Battle of Alpha Base

This article is about the Covenant attack on Alpha Base. For the UNSC capture of Alpha Base, see First Battle of Alpha Base.

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Concurrent:	Skirmish on Infinite Succor
Next:	Raid on the Library
Battle of Alpha Base
Conflict:	Human-Covenant War
Date:	September 21, 2552
Location:	Installation 04, Alpha Base
Outcome:	UNSC victory
Details Belligerents United Nations Space Command Covenant Commanders Major Antonio Silva Lieutenant Melissa McKay Field Master Noga 'Putumee† Special Operations Officer Zuka 'Zamamee 1 unnamed Sangheili Zealot† Strength M808B Scorpions (2) [immobile] 2 M910 Rampart point-defence guns Captured Mamua'uda-pattern Shade and Rizsheda-pattern Shades D77 Pelicans UH-144 Falcons M12B Warthogs UNSC Marines ODSTs Fireteam Raven UNSC Navy personnel Wellsley Artificial Intelligence 6 Dextro Xur-pattern Spirits Ru'swum-pattern Phantoms 1 Kmiro'sish-pattern Lich Upright Chalice Captured UNSC Pelican Dropship Mgalekgolo Sangheili Zuka 'Zamamee Kig-Yar Yanme'e Unggoy Yayap Casualties Many Marines and Navy personnel wounded or KIA Cho Pauley Mary Murphy Rick Hale Majority of attack force 2 Spirits 1 Pelican Several Phantoms Noga 'Putumee

The Battle of Alpha Base was a military engagement between the UNSC Marine Corps and the Covenant during the Battle of Installation 04.

Prelude

An M910 Rampart gun at Alpha Base.

On September 19, 2552, human forces of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn landed on Installation 04 and proceeded to take over the Forerunner structures on a butte, later referred to by the humans as Alpha Base. The humans began to repeatedly raid Covenant deployments across the ring, with Lieutenant Melissa McKay leading a raid on the downed Autumn to retrieve vehicles, munitions and supplies for the UNSC base. The raid was a success, arming Alpha Base with a fleet of M12 and M12B Warthogs, four M808B Scorpion tanks and even two M910 Rampart 50mm autocannons. Additionally, a UNSC attack on the Truth and Reconciliation allowed Lieutenant Dalu to salvage several Type-29 and Type-26 Covenant Shade turrets to bolster the defenses of the operating base.

During the attack on the Pillar of Autumn, Sangheili Field Master Noga 'Putumee led a Covenant force in attempting to halt the UNSC armored column, but ultimately failed in this task. The series of repeated blows to the Covenant prompted the Council of Masters to grant Zuka 'Zamamee permission to lead an attack on Alpha Base.

His Unggoy assistant Yayap was left to be found by the UNSC forces, and transported to Alpha Base. The Unggoy was to activate a signaling device once he spotted John-117, alerting the Covenant to his presence so he could be eliminated. However, by the time the battle had started, the Master Chief had departed the base.

Battle

By 0236 hours on September 21, the final mission arrived back at Alpha Base for the night, with no more flights scheduled. The Battle for Alpha Base began with a distress relay call from the Pelican dropship Charlie 217. This Pelican had been listed as MIA, and so was allowed to land on one of the pads at Alpha Base, although a Marine reaction force was put on standby. The Pelican was piloted by Lieutenant Rick Hale, a Covenant prisoner. As soon as the Pelican was given permission to land, the lieutenant was strangled to death by Zuka 'Zamamee using an energy garrote. Wellsley, the Alpha Base AI, detected six additional heat signatures behind the Pelican which he recognized as Spirit dropships inbound at 350 kph. Though he was unable to prevent Charlie 217 from landing, he was able to warn his superiors to mount a response.

Fireteam Raven battling Covenant forces inside the base.

Thirty heavily armed Stealth Sangheili disembarked from the dropship and attacked every Marine in sight. Despite being caught mostly unaware, the UNSC forces rallied and fought back, flooding the landing pad with fuel and setting it aflame with a grenade, killing a number of the attackers and destroying the Covenant-captured Pelican. An explosion around this time shook the entire base, and alerted the remaining troops to the battle. The base's UH-144 Falcon complement began to fend off the inbound Covenant dropships and Banshees, while Fireteam Raven began to defend the base from encroaching forces. Several Spirits began to deploy their forces of Sangheili, Unggoy and Yanme'e inside the base, led by an Ultra. Banshee air strikes eliminated several Marines and a Pelican dropship, and Raven were ordered to get to the Shade turrets to help fend off aircraft. On the way they encountered more resistance, eventually using M41 SPNKRs to take down a Ru'swum-pattern Phantom and several Karo'etba-pattern Ghosts. A Spirit dropship would proceed to deploy two Mgalekgolo, though Raven would also take the Hunters down before finally mounting the Shades.

The ODST squad proceeded to take down several waves of Phantoms and Banshees before a new threat appeared - the Kmiro'sish-pattern Lich Upright Chalice. The large shuttle would hover near the base, allowing its infantry to fire down onto the mesa, though the majority of the onboard complement would be killed by return fire thanks to Fireteam Raven, including a Sangheili Zealot. The fireteam dismounted and were ordered to get to the base's landing pad, as they were needed elsewhere on the ring. They engaged more