Battle of Skopje

The Battle of Skopje took place in 2547 on the Inner Colony of Skopje. During the battle Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were sent in to protect the headquarters of a shipbuilding corporation during the evacuation of their shipyards, under the justification that the machines, tools, and personnel that could be saved would be relocated to Reach to continue building parts for the war effort. As such the ODSTs were told that they had to hold the perimeter at at all costs. The Covenant threw Unggoy at the humans in waves, then followed it up with Kig-yar Snipers, Jiralhanae, and finally Sangheili, their sheer numbers overwhelming the ODSTs.

Gage Yevgenny and another ODST were rescued from approaching Covenant forces by a strange soldier clad in gray-green armor. The soldier led the survivors to safety while engaging smaller aliens with impunity and meeting Sangheili and Jiralhanae on equal terms. The ODSTs were led to a stone castle that was being used as the Marines' command center. The Covenant's low-level energy weapons couldn't vaporize or burn the stone, just melt it slightly, making it stronger.

While holed up in the museum, Gage encountered Colonel Felicia Sanderson for the first time in over two decades. Felicia then arranged to have Gage transferred to her ship, the UNSC Chares.