Battle of Alpha Corvi II

The Battle of Alpha Corvi II was one of the earliest conflicts of the decades-long Human-Covenant War, fought between the Covenant and the combined forces of the United Nations Space Command and local insurrectionists on Alpha Corvi II.

Prelude
In the short time that the UNSC and the Covenant had been aware of one another, the Covenant had begun to probe various Outer Colony worlds.

The opening assault
"Whitaker"

- John-117 On December 3, 2525, a substantial Covenant force emerged from slipspace near Alpha Corvi and proceeded to move toward the system's second planet. UNSC ships in orbit mounted a defense but a number of Covenent dropships managed to land troops on the surface. At just three hours after first arriving in the system, Alpha Corvi II's largest city, Jamshid, was under assault by the main contingent of ground-based hostiles. Marines were holding their own there but enemy reinforcements were anticipated.

It was at this point that the four young Spartan-II warriors picked to comprise Blue Team were briefed on the attack. They were en route to the system aboard the,. Lieutenant Commander Yao informed the Spartans that they would be dropping on the outskirts of Jamshid and engaging the Covenant from the rear. Their objective was to lessen the pressure on the main UNSC garrison within the city so that a proper counterattack could be prepared. It was also imperative, they were told, that they operate independently of Ground Command and refrain from having any contact with anyone from the Marine Corps whatsoever. The Persian Gate arrived at the besieged planet around thirty minutes following the Spartans' briefing and was met with urgent messages from officers on the ground. A separate group had detached itself from the main Covenant force and had landed troops near the island mining settlement, Black Reef. There was no UNSC presence there, but the town was being defended by local insurrectionist militias affiliated with the United Rebel Front. In light of this new information, Blue Team was redirected to Black Reef and ordered to neutralize the invaders there and discover why it was being targeted. During their insertion via a D77-TC Pelican,Nora, an A.I. on the Persian Gate, introduced the Spartans to various scouting and reconnaissance enhancements their armor was outfitted with for this mission, including prototype active camouflage technology.

Uncertain allies
"Miguel"

- Whitaker Blue Team was set down in a ground vehicle on the beach and immediately began taking fire from rebels encamped a short distance away. Kelly-087 and Fred-104 recommended taking them out quickly so they could move on to deal with the Covenant, but John-117 opted for a different option. He activated his active camouflage and crept up on the small band, only revealing himself when he could reach out and touch their apparent leader. John identified his team as being responsible for capturing Colonel Robert Watts and argued there was no way they could hope to beat them. He told them what had happened to Harvest and through appealing to their immediate common enemy, was able to get the leader, Whitaker, to agree to work together for the time being. At John's insistence, he ordered his squad to circle around and rendezvous with the rest of their forces at the edge of a lagoon. From there, they would hit the Covenant from one side and drive them toward where Blue Team lay in wait. In order to keep an eye on their uneasy allies, John sent along a surveillance drone to keep a visual on them. The insurrectionists took up position as planned and opened fire, catching the small contingent of aliens by surprise and sending them running. Blue Team too unloaded on them with BR55 battle rifles when the distance between them closed. During the fighting, John's drone was destroyed by a shot from a Kig-Yar's Type-25 plasma pistol. The Sangheili and Kig-Yar that remained escaped into the mouth of a tunnel that led deep into the mines beneath the reef's bedrock. John was determined to pursue them, not least of which because he was curious about a strange device a Sangheili took in with him. Whitaker informed him that though the mine was an expansive mess of tunnels, it only had the one entry and exit, meaning the enemy was trapped within it.

The sudden new arrival of Covenant reinforcements in orbit prompted LDCR Yao to have Nora contact Blue Team. Yao let them know that a host of new dropships were inbound. Most of them were heading for Jamshid, but three Spirits would reach Black Reef in just three minutes. The naval battle over the planet looked to now be going very badly for the UNSC. Without any hesitation, Whitaker volunteered to hold the mine entrance with his people so the Spartans could pursue the others that had vanished within. Some militia started to question their leader's willingness to help the titanium-clad warriors, but Whitaker had only to remind them what John had said about Harvest. Soon, the Spirits were unloading Sangheili on the island who were met with a hail of bullets from the URF rebels. At some point after this, a plan enacted by the rebels triggered a cave-in that trapped Blue Team and its prey in the mine. Despite this, the alliance with the URF held and both groups continued to fight the Covenant together, now with the goal of also keeping a Forerunner artifact buried deep underground out of its hands.

Aftermath
The colony was lost and presumably glassed by the Covenant after the UNSC's defeat. The humans sustained huge losses on both fronts despite having inflicted enormous casualties against the Covenant on the planet's surface, losses that at the time were merely considered "collateral damage" and acceptable in the face of the larger threat posed by the alien hegemony. The battle came at the cost of most, if not all the rebel forces who had aligned themselves with the Spartans in their mission to stop the Covenant, a decision that greatly angered John who had honored his alliance with the rebels. Alpha Corvi II was just one of countless of worlds in the Outer Colonies that would fall to the Covenant onslaught, and as their defeats mounted the UNSC would be forced to reconsider the acceptability of freely expending its own people, both military and civilian in the face of the worsening crisis.

Blue Team succeeded in their mission to prevent the Forerunner artifact from falling into enemy hands, but with the intelligence they gathered destroyed in the battle within the mine, its purpose and power remained unclear to the UNSC.

Gallery
 File:HCD Blue Team.png File:Halo collateral damage2.png File:HCD Issue 3 cover.jpg 

List of appearances

 * Halo: Collateral Damage