Gamma Station

"Gamma Station Control, reading multiple pings below the orbital defense grid!"

- Fermion RSO

Gamma Station, also known as Reach Station Gamma or Orbital Station Gamma, was a UNSC space station located in orbit around the planet Reach. It was essentially ring-shaped, three kilometers in diameter, with docking bays and communications dishes covering its surface. It was run by a Dockmaster AI named Doppler. The station also possessed a tram system, at least one Sabre repair bay and extensive communications facilities.

History
Prior to the Covenant attack, Gamma Station provided long range communications for UNSC fleets and a vital lifeline between Reach and Earth. On August 14, 2552, Gamma Station reported several slipspace ruptures emanating from a Covenant invasion fleet. These vessels emerged from slipspace below the planet's orbital defense grid and began attacking population centers. Despite the scale of the initial attack, the Office of Naval Intelligence kept the invasion secret from most of the planet's military garrison and civilian population.

On August 30, Gamma Station received a transmission from remote scanning outpost Fermion reporting an unconfirmed in-system slipspace rupture; this belied the arrival of the Fleet of Particular Justice. Shortly thereafter, three SPARTAN-IIs (John-117, Linda-058, and James-005) commandeered a D77-TC Pelican to Reach Station Gamma. An ONI prowler, the Circumference, docked in the station failed to delete its navigation database. Covenant intrusion software had detected the unsecured database and three Covenant frigates were sent to secure the data. Those frigates were destroyed by MAC rounds from the planet's orbital guns, as well as firepower from the, but not before they dispatched Elite and Jackal rangers to secure the data. Eventually, John-117 was able to destroy the database but Linda-058 was clinically killed and James-005 was lost in the vacuum of space after his thruster pack was damaged in combat. Several Marines were onboard the station: Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson and Privates Jenkins, Bisenti, and O'Brien. They were evacuated along with the Spartans.

During the battle, the station was severely damaged, with the station ring finally breaking into multiple pieces. However, a few fortified sections remained intact and fully pressurized. Near the end of the battle, a skirmish between a UNSC frigate and Covenant corvette took place within the vicinity of the station.

Trivia
The Halo: Reach multiplayer map Condemned is set aboard this station.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: Fall of Reach
 * Invasion