Battle for Earth

"Earth...is all we have left."

- Lord Terrence Hood

The Battle of Earth was one of the largest engagements fought between the Covenant and the United Nations Space Command, which took place on and above the planet Earth and across the Sol System from October 20, 2552 to November 17th. It was one of the most significant battles of the Human-Covenant War as the fate of humanity depended on the survival of their homeworld. The battle concluded when the Prophet of Truth's Dreadnought left Earth through the Portal with the purpose of activating the Halo Array from the "The Ark".

Truth Strikes Toward Earth
The Covenant discovered the location of Earth after the Fall of Reach. The Prophet of Truth withheld knowledge of this discovery from the Covenant and other high ranking officials. To attack the UNSC homeworld, he ordered an assault fleet to secretly assemble at Unyielding Hierophant station in the Tau Ceti System. The fleet would overwhelm Earth's defenses in a single decisive strike.

The Covenant assault fleet was discovered by the UNSC AI Cortana. A pre-emptive strike led by Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb and SPARTAN-II John-117 destroyed Unyielding Hierophant and almost the entirety of the assembled fleet, some 500 ships. Earth was granted a small reprieve.

Regret Strikes Toward Earth
The Prophet of Regret also learned of the location of Earth, albeit indirectly. He discovered the location of the Portal, a Forerunner artifact leading to the Ark, and set off to uncover it. The Prophet was not aware that the Portal was located on Earth; not being privy to Truth's information, Regret unknowingly led his small fleet, a mere two Assault Carriers and 13 s, straight into Earth's formidable defenses.

Truth belatedly learned of Regret's attack, and dispatched a large Jiralhanae-led fleet to reinforce the attack. They arrived only after Regret had fled.

Regret Arrives
"Something's not right. The fleet that destroyed Reach was fifty times this size!"

- Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood

Regret's fleet was detected near Io, Jupiter, as a series of Slipspace "whispers". Probes were sent to investigate, but shortly afterward the Covenant fleet reverted to realspace near Earth, just outside the killzone of the planet's Orbital Defense Platforms (ODPs). UNSC forces went to TACCON Alpha 2. Fleet Admiral Harper ordered his battle group to attack, but quickly received new orders from Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood to fall back and defend the ODPs.

The Assault Carriers converged on the battle cluster including Athens Station, Cairo Station and Malta Station. The ODPs opened fire as the enemy entered range. Covenant troops boarded the stations, intending to demolish them with an Antimatter Charge each. As each bomb was planted the Covenant withdrew. Athens and Malta were demolished in quick succession. Cortana, aboard Cairo, deduced the nature of the threat and John-117 was despatched to prevent the same fate from befalling Cairo.

Cortana directed the SPARTAN-II to the bomb's location in Cairo's fire control center. En route to the bomb, John-117 rescued Commander Miranda Keyes and allowed her to board. The frigate departed Cairo to join the fray.

The Covenant Break Through
"The carriers are breaking through sir, they're headed straight for the Cairo!"

- Fleet Admiral Harper

The two Assault Carriers began to break through toward Cairo. Cortana directed Cairo SMAC against Regret's Carrier, but the ship did not stop to engage and instead made directly for New Mombasa on the surface. Admiral Harper led the attack on the second carrier and depleted its shields. Keyes volunteered to attack the carrier immediately, but Hood was unwilling to pit a single frigate against so large a target.

The solution to the second carrier came from an unexpected angle. John-117 and Cortana managed diffuse and capture the Covenant antimatter bomb aboard Cairo, and the Spartan volunteered to go EVA and personally plant the bomb on the last carrier. Hood agreed. John-117 leapt out of an airlock with the bomb using only the initial explosive decompression for impulse. Longsword interceptors opened a breach in the carrier's hull and allowed the Spartan to infiltrate and plant the bomb internally. The detonation destroyed the ship. John-117 escaped using the same means he had arrived and free fell to the UNSC In Amber Clad.

Regret Repulsed
"Dear Humanity, we Regret being alien bastards, we Regret coming to Earth, and we most definitely Regret the Corps just blew up our raggedy-ass fleet!"

- Avery Johnson commenting on Regret's message.

