Battle of Puerto Rico

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Previous:	Battle of New Mombasa
Battle of Puerto Rico
Conflict:	Human-Covenant War
Date:	October 20th 2552-November 25th 2552
Location:	Puerto Rico
Outcome:	UNSC Victory
Belligerents UNSC Covenant Commanders Yuki (YKI 7152-7) Ultra Lezo 'Gohom Brute Chieftain Rastoius Strength UNSC Garrison and UNSC Gli Arditi ≈5,000 Garrison of Marines 30 ODSTs 1,873 Elites (post-October 22nd) 15 Machine gun Warthogs 5 Gauss Warthogs ≈30 Transport Warthogs 5 Scorpion Tanks 1 Grizzly Tank ≈10 Wolverines ≈12 Pelican transports ≈15 Hornets 3 Elephant Mobile Bases 1 Charon-class frigate UNSC Gli Arditi ≈14,000 Local Militia 1 Onager MAC CCS-class Cruiser with Phantom groups ferrying from the carriers. ≈2,500 Elites (pre-October 22nd) ≈3,000 Brutes ≈4,000 Grunts ≈2,500 Jackels ≈25 Hunters ≈150 Drones ≈15 Ghosts ≈20 Brute Choppers ≈30 Banshees ≈10 Wraith tanks 6 AA Wraiths ≈26 Phantom Gunships CCS-class cruiser Revealing Lance Casualties Heavy 2,456 Marines killed 1,312 Marines wounded 679 Elites killed 892 Elites wounded 13 Machinegun Warthogs (3 misplaced) 5 Gauss Warthogs 7 Transport Warthogs 3 Scorpion Tanks (one misplaced) 1 Grizzly Tank (misplaced) 8 Wolverines 4 Pelican Transports 13 Hornets 1 Charon-class Frigate UNSC Gli Arditi 4,267 Militia killed 5,263 Militia wounded 263 Grunts (Defected) 8 Hunters (Defected) Remainder of Covenant forces eradicated
[Source]

The Battle of Puerto Rico was a prolonged engagement between UNSC and Covenant forces on the island of Puerto Rico during the Battle of Earth. The island was primarily invaded to use as a heavily fortified staging ground for further invasions the other Human territories in the Americas.

History

The archipelago seceded from United States control in 2075 after refusing to participate in the Second American Civil War. Through independence from the United States, they were free of the Jones Law which hamperred their trade with the rest of the world, after establishing a solid trade system with Latin America and Europe, Puerto Rico focused on Healthcare and Research. The creation of the Island-wide Hospital Network, the Ramon Emeterio Betances y Alacan Hospital Network (The REBA Hospital Network), in 2087 would mark a point in which Puerto Rico would become the largest and most advanced Hospital on planet Earth. With a total of eight Hospitals established in cities adjacent to the Central Mountain Range and connecting each one with a Magnetically levitated (Maglev) train system, responding to patient's needs became trivial. Each hospital was focused on certain aspects of healthcare but all would have basic and specialized facilities to handle patients.

Covenant forces arrived over the island and took the city of Rincón in a rapid assault backed by an CCS-class cruiser. The city became the main landing point for additional Covenant forces across the island. Sabotage by retreating UNSC and Militia personnel blocked the main roads and caverns leading to the other cities, making the Covenant depend on Phantoms and Spirits to ferry their troops around. Very soon after the initial engagement, the Covenant began sieging the Capital of San Juan in an attempt to set up another foothold for additional forces.

