35,264
edits
Human-Covenant War: Difference between revisions
m
no edit summary
No edit summary |
mNo edit summary |
||
| Line 63: | Line 63: | ||
The war was instigated by the Covenant whose [[Hierarchs|High Prophets]] discovered that humans were directly related to the Forerunners, directly contradicting their ancient religion. Seeking to keep various political and religious orders intact, a war of genocide was declared against the human race. Over the next few decades the Covenant with superior firepower, numbers and technology, would repeatedly overpower the UNSC across hundreds of worlds, including heavily defended strongholds such as [[Reach]]. Humanity would only win scattered and costly victories. | The war was instigated by the Covenant whose [[Hierarchs|High Prophets]] discovered that humans were directly related to the Forerunners, directly contradicting their ancient religion. Seeking to keep various political and religious orders intact, a war of genocide was declared against the human race. Over the next few decades the Covenant with superior firepower, numbers and technology, would repeatedly overpower the UNSC across hundreds of worlds, including heavily defended strongholds such as [[Reach]]. Humanity would only win scattered and costly victories. | ||
The conflict was also the cause of the [[Great Schism]] within the Covenant. Forced to fight a war on two fronts, the formerly monolithic Empire was torn apart. While the [[Battle of Installation 00|deciding battle]] of the war was fought on [[2552#December|December 11, 2552]],<ref name="fortitude">[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/featured/video/herofortitude/bfe5038b-314a-4f17-a6be-f7613e0e3788 '''Halo Waypoint''', ''Hero-Fortitude'']</ref> the official cessation of hostilities occurred on March 3, 2553.<ref>[[Hillside memorial]]</ref> The war was incredibly costly to both sides, with over twenty-three billion humans and billions of Covenant killed during the hostilities and further heavy casualties during the Flood plague. The war ultimately lasted for a total of twenty-eight years. | The conflict was also the cause of the [[Great Schism]] within the Covenant. Forced to fight a war on two fronts, the formerly monolithic Empire was torn apart. While the [[Battle of Installation 00|deciding battle]] of the war was fought on [[2552#December|December 11, 2552]],<ref name="fortitude">[http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/featured/video/herofortitude/bfe5038b-314a-4f17-a6be-f7613e0e3788 '''Halo Waypoint''', ''Hero-Fortitude'']</ref> the official cessation of hostilities occurred on [[2553#March|March 3, 2553]].<ref>[[Hillside memorial]]</ref> The war was incredibly costly to both sides, with over twenty-three billion humans and billions of Covenant killed during the hostilities and further heavy casualties during the Flood plague. The war ultimately lasted for a total of twenty-eight years. | ||
== History == | == History == | ||
| Line 310: | Line 310: | ||
*The very first Covenant species to encounter humanity were the [[Kig-Yar]], the [[Unggoy]], the [[Huragok]], and the [[Jiralhanae]], - in that order - all prior to the inception of the war. | *The very first Covenant species to encounter humanity were the [[Kig-Yar]], the [[Unggoy]], the [[Huragok]], and the [[Jiralhanae]], - in that order - all prior to the inception of the war. | ||
*Avery Johnson was the only human to witness both the beginning and end of the Human-Covenant War, as he was present when [[Harvest]] was attacked and saw Truth killed, which signified the end of the war. He was also the first human to kill a Covenant member. | *Avery Johnson was the only human to witness both the beginning and end of the Human-Covenant War, as he was present when [[Harvest]] was attacked and saw Truth killed, which signified the end of the war. He was also the first human to kill a Covenant member. | ||
*Admiral [[Preston Jeremiah Cole|Preston Cole]] questioned Covenant's apparent difficulty of finding Earth; he pointed out that they could have simply picked up human radio signals and triangulated the source. Cole theorized that the Covenant's systematic destruction of human colonies before assaulting Earth may have been due to an internal scheme within the upper tiers of the Covenant hierarchy that prevented Earth from being targeted sooner; that the destruction of the Outer Colonies before Earth was part of a religious ritual; or that the Covenant were not particularly interested in humanity's homeworld strategically, but for some other, unknown reason. Cole suspected that members of the Covenant military may not have been informed of the particulars of these underlying schemes; in order to prevent hypothetical "rogue elements" within the Covenant military from attacking Earth without authorization from the Covenant leadership, Cole recommended ONI to obfuscate human radio signals in slipspace.<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', ''"The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole"'', ''page 469''</ref> Cole's speculations appear to have been at least partially correct; the Prophet of Truth had a far-reaching plan to increase his personal power, which involved keeping the other Hierarchs and most of the Covenant ignorant of key information, including the location of the human homeworld, until the optimal moment to strike Earth. Truth's plans were partially | *Admiral [[Preston Jeremiah Cole|Preston Cole]] questioned the Covenant's apparent difficulty of finding Earth; he pointed out that they could have simply picked up human radio signals and triangulated the source. Cole theorized that the Covenant's systematic destruction of human colonies before assaulting Earth may have been due to an internal scheme within the upper tiers of the Covenant hierarchy that prevented Earth from being targeted sooner; that the destruction of the Outer Colonies before Earth was part of a religious ritual; or that the Covenant were not particularly interested in humanity's homeworld strategically, but for some other, unknown reason. Cole suspected that members of the Covenant military may not have been informed of the particulars of these underlying schemes; in order to prevent hypothetical "rogue elements" within the Covenant military from attacking Earth without authorization from the Covenant leadership, Cole recommended ONI to obfuscate human radio signals in slipspace.<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe''', ''"The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole"'', ''page 469''</ref> Cole's speculations appear to have been at least partially correct; the Prophet of Truth had a far-reaching plan to increase his personal power, which involved keeping the other Hierarchs and most of the Covenant ignorant of key information, including the location of the human homeworld, until the optimal moment to strike Earth. Truth's plans were partially compromised when the Prophet of Regret discovered the location of the Ark Portal on his own and proceeded to attack Earth, unaware of the human presence.<ref name="tentwenty"/> Despite Cole's theories, however, the possibility of triangulating Earth's position from radio signals does not appear to have occurred to the Hierarchs, as evidenced by Truth's more convoluted plan to have Kig-Yar led by [[Reth]] acquire navigation data leading to Earth from [[the Rubble]],<ref>'''Halo: The Cole Protocol''', ''page 285-286''</ref> and the fact that Truth did not discover Earth's location until 2552.<ref name="tentwenty"/> | ||
*The length of the Human-Covenant War is a [[seven]] reference. The war lasted a total of 28 years. 28 is divisible by 7-28/4='''7''' | *The length of the Human-Covenant War is a [[seven]] reference. The war lasted a total of 28 years. 28 is divisible by 7-28/4='''7''' | ||