Reach

Summary
Located in the Epsilon Eridani star system, Reach was the headquarters for the UNSC, and the main supplier of military and civilian spacecraft. Both FLEETCOM and the Marine Corps had headquarters on Reach, as well as many primary ONI bases, which include CASTLE Base. CASTLE base was located on Reach underneath the Menachite Mountain range. This facility is where the Spartans first began their training. The facility was destroyed after the planet's fall to the Covenant. A secret area beneath Reach's surface contained 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, because the Covenant were fearful of destroying it.

The Covenant discovered the location of Reach during the battle of Sigma Octanus IV. A Forerunner artifact pointed toward Reach as a location of another Forerunner artifact. Coincadentally, the Covenant attatched a spy drone onto the UNSC Iroquois after the battle which allowed them to know the amount of forces around Reach.

Reach was defended by more than a hundred UNSC ships, including the UNSC's flagship Leviathan, the Hannibal, and the Pillar of Autumn. In addition to the fleet, Reach was defended by 20 Mark V Orbital MAC satellites. Though the defenses were enormous, they couldn't hold back the Covenant onslaught.

The Fall of Reach
Military Forces: UNSC

152 UNSC ships (Various Classes)

20 Super MAC Cannons

Platoon of SPARTANs

Military Forces: Covenant

314 Covenant ships (Various Classes)

1 Covenant "Sniper" Ship

The Battle of Reach
August 30, 2552:


 * 0447 Hours: The Remote sensing station Fermion detects incoming Covenant vessels. an emergency message is relayed to FLEETCOM.


 * 0500 Hours: A fleet of over 300 Covenant vessels exits slipspace on the edge of the system.


 * 0517 Hours: FLEETCOM Admiral Roland Freemont issues a general order to all vessels in the REACH, JERICHO, and TANTALUS systems. All vessels and stations initiate the Cole Protocol.


 * 0534 Hours: Covenant vessels make Pinpoint Slipspace jumps attemting to destroy any incoming or outgoing human vessels before they can regroup. One vessel targets the UNSC Pillar of Autumn but is destroyed.


 * 0545 Hours: The Covenant vessels begin a frontal assault. As the Covenant and Human fleet encounter above Reach, it seems to be a stalemate, as Covenant ships take out UNSC ships, while the UNSC ships and MAC cannons take out an equal number. The first salvo by the UNSC vessels destroys a third of the covenant. A Covenant ship, which was deemed a sniper ship by Captain Keyes, enters the fray and snipes out a few UNSC ships.


 * 0558 Hours: Reach Dockmaster AI Doppler sends priority message to FLEETCOM. The ONI prowler Circumference has failed to delete its information logs, in direct violation of the Cole Protocol. Covenant intrusion software detects the information.


 * 0616 Hours: The Spartan soldiers are dispatched from the Pillar of Autumn. A team of three Spartans go aboard the Dock to destroy the Circumfrence, and the rest of the Spartans go to the surface of the planet to defend the power generators for the MAC guns.


 * 0620 Hours: The Covenant fleet retreats from the system. Hundreds of boarding craft land on Reach.


 * 0621 Hours: The boarding craft are discovered. the Covenant fleet returns to the system. Then the Covenant split their 150+ remaining forces. One fleet attacks the UNSC, while another takes out the MAC cannons and send in troops to land on Reach. The UNSC try to split their 50+ remaining forces to engage the Covenant, but there are too many things to cover and too many casualties.  The sniper ship continues to destroy UNSC ships and MAC cannons.


 * 0631 Hours: The spartan team on the orbital generator mission is shot down. They have no choice but to jump from the crashing Pelican and make a "hard landing" on the ground. Most survive.


 * 0637 Hours: The Spartan team on the Circumfrence mission returns to the Pillar of Autumn. Only SPARTAN-117 and a severely wounded SPARTAN-058 make it back.


 * 0640 Hours: 20 new Covenant cruisers emerge from slipspace. The covenant begin glassing Reach starting from the poles.


 * 0647 Hours: The Pillar of Autumn, pursued by a dozen Covenant vessels, retreats from the system, arriving at Installation 04.


 * 0649 Hours: Spartans on the ground set up defenses around ODG Facility A-331.


 * 0711 Hours: SPARTAN-104, SPARTAN-029, and SPARTAN-087 drop a nuclear warhead on a landing covenant cruiser.


 * 0720 Hours: The Covenant destroy ODG Facility A-331, by arian bombardment apparently killing all Spartans there. The surviving MAC guns are now offline. Remaining UNSC vessels have no choice but to retreat.

Related Links

 * Earth