Gamma Station
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Reach Station Gamma | |||||||||||
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 A heavily damaged Gamma station during the Fall of Reach.
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Unified Earth Government | ||||||||||
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Reach Station Gamma | ||||||||||
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Destroyed during the space engagements over Reach[1] | ||||||||||
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- "Gamma Station Control, reading multiple pings below the orbital defense grid!"
- — Fermion RSO[3]
Reach Station Gamma[2][4][5] sometimes alternately known as Orbital Station Gamma[6][7][8] or simply Gamma Station,[5] was an orbital dockyard used by the United Nations Space Command as part of the UNSC Navy's critical naval infrastructure in the Epsilon Eridani system. The station served as both a critical communications hub and tier-two orbital space dock until its destruction during the Fall of Reach in August 2552.[5]
Overview
Design details
Measuring around 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) in diameter, Gamma Station resembled a large ring in shape, with irregularly-placed communications and conduits placed along the exterior grey hull. In normal operation, the station spins,[2] though for unknown reasons, as the station's artificial gravity means that the deck orientation does not require to be facing the exterior surface of the ring through the use of more conventional centripedal force.[1] Following the commencement of the space battle over Reach, John-117 noted that the station was not spinning anymore.[2] The station's use as a vital long-ranged communications link means that it was equipped with extensive communications facilities, allowing it to relay information between Reach and fleets deployed in the colonies, or to other worlds such as Earth.[6][6] To facilitate the station's operation, it was outfitted with its own artificial intelligence, Doppler.[2]
Due to its use as a tier-two orbital dock,[5] the station was covered in multiple (at least 9) docking bays, each containing a dozen berths divided across two levels.[2] Each of these berths is capable of housing a small spacecraft or shuttle such as a Pelican dropship, private yachts, Office of Naval Intelligence prowlers, and navy scout ships such as the Huygens-class survey ship.[2][5] The ship is held inside its berth by by massive service clamps which prevent the ship from taking off or moving without authorisation.[2]
Alongside the naval dockyards, the station was also equipped with numerous space fighter maintenance hangars. Similarly to those found on refit stations, the fighter maintenance hangar is a fully-pressurised environment, with an exterior airlock and launch tube situated on the outer hull, allowing the station to launch such craft in its defence in combat, or to conduct close air patrols. At the time of the Fall of Reach, the station's air wing included YSS-1000 Sabre fighters.[1]
Transport throughout the massive station was conducted by a tram network, with tram stations situated at notable points of interest across the ring.[1]
Service history
For most of its service life, Gamma Station provided long range communications for UNSC fleets and a vital lifeline between Reach and Earth.[6][6][5] It also served as a tier-two dockyard for smaller spacecraft such as scout ships and prowlers.[5]
Fall of Reach
- Main articles: Fall of Reach, Mission to Gamma Station
On August 14, 2552, Gamma Station reported several slipspace ruptures emanating from a Covenant invasion fleet sent by the Ministry of Resolution. These vessels emerged from slipspace below the planet's orbital defense grid and began attacking population centers.[9]
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.[3] Shortly thereafter, three SPARTAN-IIs (John-117, Linda-058, and James-005) commandeered a D77-TC Pelican[4] 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 Erőd-class orbital weapon platforms, as well as firepower from the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, but not before they dispatched Elite and Jackal rangers to secure the data.[2] 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.[6] Near the end of the battle, a skirmish between a Paris-class heavy frigate and Ceudar-pattern heavy corvette took place within the vicinity of the station.[1] As the battle wore on, the surviving chunks of the station began to break apart, presenting a navigational hazard for ships continuing to operate in the Reach Defense Coordination Zone. As such, once victory in orbit was secured, the Covenant forces remaining near Reach gathered Gamma Station's wreckage over Reach's northern pole alongside that of the other warships destroyed in the battle.[5]
Production notes
The Halo: Reach multiplayer map Condemned is set aboard this station. A dramatised depiction of the Spartans' boarding of the station is depicted on this map in the Defiant Map Pack trailer, Defiant to the End.[10]
Gallery
The Gamma section before the Covenant assault.
Gamma Station floating in orbit.
A D77-TC Pelican piloted by John-117 and Linda-058 approaches the Gamma Station just before a Covenant frigate exited slipspace near the station.
Marines fighting onboard Gamma Station during Fall of Reach.
A severely damaged section of the station during the final stages of the battle for Reach.
Another exterior view of the station.
Sections of the superstructure, having broken apart during the battle.
A hallway within Gamma Station.
A communications room on Gamma Station, with a hologram of the damaged station.
A display showing a schematic and a damage assessment of the station.
A generator room within the station.
Gamma Station's main reactor core.
A Sabre repair bay on the station.
One of Station Gamma's tram stations.
A low-quality rendering of a section of the station's exterior. The main communications room can be seen through the window.
List of appearances
- Halo: The Fall of Reach (First appearance)
- Halo: Reach
- Halo: Fall of Reach
- Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (Mentioned only)[11]
Sources
- ^ a b c d e f Halo: Reach, multiplayer map Condemned
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Halo: The Fall of Reach, chapter 35
- ^ a b Halo: Reach marketing, Halo: Reach announcement trailer
- ^ a b Halo: Fall of Reach - Invasion
- ^ a b c d e f g h Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 36
- ^ a b c d e f Halo Waypoint, Games - Halo: Reach - Maps (Retrieved on Oct 12, 2014) [local archive] [external archive]
- ^ Bungie.net, Defiant Map Pack (Retrieved on Oct 13, 2014) [archive]
- ^ Halo: Reach, multiplayer map Condemned: map description "The final moments aboard Orbital Gamma Station, a human communications space station."
- ^ Halo: Reach, campaign level Long Night of Solace
- ^ Halo Waypoint marketing, Defiant to the End
- ^ Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Library: Sergeant Johnson
