Harvest: Difference between revisions

[[File:Halo_wars_Ice_02_by_JJasso-1-.jpg|thumb|250px|Panorama landscape]]

Harvest was a small planet, approximately one-third the size of [[Earth]] with only a 4,000 kilometer (2,484 mile) equatorial diameter, slightly smaller than the [[Sol System|Sol]] planet Mercury.<ref>[[Halo: Contact Harvest]], pg 33</ref> In terms of surface area, Harvest possessed ~50 million km², roughly one-tenth the surface area of Earth. Harvest orbited [[Epsilon Indi]] extremely quickly, much faster than most other UNSC colonies, at roughly 150,000 km/h, or ~41km/sec (by comparison, Earth orbits Sol at roughly 30 km/sec). Harvest had no natural satellites. Out of a total of five planets in the Epsilon Indi System, Harvest was the only habitable planet, as well as being fertile for farming. The super-continent [[Edda]] dominated the planet, taking up roughly 67% of its surface. Two low-salinity seas covered the remainder of the planet, [[Hugin]] to the north, and [[Munin]] to the south<ref>[[Halo: Contact Harvest]], pg. 74</ref>. Almost 86% of Edda is within 500 meters of sea level, the only major change in elevation is the [[Bifrost]], an escarpment that "cuts" Edda in half.

Harvest's surface was once beautiful, covered in grassland and forests, lush fields and rolling hills, and a thousand lakes swarming with fish. The orchards with luscious crops. At night, bats filled the skies.<ref>[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]], page 75</ref> After being glassed, the surface was reduced to a layer of melted glass, the destruction visible from orbit.<ref>[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]</ref> The environment suffered a catastrophic blow as a result, the once glorious landscape turning into a nearly frozen tundra, causing most species to quickly go extinct. Soon, all that remained of Harvest's original ecosystem were the scavengers, feeding off the rotting remains of the planet's once abundant wildlife, and even they perished before long.