Editing Human-Covenant War

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{{Infobox Military Conflicts
|prev=[[Interplanetary War]]                             
|conc=[[Covenant Civil War]]
|next=Unknown
|name=Human-Covenant War
|image=[[Image:Halo Wars Marine BR.jpg|400px]]
|begin=October 7, [[2525]]
|end=March 3, [[2553]]<ref>http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/106934.html</ref>
|place=The Orion Arm of the [[Milky Way|Milky Way galaxy]] (except for the [[Battle of Installation 00]], which took place at [[Installation 00]], outside of the Milky Way).
|result= [[UNSC]]-[[Covenant Separatist]] Victory<ref>''[[Believe]]'', ''[[Museum]]''</ref> 
*The Covenant collapses 
*[[Ark]] is heavily damaged 
*[[Flood]] threat  believed to be neutralized
*Human race reduced
|side1=*[[United Nations Space Command]]
* [[Covenant Separatists]] (After the [[Great Schism]])
* [[Forerunner]] 
|side2=*[[Covenant]]                 
**[[Covenant Loyalists]] (After the [[Great Schism]])
|side3=*[[Flood]]
|side4=*[[Forerunner]] 
|commanders1=*[[UNSC High Command|HIGHCOM]], [[Colonial Military Administration]]
*[[Miranda Keyes|Commander Miranda Keyes]]†
*[[Jacob Keyes|Captain Jacob Keyes]]†
*[[Terrence Hood|Admiral Lord Terrence Hood]]
*[[Admiral]] [[Roland Freemont]]†
*[[Fleet Admiral]] [[H.T. Ward]]
*[[Fleet Admiral Harper]]†{{Template:Fact}}
*[[Cortana]] (M.I.A.)
*[[Thel 'Vadamee|Arbiter]] (later)
*[[Ship Master]] [[Rtas 'Vadum]] (later)
*[[Imperial Admiral]] [[Xytan 'Jar Wattinree]] (later)                        
* Remaining [[Elite]] [[Councilors]] (later)
*[[Voro Nar 'Mantakree]] †
*[[343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)|343 Guilty Spark]] †
*[[2401 Penitent Tangent]] 
*[[The Gravemind]] (Briefly) †(presumably)
|commanders2=*[[High Prophets]]
**[[High Prophet of Truth]]†
**[[High Prophet of Regret]]†
**[[High Prophet of Mercy]]†
*[[Tartarus]]†
*At least 2 Arbiters
**[[Unnamed Arbiter|Past Arbiter]] †(?)
**[[Thel Vadamee|Current Arbiter]] (before)
*[[Rtas 'Vadum|Special Operations Commander Rtas Vadumee]] (before)
|commanders3=*[[Gravemind]] †
|commanders4=*[[343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)|343 Guilty Spark]] †
*[[2401 Penitent Tangent]]           
|forces1=*[[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]] Armed Forces
*(later) [[Covenant Separatist]] Armed Forces
* [[Sentinel]] Armed Forces
|forces2=*[[Covenant]] Armed Forces 
|forces3=*[[Flood]] Invasion Forces
|forces4=*[[Sentinel]] Armed Forces
|casual1= *Unknown, billions dead.
*Unknown Separatist force killed, likely in the thousands to hundreds of thousands due to late entry into the war
|casual2= *Likely hundreds of millions of casualties.
**Destruction of Covenant Holy City [[High Charity]] and [[Joyous Exultation]]
**Most if not all of the loyalist forces
|casual3= *All Flood forces destroyed
|casual4= *Unknown, millions to billions destroyed         
}}

{{Quote|Oh, death was never an enemy of ours!<br>We laughed, knowing better men would come, and greater wars:<br>When each proud fighter brags<br>He wars on death, for lives: not men, for flags.|"The Next War"}}

The '''Human-Covenant War''', also known as '''The Great War''', was a major interstellar conflict between the [[United Nations Space Command]] and the [[Covenant]] empire during the mid-26<sup>th</sup> century between October 7, 2525 and March 3, 2553. There were two additional sides of the conflict as well, they were [[The Flood]] and remaining Forerunner constructs. Both sides both proved valuable in victory due in part that information taken from Forerunner constructs, and the flood invasion of [[High Charity]] were helpful in [[Great Schism|splitting the Covenant apart]].

