Operation: FIRST STRIKE: Difference between revisions
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|conflict=[[Human-Covenant War]] | |conflict=[[Human-Covenant War]] | ||
|date= [[2552#September|September 13, 2552]] | |date= [[2552#September|September 13, 2552]] | ||
|place=[[Tau Ceti system]] | |place=[[Tau Ceti system]] | ||
|result=Decisive UNSC victory | |result=Decisive UNSC victory | ||
*Covenant armada destroyed | *Covenant armada destroyed | ||
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==History== | ==History== | ||
===Background=== | ===Background=== | ||
Having discovered the location of [[Earth]], Covenant forces under the command of the [[Prophet of Truth]] were building a [[Truth's fleet|massive invasion fleet]], consisting of about five hundred ships to invade humanity's homeworld. Truth kept his knowledge of Earth's location hidden from his fellow [[Hierarchs]], [[Prophet of Regret|Regret]] and [[Prophet of Mercy|Mercy]]. The assembly of the fleet, which was led entirely by the [[Jiralhanae]], also remained secret; Truth planned to have the Jiralhanae [[Changing of the Guard|usurp]] the [[Sangheili]] as the [[San 'Shyuum|Prophets | Having discovered the location of [[Earth]], Covenant forces under the command of the [[Prophet of Truth]] were building a [[Truth's fleet|massive invasion fleet]], consisting of about five hundred ships to invade humanity's homeworld. Truth kept his knowledge of Earth's location hidden from his fellow [[Hierarchs]], [[Prophet of Regret|Regret]] and [[Prophet of Mercy|Mercy]]. The assembly of the fleet, which was led entirely by the [[Jiralhanae]], also remained secret; Truth planned to have the Jiralhanae [[Changing of the Guard|usurp]] the [[Sangheili]] as the [[San 'Shyuum|Prophets]]' protectors, simultaneously eliminating his fellow Hierarchs.<ref>[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/theuniverse/events/complex/ten-twenty/f4adbef8-e9bc-44f8-aefa-d8e9b69f7139 '''Halo Waypoint''', ''Ten Twenty'']</ref> | ||
After discovering Truth's plan, and the location of ''Unyielding Hierophant'' in the [[Tau Ceti system]], from a piggybacked transmission, the [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] [[Cortana]] and [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN]] [[John-117]] formulated a counter plan that would result in either a massive victory or the deaths of the remaining active SPARTAN-IIs. | After discovering Truth's plan, and the location of ''Unyielding Hierophant'' in the [[Tau Ceti system]], from a piggybacked transmission, the [[Artificial intelligence|AI]] [[Cortana]] and [[SPARTAN-II Program|SPARTAN]] [[John-117]] formulated a counter plan that would result in either a massive victory or the deaths of the remaining active SPARTAN-IIs. | ||
===The raid=== | ===The raid=== | ||
In a desperate attempt to stop the massive Covenant armada from invading Earth, the five Spartans aboard the hybrid vessel [[UNSC Gettysburg|''Gettysburg'']]-''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' - John-117, [[Frederic-104]], [[Kelly-087]], [[Linda-058]], [[William-043]], and [[Grace-093]] - infiltrated the Covenant repair and refit station ''Unyielding Hierophant'' via a captured [[Type-28 Troop Carrier|Spirit dropship]]. After landing in a vast hangar, the Spartans began to sneak through maintenance access and ventilation tunnels until they found the station's reactor core.<ref name="Alamo"/> | In a desperate attempt to stop the massive Covenant armada from invading Earth, the five Spartans aboard the hybrid vessel [[UNSC Gettysburg|''Gettysburg'']]-''[[Ascendant Justice]]'' - John-117, [[Frederic-104]], [[Kelly-087]], [[Linda-058]], [[William-043]], and [[Grace-093]] - infiltrated the Covenant repair and refit station ''Unyielding Hierophant'' via a captured [[Type-28 Troop Carrier|Spirit dropship]]. After landing in a vast hangar, the Spartans began to sneak through maintenance access and ventilation tunnels until they found the station's [[Pinch fusion reactor|reactor core]].<ref name="Alamo"/> | ||