Timeline

Ambush at Puerto Nuevo

Early morning on the 22nd of October, a pack of roaming Brutes, Ghosts and Choppers arrived at the Luis Munoz Marin Park, where a group of Covenant Phantoms dropped heavy vehicles to be established at Plaza las Americas due to its massive parking garage being an ideal location for early Anti-Air defenses. Scattered UNSC forces, which comprised of a small handful of marine squads and two Machine Gun Warthogs, in the immediate area were able to link up and set up traps to whittle down the convoy. Setting up the traps in phases, they first placed mines at Jesus T. Pinero Avenue, where they destroyed three ghosts and two brute choppers, after the mines detonated, the two warthogs managed to bait the rest of the convoy into following them up the Avenue and into Argel Road, where the very small pathways allowed the UNSC forces to destroy two more brute choppers and a Wraith. The Covenant convoy then diverted into Angora Road, where they would lose another Chopper and Ghost during the attempt. After passing through Andorra road and reaching AndaLucía Avenue, additional mines destroyed one of the Anti-Aircraft Wraiths and additional UNSC reinforcements would pincer the convoy with a Scorpion to the North, Gauss Warthogs to the South and the Local forces with the Machine Gun Warthogs to the East. The remaining Wraith and two Anti-Aircraft Wraiths would be destroyed by the combined firepower of the pincer manoeuvre, resulting in a complete UNSC Victory.

Engagement at the University of Rio Piedras

On October 26th, A large Brute pack with banshee support arrived outside of the University of Rio Piedras, trapping the Marines and civilians still inside at the main clocktower and courtyard. They held off the waves of enemy infantry using school desks and materials as make-shift barricades to funnel the enemy towards kill-zones. After several hours of holding off the enemy assault, the Wolverines arrived nearby with an escort and cleared the skies, allowing the Pelicans to then land in the main courtyard and evacuate the remaining civilians and marines, abandoning the ruined University. The surviving brute forces withdrew from the University hours later. Hours later, the UNSC Gli Arditi would arrive at San Juan with more munitions and would remain to support the defence of the island.

Defense of Ancient San Juan

From October 29th to the 30th, A large attack came in the form of Banshees and Phantoms swarming Ancient San Juan. The UNSC Gli Arditi was at the moment being refueled and docked, unable to assist in the defense. Wolverines and Hornets dealt devastating casualties to the Covenant while the Hornet groups would suffer their own and be forced to retreat. Ground combat in the old spaniard-era town was brutal: Brute Squads and Ghosts attempted to push towards the main UNSC base at San Felipe. UNSC Marines and ODSTs were pushed back up to the open field infront of San Felipe, where heavy armor was able to assist and coordination from the three Elephant Mobile Bases in the area let the UNSC forces regroup. As they retreated, Covenant forces were caught by the forces stationed at San Cristobal Castle and subsiquently defeated. Although the Covenant attack would be repelled, the UNSC defenses would not be capable of repelling a stronger assault that would likely arrive soon.

Engagement in Arecibo Communication Center

ODST squad Theta-Four were dispatched to secure the Former Radiotelescope's Long-Range Comms array to re-establish connections with SATCOM after it had suddenly gone offline. They engaged Brute Stalkers during the night of October 31st. They were able to dispatch them and reestablish the connection. Marines and Militia would arrive the next morning to defend the Comms Center from further incursions.

Unexpected Reinforcements

During the initial days of fighting, the Lack of Sangheili confused the UNSC forces, only finding out about the Covenant's betrayal on October 26th, when the surviving elites were found by ODSTs, wounded and defenseless in Rio Piedras Botanical Garden. Despite extensive discussion between the arriving UNSC, that fought against the elites for decades, and Local Militia, that had only a distant connection to the war; it was decided that due to the Covenant outnumbering their forces, the Elites would be allowed to continue to recover in the park under the watch of a small militia garrison. On November 3rd, the leader of the surviving elites, Ultra Lezo'Gohomee, was contacted by other Sangheili on High Charity, being informed of the Great Schism and the ousting of the elites from the Covenant. Lezo used this information to convince the humans on Puerto Rico to allow the capable elites to fight against the brutes as they had a common foe. The uneasy alliance was smoothed over on November 8th, when the alliance between the two species was officialized by the UNSC. Lezo 'Gohom would later lead his own individual force as to avoid any negative encounters between the Sangheili survivors and battle-scarred humans, stealing from minor brute bases and using their weapons against them.