Regret's carrier came to stop over New Mombasa in the East African Protectorate and deployed troops into the city and the surrounding area. UNSC high command wished to discover the prophet's motives; John-117 was ordered to capture Regret for interrogation. The Spartan deployed with marines and ODST in a trio of Pelicans from the near the city. The dropships were shot down by a Covenant Scarab in Old Mombasa. John-117 and the survivors regrouped and pursued the walker to NM 105E, and across the bridge to New Mombasa Sector B. The Scarab was eventually trapped and destroyed at the end of a canal. Covenant forces started to withdraw to the carrier for slipspace departure.

In orbit the Home Fleet began deploying ODST to Mombasa in SOEIVs for an assault on the carrier. One squad, deploying from the and led by Captain Veronica Dare, was diverted by ONI to secure the city's infrastructure A.I.

Regret's means of escape took the UNSC by surprise. The carrier initiated a Slipspace jump while still over the city. The UNSC In Amber Clad quickly recovered John-117 and followed in the fleeing ship's wake. The slipspace rupture severely damaged the city and generated an EMP. Many ODST had not yet landed when the carrier escaped and were caught in the EMP and blast. Drop pods were disabled in flight and plunged into uncontrolled freefall. They were scattered across the city.

The Fall of Mombasa
"The Covenant have found Earth. They own New Mombasa. Anyone that could've driven them off is dead, or gone. I'd say that makes for desperate times."

- Edward Buck

Immediately following the slipspace event, Prophet of Truth's Jiralhanae-led reinforcements arrived. The Jiralhanae absorbed the remainder of Regret's fleet and deployed more troops into New Mombasa. Sangheili crews and infantry were killed as part of Truth's plan to place the Jiralhanae as the Covenant's primary warrior race.

Surviving UNSC forces in the city, aided by the New Mombasa Police Department, continued to resist, but were eventually overwhelmed. The Covenant began glassing Mombasa and the surround area, and uncovering the Portal to the Ark. Captain Dare and her ODST squad managed to secure the city's infrastructure A.I and escape before the city fell to the enemy.

The World on Fire
The battle spread over the globe in the following weeks. The diminishing UNSC Home Fleet remained to contest Earth orbit, but the Covenent continued to raid the surface in search of Forerunner artifacts. Most Covenant forces were concentrated in East Africa.



The Spartan Blue Team, consisting of SPARTAN-104, SPARTAN-058, and SPARTAN-043, were constantly engaged for the first two weeks. They repelled enemy ships in orbit in zero-gee operations. On the surface they neutralized Covenant excavations, first during the Battle of Ross Island in Antarctica, and then underwater off the Yucatan Peninsula. On November 3, they participated in the Battle of Havana, where they stole the enemy destroyer Bloodied Spirit, and destroyed another destroyer and the Centennial Orbital Elevator. They subsequently redeployed aboard the stolen ship to Onyx to aid Dr. Halsey.

The Covenant also invaded the city of Cleveland on Earth, looking for an artifact known as the "Key of Osanalan". The Key turned out to be a hoax perpetrated by Colonel James Ackerson



The Prophet of Truth departed High Charity, near Installation 05, in the Forerunner Dreadnought on November 3, intending to arrive at Earth on the 8th. The prophet sought to activate the Ark, fire the Halo rings, and begin what he thought would be the "Great Journey". Unbeknownst to the Covenant, John-117 had stowed away aboard the ship.

Commander Miranda Keyes, Sergeant Major Avery Johnson, and Arbiter Thel 'Vadam learned of the Prophet of Truth's intentions and departed Installation 05 after the dreadnought. Upon arrival at Earth they took up station in an old military base, Crow's Nest, near Voi, and waited for John-117 to arrive.

Truth's Arrival
"Master Chief, you mind telling me what you're doing on that ship?"

- Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood

"Sir, finishing this fight."

- Master Chief

The Forerunner Dreadnought arrived at Earth on November 17. John-117 left the ship by leaping off during re-entry and crashing into the East-African jungle. By this time the Covenant had set up heavy AA Batteries near Voi and in the surrounding area to protect their work at the Portal. Also, the UNSC Home Fleet was all but destroyed. The Covenant bombardment had caused "extreme" casualties.

