New Baltimore Campaign

The New Baltimore Campaign was a relatively small-scale engagement during the . New Baltimore was one of the first colonies to be attacked by the Covenant after first contact was made and although the battle was quick, lasting only ten days, it left a profound impact on SPARTAN-II supersoldier, Colin-142, who first engaged Covenant forces during the battle. It also served as one of only a handful of complete victories for the UNSC during the war, as the Covenant forces present were completely annihilated.
==Prelude==
On December 9, 2525, a Covenant missionary ship exited slipspace roughly 386,000 kilometers away from New Baltimore, close to the planet's single moon, Ponirus. After confirming the presence of humans on both the planet and its moon, the missionary ship began transmitting a message to the Covenant, informing them of the colony's location. Detecting the alien ship and its signal, the three ships that composed New Baltimore's defense fleet moved to intercept it, destroying it with a combination of Archer missile and MAC fire, but not before it completed its transmission. Having been informed of the Covenant after their attack on Harvest, New Baltimore's colonial governor, Kennedy Royston, placed all combat units on high alert and sent out a general distress signal requesting reinforcements in an attempt to fortify the colony for a possible attack by the Covenant.
==Covenant Reinforcements==
Unfortunately for the colony, Covenant reinforcements arrived on December 11, a day before the 46th Naval Fleet was scheduled to arrive from nearby Madrigal. The battlegroup, consisting of three CRS-class light cruisers and a CCS-class Battlecruiser, engaged and destroyed the measly defense force and began deploying ground forces soon after. The Covenant troops on the surface swiftly engaged local UNSC Army and Air Forces, rapidly gaining ground in both the capital and several other major cities, killing thousands in the first hours of the invasion. Soon after; however, UNSC forces began to hold their ground, forming a five kilometer perimeter around the capital building and space port, preparing for civilian evacuations. As the evacuation began, numerous evacuation vessels were targeted and destroyed by attack craft.
Category:Demons of Hope