Editing Harvest

{{Era|Forerunner|UNSC|HCW}}
{{Center|This article is about the human colony world. Were you looking for the multiplayer map [[Harvest (level)|Harvest]] from [[Halo 4]]?}}
{{Planet infobox
|name=Harvest
|image=[[File:Harvest pre-glassing.png|300px]]
|system=[[Epsilon Indi system]]<ref name="vis">'''[[Halo: The Essential Visual Guide]]''', ''page 91''</ref><ref name="universe">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/harvest '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Harvest'']</ref>
|body=[[Epsilon Indi]]<ref name="vis"/><ref name="universe"/>
|position=Fourth planet<ref name="vis"/><ref name="universe"/>
|moon(s)=None<ref name="universe"/>
|diameter={{Convert|4012|km|mi}}<ref name="vis"/><ref name="universe"/>
|gravity=0.998 G<ref name="vis"/><ref name="universe"/>
|daylength=17.5 hours<ref name="universe"/>
|yearlength=
|atmosphere=1.02 ([[Wikipedia:Nitrogen|N<sub>2</sub>]], [[Oxygen|O<sub>2</sub>]])<ref name="vis"/><ref name="universe"/>
|temperature=-19°C to 42°C (-2°F to 108°F)<ref name="vis"/><ref name="universe"/>
|demonym=
|species=[[Human]]
|population=Approximately 3,000,000<ref group="note" name="population">According to ''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', ''Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp'', and ''Halo: The Essential Visual Guide'', Harvest had a population of approximately three million. However, ''Halo: Contact Harvest'' consistently states that Harvest had a population of around 300,000, and that roughly 250,000 civilians, who constituted most of the planet's population, escaped before the planet was glassed.</ref>
|colonized=[[2468]]<ref name="vis"/><ref name="universe"/>
|government=*[[Unified Earth Government]]
*[[Parliament of Harvest]]
}}
'''Harvest''', also known as '''Epsilon Indi IV''',<ref name="Halo Channel">'''[[Halo Channel]]''': ''Encyclopedia''</ref> designated '''CE-309-8 d''' by the [[Forerunner]]s,<ref name="universe"/><ref name="catalog">[https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postsm2969315_Catalog-Interaction.aspx#post2969315 '''Waypoint''': ''Catalog Interaction'' page 14]</ref> was a [[human]] [[Outer Colonies|Outer Colony]] world founded as a [[agriculture world|"breadbasket" world]]. Founded in [[2468]] by the {{UNSCShip|Skidbladnir}}, the colony was the most remote at the time of its founding.<ref>[http://halowars.com/GameInfo/Timeline.aspx '''Official Halo Wars Community Site''': ''Game Info - Timeline'']</ref><ref group="note" name="17th">According to ''Halo: Contact Harvest'', Harvest was the latest of humanity's seventeen colonies to be settled. The claim of humanity having a mere seventeen colony worlds has been ignored in later material, which instead appear to adhere to the more lenient figure of 800 worlds presented in the [[Xbox.com/Halo|original ''Halo'' timeline]]. Given that the timeline also states that 210 [[Inner Colonies]] had been settled before 2390, it is unlikely that the notion of Harvest being the seventeenth colony is considered canonical. This is further evidenced by the "Story So Far" documentary on the Halo: Legends DVD giving the number of human worlds the same as the original timeline.</ref> Located in the [[Epsilon Indi system]],<ref>'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 32''</ref> the planet had the unfortunate distinction of being the first human planet discovered and destroyed by the [[Covenant]]. After [[First Battle of Harvest|a disastrous first contact]], the planet was subsequently [[glassing|glassed]] by the Covenant, but most of its population managed to escape in [[DCS light freighter|freighters]].<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 387''</ref> 

==History==
===Prehistory===
Harvest was known to the [[Forerunner]]s approximately 100,000 years [[97,445 BCE|prior]] to the Human-Covenant War. The planet was a relatively minor asset in the Forerunners' vast [[Ecumene|empire]] and was utilized as a [[conservation sphere]] waystation. The [[Relic|waystation facility]] included a subsidiary [[Flood]] [[Flood research facility|research]] and [[Flood containment facility|containment]] center,<ref name="catalog"/> as well as administrative nodes that directed Forerunner defenses in the surrounding systems.<ref name="universe"/> The structure housed a [[holography|holographic]] stellar [[cartographer]] that pointed the way to another star system, [[Procyon system|Procyon]].