The conflict was closely connected with, and the cause of, the [[Covenant Civil War]], both of which proved invaluable in the final defeat of the Covenant and [[Flood]], and the official cessation of hostilities on March 3, [[2553]].<ref>[[Hillside Memorial]]</ref>

== History ==
===Declaration of War ([[2525]])===
{{main|First Battle of Harvest}}
[[Image:Harvest_battle.jpg|right|250px|thumb|[[UNSC]] [[marines]] fighting during the [[Battle of Harvest]].]]
[[Humanity]] and the Covenant first came into direct contact in [[2525]], when a Covenant Frigate, under the misguidance by Truth and other prophets, that the Humans were hiding Forerunner artifacts, attacked the [[UNSC]] [[Outer Colony]] world [[Harvest]]. After several encounters (Including the Covenant's raiding of several UNSC supply ships and a [[Skirmish Over Harvest|minor skirmish]] between [[Staff Sergeant]]s [[Nolan Byrne]] and [[Avery Johnson]] against [[Kig-Yar]] privateers), the UNSC and Covenant officially met on Harvest in a diplomatic meeting, although rather than peace, the Covenant was only interested in claiming the planet due to the number of supposed Forerunner artifacts within it, with or without the Humans' immediate surrender. The meeting was botched after [[Osmo]], a member of the [[Colonial Militia]], was attacked by a nervous [[Grunt]], a member of a second Covenant force attempting to stage an ambush of their own, and a firefight erupted.

The [[Prophets]] declared Humanity to be an affront to their gods (supposedly because Humans inhabited and 'defiled' areas which were once [[Forerunner]]), and called for a crusade against the Human species. This "Crusade" would eventually turn into a mass [[Wikipedia:Genocide|Genocide]], meaning the deliberate or systematic destruction of a specific group, in this case: all human life.<ref>[[Wikipedia:Genocide|Wikipedia's Article on Genocide]]</ref> An example being the extended, though one-sided, ground battle which took place on Harvest, where the Humans successfully halted the Covenant for some time, but the Covenant eventually used their capital ships' [[plasma]] weaponry, to melt the planet's surface, a process which would become known as "[[glassing]]."

The campaign to exterminate all the Humans was partly a religious issue and partly an attempt by the Prophets to keep their power. The Prophets found out that the Forerunner objects that the Luminary was picking up on Harvest were actually Humans (which the Prophets interpreted as meaning that the Humans were descendants of the Forerunner, or possibly surviving Forerunner). At first they interperated it as reclaim. Medicent Bias a forrunner AI (accidentlly found) told told that the interperation was wrong and it meant reclaimer. The Prophets (mainly Regret and Truth) realized that that meant that it was possible to destroy the belief of the [[Great Journey]] and they may lose their power. They agreed that if the rest of the Covenant found out, they wouldn't follow the Prophets, but the Humans. They then decided to wipe out the Human race so that none of the Covenant would realize that it was possible to be left behind on the Great Journey.

===Open War ([[2525]]-[[2552]])===
From that point on, the Covenant continued to attack and destroy the Humans wherever they were found, using their [[Luminary|Luminaries]] to find Human worlds. Though the UNSC forces fought bravely, their inferior technology and numbers meant that even a close victory was far from guaranteed. The Covenant also had an advantage in that they didn't need to fight planet-side to destroy the enemy; their ships simply needed to destroy the Human's space-borne defenses and any other threats planet-side, and then reduce the planet's surface to glass with orbital plasma bombardments. The few victories achieved by the UNSC were due to special tactical maneuvers, as Human missile, and magnetic acceleration weapons were unable to compete with Covenant energy shields and plasma torpedoes. Over twenty-seven years, the Covenant whittled down the UNSC planet by planet.

===Second Battle of Harvest ([[2525]]-[[2531]])===
{{main|Second Battle of Harvest}}
Realizing the threat posed to humanity by the Covenant, the UNSC [[Colonial Military Administration]] gave [[Vice Admiral]] [[Preston Cole]] the command of the then-largest fleet in human history with orders to retake Harvest. Cole spent six years assembling a fleet and chasing the Covenant around the [[Outer Colonies]], before arriving at Harvest in 2531. The [[Second Battle of Harvest|space battle]] over Harvest was a human victory despite the loss of two-thirds of the UNSC fleet. Upon discovering that the Covenant, under the command of an [[Unnamed Arbiter|Arbiter]], had excavated [[Forerunner]] relics in the northern polar region, [[Captain]] [[James Cutter]] deployed ground forces to remove the Covenant occupation.

