Hello and welcome to my first story that I am going to try and publish instead of writing and deleting cause I don't think it's good enough. I am by no means an expert writer and while I've been practicing I still have a lot to learn. As for the story itself I was inspired by the In Her Name series by Michael R Hicks for a certain faction that I am adding.
While I absolutely love the Halo Universe, I believe the UNSC did not do as much as it was capable of doing during the war. As such, I changed up the timeline a bit and added a few scenarios that I believe would have happened if the war actually happened and wasn't geared around a video game in need of a last stand. That being said, there may or may not be a giant green armored giant using a Brute as a golf club and knocking grunts to the other side of a giant ass hula hoop. Who knows. You'll just have to read and find out.
Timeline:
2490: The UEG and its colonies spans across over 800 worlds. Population reaches 67 billion.
2513: Although small skirmishes had erupted on many Outer Colony Worlds, the Insurrection reached critical levels and erupts into full scale rebellion and civil war rages across the colonies. Attacks against both military and civilian targets increases as rebels grow more daring with each victory gained. United Nations Space Command, or UNSC, the military arm of the UEG, mobilize and lock down numerous systems to prevent the spread of the rebellion. After years of fighting, over 1.5 million are dead as dissent is wide spread with fears of further escalation.
December 22, 2524: The war escalates with over a million dead. The freighter This End Up, is boarded and then destroyed by unknown means. ONI believes it to be the work of Insurrectionist raiders.
January 17, 2524: A freighter, with two UNSC Marines lying in ambush, is placed to draw in the supposed insurrectionist raiders. Instead an alien craft with three separate species aboard boards the ship after disabling it systems. A skirmish erupts with the Alien craft being Destroyed and one of the Marines injured. A full report is sent to HIGHCOMM with a request for reinforcements.
February 11, 2524: What was hoped to be a second chance at a peaceful contact between the UNSC and the unknown aliens ends in a firefight with numerous injuries and fatalities on both sides. The Human Covenant War officially begins.
February 27, 2524: After the cessation of all communications from Harvest, the Colonial Military Authority (CMA) scout vessel, Argo, is sent to the system.
March 4, 2525: The UNSC Prowler Walk of Shame arrives at Reach and delivers its request for immediate reinforcements to Harvest after possible hostile encounter
April 20 2525: CMA Argo arrives in system and is destroyed with all hands lost by the partially repaired Covenant Vessel, Rapid Conversion.
August 19, 2525: The Colonial Military Administration deploys Battle Group 4, consisting of the heavy destroyer Hercules and frigates Arabia and Vostok to Harvest to identify the cause of the scout ships and colonies blackout.
October 7, 2525: Battle Group 4 arrives in the Epsilon Indisystem to find the colony of Harvest in ruins. After a brief survey, the Battle Group is engaged with only the heavy destroyer, Hercules managing to escape, although heavily damaged.
October 31, 2525: CMA Hercules arrives and delivers the news of the destruction of Harvest and the new threat to NAVCOMM.
November 1, 2525: The UNSC goes on full alert and a large-scale mobilization begins. Vice Admiral Preston Cole takes command of Battle Group X-Ray and begins planning a counter attack against the enemy forces at Harvest.
November 27, 2525: Spartan-II Petty Officer Samual 034 is Killed in Action while destroying the Covenant ship, Unrelenting. First Spartan II KIA during the war.
January 8, 2526: The colony of Second Base is attacked by the Fleet of Resplendent Plenty, destroying local UNSC ships and landing ground forces.
January 20, 2526: Second Base glassed
February 7 2526: Restow VI Glassed
February 15, 2526: Colony of Bliss is Glassed
March 1, 2526: Admiral Cole and Battle Group X-Ray arrive in the Epsilon Indi and engage the Covenant Battleship, Merciless Devotion. The ship is destroyed, at the cost of a light cruiser, ten destroyers and two frigates. It is discovered that Covenant ships are equipped with advanced energy shielding, an advantage that no UNSC or human ship had the luxuary of having and is even able to deflect a magnetic accelerator cannon, or MAC, round to varying affect depending on ship class. Not even nukes are able to fully disable shields in one shot.
March 3, 2526: The UNSC 17th Marine Expeditionary Force deploys to Harvest and engages Covenant Ground Forces. Quickly establishing an FOB and pushing the Covenant, who had retreated to the ruins of Utgard, further and further back. Although the Covenant had more advanced technology in terms of shields and plasma weapons, the UNSC found they had superiority in more advanced tactical deployment and were able to outmaneuver the enemy on more than one occasion with ease and adapt to changing environments easier than their alien opponents.
