Reach

Located in the Epsilon Eridani system in FLEETCOM Sector One, Reach was one of the most important headquarters for the UNSC and the main supplier of military and civilian spacecraft. HIGHCOM, FLEETCOM and the UNSC Marine Corps had headquarters on Reach, as well as many primary ONI bases, which included CASTLE Base. It was the most populated planet after Earth in the UNSC.

After the Battle of Reach, the planet was completely uninhabited and mostly glassed. When UNSC forces finally abandoned the planet, a small Covenant occupation fleet remained in the system.

UNSC Powerhouse
Originally colonized for its rich titanium deposits, Reach had mines throughout it running thousands of meters deep. ONI's secret CASTLE base was located in one of these mines underneath Menachite Mountain. ONI commandeered the mine after it breached a secret area beneath Reach's surface containing a Forerunner artifact that was highly desired by the Covenant. The fact that this artifact was so valuable to them is perhaps the main reason anyone survived Reach at all, as the Covenant were afraid of destroying it. This facility was also the birthplace of the legendary SPARTAN-II Program.

Despite its position as the UNSC's largest naval base, strategic headquarters, and second-largest population center, the Epsilon Eridani system was wracked by Insurrectionist activity throughout the early 26th Century. Reach's sister planet, Tribute, was one of the fronts for the UNSC's anti-terrorist campaign, Operation: TREBUCHET. In 2525, mere months prior to the outbreak of the Human-Covenant War, Reach was the site of a major terrorist bombing against the luxury liner National Holiday. A taxi filled with explosives was crashed into the liner, resulting in the deaths of all onboard.

The Fall of Reach
Reach's darkest hour was near the close of the war in 2552. The Covenant discovered the location of Reach from a Forerunner artifact recovered during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV. That artifact disclosed its locality, as Reach was the location of yet another artifact. Coincidentally the Human presence on Reach was revealed when the destroyer Iroquois returned to Reach ensuing the battle, unaware that a Covenant spy drone was attached to her hull near the engines. As such the Covenant were aware of the defender's strength prior to the assault.

The UNSC had formulated a plan to end the war. A platoon of SPARTAN-IIs would hijack a Covenant ship, head to their home planet, kidnap the Covenant leadership, and use them to broker a truce with the Covenant. The Spartans were onboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn with Captain Keyes and his crew. They were just about to leave for their mission when a signal ordered their immediate recall to Reach to defend the planet against the Covenant. Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 ordered the majority of the SPARTANs to the planet's surface to protect the generators for the Orbital Defense Platforms while he and two other Spartans boarded Reach Station Gamma to secure an unprotected NAV database aboard the ONI corvette Circumference.

The battle was a disaster for the numerically-inferior UNSC fleet despite the super MAC guns and the planet was glassed by plasma bombardment. CASTLE base was destroyed after the planet's fall and the Covenant began searching for a Forerunner crystal. UNSC forces finally abandoned the planet during the Raid of Reach, a few weeks later.

Defenses
Orbiting around Reach were twenty Orbital Defense Platforms, equipped with heavy MAC Guns also known as "big sticks". In addition, there were also 150 warships stationed in the Epsilon Eridani System at any time. The ODPs were destroyed during the Invasion of Reach, or were disabled by ground troops by destroying their power source. Despite their huge numbers, the fleet of warships was destroyed by an even larger Covenant fleet.

Ground Locations

 * Highland Mountains
 * Menachite Mountain
 * CASTLE Base
 * Camp Hathcock
 * Camp Independence
 * Longhorn Valley
 * Big Horn River
 * Fairchild Field
 * HighCom Armory Omega
 * Military Reservation 01478-B
 * Military Wilderness Training Preserve
 * ODG Facility A-331
 * Olympic Tower
 * Reach Naval Academy

Orbital Locations

 * ONI Medical Facility
 * Reach Station Gamma
 * Orbital Defense Platforms