Soon after this battle, the Covenant [[Battle of Arcadia|attacked]] the UNSC colony world of [[Arcadia]].

===SPARTAN-III (2531)===
{{main|SPARTAN-III Program}}
Despite the well-publicized victory at Harvest, the UNSC was already on the way to losing the war. A number of colonies had already been glassed by the Covenant or abandoned, including [[Eridanus II]], [[Dwarka]], and [[Chi Ceti IV]]. The UNSC's sole hope apparently lay with the [[SPARTAN-II Program]], a secret program to create supersoldiers originally to combat [[Insurrectionist]]s. However, there were not enough Spartans to turn the tide of the war in favour of humanity. Recognizing this, the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] authorized the creation of the [[SPARTAN-III Program]]. The brainchild of [[Colonel]] [[James Ackerson]], these Spartans would be trained with a greater emphasis on stealth and teamwork, and would be sent on missions against high-priority targets that would be impossible even for elite units. [[SPARTAN-III Alpha Company]] was created in [[2532]] and [[SPARTAN-III Beta Company|Beta Company]] in [[2541]]. However, their stated goal of destroying high-priority targets often led to near-total losses during assaults on the Covenant. Alpha Company was totally destroyed on [[K7-49]] during [[Operation: PROMETHEUS]] in [[2537]], while Beta Company was wiped out with only two survivors in [[Operation: TORPEDO]] in [[2545]]. ONI considered the gains to outweigh the losses and [[SPARTAN-III Gamma Company]] was activated in [[2551]].

===Crisis ([[2534]]-[[2535]])===
With most of the Outer Colonies glassed or abandoned, the UNSC faced an economic crisis as most of their [[Agriculture World]]s had been destroyed, leading to food shortages. On [[Charybdis IX]], food riots broke out. Meanwhile, Covenant forces began to encroach on the [[Inner Colonies]]. In response, the UNSC issued [[United Nations Space Command Emergency Priority Order 098831A-1]], "The Cole Protocol." It stated that no UNSC vessel may lead the Covenant to Earth or any other human population centre. Furthermore, all movement through space was restricted to [[UNSC Navy]] vessels. [[Insurrectionist]] attacks increased in the face of what they saw as a removal of their right to freedom of movement. Another development was the discovery of Insurrectionists using Covenant weapons modified for human use. The UNSC saw this as a threat to security as the weapons may have been carrying Covenant homing beacons. The Covenant saw it as heresy that humans would modify their weapons, and the [[Prophet of Regret]] dispatched [[Thel 'Vadam|Thel 'Vadamee]] to destroy the source of the modified weapons: [[The Rubble]].

Fleeing from the [[Battle of Charybdis IX]], the {{UNSCShip|Midsummer Night}} chased an Insurrectionist freighter to the Rubble and discovered that the Insurrectionists there had actually formed an alliance with a colony of [[Kig-yar]]. The Jackals were supplying the weapons and the Insurrectionists were modifying them. The crew of the ''Midsummer Night'', including its captain, [[Lieutenant (UNSC)|Lieutenant]] [[Jacob Keyes]], were captured, but later escaped and helped SPARTAN-II [[Gray Team]] and the Rubble's citizens stop an assault from the Kig-yar leader, [[Reth]], and 'Vadamee's forces. It later transpired that the [[Prophet of Truth]] had ordered the Kig-yar to ally with the humans so that they could discover the location of [[Earth]] from stolen navigation data of through tracking devices in the weapons. Through this, the Covenant found two more worlds to attack.

By the time of the [[Battle of Jericho VII]] in [[2535]], most of the Outer Colonies had been destroyed.

