Battle of Sigma Octanus IV: Difference between revisions

|prev=[[Siege of Paris IV]], [[Second Battle of Arcadia]]

|place=[[Sigma Octanus System]], above planet [[Sigma Octanus IV]]

|result=[[UNSC]] [[wikipedia:Pyrrhic victory|Pyrrhic victory]].

*[[Master Chief|MCPO]] [[John-117]]

[[UNSC Battle group Leviathan]]

**15 [[UNSC Destroyer|Destroyer]]s<ref>The ships fired a salvo of 63 MAC rounds (''[[Halo: The Fall Of Reach]]'', page 193), thus 15 ships must've had 2 MAC guns.</ref>

**30 [[UNSC Frigate|Frigates]]<ref>48 -15 -2 -1 = 30</ref>

**2 [[UNSC Carrier|Carriers]]<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall Of Reach]]''', ''page 155''</ref>

**1 [[Marathon-class Cruiser|Cruiser]]  

**[[Covenant Destroyer]]s

**[[Covenant Frigate]]s

**1 [[Covenant Carrier]]

**1 [[Covenant Stealth Corvette|stealth ship]]

**[[General (UNSC)|General]] [[Kits]]

*1 [[SPARTAN-II]] wounded

The '''Battle of Sigma Octanus IV''' was fought between the [[UNSCDF|UNSC Defense Force]] and the Covenant in mid-[[2552]]. Despite taking heavy losses, the UNSC successfully repelled the Covenant force from the system, gaining a [[wikipedia:moral victory|moral victory]]. However, multiple Covenant objectives were achieved, as they succeeded in retrieving a [[Forerunner]] artifact leading them to [[Installation 04]], as well as finding out the location of the human stronghold planet [[Reach]].

However, over [[Sigma Octanus IV]], [[Commander (UNSC)|Commander]] [[Jacob Keyes]], commanding officer of the [[UNSC Destroyer]] [[UNSC Iroquois|''Iroquois'']], realized that the large mass was in fact a [[battle group]] of Covenant ships after reading a report by [[Fhajad-084]]. The Covenant ships were flying in close formation; Large masses bend slipspace more easily than in real space, creating the illusion of a single large mass when there are in fact several. Keyes concluded that the mass was comprised of four [[Covenant Frigate]]s. However, when the Covenant battlegroup exited slipspace, the ''Iroquois'' found itself outmatched by the arrival of not four frigates but one [[Covenant Carrier]], one [[Covenant destroyer|destroyer]], and two [[Covenant frigate|frigates]] (medium-sized ships).

Despite the hopeless tactical situation, Commander Keyes resolved to attack. The ''Iroquois'' set a collision course for the destroyer at emergency acceleration while launching a nuclear warhead in what seemed to be the wrong direction. The two escorting frigates proceeded to launch a salvo of [[plasma]], but the ''Iroquois'' managed to evade by utilizing the emergency thruster. Having missed their target, the plasma came about and continued to track and home in on the [[UNSC]] warship.

The trailing plasma was to prove critical to the success of [[Keyes Loop|Keyes' strategy]]. A last minute course correction allowed the ''Iroquois'' to merely "graze" the destroyer's shields rather than smash directly into the ship properly, resulting in the destruction of a large portion of the ''Iroquois''' armor (Keyes had torn through 2 meters of titanium and had breached every bottom deck of the ''Iroquois''). However, the tracking plasma was unable to correct for the sudden maneuver of their target and, in consequence, impacted on the destroyer instead. A heavy salvo of [[Archer Missile|Archer missiles]] sent the remaining Covenant warship to its destruction.

With the momentum built up during the first phase, the ''Iroquois'' performed a slingshot maneuver around the planet. Once safely away, the nuclear warhead deployed earlier, was detonated, completely draining the shields on the two frigates. Having completed its orbit, the ''Iroquois'' resumed its attack and destroyed the two Frigates with two heavy [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon|MAC]] rounds and hundreds of [[Archer Missile|Archer missiles]].

Upon landing, the Marines set up their command center, [[Alpha Headquarters]] and a forward base, [[Firebase Bravo]]. The troopers were forced to operate with little intelligence of the surrounding area. Satellite scans were rendered useless by the fog and jungle canopy. Kits failed to realize that the Covenant had established a strong presence in the jungle, including a new race which was yet to be encountered by the UNSC; the [[Mgalekgolo|Hunters]]. [[Lieutenant]] [[McCasky]] was ordered to take his platoon to observe Covenant activity in [[Sigma Octanus IV Grid 13 x 24|Grid 13 x 24]]. They traveled to the area by [[Warthog]], but almost the entire platoon was wiped out by Hunters save for [[Corporal]] [[Harland]], [[Private (UNSC)|Privates]] [[Fincher]], [[Walker]] and [[Cochran]]. Harland ordered a retreat as soon as he clearly saw the Hunters, but despite this Cochran was still wounded by a [[Needler]]. Although hounded by [[Banshee]]s, the fireteam managed to destroy all pursuing Covenant and fall back safely. They found that [[Firebase Bravo]] had been completely overrun by Covenant forces and its survivors were systematically being hunted down and slaughtered. When they made it back to [[Alpha Headquarters]], they found that that had also been mostly destroyed, with only fourteen enlisted men surviving on the planet's surface. Corporal Harland was forced to assume command.

