Keyes Loop

Summary


During The Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, Commander Keyes was outnumbered by what he initially thought were four medium sized Covenant ships. However, what came out of slipstream space were 2 Covenant frigates(medium sized ships), escorting a destroyer and a carrier. Drastically outnumbered and outgunned, Keyes executed a brilliantly daring tactical maneuver that would later be known as the Keyes Loop. He set out at emergency speed on a collision course for the Covenant Destroyer; en route, he deliberately launched a nuke in what seemed to be the wrong direction. The 2 frigates fire a salvo of plasma, but utilizing the emergency thrusters, Keyes manages to evade the plasma even as they continue to track his ship. However, here is where his brilliant strategy comes into play: on a collision course with the Covenant destroyer, Keyes makes a last second course correction and grazes past the warship, so close that its shield annihilated a large part of Keyes' armor, causing the trailing plasma bolts to impact the destroyer instead, destroying it. He then performs a slingshot orbit around Sigma Octanus IV and detonates the nuke he left behind earlier, completely draining the shields of the 2 frigates, after which he assaults them with two MAC heavy rounds and hundreds of Archer missiles. The remaining Covenant carrier immediately sped outsystem, but not before dropping thousands of troops on Sigma Octanus IV.

NB: Keyes victory over 4 enemy ships was a great morale booster and elevated him to hero status within the Navy, as the UNSC have only had 3 decisive wins over the Covenant in space engagements over the course of the 27 year war. The main part of the Keyes Loop involved using the Covenant's superior weaponry against themselves; this action also served to draw attention away from the all important thermonuclear device that is left behind intended to appear as debris to drift closer to the enemy ships, whilst the outnumbered ship in question slingshots around the planet to re-engage the remaining enemy forces.