Battle of installation 07 (Swarmverse)

The Battle of Installation 07 was the climactic punctuation to the Swarm War; where the largest allied force ever assembled went to meet a colossal Swarm presence looming over one of the last surviving Halo Rings of the Human-Covenant, Remnant, and Galactic wars. This battle saw every allied army working together in a massive campaign, something not seen since the earliest stages of the conflict. This battle saw the death of the famed Lord Indromil, a hero since the very beginning of the war.
== Events leading up to the battle. ==
The battle of Britannia was a costly one, and the UCG knew that they would be unable to hold the line of another core world. If Britannia, Earth, Bala-Ho or Sanghelios fell, the war was over and all sentient life would face extinction. All hope seemed to begin to fade when it was announced that UCG fleets would all be directed and concentrated on last-ditch military projects and efforts to find a way to preserve sentient life after the Swarm had ravaged the entire galaxy. In the minds of the people, the war was over, and they were afraid.
That was until eight brave commanders rose in defiance of the Swarm and the failing hope of the galaxy. They proposed to the UCG High command a plan so ridiculous and so suicidal, that it may possibly work. To fire a Halo ring and launch a colossal exodus to the ark, while the allied fleet fought the Swarm and fired the installation manually. After great debate, High command reluctantly agreed to the plan, and gave their appointed commanders all of the resources they needed with the stiff order to win the war at all costs. Unggoy fleetmaster Kopen Pele, generated a complicated and brilliant transmission algorithm and broadcast it upon all channels, that the last of the allied fleet would be arriving at Installation 07 in a last-ditch effort to defeat the Swarm. The Swarm recieved this transmission, and the High queen herself mustered a mighty fleet of over one millions vessels and made haste for Installation 07; where they planned to demoralize, humiliate, and exterminate all hope left for sentient life in the galaxy. This is what Kopen had been hoping for, and so the massive UCG fleet of over thirteen thousand vessels left for Installation 07, where the greatest battle of the entire war was soon to be fought.
The UCG arrived, with Arbiter Paskin Vadam and Lord Indromil leading at the front of the massive war fleet. They were greeted face to face with a massive Swarm armada that almost surrounded them in an ocean of black. All weapons on both sides primed and ready to fire, Arbiter Vadam sent a message to the Swarm from his ship, which was accepted through enemy channels; the High queen herself listening to the transmission.
"This war has been a long one, hasn't it? My great grandfather fought alongside many of the races you see before you today, and even fought against some. But in the end, Thel lead a rebel army that allied with the humans, allied with the Unggoy and the Lekgolo. He fought for peace, honor, and freedom from a lie that suppressed his people for a thousand years!
What you see before you today is not an army, not an organized force or even a military. Today you see an idea, today you see that word which is DEFIANCE. We defy the thought of walking quietly into that howling dark, and mark my words that if we must; we will not do so quietly. Today you see the combined might of a vast rebellion of brothers and sisters, the fury of all sentient life in the Milky Way. Today, THE GALAXY IS ONE!"
=== Early Battle. ===
A triumphant roar sounded throughout all UCG comms, every race from all corners of the Galaxy roaring and screaming in unison as if one furious being. Millions of cannons fired into the darkness, smashing violently into the Swarm fleet. The appalled Swarm desperately returned fire, and Hive seeders were launched to invade the ring's surface. The UCG responded with sending their own massive army of over two million marines, troopers and volunteer militia to the surface of the ring. All across alliance-controlled space, colossal evacuation efforts began a great exodus to The Ark, where sentient life would be out of range from the firing of the ring. For the time being, it was the allied fleet's job to keep the fighting contained at the Halo ring and draw enemy attention away from the evacuation fleets.
In the early stages of the battle, allied forces were focused on keeping the fight there, and as well as forcing the Swarm to constantly call for reinforcements to draw as many Swarm fleets as close to the ring as possible. The Duras method, which had not been seen for a multitude of years following Operation:GOLIATH. The Swarm were not expecting large amounts of Woflpack Maneuvers by concentrations of thousands of starfighters at a time, disabling several swarm carriers almost immediately and the entire enemy front being nuked and blasted further and further away from the system's core. Despite the Swarm's superior numbers, they found themselves pitted against a superior ferocity and resolve never before seen in past UCG engagements. Marines were suicide bombing Swarm staging areas with HAVOC nuclear devices, privateer ships were crashing and dive bombing into Hive ships and large Swarm vessels; and despite taking significant causalties, Indromil lead an unstoppable charge, pushing the Swarm further and further away to prevent them from supporting their ground units planetside.
