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Human-Covenant War: Difference between revisions
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Throughout the 2540s, the UNSC was dealt ever greater blows with the death of the SPARTAN-II [[Sheila-065]] during the [[Battle of Miridem]] in 2544, followed by the [[Battle of Actium|defeat at Actium]] in [[2545]], defeat during the [[Fall of Arcadia]] and the [[Siege of Paris IV|loss of Paris IV]] in 2549. One of the UNSC's success was [[Operation: TORPEDO]] in 2545. The loss of 298 SPARTAN-IIIs was ultimately considered acceptable losses by UNSC High Command. The SPARTAN-II raid on the Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence to recover a captive Dr. Halsey further proved the Covenant Empire was overwhelmingly powerful, but not invincible. | Throughout the 2540s, the UNSC was dealt ever greater blows with the death of the SPARTAN-II [[Sheila-065]] during the [[Battle of Miridem]] in 2544, followed by the [[Battle of Actium|defeat at Actium]] in [[2545]], defeat during the [[Fall of Arcadia]] and the [[Siege of Paris IV|loss of Paris IV]] in 2549. One of the UNSC's success was [[Operation: TORPEDO]] in 2545. The loss of 298 SPARTAN-IIIs was ultimately considered acceptable losses by UNSC High Command. The SPARTAN-II raid on the Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence to recover a captive Dr. Halsey further proved the Covenant Empire was overwhelmingly powerful, but not invincible. | ||
Of the few major wins in the 2540's for the UNSC, and one of the most significant and strategically advantageous was the [[Battle of Psi Serpentis]] in 2543. This engagement became colloquially known as Admiral Cole's last stand due to the presumed death of [[Preston Jeremiah Cole|Admiral Preston J. Cole]]. In addition to the alleged death of Cole, over 300 [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] vessels, two fleets worth, were completely vaporized when [[UNSC]] [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear missiles]] detonated inside the atmosphere of [[Viperidae]], a supermassive gas giant. This detonation spurred spontaneous fusion at the core of Viperidae, temporarily turning the super gas giant into a brown dwarf star. Cole's achievements in this battle alone were only rivaled by the [[Operation: FIRST STRIKE|destruction]] of the ''[[Unyielding Hierophant]]'' and the actions of [[John-117|Spartan-117]] throughout the course of the war. A painting depicting the battle, titled "[[Admiral Cole's Last Stand]]" was created and by [[2552]], it hung on the wall of the [[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6]] on [[Sydney]], Earth.<ref>'''[[Halo: Evolutions]]''', | Of the few major wins in the 2540's for the UNSC, and one of the most significant and strategically advantageous was the [[Battle of Psi Serpentis]] in 2543. This engagement became colloquially known as Admiral Cole's last stand due to the presumed death of [[Preston Jeremiah Cole|Admiral Preston J. Cole]]. In addition to the alleged death of Cole, over 300 [[Covenant Empire|Covenant]] vessels, two fleets worth, were completely vaporized when [[UNSC]] [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear missiles]] detonated inside the atmosphere of [[Viperidae]], a supermassive gas giant. This detonation spurred spontaneous fusion at the core of Viperidae, temporarily turning the super gas giant into a brown dwarf star. Cole's achievements in this battle alone were only rivaled by the [[Operation: FIRST STRIKE|destruction]] of the ''[[Unyielding Hierophant]]'' and the actions of [[John-117|Spartan-117]] throughout the course of the war. A painting depicting the battle, titled "[[Admiral Cole's Last Stand]]" was created and by [[2552]], it hung on the wall of the [[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6]] on [[Sydney]], Earth.<ref>'''[[Halo: Evolutions]]''', "[[The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole]]", ''pages 472-485''</ref> | ||
[[File:Covenant assault - 2.png|thumb|left|225px|[[Civilian]]s on a human colony world under siege by a Covenant invasion force.]] | [[File:Covenant assault - 2.png|thumb|left|225px|[[Civilian]]s on a human colony world under siege by a Covenant invasion force.]] | ||
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*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 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''', | *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''' | ||