First Battle of Mombasa: Difference between revisions
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The UNSC would not discover the actual purpose of the Covenant's arrival on Earth until after the [[Battle of Installation 05]]. By this point, a second fleet of [[Covenant Loyalists]] had arrived and begun fighting the [[Second Battle of Earth]]. This, too, had a large amount of fighting in the general region - specifically around [[Battle of Voi|Voi]] where the Covenant began excavating the Forerunner structure,the Portal of the Ark. | The UNSC would not discover the actual purpose of the Covenant's arrival on Earth until after the [[Battle of Installation 05]]. By this point, a second fleet of [[Covenant Loyalists]] had arrived and begun fighting the [[Second Battle of Earth]]. This, too, had a large amount of fighting in the general region - specifically around [[Battle of Voi|Voi]] where the Covenant began excavating the Forerunner structure,the Portal of the Ark. | ||
Ultimately, almost ''none'' of the UNSC military personnel that fought in the First Battle of New Mombasa survived the Covenant War. The shockwave caused by the Prophet of Regret's retreating Assault Carrier opening a slipspace rupture inside the atmosphere destroyed the entire city and all UNSC personnel within it: the only immediate survivors were those forces (among them Spartan-117 and Sergeant Johnson) that were extracted via Pelican transports to ''In Amber Clad'' in the brief time between when the Scarab was destroyed and when Regret's Asault Carrier opened the slipspace rupture to retreat. However, the crew and marine compliment of ''In Amber Clad'', plus any contingents of marines the ship had evaced from New Mombasa, almost immediately had to fight the Covenant again on Delta Halo. In the Battle of Installation 05, most of the UNSC forces that ''In Amber Clad'' had carried out of New Mombasa were killed on the surface during the grueling four-way Battle of the Quarantine Zone while facing off against Covenant, Flood, and Sentinel forces. Miranda Keyes led her forces in a race to breach Delta Halo's Flood-infested Library before Covenant forces, and while she succeeded, most of her men were infected by the Flood in the process. Further, while the majority of UNSC forces were concentrated on the ground in the assault on the Library, the Flood were able to board captured transports and infiltrate ''In Amber Clad'' itself, with the entire crew that remained in orbit killed or infected by the parasites as the Flood overwhelmed and commandeered their ship. Keyes and Johnson were taken prisoner by Tartarus and the Brutes moments after the Arbiter incapacitated both when they retrieved the activation Index, in what would be the opening move of the Covenant Civil War. The only UNSC military forces from New Mombasa that ultimately survived were the handful of marines that were evaced to ''In Amber Clad'' before the slipspace rupture hit, and then the isolated few of ''them'' who were captured alive by Covenant forces on Delta Halo (instead of being killed outright by the Covenant or infected by the Flood), and then the tiny fraction of ''those'' marines who survived the chaos of the outbreak of the Covenant Civil War on Delta Halo and were liberated by the Elites when they switched sides and the new Covenant Separatists allied with the UNSC. It is thus possible that the ''only'' UNSC personnel from New Mombasa that survived for a significant amount of time were Spartan-117, Commander Miranda Keyes, Sgt. Johnson, and 2 other marines; however, Miranda Keyes and Johnson would soon be killed fighting on or around the Ark not long afterwards, with Spartan-117 declared MIA. | |||
==Related Articles== | ==Related Articles== | ||
Revision as of 16:22, June 24, 2008
Template:Battle The First Battle of Mombasa was a sub-battle of the First Battle of Earth, taking place in late October 2552. Over the course of the battle, Covenant forces captured the city of Mombasa, Kenya and it was quickly retaken in a matter of hours by the UNSC.[1].
Background
After decrypting Forerunner artifacts, the Covenant had been given Slipspace coordinates to a Forerunner facility highly important in their concept of The Great Journey. Unknown to them, this facility was on the human homeworld, Earth.
During the Raid of Reach, the Human AI, Cortana intercepted the Covenant's plans to move a large fleet to Earth. Unaware of the intentions of the Covenant's plan, the UNSC interpreted it as an attack against their homeworld and implemented Operation: FIRST STRIKE, destroying the invasion force that was intended for securing Earth.
