Battle of Beta Gabriel

The Battle of Beta Gabriel was a land battle that took place between the UNSC and the Covenant in 2552, shortly after the Fall of Reach.

The battle
When the Covenant fleet arrived at Reach, Chieftain Parabum, upon seeing the size and strength of the defending human forces, deserted. He ordered his ship, the Valorous Salvation, to retreat to Beta Gabriel, a small world with a population of about five hundred civilians. The deserters immediately set down and attacked the planet's only town, and communications with the planet's port AI were lost. A few civilians were armed but they were quickly killed by the invaders, who took many humans captive. After human resistance ended, Parabum decided it was best to stay on the planet and the Jiralhanae ate the Unggoy troops they brought with them and then turned to eating human captives. One Jiralhanae, Maladus, challenged Parabum's rule but was quickly killed. This created high tensions in the Jiralhanae ranks, as they were made up of two rival clans: one, led by Parabum, and another, led by Maladus and his brother Ceretus. Ceretus swore revenge on Parabum for killing his brother.

The UNSC, lacking any sort of knowledge of what was taking place on Beta Gabriel (aside from the fact that a force of Jiralhanae attacked it), sent Connor Brien to investigate. Brien was one of the Office of Naval Intelligence's top experts on the Covenant, Jiralhanae in particular, and was sent to find how many human survivors remained and watch the Jiralhanae to see if there was any way to exploit them and weaken the Covenant, and then leave on a Calypso-class Exfiltration Craft as ODSTs attacked the Covenant troops. Unfortunately, after his arrival, he was captured by the Jiralhanae Hammadus. He then met a number of human prisoners, including the reclusive mystic Dasc Gevadim, and learned of the situation there. Through observation of the Jiralhanae it dawned on Brien that there was a distinct division in the group, one that would soon lead to an all-out fight. Brien and the other prisoners planned an escape, which would go into action when the Jiralhanae finally confronted one another - as the Jiralhanae fought one another, the prisoners would have a better chance of surviving an escape attempt, and then they would run to the exfiltration point.

When Ceretus finally confronted Parabum, the prisoners attempted to escape. However, the only two prisoners to escape were Brien and Geradvim. From what he'd witnessed, Brien was convinced that there was no way the UNSC could ever use the Jiralhanae and instead thought ONI would be more interested in learning how the Covenant kept them under control. Upon arriving at Brien's camp, Gevadim shot Brien with his own M6 pistol. Shortly afterward, the Calypso arrived, and with it a recon team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, including Kojo Agu. They killed the remaining Jiralhanae, and upon discovering there were apparently no human survivors, left. Gevadim stayed alone in seclusion on Beta Gabriel.

Despite the loss of the colony and one of ONI's best agents, the battle was a tactical victory for the UNSC - although the colony was destroyed and no intelligence on the Jiralhanae was gained, the ODST reinforcements drove off the attacking Covenant.

UNSC

 * Connor Brien
 * Kojo Agu
 * Dasc Gevadim
 * Nixaliz
 * Vern
 * Hague

Covenant

 * Parabum
 * Ceretus
 * Maladus
 * Facius
 * Hammadus
 * Golubus
 * Brunus
 * Jupentus

List of appearances

 * Halo: Evolutions: Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Stomping on the Heels of a Fuss
 * ONI Candidate Assessment Program V5.02A