The Battle of Cleveland was an engagement between the UNSC Defense Force and the Covenant Military that took place in Cleveland, Ohio on Earth during the Battle of Earth.[1]
Purpose
The purpose of the occupation was to locate and retrieve the Key of Osanalan, a Forerunner artifact revealed by Colonel James Ackerson during his interrogation. Ackerson said it was a necessary component for the firing sequence of the Halo array in order properly initiate it. However such a key does not exist.[2] Ackerson simply told the Covenant about it in order to save his brother. The Covenant would not destroy the city before getting the Key, and Ruwan's knowledge of the Key would help him escape.
Battle
The Covenant quickly assaulted Cleveland, taking light casualties as they battled Colonial Militia, Marines, and armed civilians (one notable civilian who took part in the battle was the pop singer Tyla). However, during the battle the Covenant did not make any attempt to destroy the city or kill any civilians. After securing most of the city, the Covenant captured many civilians and brought them to a stadium in order to question them about the Key of Osanalan. Just as the civilians arrived, ODSTs attacked the stadium and swiftly killed most of the Covenant forces. They then evacuated the civilians. Ruwan stated that he knew what the Covenant were looking for, and he and Tyla were brought to a secret UNSC base in the sewers of Cleveland to meet with the leader of the remaining UNSC forces in the area, Sergeant Twyker.
Arranging a plan with Twyker and Wesley, Ruwan was injected with a trackable organic material and surrendered himself to the Covenant forces, claiming to be the Key. The Brutes brought him aboard the Harbinger of Piety before the Minister of Inquisition, who questioned him of Halo but the civilian was confused. Inquisition revealed he knew about the tracking material inside him and presumed that it was a homing beacon for rescue; Ruwan corrected him, statingit was a targeting vector for the MAC Platform Nassau to fire on the ship. Moments after this revelation, the Nassau fired, destroying the ship and killing everyone aboard.
Aftermath
Because of their gullibility, the Covenant wasted resources and effort in searching Cleveland for the non-existent key and lost a minor Prophet as a result.
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