===Continuing War ([[2536]]-[[2551]])===
For fifteen years, the war continued in much the same way as before; minor, costly victories on the ground for UNSC forces, but total Covenant space superiority. The UNSC managed to deal a heavy blow to the Covenant in [[2537]] with the destruction of the Covenant manufacturing plant [[K7-49]] in [[Operation: PROMETHEUS]], and again during the [[Siege of the Atlas Moons]] in the same year. However, these victories were offset by the loss of [[New Constantinople]] and the total destruction of the force of [[SPARTAN-III Program|SPARTAN-IIIs]] sent to destroy the Covenant base. Throughout the 2540s, the UNSC was dealt ever greater blows with the death of the SPARTAN-II [[Sheila]] during the [[Battle of Miridem]] in [[2544]], and the [[Siege of Paris IV|loss of Paris IV]] in [[2549]]. The UNSC's one success was [[Operation: TORPEDO]] in [[2545]], and even then it was a pyhrric victory at best. By [[2552]], the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] was resigned to the fact that humanity may only have months left before the Covenant destroyed the remaining Inner Colonies and moved on against [[Earth]].

===The final year ([[2552]])===
The last year of the war saw humanity's largest defeat since the war's beginning, but also saw several of their greatest victories, coupled with the destruction of the Covenant as a galactic power. On [[Sigma Octanus IV]], the Covenant were [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV|defeated]]. On the ground, the SPARTAN-IIs secured a Forerunner [[Sigma Octanus IV Artifact|artifact]] covered in symbols that the Covenant tried to transport out of [[Cote d'Azur]]. However, in space, the Covenant placed a [[Spy Probe]] on the ''[[UNSC Iroquois]]'', which led the Covenant to the UNSC's stronghold and main headquarters, [[Reach]]. 

The [[Battle of Reach|battle]] that followed had staggering losses for both sides, but ended in a pyrrhic Covenant victory. The ''[[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|Pillar of Autumn]]'' was among the surviving UNSC ships which fled the battle, and made a somewhat blind jump, as described by Cortana saying that she realized that the symbols on the retrieved artifact from Sigma Octanus IV were in fact very old star charts and were coordinates to the Forerunner ring world of [[Halo]], being chased by a dozen Covenant warships.

===The Tide Turns ([[2552]]-[[2553]])===
[[Image:Battle of Reach.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The [[UNSC Pillar of Autumn|''Pillar of Autumn'']] pushes through the [[Covenant]] blockade and escapes [[Reach]].]]
The Covenant's first known truly costly defeat was on and around [[Halo]]. Here, the Human survivors from the [[Halcyon-class cruiser|''Halcyon''-class cruiser]], the ''Pillar of Autumn'', managed to form an effective resistance. Unwilling to risk damaging the [[Halo|sacred ring]], the Covenant was forced to fight the Humans on Halo's surface rather than using its usual bombardment tactics. The Covenant found the Humans uncannily adapted to Halo's environment and very adept at fighting on the surface, with Human firearms and vehicles proving effective despite their technological inferiority. Unable to counter the guerrilla tactics employed by the Humans and the unexpected emergence of the Flood, the Covenant was soundly defeated in numerous raids, including one instance when the Humans boarded their grounded cruiser, the ''[[Truth and Reconciliation]]'', and successfully escaped with a group of captives, including the captain of the ''Pillar of Autumn'', [[Captain Jacob Keyes]]. During the course of the battle, the [[Spartan]] known as the [[Master Chief]] discovered the true nature of Halo and proceeded to destroy the ring and escape, much to the Covenant's horrified dismay.

[[Image:UNSC Home Fleet.JPG|thumb|left|250px|The [[UNSC]] [[UNSC Home Fleet|Home Fleet]] prepares to engage the [[Covenant Navy]].]]
Shortly after the defeat at Halo, the Covenant had amassed a large [[Fleet]] that appeared to be intended to assault [[Earth]]. The Covenant discovery of Earth was an accident after the ''[[Pious Flea]]'' had been intercepted by the UNSC stealth ship ''[[Apocalypso]]''. After retrieving a Forerunner artifact, the ''Apocalypso'' made a [[Slipspace]] jump directly to Earth. When the ship tumbled into real space and crashed on the moon, the ''Pious Flea'' sent a message to the heart of the Covenant military, containing reconnaissance data, photos, star maps, and the coordinates of the Forerunner Artifact, which was now on Earth. However, this is apparently contradicted by explicitly stating that the Covenant had not identified Earth as the Human homeworld. However, the ''[[Unyielding Hierophant]]'s'' fleet was never expressly identified to be intending to assault Earth; this is merely a reasonable assumption made by the Human forces upon discovery of the fleet's destination of [[Sol]]. 