With the failure of the Marine strike team, the [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN-IIs]] were sent in. Arriving at the destroyed H.Q., the squad, consisting of [[Spartan-117]], [[Spartan-104]], [[Spartan-James]], [[Spartan-087]], [[Spartan-029]], [[Spartan-058]], and six others quickly secured the base. After they arrived, Spartan 117 broke them into three four-man teams and personally assumed command of [[Blue Team]]. He sent Red and Green teams on their missions, then slogged through the jungle, arriving at Côte d'Azur. Entering the storm drains, [[Blue Team]] discovered a new Covenant race, the [[Huragok|Engineers]]. Investigating Covenant activity in the [[Côte d'Azur Museum of Natural History]], Blue Team discovered that the Covenant were scanning what appeared to be a simple piece of igneous rock, and sending the information to a ship in orbit. The team entered a massive firefight with two Hunters, which was a victory at the expense of James' arm, recovered the rock, and escaped.

With a group of surviving civilians evacuated, the SPARTANs returned to H.Q. and detonated a [[HAVOK Nuclear Warhead]], destroying Côte d'Azur and removing the Covenant presence on the planet.

With the ground battle continuing, more UNSC ships arrived in orbit over Sigma Octanus IV. At 0625 hours, a fleet of Covenant vessels were detected on the edge of the system. The 48 available UNSC warships, including the ''Iroquois ''and Stanforth's flagship, the Marathon-class cruiser ''Leviathan'', formed a tight "checkerboard" formation that allowed for them to fire all their [[MAC]] guns simultaneously at the Covenant fleet with a single massive volley. However, this restricted the mobility of the UNSC fleet, and left them unable to evade the extremely accurate Covenant plasma torpedoes. When the battle commenced, the Covenant fleet took a severe beating from the UNSC's opening MAC salvo, but promptly returned fire with a salvo of plasma torpedoes. The repair station ''[[Cradle]]'' moved in front of the UNSC formation, acting as a sacrificial shield, and absorbed the Covenant fleet's first salvo, at the cost of the station and its entire crew. This allowed the UNSC ships to dedicate all the power from their reactors to recharging their MAC guns, and the UNSC ships were thus quickly able to fire a second salvo after the destroyed ''Cradle'' drifted away.

After this salvo, only eight Covenant vessels remained: cruisers and destroyers. The UNSC fleet then scattered and proceeded to engage the Covenant fleet, which responded by releasing its [[Seraph]] fighters and opening heavy fire on the UNSC ships. The ''Iroquois'' spotted a Covenant stealth ship in orbit above the planet and attempted to destroy it with a barrage of Archer missiles, but the attack was foiled when the stealth ship jammed the missile guidance locks, causing them to miss. In response, ''Iroquois ''simply rammed the much smaller ship, stopping the Covenant from transmitting data from the planet's surface. The remaining Covenant vessels soon fled the system.

The battle was one of the few major victories that the UNSC had had in space (despite major losses; less than ten ships remained intact after the battle) since [[Harvest]] was retaken. Admiral Stanforth had especially planned this battle to be a much needed victory and morale boost for the humans.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''page 160''</ref> It introduced the tactic of using a refit station to protect UNSC ships. The Covenant, however, had only come for the data retrieved from the Forerunner [[Sigma Octanus IV Artifact|crystal]] transmitted from the planet, which revealed to them the location of [[Installation 04]].

A spy probe attached to the destroyer ''Iroquois'' lead the Covenant to [[Reach]], which they attacked a few days later. It later transpired that the Covenant had learned the location of one of the Halos from the transmission, which they planned to activate to begin the [[Great Journey]].

*'''0000 Hours:''' [[William Michael Lovell|Ensign William Lovell]], aboard the [[UNSC]] [[Remote Scanning Outpost]] ''[[Archimedes]]'', reports to Sigma Octanus IV concerning a large silhouette in [[Slipspace]] heading for the system. It is suspected to be a group of Covenant ships but it could also be an asteroid.

*'''0300 Hours:''' The {{UNSCShip|Iroquois}} arrives in system on patrol. The vessel's Commanding Officer, [[Captain Jacob Keyes|Commander Jacob Keyes]], receives the sensor information and realizes it is a Covenant threat. He contacts [[FLEETCOM]] and informs them of the situation.

*'''0320 Hours:''' 4 Covenant ships consisting of 1 [[Covenant Carrier]], 1 [[Covenant Destroyer]] and 2 [[Covenant Frigate]]s arrive in the system. The UNSC ''Iroquois'' engages the enemy and requests reinforcements. The {{UNSCShip|Gettysburg}} and {{UNSCShip|Alliance}} respond and begin heading for Sigma Octanus.

*'''0600 Hours:''' Covenant forces ambush and obliterate all marine forces on the ground. Only 14 enlisted men survive. [[Corporal Harland]] assumes tactical command.

*'''0650 Hours:''' [[SPARTAN-II]]s arrive on the surface to reinforce surviving marines.

*'''2130 Hours:''' Repair station ''[[Cradle]]'' moves to protect UNSC Fleet. First salvos are fired by Covenant vessels.

*[[Remote Scanning Outpost]] ''[[Archimedes]]''

*[[Admiral]] [[Michael Stanforth]]

*[[General (UNSC)|General]] [[Kits]]

*[[Lieutenant]] [[Hikowa]]

*[[Spartan-117]]

*[[Spartan-104]]

*[[Spartan-087]]

*[[Spartan-029]]

*[[Spartan-058]]

*[[Private (UNSC)|Private]] [[Fincher]]

*[[Private (UNSC)|Private]] [[Walker]]

*[[Private (UNSC)|Private]] [[Cochran]]