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The Battle of Arcadia was an engagement fought between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant Empire on the Human colony world of Arcadia during the early parts of the Human-Covenant war in 2531.[1]

Battle[]

Space battle[]

Following the final battle of the Harvest campaign, the Arbiter and his ships quickly left the system after learning the location of Arcadia from a Forerunner artifact buried under Harvest's north pole. Under the suggestion of Professor Ellen Anders and permission from Admiral Cole, UNSC Spirit of Fire followed in hot pursuit.[2]

Upon reaching Arcadia, two Covenant CCS-class Battlecruisers exited Slipspace. The Spirit of Fire arrived soon after. UNSC Belfast, UNSC Texas, UNSC Pillar of Autumn, and UNSC Armstrong engaged the two ships immediately, catching one of them with its shields down and destroying it. However, the UNSC force suffered for its part in the battle. Texas and Belfast were both taken down, Armstrong was venting atmosphere due to damage, and Autumn suffered severe damage before being assisted by Spirit of Fire.[2]

Ground battle[]

The second Covenant vessel was engaged in "surface activity" on Arcadia, attacking civilian targets and Pirth City, Arcadia's capital. The Arcadian Patrol, the main security personnel of Arcadia, was deployed to counter the Covenant invaders but, being a civilian force, was easily overwhelmed. SPARTAN Red Team and forces under the command of Sergeant John Forge assisted in rescuing civilians, evacuating hundreds to several civilian transports abandoning the city. The Covenant, unfortunately, were successful in destroying several of these transports, resulting in massive civilian casualties.[1] However, despite several repeated assaults, the UNSC was successful in saving at least a portion of the population before being forced to retreat to the city's outskirts, where they were reinforced by SPARTAN Team Omega. Forge's team fortified the outskirts and linked up with several groups of stragglers. These forces, led by the SPARTANs, teamed up to destroy a Covenant field base, from which the UNSC survivors suffered several assaults.[3]

Following this, the UNSC forces established a base of operations at a deserted ONI base in the jungle. They used experimental Rhinos to break through a massive dome-shaped Covenant energy barrier concealing several Forerunner ruins with technology the Covenant were using to upgrade[4] an incomplete Super Scarab. The UNSC forces were constantly harassed by Covenant air patrols, but were successful in repelling them. After the shield dome was disabled, the Spirit of Fire barraged the area with several MAC round blasts then advanced on the Scarab's construction site, taking cover behind the Forerunner ruins as the Scarab fired on them. After a considerable effort on the part of the UNSC, they destroyed the Scarab and proceeded to investigate the site.[5]

Despite the victory, the UNSC suffered a major setback as it investigated the Forerunner ruins on Arcadia. Under orders from the Prophet of Regret, the Arbiter traveled back to Arcadia and captured Ellen Anders, with the intention of using her to activate The Apex.[6] Spirit of Fire chased his ship to Shield 0459, dropping off a data log for later retrieval. Lord Terrence Hood was tasked with retrieving the log and to avoid combat at all costs. However, bitter at the constant loss of planets Hood ordered UNSC Roman Blue to attack a Covenant CPV-class heavy destroyer. He was overwhelmed and forced to retreat, leaving behind the log and any chance of rescue for the Spirit.[7]

Aftermath[]

Due to his failure to retrieve the Spirit's log, Admiral Hood was transferred over to the UNSC Burlington.[8]

The UNSC regained control of the planet, but now that its location was known to the Covenant, most of its inhabitants abandoned the colony. A small number remained, establishing the settlement of Abaskun on the Mu continent, which supplied the UNSC with much-needed foodstuffs until the Covenant returned to the colony in 2549, glassing it.[9]

Participants[]

UEG[]

Naval Assets[]

Class Name Status
Halcyon-class light cruiser UNSC Pillar of Autumn Survived
UNSC Roman Blue Survived
Phoenix-class colony ship UNSC Spirit of Fire Survived
Unknown UNSC Texas Destroyed
UNSC Belfast Destroyed
UNSC Armstrong Damaged

Military Personnel[]

Branch Rank Name Status
UNSC Navy Captain Terrence Hood Survived
James Cutter Survived
Senior Chief Petty Officer Jerome-092 Survived
Alice-130 Survived
Douglas-042 Survived
UNSC Marine Corps Sergeant John Forge Survived

Covenant Empire[]

Naval Assets[]

Class Name Status
CCS-class battlecruiser CCS-U321 Destroyed
CCS-U624 Unknown
CPV-class heavy destroyer Radiant Perception Unknown

Gallery[]

Sources[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Halo Wars - Level: Arcadia City
  2. 2.0 2.1 Halo Wars - Cutscene: "All it Did Was Point"
  3. Halo Wars - Level: Arcadia Outskirts
  4. Halo Waypoint - Battle for Arcadia
  5. Halo Wars - Level: Scarab
  6. Halo Wars - Level: Anders' Signal
  7. Halo: Escalation Issue 5
  8. Halo: Fractures - Extraordinary Tales from the Halo Canon - Into the Fire, pages 257-258
  9. Halo Wars - Collectible: Halo Wars Timeline Events, 2549


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