March 5, 2526: UNSC forces successfully board and capture the Covenant frigate, Radiant Arrow. It is sent into deep space and meets with ONI personnel for study safely away from any Human systems.
March 7, 2526: Harvest is declared secured as the last of Covenant ground resistance is destroyed. Additional engagements would occur over the next five years before both sides abandon the colony. Leaving it burned and surrounded by the hulks of dead vessels and their crews.
March 31, 2526: Biko glassed
April 26, 2526: Circinus IV glassed
June 6, 2526: UNSC orders the production of six hundred additional warships, including Battleships and Assault Carriers, from various ship yards. Estimated time to completion; six years.
October 11, 2526: Battle Group Tango-3, seventeen ships strong, engages the fourteen ships of the Covenant fleet of Unceasing Prayer in the asteroid belt in the Alpha Aurigae System, successfully destroying two Covenant ships at the cost of two corvettes and two frigates. The remaining ships from both sides withdraw to conduct further hit and run attacks.
October 21, 2526: Reinforced Battle Group X-Ray reinforces Battle Group Tango-3 and destroys the Covenant fleet at the cost of thirty seven ships. Admiral Cole, realizing the effectiveness of the hit and run strategies used by Battle Group Tango-3, begins to implement various strategies into the fleet doctrine to help better increase the UNSC's Naval strength and survivability against its technological superior foe. Ambushes are planned as additional quick reaction forces are mustered near Reach for quick deployment to the Outer Colonies and various staging points.
November 30, 2526: UNSC Battle Group Delta-5, a destroyer and two frigates, arrives at Ridgeway's Folly after reports of a Covenant scout ship was spotted in the system a month prior. The system is put on alert as the local populace begins evacuations as additional forces are requested to make a dedicated stand on the colony.
February 6, 2531: Arcadia is attacked resulting in extensive casualties and damage to the colony. While it would remain in UNSC hands, the UNSC Spirit of Fire would disappear after chasing a Covenant destroyer out of the system. It is declared lost with all hands.
January 27, 2537: Battle Group Foxtrot-3: one heavy cruiser, four destroyers and two frigates arrive at Ridgeway Folly. Along with the fleet were evacuation transports and the 7th Infantry Division and 33rd Armored Battalion of the UNSC Army. Evacuations were expected to be completed by January 30 with additional forces arriving by February 3rd.
January 29, 2537: The Covenant Fleet of Strong Condemnation; one cruiser, one destroyer and three corvette's arrives twenty million kilometers from Ridgeway's Folly. Both UNSC battle groups immediately engage and, using the hit and run tactics devised by Admiral Cole, along with other non-conventional tactics, destroy the Covenant fleet at the cost of three destroyers and a frigate. No civilian casualties are reported as evacuations are completed. By February 3rd, an additional twenty two UNSC vessels arrived with the 9th Infantry Division and 77th Air Wing Division. The Covenant would launch another two attacks against the colony, only managing to land a small amount of troops on the surface. Nineteen out of the twenty three ships total sent to the colony would be destroyed at the cost of twenty four UNSC vessels either destroyed or damaged.
December 17, 2528: Covenant fleet arrives in the Librae system and engages UNSC forces on and around the colony of Madrigal. Additional UNSC reinforcements would be requested and dispatched.
December 25, 2528: UNSC withdraws all surviving forces from Madrigal and the system is declared lost. Reinforcements diverted to nearby systems to reinforce defence fleets.
December 24, 2530: UNSC 9th fleet with over a hundred and twenty ships destroys a Covenant fleet of forty two at the cost of fifty nine ships in the Groombridge 1830 System.
December 27, 2530: Almost five years after its capture, scientists unlock the secrets to the captured destroyer's energy shielding and slipspace drives. Prototypes are developed and testing begins as shipyards begin ramping up production on warships to replace losses. Vessels under construction begin equipping tested energy shield systems.
December 29, 2530: UNSC HIGHCOM orders the complete evacuation of thirty colonies behind a new defensive line consisting of a dozen worlds. This line includes Jericho VII, New Harmony, Draco III and Actium. All surviving fleets in the outer colonies are ordered to these strongholds as additional assets are moved in to reinforce their positions. These include Orbital Defence Platforms, deep space refit and repair stations, additional ground forces and extensive Slipspace relay outposts to increase communication and early warning systems.