===Human colonization===
[[File:Harvest2.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Harvest before the Covenant assault.]]
Harvest was founded in [[2468]] when the {{UNSCShip|Skidbladnir}} arrived transporting colonists, then dismantled to form the core of Utgard. One of the furthest and most isolated colonies to be founded by the UEG,<ref group="note" name="17th"/> the population was still small when Sergeant [[Avery Johnson|Avery J. Johnson]] engaged in his first mission on the planet. By the time he returned in 2525, the population of Utgard alone had doubled. Most of the population of Harvest was of American descent, specifically the Midwestern states of the [[United States of America]]. Most locations on Harvest were named for elements of Norse mythology, as were its primary AIs, [[Sif]] and [[Loki]]/Mack this is because many of Harvest's settlers were of [[Scandinavia]]n ancestry.

===UNSC breadbasket===
In [[2502]], various secessionist and [[Insurrectionist]] groups were active on Harvest, including the [[People's Occupation Government]], [[Harvest for Harvesters]] and the [[Secessionist Union]], whose leader, [[Jerald Mulkey Ander]], was assassinated by [[Avery Junior Johnson]] as part of the [[ORION Project]]'s [[Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE]].<ref>[[Halo Graphic Novel, Page 122|'''Halo Graphic Novel''', ''page 122'']]</ref>

Harvest was the first colony to be attacked by the Covenant and the first [[human]] world to be [[glassing|glassed]]. It was also the first place humanity officially made contact with the Covenant, after the incidents on ''[[This End Up]]'' and ''[[Minor Transgression]]''.

In [[2524]], Staff Sergeant Johnson returned to Harvest along with [[Nolan Byrne|Staff Sergeant Byrne]] and [[Ponder|Captain Ponder]], all survivors of [[Operation: TREBUCHET]]. They were to train a [[Colonial Militia]] and, unbeknownst to them, fend off what UNSC had believed to be Insurrectionist attacks on ships in the system.

On [[2525#February|February 3, 2525]], the Harvest orbital platform, the [[Tiara]], made long-range radar and spectroscopic contact with ''[[Rapid Conversion]]''. Contact with Harvest was lost thereafter.

===Escape from Harvest===
[[File:Harvest Plasma Glassed.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Harvest, partially [[glassed]] by the Covenant.]]
{{Main|First Battle of Harvest}}
The citizens of Harvest soon found themselves in the middle of the first battle between the [[Covenant]] and [[human]]ity, using their newly trained Militia to herd hundreds of thousands of civilian survivors from [[Gladsheim]], Vigrond and other locations to the [[Utgard]] [[space elevator]]s to escape the planet. During the first Covenant attack on Harvest about 250,000+ humans managed to escape the planet by packing into 236 freight containers which were then loaded into seven elevator depots in Utgard. Every five to [[seven]] minutes, seven pairs of freight containers were loaded into the space elevator. Loaded ahead of these freight containers were seven "grease buckets", maintenance containers, two which were loaded with Johnson's men and [[Jilan al-Cygni]]. The other five were decoys rigged with claymore mines which were used to soften the Brutes, Grunts and Drones which had boarded and taken control of ''[[Tiara]]''.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''pages 351-352''</ref> While the other two "grease buckets" holding Johnson and Co. stopped and they were fighting off the Covenant, the number seven strand of the space elevator snapped a few thousand kilometers above its anchor due to the stress caused by the load becoming unbalanced. There were 11 pairs of freight containers on the strand when it snapped, killing around 20,000 people.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 372''</ref> The remaining freight containers carrying the survivors of Harvest continued up the elevator, out into space, where they met up with [[propulsion pod]]s that [[Sif]] had placed previously. Once Johnson and Co. finished fighting the Covenant on the ''Tiara'', they joined the survivors and used the propulsion pods to enter Slipspace.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 352''</ref>

At the time of these occurrences, the first prototypes of the [[Type-25 Rapid Assault Vehicle|Brute Chopper]] was made by a ''[[Huragok]]'' named [[Lighter Than Some]]. However, these were destroyed by [[Jotun Heavy Industries|JOTUNs]] commanded by the AI Mack.

After the destruction of the Tiara, the now rampant AI [[Mack]] buried its strands in a form of a funerary ritual for the AI [[Sif]].

The discovery of humans on Harvest was the catalyst for the attempted Covenant genocide of the human race, due to a mistranslation of Forerunner glyphs by the [[San'Shyuum|Prophets]], as seen on many writs and machines amid Covenant technologies.

===The Battle of Harvest===
[[File:Outcome of Second Battle of Harvest.png|right|thumb|250px|Cole's victory in the [[Second Battle of Harvest]].]]
By April 20th, [[2525]], the [[Colonial Military Administration]] sent the scout ship ''[[CMA Argo|Argo]]'' to investigate. Other then confirming its arrival at Epsilon Indi no other transmissions were sent, and the ''Argo'' was presumed MIA.