ODST used a laser designator during the Battle of Sector Six in Afghanistan to track John-117's fall. The data made it easier for Sergeant Johnson and Thel 'Vadam to locate the Spartan. They were extracted by dropship, despite Covenant resistance, and taken to Crow's Nest. The Covenant tracked them back to the base.

The UNSC Attack the Portal
"Marines, the Prophet of Truth doesn't know it yet, but he's about to get kicked right off his throne. You will take our city back. And drive our enemy into the grave they've been so happily digging. One final effort is all that remains."

- Admiral Terrence Hood

Commander Keyes proposed to destroy the Covenant anti-air defenses at Voi, allowing low flying frigates to strike the Forerunner Dreadnought now landed on the Portal. Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood had only a few ships left, but was willing to commit to the risky plan with John-117's recovery.

As the offensive got under way the Covenant attacked Crow's Nest. The UNSC evacuated and destroyed the base with a bomb as it fell to the enemy. John-117, having activated the bomb, barely managed to escape. The scattered UNSC forces regrouped along the Tsavo Highway, engaging Covenant forces as they headed for Voi.

At Voi, the UNSC broke through Covenant defenses, and John-117 and Thel 'Vadam disabled the AA battery. With the way cleared, Admiral Hood ordered three frigates and multiple Longswords to attack the Forerunner Dreadnought. Despite MAC fire the enemy ship remained intact and was able to activate the Portal. The Dreadnought and many Covenant Loyalist ships departed through the resulting Slipspace portal.

Flood on Earth
"Quickly! Let us find their ship. Make short work of this abomination!"

- Thel 'Vadam

At this exact moment, a Flood-controlled ship arrived at Earth, crashing in Voi. It infested the area around the Portal, quickly spreading throughout the city of Voi.

The UNSC decided to contain the infestation by detonating the Flood ship's reactor, a task which was assigned to John-117. Soon after this, Covenant Separatists arrived from their quarantine of Installation 05, having chased the Flood ship. They deployed teams of Elites to the ground, to retrieve the UNSC AI construct, Cortana, which they believed was being held inside the Flood-controlled ship, and after this, glass the area to destroy the Flood threat. John-117 and the Arbiter, with the assistance of several Sangheili, fought their way through the Flood-infested city to retrieve Cortana from the Flood ship, after which they were extracted to the Separatists' flagship, the Carrier Shadow of Intent, as the city of Voi and surrounding countryside were glassed by the Separatist fleet, destroying the Flood threat.

Aftermath
"And you, Shipmaster just glassed half a continent! Maybe the Flood isn't all I should be worried about."

- Terrence Hood

"One single Flood spore can destroy a species. Were it not for the Arbiter's counsel, I would have glassed your entire planet!"

- Rtas 'Vadum

After retrieving the storage device which was believed to contain Cortana, John-117, met by the Forerunner monitor 343 Guilty Spark, joined the remaining UNSC Navy leadership, Lord Hood and Commander Keyes, aboard the Shadow of Intent, to see if Cortana's damaged storage device could be repaired.

It turned out to be just a message, recorded by Cortana who was held captive by Gravemind in High Charity. Cortana had acquired information about the Portal, and that on its other side there was a solution to stop the Flood once and for all. She also warned about the flood-infested High Charity, which was approaching Earth. From this, Admiral Hood decided to remain on Earth and desperately attempt to defend it against the Flood, while the Covenant Separatists, along with UNSC forces led by Commander Keyes would go through the Portal, as they realized there was no way to win if the Flood would attack humanity's homeworld.

Apparently, the Flood attack to Earth never came. Upon arriving at Earth, High Charity went straight through the Portal, without launching an assault on Earth. It eventually arrived at Installation 00, joining the battle raging on the installation.

Despite having suffered enormous military and civilian losses, the UNSC regained control of Earth and with the defeat of the Covenant Loyalists and the Flood on Installation 00, the war finally ended in a human victory. The humans have initiated reconstruction in order to repair the damage inflicted on humanity as a result of the Battle of Earth.

Timeline
The following is a timeline of the battle.

