Battle of Harvest (disambiguation)

The Battle of Harvest was the first battle of the Human-Covenant War, and was fought between the UNSC and the Covenant. It lasted six years.

Summary
On February 3, 2525, an orbital platform near the UNSC colony of Harvest detected an unknown object on its long range radar. The object was constructed with materials unlike anything seen before. Several weeks later the Colonial Militia on Harvest,commanded by Captain Ponder, Staff Sergeant Byrne, and Staff Sergeant Johnson, conducted a peaceful meeting with the unknown alien conglomerate. Before the ship's appearance, humans and Covenant had actually met before - Jackals had raided trade ships several times, and once Byrne and Johnson had actually engaged four Jackals and killed them in a quick skirmish. The plan went badly and the Attorney General of Harvest, along with one militiaman - Private Osmo (Oz) - were lost to the gorilla-like aliens and their canon fodder, monkey-like foot soldiers, later confirmed to be Brutes (Jiralhanae) and Grunts (Unggoy).

Governor Thune of Harvest then broadcasted a live bulletin to every com-pad on the colony, ordering all civilians to evacuate to the Capital of Utgard for the evacuation of Harvest. Many civilians chose not to withdraw, and they paid for their stubbornness a week later. At said time the aliens, later identified as the Covenant, descended to the surface of the colony, decimating the outer city of Gladsheim. After evacuating the population the colonial militia devised the evacuation plan with a Lieutenant-Commander al-Cygni's help.

Using captured intel, Captain Ponder, who was mortally wounded by the aliens, presented the aliens with what they called an Oracle, a holy artifact. Using the Oracle as a trap the humans attacked the enemy cruiser (Rapid Conversion) with the colony's Mass Driver, a primitive MAC gun, disabling the enemy cruiser. In the following confusion and the absence of the enemy air superiority, a militia strike team was sent up and secured the orbital station above Harvest, the Tiara.

After doing so approximately 360 cargo freighters full of evacuees ascended the orbital installations seven strands, exiting Harvest's atmosphere and entering slipspace. Only 215 of those escaped into slipspace, including the remaining militia which was cut down to about half strength. (214 of the containers carried at least one thousand refugees).

This was all still unbeknownst to the Colonial Military Administration and they sent the scout ship Argo to investigate. That ship arrived in-system on April 20, but other than a brief transmission to confirm it arrived in the system, no further reports were made.

In response, UNSC Fleet Command assembled a battle group consisting of the destroyer Heracles and the frigates Arabia and Vostok. They entered the Harvest System on October 7 and discovered the once-lush planet to be completely incinerated and the surface melted down to glass. All three million inhabitants were presumed dead.

The battlegroup soon then found the vessel responsible for the attack still orbiting the planet. The vessel, which was identified later as belonging to the alien alliance known as the Covenant then launched an immediate attack upon the three UNSC ships. Only one, the Heracles, managed to limp back to Reach, badly damaged. The Heracles returned with a message that was sent to them, pre-translated, saying, "Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument".

In response, the UNSC was placed on full alert and on November 1; Vice Admiral Preston Cole mobilized the largest space fleet in human history to retake Harvest.

Vice Admiral Cole's war fleet defeated the Covenant ships at Harvest in 2531. The victory was celebrated and publicized on every colony all the way to Earth. The UNSC media however didn't mention that Cole had won only because he outnumbered the Covenant three to one, and even then, he had lost two-thirds of his fleet.

2525

 * February 3: Contact with Harvest, an outer colony, is lost shortly after the colony itself had made contact with an unknown object. The Colonial Military Administration sends the scout ship Argo to investigate


 * April 20: The Argo arrives in-system and makes one confirmation transmission. No further reports are received.


 * October 7: A UNSC battle group consisting of one destroyer, the Heracles, under the command of Captain Veredi and two frigates the Arabia and the Vostok enters the Harvest system and discovers that everything on the planet has been completely incinerated and the surface melted down to glass. This is later dubbed "glassing". In orbit around the remains of the colony world is a single alien ship, which proceeded to attack the battle group, destroying both Arabia and Vostok and badly damaging the Heracles. Intercepted communications identify the enemy as "The Covenant". The message "Your destruction is the will of the Gods...and we are their instrument" is broadcast in UNSC language.


 * November 1: Vice Admiral Preston Cole mobilizes the largest space fleet in human history to retake Harvest.

2531
Cole's fleet engages the alien warships gathered in orbit over the destroyed colony, scoring a victory (though the battle cost Cole two-thirds of his battle group). Only a last minute tactical inspiration turned the tide of battle. After returning to Earth, Cole-promoted to Admiral-learns that a number of outlying colonies have been destroyed, leaving behind no survivors.

Cole begins to move his fleet around, trying to intercept the invaders. Ground and ship-to-ship battles begin in earnest, raging throughout the Outer Colonies. During one ground engagement, Human forces capture one of the aliens. Before succumbing to his wounds, interrogators learn that the aliens refer to themselves as "the Covenant".

United Nations Space Command
Commander: Vice Admiral Preston Cole

20-30 Warships of various classes, plus numerous regiments and divisions of the UNSC Army, Marine Corps, and Colonial Militia.

Covenant
Commander: Unknown

7-10 Warships of various classes, plus numerous legions of the Covenant Army.

Trivia

 * It was Humanity's first contact with extraterrestrial life.
 * In Halo Wars, the main focus is on the planet Harvest with the UNSC and Covenant. However, Harvest is glassed in 2525, so it is impossible for UNSC forces to still be on a glassed colony between 2525 and 2531.
 * The Halo Wars announcement trailer can be guessed to take place here.

Related Articles

 * Human-Covenant War