The High Prophet of Regret, wishing to proceed with securing the facility despite the losses, took a force of 15 warships to Earth. Though surprised to find not only a human presence on the planet, but a planet more fortified than any previously encountered human-held world, the Prophet deemed his mission important enough to proceed and utilized many tactics to ensure his safe arrival on the surface. The coordinates provided by the Forerunner information indicated that his quarry was around the area of Mombasa.
Beginning
Covenant Invasion
During the First Battle of Earth, a single Covenant Carrier (the High Prophet of Regrets flagship) broke through UNSC Home Fleet defensive lines and landed on Earth [2][3]. The ship landed at Mombasa in Kenya. The city was lightly defended, with only elements of the 77th Marines scattered around the city [4].
The UNSC activated the city's Colonial Militia to fight the Covenant invaders. The Covenant forces proved to be far superior and the Militia was eliminated [5]. However, this allowed for almost all of the citizens of Mombasa to evacuate from the city using boats destined for other surrounding cities [6].
More UNSC Marine Corps units later poured into the region after the initial attack, including the 405th Marine Infantry Division and the rest of the 77th Marine Regiment.
UNSC Insertion
Three D77H-TCI Pelican Dropships were deployed by the In Amber Clad to board the Assault Carrier hovering near the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator. Intercepted transmission from the Covenant forces lead the UNSC to (correctly) believe that it was the High Prophet of Regret in command of the opposing force, making his capture their highest objective. However, before they could get near the the Carrier, the formation ran across a Scarab which shot down two of the Pelicans, one carrying SgtMaj Avery Johnson and SPARTAN John-117 and the other carrying Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker and an ODST squad.
Both teams suffered few casualties from their respective crashes. The Spartan's team moved into a nearby bunker while Stacker's team moved up the beach to the Hotel Zanzibar and set up a command post, eliminating several Covenant units in the process. Both teams then waited in their respective locations for extraction.
Outskirts
After the Covenant made several attempts to eliminate Spartan-117's group including sending in a pair of Lekgolos, the third Pelican from their flight found the group and gave them coordinates of an extraction point. Commander Keyes ordered Johnson to regroup with the In Amber Clad so that he could coordinate further deployment of Infantry and Armor units while the Spartan continued on foot through the city to find the second squad.
The pinned down ODSTs in Hotel Zanzibar were rescued by John-117, who then organized an offense by destroying Covenant infantry, armor, and anti-aircraft batteries on the beaches facing New Mombasa.
UNSC Offensive
Assault on the Bridge
John-117 and his makeshift Marine unit entered a blown-out hole in a tunnel, and destroyed the forces hiding inside of it. After the engagement in the tunnels, they advanced towards the bridge connecting Old and New Mombasa. Before the SPARTAN got there, the Marine unit at the Bridge had exhausted itself fighting the Scarab.
John-117 arrived at the bridge to assess the situation while Avery Johnson reinforced the Marines with weaponry, including a Scorpion tank. The Chief traveled across the bridge with the armored unit, clearing it of both Covenant armored and mechanized forces.
City Center
After the engagement on the bridge, UNSC forces entered New Mombasa in large numbers. They linked up with various squads of Marines as they moved through the city, eliminating Covenant forces that were setting up positions. The SPARTAN's team worked their way towards the City Center, finding that the Scarab had, likewise, taken a similar path.
Once in the city center, they found a Marine outpost commanded by SSgt Marcus Banks of Alpha Company under siege by a unit of Wraiths. A UNSC Mechanized unit destroyed the Wraiths, and secured a landing zone for reinforcements. The Pelicans dropped a platoon of Marine infantry and a Scorpion.
Conclusion
Destruction of the Scarab
The lumbering Type-47 Covenant Scarab appeared outside the Metropolitan City Center and destroyed a Scorpion Main Battle Tank. Marines opened fire on the walker, but it was unaffected and impervious to the sheer rounds and just climbed over their position and moved into the Canals of the city. However, it soon found itself trapped at the end of the Canal, giving the Marines a chance to attack it openly with Pelicans.
