Battle of Midvale

The Battle of Midvale was a major engagement that took place in the early years of the Human-Covenant War over the Outer Colony world of Midvale. Midvale was an important agricultural colony that was the breadbasket of the whole sector. Battle Group Echo composed of forty-four ships under the command of then-Rear Admiral Sebastian T. Shelby was stationed at Midvale to reinforce its defensive fleet and protect it from any alien attack. CENTCOM believed that this would be sufficient to deter an attack. 
On June 14th, 2526 Midvale was attacked by a massive Covenant fleet that defied ONI's projected estimations. Realizing how grave their situation was Shelby requested immediate reinforcements from the nearby Battle Group Bravo under the command of Admiral Troy. In the meantime the fleet prepared to hold off the Covenant long enough for evacuations on the ground to complete. However Shelby did not know that reinforcements would never come as Battle Group Bravo had been completely annihilated less than two days prior at Nu Scorpii. 
The human fleet was horrifically outmatched by the Covenant's vastly superior firepower. Most of their crews had no experience fighting the Covenant and their ships were painfully ill-equipped to challenge them. Half of their vessels were not even armed with MAC cannons. Despite a stubborn defense by Shelby they were completely overwhelmed. During the battle, the Admiral's flagship, the UNSC Elysium, was fatally struck by an energy projector. Shelby was incapacitated by the blast and had to be evacuated off-ship. Their lines collapsed and the fleet was forced to retreat in disarray and Midvale was glassed with more than half its population still on the ground.
== Aftermath ==
The loss of Midvale dealt a heavy blow to the UNSC. Midvale was glassed, they had lost thirty-four ships to the Covenant, and more than half the planet's population was killed before they could be evacuated. The loss of the colony's agriculture would deprive the UNSC of an important logistics base in the Outer Colonies and would result in food shortages across the sector and the loss of both Battle Group Bravo and Echo badly compromised the defense of the sector leading to the fall of further colonies in the later months.
After he recovered, Shelby was cited for valor and received a Commendation for Bravery for his heroic defense despite overwhelming odds but also partly in an attempt to salvage morale after their disastrous losses. The loss of Midvale would be something that would weigh heavily on Shelby for the rest of his life and would motivate him to famously defend every colony he was tasked to protect until every last colonist was safely evacuated until his death at the Battle of Thorney in 2529.
Category:Human-Covenant War
Category:Battles