The Battle of Tartarus occured in 2557 while Captain Edward T. Banks, the commander of the Tartarus Defense Corps, was away on the UNSC Thermopylae. The New Covenant attacked the tiny UNSC fleet, destroying it instantly. The New Covenant proceeded to glass the North and South poles of the planet. General Edmund Duke ordered Nuclear and Isodesium missles fired at the New Covenant ships, which destroyed six ships. The UNSC Goliath was able to escape from Tartarus before it's destruction when the Isodesium mines imploded due to the extreme heat from Covenant weapons. General Duke is assumed KIA.