Battle over Etalan

This article's title is a callsign, an alias, or a nickname, as no proper name for the subject has been revealed.

Previous:	Battle of Seoba
Concurrent:	Battle of Biko
Next:	Battle of Zhoist
Battle over Etalan
Conflict:	Human-Covenant War Operation: SILENT STORM
Date:	March 26, 2526
Location:	In orbit over Etalan, Igdras system
Details Belligerents UNSC Covenant Commanders PO1 John-117 Unknown Strength Task Force Yama detachment UNSC Vanishing Point 2 prowlers At least 24 S-14 Baselards 5 captured Elsedda-pattern Banshees 3 SPARTAN-II teams Blue Team Gold Team Green Team Fleet of Inexorable Obedience logistics fleet 15 ships of the line 3 bladder ships 4 equipment freighters Several Mjern-pattern agricultural support ships Several medical vessels Several Seraphs Several Elsedda-pattern Banshees Casualties At least 13 S-14 Baselards All 5 captured Banshees 3 bladder ships 4 equipment freighters Several Elsedda-pattern Banshees

The Battle over Etalan was an engagement in late March 2526 that took place over the former human colony of Etalan. During the battle, a small detachment of the UNSC Navy's Task Force Yama attacked and crippled a Covenant logistics fleet serving the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience, which was busy glassing the nearby world of Biko.

Background

Planning

During Task Force Yama's previous engagement with the Covenant at Seoba on March 19, 2526, Colonel Marmon Crowther of the 21st Space Assault Battalion had become suspicious of Lieutenant Commander Hector Nyeto. He had seemingly stalled in providing John-117 and his fellow Spartans with air support during the battle, leading to Crowther to believe that Nyeto had it out for the young supersoldiers. When the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience arrived at Biko on March 20, Nyeto deployed Crowther's Black Daggers aboard the prowlers of Task Force Yama. Meanwhile, back on the UNSC Vanishing Point, the colonel had Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson inform the Spartans that he was deploying them to Etalan in the Igdras system where the Fleet of Inexorable's logistic fleet was stationed. The alien fleet had recently destroyed the former human colony and left the logistics fleet there where it would be secure until Biko was similarly cleansed. This mission would keep the Spartans away from Nyeto and might also help to slow the Covenant's advance in this part of human space.

On the prowl

That same day, the Spartans, Avery Johnson, and Dr. Catherine Halsey left the Kolaqoa system aboard the Vanishing Point with two prowlers serving as escort. Two days later, they dropped out of slipspace near Etalan and spent the next four days observing the logistics fleet's movements and trying to discern which vessels would be the best to target. By March 26, the Vanishing Point's analysts felt confident that four of the fleet's fifteen vessels were equipment freighters carrying spare parts and other materials that would be used to keep the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience operational in the field. By this point, the logistics fleet was seemingly ready to break from orbit over Etalan, evidenced by the fact that they had begun syncing their orbits and bringing their fusion reactors to full power.