Epsilon Indi system

The Epsilon Indi system, designated UC-901-9081 by the Forerunners, is a planetary system that consists of the star Epsilon Indi and five planets orbiting it, all in close orbit, one of which, Harvest, was habitable. Described as being approximately six weeks away from the nearest human colony Madrigal, and slightly more than two months from Reach, it is at the edges of UEG-controlled space.

History

The system later was part of the Forerunner ecumene prior to the activation of the Halo Array; the Forerunners built an unknown number of structures on Harvest. Epsilon Indi was colonized by the Unified Earth Government in 2468. The fact that Harvest was habitable without any terraforming necessary was enough to elicit a colonization effort to a such faraway world. At eleven light-years from Earth, Epsilon Indi is not the most linearly distant star system in human territory; however, a combination of propaganda and the vagaries of slipspace travel led to it being declared the farthest-flung system in UEG space. A population of 300,000 citizens was ultimately established on Harvest and an orbital platform was built for exporting and importing goods.

In 2525, the Covenant discovered the system. It was humanity's first contact with the Covenant and after a violent first contact, the Covenant glassed most of the surface. In 2526, the Second Battle of Harvest took place in the system and the UNSC took it back from the Covenant.

The Covenant attacked again later in the same year and were not driven off from the system by UNSC forces until 2531. As of 2553, it is unclear who currently possesses the Epsilon Indi system. Planet Harvest is dead, and so neither the UNSC nor the Covenant has any real tactical value for the system, short of orbital resources that are likely easier to find than in one of the most remote star systems from Earth.

Trivia

• A system by the name Epsilon Indi exists in real life, but it is only 11 light years from Earth, whereas Epsilon Indi in Halo: Contact Harvest is not given an exact distance from anywhere but is described to be the furthest outer colony world, six weeks away from Madrigal, which is approximately 84 light years away from Sol, and two months from Reach, which is 10.5 light years from Sol. Catalog explained this discrepancy as resulting from both major differences between the topologies of normal space and non-Euclidean slipspace as well as "[propaganda] considerations" during humanity's colonial expansion.
• The real-life Epsilon Indi system is widely considered one of the most likely to have planets that can support life.

List of appearances

• Halo: The Fall of Reach (First appearance)
• Halo Graphic Novel
• Halo: Contact Harvest
• Halo Wars
• Halo Legends
  • Origins
  • Homecoming
• Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
  • Dirt
  • The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole
• Halo: Reach
  • Data pads (Mentioned only)
• Halo: Fall of Reach
  • Boot Camp
• Halo 4 (Simulation only)