Starchaser Incident

The Starchaser Incident was a minor engagement of the Human-Covenant War in 2527. A Covenant missionary ship engaged a human insurrectionist freighter on the edge of human space, thoroughly wrecking the vessel and killing its crew. When the missionary ship moved to board the crippled freighter, the heavy prowler UNSC Silent Shade dropped its cloak and attacked; the missionary ship was destroyed and all personnel aboard were killed. The prowler retrieved wreckage from the Covenant vessel and recovered the navigation computer from the wrecked freighter following the skirmish.
==Background==
The Starchaser was one of several large cargo haulers affiliated with the "Colonial Alliance", an insurrectionist organization established in 2521. The freighter was part of the clandestine supply network that supported the Alliance in its various campaigns; cargoes ranged from commonplace items - miscellaneous replacement parts, tools, and provisions - to illicit contraband, such as assault rifles and explosives. Starchaser had a relatively stable routine, shipping mundane cargo between various colonies with the occasional side trip to rendezvous with an Alliance vessel. The Office of Naval Intelligence had discovered the Starchaser's frequent detours while studying the routes of various privately-owned freighters. A heavy prowler was selected to tail the vessel and observe the rendezvous undetected, with the option of tailing the Alliance vessel to its base. Tracking the Starchaser to Charybdis IX, the UNSC Silent Shade successfully tailed the freighter, and followed it into Slipspace; upon arrival, the Silent Shade then cloaked itself, took up position some distance from the insurrectionist freighter, and settled in to wait for the arrival of the Colonial Alliance in an estimated ten days time. Three days early, the Covenant missionary ship Ever Willing entered the system from Slipspace some eleven million kilometers distant. 
==Incident==
Shortly after entering the system, Ever Willing began actively searching for signs of habitation; it quickly spotted the Starchaser, as the insurrectionist freighter began maneuvering into the asteroid field as soon as the Covenant missionary ship appeared. This proved most unwise, as the Ever Willing quickly made an in-system jump and attacked viciously, piercing the freighter's hull repeatedly with its pulse lasers. The Starchaser was fully disabled in less than two minutes. The commander of the Ever Willing, Ship Master Bako 'Lasovee, rightly believed that the freighter possessed human navigation data, and ordered the missionary ship to dock with the crippled Starchaser. A team of Sangheili and Kig-Yar were sent aboard to loot the vessel. 
'Lasovee's boarding was abruptly cut short when the prowler Silent Shade engaged the Ever Willing. The prowler made use of its entire arsenal, firing both lasers and missiles, and easily overwhelmed the light armor of the missionary vessel. The majority of the boarding team, the Ship Master, and the entire forward section of the Ever Willing was destroyed in a sizable explosion. The Silent Shade continued its attack unabated, ravaging the surviving section of the missionary ship, killing any surviving Covenant crewmen. 
The UNSC Silent Shade subsequently investigated both wrecks, securing intelligence from each. Notably, the navigation computer of the Starchaser and several Covenant infantry weapons were recovered; the bodies of both human and Covenant casualties were also taken aboard the prowler. The Silent Shade then departed for Reach. 
==Aftermath==
The Starchaser Incident had a sizable impact. The Office of Naval Intelligence gained greatly from the event, acquiring several Covenant small arms, several partial Covenant corpses, and a small trove of insurrectionist data. In addition, the achievement of a prowler destroying an enemy scout was allowed to spread across the Prowler Corps, providing a much needed morale boost.The success story of the Silent Shade was told with an emphasis on surprise, opportunity, and luck; while the achievement was much cheered, the Office of Naval Intelligence maintained that the primary objective of prowlers was intelligence-gathering, not engaging targets of opportunity. 
The Colonial Alliance discovered the loss of the Starchaser on August 11, 2527. The circumstances of the freighter's destruction, and the presence of an additional unidentified wreck, baffled Alliance investigators. A small portion of the Starchaser cargo was picked up by the Alliance gunboat Supremacy. 
The destruction of the Ever Willing remained unknown to the Covenant until 2533, when the missionary vessel Tireless Pursuit encountered the wreck by chance. 
==Order of battle==
===Human===
United Nations Space Command
*UNSC Silent Shade, Sahara-class heavy prowler - Captain Jordan Walters
Colonial Alliance
*Starchaser, cargo freighter - Captain Jon Kowalski
===Covenant===
*Ever Willing, missionary ship - Ship Master Bako 'Lasovee
==Notes==
Category:Battles of the Human-Covenant War