Battle of Sigma Octanus IV: Difference between revisions

|date=July 17-18, 2552

|place=[[Sigma Octanus IV]], [[Sigma Octanus system]]  

|result=[[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] tactical victory

Covenant strategic victory

*[[General]] [[Kits]]† (presumed)

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

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

**14 [[UNSC destroyer|Destroyers]]{{Ref/Note|The ships fired a salvo of 63 MAC rounds (''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach|Halo: The Fall Of Reach]]'', page 193), thus 15 ships must have had 2 MAC guns, including the ''Leviathan''.}}

***{{UNSCShip|Iroquois}}

**31 [[UNSC frigate|Frigates]]{{Ref/Note|1=48 -14 -2 -1 = 31}}

*1 repair-refitting station

*1 [[Prowler]]

*1600 [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]]

*24 vessels

**2 {{Class|CAS|assault carrier}}s

*25 ships destroyed (12 ships severely crippled)

**[[General (rank)|General]] [[Kits]] (presumed)

*All forces in [[Côte d'Azur]], presumably all forces on planet surface

*18 ships destroyed}}

On July 17, 2552, [[Ensign]] [[William Lovell]] logged a large gravitational anomaly inside [[Slipstream space]]. Deciding that it could not be any form of Covenant starship based on its immense size, Lovell passed it off as an asteroid, sent his hourly report, and thought nothing more of it.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''pages 137-138''</ref>

However, over [[Sigma Octanus IV]], [[Commander (UNSC)|Commander]] [[Jacob Keyes]], commanding officer of the [[UNSC destroyer|UNSC Destroyer]] [[UNSC Iroquois|''Iroquois'']], realized that the large mass was in fact a [[battle group]] of Covenant ships after reading [[UNSC Astrophysics Journal 034-23-01|a report]] by [[Fhajad-084]].<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 141''</ref> 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|Covenant Frigates]]. However, when the Covenant battlegroup exited slipspace, the ''Iroquois'' found itself outmatched by the arrival of not four frigates but one [[Covenant carrier|carrier]], one {{Class|RPV|light destroyer}}, and two [[Covenant frigate|frigates]].<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 170''</ref>

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]]s sent the remaining Covenant warship to its destruction.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''pages 176-177''</ref>

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 [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon|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 ''[[UNSC Cradle|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.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 222''</ref>

*'''0320 Hours:''' 4 Covenant ships consisting of 1 ''DDS''-carrier, 1 [[Covenant destroyer|destroyer]] and 2 [[Covenant frigate|frigates]] arrive in the system. The UNSC ''Iroquois'' engages the enemy and requests reinforcements. The {{UNSCShip|Gettysburg}} and {{UNSCShip|Allegiance}} respond and begin heading for Sigma Octanus.

*'''0400 Hours:''' 47 additional UNSC vessels arrive in the system. Admiral Michael Stanforth, aboard the {{UNSCShip|Leviathan}}, takes command.

*'''0625 Hours:''' Covenant vessels begin appearing on the far edge of the system.

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