This leaves the exact nature of the fleet's mission uncertain, as there is no definitive proof that the Covenant were intending to attack a Human homeworld. The surviving Humans, however, believed this fleet to be a direct threat to Earth, and, using a captured Covenant [[flagship]], lured the fleet into a trap and destroyed it.

A few weeks after this defeat, the [[Prophet of Regret]] led a small Fleet of fifteen ships to Earth, supposedly in order to locate a Forerunner artifact known as the "[[Ark]]." Though hopelessly outgunned by the UNSC's new orbital defense grid of MAC guns, the Prophet of Regret's flagship managed to break through the Human defenses to [[New Mombasa]]. The Covenant ground troops quickly spread through the city, destroying both military and civilian resistance, but a counterattack by the [[Marines]] and the [[Master Chief]] drove them back. With his fleet destroyed in orbit when he landed, Regret was forced to retreat. His carrier jumped into Slipspace from within the city, destroying it and clearing the area for a later Covenant excavation of the Ark, though the latter consequence was probably unintentional.

Unfortunately for Regret, four Human ships, the ''[[UNSC In Amber Clad|In Amber Clad]]'' among them, had followed them through their own Slipspace rupture to [[Delta Halo]]. With the orders "Find out why he came to Earth; why he came here," the Master Chief was hard-dropped with a compliment of [[Orbital Drop Shock Troopers]] to Delta Halo's surface. Led by the Chief, the Humans forced their way through Regret's forces until they had reached the Prophet himself. At that moment, ''High Charity'', having learned of Delta Halo, arrived and launched multiple waves of [[Phantom]] dropships to aid Regret, but they were too late. The Chief assaulted and killed Regret, and the Covenant Fleet recalled the Phantoms in favor of bombarding the area. It would seem they succeeded in "killing" Master Chief by burning away the building, as he came inches away from getting incinerated by the massive plasma beam glassing the area, plummeting down into the lake below, only to be captured by the [[Gravemind]].

Meanwhile, the majority of the Human forces on ''In Amber Clad'' had traveled to [[Delta Halo]]'s [[Library]] to obtain the [[Index]], which is the key to firing Halo. Originally, the Covenant had been unaware of the Index's importance, but luckily for them, the Arbiter had obtained [[343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)|343 Guilty Spark]], the monitor of [[Installation 04]] from the first Halo while destroying a [[heretic]] base. The monitor, known to the Covenant as an [[Oracle]], told the Prophets of the Index and the Arbiter was sent to retrieve it. The mission was complicated though by the unexpected release of the Flood. Despite this, the Arbiter successfully reached the Library and prevented the Humans from claiming the Index. Just as [[Miranda Keyes]] claimed the index, the Arbiter stole it from her, kidnapping her and [[Sgt. Johnson]]. However, then Index was stolen from the Arbiter by the [[Brute Chieftain]] [[Tartarus]], who under the Prophets' orders to retrieve the Index and attempt to kill the Arbiter. With the Index secure, the Prophets then ordered the [[Brutes]] to begin eradicating the [[Elites]], thus starting the [[Covenant Civil War]].

===Arrival of the Flood and Sangheili/Human victory ([[2553]])===
[[Image:H3 E3 Orbital Battle.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The battle raging over the [[Installation 00]].]]
{{Quote|In memory of those fallen in the defense of Earth and her Colonies. March 3, 2553.|[[Hillside Memorial]]}}

Following the Flood infestation of ''High Charity'', the [[High Prophet of Truth]] led the remaining loyalist Fleet to Earth to complete what the previous mission to Earth had not. Little did he know that [[Spartan 117]], Master Chief, had stowed away with him on board his Dreadnought. By the time Truth arrived at Earth, a full-scale war in space and on the ground was underway between UNSC and [[Covenant Fleet]]s.

After much fighting, the Human forces on Earth had taken heavy casualties . However, the Covenant fleet was also vastly reduced and focused on securing an enormous unearthed Forerunner structure near the ruins of New Mombasa. With the arrival of the [[Master Chief]], the [[human]]s launched an assault on the area, sweeping aside all Covenant resistance and finally launching an all-out attack on the Prophet of Truth's [[Forerunner ship]].

