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- "I know we're losing. I want to know if we've lost"
- — Catherine-B320
The Siege of New Alexandria was a major engagement between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant within the city of New Alexandria on Reach that occurred from August 18th to August 23rd, 2552. Major evacuations of civilians took place during the battle. The raid ended with the glassing of the city. More than 5,000 civilians and soldiers were successfully evacuated out of the city; however, hundreds more were killed as they tried to escape.[1][2]
Battle
Though the supercarrier Long Night of Solace had been destroyed by UNSC forces, the arrival of Covenant reinforcements in the Epsilon Eridani System ensured the initiative remained with the Covenant. On August 18, they dispatched a large Jiralhanae-led raiding force to the city of New Alexandria. Heavy fighting raged on the ground and many civilians were killed. By August 23, at least three corvettes had arrived to support the Covenant forces, causing the UNSC Naval support in the area to scatter.[1]
Evacuation effort
By August 23, the civilian casualties prompted the UNSC to begin and all-out evacuation of the civilians through the Traxus Tower. When SPARTAN-B312 arrived in the city after surviving the destruction of Long Night of Solace, Army units were currently in the process of organizing a civilian evacuation off the roof of Traxus Tower. On the morning of August 23rd, SPARTAN-B312 entered the city after surviving the destruction of Long Night of Solace and assisted Army troopers and ODST "Bullfrogs" in the evacuation effort. However, when one of the Covenant corvettes moved into intercepting position over the starport, the UNSC forces were forced to evacuate off a smaller landing pad in a different section of the city. Several large civilian transports, each capable of carrying more than 600 people, were also filled with civilians at the New Alexandria Starport. However, Covenant ground forces soon began moving on the starport, forcing at least one of the transports to launch prematurely. It was immediately destroyed by the hovering corvette.
Sergeant Major Duvall, who appeared to be in charge of at least 5,000 civilians across the bay area, ordered SPARTAN-B312 to reactivate six missile batteries placed around Caracalla Park. With the missiles, Duvall hoped to distract the corvette for long enough so that the other three civilian transports could slip past and escape the city. SPARTAN-B312 was successful, damaging the corvette and forcing it to retreat, resulting in thousands of civilians escaping the besieged city.[1]
Nightfall
By nightfall on August 23rd, the situation had deteriorated further for the UNSC forces, as the Covenant had placed communication jammers on numerous buildings throughout the city, severing communications between the surviving UNSC troops and Command. SPARTAN-B312, having rejoined Noble Team, was tasked with destroying the jammers in spite of the now-overwhelming Covenant air superiority. Noble Six eliminated all three jammers and aided other UNSC troops trapped in the ruined city. However, multiple CCS-class Battlecruisers arrived during this time and began glassing sections of the city. SPARTAN-B312 assisted in the evacuation of the Office of Naval Intelligence's headquarters, the Olympic Tower, by providing air support against numerous anti-aircraft Shade turrets, and rejoined Noble Team inside the building. As the group received new orders from Colonel Urban Holland, the Covenant evacuated their remaining ground forces and began full glassing of the area, forcing Noble Team to flee. Catherine-B320 was killed by a Sangheili sniper, though the rest of the team were able to escape into a radiation bunker beneath the building and survived the subsequent destruction of the city. The survivors of Noble Team were airlifted from the city three days later.[2]
UNSC forces
Military units
Army
Marine Corps
Airborne assets
- UNSC Stalwart Dawn
- Delta 15 (Destroyed)
- 6 Echo 2 (Destroyed)
- 7 Echo 3
Personnel
Army
Marine Corps
List of appearances
- Halo: Reach (First appearance)
Sources