Battle of Surch

"This is Surch High Command, Cole Protocol is active! I repeat, Cole Protocol is active on Surch!"

- Surch High Command The Battle of Surch was a battle fought during the    that was fought between the    and the . The battle took place from August 2-August 7 2545 and saw a colossal UNSC loss at the hands of the Covenant.

Background
In 2545, the began to push closer towards the core worlds. Surch was an industrial powerhouse along the boarder of mid to inner colonies and proved to be a valuable asset, constructing supplies for the war effort and housing several UNSC bases. Due to the industry of manufacturing, the Covenant fleet of The Builder’s Fist, attacked the planet.

Orbital Bombardment
Upon the arrival of The Builder’s Fist to the planet’s orbit, the small stationed fleet present mobilized to pull in a defense for the world. However, due to the massive size of the Covenant forces, the UNSC navy was quickly defeated and destroyed as Covenant forces invaded the planet.

After the UNSC defenses were crushed, Covenant forces spread themselves along the planet’s outer atmosphere and began to conduct hourly orbital bombardments, targeting military installations and major civilian populous. Small UNSC attack forces were deployed to combat Covenant assaults, although, only a few succeed in destroy a few, and disabling weapons on a few.

After a day of pure bombardments across the planet’s surface, Covenant cruisers began to descend to the planet below.

Invasion of Isizinda Base
The Covenant deployed three cruisers to the UNSC base to Isizinda Base, a large UNSC base near Surch High Command. The cruisers deployed several phantoms down to the base’s outskirts while banshees back to bombard the defenses of the base. The Covenant began to eliminate air defenses while jamming local UNSC transmissions.

Ground forces began to encroach upon UNSC airstrips and outposts surrounding the base and attacked them in full. Once the airstrips were captured, ground forces burned the useable human equipment and destroyed any UNSC buildings that commanders deemed as useless to their cause. As the Covenant crept in closer to the base, basic Covenant units were recalled and redeployed with, deploying wave after wave of them and their clans.

Colonel Zachary Umfula and Lieutenant Amanda Umngane lead human forces within the base and prepare for the worse. Recalling a majority of local UNSC forces to the base, the UNSC and Covenant clashed once again. Umfula deployed the use of several and began to fire upon banshees and other incoming phantoms, greatly reducing Covenant attacks on the base. However, Covenant cruisers opened a bombardment on the AA’s and other sites around the base and the upper levels.

In the bombings, Umfula was killed which forced Umngane to take command of the situation. She instructed her chosen second-in-command, Riley Hogg, to command teams to reestablish communications and to alert High Command of the attacks. Hogg led her teams throughout the surrounding territory while Umngane remained behind and kept Covenant forces distracted by using every last ordinance in her disposal.

Hogg and her troops were able to disable the communication jammers and bring local communiqué back online. However, were guardian the jammers and killed the marines and reengaged the jammers. However, warnings were already sent to the High Command. After hearing of the transmission, the Covenant Fleet Master leading the invasion order Isizinda’s destruction. Covenant cruisers vacated the area as orbital bombardment hit the base and destroyed it, killing all inside and around the base.

Attack on High Command
Once Isizinda Base was taken down, Surch High Command issued the to be enacted and began to evacuate the planet. While evacuations were underway, the Surch High Command was under siege from Covenant forces. Covenant soldiers were deployed to the site and entered a standstill with UNSC marines and army rangers.

During the attack, UNSC numbers began to dwindle as the hours progressed forward. Like before, Brute suicide squads were deployed along with Elites and canon fodder grunts. Despite the Cole Protocol engagement, UNSC forces could not extract all data within High Command as Covenant numbers keep increasing. A distress signal was broadcasted to Fleet Command who deployed the UNSC Hamlet and the Alpha-Zulu Corps to the planet. Bravo Team was sent in with a new AI named Freeman and ordered to conduct data retrieval for the UNSC High Command and erase all remaining data they could not get. Before being deployed to the Surch High Comm Center, was reassign to  therefore he was removed from the team before the battle. Landing in an hot LZ, Bravo only had a five minute window before three CCS-class cruisers closed in on the center. Moving in as fast as possible, Benjamin-B300 along with his AI Freeman began pulling all data from the center while William and George defended the team. Before the team entered the building however, Peter was wounded and with the help of Julius was making a very slow recovery. As Benji and Freeman's data retrieval was complete, Peter took one of Julius' SMG's and began to provide cover fire for Bravo. Continuing their objective, Bravo made their way towards the pelican. Giving the Covenant all the fire he could Ben still could not give enough and as more Covenant rained down upon them, the pelican was forced to leave Peter behind as he was stabbed in the back by and energy sword. Bravo returned to the UNSC Hamlet and was greeted by fellow commander of the corps including Captain Roderick. After a few minutes of talk, the Hamlet left the planet as it too was taken by the Covenant.

Aftermath
Following the Battle of Surch, the was left horribly defeated as the planet fell in 5 days. While the Covenant lost three ships, the UNSC lost more than a dozen and several military personnel and industrial power and products from the world. Additionally, the lost of Spartan that was pulled from was a considerable loss that made the  question the practicality and use of the Alpha-Zulu Corps.

August 2

 * Covenant fleet, The Builder’s Fist, arrives at Surch.
 * responds with a defense fleet.
 * After a hour long space fight, the UNSC is slaughtered over the planet’s surface.
 * forces spread themselves over the planet’s surface.

August 3

 * Covenant forces begin to conduct orbital bombardment of the planet.
 * UNSC sends small response teams to counteract the attack.
 * While some teams are able to damage Covenant forces, the Covenant successfully eliminate major military and civilian centers from the planet.

August 4

 * After a day of orbital bombardment, Covenant begin surface level deployments.

August 5

 * Invasion of Isizinda Base begins by Covenant forces.
 * Covenant jam local UNSC communications.
 * Colonel Zachary Umfula is killed during a Covenant bombardment leaving Lieutenant Amanda Umngane and Sargent Major Riley Hogg to command the base.
 * Hogg is deployed to shut down the jammers as Umngane stays to lead a distraction team at the base.
 * The jammers are destroyed long enough for a distress and warning messages are sent out.
 * Isizinda Base is destroyed by the Covenant.

August 6

 * Covenant forces invades the Surch High Command.
 * Surch calls in reinforcements.
 * Alpha-Zulu Corps is deployed.
 * is engaged.

August 7

 * Bravo Team is send to Surch High Command to retrieve necessary UNSC data.
 * Peter-B305 is killed during the extraction.
 * Surch falls to Covenant hands.