Battle of Netherop (2526)

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Battle of Netherop
Conflict:	Human-Covenant War
Date:	June 7, 2526
Location:	Netherop
Outcome:	Tactical UNSC/Covenant draw Failure by the UNSC to recover the Steadfast Strike Failure by the Covenant to recover the Luminal Beacons Nizat 'Kvarosee and most of his remaining forces permanently exiled on Netherop Netherop space-mined by the Covenant to prevent anyone from landing there ever again Failure by the Covenant to completely eliminate the human forces and vice versa Stranding of Lieutenant Commander Amalea Petrov and several others on Netherop Strategic Flotilla of Unsung Piety victory Successfully planted at least one Luminal Beacon on the human forces Escape of two vessels to continue the plan to destroy ONI
Details Belligerents United Nations Space Command Flotilla of Unsung Piety Covenant Commanders MCPO John-117 Fleetmaster Nizat 'Kvarosee Hierarchs Unnamed Sangheili Ultra Strength Task Force Pantea UNSC Kayenta UNSC Chaco UNSC Cibola UNSC Mesa Verde UNSC Rio Grande 1 ONI salvage ship UNSC Phyllis Wheatley 1 Razor-class prowler UNSC Night Watch 4 Spartan-IIs Blue Team 1 Marine battalion Castoffs Flotilla of Unsung Piety 9 intrusion corvettes Quiet Faith Still Devotion Silent Truth Divine Whisper 1 Covenant frigate Steadfast Strike Fleet of Swift Justice 1 CAS-class assault carrier 1 Covenant cruiser 5 Covenant destroyers 3 Covenant frigates Silent Shadow Casualties Heavy UNSC Night Watch UNSC Phyllis Wheatley At least one Halberd-class light destroyer 1 Pelican Heavy ground casualties Most of the Flotilla of Unsung Piety Steadfast Strike Still Devotion Divine Whisper Seven intrusion corvettes Heavy ground casualties Moderate

The Battle of Netherop was a military engagement fought in mid-2526 between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant, alongside a faction of Covenant defectors led by the disgraced former-fleetmaster Nizat 'Kvarosee, known as the Flotilla of Unsung Piety. The engagement was engineered by 'Kvarosee with the intent of regaining his prestige in the Covenant after his failures in the Battle of Zhoist earlier that year, with the intent of drawing in, and killing, the SPARTAN-IIs who had inflicted his prior defeat. This involved the use of a downed Covenant frigate, Steadfast Strike, as a target for a UNSC capture operation which could be used by Nizat to draw the Spartans in and also reveal the location of humanity's homeworld.

During the operation, 'Kvarosee's forces were pursued by a Covenant fleet, the Fleet of Swift Justice, which led to a large three-way confrontation on and in orbit of Netherop, ultimately culminating in the destruction of Steadfast Strike by the Covenant to deny its use to both the UNSC and 'Kvarosee. By the battle's end, 'Kvarosee and his followers were marooned on Netherop alongside a surviving stranded contingent of UNSC troops led by Commander Amalea Petrov, leading to an intermittent thirty-year conflict on the ground that would last until a decisive engagement in 2559.

Background

In 2525, the Covenant empire declared a war of genocide on humanity and began deploying its fleets into human space to destroy their colony worlds. One such fleet was the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience led by Fleetmaster Nizat 'Kvarosee, responsible for burning numerous worlds. The United Nations Space Command responded to these incursions by assembling a specialised task force with the goal of striking back into Covenant space, a mission dubbed Operation: SILENT STORM. SILENT STORM ultimately concluded with a UNSC attack on the Covenant world Zhoist, resulting in the destruction of its orbital ring and several cities.

During the fighting at Zhoist, Fleetmaster 'Kvarosee's forces failed to adequately defend the planet and as such were disgraced in the eyes of the Covenant leadership. This was further compounded with the destruction of the warship Almighty Persuasion and the irreplaceable Luminal Beacon housed aboard it, a Forerunner artefact capable of having its location tracked from anywhere in the galaxy. As such 'Kvarosee took the blame for the calamity at Zhoist and, despite his protests, was set for assassination by the Hierarchs with no way to restore his honor.

