Editing Harvest

{{Status|Canon}}

{{Center|This article is about the human colony world. Were you looking for the multiplayer map [[Harvest (map)|Harvest]] from [[Halo 4]]?}}

|system=[[Epsilon Indi system]]{{Ref/Book|Id=vis|EVG|Page=91}}{{Ref/Site|Id=universe|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/harvest|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Harvest|D=01|M=6|Y=2020}}

|population=*Approximately 3,000,000{{Ref/Note|Id=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.}}

'''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/Reuse|universe}}{{Ref/Site|Id=catalog|D=01|M=6|Y=2020|URL=https://forums.halowaypoint.com/yaf_postsm2969315_Catalog-Interaction.aspx#post2969315|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Catalog Interaction page 14}} was a [[human]] [[Outer Colonies|Outer]] [[Human colonies|Colony]] [[planet|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://www.halowars.com/GameInfo/Timeline.aspx ''Official Halo Wars Community Site'' - Timeline] (defunct, [[Archive:Halowars.com/Timeline|Archive]])</ref>{{Ref/Note|Id=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 [[Archive:Xbox.com/Halo/Timeline|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.}} Located in the [[Epsilon Indi system]],{{Ref/Novel|HCH|Page=32}} 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/Novel|HCH|Page=387}}

==Overview==

===Topography===

[[File:HW HarvestIce MattePainting 2.jpg|thumb|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 [[Mercury]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=pg33|HCH|Page=33}} 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&nbsp;km/h, or ~41&nbsp;km/sec (by comparison, Earth orbits Sol at roughly 30&nbsp;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/Novel|HCH|Page=74}} 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/Novel|GOO|Page=75}}  

After being glassed, however, the surface was reduced to a layer of melted glass, the destruction visible from orbit.{{Ref/Novel|HFoR|Chapter=??}} 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. Now, the planet is submerged in nuclear winter, with no life on the surface. But, even after all of this, there are still several Forerunner complexes, surviving deep in the planet's mantle.{{Ref/Book|HWF|Page=22}} [[Harvest bird|One species of bird]] was known to survive the glassing to [[2531]].{{Ref/Level|HW|Alpha Base (Halo Wars level)|Alpha Base}}

====Locations====

Harvest was one of the [[Unified Earth Government]]'s more productive and peaceful colonies.  

 

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/Novel|HCH|Page=115}} The [[Parliament of Harvest]] was also involved in the planet's governance. It met in a [[Harvest Parliament Building|Parliament Building]] in [[Utgard]].{{Ref/Novel|HCH|Page=79}} One of its positions was the [[Wikipedia:Attorney general|Attorney General]], which was held by [[Rol Pedersen]] when the planet fell.

By 2524 the population of Harvest was 3,000,000,{{Ref/NoteReuse|population}} some of whom escaped during the initial Covenant attack. The [[city|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 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/Novel|HCH|Page=121}} Utgard also had its own [[law enforcement]] agency, the [[Utgard Constabulary]].{{Ref/Novel|HCH|Page=168}}

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.

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/Novel|HCH|Page=73-74}}

Residents of Harvest were known to partake in the [[Solstice Celebration]].{{Ref/Novel|HCH|Page=117}}

**''[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition dossiers|Limited Edition dossiers]]'' {{Mo}}

==Notes==

{{Ref/Notes}}