First Battle of Harvest

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First Battle of Harvest
Conflict:	Human-Covenant War
Date:	February 3, 2525 – October 7, 2525
Location:	Harvest, Epsilon Indi system
Outcome:	Covenant victory Outbreak of the Human-Covenant War Harvest partially glassed Harvest evacuated of military personnel and civilians
Details Belligerents UEG UNSC CMA Covenant Commanders LCDR Jilan al-Cygni CAPT Ponder† CAPT Maribeau Veredi (later) Maccabeus† Tartarus Strength UNSC 3 Marines 72 Colonial Militia M12 Warthogs JOTUNs Utgard Constabulary UNSC Navy 1 sloop UNSC Walk of Shame CMA 1 scout ship CMA Argo 2 UNSC frigates CMA Arabia CMA Vostok 1 UNSC destroyer CMA Heracles 60+ Unggoy Yanme'e 1 Huragok 10 Jiralhanae 4 Barukaza Workshop Choppers Dextro Xur-pattern Spirits Rapid Conversion 1 super-destroyer Casualties Harvest militia suffers over 50% casualties Captain Ponder Private Osmo Wick Habel Jepsen Vallen CMA Argo, CMA Arabia, CMA Vostok destroyed UNSC Heracles heavily damaged 23,000 civilian casualties Rapid Conversion severely crippled One Type-25 Spirit 3 Type-25 Choppers A few Jiralhanae, one Huragok, many Unggoy, and many Yanme'e Maccabeus Dadab Licinus Vorenus Ritul Calid Strab Yull Lighter Than Some

"Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument."

— Covenant transmission from the Prophet of Regret to the UNSC during the Battle of Harvest

The First Battle of Harvest was the first major engagement between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant, taking place on Harvest in the Epsilon Indi system. It marked the beginning of the Human-Covenant War.

Prelude

Covenant religious crisis

Covenant culture and society was founded on the belief that they were the chosen ones of the Forerunners. Piety was partially demonstrated by the "Reclamation" of ancient, and supposedly holy, artifacts. In 2525, a query to an ancient Forerunner AI concerning the large number of "relics" on a world as-yet unvisited by the Covenant revealed a critical flaw in Covenant belief; "Reclamation" was a mistranslation of "Reclaimer" in the Forerunner language, the "relics" on the world were human beings, and that humans were the Forerunners' chosen inheritors of the galaxy.

This information was restricted to only a few in Covenant leadership. They realized the public knowledge would shake the foundations of the polity and potentially destroy it. Those privy to the information moved to prevent catastrophe. They seized control of the Covenant and used their new powers to declare a war of extermination on humanity. The first target was the world that the Forerunner AI had been consulted about: the UNSC colony world of Harvest.

Toward Harvest

Main article: Skirmish on Minor Transgression

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