Battle of Hat Yai (Earth-5875)

The Battle of Hat Yai was one of the battles of the First Contact War on the Outer colony Hat Yai, on February 8th, 2529. It was the first battle to see large-scale use of ODSTs against Covenant warriors on the ground.

History
The Covenant discovered and invaded Hat Yai on February 8th, 2529, landing on its sole mega-continent and killing all the civilian population. The UNSC then sent a large contingent of ODSTs, consisting of 1000 in total, led by Major Tobias Sedavian, dropped to the planet from the UNSC Clearidas. Before they even landed, 200 ODSTs were killed during the orbital insertion by Covenant cruisers, and a hundred more were killed upon landing after having their SOEIVs were damaged by Covenant ships. Because Sedavian landed far away from his forces, another ODST, Brendan Rahud, took command of his forces and they reunited in a base with no further casualties.

Once they arrived on the base, it was taken over by Covenant warriors, and upon this discovery, the UNSC fleet on orbit was overwhelmed and outgunned with the arrival of Covenant reinforcements. Those who survived the attack on the base evacuated the planet, and Shiva-nuclear missiles were dropped from orbit against the Covenant troops on the ground. The UNSC retreated, leaving Hat Yai to be glassed.