Battle for Arcadia
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The Battle for Arcadia[3] was a military engagement fought between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant on the human colony world of Arcadia during the Human-Covenant War in 2531.[4]
Prelude[edit]
Shortly after one of the last battles of the Harvest campaign, Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee and his ships quickly left the system after learning the location of Arcadia from a Forerunner artifact buried under Harvest's north pole. Professor Ellen Anders briefly examined the artifact and learned that it pointed in the direction of another planetary system. At her suggestion, and with permission from Admiral Preston Cole, the UNSC Spirit of Fire followed the Covenant fleet in hot pursuit.[4]
The battle[edit]
Space battle[edit]
Upon reaching Arcadia, two Covenant Ket-pattern battlecruisers exited slipspace. The UNSC Spirit of Fire arrived soon after. The UNSC Belfast, UNSC Texas, UNSC Pillar of Autumn, and UNSC Armstrong engaged the two battlecruisers immediately, catching one of them, designated CCS-U321, with its shields down and destroying it. However, the UNSC force suffered for its part in the battle. The Texas and Belfast were both destroyed, the Armstrong was venting atmosphere due to damage, and the Autumn suffered severe damage. After disabling the remaining UNSC vessels, the second battlecruiser, designated CCS-U624, moved towards Arcadia. Meanwhile, the Autumn and the Armstrong were assisted by the Spirit of Fire.[4]
At some point in the battle, Admiral Preston Cole and his fleet arrived at Arcadia and engaged the Covenant forces.[5] Before the Spirit of Fire left the Procyon system, it dropped a log buoy which Terrence Hood, captain of the UNSC Roman Blue, was assigned to recover. However, as the colony was already deemed lost by UNSC command, Roman Blue was also ordered to withhold from engaging the enemy in combat. Hood, enraged by the massive losses the Covenant had already inflicted on humanity, ordered his crew to attack the Sinaris-pattern heavy destroyer Radiant Perception. Overwhelmed, Hood was forced to retreat. Consequently, the Spirit of Fire's log buoy was not recovered and Hood would view himself as responsible for the Spirit of Fire's disappearance.[2] The log buoy was recovered by the Radiant Perception, but the ship was shot down on Laconia during the battle.[6] The space engagement ended with the destruction of most Covenant vessels, with the remaining ones fleeing from the system.[5]
Ground battle[edit]
- "It's a blood bath here! We need some cover now!"
- — An Arcadian Patrol officer[4]
Shortly after the first space engagement, the second Covenant vessel, CCS-U624, was engaged in "surface activity" on Arcadia, attacking civilian targets and Pirth City, Arcadia's capital.[4] The initial Covenant attack heavily damaged the planetary tram system; intact tram stations instead served as temporary shelters for refugees.[7] The