However, Truth quickly activated a large [[portal]] and escaped. Events were further complicated by an unexpected attack by the Flood. Thanks to the timely arrival of the Elites, the Flood force was vanquished but not before Master Chief recovered a recording from [[Cortana]], who had stayed behind on ''High Charity''. [[Cortana]]'s message told of a means to stop the Flood on the other end of the portal. A small fleet of Human and Elite forces was sent through the portal, leading them to the Ark, just outside the [[Milky Way Galaxy]]. The Covenant fleet above the Ark immediately attacked. Though the Human/Elite fleet was outnumbered 3-1, the battle ended in defeat for the Covenant Loyalists. During the space battle, [[Human forces]] were deployed to the surface of the Ark.

The final battle of the war was fought in November 2552 as Truth attempted to activate the [[Halo rings]]. Led by the Master Chief, the Human forces smashed through the remaining Covenant resistance. The battle was complicated by the arrival of ''High Charity''. As the Flood began to spread, the Chief and the [[Thel 'Vadamee|Arbiter]] went on to thwart Truth, who died in mid-Flood-infection at the Arbiter's hand. With the Covenant forces completely shattered, Truth's death marked the effective end to the war.

A year later, in 2553, a [[Hillside Memorial|monument was erected on a hillside]] near the Portal to the Ark to commemorate the billions of men and women killed during the war, and [[John-117|Spartan-117]] was presumed dead by the UNSC. However, John and Cortana weren't dead. They had survived the firing of Halo as the aft section of the [[UNSC Forward Unto Dawn]] entered the portal. However, the portal had collapsed whilst still traveling through it and the aft section was sent to an unknown location far away.

==Factions==
===United Nations Space Command===
[[Image:Perfect Black UNSC logo.png|thumb|right|The emblem of the [[UNSC]]]]
'''Leaders:''' [[UNSC High Command|HIGHCOM]]

'''Homeworld:''' [[Earth]] (largely intact at the end of the war, with the exception of a section of eastern Africa which was glassed)

'''Military Forces:''' Exact numbers are unknown.

===The Covenant===
'''Leaders:''' [[High Council|The High Council]]

'''Homeworld:''' multiple worlds - different member races.

'''Capital City:''' ''[[High Charity]]'' (destroyed by the Master Chief after it was turned into a Flood Hive and crashed on the Ark)

'''Military Forces:''' Exact numbers are unknown. But much larger than Humanity's forces.

===The Flood===
'''Leaders:''' [[The Gravemind]]

'''Homeworld:''' Unknown

'''Military Forces:''' Believed to be Massive, possibly into the billions or trillions

===Remaining Forerunner Constructs===
'''Leaders:''' Unknown, [[Sentinels]] are monitored and may be controlled by monitors such as [[343 Guilty Spark (Monitor)|343 Guilty Spark]]

'''Homeworld:''' Created on most constructs

'''Military Forces:''' Sentinel count believed to be in the trillions

==Timeline==
===2524===
*A damaged human civilian freighter, ''[[Horn of Plenty]]'', suffers a Slipspace drive malfunction from Madrigal to Harvest, forcing the unmanned freighter to exit back into normal space. A Covenant vessel, [[Minor Transgression]], comes into contact after hours of the freighter's isolation. The Covenant vessel targets the freighter, and a Jackal boarding crew enter.

===[[2525]]===
*The [[Skirmish Over Harvest|first battle]] between Humanity and the Covenant takes place. Humanity attempts to gain a truce between the races through pictograms of trade and peace between the Covenant and Humanity, but to no avail.
*After the [[First Battle of Harvest]], the Minister of Fortitude becomes the [[Prophet of Truth]] and declares war on Humanity.
*The [[Battle of Chi Ceti]] takes place.

===[[2530]]===
*The Covenant [[Battle of Eridanus II|destroys]] the UNSC colony world of [[Eridanus II]].

