Raid on the Pillar of Autumn
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Downed wreckage of the Pillar of Autumn | ||||||||||||||
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UNSC victory | ||||||||||||||
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The Raid on the Pillar of Autumn was a UNSC mission occurring during the Battle of Installation 04, in which ODST forces led by Lieutenant Melissa McKay launched a raid to gather arms and supplies from the wreckage of the downed UNSC Pillar of Autumn.[3]
Prelude[edit]
On September 19, 2552, the Halcyon-class light cruiser arrived in the Soell system near the megastructure Installation 04, having narrowly escaped the Fall of Reach. During the subsequent space battle and boarding attempts conducted by the Fleet of Particular Justice, Captain Jacob Keyes initiated Article 2 of the Cole Protocol - ordering a general evacuation of the ship by all crew.[4] The ship's Orbital Drop Shock Troopers deployed via SOEIV drop pods, and regrouped to take over the facility later referred to as Alpha Base. Following the ship's crash-landing, the Covenant instilled a guard detail on the ship to prevent human intrusion[5] consisting of two Oghal-pattern Banshees and six Karo'etba-pattern Ghosts, as well as various infantry.[3]
To ensure the success of UNSC prolonged operations on the ring, Lieutenant McKay was ordered to take a contingent of ODSTs to scout out the wreckage of the Pillar of Autumn and recover as many weapons, supplies and vehicles as they could. A team of troopers assembled on the landing pad of Alpha Base in the night before insertion for inspection by Sergeant Lister to ensure none of the marines' full combat loads would make any noise that might give the teams away during the mission. The troopers were briefed by Major Antonio Silva on the mission - to recover supplies (and a bottle of scotch left in the Major's office) before the Covenant could launch an all-out attack on Alpha Base. The troopers then filed onto their D77 Pelican dropship for the short flight over to the plains where the Autumn lay. Several teams were deployed onto the plains ahead of the main force via Pelican dropships Echo 136 and Echo 206, with the ring's unpredictable weather granting rain to provide the teams cover.[5]
Thanks to the simultaneous Raid on the Truth and Reconciliation being conducted by the Master Chief, Covenant forces on the ring were distracted, allowing an easier insertion by McKay's forces.[3]
The battle[edit]
Opening engagement[edit]
The rainfall cleared just before dawn, allowing the waiting UNSC troopers to view the sunrise slowly illuminate the Autumn in a golden glow. The sixty-two ODSTs of McKay's company lay in wait just beyond the Covenant patrol perimeter, and had watched as the Covenant patrolled in a listless manner - suggesting the guards were not expecting an attack. McKay's company was divided into three platoons - Red, Blue and Green, with McKay designated as Red One and the other platoon leaders as Blue and Green One, respectively. McKay finally ordered the other platoon leaders to commit to the attack.[3]
The primary target for the ODSTs was the Covenant vehicle support. To counter these threats, three M41 SPNKR rocket launchers were trained on each of the two Banshees, and three further marines had been assigned to take out each Ghost. Two rockets missed their targets, but both Banshees were destroyed simultaneously to leave the Ghost drivers confused before they were eliminated by the marine fire. Marine snipers then proceeded to suppress fire, and McKay ordered the assault force to begin making their way across the open plain to reach the ship itself. Covenant infantry began to emerge from inside the ship, only to be cut down by the SRS99C-S2 AM sniper rifles. The ODSTs had managed to make their way across a Covenant killing field almost unscathed until a Dextro Xur-pattern Spirit began to strafe the area with its plasma cannon, cutting down at least one sniper. McKay ordered the snipers to fire on the dropship, who had mistakenly positioned itself so that its troop bay doors were facing the snipers. Through sheer luck, one of the sniper rounds hit a plasma grenade in the troop bay as the doors opened, with the resulting explosion severing the dropship's control line and causing the aircraft to explode.[3]
Looting and counterattack[edit]
The marines proceeded to clear the ship, utilising fragmentation grenades and flashbang grenades to push the Covenant occupiers into the upper decks and non-mission critical areas of the ship and sealing the hatches between decks to ensure the looting of the ship went undisturbed. Namely, the portions of the ship needed for the mission were the ship's magazine, cargo holds and hangar bays. First Platoon, led by Lieutenant Oros, begun the task of hitching trailers to the ship's Warthog complement and loading them with food, munitions and the rest of McKay's supply list while Second Platoon finished clearing the ship. The Warthogs were driven down several ramps alongside four M808B Scorpion main battle tanks, w