Human-Covenant War: Difference between revisions

|result='''Pyrrhic [[United Nations Space Command|Human]] and [[Sangheili]] victory<ref>'''[[Believe]]''', ''[[Museum]]''</ref>  

The '''Human-Covenant War''',<ref>'''Halo: The Fall of Reach (2001)''', ''back cover description''</ref> also known as the '''Covenant War'''<ref>'''Halo Waypoint''': [http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/featured/video/headhunters-1/c3d2dcb3-ac3d-4771-a270-e55e33ae118b ''Headhunters'' Part 1], [http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/featured/video/herocourage/c2ada678-e9ce-4db9-9ce9-1864070bd198 ''Hero - Courage'']</ref> and the '''Great War''',<ref>'''Halo: First Strike''' (2010), ''[[Petra]]''</ref> was a major interstellar conflict pitting the [[Unified Earth Government]] and its [[United Nations Space Command]] against the [[Covenant Empire]] during the mid-26^th century between [[2525#February|February 11, 2525]] and [[2553|March 3, 2553]]. There were two additional factions sporadically involved in the conflict; them being the [[Flood]], and a small number of surviving Forerunner constructs. Both factions proved to be invaluable to the efforts of humanity, as the information taken from [[Forerunner]] constructs and the Flood invasion of ''[[High Charity]]'' were helpful in [[Great Schism|splitting the Covenant apart]] in November 2552.

The war was instigated by the Covenant, whose [[High Prophet]]s discovered that humans were directly related to the [[Forerunner]]s. In order to keep the Covenant intact, war was declared against humanity. Over the next few decades, the Covenant, with superior firepower, numbers and technology, would repeatedly overpower humanity on hundreds of worlds, including heavily defended strongholds such as [[Reach]]. The humans would only win scattered and costly victories.

The conflict was closely connected with, and the cause of, the [[Great Schism]], both of which resulted in the final defeat of the Covenant Loyalists and [[Flood]]. The official cessation of hostilities occurred on March 3, 2553.<ref>[[Hillside memorial]]</ref> The war was incredibly costly to both sides, with over twenty-three billion humans and billions of Covenant killed during the hostilities and further heavy casualties during the Flood plague. The war ultimately lasted for a total of twenty-eight years.

Humanity and the Covenant first came into direct contact in February 3rd 2525, when a [[Kig-yar]] frigate, the ''[[Minor Transgression]]'', discovered a human ship transitionining out of slipspace and subsequently raided the vessel. The raid continued to another unfortunate human ship. Some time after, [[Sif]], Harvest shipping operations AI, investigated the raids and reported her findings to an [[Jilan al-Cygni|undercover ONI agent]].<ref group="notes">Prior to the contact, the AI and an [[Jilan al-Cygni|undercover ONI agent]] was unaware of the alien parties responsible behind the raid, thinking that it was one of the many common Insurrectionist activities.</ref> The ONI agent devised a trap for the raiding parties, which resulted in a [[Skirmish Over Harvest|minor skirmish]] between [[Staff Sergeant]]s [[Nolan Byrne]] and [[Avery Johnson|Avery Johnson,]] and the Kig-yar privateers. When the Covenant returned with another ship and a contingent of [[Jiralhanae]], the UNSC proposed a meeting (via pictogram) with the intention to make amends and to trade with the alien species. The Covenant met the UNSC on Harvest, but were only interested in claiming the relics that the [[Luminary]] had detected on Harvest, completely oblivious that the humans were the "relics" in question. The meeting was botched after [[Osmo]], a member of the [[Colonial Militia]], — was attacked by a nervous [[Unggoy]] — who was part of a second Covenant force sent to look for the relics. As a result, a firefight erupted between the two groups and the Covenant promptly retreated back to their ship.

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, the Covenant had not identified Earth as the human homeworld, and the ''[[Unyielding Hierophant]]''<nowiki />'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 the 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 "[[Installation 00|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 counter-attack by the [[Marines]] and John-117 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, damaging it severely.

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 [[Installation 05|Delta Halo]]. With the orders "Find out why he came to Earth; why he came here," the Master Chief was hard-dropped with a complement 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. However, they were withdrawn by the Prophet of Truth as part of the plan to remove the Sangheili from power in the Covenant. The Chief killed Regret. The Prophet of Truth then gave the order to glass the temple in which Regret was residing. It seemed as though Master Chief was eliminated. In fact the Chief narrowly avoided being glassed, only to be captured by the [[Gravemind]].