===[[2531]]===
*[[Second Battle of Harvest]]. The [[UNSC]] and [[Covenant]] meet in ship-to-ship combat for the first time; the [[Covenant]] are outnumbered and out gunned, nevertheless the battle is a high priced victory for the [[UNSC Forces]], costing the UNSC 2/3s of the fleet which was assembled to encounter the threat.
*[[Battle of Arcadia]]

===[[2534]]===
*[[Battle of Charybdis IX]]
*[[Battle of the Rubble]]

===[[2535]]=== 
*The [[Covenant]] [[Glass|destroys]] the UNSC colony world of [[Jericho VII]] in the [[Battle of Jericho VII]].
*In the course of four short years, [[UNSC]] forces have been hammered, despite excellent leadership and tactical brilliance. It is simply a matter of being outgunned; Covenant kill ratios tend to top three to one in ship-to-ship combat. By 2535, virtually all of the [[Outer Colonies|Outer Colony]] worlds have been glassed by the Covenant.

===[[2536]]===
*Covenant forces begin to swarm into the [[Inner Colonies]]. For several years the war falls into a pattern: humans win isolated battles, typically during ground operations, but at a horrible cost. In space combat, the humans are losing at a precipitous rate, and one by one, the colonies fall.


===[[2537]]===
*Discovery of Covenant Manufacturing Plant [[K7-49]] at the [[Battle of New Harmony]].
*[[Battle of New Constantinople]], Covenant [[glassing]] of [[New Constantinople]].
*[[Siege of the Atlas Moons]] was a rare victory for the [[UNSC]], as victories in space-based fighting were uncommon for the UNSC Fleet.
*[[Operation: PROMETHEUS]]: UNSC Victory. [[Spartan-III]] [[Alpha Company]] is killed by [[Covenant]] forces.

===[[2544]]===
*[[Spartan-II]] supersoldier [[Sheila]] dies in the [[Battle of Miridem]].

===[[2545]]===
*[[Operation: TORPEDO]]: UNSC Victory. All Spartan IIIs, with the exception of Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091 of [[Spartan-III]] Beta Company are killed by Covenant forces.

===[[2549]]===
*[[Siege of Paris IV]], Covenant victory.

===[[2552]]===

====July==== 
*[[Battle of Draco III]]. Covenant kill all UNSC ground forces and capture thousands of civilians. Later a [[SPARTAN]] squad arrive and kill all [[Covenant]] forces only to find that the civilians were killed by ravenous, raging Grunts and Jackals.
*[[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV]]. The single greatest [[UNSC]] victory since [[Harvest]]. However, the Covenant gain what they seek: the location of [[Installation 04]]. They also discover the Human presence on [[Reach]].

====August====
*[[First Battle of Reach]]. 314 Covenant ships destroy 152 UNSC ships and 20 [[ODP]]s for the loss of at least two-thirds of their fleet. It is a major Covenant victory: [[Reach]] is the last major stronghold before [[Sol]]. The ''[[UNSC Pillar of Autumn]]'' escapes.

====September==== 
[[Image:Ddd03.jpg|thumb|right|Part of the wreckage of the destroyed Installation 04|200px]]
*[[Battle of Installation 04]]. The ''Pillar of Autumn'' engages the Covenant, [[Halo]] expedition. After four days the battle degenerated into a four-way melee as the [[Flood]] organisms are released and [[Forerunner]] constructs, Sentinels seek to contain the outbreak. The crew of the ''Pillar of Autumn'' are instrumental in preventing the Flood from escaping and the installation from firing by destroying the installation. There are only a handful of survivors.
*[[Second Battle of Reach]]. John 117 and some of the survivors of the Battle of Installation 04 raid Reach to rescue a [[SPARTAN]]-II team trapped on Reach by a Covenant fleet. They rescue the Spartan squad leaving a great deal of damage to the Covenant fleet ships and the ground forces.
*[[Operation: FIRST STRIKE]]. Six [[SPARTAN-II]] super soldiers rout and destroy a fleet of 512 Covenant starships preparing to jump to Earth. This is the single greatest victory, for the humans during the entire war and the single greatest loss to the Covenant.

====October====
*[[First Battle of Earth]]. 15 Covenant ships assault Earth, defended by at least 75 or more UNSC vessels and 300 ODPs. The Covenant were not expecting the heavy human presence, as well as their new orbital MAC defenses, and are completely destroyed save for the Prophet of Regret's assault carrier.

