Editing Battle of Harvest

{{Era|HCW|FA}}

{{disambig header|the retaking of Harvest in 2526|other conflicts at Harvest|Battle of Harvest (disambiguation)}}

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|image=[[Image:Space Battle.png|300px]]

|conflict=[[Human-Covenant War]]

|place=Over [[Harvest]], [[Epsilon Indi system]]<ref name="Harvest"/>

|result='''Pyrrhic UNSC victory'''<ref name="he126">'''Halo: Evolutions''', "[[Dirt]]", ''page 126''</ref>

*Destruction of Covenant ship over Harvest

*Destruction of thirteen UNSC ships

|side1=[[United Nations Space Command]]

|side2=[[Covenant]]

|commanders1=[[Vice Admiral]] [[Preston Cole]]

|forces1=*[[Battle Group X-Ray]]<ref name="Harvest"/>

**Forty [[warship]]s<ref name="Harvest"/>

***[[UNSC Everest|One]] {{Class|Valiant|super-heavy cruiser}}<ref name="Harvest"/>

***{{Class|Halcyon|light cruiser}}s<ref name="genesis">'''[[Halo Wars Genesis]]'''</ref>

***{{Class|Marathon|heavy cruiser}}s<ref name="genesis"/>

***7+ [[UNSC destroyer|destroyers]]<ref name="Harvest"/>

***9+ [[UNSC frigate|frigates]]<ref name="genesis"/>

|forces2=One [[Covenant super-destroyer]]

|casual1=Thirteen UNSC ships<ref name="Harvest"/>

|casual2=Covenant warship destroyed

The '''Battle of Harvest'''<ref name="timeline">'''[[Halo Wars]]''', ''[[Halo Wars Timeline Events|Timeline]]''</ref><ref>[http://www.halowars.com/gameinfo/timeline2.aspx '''Official Halo Wars Community Site''': ''Timeline'']</ref><ref name="cp34">'''[[Halo: The Cole Protocol]]''', ''page 34''</ref> was an engagement in the [[Human-Covenant War]] between the [[United Nations Space Command]] and the [[Covenant]]. Following the [[First Battle of Harvest|loss]] of the [[human]] [[Outer Colony]] of [[Harvest]] to the Covenant in [[2525]], the UNSC assembled a [[battle group]] to retake the planet on [[2526|March 1, 2526]]. Led by [[Vice Admiral]] [[Preston Cole]], UNSC [[Battle Group X-Ray]] was ultimately successful in destroying the Covenant forces due to superior numbers and a last-minute tactical maneuver, but suffered heavy casualties in the process.<ref name="Harvest"/><ref name="universe">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/harvest '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Harvest'']</ref>

[[File:FoR Battle group 4.png|thumb|250px|left|Battlegroup 4 discovers the glassed Harvest]]

In early [[2525]], the [[Unified Earth Government]] [[Outer Colony]] of [[Harvest]] was discovered and [[First Battle of Harvest|attacked]] by the [[Covenant]]. The planet was partially [[Glassing|glassed]] by [[Covenant cruiser]] ''[[Rapid Conversion]]'',<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 382''</ref><ref name="for117">'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''pages 117-126'' (2010)</ref> though many of Harvest's residents managed to escape their own destruction by fleeing the [[Epsilon Indi system]] aboard [[DCS light freighter|freighters]].<ref name="goo72">'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page 72''</ref> In response to the loss of contact with Harvest, {{CMA ship|Argo}}—a scout ship—was sent to the planet to investigate. When transmissions from the scout ship suddenly ended, the Harvest situation was deemed highly important and a [[Colonial Military Administration]] [[battle group]]—[[Battlegroup 4]]—was dispatched to Harvest. Upon arriving at the system, Battlegroup 4 was immediately attacked by a [[Covenant super-destroyer]]. Only the {{CMA ship|Heracles}} was able to escape destruction and limp back to [[Reach]] in the [[Epsilon Eridani system]] several weeks later with word of the hostile alien threat.<ref name="for117"/>

