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| {{Era|FOR|H2}}{{battle
| | #REDIRECT [[Fall of Reach]] |
| |prev=[[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV]]
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| |conc=
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| |next=[[Battle of Installation 04]], [[Second Battle of Reach]]
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| |name=Battle of Reach
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| |image=[[Image:Battle of Reach.jpg|middle]]
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| |conflict=[[Human-Covenant War]]
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| |date=August 30, 2552 - September 23, 2552 (UNSC forces Scattered)
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| |place=[[Epsilon Eridani System]], above planet [[Reach]]
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| |result=Pyrrhic Covenant victory; Reach [[Glass|partially glassed]]
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| |battles=
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| |side1=*[[United Nations Space Command]]
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| |side2=*[[The Covenant]]
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| |commanders1=*[[Admiral Roland Freemont]]†
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| |commanders2=*[[Arbiter (character)|Supreme Commander]] of the [[Fleet of Particular Justice]]
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| |forces1=*2 Fleets
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| **152 warships
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| ***2 Carriers
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| ***3 Cruisers
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| ***Several dozen Destroyers
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| ***Frigates
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| ***Corvettes
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| *20 Super [[MAC]] Cannons
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| *Platoon of [[Spartans]]
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| *[[Marines]]
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| |forces2=*[[Fleet of Particular Justice]]
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| **335 Covenant Ships<ref>''Includes the initial 314, the Supercruiser, and the late arriving 20''</ref>.
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| ***1 [[Covenant Supercruiser]]
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| *Legions of ground troops
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| |casual1=*Over 130 ships
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| *20 Super MACs
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| *Ground forces (estimated):
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| **5.7 million dead (5 million due to orbital artillery)
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| **1.5 million wounded
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| *Civilian (estimated):
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| **1 billion total casualties (note only 15 million civilian survivors)
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| |casual2=*~262 ships
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| *Unknown
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| }}
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| == Summary ==
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| Although defeated at the [[Battle of Sigma Octanus IV]], the Covenant managed to place a stealthy tracking device on the {{UNSCShip|Iroquois}}. When the ''Iroquois'' returned to [[Reach]] the human presence, and its extent, on that world was revealed. Ironically, the location of Reach was already known to the Covenant via a [[Forerunner]] artifact they had previously recovered which indicated that Reach was the location of yet another artifact.
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| Less than two months after the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV a large Covenant fleet converged on Reach to recover the artifact and cleanse the human presence. With horrendous casualties sustained by both sides, the Covenant eventually routed the defenders and proceeded to [[glass]] the planet except for the [[Highland Mountains]] and [[CASTLE Base]], the location of the artifact.
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| The artifact itself, a crystal, would later escape Reach and be destroyed, with only a few fragments falling into Covenant hands.
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| * ''See [[Halo: First Strike]] and [[Operation: FIRST STRIKE]]''
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| ==Timeline==
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| ===August 30, 2552:===
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| *'''0447 Hours:''' The [[Remote Scanning Outpost]] [[Fermion]] detects incoming Covenant vessels. an emergency message is relayed to FLEETCOM.
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| *'''0500 Hours:''' A fleet of 314<ref>[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]], page 296</ref> Covenant vessels exits Slipspace on the edge of the system.
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| *'''0517 Hours:''' [[Admiral Roland Freemont]] (FLEETCOM Sector One commander) issues a general order to all vessels in the [[Reach]], [[Jericho VII]], and [[Tantalus]] systems. All vessels and stations initiate the [[Cole Protocol]] and rush to rally point ZULU.
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| *'''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 {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} but is destroyed.
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| *'''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 ''[[Covenant Supercruiser|Supercruiser]]'' by [[Captain Keyes]], arrives and destroys several UNSC ships while outside weapons range.
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| *'''0558 Hours:''' Station Gamma Dockmaster [[AI]] [[Doppler]] is unable to implement the [[Cole Protocol]] on the {{UNSCShip|Circumference}}, 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''.
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| *'''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 is killed when a [[needler]] hits him and propels him into space during combat. Blue Team continue through the station and along the way they rescue [[Sergeant]] [[Johnson]], [[Private]] [[O'Brien]], and [[Private Bisenti]] from many [[Jackal]]s and [[Elite]]s.
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| *'''0620 Hours:''' The Covenant fleet retreats from the system. Hundreds of boarding craft land on Reach.
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| *'''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 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 things to cover and too many casualties. The sniper ship continues to destroy UNSC ships and MAC cannons.
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| *'''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. 4 die, 6 are wounded badly.
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| *'''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]], and [[Private Bisenti]].
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| *'''0640 Hours:''' 20 new Covenant cruisers emerge from Slipspace. The Covenant begin [[glassing]] Reach starting from the poles.
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| *'''0647 Hours:''' The ''Pillar of Autumn'', pursued by a dozen Covenant vessels, retreats from the system, arriving at [[Installation 04]].
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| *'''0649 Hours:''' Red Team sets up defenses around [[ODG Facility A-331]].
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| *'''0711 Hours:''' [[SPARTAN-104]], [[SPARTAN-029]], and [[SPARTAN-087]] plant a nuclear warhead though the gravity lift in a landing Covenant cruiser, losing [[SPARTAN-029]] in the process.
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| *'''0720 Hours:''' The Covenant destroy ODG Facility A-331 by aerial bombardment, though some Spartans escape. The surviving MAC guns are now offline. Remaining UNSC vessels have no choice but to retreat.
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| ==UNSC Forces==
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| ===Space Assets===
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| :'''Carriers'''
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Musashi}}
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Trafalgar}}, [[UNSC Supercarrier|Supercarrier]]
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| :'''Cruisers'''
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Dawn Under Heaven}}, {{ShipClass|Halcyon|cruiser|}}
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}}, {{ShipClass|Halcyon|cruiser|}}
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| :'''Destroyers'''
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Herodotus}}
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Iroquois}}
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Lancelot}}
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Minotaur}}
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Tharsis}}
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| :'''Frigates'''
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Euphrates}}
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Gettysburg}}
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| :'''Prowlers'''
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Circumference}}
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| :'''Other/Unknown Type'''
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Basra}}
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| :*{{UNSCShip|Hannibal}}
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| :*[[Fermion|Remote Sensing Station ''Fermion'']]
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| ===Personnel===
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| *[[Admiral Roland Freemont]]
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| *[[Admiral Whitcomb|Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb]]
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| *[[Captain Jacob Keyes]]
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| ==Sources==
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| <references/>
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