October 20, 2552 *After some time of ground battle and complete evacuation of Mombasa, SPARTAN-117, along with several Marines, are sent to crush the Covenant resistance in the city and infiltrate the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier above the city, complimented by an ODST force which would be inserted from orbit directly into the Assault Carrier, though one squad's mission was actually separate.
 * Lord Hood awards SPARTAN-117, Sergeant Johnson and Jacob Keyes (posthumously) medals for their efforts during the Battle of Installation 04 and subsequent actions. Miranda Keyes received the medal posthumously given to her late father, Captain Keyes. The ceremony takes place on Cairo Station.
 * A Covenant task force of 2 Assault Carriers and 13 s exits Slipspace just beyond the range of the MAC satellites.
 * It is speculated that at this time, the warning sirens heard in the ilovebees storyline begin shortly after this Covenant sighting.
 * Fleet Admiral Harper, in charge of the Earth defense fleet, responds rapidly with an attempt at a counter attack, preparing all available vessels to engage the Covenant. This order is overruled by Lord Hood.
 * The Covenant launch waves of boarding craft toward the orbital defense stations. Several UNSC vessels and stations are destroyed by boarding Covenant forces.
 * The MAC platform Malta, after sending elated communications that they have repelled all Covenant boarders, is annihilated in a cataclysmic explosion. The shockwave of which is felt by the crew of the Cairo station, demonstrating just how large the detonation was. Shortly afterward the Athens MAC platform experiences the same fiery fate.
 * It is deduced that both explosions came from within each of the stations - the Covenant boarding parties had brought with them a bomb. As a result, all personnel on orbital platforms redouble their efforts against Covenant boarders.
 * The Cairo MAC platform is saved by the heroic efforts of Spartan-117, single-handedly disarming (with the aid of Cortana who was acting as the platform's AI) and removing the Antimatter Charge from the orbital platform. The Master Chief removes the explosive device by jettisoning it, along with himself, out of a docking bay airlock. He then uses this same bomb to destroy a Covenant Assault Carrier that had just broken through the UNSC's defensive perimeter.
 * During a protracted naval engagement, a Covenant Assault Carrier blows through the Malta's debris field and heads straight for Earth. It comes to a stop above the city of New Mombasa in the East African Protectorate.
 * From there, the first Covenant troops to ever set foot on humanity's homeworld engage in the first land engagement of the Battle of Earth.
 * UNSC forces engage the Covenant on the ground and wage a bloody street-by-street skirmish in both Old and New Mombasa.
 * The arduous ground war is ended with the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier making a sudden Slipspace jump only hundreds of meters above the city of New Mombasa. His motivations for doing so were, at the time, unknown. The Assault Carrier is followed by the, which, upon arrival begins the Battle of Installation 05.
 * This atmospheric Slipspace jump severely damages the City of New Mombasa. The ODSTs' drop pods are scattered around the city, most of them presumably killed by the slipspace rupture.
 * Immediately following the slipspace event, Truth's backup fleet arrives and engages UNSC forces in orbit. The Jiralhanae overtake the Sangheili on both the ground and in space while continuing to engage the UNSC. A Jiralhanae-led occupation force is also inserted into New Mombasa. The surviving UNSC and NMPD forces clash with the Covenant for control of the city.

October 21, 2552
 * Eventually, the city of New Mombasa occupied and its surroundings glassed by the Covenant, to uncover the Artifact, ending the battle of Mombasa in a Covenant victory. However, the UNSC manages to extract a defecting Huragok from the city and use it to gain intel on the Covenant's goals.

October 20 through November 3, 2552
 * SPARTAN Blue Team is deployed to defend Earth during 's disappearance. They participate in numerous combat missions around the world, including the Battle of Ross Island in Antarctica.

November 3, 2552
 * SPARTAN-104, SPARTAN-058, and SPARTAN-043 partake in the Battle of Havana. Shortly thereafter, they use a captured Covenant Destroyer to depart for Onyx.
 * The Forerunner Dreadnought, with the Prophet of Truth aboard, departs High Charity for Earth.

