Operation: TREBUCHET: Difference between revisions

Insurrectionist forces take control of Eridanus II, establishing their own [[Wikipedia:secession|secessionist]] government in the wake of the [[Wikipedia:coup d'état|''coup d'état'']].<ref name=TFOR>Halo: The Fall of Reach, pages 17-18</ref>

UNSC forces begins their campaign to retake the planet, deploying a battlegroup of unknown size to engage the makeshift Insurrectionist defence fleet. Despite the UNSC's best attempts at removing the entrenched rebellion, ONI fails to discover the location of their base. This hollowed-out asteroid would remain a safe haven for Insurrectionists for another three decades.<ref name=TFOR/>

Fighting breaks out in the [[Eridanus Star System]] first, particularly at Eridanus II and the space around it, as rebels supporting the system's breakaway from the UNSC build a small navy of civilian craft and attempt to take over the system. The disorganized [[Eridanus Rebels]] are eventually brought together by [[Colonel Robert Watts]].

A ground campaign begins on [[Eridanus II]], as units from the [[9th Marine Expeditionary Force]] are sent to the planet in force, hoping to capture leaders of the movement and pacify the population. One of these units, the first Battalion of the [[21st Marine Division]] commanded by [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Ponder]], was involved in a disastrous mission to try and capture a rebel leader - the second in command - in [[Elysium City]], which ended in the leader's family being killed and Ponder wounded and demoted.<ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'', page 112</ref>

Fighting continues, now in Epsilon Eridani. By this point, the war has taken over a million lives, the majority of which being civilians. A Marine Battalion is posted at the colony world of [[Tribute]], commanded by [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[Aboim]] and supported by the corvette {{UNSCship|Bum Rush}} and air support from [[Hornets]]. The battalion attempts to put a stop to rebel bomb makers. Two special warfare [[squad]]s, led by [[Staff Sergeant]]s [[Avery Johnson]] and [[Nolan Byrne]], are involved in disastrous operation in June. Byrne's team is killed during a hostage situation at a [[Jim Dandy]] restaurant near [[Casbah]] city. Thirty-Eight civilians, three Marines, and two rebels are killed in the bombing. Byrne and Johnson are pulled from the system, and later sent to [[Harvest]].<ref>''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]'', pages 9-20</ref>

In the meantime, the Insurrectionists resort to bolder, more deadly tactics, such as the bombing of a civilian liner in orbit over [[Reach]].

The last known operations involved the [[SPARTAN-II]] soldiers in [[2525]]. A team of five SPARTAN-IIs were dispatched and to infiltrate the rebel base at Eridanus Secundus and capture Watts, the rebel leader. They succeeded in doing so, crippling but not destroying the rebel infrastructure in the Eridanus system.<ref>''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'', page 83</ref> Shortly afterwards, the Spartans were sent to halt a rebellion on [[Jericho VII]].