Editing Operation: SILENT STORM

{{Era|HCW}}
{{Battle infobox
|prev=[[Skirmish over Netherop]]<ref name="HSS5">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 5</ref>
|conc=[[Operation: ICE DANCE]], [[Battle of Biko]]<ref name="HSS9">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 9</ref><ref name="HSS23">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 23</ref>
|next=[[Battle of Circinius IV]]<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/forums/db05ce78845f4120b062c50816008e5d/topics/learn-what-happened-today-in-halo/9e7159ac-143a-4e71-bcfd-622db8f7c3a3/posts?page=4#post65 ''Halo Waypoint Forums'' - Today in Halo]</ref>
|image=[[File:HSS full cover.jpg|200px]]
|conflict=[[Human-Covenant War]] {{C|[[Massacre of the Outer Colonies]]}}, [[Insurrection]]{{Ref/Reuse|HSS5}}<ref name="HSS24">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 24</ref>
|date=[[2526#March|March 8]] - [[2526#April|April 15, 2526]]{{Ref/Reuse|HSS5}}<ref name="HSS27">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 27</ref>
|place=*[[Seoba]], [[Biko]], [[Kolaqoa system]]<ref name="HSS7">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 7</ref>
*[[Etalan]], [[Igdras system]]<ref name="HSS20">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 20</ref>
*[[Zhoist]], [[Buta system]]<ref name="HSS26">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 26</ref>
|result='''UNSC Victory'''
*[[Hector Nyeto]] exposed as a traitor
*[[Biko]] glassed
*Destruction of the [[Ring of Mighty Abundance]]
*Destruction of two of the [[Ten Cities of Edification]]
*Decimation of the [[Fleet of Inexorable Obedience]]{{Ref/Reuse|O69}}
|side1=[[United Nations Space Command]]{{Ref/Reuse|HSS5}}
|side2=[[Covenant]]{{Ref/Reuse|HSS5}}
----
[[Insurrectionist]]s
*[[United Rebel Front]]<ref name="HSS6">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 6</ref>
*[[Gao Liberation Force]]
*[[Biko Independence Army]]
*[[People's Occupation]]
*[[Venezian Militia]]
|commanders1=*[[Vice Admiral|VADM]] [[Preston Cole]]
*VADM [[Michael Stanforth]]
*CAPT [[Halima Ascot]]†
*[[Lieutenant Commander|LCDR]] [[Hector Nyeto]] {{c|Traitor}}
*[[Colonel|COL]] [[Marmon Crowther]]†
*[[Master Chief Petty Officer|MCPO]] [[John-117]]
|commanders2=*[[Minor Minister of Artifact Survey]]†<ref name="HSS9">''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'', Chapter 9</ref>
*[[Fleetmaster]] [[Nizat 'Kvarosee]]
*[[First Blade]] [[Tel 'Szatulai]]†
----
*General [[Harper Garvin]]
*[[Petora Zoyas]]
|forces1=*[[UNSC Navy]]
**[[Battle Group X-Ray]]
***[[Task Force Yama]]
**[[SPARTAN-II program|SPARTAN-IIs]]
***[[Blue Team]]
***[[Green Team]]
***[[Gold Team]]
*[[UNSC Marine Corps]]
**[[Orbital Drop Shock Troopers]]
***[[21st Space Assault Battalion]]
|forces2=[[Fleet of Inexorable Obedience]]
----
|casual1=
*Several [[Prowler]]s
*Heavy ODST losses
|casual2=
*Several [[Covenant starship]]s
**Three [[Intrusion corvette]]s
**''[[Hammer of Faith]]''
*Two of the [[Ten Cities of Edification]]
*[[Ring of Mighty Abundance]]
*Most of the [[Fleet of Inexorable Obedience]]<ref name="O69">''[[Halo: Oblivion]]'', p. 69</ref>
*[[Tel 'Szatulai]]
*[[Minor Minister of Artifact Survey]]
----
|civilian1=
|civilian2=
}}
'''Operation: SILENT STORM''' was a [[UNSC]] [[Operation]] against the [[Covenant]] early in the [[Human-Covenant War]] aimed at buying humanity time to develop effective countermeasures against Covenant technology. It was comprised of a series of engagements featuring mainly the [[SPARTAN-II]]s and [[21st Space Assault Battalion]].