Thanks to the efforts of the allied fleet, the Marines were able to achieve victories all across the Ring's surface. Hundreds of teams were rapidly deployed to locate the spire in which the firing mechanism could be triggered. Reports also came into the commanders of the fleet that the High queen herself was present at the battle. It then became the allied fleet's top priority to not allow her to escape; believing that if the queen die, it would cause the entire Swarm species to lose cohesion permanently. UNSC Admiral Jerimiah Wyatt, Kig-Yar shipmaster R'Veshek Denculus and Arbiter Vadam took several battlegroups to flank the Swarm forces, attacking them from both sides to ensure that the High queen, located at the center of the fleet, could not escape. The Swarm responded by moving their heavy cruisers and destroyers to the front lines in attempt to clear a path for the queen's escape, but this advance was almost immediately stopped by a ferocious barrage of nuclear warheads and orbital lances.
Arbiter Vadam, High Chieftan Brutus and fleetmaster Kopen Pele all left together to take part in the ground engagements and lead their forces. The three commanders worked an coordinated with one another to create a powerful strategic triumvirate; and their assaults on Swarm positions devastated the enemy's effort in the battle. For the first time in the entire war, the UCG was in full attack, and the Swarm was in full retreat. Spartan VI's Kronos Team discovered the temple in which the ring could be fired, but were ambushed by Swarm forces who had previously arrived. Large numbers of enemy infantry and armor began converging on the temple to defend it, and an even larger number of UCG troops moved (Some without orders) to secure it from the Swarm. It was a race for the spire, and whoever held it, held the battle in their hands. A massive skirmish broke out both outside and inside the temple, with large UNSC longsword groups constantly bombing Swarm positions around the temple, which would later be mopped up by allied troops as they pushed further inward.
Their push was stopped however, when a Swarm carrier managed to punch through the UCG's lines and make it to low orbit. The bombers began taking heavy losses from enemy fighters that had come to stop the bombings on their positions; leaving the ground forces with only themselves and the soon-arriving armored divisions to make the long push to the temple, marking the mid-battle period.
=== Mid-Battle ===
The only ones able to access the forerunner technology, were the humans of the UNSC and meta-humans of the Order. It became the top priority of ground units of all other species to protect UNSC and Order forces, as well as escort them to the temple at all costs. The Order's Lord of Admirals, Star of Fervent Creation left the Naval battle to coordinate his ground forces in conjunction with Vadam, Brutus and Pele. Vadam assigned the Swords of Sanghelios to escorting Fervent Creation's troops to the temple, whilst the UNSC Marines were being heavily assisted by Jiralhanae and Unggoy troops. 
Never before was such friendship and comradery displayed by the Jiralhanae and humans as they pressed on. Fully armored brutes and unggoy soldiers leaping into the fray to soak up energy rounds for UNSC marines and special forces. This deeply moved them, and they continued on with their rage fueling them as their comrades sacrificed themselves so that the Galaxy might still have a fighting chance. Eventually, with the help of ODST's and SPARTAN VI assault teams, the UCG manages to infiltrate the temple, with Vadam and Fervent Creation at the tip of the spear. However at this point in time things were not going as well in the naval theatre of the battle.
Swarm forces managed to regroup and push the UCG back to high orbit over the ring, with both sides sustaining heavy casualties in a battle of total attrition. Indromil and the other commanders did not care what happened to their ships, only hoping that they could hold the line long enough for the ground force to complete their mission. Ve'nek Admiral Gerard Reeson launched an all-out assault, hoping that his battlegroup could punch through the enemy lines and pave the way for a Wolfpack maneuver on the Swarm Capital Hive ship. However his efforts bore no fruit, and though he dealt a heavy, almost crippling blow to the Swarm fleet, his battlegroup was destroyed in the attempt to punch their lines open. Gerard himself was killed trying to make it through, perishing with his ship, the Dawn Treader. Swarm forces began a massive seeding campaign all across the Installation, and UCG troops were retreating on almost all fronts and sustaining heavy casualties trying to hold their lines. Lord Indromil gave the order for all ground units to evacuate their defending positions and all converge on the temple at once; knowing that in the end, firing that halo was all that truly mattered.
The allied fleet was constantly falling back, and there seemed to be limited success on the ground around the temple. Their momentum was beginning to slow to a stop as the Swarm's superior numbers encroached on the fleet and on the ground. Indromil sat down in his chair for the first time in the battle, burying his face in sweaty, shaking palms. fleetmaster Kopen Pele was killed by a drone sniper in a rush for the temple gates; and transmissions were going wild all across the communications board, reporting failures in multiple tactical positions as well as the full retreat of many allied ground divisions. Indromil stood again, and forced all communications to silence as he took over the comms a final time. 
"Attention, attention all allied vessels. We are losing, that is utterly apparent; but if we lose, our races are as good as finished." 
The was a pause...
"We know what we have to do..."
