Battle of Hero's Rest

== A Treasure Found ==
In 2509 UNSC Research and Exploration teams locate forerunner ruins and structures on both of Sythis' satellites, the moon Jaeger and the Dwarf planet Schild. As further research is conducted ONI teams learn both satellites have a direct connection to Sythis. In 2511 Science teams learn Sythis is in fact a Forerunner tomb world, a massive grave for Forerunner warriors. In 2515 UNSC and ONI dig teams begin to search for the tomb located somewhere on Sythis. Meanwhile excavation and research of the Forerunner facilities on the Satellite moon Jaeger and planet Schild continue. Little data is gained as tiny bursts of data from the forerunner constructs give either minor clues to the location of the tomb or data about the planets. In 2529 the location of the tomb is discovered. It is located 11 kilometers northwest of the city St. Morrigan and 2 kilometers beneath the ground in a massive underground fissure. Excavation teams start to clear away rock and dirt to reveal the whole structure. By 2533 The first face of the structure is revealed, and the magnitude of the tomb is seen for the first time. It's exterior wall stretches 300 meters up and run 500 meters long. The door to enter is found but all attempts to gain entry have failed.
==A Signal Sent==
As excavation of the tomb continues into 2540, ONI research of the structures located on Jaeger and Schild continue. In 2541 ONI learns that the facilities on Jaeger are in fact an ancient Forerunner communication Relay. Scientists learn it is still active and is communicating with the facilities on Schild. However what is being communicated is still unknown as the data ONI is receiving are merely short ten second bursts they are picking up on. In 2542 the data surges increase and with new technology giving scientists the ability to translate the forerunner glyphs more accurately, the UNSC learns more and more about the planets they are living on. One piece of data revealed that Sythis is in fact called Hero's Rest. A place of honor for Forerunner warriors who have proved themselves in battle and died in battle or in peace. With that honor they are buried with the weapons are armor. ONI quickly raises the strategic value of the planet as this means it's not just a tomb world but a forerunner armory as well. And with the Covenant trying to get a hold of all the forerunner technologies left behind, the tomb cannot fall to the aliens. Later that year a proposal was given to ONI asking to rename the planet from Sythis to its original name of Hero's Rest. The request was denied with the reason given as, "Changing the name would cause to many questions from the public and they cannot afford questions right now." Even so, many amongst the science and dig teams refer to the world as Hero's Rest.
In 2545 the communication relays on Jaeger and the structures on Schild start communicating more rapidly as the intervals of the data bursts become shorter. Initially ONI thought the bursts of communication between facilities were akin to two computers making sure each was still operational. However when one data burst picked up this single sentence sent from the Jaeger relay to Schild, "Is the tomb sterile?" ONI began to wonder if there is in fact some forerunner A.I or A.Is running the system. Science teams began to gather data at frantic rates as the data bursts became more and more frequent. Finally it built up to a massive surge that shut down all ONI tech on both Jaeger and Schild. It took ONI seven hours to reboot all their systems, and although no one knows where or to who the signal was going, the power it released meant that the message could certainly reach across the galaxy.
== Signal Received ==
Immediately following the data burst from the Jaeger Relay station ONI ordered reinforcements to be sent to the planets,in addition to building defensive walls and bunkers around the city of St. Morrigan to protect the dig site and the city. When the public asked about these new developments ONI informed them that, "With the covenant closing in on the inner colonies, we want to be as ready as we can be to resist." With the thought of the Covenant closing in, many citizens quickly packed their things and ran to other safer colonies further in UNSC space. ONI was not concerned with this small panic as it removed the likelihood of civilian causalities should the covenant arrive. As the time from the signal burst grew, ONI began to wonder if anyone had heard or picked up the data surge. That question was answered on July 20th 2549.
A UNSC navy probe detected a Slip space rupture at the very edge of Hero's Rest's orbit. Recon flights passed the area and found a fleet of 18 covenant ships. The CAS Class Carrier, three CCS Battle cruisers, Five SDV Heavy Corvettes and Nine CRS Light cruisers wasted no time and began their smooth advance towards the planet. As the combat alerts went out to all three locations and UNSC ground forces prepared for battle, the UNSC navy under Admiral Petrovsky began to organize their plan of attack. The admiral ordered a picket fleet consisting of two Halberd class Destroyers and six of the twelve Paris class frigates to lead a head on attack on the covenant fleet and draw them in towards the main UNSC line. Petrovsky then sent the remaining four destroyers along with three more Paris class frigates to hide behind the dwarf world of Schild where they would wait to attack the covenant on their flanks.
As the picket fleet advanced the admiral sent a squadron of three frigates out into the asteroid belt the made up the right side of the battle zone where the ships could position themselves to ambush the covenant. 
the first shots had already been fired by the time they reached the asteroids, the covenant had still seen the ships and dispatched a pair of Light cruisers to flush the frigates out. While the picket fleet closed with the enemy and the destroyer force call sign "Whisky" waited in position behind Schild. Petrovsky kept his Marathon cruiser Brutus and its sister ship Cronos in the middle of the battlezone. Positioned so Schild and the asteroid belt would box the covenant in, it would force them straight into their MAC guns.
Category:Battles
Category:Human-Covenant War