Second Battle of Harvest

The Second Battle of Harvest was the first major fleet engagement fought by the UNSC and the Covenant during the Human-Covenant War. It was the direct follow on to the First Battle of Harvest which resulted in the destruction of the Harvest colony and seizure of the planet by the Covenant. The UNSC carried the day with superior numbers and a last-minute tactical maneuver, but suffered heavy casualties.

Background
In early 2525, Harvest was attacked by the Covenant. The colony was partially glassed with many colonists fleeing on freighters. A UNSC scout ship was destroyed with a CMA battlegroup being devastated in an unsuccessful attempt to dislodge the single Covenant super-destroyer holding the planet.

Thirteen months later on March 1, a UNSC-wide mobilization was under way, with Vice Admiral Preston Cole assembling a fleet to retake Harvest. Battle Group X-Ray is conceived as the largest assembled at that point in human history, ultimately consisted of 40 ships with the admiral commanding from the cruiser.

The Battle
"Fix bayonets."

- VADM Cole during the final charge quoting Col. Joshua Chamberlain from the American Civil War.

The UNSC fleet arrived at Harvest on March 1, 2526, and engaged the lone Covenant ship through a slingshot maneuver around the planet. Multiple ships, including the and the, were quickly destroyed. UNSC weapons, including nuclear ordnance, had very little effect on the enemy. Cole realized the enemy was using energy shields, like the one previously encountered at the Battle of Chi Ceti, and ordered the fleet to fire all of its weapons simultaneously at the target. This overwhelmed the shields and destroyed the Covenant vessel.

Aftermath


The UNSC victory came at the cost of thirteen warships. Cole realized the disparity between UNSC and enemy losses "did not bode well". However, ONI Section II propaganda exaggerated the victory to encourage recruitment; initially the foe was claimed to be an Insurrectionist weapon platform but this was later recanted. For their part, the Covenant were undaunted by their defeat, and celebrated the "Victory of Epsilon Indi" through fasting and prayer.

Harvest continued to be contested. The Covenant continued searching for Forerunner artifacts, while the UNSC refused to withdraw. The UNSC finally prevailed in 2531, but the planet lost its remaining strategic value as the Covenant begin its advance into the Inner Colonies.

Personnel

 * Admiral Preston Cole
 * Captain Maribeau Veredi
 * Everest Shipboard-AI Sekmet

Warships

 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis
 * UNSC Tharsis

Trivia
The presence of forty UNSC ships against one overwhelmingly powerful enemy vessel strikes a remarkable resemblance to the Battle of Wolf-359 from the Star Trek universe, in which a fleet of forty Federation starships engaged a single Borg cube. However, the outcomes of these battles differ: the Federation lost all but one of its vessels yet caused no damage to the cube. This very well may be a deliberate reference.

List of appearances

 * Halo Wars: Genesis
 * Halo Wars
 * ''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole