Invasion of Beta Maximus 35b

The **Invasion of *Beta Maximus 35b*** was an offensive launched by the Scouting Fleet of Generous Distribution. It was the first conflict between Team Heretic Dinofox and the Mandalorian Empire.

## War Planning

While the Dorian Galactic Republic and several members of Team Heretic Dinofox concocted war plans to attack Zeta1127 and simultaneously gain a lead on the whereabouts of Jess McKathy, the Tacit Ronin discovered a slipspace buoy with a familiar log. He reported it back to the Unnamed Field Marshall, who originally decided to split his forces and send a small team to investigate the destination.

After several hours passed, a Ronin zealot, 'Nosol, reported that the squad of Seraphs have been ambushed and wiped out. Confused, the Field Marshall ordered a larger force to follow up on the location, including the Tacit Ronin. The second force successfully reported back that unknown soldiers have been firing on them, already destroying over half of the Seraphs.

The remaining troops (Tacit Ronin and a few other Sangheili) were grounded due to aerial pursuers that had caught onto their presence on the planet, forcing them to hide in the thick jungles. They found an enemy fighter that was shot down and examined it thoroughly, discovering a strange emblem painted onto it's hull. Conveniently, DMR4LIFE sent the fleetmaster a note he had come across from a previous encounter. The note was forwarded to the stranded forces, after which they successfully identified the hostiles as Mandalorians and mistook them for a large gang of pirates. The force went dark for several hours to scout out the planet for a base of operations for the suspected pirates.

## Arrival of the Scouting Fleet

The Tacit Ronin reported that the enemy was far more organized than a simple band of pirates, as they had their own prospering colony on the planet; the captured Sangheili were likely there. The fleetmaster decided to divert all his forces to attacking the pirate colony and recovering his troops. His idea was further endorsed when DMR4LIFE stated that the Scouting Fleet would not be needed immediately, although the battle would occur soon; this prompted the fleetmaster to leave behind his second in command, Shipmaster 'Montrumai, with a trio of Liches. The fleet arrived entirely by surprise, as the *Augury of Justice* was able to deploy hundreds of troops before any Mandalorian fighters responded, although both sides started taking casualties once the orbital combat started.

## Ground War

### Initial Assault

New Eden and Scouting Fleet Covenant forces, commanded by Charmer and the Unnamed Field Marshall respectively, loaded into mass deployment carapaces. The humans of *Back With a Vengeance* sent in plenty of pelicans.The fleet deployed several dozen teams of Seraphs to bombard the colony's anti-air guns.

The humans were slaughtered due to their lack of knowledge of the universe. Reinforcements arrive in the form of aircraft and ground troops. A Mandalorian was captured for study.

Due to a fatal tactical error, the Back With a Vengeance unknowingly sacrificed the majority of its Spartan crew due to their underestimation of the anti-air capability of the colony.

### Battle of Overlook Hill

The Scouting Fleet tried to deploy a Tyrant AA gun, but the phantom that was carrying the venting system went down a half kilometer away in the water. Wraiths were called up to transport the gun from the shore. Kig-Yar and front line fighter reinforcements commanded by Charmer arrived, but most of the dropships were shot down too, and a firefight broke out around the downed phantoms. The venting piece was eventually reunited with the rest of the AA gun even after the *Maximite* harassed the wraiths. The AA gun becomes operational.

With the new threat from the hilltop, the enemy forces concentrated on Overlook Hill to take down the Tyrant gun. They utilized portable AA weapons and downed several Covenant transport ships; one ship included Charmer and an Unnamed Ultra Sangheili. Being two of the few survivors, Charmer and the Unnamed Ultra took shelter in the wreckage of the Phantom, which had crashed into a lake and was half flooded. The surviving forces held out for almost an hour as gunfire from the shoreline barraged them, but a group of Wraiths eventually discovered their location and helped eliminate the hostiles.

After organizing themselves, the coalition forces targeted enemy AA guns, command posts, armories, and artillery with high priority. A second AA gun was set up after realizing one gun wasn't enough. Tactic Ronin, objectives completed, fought their way out of the city. The humans then targeted the country to get food for the forces fighting in the colony city.

Meanwhile, in the fields surrounding the city, soldiers from both the Lord of the Stars' pirates and Unnamed Field Marshall's armies were struggling to set up camp before night. Because the dropships had been shot down, most supplies were lost. With the Sangheili all inside the city, the highest ranking soldier with the Covenant in the field was an Unggoy Deacon, Yozoz. Yozoz and Charmer joined their forces, but their forces still remained small in numbers since only 150 of the original 800 survived the landing.

### Search for the Prison

After Charmer went out to search the ancient city for the prison, Mandalorian forces were found in the city and to be protecting a large warehouse. Human forces soon arrive to reinforce Charmer's men, numbering fewer than 100, and fought their way through the warehouse, ransacking it along the way. Eventually they came to a cartographer device that revealed that the prison was in orbit. The resistance arrived just as the Mandalorians counter-attacked. Heavy losses were taken on both sides. The coalition forces then decided what assets to divert to capturing the prison.

### Battle of the Arena

Nikolai Pereshenko destroyed a surveillance room in the initial assault. Kig-Yar and human forces worked their way through the tight hallways and crowded atrium to rescue TWIO, who had been fighting for his life in an arena. They encountered the Unnamed Mandalorian General that was overseeing the arena operation. Kyle Wigan, a Spartan within Savior Team, challenged the general to a duel. Despite the team's protests, Spartan Wigan fought and killed the general in a lengthy fight. With the leadership cut off, the Mandalorians forces faltered just slightly enough for the rescue to be successful. The prison soon fell but not before Spartan Wigan was captured and decapitated in public by the Maximite.

### Battle of the Weapons Depot

After these events transpired, General 'Kunol led a task force to search for the Chat Empire's involvement in the conflict. He followed several chat soldiers to a depot in the mountains before asking for help. Savior team members and Charmer's surviving kig-yar pirates responded and soon took over the depot. With the major colonies, the prison, and the weapons depot fallen, and the countryside being scoured by aircraft for any survivors, the Mandalorians were forced to retreat into the frontier.

### The Frontier Hunt

For the next six days, organized hunting parties were sent out onto the frontier of *Beta Maximus* to hunt down and quell any Mandalorians attempting to organize a resistance against the Scouting Fleet. Led by Spartan Aylin Bray, the teams eliminated over a hundred Mandalorians.

## *Beta Maximus 35b*: Captured

Although Beta Maximus was captured by the Scouting Fleet, the unexpectedly vicious resistance of the Mandalorians cost the fleet several thousand troops. This would eventually raise questions of how to maintain the troop count within the fleet.

Despite the losses, the conquest gave the Scouting Fleet a permanent base and a source of various resources.

## Trivia

* This battle was the first conflict for the UNSC Back With a Vengeance within the Space Rupture universe.
* Von Heft, a Mandalorian field master, would later pursue the Lord of the Stars and challenge him to a duel, and quickly lose, as a result of this invasion.