It seemed like in that moment, everyone knew what Lord Indromil was talking about. R'Veshek, Admiral Wyatt and Admiral Damocles regrouped with Indromil's forces, and they prepared for their final assault. The weapons ran cold, and there was a ceasefire all across the battlespace. The Swarm had no idea what was going on, why the UCG stopped firing, perhaps surrender? 
But then, in a sudden, blinding flash, their weapons went hot again, and the UCG fleet launched an all-out charge on the Swarm positions. The Swarm staved them off for only a few minutes, before allied ships began furiously crashing into the vessels as if refusing to stop for anything. Non-essential personell were being evacuated planetside to assist ground troops in holding back the tide, and the allied fleet charged forward with a zeal unseen by UCG forces in the history of their war. The Swarm were falling back, and being dealt heavy casualties by the incessant allied bombardment of their vessels. Indromil loaded a portable thermonuclear device into the hull of his ship, and was prepared to die in the same way his dear friend, Captain Bradley had died many years before.
The Swarm ground forces were cut off from their resupplies, and the allied troops were beginning to take back ground with the many sacrifices being given by the navy in orbit. In the end it was up to the few Marines and Order warriors still left standing on the battlefield. Marking the end-battle period of the conflict and the end of the war as a whole.
=== End-Battle ===
Swarm carriers were brought to the frontlines to provide a shield from the kamikaze ships, and Indromil saw through what they were attempting to do. Indromil and his loyal crew, refusing to leave his side, rammed his flagship Victory's essence into one of the Swarm carriers, remotely detonating the nuclear warhead, and obliterating all hive ships around it. Indromil and his crew were killed immediately, and it was now up to the three remaining naval commanders to finish the fight; already mourning the loss of their friend. The evacuation of the core worlds was complete, with the last remaining evacutation ships departing just ten minutes before Indromil's sacrifice. The UCG managed to finally infiltrate the temple after a bloody two hour struggle, and began pushing further inward to the core of the superweapon.
Admiral Wyatt lead his forces through the hole Indromil had punched through, with R'Veshek and Damocles remaining behind to form a defensive line to prevent the Swarm from regaining their momentum. Admiral Wyatt went on to take down two Hive ships, and inflict crippling damage on the Swarm fleet; after his battlegroup had sustained too much damage to continue on, emitting a self destruct sequence that obliterated the near-center of the Swarm's lines, creating a massive gap in their formation. The remaining Naval units charged forward to buy just a little more time, and another battle of attrition began, with R'Veshek and Damocles refusing to allow any swarm vessels past their formation, at any cost. The Swords of Sanghelios successfully escorted the Order's assault force to the core of the halo's firing mechanism, with the UNSC Marine corps following close behind.
Star of Fervent Creation contacted the remaining naval leaders, the Arbiter, and Chieftan Brutus and notified them that they had made it, and the end was near. The Hive queen and her capital ship, in a desperate attempt to stop the halo ring from firing, made a, unrelenting bolt toward the Installation and launched all available seeders to invade and overwhelm the allied forces. However was stopped with Admiral Damocles forcefully rammed his flagship, The Protector, into her vessel; throwing her off course and causing severe engine failure with a large multitude of hull breaches. Damocles, and his crew were killed in their effort, but it paved the way for the success of the mission.
R'Veshek took control of the remaining forces, and began immediate evac procedures to get as many troops off-world as possible and retreat to the ark; trying to save as many lives as possible. This may have been one of the most critical moments of the entire operation. Star of Fervent Creation activated the firing mechanism, and he as well as his allied commanders made a desperate escape to the evac dropships, where were being pinned down by Swarm forces. A long, desperate five minute skirmish broke out across the entire ring, with eight hundred thousand troops managing to escape the ring. the remaining soldiers remained and sacrificed themselves to hold off the Swarm in time for the others to escape, and the remaining fleet made a desperate slipspace jump to the ark.
The Halo ring fired, wiping out all of the Swarm within several billion lightyears. Their queen was obliterated, and not only forced the Swarm forces to completely lose cohesion, but to ultimately die off within the course of several days; officially ending the Swarm war. The winner, the Milky Way.
=== Aftermath ===
With the UCG victorious and more than ninety percent of all sentient life gone, the survivors of the black century would be forced the daunting task of rebuilding their ravaged civilizations. An entire planet became the monument of the Swarm War, covered in museums, hallowed grounds and many cemeteries where fallen soldiers lay. The races of the Galaxy would not fully recover for several centuries after the war, with many languages having their own word for the war in later centuries. The black century became part of culture; holidays, entire cultures and traditions were formed around the sacrifices and compromises made in the awful conflict. Though another golden age would not arise for hundreds of years, sentient life survived, and they won.Category:Battles
Category:Swarm War
Category:Swarmverse