First contact with human species came during the excavation of various worlds in search of valuable artifacts or holy structures pertaining to the Kovunanto religion, as well as finding the seven ancient wonders that were built ages long before them and its foundation. The seeding of this potentially brutal conflict stems from a long-perceived misunderstanding after Mediator Bias frequently told the Kovunanto's most prestigious caste before the Prophets that finding their end goal to reach the same level of existence as the ones who built the megastructures, the artifacts, and the countless worlds they once inhabited. Mediator Bias also noted that the Kovunanto weren't actually the ones being chosen to take up the Mantle of Responsibility, knowing all too well that the Kovunanto's very faith lies deep in the activation of these seven ancient wonders, but fail to realize that they're just mega-destructive sterilizers only meant to stop an ancient parasite that ravages everyone on a pre-determined cycle.
Sensing this, two of the seven highest-ranked Sangheili chosen to lead their armies, security and fleets, Luci 'Demacee and Lena 'Vitellai, decided that they couldn't stand the information with Mediator Bias any longer after being distracted for hours, and ordered the Lekgolo worms to disconnect the ancient ancilla to prevent such information from going out into the galaxy. Upon being called to the Sanctum of the Oracle with the other five highest-ranked Sangheili, where Prophets of Velia (Veil), Rouya (Vision), and Chaya (Life), had officially declared an Age of Revelation. Within days of slipspace travel which would've taken them years without it, the first strategic world they come across is a planet that is too peculiar for even Shipmaster Ruto 'Danomai of the flagship Unflinching Spirit to understand. Clarification of the identification of such a world with no holy relics or structures on the surface leads to Shipmaster Mruha 'Krahamee from the Advent of Deep Wisdom to ask Shipmaster Ruto 'Danomai if Minor Prophet of Grace and the Prophet of Velia would approve in commencing first strike without so much as starting negotiations to hail them, since that world is far too primitive, yet it carries strange auras, they counted four in total from four different continents. The targeted planet in question is terrestrial with vast oceans teeming with life and many archipelagos with two polar ice caps and a natural satellite. Shipmaster Mruha 'Krahamee then asks Shipmaster Ruto 'Danomai to begin scanning again for any potential signs of lifeforms, and it turns out they are indeed suspicious that Mediator Bias is correct all along, highlighting the lifeforms on screen as red, meaning they're hostile.
Prophet of Velia and Minor Prophet of Grace decrees that these people aren't meant to be on the path to the Great Journey, that they're not meant to take their place to activate the seven ancient wonders, the maintenance of countless artifacts, and whatever holy structures they tend to guard, ignoring the whole misunderstanding altogether due to their fanatical commitment to achieving this goal. Even if that means it would take a very long time, or even forever ensuring that there isn't a single generation capable of undertaking such responsibility word by word from Mediator Bias before the disconnection. Upon realizing that humans regardless of shape, form, or origin, are deemed heretical by nature and not fit for Kovunanto citizenship as well as being the "false" inheritors of the Mantle, thus the Prophet of Velia onboard the flagship Unflinching Spirit decrees to humanity without preconditions, translated from Latin: "Your heretical presence is an affront to the Gods, and you will not escape from the threads of fate."
Immediately hearing of this, the seven highest-ranking Sangheili ordered all the Shipmasters of the armada to begin full-scale bombardment at will. The armada consists in descending quantity order: 77 battlecruisers for high-power bombardment, 70 examiner ships for excavating relics using high-precision, low-power beams, 65 procurator ships to provide backup morale and provisions, 33 refueling and resupply ships, 27 heavy cruisers for penetrating defenses, 13 executioner-class ships to maintain security, 12 frigates as auxiliary, and 3 supercarriers for ground assault deployment. Of the 10 million, 65% are the Unggoy as light infantry, with 12% are the Kig-Yar as scouts and snipers, 8% are the Sangheili who will lead the forces both in space and on the ground, 7% are the Jiralhanae as heavy infantry, 5% are the Yanme’e to provide distraction swarms, 2% are the Legkolo as shock troops as well as their Scarabs, and 1% are the Huragok as maintenance, with occasional shielding protection, and will explode on death. Within the 300 ships there are 375,000 Banshees for air support, 200,000 Ghosts for covering ground and ramming, 180,000 Seraphs to protect the armada, 75,000 Wraiths for heavy ground assault, 30,000 Phantoms for ground deployments, 20,000 Revenants as backup ground support, 15,000 excavation platforms, and plenty of anti-air, anti-personnel turrets, sniping tower placements, jammer shields, and cover-fire energy shield objects on demand whenever there’s a ground deployment.
The war goals of the conflict on the Kovunanto side are:
1. Cleansing of all human worlds to keep the promise of the Great Journey in the hands of the Kovunanto, collecting a shard per glassed world for record-keeping
2. Excavate as many high-value holy relics on worlds with holy structures present as possible for record-keeping
3. Finding seven ancient wonders and locate their Sacred Icons
4. Finding the Ark and activate the Array
And so, the Human-Kovunanto War officially begins, starting with the Four Lands as the initial strategic target.