January 3, 2532: After nearly two years of limited contact with the Covenant, a fleet of twelve vessels arrives at Jericho VII to find a fleet of over a hundred and fifty warships, seventeen ODP's and a minefield of Havoc Nuclear mines. All but one Covenant ship is destroyed at the cost of three UNSC ships. The UNSC's first decisive victory in space during the war. Warships with energy shielding would be present during the engagement and all would survive with minor damages being reported on board those struck by Covenant Weaponry.
March 12, 2532: The second wave of modified UNSC ships arrive at the frontlines with advanced energy shielding and slipspace drives, allowing inter-system jumps that had been eluded by the UNSC until now and a major advantage of the Covenant Navy. These ships would be tasked with relieving Jericho VII's fleet until they too could be refitted. The process would take an entire year to complete.
May 9, 2532: A second Covenant fleet would arrive in the system. This one numbering over fifty ships strong against a reduced UNSC fleet of thirty one. A distress signal is sent for reinforcements as the fleets would engage as both sides would suffer heavy casualties with the UNSC losing eighteen and the Covenant thirty five. All but six of the ODP's are destroyed. Covenant ground forces are deployed to the surface and meet stiff UNSC resistance on the ground. Small portions of the planet are glassed.
May 22, 2532: An additional fifteen UNSC ships, without retrofits, would arrive in the system. The Covenant fleet would be further reduced to twelve ships with the UNSC losing an additional twelve and an ODP, the last one left after nearly three weeks of fighting.
July 2, 2532: After almost three months, Battle Group X-Ray, with half the fleet consisting of newly modified ships, would arrive in system and drive off the Covenant, which had reinforced its own fleet with another twenty eight ships. Only nineteen UNSC ships were lost as the space around the colony was cleared of all Covenant and mop up operations began on the surface.
June 22, 2536: After another dozen engagements around Jericho VII, a destroyed Covenant flotilla is discovered near New Harmony. The cause of its destruction is unknown, and the colony is put on high alert. Eighty nine percent of the UNSC Navy is refitted with energy shields and upgraded slipspace drives. Admiral Harper and the fifth fleet is sent to reinforce New Harmony.
September 17, 2536: New Jerusalem is attacked by five Covenant ships. The defence fleet of two frigates and a corvette are destroyed, but manage to warn the planet and FLEETCOMM. One Covenant ship is destroyed.
September 29, 2536: Twelve additional Covenant
vessels arrive at New Jerusalem. Glassing of half the planet begins.
October 6, 2536: UNSC 7th Fleet, seventy two vessels strong, arrives in system and destroys the entire Covenant fleet at the cost of thirteen ships including a super carrier.
June 7, 2537: A large Covenant fleet, sixty seven ships strong, led by Brutes engages UNSC forces and manages to make landfall on the surface of New Harmony.
July 7, 2537: After a month of substantial fighting, the Covenant withdraws from New Harmony with the UNSC successfully attaching a beacon upon a retreating destroyer. A mandatory draft for all men and women between the age of eighteen and forty five, varying special physical additions is implemented to help recoup military losses. All civilian industry not already dedicated to the war effort is ordered to begin converting to war time production. All planets are ordered to establish, train and outfit a planetary militia to assist UNSC forces in defending planets. Three new ship yards are established in deep space near asteroid clusters and begin construction on new ships.
August 7, 2537: After discovering a Covenant staging ground code named K7-49, a small flotilla of sixteen stealth prowlers is deployed and secretly deploy a small force of Spartan III's and a large field of Havoc Nuclear Mines. The Staging ground is destroyed at the cost of seven prowlers and all of the Spartan III's deployed. Eighty nine Covenant ships destroyed with another hundred severely damaged or crippled.
August 17, 2537: With the destruction of K7-49, UNSC reinforcements are dispatched to New Harmony to relieve and reinforce the beleaguered forces that had defended the world from the Covenant. Included with these reinforcements are the newly formed Regimental Combat Teams, smaller formations meant to be quickly deployed and delay the enemy long enough for larger formations of troops to arrive. Amongst them, is the 141st Marine Armored Regimental Combat Team or MARCT. Consisting of survivors of glassed worlds and the first wave of conscripts after the exaction of the draft, this force, the regimental element as a whole, had yet to be tested in combat and with the colony recently secured and along with veteran units in the vicinity, HIGHCOMM agreed that the testing of such a new formation in such a secure sector would be key to either the success or failure of the UNSC Military's newest formation and strategy to defending and, eventually, retaking Human worlds.
