Epsilon Eridani Fleet: Difference between revisions

Despite the colossal battle being waged throughout the [[Viery Territory]], the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] kept the invasion secret from military personnel and civilians on the far side of the planet.<ref>[[Data Drop]] 5</ref> The Covenant's [[Fleet of Particular Justice|final invasion force]] was first detected by [[Fermion]] [[Remote scanning outpost|Remote Scanning Outpost]], which continued to warn all UNSC forces in-system of the new threat.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', "chapter 31", ''page ??''</ref> There were only about 100 ships at Reach at the time, which moved into defensive positions to defend the planet; the 52 vessels remaining elsewhere in the system (likely engaged at [[Tribute]]) were recalled to Reach.<ref name="pages295-297">'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', ''pages 295-297''</ref> A large nuclear mine field had been set up to detonate the Covenant fleet, which destroyed roughly one hundred enemy ships.<ref name="pages295-297"/> The opening salvo of Covenant plasma rounds were mostly blocked by three [[refit station]]s, letting the fleet fire their first [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon|MAC]] salvo unharmed. When the Covenant fired again however, a crushing 80 UNSC ships were destroyed.<ref name="pages295-297"/>

The remaining UNSC ships regrouped with the reinforcements to defend the orbital platforms, but the Covenant began sending hundreds of dropships to the surface of Reach, accompanied by several cruisers to destroy the [[orbital defense generator]]s. They also used an [[Unidentified Covenant warship|unidentified vessel]] to snipe the ships of the fleet which were unable to destroy it.  It was able to also avoid rounds from the Super MACS.  Finally, the ''[[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|Pillar of Autumn]]'' destroyed the supercruiser in an intense battle, but the ''Autumn'' was severely damaged and too much of the fleet was destroyed as well as the generators on the ground being destroyed for it to make much of a difference. Despite strong defense from UNSC ground forces, the Covenant managed to push through and destroy the generators, letting the remnants of the Covenant fleet move in and [[Glassing|glass]] Reach, destroying the UNSC stragglers.<ref name="FoR"/>

Only a handful of ships escaped Reach, most of which were badly damaged. The known survivors were the severely damaged ''Pillar of Autumn'' which was later destroyed in the [[Battle of Installation 04]], an ONI [[prowler]] which witnessed the battle and its aftermath and fled and the {{UNSCShip|Gettysburg}} which was later salvaged to help the survivors of this battle and the Battle of Installation 04 return home. After the Covenant glassed Reach, they advanced on the other in-system colonies, including [[Tribute]]. The initial [[Battle of Tribute|space engagement]] over Tribute was a short one, with only a fraction of the original fleet there to defend it. The fleet suffered ninety percent losses and Tribute was partially glassed.<ref>'''Bungie.net''': [[Taylor H. Miles|Dutch]] character profile</ref><ref name="h4evg">'''[[Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 177''</ref>