Long before the events around Halo, the classified UNSC colony of [[Onyx]] had been designated the headquarters and training ground for the SPARTAN-III Program. However, the UNSC had no idea that the planet was in fact a huge [[Forerunner]] construct, integral to the [[Halo Array]], and containing trillions of [[Onyx Sentinel|Sentinels]]. After John-117's destruction of Alpha Halo, the Sentinels were roused by the disruption of the Halo network and the portal leading into the [[Shield World]] at the planet's core began to close. At this time, a small group of SPARTAN-IIIs were training in a top honors exercise on the surface. After the humans failed to exchange the proper counter-responses, the Sentinels relabeled the "[[Reclaimer]]s" as aboriginal subspecies and began to exterminate them. Led by [[Kurt-051]], the SPARTAN-IIIs fought a guerrilla war against the Sentinels until Doctor [[Catherine Halsey]] arrived on Onyx and explained the wider situation. Knowing that the Forerunner technology buried in Onyx's core could turn the tide of the war for humanity, Halsey used Forerunner technology to send a message to [[Fleet Admiral]] [[Terrence Hood|Sir Terrence Hood]], requesting reinforcements. Hood deployed [[Blue Team]] to Onyx, who stole a [[Covenant Destroyer]] to reach the planet in time.

Meanwhile, the [[Covenant Separatists]] under the leadership of [[Imperial Admiral]] [[Xytan 'Jar Wattinree]] had deployed a fleet to Onyx to claim the "sacred relics" for their fight against the Jiralhanae and the other [[Covenant Loyalists|Loyalists]]. After Blue Team made landfall, [[Fleet Master]] [[Voro Nar 'Mantakree]]'s fleet arrived at Onyx, taking down hundreds of orbiting Sentinels before discovering the UNSC forces in the recently-uncovered Forerunner city below. 'Mantakree personally led the Covenant forces on the surface, before the UNSC [[Battlegroup Stalingrad]] arrived and used tactical skill and indirect help from the Sentinels to destroy the majority of the Separatist fleet before being wiped out by reinforcements from [[Joyous Exultation]], with only [[UNSC Dusk|one ship]] escaping.

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 a SPARTAN-II had stowed away with him on board his ''Dreadnought''. By the time Truth arrived at Earth, a full-scale battle in space and on the ground was underway between UNSC and [[Covenant Fleet]]s.

After much fighting, the human forces on Earth on the naval side 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 John-117, the remaining UNSC forces 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 [[The Artifact|portal]] and escaped. Events were further complicated by an unexpected attack by the Flood. Thanks to the timely arrival of the Sangheili, 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 Sangheili 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 joint human-Sangheili fleet was outnumbered 3-1, the battle ended in defeat for the Covenant Loyalist Fleet. Simultaneous to the the space battle between Jiralhanae and Sangheili ships, UNSC forces were deployed to the surface of the Ark.

The final battle of the war was fought in December [[2552]] as Truth attempted to activate the [[Halo rings]]. Led by the Master Chief, the human forces smashed through the remaining Covenant resistance on the ground. 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 Flood helping to reach him. John-117 deactivated the Halo Array and brought an end to that threat as well. With the Covenant forces completely shattered, Truth's death marked the effective end to the war. The Flood still remained a threat, but were destroyed by John-117, the Arbiter, Cortana and Sergeant Johnson by firing the Halo over the Ark, destroying both, but John-117 was presumed dead afterwards as he never made it back to Earth.

Some months later, in March 3 of [[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]]'s name was included as he was presumed MIA by the UNSC, as no Spartan could be declared dead. Lord Hood shook hands with the Arbiter to signify an end to hostilities. Both sides then started rebuilding all the damage the war had cost.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'''Military Forces:''' Unknown; [[Sentinel]] count believed to be in the trillions, as there are multiple [[Shield World]]s and [[Onyx]] alone was composed of trillions of Sentinels.

===2524 ''(Pre-War)''===

*A damaged human civilian freighter, ''[[Horn of Plenty]]'', suffers a Slipspace drive malfunction from Harvest to Madrigal, 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.