Siege of Paris IV (HCW)

The Battle of Paris IV more commonly known as the Siege of Paris IV was a major engagement during the Human-Covenant War, occurring on the planet Paris IV in March 2549. The largest campaign at that point in the war, the Siege begun on March 16th with the appearance of a moderate fleet of Covenant warships. The combined arms of warships, aircraft and ground forces of the UNSC mounted a valiant attempt to repel the Covenant invasion force, and succeeded in beating back the Covenant forces back multiple times, although ultimately Paris IV was defeated and glassed with heavy loss of life. Also notable was the large presence of SPARTAN assets in the battle, surpassing any previous engagement in terms of number of simultaneously fielded supersoldiers. 
== Prologue ==
Paris IV was a significant colony because of a number of reasons, chief of them being because it was one of the planets with a population well exceeding two hundred million colonists. This made the colony a major centre for not just military production and software developments, but also for art, culture and propaganda. The colony was instrumental for maintaining the lack of unrest in its local region of space purely by distracting the civilian populace from the worsening war. To the UNSC specifically, Paris IV's significance came from the fact that it was the largest military recruitment world in its sector, aided by planet's dense jungles and woodlands which could be turned into easily-maintained training grounds. This helped to replenish the horrific casualties the UNSC sustained in the conflict, becoming more and more important as other recruiting worlds such as Chi Rho fell to the Covenant's onslaught.
Despite the colony's importance, the planet would remain badly-fortified until , when the death of the legendary Vice Admiral had allowed the Covenant to suddenly swarm into the . Advised by analysts with the , the UNSC admiralty would seek to establish a massive defensive line to not only halt the Covenant's advance, but also become a base in which they can launch attacks deep behind enemy lines. Dubbed the Parisian Front, they would crown Paris IV as the administrative centre for this endeavour due to the fact it had already serves as the capital of its entire sector, and has a number of significant military buildings already stationed there. The planet would rapidly build up its fortifications, with plans being drawn up on how to hold off the Covenant should they arrive. In , after simulations predicted that the line would come under attack with the next four years, the UNSC diverted more resources from planets away from the frontlines towards Paris IV to accelerate its development. New measures were also implemented, with all citizens aged eighteen to fifty-five required to serve in the military for an undisclosed period of time, and drills simulating a Covenant attack were scheduled to prepare the civilians and armies for an attack.
The line would still be undergoing establishment when in late , the first colony in the Front, , was discovered and ultimately defeated by the Covenant. The other fortress worlds would beef up their defences in response, with updated simulations constantly testing their effectiveness of the failsafes. The planet would be overcome with a sense of anticipation, knowing that the Covenant could attack any day from now.
== The Battle ==
===Orbital Engagement===
At 21:31 on , one of the Paris System's detected a series of slipspace anomalies with a mass ranging between that of a and tonnage. Within the hour, the prowler ONI Vae Victis confirmed the objects were three Covenant warships, and observed them destroying a mining platform before itself being destroyed.
===Defence of PATTON Base===
===Operation: SCREAMING EAGLE===
== Aftermath ==
== Participants ==
=== Ships ===
==== UNSC ====
*1 
*2 
**UNSC Artemis
**UNSC Ares' Fist
*5 
*13 
*1 
*2 
*14 
**UNSC Arrow Flight
*4 
==== Covenant ====
*1 
*8 
*2 
*6 
*8 
=== Units ===
==== UNSC ====
UNSC Marine Corps
*Elements of the 22nd Marine Division 
**44th Marine Regiment 
**72nd Marine Regiment
**96th Marine Regiment
*Elements of the 9th Shock Troops Division
**58th Shock Troops Battalion
**145th Shock Troops Battalion
*Elements from the 
**
***Valkyrie Company
*7th Force Reconnaissance Battalion
UNSC Army
*206th Infantry Division
**18th Ranger Battalion 
Naval Special Weapons
*SPARTAN-II 
*SPARTAN-III Feudal Team
==== Covenant ====
=== Personnel ===
==== UNSC ====
*Rear Admiral Julius Bruening III
*Lieutenant General Dale Grissom
*Captain Shannon Hambleton
*Lance Corporal Bartolomej Žagar
*SPARTAN-004
*
*SPARTAN-077
*SPARTAN-A010
*SPARTAN-A116
*SPARTAN-B042
*SPARTAM-B206
*SPARTAN-B298
*SPARTAN-B400
*SPARTAN-B401
==== Covenant ====
*Uno Nar 'Kuitakree
*Zule 'Wattinree
*Honour Guardsmen Sev 'Ikavowattinrzo
*Vizza
*Too Variable to Measure
Category:Human-Covenant War
Category:Battles of the Human-Covenant War