Battle of Reach

The Battle of Reach was one of the largest and bloodiest engagements in the Human-Covenant War. It was fought between the UNSC Defense Force and the Covenant in August 2552.

Background
Despite suffering a severe defeat at the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, the Covenant managed to place a tracking device on the and use it to find Human colony worlds. When the Iroquois returned to Reach, the Human presence, and its extent on that world was disclosed and later revealed to the Covenant fleet. Ironically, the location of Reach was already known to the Covenant via a previously recovered Forerunner artifact which indicated that Reach was the location of yet another artifact.

Opening Skirmishes
As the Covenant fleet sped through slipspace towards Reach, it was detected by the Remote Scanning Outpost Fermion. In accordance with the Cole Protocol, the station's commander Chief Petty Officer McRobb sent an emergency message to FLEETCOM and set the station to self-destruct to keep the Covenant from accessing its science library. A few minutes later, the Covenant fleet (numbering 314 ships) exited slipspace on the outskirts of the system. Admiral Roland Freemont ordered all vessels from the Epsilon Eridani, Jericho, and Tantalus systems to move to Reach to defend the planet. Subsequently, elements of the Covenant fleet attempted to assault the arriving and leaving UNSC ships (including the ) before they could offer any resistance.

Space Battle
Shortly afterward, the majority of the Covenant fleet began to assault the ships and stations over Reach. The UNSC fleet was outnumbered, but the twenty Orbital Defense Platforms above Reach provided support, and the battle soon became a stalemate. A new type of Covenant ship, the Covenant Supercruiser, arrived to the battle. The ship was able to quickly slice through UNSC ships from stern to stern using energy projectors, a new item in the Covenant arsenal. The Pillar of Autumn was able to destroy it, although it was able to destroy several UNSC ships (including the ) before being destroyed. As the space battle continued, the Covenant took heavy losses and (as they did during the battle of Sigma Octanus IV) deployed Spirit dropships to the planet before falling back. The UNSC opened fire on the dropships, destroying many, although the majority managed to deploy their troops on the surface of Reach.

Shortly afterward, the remaining Covenant ships (about 150) divided into two groups: one group attacks the UNSC ships, while the other focuses on the Orbital Defense Platforms. The UNSC fleet, down to 50 ships, tries to defend, but is quickly overwhelmed.

Ground Battle
Thousands of Covenant landed on Reach in an attempt to destroy the Orbital Defense Generators, and were intercepted by marine forces. The remaining SPARTAN-IIs who were not assigned to Reach Station Gamma were sent to Orbital Defense Generator Facility A-331 to assist in the defense of the station. Unfortunately, their Pelican (Bravo 001 piloted by Flight Officer Mitchell and escorted by the Longsword Knife 26) was shot down, resulting in the deaths of some Spartans, and some others were wounded as well. Near their crash site, the surviving Spartans discovered the shellshocked remnants of Charlie Company.

Charlie Company was assigned by Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb to find the prototype NOVA Bombs. They were forced to help defend the Orbital Defense Facilities on their way to their objective. Unfortunately, as the Covenant neared the Orbital Defense Generators, someone at HIGHCOM panicked and ordered Longswords to bomb everything within 500 meters, resulting in the destruction of the Covenant, but also catastrophic friendly fire: Charlie Company was reduced to four men, and its leaders Lieutenant Jake Chapman and Lieutenant Buckman were killed.

The Spartans, after being briefed on the situation by Charlie Company. responded to a distress call from Whitcomb, who requested immediate evacuation. Frederic-104, commander of the Spartans, split the remains of Red Team into four groups: Team Alpha (Frederic-104, Kelly-087, and Joshua-029), which was tasked with eliminating an encampment of 10,000 Covenant and their hovering cruiser (without doing anything that could damage the Orbital Defense Generators), Team Beta, tasked with defense of the Orbital Defense Generators, Team Gamma (Li-008, Anton-044, and Grace-093), ordered to retrieve Whitcomb, and Team Delta (the Charlie Company marines and wounded Spartans including William-043, Isaac-039, and Vinh-030), ordered to secure the Spartans' fallback point at CASTLE Base.