==Background==
===Attack on Harvest===
{{Main|First Battle of Harvest|Battle of Harvest}}
In [[2525]], the [[Covenant]] declared war on humanity for supposed heresy and defilement of [[Forerunner]] relics. The first engagements took place on the colony world [[Harvest]], with Sergeant [[Avery Johnson]] leading [[Colonial Militia]] forces against the [[Jiralhanae]] of [[Maccabeus' clan]]. During the engagement, Sergeant Johnson led a boarding action of the [[Kig-Yar]] vessel ''[[Minor Transgression]]''. The [[Skirmish on Minor Transgression|resulting skirmish]] led to the Marines boarding and almost capturing the vessel prior to its self-destruct.

Following this first attack on Harvest, Vice Admiral [[Preston Cole]] led a massive attack aimed at recapturing the world from the aliens. Using the largest-ever assembled fleet in human history, the Admiral won victorious over the aliens, but at extremely heavy losses. This battle was soon followed by more Covenant attacks at other colony worlds including [[Chi Ceti IV]] and [[Alpha Corvi II]], and the start of the five-year [[Harvest campaign]].

===UNSC Planning===
With the initial reconquest of Harvest successful at a high price, it became clear to UNSC command that the war was unlikely to be one through sheer naval superiority due to the aliens' vastly superior technology. Realising the UNSC needed time to fully mobilise for war and to develop technology sufficient of fighting the new threat, Vice Admiral Cole convened a meeting to devise Operation: SILENT STORM. Inspired by Sergeant Johnson's successful boarding of ''Minor Transgression'' and the successful boardings of ''[[Unrelenting]]'' and ''[[Radiant Arrow]]'' by [[SPARTAN-II program|SPARTAN-II]]s the year prior, Cole intended to use the SPARTANs supplemented by an [[ODST]] space assault [[battalion]] to infiltrate and plant [[nuclear weapon]]s on Covenant vessels and staging points behind enemy lines - disrupting the enemy supply lines and invasion while the UNSC could prepare.

The plan called for three teams of SPARTAN-IIs - [[Blue Team|Blue]], [[Gold Team|Gold]] and [[Green Team|Green]] - to lead the 400-strong [[21st Space Assault Battalion]] in boarding as many Covenant vessels as possible. The operation would be enabled by a [[task force]] of [[Prowler]]s - [[Task Force Yama]]. Using the stealth craft, the operation was given free reign to approach its goals however it saw fit, operating within enemy territory without support or communications. To assist the SPARTANs in working alongside UNSC personnel and to provide advice and assistance, Sergeant Johnson was additionally brought onto the operation in an advisory role.

Following the predicted enemy attack patterns, the UNSC estimated that the next colony world in the Covenant conquest would be [[Biko]]. Task Force Yama would covertly infiltrate Bikon airspace and land in a deserted [[Seoba ice quarry|ice quarry]] on the moon of [[Seoba]] and wait until the Covenant had engaged regular defensive forces in orbit before infiltrating unnoticed amidst the chaos. Depending on the outcome, the distracted Covenant fleet would then be beset upon by Cole's [[Battle Group X-Ray]] or destroyed by the SPARTAN infiltration.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS5}}

