Battle of Harvest

"Five years... five long years. That how long it took us to get Harvest back."

— Captain Cutter

The Second Battle of Harvest was a massive UNSC operation to retake the razed colony of Harvest from The Covenant.

Timeline

February 3rd: Harvest detects a contact on its long range radar, and soon afterward, all contact is lost with the planet. The UNSC scout ship Argo was sent to investigate the loss of communication.

April 20: The Argo arrives in-system and makes one confirmation transmission. No further reports are received.

October 7: A UNSC battle group consisting of one destroyer, the Heracles, under the command of Captain Veredi and two frigates the Arabia and the Vostok enters the Harvest system and discovers that everything on the planet has been totally razed, and in some parts of the planet the surface melted down to glass. This is later dubbed "glassing". In orbit around the remains of the colony world is a single alien ship, which proceeded to attack the battle group, destroying both Arabia and Vostok and badly damaging the Heracles. Intercepted communications identify the enemy as "The Covenant". The message "Your destruction is the will of the Gods..and we are their instrument" is broadcast in UNSC language.

November 1: Vice Admiral Preston Cole mobilizes the largest space fleet in Human history to retake Harvest.

February 4 2531: Captain Cutter makes his way into Harvest system^[1] Admiral Cole's fleet engages the alien warships gathered in orbit over the destroyed colony, scoring a victory (though the battle cost Cole two-thirds of his battle group). Only a last minute tactical inspiration turned the tide of battle. Land battles begin on Harvest after the UNSC learns that the Covenant have discovered a Forerunner artifact in the polar region. After returning to Earth, Cole is promoted to Admiral and learns that a number of outlying colonies have been destroyed, leaving behind no survivors. Cole begins to move his fleet around, trying to intercept the invaders. Ground and ship-to-ship battles begin in earnest, raging throughout the Outer Colonies. During one ground engagement, Human forces capture one of the aliens. Before succumbing to his wounds, interrogators learn that the aliens refer to themselves as "the Covenant".

7-10 Warships of various classes, plus numerous legions of the Covenant Army.