Editing Timeline of the Fall of Reach

 

This is a '''timeline of the events slightly before, during, and slightly after the [[Fall of Reach]]'''. Officially, the Fall of Reach took place between July 25 and August 30, 2552.<ref name="H3R">[[:File:ONI Plaque Right.jpg|''Halo 3: ODST'', ONI Memorial]]</ref> Though notable skirmishes and engagements took place before and after this timeframe. Concurrently with these events, the [[Battle for Tribute]] as well as skirmishes for [[Site 17]] in the [[Oort cloud]] of the [[Epsilon Eridani system]] were taking place.

*Fireteam [[3 Charlie]], along with other special warfare fireteams under command of [[Urban Holland|Colonel Holland]], are sent to investigate [[Visegrad]] after contact with the comms relay is lost.<ref name="hrwinter">''Halo: Reach'', campaign level, [[Winter Contingency]]</ref>

*'''0728 Hours:''' [[Noble Team]] is ordered to investigate a possible [[Insurrectionist]] activity at the disabled [[Visegrád Relay]]. Shortly after, the team learns that the Covenant are responsible for [[Battle of Visegrád|the attack]] on the relay. After retaking the relay, Noble Team discovers a data module on one of the dead staff. [[WINTER CONTINGENCY (protocol)|WINTER CONTINGENCY]] is declared.{{Ref/Reuse|hrwinter}}

*'''1128 hours:''' A [[Ceudar-pattern heavy corvette|Covenant corvette]] [[Battle of Sword Base|attacks]] ONI [[SWORD Base]]. Noble Team is deployed to secure the base and surrounding outposts. After the corvette is destroyed by orbital bombardment, Noble Team meets up with Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] and hands over the [[data module]] retrieved from [[Visegrád Relay]].<ref>''Halo: Reach'', campaign level, [[ONI: Sword Base]]</ref>

*Commander [[Ádám Virág]] receives a memorandum concerning the shipment of [[H-165 target locator]]s sent to SWORD Base.<ref>''[[Halo Legendary Crate]]'', [[:File:LC 06 Doc2.jpg|Loot Crate#6]]</ref>

*'''2630 hours''' Two members of Noble Team, Noble Six and Noble Three, [[Mission to Szurdok Ridge|investigate]] a Covenant-held "dark zone" in the Viery Territory, which UNSC instruments are unable to penetrate. The pair pushes into the zone, encountering moderate Covenant resistance, and locates a Covenant stealth pylon. After rigging the pylon with explosives, Six and Three push further into the zone and discover that the Covenant have covertly established a large landing zone, with at least three Corvettes and many ground assets.<ref>''Halo: Reach'', campaign level, [[Nightfall]]</ref>

*'''0800 hours:''' [[UNSC]] forces begin a full-scale assault on the [[Viery Territory]]. Noble Team is sent to gather intelligence of Covenant-occupied sites and to destroy an [[Spire One|EMP-emitting Covenant tower]]. It is later discovered the tower served as a teleporter linked to a cloaked [[Covenant supercarrier]]. The {{UNSCShip|Grafton}} is destroyed by the supercarrier's [[energy projector]].<ref>''Halo: Reach'', campaign level, [[Tip of the Spear]]</ref>

*'''1248 hours:''' Covenant forces once again attack [[SWORD Base]] and occupy the site.{{Ref/Reuse|hrlnos}}

*'''1248 hours:''' Noble Team assaults and retakes the [[Sabre Program Launch/Research Range|Sabre launch facility]] and uses it as a staging point for [[Operation: UPPER CUT]]. Noble Team disables and boards one of the Covenant corvettes to use it as a delivery system for their improvised slipspace bomb. Due to a malfunction with the triggering mechanism, a [[Jorge-052|member]] of Noble Team is forced to detonate it manually. The supercarrier is destroyed just as a larger [[Covenant fleet]] arrives above Reach.{{Ref/Reuse|hrlnos}} Simultaneously, [[Operation: LEFT JAB]] took place, distracting parts of the Fleet of Valiant Prudence.<ref>''[[Halo: Fleet Battles]]'', [[Scenario Seven: Finishing Blow]]</ref>

*[[Siege of New Alexandria]]: Covenant invasion force under the command of [[Jiralhanae]] begin an assault on [[New Alexandria (location)|New Alexandria]].<ref name="hrexodus">''Halo: Reach'', campaign level, [[Exodus]]</ref>

*'''1534 hours:''' The Covenant fleet begins glassing targeted areas of Reach, and a battle breaks out in [[New Alexandria (location)|New Alexandria]]. Noble Six and remaining [[UNSC Army|Army]] troopers assist in the evacuation of civilians from the city.{{Ref/Reuse|hrexodus}}

*'''1857 hours:''' Noble Six links up with the rest of Noble Team. The team destroys three jammers installed by the Covenant, allowing the UNSC to safely evacuate all personnel from the [[Olympic Tower|ONI HQ]]. When the team reunites, they are ordered by [[Urban Holland|Colonel Holland]] to proceed to Sword Base. New Alexandria is glassed, and another [[Catherine-B320|member]] of NOBLE Team is killed by a [[Sangheili Field Marshal]] shortly after its commencement.<ref name="hrnewalex">''Halo: Reach'', campaign level, [[New Alexandria]]</ref>

*The remnants of [[NOBLE Team]] are extracted by a Pelican from the ruins of [[New Alexandria (location)|New Alexandria]].{{Ref/Reuse|hrnewalex}}

*[[SPARTAN-B312]] and a team of [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper|ODSTs]] secure a landing zone for NOBLE Team's Falcon. Later NOBLE Team proceeds inside [[Sword Base]] only to learn their [[The Package|true mission]]: escort a part of Cortana to the ''Pillar of Autumn''.<ref>''Halo: Reach'', campaign level, [[The Package]]</ref>

[[File:Reach glassed.png|thumb|250px|Reach being glassed by the Covenant.]]

