Previous: Battle of Bliss Next: Battle of Circinius IV, Harvest Campaign Second Battle of Harvest Conflict: Human-Covenant war Date: March 1, 2526[1] Place: Epsilon Indi System Outcome: Pyrrhic UNSC victory, Covenant also claim victory[2] Covenant battleship destroyed at the cost of the UNSC suffering far heavier casualties Belligerents United Nations Space Command The Covenant Commanders Vice Admiral Preston Cole Unknown Strength UNSC Battle Group X-Ray 40 Warships[1] Fleet Command Cruiser UNSC Everest 10+ Halcyon-class light cruisers 9+ Frigates 1+ Marathon-class heavy cruisers Single Covenant battleship Casualties 13 UNSC ships[1] UNSC Austerlitz UNSC Campo Grande UNSC Constantinople UNSC Excellence UNSC Lance Held High UNSC Lowrentz UNSC Maelstrom UNSC Midway UNSC Sacramento UNSC Tharsis UNSC Troy UNSC Virginia Capes UNSC Waterloo Covenant Warship Destroyed

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The enemy ship destroyed...and 13 of ours obliterated. It did not bode well.

The Second Battle of Harvest was fought by the UNSC and the Covenant during the Human-Covenant war. It was the direct follow on to the First Battle of Harvest which resulted in the destruction of the Harvest colony and seizure of the planet by the Covenant. The UNSC carried the day with superior numbers and a last-minute tactical maneuver, but suffered heavy casualties.^[1]

BackgroundEdit

Main article: First Battle of Harvest

In early 2525, Harvest was attacked by the Covenant. The colony was partially glassed with many colonists fleeing on freighters. A UNSC scout ship and two Frigates were destroyed, and a Destroyer heavily damaged, in an unsuccessful attempt to dislodge the single Covenant Battleship holding the planet.

Thirteen months later on March 1, the UNSC-wide mobilization was under way, with Vice Admiral Preston Cole assembling a fleet to retake Harvest. UNSC Battle Group X-Ray is conceived as the largest ever assembled in human history, ultimately consisted of 40 ships with the admiral commanding from the cruiser UNSC Everest.^[1]

The BattleEdit

The UNSC fleet arrived at Harvest on March 1, 2526, and engaged the lone Covenant ship through a slingshot maneuver around the planet. Multiple ships, including the UNSC Sacramento and the UNSC Lance Held High, were quickly destroyed. UNSC weapons, including nuclear ordnance, had very little effect on the enemy. Cole realized the enemy was using energy shields, like the one previously encountered at the Battle of Chi Ceti, and ordered the fleet to fire all of its weapons simultaneously at the target. This overwhelmed the shields and destroyed the Covenant vessel.

AftermathEdit

Main article: Harvest Campaign

The UNSC victory came at the cost of thirteen warships. Cole realized the disparity between UNSC and enemy losses "did not bode well". However, ONI Section II propaganda exaggerated the victory to encourage recruitment; initially the foe was claimed to be an Insurrectionist weapon platform but this was later recanted. For their part, the Covenant celebrated the "Victory of Epsilon Indi" through fasting and prayer.^[2]

Harvest continued to be contested. The Covenant continued searching for Forerunner artifacts, while the UNSC refused to withdraw. The UNSC finally prevailed in 2531, but the planet lost its remaining strategic value as the Covenant began its advance into the Inner colonies.

ParticipantsEdit

UNSCEdit

PersonnelEdit

• Admiral Preston Cole
• Everest Shipboard-AI Sekmet

WarshipsEdit

• UNSC Austerlitz
• UNSC Campo Grande
• UNSC Constantinople
• UNSC Everest
• UNSC Excellence
• UNSC Lance Held High
• UNSC Lowrentz
• UNSC Maelstrom
• UNSC Midway
• UNSC Sacramento
• UNSC Say My Name^[4]
• UNSC Tharsis
• UNSC Troy
• UNSC Virginia Capes
• UNSC Waterloo

TriviaEdit

• The presence of 40 UNSC ships-of-the-line against one overwhelmingly powerful enemy ship strikes a remarkable resemblance to the Star Trek-Universe's Battle of Wolf 359. At Wolf-359 the Federation's (or Humanity's) numerically superior fleet of 40 starships took on a single Borg Cube. The results, however, were completely opposite to the Halo-Universe. The Federation lost 39 of its 40 vessels, and the Borg Cube left the battle without so much as a scratch on its hull and moved on towards Earth. (See also: List of Pop Culture References in Halo).^[5]
• In numerous books, it is hinted that the Covenant had numerous vessels in the battle, and in the Cole Protocol novel, Cole is said to have "thrown three of his ships against the Covenant for every one they lost". In fact, until the publication of Halo Wars; Genesis, every Halo novel that mentioned the battle stated, in one form or another, that the Covenant had several ships at Harvest during the battle (between 7 and 10). In Halo; the Fall of Reach, Lovell notes that Cole only won because he outnumbered the Covenant 3 to 1; and even then lost 2/3 of his fleet.

SourcesEdit