Reach

For the upcoming game, see Halo: Reach.

Reach was a Human colony world in the Epsilon Eridani System, located within the Inner Colonies. At 10.5 light years from the Sol System, it is located at Earth's metaphorical doorstep. Reach is the fourth largest planet in the Epsilon Eridani system, and located second closest to the star ε Eridani. Reach is stable for a planet of its age, approximately one billion years.^[1]

Overview

A relatively young planet, Reach was originally inhospitable for human life. Mostly a rugged and harsh wilderness filled with towering mountains and weather-beaten forests, Reach's surface is pockmarked with meteor impact craters.^[2] Many of the original settlers hail from Eastern Europe, which is reflected in some of the place names on the planet. Despite Reach's harsh nature, some settlers have chosen to live in homesteads in the wilderness. Rounded and enclosed, they are comfortable but practical, shuttered against Reach's forceful climate and bunkered into hillsides. It also relates their independent nature; powered by windmills, they're off the grid and self-sustaining.^[3]

Reach was one of the most important headquarters for the United Nations Space Command and the main supplier of military and civilian spacecraft, and the location of the UNSC's largest and most active shipyard. High Command, Fleet Command and the Marine Corps maintained headquarters on Reach, as well as many primary Naval Intelligence bases, which included the highly classified CASTLE Base. It is also where the UNSC's most elite troops, the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, were trained. Reach's purpose was not solely military however; the surface of the planet also featured farmland and civilian towns and districts.^[4] The largest cities on Reach were Manassas, Quezon and Ezhtergom.^[1]

ε Eridani's superior interstellar jump point has been the most active Slipstream Space transfer zone (arrivals and departures) for over thirty years, with ε Eridani's inferior IJP and Sol's superior IJP regularly trading second and third place spots. Reach was also the largest non-automated exporter of titanium.^[1]

After the Battle of Reach, the planet was mostly glassed. When UNSC forces finally abandoned the planet, a small Covenant occupation fleet remained in the system.

History

UNSC Powerhouse

File:Reach scenery.png

Two Falcon Tiltrotor aircraft above mountainous landscape on the surface of Reach.

First planetary confirmations of Reach were in early 21st century.^[1] Originally colonized in the early 25th century^[3] for its rich titanium deposits, Reach still exports more of it than any other non-automated human world^[1] and has mines throughout it running thousands of meters deep. ONI's secret CASTLE base was located in one of these mines underneath Menachite Mountain. ONI commandeered the mine after it breached a secret complex beneath Reach's surface containing a Forerunner artifact that was highly desired by the Covenant. The fact that this artifact was so valuable to them is perhaps the main reason anyone survived the aftermath of the Battle of Reach at all, as the Covenant were afraid of destroying it. This facility was also the birthplace of the legendary SPARTAN-II Program.

The Spartan IIs were trained and housed on Reach, and they knew it by heart and by soul. It was said in Halo: First Strike by Fred-104 that Reach was their home, and every Spartan II would fight to the death to defend her. It was hinted that Reach was more important to the Spartans than Earth, the home world of humanity.

Despite its position as the UNSC's largest naval base, strategic headquarters, and second-largest population center, the Epsilon Eridani system was wracked by Insurrectionist activity throughout the early 26th Century. Reach's sister planet, Tribute, was one of the fronts for the UNSC's anti-terrorist campaign, Operation: TREBUCHET. In 2525, mere months prior to the outbreak of the Human-Covenant War, Reach was the site of a major terrorist bombing against the luxury liner National Holiday. Two taxi-shuttles filled with explosives were crashed into the liner, resulting in the liner to lose control and plummet into the atmosphere, incinerating everyone on board.

The Fall of Reach

Main article: Battle of Reach

The Pillar of Autumn escapes Reach.

Reach's darkest hour was near the close of the Human-Covenant War in 2552. The Covenant discovered the location of Reach from a Forerunner artifact recovered during the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV. That artifact disclosed its locality, as Reach was the location of yet another artifact. Coincidentally the Human presence on Reach was revealed when the destroyer Iroquois returned to Reach ensuing the battle, unaware that a Covenant spy drone was attached to her hull near the engines. As such the Covenant were aware of the defender's strength prior to the assault.^[5]

The UNSC had formulated a plan to end the war. A platoon of SPARTAN-IIs would hijack a Covenant ship, head to their home planet, kidnap the Covenant leadership, and use them to broker a truce with the Covenant. The Spartans were aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn with Captain Keyes and his crew. They were just about to leave for their mission when a signal ordered their immediate recall to Reach to defend the planet against a massive Covenant attack. Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 ordered the majority of the SPARTANs to the planet's surface to protect the generators for the Orbital Defense Platforms while he and two other Spartans boarded Reach Station Gamma to secure an unprotected NAV database aboard the ONI corvette Circumference.

The battle was a disaster for the numerically-inferior UNSC fleet, despite the Super MAC Guns, resulting in the planet's destruction by means of plasma bombardment. CASTLE base was destroyed after the planet's fall and the Covenant began searching for a Forerunner crystal. UNSC forces finally abandoned the planet during the Raid of Reach, a few weeks later.

Defenses

While Earth was rightly seen as the UNSC's commercial, political, and cultural center, Reach was undeniably the hub of its military power. The Epsilon Eridani Defense Fleet was a full strength Carrier Group with the Supercarrier UNSC Trafalgar at its core.^[1]

Orbiting around Reach were a semi-mobile array of twenty Orbital Defense Platforms (ODP), equipped with heavy MAC Guns also known as "big sticks," some of which were in place as early as 2527. They were in turn defended by multiple wings of single ships and tactical multi-role craft. In addition, there were also about 100 to 150 warships stationed in the Epsilon Eridani System at any time. The ODPs were destroyed during the invasion of Reach, or were disabled by ground troops by destroying their power source. Despite their huge numbers, the fleet of warships was destroyed by an even larger Covenant fleet.

Total Available Military Manpower: 385,421,100
Total Land Assets: 58,430
Total Naval Assets: 1,209 (T); 75 (X)
Total Air Assets: 11,050
Serviceable Airports: 1,246
Defense Budget: cR. 38,287,000,000 [2548]^[1]

Locations

Ground Locations

Cities

Orbital Locations

Trivia

A terrestrial extrasolar planet, referred to as Epsilon Eridani c, exists in the Epsilon Eridani system, though its existence is as of yet unconfirmed. Some have speculated this planet to be Reach, though a closer look to its statistics reveals the two planets have differences that make it impossible for them to be the same. For example, Epsilon Eridani c orbits the star over 37 Astronomical units away, which is well beyond the habitable zone in any star system. This also results in it having an orbital period of 280 years, as opposed to the 390 days Reach has.^[6]