New Phoenix Incident

"Earth, it's all we have left. -Terrence Hood"

The Second Battle of Earth was one of the largest Covenant and United Nations Space Command battles of the Human-Covenant War. It was fought on and around Earth from November 3, 2552 to early 2553. The battle set the stage for the events on the Ark, where the fate of the galaxy was decided.

Background
The Second Battle of Earth is the follow up to the Prophet of Regret's first attack on Earth and Mombasa, Kenya, The First Battle of Earth. The battle was breifly seen in Halo 2 where the Forerunner Ship exits Slipspace and the Master Chief declares that he is going to "finish the fight." UNSC and Covenant forces appear heavily engaged, but exact numbers and details are impossible to determine. However, it is apparent that Cairo Station is still intact and Fleet Admiral Hood is still in command of all UNSCDF forces.

Orbital Combat
On November 3, 2552, The Prophet of Truth, leading a large Covenant Loyalist fleet to Earth, attacked the Human Military and Civilian population there. After weeks of fighting, the UNSC forces in space were largely destroyed. The remaining Human ships, taking advantage of the Covenant's strange tactics resorted to hit and run operations.

It could be assumed that the ratio of casualties for the Humans in the orbital combat during the Second Battle of Earth were not as great as the First Battle of Earth because of the absence of the tactically superior Elites.

Invasion of Earth Itself
Before making themselves fully dominant in space, the Covenant invaded several areas on Earth's surface, the main invasion being on the east coast of Africa. It was in this area that the Covenant mysteriously began digging. This digging revealed what was then thought to be The Ark.

During these happenings, the Master Chief fought his way through Covenant captured territories and made his way to one of the last human strongholds in Africa. It was quickly attacked by The Covenant. After the base was taken over, the humans destroyed the base using a large bomb, killing all the would be Covenant victors in the base. The Master Chief activated the bomb and was able to escape the explosion.

Counterattack
The Humans, with almost all organization collapsing, launched one last desperate plan. With the help of the Master Chief, they destroyed a small section of the defences around the Portal to the Ark and sent their last reserves of ships in an attempt to destroy it.

Nothing came out of this however, because the human ships did seemingly no damage to the Keyship and because the Portal was opened anyway. Many, if not all of the Covenant ships on Earth left through the Portal.

At this exact moment, a Flood controlled ship arrived at Earth and infested the area around the Portal. Covenant Separatists arrived and glassed half of the African continent, removing the Flood threat.

Aftermath
After the battle, Covenant Loyalists reached the Ark, and the Human-Covenant Seperatist alliance in hot pursuit, stopped the flood from inhabiting the galaxy and the Covenant from killing everything in the galaxy.

UNSC

 * Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood
 * Colonel James Ackerson
 * Commander Miranda Keyes (dead)
 * Commander Richard Lash
 * Lieutenant Commander Julian Waters
 * Lieutenant Commander Xaing Cho
 * Lieutenant Bethany Durruno
 * Lieutenant Joe Yang
 * Lieutenant Junior Grade SPARTAN Fred-104
 * Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN John-117 (MIA)
 * Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson (dead)
 * Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker
 * Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds
 * Petty Officer Second Class SPARTAN Linda-058
 * Petty Officer Second Class SPARTAN Will-043
 * Corporal Benjamín M. Nùñez
 * Lindemuth

Covenant Separatists

 * Arbiter
 * Rtas 'Vadum
 * N'tho 'Sraom
 * Usze 'Taham

Covenant Loyalists

 * High Prophet of Truth (dead)
 * Jiralhanae Chieftain Lepidus

Flood

 * Gravemind(dead)

Forerunner

 * 343 Guilty Spark (destroyed)

Trivia

 * According to a screen viewing a map of Earth in the game, the Covenant have landed in north eastern America, in northern and southern France, a single fleet in South America and one in Germany and several others in Africa.