- Hysterical Joker
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- Elder Mythic Member
Posted by: BK Burger Boy
I've come up with a simple timeline based on some personal speculation.
Early July, a prototype Supercarrier with a Zealot Artifact team makes a pinpoint jump to each, unaware that it is a Human planet after discovering it's location via a Luminary.
The Shipmaster decides to prepare a preliminary invasion after sending a transmission to High Charity, but the Iroqouis had already been tagged and the Covenant know about Reach as well.
Noble Team encounters the unnamed Zealot team on Visegrad, and their cover is blown. Field Marshall sends a Corvette to attack Sword Base, which ONI keeps quiet. An untold amount of time Later Noble discovers what the Covenant had been hiding for almost a month.
Tip of the Spear happens, and the cat is out of the Bag, A Supercarrier demolished the Grafton and heads to low orbit away from the ODPS and under the nose of the fleet, where it reactivates it's cloaking field.
In Long Night of Solace, the Carrier deactivates it's stealth systems for when the Ardent Prayer initiates a refueling stop. The Carrier is destroyed, and an unknown time later, before August 23rd, a possible task force arrives at Reach and makes a beeline for the atmosphere.
Since the Frigates can't do jack against CCS Cruisers, Marathons and Halcyons are stuck in space not able to assist, and the ground battle is brutal for humanity.
As the covenant gain more and more footage on Reach, Noble goes to torch Sword Base on the 29th and the PoA is being refit. Halsey gives the segment of Cortana to Noble 6 and on August 30th, the full fleet of Particular Justice exits slipspace, and the UNSCDF Fleet and ODPs engage, and the battle in the novel plays out. Keyes joins the battle shortly after departing from the surface, where he picks up the remnants of Blue Team and departs for Halo, Thel and his battlegroup persue leaving the majority of the fleet to burn Reach.
What's left of Reach's fleet is crushed and the Covenant Fleet form up to destroy the planet. Halsey, Red Team, and any UNSC survivors enter Castle Base, and possibly Jun too, to escape the glassing. Noble Six makes his final stand to join his comrades. The main Battle is over and the events of first strike play out.
There's more I need to ponder before making comments, but someone went back and played the mission where the carrier is revealed, nothing suggests it has cloaking abilities as the towers were what powered its cloaking field.