"Four of us and a thousand of them? Piss poor odds for the little guys." --SPARTAN-087. The Battle of Jericho VII was a battle fought between the UNSC Defense Force and the Covenant in early 2535.
Order of Battle
Covenant forces landed on Jericho VII, where they encountered tough resistance from UNSC forces above the planet and on the ground, resulting in a three day long stalemate.
On the ground, Blue Team Members: Blue-One, Two, Three, Four, and Five massacred the Covenant troops. Blue Team's mission was to draw out the Covenant rear guard, so Red Team could slip behind their lines and plant a HAVOK tactical nuke, hoping to destroy the next Covenant ship that landed and dropped it's shields.[1] These few Spartans were able to kill hundreds of Grunts and destroy Shade turrets with little difficulty, as well as neutralizing their Banshee air support, by using the traps they had planted in case the Grunts got out of hand.
The Marines, operating elsewhere, suffered minor casualties and easily accomplished their goals as well. However, the 105th Drop Jet Platoon was slaughtered by a massive force of Grunts. Blue Team swept through the area and avenged the platoon by killing hundreds of the Grunts involved in that operation. All of the Spartan teams accomplished their missions and returned safely to the remaining fleet in a Pelican Dropship.
Unfortunately, the UNSC fleet lost control of the space around Jericho VII after a brutal three day battle with the Covenant Fleet. Luckily, Captain De Blanc was able to evacuate the Spartans before the enemy fleet began its glassing of the planet. Spartan-117 requested to watch the planet being glassed. He observed the assault for nearly an hour as Jericho VII was destroyed.
Intelligence gained from the battle was utilized in the creation of the Mark VI MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/C variant.
Sources
- ^ The Fall of Reach, P. 2