. In reality, Dr. James Cox had diverted them

01:16: The other three Halcyon Class Cruisers are destroyed by the Assault Carrier.

02:33: Harsh Winter is engaged by the CCS-Cradle of Spirits. From under the panet's surface Dr. James Cox of ONI orders that a team of ODSTs be deployed to his position for an as yet unexplained mission. The ODSTs, led by Marine Lieutenant Irwin Jason, drop down into a deep crater where Cox is located. The Winter is shot down.

04:04: Cox explains the mission; to rescue his AI, Majo, who was drawing data from a massive Forerunner Computer in a cavern deep below the planet's surface. I the Covenant were to obtain Majo they would have the capability to easily defeat humanity. The ODSTs, Jason and Cox fight their way down, despite holding off the Wardens, shadowy creatures who guard the ancient computer, and the Covenant.

06:24: Sgt. Allen, leader of the ODSTs, is angered when he found out that the Alpha squad of ODSTs were sent to their deaths, as Warden activity shut off the computer, thus waking up Majo and allowing him to teleport the others to his chamber. Before Cox can justify the action, the Covenant attack the chamber.

06:45: After a short engagement with the Covenant Majo conjours up a Slipspace bubble, transporting the team into space, and destroys the Forerunner computer.

13:21: The team, in their bubble, arrive at the Askarvic Colonial office (ACO) HQ in Ford City, Gull. At first Cox is arrested for compromising the mission, but after Majo displayed the files he now obtained they released him. The team are sent to the UNSC's Hospital Grande on the edge of Ford city to treat their wounds.

13th May 2547: Covenant ships arrive at Askarvic. Majo transmits some Forerunner study files to the Cradle of Spirits. Seeing the files Rok realises the Covenant is a lie. He attemps to broadcast the truth to the rest of the Battle Group. Only four other ships get the transmission before the Assault Carrier blocks the signal. The five ships turn on and destroy the Assault Carrier, and the group falls into dissaray. after a massive battle only two of the 'enlightened' craft remained, Cradle of Spirits and Blissful Life. They hid behind one of the moons and attempted to communicate with the UNSC forces, who they now sook aligience with.

14th May 2547:

10:56: A Kig-Yar Pirate Battle Group, in touch with Rok, arrive to attack the Covenant battle group. Now surrounded on both sides by UNSC and Kig-Yar Pirate Ships, the Covenant ships lose all tactics and just fire everything everywhere.

14:00: Under the cover of the battle, Majo, Allen, Jason and one other ODST head to the moon of Rofl, on which Majo said would be a 'WMD' which would win the UNSC the battle. They discover a Forerunner bomb which would release pure heat energy and radiation, enough to destroy the entire system.

15:00: The UNSC Fleet retreats to within orbit, then the planet is encased into Majo's slipspace bubble. The Kig-Yar Pirates, along with the two Cruisers, head off into the stars. The Superbomb is detonated, destroying the Covenant fleet and the other planets in the system.

15:34: Askarvic is released from its bubble, unscathed. Majo and the team had already escaped in The ONI Prowler Hologram.

1st June 2547: A whole Covenant Fleet, headed by the Long Night of Solace, arrive and attack Askarvic. Communication was lost with the ACO at 17:29 that day, and only after the war was the planet found to be un-glassed, but completely deserted. ONI ran an investigation, the results of which were never published.