On [[2525#November|November 1, 2525]], the UEG's [[United Nations Space Command]] was ordered to full alert.<ref name="for117"/> In response to the alien threat, the UNSC's [[Central Command]] moved to create a battle group of forty [[warship]]s to retake Harvest. Retired Vice Admiral [[Preston Cole]] was selected by Central Command to lead this force; a "fallen hero" that lived a scandalous retirement, Cole served as an easy scapegoat if CENTCOM's counterattack on the Covenant failed. Additionally, Cole was considered to be a brilliant commander during the [[Insurrection]] that was willing to sacrifice himself and anyone under his command to complete his task.<ref name="he458">'''Halo: Evolutions''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''pages 458-460''</ref> On [[2525#November|November 2, 2525]], Lieutenant Commander [[Jack Hopper]] and Lieutenant [[Demos]] visited Cole and convinced him to lead the battle group. Reinstated as a vice admiral of the [[UNSC Navy]], Cole was given command of [[Battle Group X-Ray]] in [[2525|December of 2525]],<ref>[[Xbox.com/Halo/Timeline|'''Xbox.com''', ''Halo Storyline'']]</ref><ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''page 461''</ref> conceived as the largest assembled fleet at that point in human history.<ref name="for117"/><ref name="enc299">'''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]''', ''page 299'' (2011)</ref><ref>'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 88''</ref> By [[2525#November|November 12, 2525]], Cole begun preparing himself for the battle. He reviewed data and reports from previous encounters with the Covenant at Harvest and [[Chi Ceti IV]], and realized that Covenant [[energy shielding]] would prove to be troublesome in battle. Cole was given the {{Class|Valiant|super-heavy cruiser}} {{UNSCShip|Everest}} as his [[flagship]]. After ensuring that his crew was battle-tested and competent, he requested numerous modifications to ''Everest''.<ref name="he462"/> [[Artificial intelligence]] [[Sekmet]] was chosen as Cole's shipboard AI on ''Everest''.<ref name="he465">'''Halo: Evolutions''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''page 465''</ref>

[[Image:Coles Inspiration at Harvest.png|thumb|250px|Vice Admiral Preston Cole's eureka moment]]

{{Quote|Fix bayonets.|Vice Admiral Preston Cole during the final charge, quoting Colonel [[Wikipedia:Joshua Chamberlain|Joshua Chamberlain]] from the American Civil War<ref>'''Halo: Evolutions''', "The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole", ''page 471''</ref>}}

On [[2526|March 1, 2526]] at 0120 hours [[Military Standard Time|MST]], the forty-[[warship]] strong [[UNSC]] [[Battle Group X-Ray]] arrived near [[Harvest]] in the [[Epsilon Indi system]]. Moving towards the planet, the [[battle group]] descended below Harvest's planetary plane and detected the single, stationary [[Covenant]] [[Covenant super-destroyer|super-destroyer]] near the planet. Increasing velocity, Vice Admiral [[Preston Cole]] plotted a parabolic course to allow the battle group to engage the Covenant ship through a slingshot maneuver around Harvest. Now accelerating towards the ship, Cole ordered the battle group to fire upon the hostile vessel at will. As the UNSC warships fired their [[Magnetic Accelerator Cannon]]s and hundreds of [[Archer missile]]s at their target, the Covenant super-destroyer's powerful [[energy shielding]] prevented the ship's hull from taking any damage.<ref name="Harvest"/> Realizing the effectiveness of the Covenant warship's energy shielding, Cole resolved that an overwhelming attack from Battle Group X-Ray's entire armaments needed to be used against the ship to destroy its shielding.<ref name="genesis"/>

The super-destroyer responded to the attack by firing its [[pulse laser turret]]s to destroy two [[UNSC destroyer]]s: {{UNSCShip|Lance Held High}} and ''[[UNSC Sacramento|Sacramento]]''. As the battle group fruitlessly attempted to destroy the Covenant ship by using [[nuclear weapon]]s, the super-destroyer obliterated five more destroyers: ''[[UNSC Austerlitz|Austerlitz]]'', ''[[UNSC Campo Grande|Campo Grande]]'', ''[[UNSC Midway|Midway]]'', ''[[UNSC Tharsis (Harvest)|Tharsis]]'', and ''[[UNSC Virginia Capes|Virginia Capes]]''. Though a subordinate officer attempted to order a retreat, Cole belayed the order and the battle group continued on its slingshot course around Harvest. As Cole ordered Battle Group X-Ray into a new trajectory towards the Covenant ship, he ordered the battle group's warships to fire their entire armaments upon the super-destroyer. When the UNSC ships approached the Covenant vessel, the super-destroyer began to fire upon the battle group. However, Battle Group X-Ray's warships fired a salvo of MACs upon the super-destroyer, followed by the battle group's entire complement of Archer missiles and [[Shiva-class nuclear missile]]s. While the {{Class|Halcyon|light cruiser}} ''[[UNSC Constantinople|Constantinople]]'' and ''[[UNSC Troy|Troy]]'' were destroyed and the prow of ''[[UNSC Lowrentz|Lowrentz]]'' was damaged by the Covenant ship's [[plasma]] armaments, thousands of Archer and Shiva missiles impacted upon the super-destroyer. Another salvo of Covenant plasma destroyed ''[[UNSC Excellence|Excellence]]'', ''[[UNSC Maelstrom|Maelstrom]]'', and ''[[UNSC Waterloo|Waterloo]]'', but the remaining, undamaged twenty-seven warships of Battle Group X-Ray had recharged their MACs. As the second salvo of MACs disabled the Covenant super-destroyer's shielding, the battle group fired its remaining missiles upon the ship's hull, destroying the super-destroyer.<ref name="Harvest"/>

{{Quote|It was a Pyrrhic victory that left Cole's fleet severely damaged. Now Cole has been jumping his fleet around from engagement to engagement throughout the Outer Colonies, wherever the Covenant showed up. So far, there'd been no repeat of the retaking of Harvest.|[[Gage Yevgenny]]<ref name="he126"/>}}