John-117 and Alpha Company followed the Scarab through the Canals and the Spartan boarded the walker. While the Marines provided some cover fire, the Spartan defeated the forces manning the Scarab walker. After defeating its command crew, the Chief managed to destroy the Scarab from the inside by damaging its internal operating systems or the core system. The Marine forces in the area and the Spartan were extracted by Pelicans to the UNSC In Amber Clad so that it could attack the Prophet of Regret's Carrier.
Retreat
Lord Hood was hesitant to let In Amber Clad engage the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier, still above Mombasa and the Mombasa Orbital Elevator. However, when the Carrier began jumping into slipspace while still in atmosphere, Hood recognized that the only ship able to follow was the In Amber Clad and gave the ship the green light to give chase.
The Pelicans carrying SPARTAN-117 and the Marines enter the In Amber Clad, which followed the Assault Carrier into Slipspace. The Slipspace cataclysm caused the entire city to be demolished and it completely destroyed the Orbital Space Elevator, causing the Kenyan Savannah to be littered with pieces of the huge elevator spread over hundreds of miles. [7].
Aftermath
The Prophet of Regret would arrive upon Installation 05 along with In Amber Clad. It is possible he acquired the location over the course of the Battle.
The UNSC would not discover the actual purpose of the Covenant's arrival on Earth until after the Battle of Installation 05. By this point, a second fleet of Covenant Loyalists had arrived and begun fighting the Second Battle of Earth. This, too, had a large amount of fighting in the general region - specifically around Voi where the Covenant began excavating the Forerunner structure,the Portal of the Ark.
Ultimately, almost none of the UNSC military personnel that fought in the First Battle of New Mombasa survived the Covenant War. The shockwave caused by the Prophet of Regret's retreating Assault Carrier opening a slipspace rupture inside the atmosphere destroyed the entire city and all UNSC personnel within it: the only immediate survivors were those forces (among them Spartan-117 and Sergeant Johnson) that were extracted via Pelican transports to In Amber Clad in the brief time between when the Scarab was destroyed and when Regret's Asault Carrier opened the slipspace rupture to retreat. However, the crew and marine compliment of In Amber Clad, plus any contingents of marines the ship had evaced from New Mombasa, almost immediately had to fight the Covenant again on Delta Halo. In the Battle of Installation 05, most of the UNSC forces that In Amber Clad had carried out of New Mombasa were killed on the surface during the grueling four-way Battle of the Quarantine Zone while facing off against Covenant, Flood, and Sentinel forces. Miranda Keyes led her forces in a race to breach Delta Halo's Flood-infested Library before Covenant forces, and while she succeeded, most of her men were infected by the Flood in the process. Further, while the majority of UNSC forces were concentrated on the ground in the assault on the Library, the Flood were able to board captured transports and infiltrate In Amber Clad itself, with the entire crew that remained in orbit killed or infected by the parasites as the Flood overwhelmed and commandeered their ship. Keyes and Johnson were taken prisoner by Tartarus and the Brutes moments after the Arbiter incapacitated both when they retrieved the activation Index, in what would be the opening move of the Covenant Civil War. The only UNSC military forces from New Mombasa that ultimately survived were the handful of marines that were evaced to In Amber Clad before the slipspace rupture hit, and then the isolated few of them who were captured alive by Covenant forces on Delta Halo (instead of being killed outright by the Covenant or infected by the Flood), and then the tiny fraction of those marines who survived the chaos of the outbreak of the Covenant Civil War on Delta Halo and were liberated by the Elites when they switched sides and the new Covenant Separatists allied with the UNSC. It is thus possible that the only UNSC personnel from New Mombasa that survived for a significant amount of time were Spartan-117, Commander Miranda Keyes, Sgt. Johnson, and 2 other marines; however, Miranda Keyes and Johnson would soon be killed fighting on or around the Ark not long afterwards, with Spartan-117 declared MIA.
Related Articles
Sources
- ^ Halo 2, levels Outskirts and Metropolis
- ^ Halo 2, level Cairo Station
- ^ Halo Graphic Novel, page 90
- ^ Halo Graphic Novel, pages 86 to 98
- ^ Halo Graphic Novel, page 92 and 93
- ^ Halo Graphic Novel, page 97 and 98
- ^ Halo 3, levels Crow's Nest and Tsavo Highway
