Invasion of Draco III

"The UNSC sent Spartans to Draco III to fight the Covenant, but they arrived too late to do any of the people there any good. They couldn't save anyone—only avenge them."

- Spartan Edward Buck

The Battle of Draco III, also known as the Invasion of Draco III, was an engagement of the Human-Covenant War between Covenant and UNSC forces fought on the human colony world Draco III in 2545.

The battle
"No survivors… just like Draco Three. We're too late."

- Linda-058 during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, recalling the Draco III invasion

After arriving in the Draco system, the Covenant quickly defeated the UNSC forces defending the planet. The Covenant then gathered much of the planet's civilian population and allowed them to be massacred by starving Unggoy and Kig-Yar. The planet was only partially glassed, as the Covenant chose to use the world as a hunting ground. Certain houses and streets were bombed, and piles of corpses were burned. Several Spartan-IIs, including John-117 and Linda-058, witnessed this slaughter via satellite uplink and were then deployed to rescue any survivors, though none remained. The enraged Spartans then defeated the invaders in a retaliatory action, resulting in a tactical victory for the UNSC. The civilian massacre psychologically scarred John-117.

After the battle, Draco III continued to remain under UNSC control, though the planet was left uninhabited for the remainder of the Human-Covenant War.

Aftermath
UNSC Marine Edward Buck regretted being unable to participate in the battle for his homeworld, and was inspired to join the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers to avenge the deaths of his family. After the Covenant War ended in late 2552, a few groups of human asylum seekers and Draconians that had survived the battle resettled on Draco III. While the resettlement of the planet was authorized by the Unified Earth Government, the government was indifferent to who settled where on the world. Draco III proved to hold strategic importance in the UEG's resettlement effort of its abandoned colonies.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: New Blood