Reach

"[…]our fortress among the stars."

- Dr. Catherine Halsey

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 second closest to the star Epsilon Eridani.

The Forerunners
The Forerunners once had some sort of presence on Reach, roughly 100,000 years before Human colonization. They built at least two structures; one beneath Menachite Mountain, and another beneath the Babd Catha Ice Shelf. Both of these were later discovered by the UNSC and commandeered by the Office of Naval Intelligence.

UNSC Powerhouse
First confirmations of Reach's existence were in the early 21st century. It was originally colonized in 2362, by the Odyssey for its rich titanium deposits. The mines all over the planet, ran thousands of meters deep. ONI's secret CASTLE Base was located in one of these mines underneath Menachite Mountain. The Office of Naval Intelligence 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 Fall 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. It was said 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.

The Insurrection
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 smashed into the liner, resulting in the liner to lose control and plummet into the atmosphere, incinerating everyone on board as well as burning the paint off any ship in a 2 kilometer radius.

The Fall of Reach
Reach's darkest hour was near the close of the Human-Covenant war in the summer of 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.

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.

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 glassing. CASTLE base was destroyed after the planet's fall and the Covenant began searching for a Forerunner crystal. When UNSC forces finally abandoned the planet, a small Covenant occupation fleet remained in the system.

Revival and Re-Terraforming Efforts
A scouting team arrived on Reach to see the true damage to the planet in November 2553, and prepare the planet for reterraforming after substantial glassing. By 2589, Reach had gone through re-terraforming and it was restored to a habitable state, with new human colonists re-settling the planet. In 2610, at least the city of New Alexandria was re-settled

Trade
Reach had nine space elevators, three located near the city of New Alexandria, and one in Manassas

Before the Covenant invasion, Epsilon Eridani's superior interstellar jump point had been the most active Slipstream Space transfer zone (arrivals and departures) for over thirty years, with the system'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, and had many titanium mines on the surface. Titanium was in such abundance in fact, that entire spires of the element rose up from the ground.

Reach as well traded livestock, specifically Moa, to the planet Gannick 22. One last shipment was sent prior to the Fall of Reach.

Ship Breaking
Ship breaking was a very lucrative business as there was an on ground facility and there were orbital locations too for dismantling ships of all kinds. Metal taken from these ships were sent to nearby metal working refineries where they are melted down and can be recast and reformed for any other products that can be made into metal. gay

Corporations On Planet
Reach was the home of many corporations. They either had industrial facilities or commercial/administrative office towers on the planet. These corporations include:

Defenses
Reach was one of, if not 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. HIGHCOM, FLEETCOM and the Marine Corps maintained headquarters on Reach, as well as many primary Naval Intelligence bases, which included the highly classified CASTLE Base. It was also where the UNSC's most elite troops, including the ODSTs as well as the SPARTAN-IIs, were trained.

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 at its core.

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]

Culture
Many of the original settlers hailed from Eastern Europe, particularly Hungary, which is reflected in some of the names of locations on the planet. Many of the planet's inhabitants also spoke Hungarian as their first language. Despite Reach's harsh nature, some settlers chose to live in small communities of homesteads, referred to as "Kivas," in the wilderness instead of the major cities. Rounded and enclosed, they were comfortable but practical, shuttered against Reach's forceful climate and bunkered into hillsides. It also related their independent nature; powered by wind turbines and hydroelectric plants, they were off the grid and self-sustaining.

Reach's purpose was not solely military however; the surface of the planet also featured farmland and civilian towns and districts. The largest cities on Reach were Manassas, Quezon and Ezhtergom.

Reach as well had a large sporting event or was the host planet for the 2552 Reach Galactic Cup.

Topography
Reach is a young planet with an age of no more than one billion years. Compared to the 4.6 billion years of Earth, Reach is remarkably geologically stable. Reach is larger than Earth, having a diameter of 15,273 kilometers, compared to the 12,756 kilometers diameter of Earth. Reach was originally inhospitable for human life, requiring some degree of terraforming before it could be colonized. Mostly a rugged and harsh wilderness filled with towering mountains, deserts and weather-beaten forests, The surface is pockmarked with meteor impact craters, with some of them forming large seas.

While Reach was being glassed, many polar regions like the Babd Catha Ice Shelf partially melted. A large ionic storm formed at Aszod because of this glassing, which caused it to rain. After the Fall of Reach, most of the planet's surface was glassed.

Flora and Fauna
Reach had a thriving eco-system with various different species. The Highland Mountains contain a diverse range of flora and fauna. There were hundreds of different kinds of trees, plants, and animals including Douglas Firs, Cedars, Wild Blueberry Bushes, Moa, gray wolves (Imported from Earth), and Owls (Imported from Earth). Szurdok Ridge also had the alien Gúta. New Alexandria had rats (Imported from Earth) that lived in the maintenance areas in the city. There were also Koi in the Sinoviet Center. All over the planet, various avian species, including natives of Earth can be seen.

Ground locations

 * Lábatlan
 * ODG Facility A-412
 * Viery Territory
 * Unidentified BXR Titanium Mine
 * Ütközet
 * Szurdok Ridge
 * Unidentified hydroelectric power plant
 * Eposz
 * Babd Catha Ice Shelf
 * Sword Base
 * Farragut Station
 * Airview Base
 * Babd Catha Forerunner Complex
 * Alfold
 * Ung
 * Aszod
 * Aszod ship breaking yards
 * Bars
 * Ezhtergom
 * Esztergom Spaceport
 * Mohács
 * Manassas
 * Manassas Spaceport
 * Farkas Lake
 * Sabre Program Launch/Research Range
 * New Alexandria
 * Fleet Command Headquarters
 * Traxus Tower
 * Hősök tere
 * Highland Mountains
 * Military Reservation 01478-B
 * Reach High Command
 * HIGHCOM Armory Omega
 * Camp Hathcock
 * Camp Independence
 * Fairchild Field
 * Mount Törött
 * Visegrád
 * Visegrád Relay
 * Csongrád
 * Menachite Mountain
 * CASTLE Base
 * Reach FLEETCOM Military Complex
 * Reach Naval Academy
 * Military Wilderness Training Preserve
 * Longhorn Valley
 * Big Horn River
 * ODG Facility A-331

Cities

 * Quezon
 * Pálháza
 * Siófok
 * Siófok Firing Range

Orbital locations

 * Anchor 4
 * Anchor 9
 * Casimir Station
 * ONI Medical Facility
 * Reach Station Gamma
 * Orbital Defense Platforms
 * Reach Orbital Shipyards

Astronomy
Reach is located near a small nebula, which has a visible effect on the planet and its moons, casting an "aura" similar to the Aurora Borealis. This could also be caused by Reach having a stronger magnetic field. It has two moons, the much larger ringed Csodaszarvas and the smaller, cratered Turul. Turul was captured in Reach's gravity, somewhere between 70-80 thousand years ago.

Known Residents
These are the people who were born on Reach, or lived on the planet for an extended period of time
 * Jorge-052
 * James Cutter
 * Mary Cutter
 * Laszlo Sorvad
 * Sára Sorvad
 * Dr. Catherine Elizabeth Halsey
 * Dimah Tchakova
 * Gabe
 * Nairn

Appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
 * Halo 2
 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Halo 3: ODST
 * Halo: Reach
 * Halo: The Fall of Reach
 * Halo: First Strike
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo: Contact Harvest
 * Halo: The Cole Protocol
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Pariah
 * Dirt
 * The Return
 * Halo Wars: Genesis
 * Halo Legends
 * Origins
 * Homecoming
 * Halo: Mortal Dictata