As the Spartans approached a large temple-like atrium, they were ambushed by Jiralhanae guards. During this ambush, Grace was killed when the Covenant tracked her [[COM]] signals; after the immediate threat was eliminated, John activated Grace's [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V|MJOLNIR suit's]] [[fail-safe detonation system]], killing the investigating Covenant soldiers.<ref name="Alamo">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 328-333''</ref> The Spartans then fought their way to a reactor room and set the generators to overload. Once the reactors were set to overload, the Spartans returned to the atrium, opened the | As the Spartans approached a large temple-like atrium, they were ambushed by Jiralhanae guards. During this ambush, Grace was killed when the Covenant tracked her [[COM]] signals; after the immediate threat was eliminated, John activated Grace's [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V|MJOLNIR suit's]] [[fail-safe detonation system]], killing the investigating Covenant soldiers.<ref name="Alamo">'''Halo: First Strike''', ''pages 328-333''</ref> The Spartans then fought their way to a reactor room and set the generators to overload. Once the reactors were set to overload, the Spartans returned to the atrium, opened the [[airlock]]s, and blew out a heavily enforced window that enclosed the atrium with hijacked [[Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft|Banshees]], sucking all Covenant forces inside the atrium into space.<ref name="Alamo"/> | ||
Around this time, Cortana's attempts to hack the [[Covenant battle network]] was discovered and she was forced to make hundreds of copies to protect herself. She successfully opened the airlocks and interfered with the Covenant's communications by repeating error messages on their COM systems endlessly. The Spartans then traveled to the far side of a nearby moon and unexpectedly met the UNSC ''Gettysburg'', now separated from ''Ascendant Justice''. | Around this time, Cortana's attempts to hack the [[Covenant battle network]] was discovered and she was forced to make hundreds of copies to protect herself. She successfully opened the airlocks and interfered with the Covenant's communications by repeating error messages on their COM systems endlessly. The Spartans then traveled to the far side of a nearby moon and unexpectedly met the UNSC ''Gettysburg'', now separated from ''Ascendant Justice'', which [[Vice Admiral]] [[Danforth Whitcomb]] and [[Lieutenant]] [[Elias Haverson]] had taken to the system's Oort cloud to gather intelligence from a distance.<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''', ''page 326''</ref> | ||
Vice Admiral Whitcomb and Lieutenant Haverson then took the ''Ascendant Justice'' and crashed straight into the ''Unyielding Hierophant''. Using a hologram, Whitcomb pretended to have the [[Forerunner]] [[Forerunner crystal|crystal]], which had been found beneath [[CASTLE Base]] on [[Reach]], aboard the ship and challenged all Covenant forces in the system to try and take it from him. The Covenant battleships all gathered around the ''Ascendant Justice'' and the overloading battle station, attempting to take the crystal from Whitcomb. The station then overloaded and exploded, killing Whitcomb and Haverson, destroying most of the Covenant fleet, and saving Earth from impending invasion.<ref name="Alamo"/> | |||
===Aftermath=== | ===Aftermath=== | ||
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*'''1620 Hours:''' The Spartan team uses Banshees to escape the station. | *'''1620 Hours:''' The Spartan team uses Banshees to escape the station. | ||
*'''1625 Hours:''' ''Unyielding Hierophant'' explodes, destroying approximately 488 of the 500 vessels in the area and heavily damaging the remainder.<ref name="Alamo"/> | *'''1625 Hours:''' ''Unyielding Hierophant'' explodes, destroying approximately 488 of the 500 vessels in the area and heavily damaging the remainder.<ref name="Alamo"/> | ||
*'''1630 Hours:''' The human survivors, including the remaining Spartans, [[Staff Sergeant]] [[Avery Junior Johnson|Avery Johnson]], and Cortana, as well as many [[Huragok]], return to Earth aboard the ''Gettysburg''. ''Gettysburg'' is outfitted with ''Ascendant Justice''<nowiki>'</nowiki> slipspace drive, allowing better precision in slipspace calculations.<ref name="Alamo"/> | *'''1630 Hours:''' The human survivors, including the remaining Spartans, [[Staff Sergeant]] [[Avery Junior Johnson|Avery Johnson]], and Cortana, as well as many [[Huragok]], return to Earth aboard the ''Gettysburg''. ''Gettysburg'' is outfitted with ''Ascendant Justice''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s slipspace drive, allowing better precision in slipspace calculations.<ref name="Alamo"/> | ||
==List of appearances== | ==List of appearances== | ||
