First Battle of Earth

The First Battle of Earth was a massive Covenant and United Nations Space Command ground, air, and space engagement on the planet Earth.

Summary
DATE: October 20, 2552

LOCATION: Sol System, above and on the planet Earth.

Involved: UNSC, Covenant forces.

Synopsis: This battle was initiated abruptly and somewhat unexpectedly, despite the forwarnings of impending attack exhibited during Operation: FIRST STRIKE. However, the UNSC was able to defend Earth and repel this initial Covenant assault. The more important task now is defending the planet during The Second Battle of Earth.

Outcome: UNSC successfully repels the invading Covenant but all of New Mombasa is destroyed.

Timeline

 * For more detailed information, see the Battle of New Mombasa.

No official timeline has been given, however the events of Halo 2 sum up the basic attack. The UNSC were caught off guard mirroring the Covenants surprise that there were humans on Earth at all.


 * Lord Hood awards SPARTAN-117, Sergeant Johnson and Miranda Keyes medals for their efforts during the Battle of Installation 04 and subsequent actions. Miranda Keyes is receiving the medal posthumously given to her late father, Captain Keyes. The ceremony takes place on Cairo Station.
 * A Covenant task force of 2 Assault Carriers and 13 CCS-class battlecruisers exits Slipspace just beyond the range of the MAC satellites.
 * Note: It is speculated that at this time, the warning sirens heard in the ilovebees storyline begin shortly after this Covenant sighting.
 * Fleet Admiral Harper, in charge of the Earth defense fleet, responds rapidly with an attempt at a counter attack, preparing all available vessels to engage the Covenant. This order is overruled by Lord Hood.
 * The Covenant launch waves of boarding craft toward the orbital defense stations. Several UNSC vessels and stations are destroyed by boarding Covenant forces.
 * The MAC platform Malta, after sending elated communications that they have repelled all Covenant boarders, is annihalated in a cataclysmic explosion. The shockwave of which is felt by the crew of the Cairo station, demonstrating just how large the detonation was.
 * Shortly afterwards the Athens MAC platform experiences the same fiery fate.
 * It is deduced that both explosions came from within each of the stations, the Covenant boarding parties had brought with them a bomb, detonated close to the MAC magazine housing causing multiple secondary explosions as the ammunition is cooked-off. As a result all personnel on orbital platforms redouble their efforts.
 * The Cairo MAC platform is saved by the heroic efforts of Spartan-117. Single handedly removing the Covenant Bomb from the orbital platform. The Master Chief removes the explosive device by jettisoning it, along with himself, out of a docking bay airlock. It is confirmed that this same bomb was used to destroy a Covenant Assault Carrier that had just broken through the UNSC's defensive perimeter.
 * After a protracted naval engagement a Covenant Assault Carrier blows through the Malta's debris field and heads straight for Earth. It comes to a stop above the East African Protectorate of New Mombasa.
 * From there the first Covenant troops to ever set foot on humanity's homeworld engage in the first land engagement of the First Battle of Earth.
 * UNSC forces engage the Covenant on the ground and wage a bloody street-by-street war in both Old and New Mombasa.
 * This arduous ground war ended with the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier making a Slipspace jump only hundreds of meters above the city of New Mombasa. His motivations for doing so were, at the time, unknown. The Assault Carrier is followed by the UNSC Frigate In Amber Clad, which, upon arrival begins the Battle of Installation 05.
 * This atmospheric Slipspace jump completely obliterates the City of New Mombasa.
 * The remaining Covenant vessels are either destroyed or flee in order to regroup for the Second Battle of Earth.

Approximated Timeline- Featuring Estimated Timings For Events

-0140 hours
 * Slipspace whisper heard by Io.

-Between 0140 and 0150 hours
 * Minutes later, the Covenant fleet arrives with about 2 Assault Carriers and 13 CCS-class Battlecruisers.
 * Fleet Admiral Harper assembles the fleet.
 * Covenant start sending small boarding craft to Cairo, Athens, Malta MAC gun stations to destroy them. Malta, unaware of the presence of a bomb, happily reports Covenant boarding parties fleeing. A few seconds later, Malta is destroyed by the bomb, followed by Athens shortly thereafter.


 * Cairo is then granted permission to open fire on the Covenant fleet and Lord Hood sends the Master Chief to disarm the bomb.

-Between 0150 and 1630 hours
 * Covenant start deploying forces in the area, including a Scarab for heavy armor.
 * Sergeant Johnson and Master Chief's Pelican is shot down by a Scarab and they hunker down at an isolated position to wait for extraction.
 * Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker and a ODST squad move up the beach to Hotel Zanzibar and set up a bunker, wiping out several Covenant units along the way.