Team Alpha hijacked three Banshees and approached the Covenant encampment (they were ignored by the Grunt Zawaz, who assumed they were Elites) and used Fury Tactical Nuclear Weapons within the shields of the Covenant ship, destroying the encampment and negating the EMP effect that would have shorted the Orbital Defense Geneerators. Joshua was killed in the process. They then fell back to CASTLE Base, blasting their way through the remaining Covenant in the area. Team Gamma and accomplished its mission and fell back to Camp Independence with Whitcomb, where they survived the glassing of the planet. Team Delta fell back to CASTLE Base, but in the process lost the remaining Charlie Company marines and every Spartan save for Vinh, Isaac, and William. When the remnants of Team Alpha and Team Delta arrived at CASTLE Base, they found Catherine Halsey there.

Unfortunately, Team Beta was unable to stop the Covenant, who attacked in swarms of thousands. The Orbital Defense Generators were compromised, and the Covenant glassed Reach.

Mission to Reach Station Gamma
During the space battle, the AI Doppler, controller of Reach Station Gamma, was unable to destroy the vital information onboard the, an ONI prowler involved in Operation: HYPODERMIC. As the Covenant deployed troops to the station, Doppler reported this violation of the Cole Protocol to the Pillar of Autumn before self-destructing himself to keep from further violation. In response, Captain Jacob Keyes sent John-117, Spartan-James, and Linda-058 to the station. They accomplished their task and destroyed the NAV database onboard Reach Station Gamma, but at the cost of James and Linda. While onboard, they rescued some marines onboard the station: Sergeant Major Avery Junior Johnson and Privates Wallace Jenkins, Bisenti, and O'Brien. They then were evacuated by Pelican back to the Pillar of Autumn. Linda-058 was clinically dead, but there was a chance of saving her, so she was placed in a cryo-chamber. John-117 asked Lieutenant Hall to scan for James (who was blown into space) and after they were unable to find him, the Pillar of Autumn did a slipspace jump to Installation 04 pursued by a dozen Covenant ships.

August 30, 2552:

 * 0447 Hours: The Remote Scanning Outpost Fermion detects incoming Covenant vessels. An emergency message is relayed to FLEETCOM. The Outpost then self-destructs per the Cole Protocol due to an unsecured science library and nearby Covenant forces.


 * 0500 Hours: A fleet of 314 Covenant vessels exits Slipspace on the edge of the system.


 * 0517 Hours: Admiral Roland Freemont (FLEETCOM Sector One commander) issues a general order to all vessels in the Reach, Jericho, and Tantalus systems. All vessels and stations initiate the Cole Protocol and rush to rally point ZULU.


 * 0534 Hours: Covenant vessels make pinpoint Slipspace jumps attempting to destroy any incoming or outgoing human vessels before they can regroup. A Covenant Carrier targets the but is destroyed.


 * 0545 Hours: The Covenant vessels begin a frontal assault. As the Covenant and Human fleets engage above Reach, it seems to be a stalemate, as Covenant ships take out UNSC ships, while the UNSC ships and MAC cannon take out an equal number. The first salvo by the UNSC vessels destroys a third of the remaining Covenant fleet. A previously unknown Covenant warship, called a Supercruiser by Captain Keyes, arrives and destroys several UNSC ships while outside human weapons range.


 * 0558 Hours: Station Gamma Dockmaster AI Doppler is unable to implement the Cole Protocol on the, an ONI prowler docked at Reach Station Gamma, due to measures taken to maintain the secrecy of Operation: HYPODERMIC. Doppler sends priority message to FLEETCOM concerning this violation. Covenant intrusion software detects this oversight, and the Covenant deploy troops to seize the NAV database aboard the Circumference.


 * 0616 Hours: The Spartan soldiers are dispatched from the Pillar of Autumn. SPARTAN-117, SPARTAN-058, and Spartan-James form Blue Team and go aboard the Dock to destroy the Circumference, while the remainder form Red Team and head to the surface of Reach to defend the power generators for the MAC guns. James goes MIA when a needler hits his T-PACK and propels him into space during combat. Blue Team continue through the station, rescuing Sergeant Johnson, Private O'Brien, Private Bisenti, and Private Jenkins from Jackals and Elites.


