Editing Battle of Alpha Corvi II

{{Status|Canon}}

{{Battle infobox

|conc=

|image=[[File:HCD-ACIIbattlespace.png|300px]]

|conflict=*[[Human-Covenant War]]{{Ref/Reuse|HCD1}}

*Seaborne warships{{Ref/Reuse|HCD1}}

|forces2=*Initial fleet

**3+ {{Pattern|Sinaris|heavy destroyer}}s{{Ref/Reuse|HCD1}}

*Reinforcement fleet

**5+ {{Pattern|Sinaris|heavy destroyer}}s{{Ref/Reuse|HCD1}}

*{{Pattern|Ru'swum|Phantom}}s{{Ref/Reuse|HCD1}}

[[File:HCD-BTfighting.png|thumb|300px|left|By working with the URF, Blue Team was able to steer the Covenant troops right into its line of fire.{{Ref/Reuse|HCD1}}]]

Blue Team was set down in a [[Unidentified APC|ground vehicle]] on the beach and immediately began taking fire from rebels encamped a short distance away.{{Ref/Reuse|HCD1}} [[Kelly-087]] and [[Frederic-104]] recommended taking them out quickly so they could move on to deal with the Covenant, but [[John-117]] opted for a different option. He activated his active camouflage and crept up on the small band, only revealing himself when he could reach out and touch their apparent leader. John identified his team as being responsible for [[Operation: TALON|capturing]] Colonel [[Robert Watts]] and argued there was no way they could hope to beat them. He told them what had [[First Battle of Harvest|happened]] to [[Harvest]] and through appealing to their immediate common enemy, was able to get the leader, [[Whitaker]], to agree to work together for the time being. At John's insistence, he ordered his squad to circle around and rendezvous with the rest of their forces at the edge of a lagoon. From there, they would hit the Covenant from one side and drive them toward where Blue Team lay in wait. In order to keep an eye on their uneasy allies, John sent along a surveillance [[drone]] to keep a visual on them. The insurrectionists took up position as planned and opened fire, catching the small contingent of aliens by surprise and sending them running. Blue Team too unloaded on them with [[BR55 battle rifle]]s when the distance between them closed. During the fighting, John's drone was destroyed by a shot from a [[Kig-Yar]]'s [[Type-25 plasma pistol]]. The [[Sangheili]] and [[Kig-Yar]] that remained escaped into the mouth of a tunnel that led deep into the mines beneath the reef's bedrock. John was determined to pursue them, not least of which because he was curious about [[Kindler|a strange device]] a Sangheili took in with him. Whitaker informed him that though the mine was an expansive mess of tunnels, it only had the one entry and exit, meaning the enemy was trapped within it.{{Ref/Reuse|HCD1}}

The sudden new arrival of Covenant reinforcements in orbit prompted LDCR Yao to have Nora contact Blue Team.{{Ref/Reuse|HCD1}} Yao let them know that a host of new dropships were inbound. Most of them were heading for Jamshid, but three Spirits would reach Black Reef in just three minutes. The naval battle over the planet looked to now be going very badly for the [[UNSC]]. Without any hesitation, Whitaker volunteered to hold the mine entrance with his people so the Spartans could pursue the others that had vanished within. Some militia started to question their leader's willingness to help the [[titanium]]-clad warriors, but Whitaker had only to remind them what John had said about Harvest. Soon, the Spirits were unloading Sangheili on the island who were met with a hail of bullets from the URF rebels.{{Ref/Reuse|HCD1}} At some point after this, a plan enacted by the rebels triggered a cave-in that trapped Blue Team and its prey in the mine.{{Ref/Comic|Id=HCD2|HCD|Issue=2}} Despite this, the alliance with the URF held and both groups continued to fight the Covenant together, now with the goal of also keeping a [[Forerunner]] artifact buried deep underground out of its hands.{{Ref/Comic|Id=HCD3|HCD|Issue=3}}

===Desperate measures===

[[File:HCD - JamshidAssault.jpg|thumb|left|300px|With their planetary defense failing, the UNSC was forced to abandon Jamshid and deployed dropships to evacuate the surviving Marines, leaving URF forces behind.]]  

With the majority of their forces in the process of being evacuated, Commander Yao deployed Pelican dropship ''[[Tango 807]]'' to rescue the Spartans. The Pelican arrived at Bondi Beach to find it swarming with Covenant. Yao ordered the Pelican to abort its landing until the Spartans' status could be verified. Minutes later, Blue Team resurfaced and linked up with Whitaker, who had commandeered an [[Unidentified APC|APC]] and proceeded to mow down the Covenant forces waiting to intercept the Spartans. Together, the two sides launched an assault on the extraction zone, allowing ''Tango 807'' to land. Whitaker and his men followed for evac, but were denied entry by the Pelican's lieutenant who had been ordered by Yao not to accept any non-UNSC personnel. Whitaker argued against this, but was flatly denied and told that he would have to find his own means off the planet, and that no human ship rebel or otherwise would be shot down should they succeed. ''Tango 807'' then departed into space, and the lieutenant was interrogated by John who was furious at the abandonment of their allies on the ground. Whitaker radioed for evac but was far out of range of any help that could've come, and was forced to face the Covenant alone. The rebels were wiped out and Whitaker was himself slain by an Elite, signaling the fall of Black Reef and the rebel garrison there.{{Citation needed}}

==Sources==

{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Human-Covenant War}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpha Corvi II}}