Assault on Cabo Rojo Tyrant AA Gun Network

The Main UNSC force reached Cabo Rojo during the night of November 17th. With Covenant forces spread thin across the city, UNSC forces were able to reach the Tyrant Anti-Aircraft Cannons with minimal casualties. It was soon found out that the light defenses were due to the Covenant Fleet, including the Assault carriers that supplied the invasion of Puerto Rico, had gone through the Voi portal, leaving the local garrison without further reinforcements.

The Second Front gains strength

The Elite front, led by Lezo 'Gohom, recieved a distress call from a Covenant base established to the far east of Aguadilla. The grunts stationed there had rebelled against the Brutes and requested to join them.

Lezo 'Gohom killing a brute scout while traveling to meet the Rebel Grunts

Lezo traveled alone, as to not risk the other elites in the case it was a trap. During his trip, he killed a small brute scouting party sent to find out what happened to the base. He then arrived to the base and to his surprise, met the grunts with large amounts of munitions, re-painted Wraiths, Ghosts and Phantoms and even several Hunters that chose to join Lezo’s side as well. Once the rest of the Sangheili arrived, they established it as a main base to strike from and would assist in the final engagements of the island.

Raid at Mayagüez Tyrant AA Gun Network

UNSC Scorpion ambushing a lone Wraith in the small forest near Mayagüez, viewed from the cannon's view camera.

Three full squads of Marines were hot-inserted to the outskirts of the city as the main force arrived from the other side of the city on November 19th, two days after most of Truth's fleet entered the Portal at Voi. As the main force engaged the Covenant occupying the city, the Marines made their way towards the Tyrant Anti-Aircraft gun, eliminating several patrols in the process. Unfortunatly, the entire force was eliminated after Banshee patrols delayed Pelican evacuations for too long. However, with the final Tyrant network destroyed, the Charon frigate was able to participate in the next battle, as well as allowing UNSC reinforcments from Cuba to finally assist.

Attack on the Revealing Lance

On November 21st, the Main assault force would arrive at Rincón with air support and assistance from Lezo's forces, attacking the city from the North and the South. The brutal battle between the UNSC's forces on Puerto Rico against the final Covenant stronghold would prove to be a bloody one. Lezo Gohom's forces arrived from the north as the UNSC forces arrived from the south, trapping the Covenant in two fronts. Despite having lost the Tyrant network, the battle in the skies would still be as chaotic as the ground engagements, due to Banshee squadrons and Anti-Aircraft Wraiths having been established on elevated parking garages. The Covenant forces attempted to push back both fronts on several occasions, but were promptly defeated in their attempts. During the chaos, the crew aboard the CCS Revealing Lance mutinied against their commanding chieftain and began to flee north, leaving the Gli Arditi to provide fire support to the ground battle. Once the larger threats were eliminated, the Gli Arditi began its chase for the cruiser that fled during the battle.

Fall of the Revealing Lance

On November 23rd, the UNSC Gli Arditi, along with Longsword support from Havana's UNSC Airbase, caught up with the damaged CCS The Revealing Lance, now operating with reduced crew capacity. The remaining Banshee squadrons attempted to fight off the Longsword squadrons but were unsuccessful, eventually leaving the damaged and unshielded CCS with no fighter escort. After a combined attack against the cruiser's aft, the engines were critically damaged which left the mostly-intact cruiser to crash into the sea and sink into the Puerto Rico Trench.

On November 25th, the remaining stragglers that fled the battle at Rincón and hid inside the Camuy Caverns, along with the Brute Chieftain in charge of the invasion were wiped out by ODST squads and Lezo's personal lance.

Aftermath

The UNSC immediately withdrew the forces stationed on the island to assist in other engagements on Earth, while the Militia remained to secure what was left. Due to how quickly the UNSC had to leave, they only took the weaponry and vehicles that were fully intact and easy to ferry, leaving behind several damaged warthogs, an Scorpion with damaged tracks, three Elephants and even a heavily damaged Grizzly tank. The Militia reclaimed and repaired the armed vehicles and safeguarded them in secure facilities. The unarmed vehicles such as Troop Transport Warthogs and refitted Pelicans were used in restoration efforts across the island nation.