November 8, 2552 November 17, 2552
 * The Forerunner Dreadnought arrives in the Sol system and proceeds to Earth at near-relativistic speeds.
 * The Forerunner Dreadnought arrives at Earth. Spartan 117 ejects, landing in Kenyan jungle. In the following morning, Spartan-117 is recovered by a group of Marines led by Sergeant Johnson.
 * The Marines, with Spartan-117, make their way to Crow's Nest, where a plan for a counterattack is devised. The base is invaded by the Covenant, and eventually destroyed by the UNSC.
 * The UNSC forces regroup along Tsavo Highway, eventually assaulting the Covenant-held town of Voi.
 * UNSC Forces neutralize Covenant Anti-Air defenses in Voi. A battle group from the UNSC Home Fleet initiate the assault on the Forerunner Dreadnought, with no effect. The Artifact is activated. Covenant Loyalist forces flee to Installation 00 through the Portal.
 * Immediately thereafter, a Flood-controlled ship emerges from Slispace over Voi, crashing to the town. Flood infestation starts spreading around the region. Covenant Separatist fleet, having given chase, arrives at Earth and glasses Voi as well as its surroundings.
 * A transmission from the UNSC AI Cortana is retrieved from the Flood ship. The Covenant Separatist forces, with several UNSC forces with them, go through the Portal to the Ark.

UNSC

 * ODA-143 Malta Station
 * ODA-142 Cairo Station
 * ODA-144 Athens Station
 * Nassau Station

Covenant

 * Forerunner Dreadnought
 * Pious Inquisitor (Pre-Great Schism)
 * Regret's Carrier
 * Harbinger of Piety
 * Triumphant Declaration

UNSC Marine Corps

 * 2nd Shock Troops Battalion (Unknown Regiment)
 * 7th Shock Troops Battalion (Unknown Regiment)
 * 1st Platoon (Unknown Company and Regiment)
 * 3/1 Bravo
 * 405th
 * A Company
 * 17th Marine Regiment
 * 77th Marine Regiment
 * E2-BAG/1/7
 * M/LAT-16
 * S/VRC-8
 * S4/BLCE/1/7
 * S4/BRT/1/7
 * Alpha Company
 * Charlie Company

UNSC Navy

 * UNSC Home Fleet
 * Second Fleet
 * Seventh Fleet
 * Sixteenth Fleet
 * 6th Battle Group
 * Harper's Fleet

Covenant

 * Regret's Fleet
 * Truth's Fleet
 * Fleet of Furious Redemption

Covenant Separatists

 * Fleet of Retribution

UNSC

 * Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood
 * Fleet Admiral Harper
 * Unnamed UNSC Navy Captain
 * Captain Veronica Dare
 * Commander Richard Lash
 * Lieutenant Commander Miranda Keyes
 * Lieutenant Commander Julian Waters
 * Lieutenant Commander Xaing Cho
 * Lieutenant Bethany Durruno
 * Lieutenant Joe Yang
 * Lieutenant Parisa
 * Lieutenant Junior Grade SPARTAN Frederic-104
 * Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN John-117
 * Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson
 * Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker
 * Petty Officer Second Class SPARTAN Linda-058
 * Petty Officer Second Class SPARTAN William-043
 * Unnamed Marine Officer
 * Staff Sergeant Marcus Banks
 * Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck
 * Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker
 * Corporal Taylor H. Miles
 * Corporal Palmer
 * Corporal Perez
 * Corporal T. Rymann
 * Lance Corporal Kojo Agu
 * Lance Corporal "The Rookie"
 * Lance Corporal Morton
 * Lance Corporal Pineada
 * Private First Class Michael Crespo
 * Private First Class Chips Dubbo
 * Private First Class Locke
 * Private First Class Galliard
 * Private First Class Sullivan
 * Private McKenzie
 * Private Emerson
 * Private Jemison
 * Private Scottlee
 * Private S. Hartley
 * Corpsman R. Coney
 * Unnamed Corpsman

Covenant

 * High Prophet of Regret
 * High Prophet of Truth
 * Minister of Inquisition
 * Lepidus
 * Vergil

UNSC

 * 12-9F5
 * 957-A3
 * Echo 51
 * Kilo 23
 * Oscar 6

Additional Notes And Theories
At the beginning of the battle, fifteen ships and their personnel, led by the Prophet of Regret were defeated by a much larger and more powerful human fleet and ground forces. The battle itself was caused by miscommunication and lack of co-ordination between members of the Covenant, specifically the failure of the Prophet of Truth to inform the Prophet of Regret that Earth was in fact very heavily and well defended. The lack of information available to Regret meant that he was surprised and outgunned by the human defenses.