===Insurrectionist plot===
With the Covenant invasion of the outer colonies strong, the [[Insurrectionist]]s hoped to spare their worlds by aligning with the aliens to fight against the UNSC - unaware of the aliens' genocidal intent. [[Lyrenne Castilla]] called for a conference aboard her frigate ''[[Bellicose]]'', consisting of the leaders of a number of rebel cells. The groups invited to the conference included the [[United Rebel Front]], [[Gao Liberation Force]], [[Biko Independence Army]], [[Venezian Militia]], [[Freedom League]] and [[People's Occupation]]. Here, the group discussed plans to ally with the aliens and drew up a plan. The Gao Liberation Force (GLF), represented by [[Petora Zoyas]] and wanting to increase its influence, divulged its knowledge of Operation: SILENT STORM and the imminent attack on Biko - knowledge gleaned from the group's spy within Task Force Yama. The Biko Independence Army (BIA) was outraged by the UNSC plan to use Biko as a "sacrificial lamb", and demanded immediate action. Hoping to use the Covenant to attack the UNSC and destroy the SPARTAN supersoldiers - who had been successfully rooting out the [[Insurrection]] for years - the rebels would present this knowledge to Covenant, with the promise of more to come on the condition that Biko and other rebel-aligned worlds be spared from the onslaught.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS6}}

Meanwhile, the other insurrectionist groups would pledge their aid to the Bikon insurrection; using the ice quarry at Seoba as a base, the combined force would strike at Biko's orbital facilities and government, overwhelming the [[Chancellor's Guards|planetary defenses]] ready to offer the planet to the Covenant when the attack came. The information was presented to [[Silent Shadow]] operative [[Tel 'Szatulai]] upon notice, who promptly brought the information to [[Nizat 'Kvarosee]], the [[fleetmaster]] or the [[Fleet of Inexorable Obedience]]. 'Szatulai and a force of [[Bloodstars]] were dispatched to the Seoba quarries to meet with the insurrectionists and gain their knowledge, before promptly wiping them out.

==Battle==
===Battle of Seoba===
{{Main|Battle of Seoba}}
Upon arriving at Bikon moon of [[Seoba]], [[Task Force Yama]] soon realized that the moon was the [[Insurrectionist]] staging ground for their coup.{{Ref/Reuse|HSS7}} Trying to land [[ODSTs]] on the moon’s quarry through aerial drops, the [[UNSC]] force suffered severe losses, with one company of the [[21st Space Assault Battalion]] taking over 30% casualties, although three [[Spartan-II]] teams (including [[Blue Team]]) were able to stop the Insurrectionists from reporting news of the attack to their superiors. After taking several hundred [[Insurrectionist]] prisoners, who [[Colonel]] [[Marmon Crowther]] put in the hands of the Spartans to guard while the [[ODST]] battalion withdrew to orbit. [[John-117]] was able to find former UNSC Major General [[Harper Garvin]] among the prisoners. It was then that a flotilla of [[Covenant]]  stealth ships, led by [[Blademaster]] [[Tel 'Szatulai]], visually spotted seven [[UNSC]] [[Prowlers]] and engaged their larger force in an attempt to capture one of the superior [[UNSC]] stealth ships. In this engagement, [[Captain]] [[Halima Ascot]] was killed when her [[prowler]], [[UNSC Starry Night]], was downed and crashed near the Seoba Ice Quarry. [[Blue Team]] were able to make their way to the crashed [[Starry Night]] and activate its onboard [[Fury tactical nuclear weapon]] to destroy the [[prowler]] and sensitive information on its data logs, including, among other things, the location of [[Earth]]. During the battle, [[Commander]] [[Hector Nyeto]] attempted to get the Spartans killed by delaying an attack run on the Covenant ships, but all Spartans survived and two more Covenant ships were eventually destroyed by Nyeto’s squadron.
{{Expand-section}}

===The fall of Biko===
{{Main|Battle of Biko}}
{{Expand-section}}
===Etalan===
{{Main|Attack on Etalan}}
{{Expand-section}}

===Strike on the Covenant===
{{Main|Attack on Zhoist}}
{{Expand-section}}

==Aftermath==
{{Expand-section}}

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Silent Storm]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Oblivion]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Shadows of Reach]]'' {{Im}}

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Human-Covenant War}}

[[Category:Battles of the Human-Covenant War|SILENT STORM]]
[[Category:Operations|SILENT STORM]]
[[Category:UNSC Victories|SILENT STORM]]