Seeing no way out of his peril, and desperate to prove his competence, 'Kvarosee went rogue alongside a cadre of shipmasters and troops personally loyal to him, the Flotilla of Unsung Piety. Together they staged a plan to lure in the UNSC by presenting them with an opportunity they could not pass up, which would allow them to plant the final surviving Luminal Beacon for the UNSC to discover and take back to their homeworld. After raiding the vault of the Beacon Keeper on High Charity, 'Kvarosee's forces set out, now fugitives from the Covenant.

Preparations and early engagements

Nizat chose the remote world Netherop for his trap, the site of a previous battle in the days prior to SILENT STORM, in which the UNSC had attempted to board a Covenant frigate, Radiant Arrow. Knowing that humanity were desperate to capture a Covenant starship for analysis, Nizat chose one of his own frigates, Steadfast Strike, and on June 3 allowed it to be "destroyed" by a wolf-pack of Halberd-class destroyers conducting attacks on Covenant supply lines. In reality the destruction was a feign, and Steadfast Strike intentionally crashed on Netherop's surface. If and when the frigate looked in danger of capture by the enemy, it would self-destruct to kill any humans (especially Spartans) aboard.

'Kvarosee counted on the destroyer task force reporting this back up the chain of command, expecting that the UNSC would not hesitate to take advantage of such an opportunity. He was correct in this assumption, and on June 5, 2526, SPARTAN-II Blue Team were pulled out of the battle of Mesra for this urgent new mission. In recognition of its strategic value, the UNSC designated the crashed frigate as the "Lucky Break".

The battle

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Aftermath

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The Prophet of Truth covered up Nizat 'Kvarosee's actions and the true nature of the events on Netherop, making it so that the Covenant World Registry made no mention of an orbital mine shell around Netherop, just the loss of the Radiant Arrow and the Steadfast Strike and that the Prophet of Truth had deemed the losses to be a sign of divine displeasure and forbade all Covenant vessels from entering the system. Nizat's exile on the planet was omitted with Arbiter Thel 'Vadam only having heard of the events up to Nizat and his forces fleeing from High Charity and a general order from the Hierarchs that Nizat be killed on sight. The Silent Shadow also apparently left behind Blademaster Meduz 'Ra'ashai to help enforce the exile, although he ended up joining forces with Nizat during his years stranded on the planet.

Over the next thirty-three years, Nizat and his forces waged an ongoing war against Petrov and her forces, unaware that the Covenant was eventually defeated. The exiled Covenant forces would discover leftover Precursor technology that allowed them to create armor that they called Sanctum's Hide and a weapon that they called the Divine Hand. However, Petrov and her forces were able to kill a number of Nizat's people over the years, leaving him with only six remaining followers, while the humans had children and their numbers only increased as time went on. Nizat became more and more fanatical as time went on, but his followers, aside from Tam, started to become disillusioned by their harsh life.

About a year after the battle, the UNSC sent a rescue mission to Netherop. A Prowler sneaked into orbit and established contact with Petrov. However, the orbital mine shell destroyed both Pelicans that were sent to Netherop's surface. Not prepared to clear a full mine shell and unwilling to risk twenty lives to save eight, the captain called off the mission but he promised that a better-equipped mission would come back when it was feasible. True to the Prowler captain's word, the corvette UNSC Alpina came years later and worked to punch through the mine shell. On the third day, the Alpina made contact with the UNSC survivors and promised that a Pelican would collect them before the next evening, having apparently found a way through the mine shell. However, Nizat was able to use the Divine Hand to destroy the Alpina and the third rescue mission that came after it.

Thirty-three years after the battle, the UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios would return to Netherop seeking a weapon capable of destroying Cortana's Guardians. The mission would see the dismantling of the orbital mine shell, the rescue of the stranded UNSC survivors from the Battle of Netherop, and the elimination of Nizat and his surviving forces.

List of appearances

• Halo: Oblivion (First appearance)
• Halo: Outcasts (Mentioned only)