First Battle of Harvest
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The First Battle of Harvest was the first recorded and logged battle between the UNSC and the Covenant. Its ending triggered the start of the Human-Covenant War. [1]
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[edit] Battle
[edit] Initial Battle
On February 3rd, 2525, an orbital station 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. Before the ship's appearance, Humans and the Covenant had actually met before, as a Kig-Yar privateer ship, Minor Transgression had raided freighters several times, and Staff Sergeants Nolan Byrne and Avery Junior Johnson had actually engaged four Kig-Yar (including Shipmistress Chur'R-Yar and her intended mate Zhar) and killed them in a quick skirmish.
On February 11th, the Colonial Militia of Harvest, commanded by Captain Ponder, Staff Sergeant Nolan Byrne, and Staff Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson, conducted a peaceful meeting with the unknown alien conglomerate. The plan went wrong and the Attorney General of Harvest, Rol Pedersen, Captain Ponder, and one militiaman, Private Osmo were lost to the Jiralhanae (Brutes) and Unggoy (Grunts).
Governor Nils Thune of Harvest then broadcast a live bulletin to every com-pad on the colony, ordering all city-sparring civilians to evacuate to the capital of Utgard for the speedy evacuation of Harvest. Many civilians chose not to withdraw, and as a result were killed when Harvest was glassed 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. On February 23rd, the Colonial Militia devised the evacuation plan with Lieutenant Commander Jilan al-Cygni's help.
Using captured intelligence, 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 frigate Rapid Conversion with the colony's Mass Driver, a primitive MAC cannon, disabling the enemy ship. In the following confusion and the absence of the enemy air superiority, a militia strike team was sent up to secure the orbital station Tiara above Harvest.
After doing so approximately 360 cargo freighters full of refugees ascended the orbital installation's seven strands, exiting Harvest's atmosphere and entering a Slipspace stream. Only 215 of those escaped into Slipspace, including the remaining militia which was cut down to about half strength.
Another Covenant ship soon arrived in the system. It picked up the surviving crew of the Rapid Conversion and completed the glassing of Harvest.
[edit] UNSC Investigation
After the cessation of communications from Harvest, the Colonial Administration Authority sent the UNSC Argo, a small scout ship (but large enough to have a Shaw-Fujikawa Slipspace Drive), to investigate. On April 20th, 2525, the Argo arrived in the Epsilon Indi System. It sent a single confirmation message before ceasing communications. It was destroyed by the Covenant ship in orbit over the glassed Harvest. The Artificial Intelligence Mack tried to warn the Argo, to little avail.
The UNSC then sent a battlegroup of two UNSC Frigates (UNSC Arabia and UNSC Vostok) and one UNSC Destroyer (UNSC Heracles). The battlegroup was led by Captain Veredi, the Captain of the Heracles.
The battlegroup arrived in the Epsilon Indi System on October 7th. Upon arriving in the system, the battlegroup encountered the same Covenant ship. Veredi followed UNSC first contact protocol perfectly, to little avail. The Covenant ship sent a broadcast to the battlegroup, stating Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instrument before opening fire on the ships. The battlegroup retaliated as best as it could, and one of the UNSC ships fired Archer Missiles at the Covenant ship, which eliminated many of the missiles with Point Defense Lasers, and those missiles that managed to hit the ship were deflected by the ship's shields. The Arabia and Vostok were destroyed by the Covenant ship's advanced laser weaponry, while the Heracles was heavily damaged. The Heracles retreated to Reach, but due to the heavy damage it took, the Heracles took several weeks to get back to Reach.[2]
[edit] Aftermath
The UNSC responded to the attack by giving Vice Admiral Preston Cole the task of retaking Harvest. Emergency measures were taken to ensure security, and the civilian government was placed under the control of the UNSCDF "for the duration of the crisis." [3] Cole's fleet of approximately twenty warships arrived at Harvest in March 2526. The orbital engagement that followed was a human victory, but the single warship in orbit annihilated thirteen of Cole's ships. The battle was a close-matched one, and Cole only won due to his overwhelming numbers, and a last-minute tactical maneuver. Even so, he still lost two-thirds of his fleet.
[edit] Sources
- ↑ Halo: Contact Harvest
- ↑ Halo: The Fall of Reach page 96-98
- ↑ Halo Wars
| Battles of the Human-Covenant War | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2520s | First Harvest (Skirmish) · Chi Ceti · Second Harvest · Alpha Aurigae · XI Boötis A · Madrigal | |
| 2530s | Eridanus II · Groombridge-1830 · Third Harvest (Relic) · First Arcadia · Shield World (The Apex) · Charybdis IX · The Rubble · Metisette · Jericho VII · New Harmony · New Constantinople · Atlas Moons · Troy · K7-49 | |
| 2540s | Miridem · Pegasi Delta · Second Arcadia · Paris IV | |
| 2550s | Draco III · Ballast · Sigma Octanus IV · Reach · Tribute · Installation 04 (Silent Cartographer) · Reach Raid · Eridanus Secundus · Unyielding Hierophant · Earth (Mombasa · Havana · Cleveland · Sector 6 · Crow's Nest · Tsavo · Voi) · Installation 05 · High Charity · Onyx · Mare Erythraeum · Installation 00 (Citadel · High Charity) | |