 * After a series of intense firefights Sergeant Johnson is extracted to help with armored units entering the city while pinned down units in Hotel Zanzibar are saved by Spartan-117.
 * Units at the bridge are decimated as a Scarab blows through any and all UNSC opposition.


 * Spartan-117 arrives at bridge to assess situation and reinforcements are sent, including a Scorpion Battle tank.
 * The 405th out of Diego Garcia make landfall at the city square and are quickly surrounded by Covenant troops.
 * The 105th ODST unit, lead by Spartan-117, are called to city square for a last defense.


 * The Scarab is single-handedly taken down by the Master Chief as the Prophet of Regret flees.

Additional Notes And Theories
UNSC High Command found it puzzling, to say the least, that a Covenant fleet of such small size, carrying a Prophet, would be their first engagement in the defense of Earth. The fleet that glassed Reach was fifty times the size of this new threat. To attack such a heavily prized and defended world, a fleet of comparable or much greater size of the fleet at Reach would be required.

Not only this, the fact that only one city on Earth was attacked left UNSC strategists baffled. At the bare minimum the invading force would have to attack and occupy multiple areas, providing at least some strategic benefit, synchronously. Given the Covenant's tactical history it seemed unlikely that they would be prone to overconfidence.

Compared to the invasion force at Reach the two simply did not match up. The Covenant force at Reach was not only massive in numbers, it was knowledgeable of the terrain. The invasion force at Earth was small, and displayed confusion (not an attribute the Covenant are known for).

The fleet that attacked Reach even took their time glassing the surface prior to sending in ground forces. Again the fleet that attacked Earth did almost the exact opposite, rushing to get to the surface. These observations could suggest that this Covenant fleet was not an invasion fleet at all but rather a planetary reconnaissance, search, and dig team.

Although capable of combating a small colony and/or aggressive native lifeforms, the expeditionary fleet lacked the strength in force or numbers for a full-scale invasion attempt. Speculation arose that, following the Covenant's discovery of Delta Halo, they found some form of Forerunner technology that led them to the location of a Shield World.

Another possible scenario explaining the events, but highly inadmissible due to lack of timeline during the events of Halo 2, is that after the seizure of 343 Guilty Spark, and subsequent interrogation, the location of the end of their pilgrimage was located. Even if the specific name "Earth" was used by the monitor, it would have raised no caution in the Covenant ranks; to their knowledge, the location of planet Earth was unknown to humans. It could be hypothesised that due to the assuming nature of Installation Monitor's, Guilty Spark would have made no mention of Humans living there unless specifically asked.

The Covenant's extensive knowledge of the MAC stations orbiting Earth might be seen as evidence that the Covenant knew the planet was at least occupied by human forces. However, Covenant forces had already encountered such orbital "Super" MAC guns before, over Reach. Recognising the serious danger these platforms represented the fleet halted just beyond their firing range to commence boarding and sabotage actions using smaller craft.

Although losses weighed more heavily on the Humans than the Covenant, the UNSC nevertheless fought a successful holding action at New Mombassa. However, it is probable that UNSC High Command deliberately neglected to tell the medium and lower ranks that the Covenant task force was really but a vanguard of a much larger invasion fleet that would surely be imminent now.

UNSC

 * ODA-143 Malta Station
 * ODA-142 Cairo Station
 * ODA-144 Athens Station

Covenant

 * Pious Inquisitor

UNSC

 * Fleet Admiral Sir Terrence Hood
 * Fleet Admiral Harper
 * Commander Miranda Keyes
 * Commander Richard Lash
 * Lieutenant Commander Julian Waters
 * Lieutenant Commander Xaing Cho
 * Major Easley
 * Lieutenant Bethany Durruno
 * Lieutenant Joe Yang
 * Lieutenant Junior Grade SPARTAN Frederic-104
 * Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN John-117
 * Sergeant Major A.J. Johnson
 * Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker
 * Petty Officer Second Class SPARTAN Linda-058
 * Petty Officer Second Class SPARTAN Will-043
 * Staff Sergeant Marcus Banks
 * Corporal Perez
 * Private McKenzie
 * Unnamed Marine Officer
 * Unnamed UNSC Navy Captain

Covenant

 * High Prophet of Regret

UNSC Marine Corps

 * 105th ODST Division
 * 7th ODST Battalion (Unknown Regiment)
 * 1st Platoon (Unknown Company and Regiment)
 * 405th Marine Infantry Division
 * 17th Marine Regiment
 * 77th Marine Regiment
 * "A" Company (Unknown Battalion)

UNSC Navy

 * Second Fleet
 * Seventh Fleet
 * Sixteenth Fleet
 * 6th Battle Group