UNSC High Command found it puzzling, to say the least, that a Covenant fleet of such small size, carrying a Prophet, would be their first engagement in the defense of Earth. The fleet that glassed Reach was fifty times the size of this new threat. To attack such a heavily prized and defended world, a fleet of greater size than the fleet at Reach would be required.

Not only this, the fact that only one city on Earth was attacked left UNSC strategists baffled. At the bare minimum the invading force would have to attack and occupy multiple areas, providing at least some strategic benefit, synchronously. Given the Covenant's tactical history it seemed unlikely that they would be prone to overconfidence.

Compared to the invasion force at Reach the two simply did not match up. The Covenant force at Reach was not only massive in numbers, it was knowledgeable of the terrain. The invasion force at Earth was small and displayed confusion (not an attribute the Covenant are known for).

The fleet that attacked Reach even took their time glassing the surface prior to sending in ground forces. Again the fleet that attacked Earth did almost the exact opposite, rushing to get to the surface. These observations could suggest that this Covenant fleet was not an invasion fleet at all but rather a planetary reconnaissance, search, and dig team.

Although capable of combating a small colony and/or aggressive native lifeforms, the expeditionary fleet lacked the strength in force or numbers for a full-scale invasion attempt. Speculation arose that, following the Covenant's discovery of Delta Halo, they found some form of Forerunner technology that led them to the location of a Shield World.

Another possible scenario explaining the events, but highly inadmissible due to lack of timeline during the events of Halo 2, is that after the seizure of 343 Guilty Spark, and subsequent interrogation, the location of the end of their pilgrimage was located. Even if the specific name "Earth" was used by the monitor, it would have raised no caution in the Covenant ranks; to their knowledge, the location of planet Earth was unknown to humans. It could be hypothesized that due to the assuming nature of Forerunner Monitors, Guilty Spark would have made no mention of Humans living there unless specifically asked.

There is also the suggestion that the Covenant were following a signal which emanated from the Forerunner Deep-Space Artifact brought to Earth aboard the Apocalypso when it was deactivated by Jersey Morelli. The burst of EMP, Slipspace, and Realspace signals could be what drew the Covenant to Earth. This would make sense if Regret's fleet came to Earth looking to recover the artifact and knew nothing about the planet itself. While it had been previously revealed that the Covenant knew the location of Earth, it is not known what value they assigned to it. To them, it may have simply been the location of the artifact in Chawla Base, not the human home world.

The Covenant's extensive knowledge of the MAC stations orbiting Earth might be seen as evidence that the Covenant knew the planet was at least occupied by human forces. However, Covenant forces had already encountered such orbital MAC platforms before, over Reach. Recognizing the serious danger these platforms represented, the fleet halted just beyond their firing range and commence boarding and sabotage actions using smaller craft.

Although losses weighed more heavily on the Humans than the Covenant, the UNSC nevertheless fought a successful holding action at New Mombasa. However, it is probable that UNSC High Command deliberately neglected to tell the medium and lower ranks that the Covenant task force was really but a vanguard of a much larger invasion fleet that would surely be imminent now.

According to the Halo Encyclopedia, "the entire population of Earth was cut in half as the First Battle of Earth began." It does not however specify whether it means half of Earth's population were killed, or if a significant number were evacuated, although the latter is more probable, as the Covenant did not commence planetary bombardment, and the statement is in regard of the situation at the beginning and not the end of the battle).

Trivia

 * Based off the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3 and before the release of additional information in Halo: Ghosts of Onyx and later, Halo 3: ODST, it was assumed that there were two separate Covenant invasions on Earth; Regret's failed invasion on October 20th and later, the arrival of Truth's forces in late November. As newer sources have shown, reinforcements sent by Truth arrived only mere hours after Regret's failed assault. Consequently, this led to classifying the battles as the "First" and "Second" Battles of Earth. This is also the way the battle is listed in the Halo Encyclopedia.
 * The Battle of Earth is featured in more Halo games than any other battle, taking place in three games. (Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 3 ODST)