Battle of Reach
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Summary
Although defeated at the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, the Covenant managed to place a stealthy tracking device on the UNSC 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.
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.
The artifact itself, a crystal, would later escape Reach and be destroyed, with only a few fragments falling into Covenant hands.
Timeline
August 30, 2552:
- 0447 Hours: The Remote Scanning Outpost Fermion detects incoming Covenant vessels. an emergency message is relayed to FLEETCOM.
- 0500 Hours: A fleet of 314[1] 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 VII, 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 UNSC Pillar of Autumn 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 weapons range.
- 0558 Hours: Station Gamma Dockmaster AI Doppler is unable to implement the Cole Protocol on the UNSC 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.
- 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 Jackals and Elites.
- 0620 Hours: The Covenant fleet retreats from the system. Hundreds of boarding craft land on Reach.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 0640 Hours: 20 new Covenant cruisers emerge from Slipspace. The Covenant begin glassing Reach starting from the poles.
- 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, losing SPARTAN-029 in the process.
- 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.
Losses
- Over 130 UNSC ships and all Super MAC platforms were destroyed, in addition to the military installation itself. Covenant losses include the following:
1 Carrier and her fighter compliment destroyed by the Pillar of Autumn upon entering the system. Approximately 104 ships destroyed by Reach's minefield and the opening UNSC Fleet and Super-MAC barrage. 30 more ships destroyed by continuing Super-MAC fire. Approximately 24-36 dropships shattered by Super MAC shockwaves. 3 additional suicidal Covenant frigates. 100 additional dropships destroyed by re-tasked Archer missile fire from the Pillar of Autumn. 1 Covenant Flagship destroyed by remote detonated nuclear warhead from the Pillar of Autumn. 1 Covenant Cruiser destroyed by Spartan-087 including its 10,000 landing troops. Numerous other losses inflicted by other UNSC and Spartan units groundside and on Reach Station Gamma.
In total, approximately 262 Covenant capital ships were lost at Reach in addition to well over a hundred troop transports.
UNSC Forces
Space Assets
- Carriers
- Cruisers
- Destroyers
- Frigates
- Prowlers
- Other/Unknown Type
Personnel
Sources
- ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 296