On October 7th, [[2525]], [[UNSC Fleet Command|Fleet Command]] assembled [[Battle Group 4]] to investigate, due to the fact that the Harvest situation was deemed to have become serious. The battle group consisted of the destroyer ''[[CMA Heracles|Heracles]]'', commanded by Captain [[Maribeau Veredi|Veredi]], as well as the frigates ''[[CMA Arabia|Arabia]]'' and ''[[CMA Vostok|Vostok]]''. They entered the Harvest system only to find the planet's surface almost entirely melted down to [[Glassing|glass]]. While there, the battle group encountered a [[Covenant super-destroyer]]. This vessel immediately fired on the inferior human vessels, and the ''Vostok'' and ''Arabia'' were lost with all hands. The ''Heracles'' managed to jump out of the system, but took several weeks to return to Reach due to damage sustained in the battle. Upon hearing Veredi's report and realizing the scale of the threat, the UNSC was placed on full alert and a fleet was assembled to meet the threat.<ref>'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]] - Definitive Edition''', ''page 113''</ref>

[[Vice Admiral]] [[Preston J. Cole]] fought and barely won the [[Second Battle of Harvest]] in [[2526]]. The [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] was able to retake the planet but with the loss of 2/3 of their fleet, even when they had outnumbered the single Covenant ship in Harvest orbit.<ref>'''[[Halo Wars]]''', ''[[Halo Wars Timeline Events|Timeline]]''</ref> Harvest would continue to be contested in the following years, as not long after, the Covenant attacked again. The [[Harvest campaign|battle for control of the planet]] lasted for five years until 2531, when Admiral Cole led a group of ships, including the {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}} into the system and neutralized the Covenant force. They later discovered that the Covenant had established a presence on the planet's surface, and more shockingly, had uncovered the previously unknown [[Forerunner]] relic which lead the ''Spirit'' to [[Arcadia]],<ref>'''[[Halo Wars]]''', campaign level, ''[[Relic Interior]]''</ref> where the Covenant then led them to a [[Shield World 0459|shield world]] where they were able to stop a major Covenant threat.

==Geography==
[[File:Halo_wars_Ice_02_by_JJasso-1-.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Panorama of Harvest's landscape.]]
Harvest was a small planet, approximately one-third the size of [[Earth]] with an equatorial diameter of slightly more than 4,000 kilometers (2,484 miles), making Harvest slightly smaller than the [[Sol system|Sol]] planet [[Wikipedia:Mercury (planet)|Mercury]].<ref name="pg33">'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 33''</ref> In terms of surface area, Harvest possessed ~50 million km², roughly one-tenth the surface area of Earth. Harvest orbited [[Epsilon Indi system|Epsilon Indi]] extremely quickly, much faster than most other UNSC colonies, at roughly 150,000 km/h, or ~41km/sec (by comparison, Earth orbits Sol at roughly 30 km/sec). Harvest had no natural satellites. Harvest also has a day/night cycle only 17.5 Earth hours long. Out of a total of five planets in the Epsilon Indi system, Harvest was the only habitable planet, as well as being fertile for farming. The super-continent [[Edda]] dominated the planet, taking up roughly 67% of its surface. Two low-salinity seas covered the remainder of the planet, [[Hugin Sea|Hugin]] to the north, and [[Munin Sea|Munin]] to the south.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 74''</ref> Almost 86% of Edda is within 500 meters of sea level, the only major change in elevation is the [[Bifrost]], an escarpment that "cuts" Edda in half.

Harvest's surface was once beautiful, covered in grassland and forests, lush fields and rolling hills, and a thousand lakes swarming with fish. The orchards were filled with luscious crops. [[Starling]]s and [[bat]]s were among the introduced species.<ref>'''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]''', ''page 75''</ref> After being glassed, however, the surface was reduced to a layer of melted glass, the destruction visible from orbit.<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach''', ''page ??''</ref> The environment suffered a catastrophic blow as a result, the once glorious landscape turning into a nearly frozen tundra, causing most species to quickly go extinct. Soon, all that remained of Harvest's original ecosystem were the scavengers, feeding off the rotting remains of the planet's once abundant wildlife, and even they perished before long.
{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
===Locations===
*[[Edda]]
**[[Bifrost]]
**[[Vigrond Highlands]]
***[[Mimir River]]
**[[Utgard]]
***[[Harvest Botanical Gardens]] (outskirts)
***[[Harvest Parliament Building]]
***[[Utgard Highway]]
***[[Utgard Mall]]
***[[Utgard Memorial Hospital]]
***[[Utgard Spaceport]]
**[[Plains of Ida]]
**[[Gladsheim]]
***[[Dry Creek Road]]
***[[Gladsheim Highway]]
***[[Gladsheim Main Street]]
***[[Nobel Avenue]]
**[[Tigard]]
**[[Slidr River]]
**[[Harvest reactor complex|Harvest Reactor Complex]]
**[[Hugin Sea]]
**[[Munin Sea]]
**[[Alpha Base (Harvest)|Alpha Base]]
**[[Rally Point Baker]]
**[[Quadrant 4]]
**[[Relic|Forerunner Relic]]
*[[Newton Armory]]

