RL-54 Incident

The RL-54 Incident was a highly-classified military operation which took place during the . Undertaken by the with assistance from the , the goal of the conflict was an ambitious if highly risky one: to capture a heavy capital ship and use it to launch an attack on a major world deep within their territory. It was hoped that such a surprise attack would not only buy the time to develop new countermeasures against the alien hegemony, but also scare their civilisation population into pressuring their leaders for a truce with humanity. It was made up of two subordinate operations: SATIN TOUCH, which was responsible for the capture of the enemy carrier, and VELVET BLADE, which concerned itself with the actual attack.
Authorised by Section Three director as early as , the RL-54 Incident officially began on . After luring a solitary from the nearby colony of , it was ambushed and boarded by a task force composed of operatives from the Asymmetrical Action Group and a large force of led by PERUN Team. Fighting for hours across the vast ship, they were eventually able to successful gain complete control of the ship and move it into an uninhabited system. With the first phase of the operation completed, the task force would travel to the homeworld of on March 25, and would successfully infiltrate its surrounding defences. The UNSC would conduct a campaign of large-scale terror bombings, assassination of key government officials, and indiscriminate destruction across the moon.
Eventually becoming compromised thanks to their success, the UNSC-controlled assault carrier would flee the moon in the face of returning Covenant fleets. They would launch a second raid on the frontier industrial-centre of , where they would be attacked and pursued by a fleet detachment led by Shipmistress Hela 'Zufamee. Although substantial damage would be inflicted upon the world, the UNSC would eventually be fought off and control would return back to the Covenant.
The RL-54 Incident was one of the instrumental events that would usher in the beginning of the end of the Human-Covenant War. Its success at delaying the Covenant for almost six months encouraged the UNSC to draw up even more risky operations to force the Covenant into a truce. It many ways, it was a direct predecessor to . However, it failed in its goal to intimidate the Covenant, instead skyrocketing support in favour of further military intervention. More resources in the form of larger fleets and men would be devoted towards the conflict with humanity, which would culminate in long sieges against humanity's most populous colonies.
== Background ==
The origins of the RL-54 Incident began during the the in . With the unexpectedly impressive human resistance on the planet costing them more manpower and ships than they had anticipated, the Covenant had began to cycle in and out replacements within the nearby star systems. Ships would either to exchange crews, ground forces, and fuel, or wait for fresh reinforcements to relieve them. During one of these exchanges, the assault carrier Gracious Testimony had arrived alone and was subsequently ambushed by a UNSC battle group. Although major systems such as the engines, shield generators, and weapon arrays were destroyed, the UNSC managed to disable the hull largely intact. A follow-up ONI analysis team were dispatched, but outside of the encrypted computer data, they would find nothing of value.
It was later discovered several months later that the computer data revealed an interesting revelation; certain Covenant assault carriers were assigned as logistical transports, and would travel under minimal escort to quietly relieve their invading fleets. More significantly was how it would help identify such a similar ship, the Ordained Righteousness. A designated fleet known as Task Force Spear was assembled to strike at it, but it would later be disbanded: even alone, the carrier was predicted to easily beat off anything ONI could throw at it. Instead, a single prowler was assigned to tail it, and would be a vital asset to opening up temporary pushes on the local besieged world.
In mid-, an officer in the would formulate the earliest draft for Operation: SATIN TOUCH, and it would be approved not long afterwards by Vice Admiral Michael Stanforth. Rather than begin the operation immediately, the officer stressed that the Spartan Teams would be temporarily pulled from the field between their deployments to conduct training exercises within the wreck of the Testimony. Initially, only assets from the Asymmetrical Action Group - Task Force Black and the SPARTANs of Red Team - were deemed necessary. However, as it was discovered that they could not take the ship as quickly as they needed to, two other SPARTAN teams - first PERUN, and later Cyan - were retrieved and integrated into the exercises. It was during this that VELVET BLADE was first proposed, and although it was met with scrutiny, continuing losses would see Stanforth approving the risky operation as well.
In March 2547, the Ordained Righteousness was spotted lending support during the , where it was deploying troops to take the planet. As a result, ONI quickly assembled the closest suitable naval units. They diverted two patrolling frigates from Skopje's neighbouring systems and cancelled the operation to intercept a Covenant battleship squadron. All assets assigned to SATIN TOUCH rallied at a staging area in the RL-54 system, a brown dwarf binary that, with no traffic from either the UNSC nor the Covenant, would serve as an ideal location for the mission.
== Operation: SATIN TOUCH ==
Operation: SATIN TOUCH would begin at 0549 hours on March 18, 2547, when the Ordained Righteousness began departing from Skopje. The ground teams were loaded on aboard the frigates Arrow Flight and the Mother of Invention, and the prowler Trojan, with each ship only having a single Spartan team. All ships had their sensor signature masked by a combination of RADAR jamming, optical camouflage systems, and by simply hiding within nearby bodies such as asteroids. The ONI Trojan then activated a lure, which consisted of an intercepted transmission of a Covenant frigate requesting repairs. The frigate's presence was simulated through a formation of drones that were modified to give off its thermal, radar, and ultraviolet signature.
== Operation: VELVET BLADE ==
== Aftermath ==
== Participants ==
===UNSC===
Ships
*1 Carrier
**Ordained Righteousness
*1 Battlecruiser
**
***CPTN Shannon Hambleton
*2 Frigates
**
**
*2 Prowlers
**ONI Black Stallion
**ONI Trojan
Commando Units
*SPARTAN Red Team
**LT Oriana-A058 
**CPO Draven-A284
**PO1 Emilia-A049
**PO1 Omar-A442
**PO2 Lynn-A392
**PO2 Tucker-B069
**PO2 Carson-B260
**PO2 Reagen-B142
*SPARTAN Cyan Team
**PO2 David-255 
**PO2 Franklin-289
**PO2 Evelyn-294
**PO2 Chloe-302
*SPARTAN Perun Team
**LT Adrian-B143 
**LTJ Bodark-B076
**CPO Cassandra-A096 
**CPO Damien-A149
**SCPO Obadiah-A227
*Task Unit Pirate - Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Regiment, 105th Shock Troops Division
**LCDR Damir Husenjak - ONI Section Three Specialized Skills Officer
**MAJ Nilay Sipal - Marine Corps Task Unit Commander
**MGySgt Leandro Ferraro - Marine Corps Enlisted Troop Commander
***Total Troops - 80 total ODST Assaulters with various skills and specialties
===Covenant===
Ships
*Carrier
**Ordained Righteousness 
*Cruiser
**Endurance of Faith
***Shipmistress Hela 'Zufamee
Category:Battles of the Human-Covenant War