 * 0620 Hours: The Covenant fleet retreats from the system after deploying dropships. The UNSC fleet fires on the ships, destroying many. Hundreds of boarding craft land on Reach.


 * 0621 Hours: The boarding craft are landed and the armory is overrun and the Covenant fleet returns to the system. The then Covenant split their 150+ remaining ships. One fleet attacks the UNSC ships, 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 platforms to cover and too many casualties. The Supercruiser continues to destroy UNSC ships, allowing the other ships to attack the MAC cannons.


 * 0631 Hours: Red Team is shot down. They have no choice but to jump from the crashing Pelican and make a "hard landing" on the ground. Results in 4 dead and 6 seriously injured.


 * 0637 Hours: The Spartan team on the Circumference mission returns to the Pillar of Autumn. Only SPARTAN-117 and clinically dead SPARTAN-058 make it back, with Sergeant Johnson, Private O'Brien, Private Bisenti, and Private Jenkins.


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


 * 0649 Hours: Red Team sets up defenses around ODG Facility A-331.


 * 0711 Hours: SPARTAN-104, SPARTAN-029, and SPARTAN-087 plant a nuclear warhead though the gravity lift in a landing Covenant cruiser, leaving SPARTAN-029 missing, (presumed dead) in the process.


 * 0720 Hours: The Covenant destroy ODG Facility A-331 by aerial bombardment (glassing), though some Spartans escape. The surviving MAC guns are now offline and are quickly destroyed by plasma torpedos. Remaining UNSC vessels have no choice but to retreat. The Covenant warships are split into two groups: 5 ship teams that hunt down the surviving UNSC vessels and a group of ships that align themselves in formation and begin to glass Reach.

Aftermath
The loss of Reach, the single-largest center of UNSC military operations after Earth, was a disaster for humanity. The overwhelming loss of soldiers, starships, and civilians hastened the seemingly-inevitable defeat of the human race, as Earth was the only true military stronghold still intact at this point. What was left of Reach was subsequently placed under Covenant control, and the humans were forced to abandon the system altogether.

The loss of Reach also led directly to the discovery of the fourth Halo, orbiting the Forerunner colony of Threshold. The human forces of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn fought a major ground campaign against the Covenant on Halo's surface, which soon led to the discovery of the Flood. Although most of the Covenant and human forces died in this engagement, they succeeded in quelling the threat posed by the Flood. However, the introduction of this previously-unknown species only intensified the odds faced by the humans.

The Forerunner artifact, a crystal, would later escape Reach and be destroyed, with only a few fragments falling into Covenant hands. .

Space Assets

 * Carriers
 * , Supercarrier
 * Cruisers
 * Destroyers
 * Frigates
 * Not known
 * Prowlers
 * Other/Unknown Type
 * Remote Sensing Station Fermion
 * Frigates
 * Not known
 * Prowlers
 * Other/Unknown Type
 * Remote Sensing Station Fermion
 * Not known
 * Prowlers
 * Other/Unknown Type
 * Remote Sensing Station Fermion
 * Other/Unknown Type
 * Remote Sensing Station Fermion
 * Remote Sensing Station Fermion
 * Remote Sensing Station Fermion

Personnel

 * Admiral Roland Freemont
 * Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb
 * Captain Jacob Keyes
 * Master Chief Petty Officer John-117
 * Linda-058
 * Kelly-087
 * Spartan-James
 * William-043
 * Frederic-104
 * Malcolm-059
 * Joshua-029
 * Lieutenant Hall
 * Lieutenant Dominique
 * Lieutenant Aki Hikowa
 * Ensign William Michael Lovell
 * Staff Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson
 * Flight Officer Mitchell
 * Private Wallace A. Jenkins
 * Private Bisenti
 * Private O'Brien
 * Corporal C. Errera
 * Chief Petty Officer McRobb
 * Lieutenant, Junior Grade Bill Streeter
 * Lieutenant, Junior Grade David Brightling

Trivia
In Halo 2, during the First Battle of Earth, Terrence Hood notes "something's not right. The fleet that destroyed Reach was fifty times this size (15)". 15 times 50 is 750, far higher than the book's count of 315.