==Economy and society==
[[File:FoRBootCamp - HarvestTown.png|thumb|250px|A settlement on Harvest.]]
Harvest was one of the [[Unified Earth Government]]'s more productive and peaceful colonies. Within two decades of its founding, it had the highest per capita agricultural manufacture of any outer colony. Major crops, such as [[list of food and drinks|corn]]; [[list of food and drinks|wheat]]; [[list of food and drinks|watermelons]]; [[list of food and drinks|peaches]]; [[list of food and drinks|apples]]; [[list of food and drinks|grapes]], and numerous other foodstuffs nourished the inhabitants of more than half a dozen other colonies.

By 2524 the population of Harvest was 3,000,000,<ref group="note" name="population"/> some of whom escaped during the initial Covenant attack. The capital city and its largest population center was [[Utgard]], also home to Harvest's [[seven]] [[harvest space elevators|space elevators]] connected to the orbital space station, [[Tiara]].

The senior government official on Harvest was the [[Governor]]. The position was held by [[Nils Thune]] at the time of the planet's fall.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 115''</ref> The [[Parliament of Harvest]] was also involved in the planet's governance. It met in a [[Harvest Parliament Building|Parliament Building]] in [[Utgard]].<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 79''</ref> One of its positions was the [[Wikipedia:Attorney general|Attorney General]], which was held by [[Rol Pedersen]] when the planet fell.

Harvest had its own [[Planetary anthem of Harvest|planetary anthem]] and an official planetary introduction narrated by the agricultural operations AI Mack. This introduction was played to visitors travelling to the planet via the Tiara's space elevators.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''pages 73-74''</ref>

The only functional defensive force on Harvest at the time of the Covenant attack was [[Harvest militia|its planetary branch]] of [[Colonial Militia]], consisting of two [[platoon]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 121''</ref> Utgard also had its own [[law enforcement]] agency, the [[Utgard Constabulary]].<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''page 168''</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Concept-HW-Harvest.jpg|Concept art of Harvest for ''Halo Wars''.
File:Concept-HW-Harvest-Glassing.jpg|Concept art of a half-melted surface of Harvest for ''Halo Wars''.
File:Harvest.png|One side of a glassed Harvest, with frozen poles as a result of the "nuclear winter" effect caused by the Covenant's glassing.
File:Post-Glassing Harvest.png|Another side of glassed Harvest as seen on the ''[[Halo Wars Launch Site]]''.
File:Harvest Northern polar region map.png|Map of Harvest's northern polar region with key Covenant locations on it on the ''Halo Wars Launch site''.
File:Harvest_Space_Elevators.jpg|Six of the [[seven]] [[space elevator]]s linking the planet Harvest to the Tiara.
File:H4-Harvest.png|Harvest as depicted in the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}'s [[War Games]] simulator.
File:HW-Planet-Harvest.jpg|Planet Harvest before its glassing.
File:TFoR AS - Harvest glassed.jpg|The glassed surface of Harvest.
File:TFoR AS - Harvest city.jpg|A glassed city on Harvest.
File:HaloPlanets.jpg|Harvest (Third from top row) compared in size to other planets in the known galaxy. 
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo Graphic Novel]]''
*''[[Halo: Ghosts of Onyx]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''
*''[[Halo Wars: Genesis]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Wars]]''
*''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Legends]]''
**''[[Origins]]''
**''[[Homecoming]]''
*''[[Halo: Evolutions]]''
**''[[Dirt]]''
**''[[The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole]]''
*''[[Halo: Reach]]'' {{Mo}}
**''[[Data pads]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Fall of Reach]]''
**''[[Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp|Boot Camp]]''
*''[[Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 4]]''
*''[[Halo: Broken Circle]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'' {{C|Poster only}}
*''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach - The Animated Series]]''
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''
**''[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition|Limited Edition]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Ground Command]]''
*''[[Halo Mythos]]''
*''[[Halo: Smoke and Shadow]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo Wars 2]]'' {{Mo}}

==Note==
<references group="note"/>

==Sources==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Human colonies]]
[[Category:Planets]]
[[Category:Harvest locations| ]]