Battle of Tribute

The Battle of Tribute was a conflict that took place on and above the planet Tribute, in the Epsilon Eridani System.

Battle
As the Covenant discovered and invaded Reach, they also attacked the other colonies in the system, including Tribute. Corporal Taylor H. Miles was present during the evacuation of the colony, and witnessed the near total destruction of the UNSC Navy escort fleet in orbit as they protected civilian refugees where the fleet suffered 90% losses.

Towards the end of the battle, during the evacuation of the civilian population, a Spartan fireteam was deployed planetside to assist the devastated UNSC ground forces. There were very light civilian casualties, but the Spartans were eventually overrun by the Covenant and killed in the capital city of Casbah.

Blockade over Tribute
The Covenant continued to blockade the planet. Spartan-II Team Black was sent to Verge to destroy a Beacon supplying the Covenant ships with Helium used as fuel in their reactors. They succeeded in their mission, presumably slowing down the Covenant assault.

At this point, some Covenant ships remained in orbit of Tribute, moving debris and awaiting orders for a continued campaign on the planet. They targeted the remaining survivors when able but otherwise were inactive.

With the Great Schism beginning in November 2552, the remaining Sangheili and Jiralhanae ships began fighting each other.

Aftermath
In the midst of the battle, the freighter Floral Express broke away from the planet and jumped to Slipspace. On October 8th, 2552, it arrived in the Khaphrae system, the home of Installation 03.

Despite the efforts of UNSC forces, Tribute was in the end, partially glassed. While it was partial, all major cities and most industrial centres were destroyed. Though enough infrastructure remained overall to let survivors rebuild the economy and planet's ecology.

The loss of Tribute also had a severe economic impact on the post-war UEG.

After the war, Hannibal Weapon Systems used the UNSC navy wrecks from the battle, hanging above the north pole of Tribute as a test site for the Deadeye armour.

In honour of the Spartan team in the final battles of Casbah, the War Games simulation War Games Map_Set/: 891-3 was created to help train Spartan-IVs.