Siege of the Atlas Moons

The Siege of the Atlas Moons was a prolonged battle between the UNSC and the Covenant.

This is what distinguished Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb as a great tactical genius and he gained a reputation as a great military Commander. This was seen to be a rare victory for the UNSC, as victories in space-based fighting were uncommon for the UNSC Human Fleet.

  A Covenant fleet comprised of one Carrier, 10 Destroyers, and 3 Battle Cruisers arrived in the system. Vice Admiral Whitcomb had five UNSC vessels under his command due to lack of interest of the Atlas Moons. The planet Atlas itself was uninhabitable due its unstable atmosphere. The moons however were colonized due to oxygen deposits found under the surface. When the Covenant fleet arrived, the colonists fled under ground in a security room, hoping that they could escape the dooms of being glassed. However, the Covenant were unaware of the fact no humans occupied Atlas, which Danforth used to his advantage. He sent a false distress call from a satellite he launched onto Atlas, saving the colonists from being glassed, and buying them time. The Covenant intercepted the call and tracked it, hoping to find humans to kill.

   They began to Glass the area where the distress call originated on Atlas. Danforth then evacuated the UNSC ship Spirit of Adventure, andleft a fraction of the onboard AI to steer the ship. The AI followed orders and rammed the UNSC ship into a Battle Cruiser. The AI then used Spirit of Adventure to push the Battle Cruiser into the shields of the Carrier, depleting them. The AI then detonated a Shiva Nuke inside the Spirit of Adventure. The Battle Cruiser was destroyed and the Carrier was extremely damaged. The rest of the UNSC ships fired Archer Missiles at the remains of the Carrier, destroying it. The Destroyers turned and began to fire at the UNSC vessels, and the UNSC Warship Lance of Power was destroyed. Danforth only had three vessels now. He had them launch one Shiva nuke each, and they detonated and wiped out the shields of 6 destroyers and the shields of the remaining Battle Cruisers. MAC Cannons took care of the destroyers with no shields. The remaining four destroyers made slipspace jumps and escaped. The Battle Cruisers, now without defensive shields, fled with the destroyers. The Colonists afterwards thanked the Vice Admiral Danforth greatly and began support of the UNSC. Before the Siege of Atlas Moons, the colonists supported the Insurrectionists. Vice Admiral Danforth saved the colonists and won support for the UNSC, getting him several medals.

Sources

Halo Essential Tales of the Universe

Halo Comic: UNSC Darkest Hours