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]]?}}

|image=[[File:Harvest pre-glassing.png|300px]]

|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}}

|body=[[Epsilon Indi]]{{Ref/Reuse|vis}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

|position=Fourth planet{{Ref/Reuse|vis}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

|moon(s)=None{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

|diameter={{Convert|4012|km|mi}}{{Ref/Reuse|vis}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

|gravity=0.998 G{{Ref/Reuse|vis}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

|atmosphere=1.02 ([[Wikipedia:Nitrogen|N₂]], [[Oxygen|O₂]]){{Ref/Reuse|vis}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

|temperature=-19°C to 42°C (-2°F to 108°F){{Ref/Reuse|vis}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

|species=[[Human]]

|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.}}

|colonized=[[2468]]{{Ref/Reuse|vis}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

|government=*[[Unified Earth Government]]

[[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 km/h, or ~41 km/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/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}}

 

[[File:HW HarvestIce MattePainting 1.jpg|thumb|250px|The ice sheets of Harvest's northern pole.]]

***[[Mimir River]]

**[[Utgard]]

**[[Plains of Ida]]

**[[Harvest reactor complex|Harvest Reactor Complex]]

**[[Hugin Sea]]

**[[Alpha Base (Harvest)|Alpha Base]]

**[[Epsilon Base]]

**[[Relic (location)|Forerunner Relic]]

 

**[[April Orenski]] - Surviving cadet of [[Corbulo Academy of Military Science]]

*[[Nils Thune]] - Last [[Governor]] of the planet's government (Immigrated from [[Earth]])

*[[Rol Pedersen]] - Last [[Attorney General]] of the planet's government

*[[Critchley]] - Colonial militiaman

*[[Gage Yevgenny]] - [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper]]

*[[Dass]] - Colonial militiaman

===Ancient history===

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 (location)|waystation facility]] included a subsidiary [[Flood]] [[Flood research facility|research]] and [[Flood containment facility|containment]] center,{{Ref/Reuse|catalog}} as well as administrative nodes that directed Forerunner defenses in the surrounding systems.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}} The structure housed a [[holography|holographic]] stellar [[cartographer]] that pointed the way to another star system, [[Procyon system|Procyon]].

 

[[File:Harvest2.jpg|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/NoteReuse|17th}} the population was still small when Sergeant [[Avery Johnson|Avery J. Johnson]] engaged in his first mission on the planet. Harvest was settled by [[Religion|Lutheran]] [[United States of America|Americans]] of [[Germany|Germanic]] descent.{{Ref/Book|Enc09|Page=286-287}}{{Ref/Book|Enc11|Page=298-299}} 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.

By the time he returned in 2525, the population of Utgard alone had doubled.{{Citation needed}}

====Insurrection====

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 Johnson]] as part of the [[ORION Project]]'s [[Operation: KALEIDOSCOPE]].{{Ref/Comic|HGN|Page=[[Halo Graphic Novel, Page 122|122]]}}

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.

===Human-Covenant War===

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.

 

=====First Battle of Harvest=====

[[File:Harvest Plasma Glassed.jpg|thumb|250px|Harvest, partially [[glassed]] by the Covenant.]]

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/Novel|HCH|Page=351-352}} 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/Novel|HCH|Page=372}} 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/Novel|HCH|Page=352}}

At the time of these occurrences, the first prototypes of the [[Barukaza Workshop Chopper|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.

The discovery of humans on Harvest was the catalyst for the attempted Covenant genocide of the human race, due to a mistranslation of the Forerunner glyph for "Reclaimer", for "Reclamation".

[[File:HWG SecondBattleOfHarvest.png|left|thumb|250px|Cole's victory in the [[Second Battle of Harvest]].]]

By April 20, the [[Colonial Military Authority]] sent the scout ship {{CMAShip|Argo}} to investigate. Other then confirming its arrival at Epsilon Indi no other transmissions were sent, and the ''Argo'' was presumed MIA.

On October 7, [[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 {{CMAShip|Heracles}}, commanded by Captain [[Maribeau Veredi|Veredi]], as well as the frigates {{CMAShip|Arabia}} and {{CMAShip|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 {{Pattern|Rasus|interdictor}}. 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/Novel|HFOR|Page=113|Detail=Definitive Edition}}{{clear}}

[[Vice Admiral]] [[Preston J. Cole]] fought and barely won the [[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 starship|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 of Fire'' to [[Arcadia]],{{Ref/Level|HW|Relic Interior}} where the Covenant then led them to [[Trove|a]] [[shield world]] where they were able to stop a major Covenant threat.

Ultimately, the Covenant once again returned to Harvest in [[2534]], glassing the planetary surface for a second and decisively final time.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=51}} After this event, Harvest was effectively abandoned by humanity.

===Post-War===

In the [[Post-Covenant War conflicts|post-war era]], Harvest has yet to see any formal effort at reclamation or rehabitation by humanity, due in part to sorrow at the conflict which consumed the world and impracticality due to the planet's location in deep-space.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=44}} Software simulations of Harvest's [[space elevator]] base have been created by the UNSC for use in their [[War Games]] training exercises, with [[Harvest (map)|Map_Set/: 309-8]] used by [[Spartan Operations]] for such purposes.{{Ref/Map|H4|Harvest (map)|Harvest}}{{Ref/Book|Id=VIS|H4EVG|Page=219}}{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

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}}

 

Several [[campaign]] levels in ''Halo Wars'' take place on Harvest, including ''[[Alpha Base (Halo Wars level)|Alpha Base]]'', ''[[Relic Approach]]'', and ''[[Relic Interior]]''.

File:HW-2 Relic Approach.jpg|link=Relic Approach|Relic Approach

File:HW-3 Relic Interior.jpg|link=Relic Interior|Relic Interior

 

===''Halo 4''===

Only one [[multiplayer]] map in ''Halo 4'' takes place on the planet, ''[[Harvest (map)|Harvest]]''.

{{Main|Silver Timeline}}

Harvest was a human colony glassed by the Covenant prior to [[2540]].{{Ref/Site|URL=https://halotheseries.tv/|Site=Halo: The Series|Page=Dr. Catherine Halsey's Computer|D=25|M=3|Y=2022|LocalArchive=Dr. Catherine Halsey's Computer‎}}

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:HWLS 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: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.

File:H2A FiveLongYears Sign.png|A [[UNSC Marine Corps]] ad in [[2552]] featuring Marines on the planet.

*''[[Halo 3: ODST]]'' {{Mo}}

**''[[Sanctuary (TV Series)|Sanctuary]]'' {{Mo}}

==Notes==

{{Ref/Notes}}

==Sources==

{{Ref/Sources|2}}