Summary
Located in the Epsilon Eridani star system, Reach is the headquarters for the UNSC, and the main supplier of military spacecraft. ONI's CASTLE Base is located on Reach underneath the Menachite Mountain range. This facility is where the Spartans first began their training. The facility was destroyed after the planet's fall to the Covenant. A secret area beneath Reach's surface contained 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 Reach at all, because the Covenant were fearful of destroying it.
Reach was defended by more than a hundred UNSC ships, including the UNSC's flagship Leviathan, the Hannibal, and the Pillar of Autumn. In addition to the fleet, Reach was defended by 20 Mark V Orbital MAC satellites. Though the defenses were enormous, they couldn't hold back the Covenant onslaught.
The Fall of Reach
Military Forces: UNSC
152 UNSC ships (Various Classes)
20 Super MAC Cannons
Platoon of SPARTANs
Military Forces: Covenant
314 Covenant ships (Various Classes)
1 Covenant "Sniper" Ship
The Battle
Starts off with the Covenant approacing the Outer Limits of the Epsilon Eridani System. This alerts all UNSC ships to return to Reach ASAP and prepare for battle. As the Covenant and Human fleet encounter 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, until a Covenant ship, which was deemed a sniper ship by Captain Keyes, enters the fray and snipes out a few UNSC ships. Then the Covenant split their 150+ remaining forces. One fleet attacks the UNSC, 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. The Covenant get ground troops to attempt to disable the generators for the MAC Cannons. Also, the stealth ship, Circumference, is detected by Covenant forces at Orbital Station Gamma, with an intact NAV database, a direct violation of the Cole Protocol. The SPARTANs are forced to split into 2 groups. 3 SPARTANS head for the Circumference, while the rest head groundside. The SPARTANs are able to destroy the NAV database, but at a heavy cost. Only SPARTAN-117 leaves alive. Groundside, even though there is the SPARTANs are down there, the sheer number of Covenant forces overwhelm them, and they take over the generators. After the Super MAC's fall, 20+ fresh Covenant ships approach from Slipspace and prepare to glass the planet. The UNSC has no choice but to initiate the Cole Protocol and retreat.
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