Battle of the Sahara

The Battle of the Sahara was a large-scale engagement that took place in the Sahara Desert during the Battle for Earth. It was one of the largest singular engagements on Earth, encompassing almost the entirety of the Sahara Desert and seeing gigantic armies clash eachother in brutal fashion.
== Background ==
The Battle for Earth began on October 20th following the arrival of the Prophet of Regret and the subsequent Battle of New Mombasa. Shortly after the prophet's withdrawal to Delta Halo, and the arrival of the Prophet of Truth's reinforcements, Covenant forces began taking action on a global scale, engaging UNSC forces across every major continent. On the night of the 22nd of October, Covenant forces were aerially inserted into the Hoggar Mountains Intelligence Facility and were engaged by the local garrison and UNSC military reinforcements, acting as the opening skirmish for the Battle of the Sahara.
== Engagement ==
=== Early Battle ===
==== Opening Skirmishes ====
Following the battle at the HMIF, Covenant forces began to arrive in the region in small numbers, engaging with local UNSC forces across several key installations and locations. The Covenant was, in actuality, probing the region's defenses in preparation for a large-scale offensive. 
==== Battle of Faya-Largeau ====
On the morning of October 28th, the Covenant SDV-class corvette Solitary Contemplation suddenly began an attack on the major city of Faya-Largeau. The UNSC response was slow and garrisoned forces were forced to hold the city against Covenant forces alone for many hours before the arrival of marine corps and army personnel, leading to heavy civilian casualties and the capture of much of the city. The UNSC forces arrived at 1400 hours and began to slowly drive the Covenant out of the inner, developed areas of the city into the lower-class, impoverished outskirts. ODST Fireteam India alongside Spartan-II Rose-788, Victoria Theodorides and several marines boarded the Solitary Contemplation using a captured Phantom gunship and caused it's destruction by overloading the ship's reactors. The loss of the corvette caused Covenant forces to be severely weakened within the city and lead to the recapture of the remainder of the city by 0900 hours on November 2nd.
==== Battle of Ghat ====
Shortly after the beginning of the Battle of Faya-Largeau, Covenant forces were deployed to attack the city of Ghat. Unlike Faya-Largeau, Ghat was a major military outpost for the UNSC, and Covenant forces struggled to secure a solid consistent hold on any part of the city due to their inability to land unmolested. Eventually, Covenant forces captured the Ghat Archaeological Park and used it to deploy further reinforcements into Ghat itself, alongside large numbers of Covenant Banshees being deployed to contest the UNSC's aerial superiority. The UNSC was forced to flatten several blocks of the city due to rapidly advancing columns of Covenant heavy armour, and several Covenant scarabs were orbitally inserted into the city, however they were quickly destroyed by UNSC aerial assets. Following the defeat in Faya-Largeau, Covenant forces were bolstered by retreating forces from the aforementioned battle, and a renewed offensive saw the Covenant quickly capture the majority of the city and destroy large numbers of UNSC forces. However, even with the recent success, they were unable to gain aerial superiority which allowed the UNSC to quickly rotate forces in from Faya-Largeau and drive the Covenant back, with the Archaelogical Park being recaptured at 0100 hours on November 9th.
=== Total War ===
After the failed attempts to capture the cities of Faya-Largeau and Ghat, Covenant forces, which had been amassing in large numbers in the Sahel and in West Africa, launched a large-scale series of offensives into the Sahara, engaging the UNSC in violent and brutal battles in the desert and it's scattered oases. The massive city of Nouakchott was directly attacked from the South and Southeast by an army of Covenant ground and aerial forces while hundreds of thousands of UNSC and Covenant personnel clashed in the desert and in the air. The UNSC seemingly retained aerial superiority over most of the Sahara, however their aerial assets were overstretched and were becoming increasingly outnumbered.
==== Battle of Nouakchott ====