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Human-Covenant War: Difference between revisions
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The war was instigated by the Covenant whose [[Hierarchs|High Prophets]] made a discovery which led them to believe that humans were directly related to the Forerunners, contradicting their [[covenant religion|ancient religion]]. Seeking to keep various political and religious orders intact, a holy war of genocide was declared against the human species and the discovery of their relation to the Forerunners was kept a secret. 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]] and even [[Earth]]. Humanity would win only scattered and costly victories. | The war was instigated by the Covenant whose [[Hierarchs|High Prophets]] made a discovery which led them to believe that humans were directly related to the Forerunners, contradicting their [[covenant religion|ancient religion]]. Seeking to keep various political and religious orders intact, a holy war of genocide was declared against the human species and the discovery of their relation to the Forerunners was kept a secret. 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]] and even [[Earth]]. Humanity would win only 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> an informal ceasefire was not agreed upon until [[2553#February|February 2553]].<ref name="ceasefire">'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''pages 358-361''</ref> The official cessation of hostilities was declared on [[2553#March|March 3, 2553]].<ref name="Dr. Iqbal"/> The war was incredibly costly to both sides, with over twenty-three billion humans and billions of Covenant individuals killed during the hostilities.<ref name=HE:PH | 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> an informal ceasefire was not agreed upon until [[2553#February|February 2553]].<ref name="ceasefire">'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''pages 358-361''</ref> The official cessation of hostilities was declared on [[2553#March|March 3, 2553]].<ref name="Dr. Iqbal"/> The war was incredibly costly to both sides, with over twenty-three billion humans and billions of Covenant individuals killed during the hostilities.<ref name=HE:PH/> An outbreak of the virulent parasite known as the Flood almost consumed both factions near the war's end. The conflict lasted for a total of twenty-eight years. | ||
After the [[Treaty of 2552|ceasefire]] was declared, the Great Schism continued in the form of wars between the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae until at least [[2559]].<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', ''The Return''</ref> Concurrent to this, the Sangheili species fell into [[Blooding Years|civil war]], as did the Jiralhanae, while the UNSC itself had to deal with a resurgence in the [[Insurrection]]. In the wake of the Covenant's cessation, its former member species fragmented into many [[Covenant remnants|splinter factions]]. Among the most notable of these groups was the religiously devout [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant faction|new Covenant]] formed in the disarray following the war by [[Shipmaster]] [[Jul 'Mdama]]. The UNSC was still locked in [[Post-Covenant War conflicts|conflict]] with this faction, along with several other splinter groups in, until late [[2558]].<ref name="Reed">[http://blogs.halowaypoint.com/Headlines/post/2013/06/03/Halo-Initiation-Writer-Interview.aspx '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Halo Initiation Writer Interview''] ''("Experience a new war with the Covenant ...")''</ref> | After the [[Treaty of 2552|ceasefire]] was declared, the Great Schism continued in the form of wars between the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae until at least [[2559]].<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', ''The Return''</ref> Concurrent to this, the Sangheili species fell into [[Blooding Years|civil war]], as did the Jiralhanae, while the UNSC itself had to deal with a resurgence in the [[Insurrection]]. In the wake of the Covenant's cessation, its former member species fragmented into many [[Covenant remnants|splinter factions]]. Among the most notable of these groups was the religiously devout [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant faction|new Covenant]] formed in the disarray following the war by [[Shipmaster]] [[Jul 'Mdama]]. The UNSC was still locked in [[Post-Covenant War conflicts|conflict]] with this faction, along with several other splinter groups in, until late [[2558]].<ref name="Reed">[http://blogs.halowaypoint.com/Headlines/post/2013/06/03/Halo-Initiation-Writer-Interview.aspx '''Halo Waypoint''' - ''Halo Initiation Writer Interview''] ''("Experience a new war with the Covenant ...")''</ref> | ||