====November====
*[[Battle of Installation 05]]. The lone surviving Covenant warship from the First Battle of Earth retreats to [[Installation 05]], pursued by a score of small UNSC warships. Only one, the ''[[UNSC In Amber Clad]]'', arrives  in time to participate in the battle. Again, released Flood and Forerunner overseers join the struggle. The [[Prophet of Regret]] is assassinated by [[SPARTAN-117]]. Again, the installation is prevented from firing and the Flood appear to take control of the installation.
*The [[Civil War of the Covenant]] begins. Covenant forces are thoroughly divided between the Elites and the Brutes. Every race in the Covenant takes sides. The [[Prophet of Mercy]] is later killed by a Flood Infection Form. High Charity itself is eventually overrun by the Flood infestation.
*[[Battle of Onyx]]. The destruction of [[Installation 04]] wakes dormant Forerunner installations, including the [[Sentinels]] on Onyx which then threaten the UNSC base there. The [[SPARTAN-II]]s of [[Blue Team]] fight their way off of [[Earth]] and commandeer a [[Covenant Destroyer]], the ''[[Bloodied Spirit]]'', to relieve [[Onyx]]. Covenant and UNSC ships converge on Onyx but ultimately all are destroyed except for the ''[[UNSC Dusk]]''. UNSC survivors retreat within the Onyx [[Shield World]].

===Late 2552 to Early 2553===
*[[Second Battle of Earth]]. The [[Brute]] faction of the Covenant returns to [[Earth]] in force, apparently conquering Africa. Later, during the next few months [[UNSC Marine Corps|Marines]], with help of the [[Covenant Separatists|Separatists]], pushed back the Loyalist invaders.
*[[Battle of the Ark|Battle of Installation 00]].
*All Loyalist vessels destroyed over the Ark by the Separatist Fleet.
*The final Covenant religious leader, the [[Prophet of Truth]], is executed by the Arbiter with help from the Flood.  The Master Chief stops the Ark from firing the Halo Rings.
*High Charity is destroyed by the Master Chief after he blasts the city's main reactors causing them to go critical.
*The Battle of [[Installation 04 (II)|Installation 04 (II)]]. Thel 'Vadam, [[Master Chief]] and Johnson battle to the control room that's on [[Installation 04 (II)]]. Guilty Spark runs rampant, killing Johnson before being destroyed. [[Alpha Halo]]’s Sentinels turned on the Master Chief, Thel 'Vadam, and the Elites. The unfinished Installation 04 is activated, damaging the Ark and destroying the entire Flood infestation including the [[Gravemind]]. These final events ended The Human-Covenant War.
*The Master Chief, Cortana, and Thel 'Vadam escape but only Thel 'Vadam gets back to Earth. The Master Chief and Cortana are drifting in between Earth and The Ark due to the portal closing. They are inside the back half of [[Forward Unto Dawn]], and no one on Earth knows what happened to them.

===[[2553]]===
====March====
*The war ends in a [[UNSC]]-[[Covenant Separatists]] victory. The victors erect a monument on a hillside near the Ark's Gateway to commemorate those fallen.  At this time [[John-117]] and Cortana are declared [[MIA]].(They are shown to be alive floating towards a currently unknown planet.) The [[Sangheili]] then depart for the return to [[Sanghelios]].

==Trivia==
*The very first [[Covenant]] species to encounter the [[Human]]s were the [[Unggoy]], the [[Huragok]], the [[Kig-Yar]], and the [[Jiralhanae]] - in that order - all prior to the inception of the war.
*The war actually started at [[Harvest]], where the [[Brute]] ship ''[[Rapid Conversion]]'' attempted to recover the [[Forerunner]] relics that had been revealed by the ships [[Luminary]].
*The first known human casualty that the Covenant inflicted, was [[Henry Gibson|Henry "Hank" Gibson]], pilot of the freighter ''[[This End Up]]'' when a [[Huragok]] named ''[[Lighter Than Some]]'' threw a hunting rock into his head to protect its [[Unggoy]] friend "[[Dadab]]". Hank had been assaulting the Unggoy, believing Dadab to be one of the aggressive boarders - the [[Kig-yar]].
*The [[Human]] race was saved by the [[Covenant Separatists]] near the end of the war.

{{Humanwars}}
{{Covenantwars}}

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Human-Covenant War| ]]