*'''0534 Hours:''' Covenant vessels make pinpoint slipspace jumps attempting to destroy any incoming or outgoing human vessels before they can regroup. A {{Pattern|Ruma|light carrier}} targets the {{UNSCShip|Pillar of Autumn}} but is destroyed.<ref name="tforchapter33">''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', Chapter 33</ref>

*'''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 cannons take out an equal number. The first salvo by the UNSC vessels destroys a third of the remaining Covenant fleet. An {{Pattern|Kewu|battleship}} arrives and destroys several UNSC ships while outside human weapons range.{{Ref/Reuse|tforchapter33}}

*'''0616 Hours:''' The Spartan-IIs are dispatched from the ''Pillar of Autumn''. [[John-117]], [[Linda-058]], and [[James-005]] 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 [[thruster pack]] and propels him into space during combat. Blue Team continue through the station, rescuing Staff Sergeant [[Avery Junior Johnson|Johnson]]; Private [[O'Brien]], Private [[Bisenti]], and Pvt. [[Wallace A. Jenkins]] from Kig-Yar and Sangheili.<ref>''Halo: The Fall of Reach'', Chapters 34-35</ref><ref>''Halo: First Strike'', Chapter 1</ref>

*'''0631 Hours:''' Red Team's [[Bravo 001|Pelican]] is shot down. They have no choice but to jump from the crashing Pelican and make a "hard landing" on the ground. Results in four dead and six seriously injured.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', Chapter 2</ref>

*'''0647 Hours:''' Captain Keyes of the ''Pillar of Autumn'' orders the vessel to retreat from the system. However, Dr. Catherine Halsey contacts the ''Autumn'', urgently requesting that Keyes drydock at the [[Asźod ship breaking yards]] on Reach to collect Cortana's fragment and the vital information she held.<ref name="hrpoa">''Halo: Reach'', campaign level, [[The Pillar of Autumn]]</ref> Keyes used the brief time on the surface to make minor repairs to the ''Autumn''.{{Ref/Note|This entry, while possibly not entirely accurate, is an attempt to reconcile an inconsistency between ''Halo: The Fall of Reach'' and ''Halo: Reach''. In ''The Fall of Reach'', the ''Pillar of Autumn'' is said to jump away from the system at this time. However, as revealed in ''Halo: Reach'', the vessel had initiated an emergency drydock at 16:52. This implies that the ''Autumn'' either remained in the system after its supposed jump, or that the part of the book with the ship escaping has been overridden altogether.}}

*'''0649 Hours:''' Red Team sets up defenses around ODG Facility A-331.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', Chapter 3</ref>

*'''0711 Hours:''' [[Frederic-104|Fred-104]], [[Joshua-029]], and [[Kelly-087]] plant a nuclear warhead through the gravity lift in a landing Covenant cruiser, leaving Joshua-029 [[Missing in action|MIA]] (presumed [[Killed in action|KIA]]) in the process.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', Chapter 4</ref>

*'''0901 Hours:''' Dr. Halsey, Fred, Kelly, [[William-043]], [[Vinh-030]], and [[Isaac-039]] begin rummaging through CASTLE Base's abandoned interior and plan to head deeper into the base. Dr. Halsey initiates [[Operation: WHITE GLOVE]] at CASTLE Base.<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', Chapter 14</ref>

*'''1652 hours''': The remainder of [[Noble Team]] consisting of Carter-A259, Emile-A239, and SPARTAN-B312 head to the Asźod ship breaking yards to deliver a fragment of Cortana, which holds important navigation data, to the ''Pillar of Autumn''. Carter rams his Pelican into a Scarab, allowing the remaining parts of Noble Team to pass. Emile and SPARTAN-B312 head to platform D in the ship breaking yards to meet with Captain Keyes and to deliver Cortana over. Emile dies when he is stabbed by a Covenant Zealot wielding an Energy Sword. SPARTAN-B312 successfully delivers the package to the ''Autumn'' and allows the vessel to escape by destroying an incoming Covenant battlecruiser using a mass driver. The ''Pillar of Autumn'', pursued by a dozen Covenant vessels, retreats from the system, heading for [[Installation 04]].{{Ref/Reuse|hrpoa}}

**Shortly afterwards: A series of detonations by Covenant forces looking for them cause the deaths of [[Vinh-030]] and [[Isaac-039]].<ref>''Halo: First Strike'', Chapters 13-15</ref>

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