Directly after the destruction of the [[Covenant super-destroyer|super-destroyer]], the [[battle group]] to veered away from the remains of the ship and begun searching for survivors of the thirteen [[UNSC]] ships lost in battle.<ref name="Harvest"/> With the loss of thirteen [[warship]]s in contrast to the [[Covenant]]'s one super-destroyer, Vice Admiral [[Preston Cole]] realized the disparity between UNSC and enemy losses "did not bode well". Regardless, the [[Office of Naval Intelligence|Office of Naval Intelligence's Section II]] propaganda exaggerated the victory to encourage recruitment; initially the foe was claimed to be an [[Insurrectionist]] weapon platform that had captured [[Harvest]]'s [[communications satellite]]s,<ref name="genesis"/> but this was later recanted. By [[2552]], the Battle of Harvest was recognized as a Pyrrhic UNSC victory.<ref name="he126"/> After the battle, Cole returned to [[Earth]] where he was promoted to admiral, at least publicly.<ref name="timeline"/><ref>'''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''', multiplayer level ''[[Alpha Site]]'s [[ONI memorial]]''</ref> The Covenant were undaunted by their defeat. The [[Prophet of Regret|High Prophet of Regret]] ordered for the "Victory of Epsilon Indi" to be celebrated through fasting and prayer; [[Kig-Yar]] and [[Unggoy]] food rations were eliminated for the following three work periods, while [[Sangheili]] and [[Jiralhanae]] were ordered to spend two rest periods in public prayer. Those who "failed their duty at the Victory" were publicly executed.<ref name="timeline"/>

After the battle, UNSC leadership eventually decided to reveal the Covenant to the public. After Cole's success at Harvest, ONI's [[Strategic Response Unit]] decided to put Cole in charge of a large majority of the [[UNSC Navy]] with the intention of using his as a scapegoat if the Covenant proved to be unstoppable.<ref name="genesis"/> Now hailed as the "Hero of Harvest",<ref>'''Halo: The Cole Protocol''', ''page 351''</ref> Cole proceeded to lead a series of naval engagements against the Covenant between [[2526]] and [[2532]], sometimes referred to as the "Cole Campaigns".<ref name="he458"/> As the Covenant continued to swarm the [[Outer Colonies]], they returned to Harvest later in 2526. The [[Harvest campaign]] begun as the UNSC attempted to permanently remove the Covenant from Harvest. Cole returned to Harvest, and his forces became entangled in a vicious siege as they continued to battle the Covenant in the five-year long campaign in the [[Epsilon Indi system]].<ref name="universe"/><ref name="HW">'''Halo Wars''', campaign level ''[[Alpha Base (level)|Alpha Base]]''</ref> After many years of fighting, the UNSC was able to eventually defeat the Covenant at Harvest for a second time.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 157'' (2010)</ref><ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page 181'' (2010)</ref>

*[[Vice Admiral]] [[Preston Cole]]

*[[Sekmet]]<ref name="he465"/>

{{Class|Valiant|super-heavy cruiser}}

*{{UNSCShip|Everest}}

[[UNSC destroyer|Destroyers]]

*{{UNSCShip|Austerlitz}}, destroyed

*{{UNSCShip|Campo Grande}}, destroyed

*{{UNSCShip|Lance Held High}}, destroyed

*{{UNSCShip|Midway}}, destroyed

*{{UNSCShip|Sacramento}}, destroyed

*[[UNSC Tharsis (Harvest)|UNSC ''Tharsis'']], destroyed

*{{UNSCShip|Virginia Capes}}, destroyed

{{Class|Halcyon|light cruiser}}s

*{{UNSCShip|Constantinople}}, destroyed

*{{UNSCShip|Excellence}}, destroyed

*{{UNSCShip|Lowrentz}}, heavily damaged

*{{UNSCShip|Maelstrom}}, destroyed

*{{UNSCShip|Troy}}, destroyed

*{{UNSCShip|Waterloo}}, destroyed

==Trivia==

*The Battle of Harvest is erroneously placed in [[2531]] rather than [[2526]] in several sources, including the ''[[Halo Encyclopedia]]'' and ''[[Halo: The Cole Protocol]]''.<ref name="cp34"/><ref name="enc299"/>

*The presence of forty UNSC ships against one overwhelmingly powerful enemy vessel strikes a remarkable resemblance to the [[w:c:memoryalpha:Battle of Wolf 359|Battle of Wolf 359]] from the ''Star Trek'' universe, in which a fleet of forty [[Wikipedia:United Federation of Planets|Federation]] starships engaged a single [[w:c:memoryalpha:Borg cube|Borg cube]]. However, the outcomes of these battles differ: the Federation lost all but one of its vessels yet caused no damage to the cube. This very well may be a [[List of pop culture references in the Halo series#Star Trek|deliberate reference]].

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