A Bastion Of Hope
[Halo Reach Era]
To The Victor Goes The Spoils
Early into the year of 2569 the B.L.U.E. received a message from their undercover agents on the planet Reach stating that they had effectively established underground trading networks with rebel sympathizers and were awaiting orders. Ordering their agents to continue strengthening ties and causing disarray for the Empire, the B.L.U.E. Command began to plan their invasion of Reach. Establishing plans and contingency options, the rebels determined that this would be the singe largest confrontation of the Empire in this conflict. Preparing their men, the B.L.U.E. prepared for all out war on all fronts, both in space and on the ground against Imperial forces.
Knowing full well that taking Reach would seriously cripple faith in the Empire among Inner Colonies and secure full support from Outer Colonies, the B.L.U.E. were weary that Reach was, as it had been in past history, a major military industrial complex for the Empire. With a capable fleet, experienced ground units led by their new Spartan-III soldiers, the B.L.U.E. leadership felt confident that they could strike hard and fast at Imperial forces on Reach. Their only concern however, was supplying a continued effort in the case of a prolonged war for the planet.
With the majority of Imperial influence strongly held throughout the Inner Colonies, the rebel leaders approached the Outer Colonies and their governments in an attempt to rally support. Caught of guard by the requests, many Outer Colony leaders were timid to pledge full support while some seemed eager. A deal was signed between groups that should the B.L.U.E. take and hold Reach for a steady amount of time, the Outer Colonies would pledge their support against the Empire. With their backs covered, and their attacks planned, B.L.U.E. invaded Reach.
With Initial engagements catching the Empire off guard, it wasn't long before the B.L.U.E. secured major footholds on the ground. With a large portion of Imperial forces searching the Outer Colony borders, the Empire had not been expecting an attack so close to Earth, especially one of this size. Calling back the R.E.D.D. who were engaged on Jericho VII, the Imperial Army & Militia joined by Imperial Marines began to fall to the B.L.U.E. and their Spartan III units. As the R.E.D.D. returned along with almost all of the Imperial Naval forces from the Outer Colonies, it became clear that the Battle for Reach would be long and filled with destruction, as it raged from March 2569 to July 2574.
Far Off Horizons
As the first engagements between R.E.D.D. and B.L.U.E. raged on, issues previous not planned for began to arise for the rebels. With no political structure to speak of, and existing as merely a militaristic force, many commanders differed in what should happen should Reach be won. Some called for a peace to be signed while others demanded retribution on the Empire. Furthermore, having never been involved in a large scale planetary invasion together before, the B.L.U.E. leaders quickly found themselves squabbling over objectives until an experienced commander stepped up and took charge. As Mathew Craig took the position as Field Marshal, the B.L.U.E. soon found themselves quickly taking their objectives and pushing the R.E.D.D. back onto their heels.
Noticing the surge of B.L.U.E. on all fronts, an old ONI Admiral from the UNSC days approached his colleagues in the IONI about a program that had been so secret, even the Emperor himself hadn't been aware of its creation and operation during the final years of the UNSC. After discussing the prospects, the group met with the Imperial Council and the Emperor to present the Parangosky Files as something found in old classified files. Upon discovery of successful Spartan-IV creation in the past, the Emperor, impressed with the discovery, listed all members involved in the IONI discovery as KIA and had them sent to a secretive Lunar Base to begin to research and adjust Spartan-III development in preparation for Spartan-IV training. Appointing new IONI leadership, the Emperor successfully hid the program and began to search for a leader worthy of training and leading the new wave of Imperial Spartans who would bolster the R.E.D.D.
Controversy & HVI's
As battles scarred the planet, the B.L.U.E. quickly became recognized by even R.E.D.D. forces as a formidable ground force enemy. With leaders in their mix stepping up and marching their troops into battle such as Tim Carpenter and Joshua Pavlica, the rebels fought hard for every inch of Reach soil. Rallying their defenses as the R.E.D.D. arrived, many Imperial Officers soon joined the fight such as the decorated Trevor Pullium, and Jordan Thomas. Large confrontations on the orbiting Anchor 9 Communications station and Viery Plaza in Eposz soon become overshadowed by the struggle the territories Tritan and Hemorrhage. With the lines so badly blurred, and the fate of Reach hanging in the balance, the planet began to experience total war on an unimaginable scale.
As the battle continued, the ICC New Reporter Johnathon Craig risked his life to report on the battle, often finding himself caught in the action as he dug for his story. An engagement so large in the Inner Colonies made it almost impossible for the Empire to control the media, and soon raw images of the battles filled Inner Colony screens. As the Outer Colonies slowly turned on the Empire, now openly sending goods and supplies to the B.L.U.E. to aid their war efforts, the Empire became desperate to turn public opinion in their favor. Conveniently, an Imperial Drone caught footage of apparent B.L.U.E. Spartans killing unarmed civilians who had protested the liberation of war materials from their district. Although B.L.U.E. leadership claimed the R.E.D.D. doctored the footage, the damaged had been done, and Inner Colonists soon enlisted in droves to aid their Empire in the battle for Reach. The incident became famous as the "New Alexandria Slaughter".
On the Outer Colonies however, where Colonists has become aware and used to doctored media, knew their allies in the B.L.U.E. were incapable of such feats, and they quickly pushed their production harder, ensuring that B.L.U.E. received all the raw materials it needed for war.
Another high profile case on Reach came when a R.E.D.D. Special Operations Unit "REDWATCH" decoded a B.L.U.E. transmission at the Forerunner Delta Facility. Stating that a R.E.D.D. High Value Individual had been captured, the B.L.U.E. squad requested an immediate extraction and an out of system jump with their cargo. Contacting their commanding officer Ryan Webber, the team moved towards the B.L.U.E. location. Webber confirmed that a R.E.D.D. Field Marshal had been taken hostage and was now a top priority. During the recovery, dubbed "Operation Neptune" on April 6 2572 REDWATCH teams safely retrieved the Field Marshal. Their package, Cody Shaer who had risen to power after his heroics in the Battle Of Waterworks, was quickly replaced and sent back to Earth at the request of the Emperor.
The Battle Of The Moon & Lunar Perimeter
While the battle for Reach raged onwards led by new Field Marshals, the Empire's Spartan IV's began production. Using a volunteer basis to be screened, the Empire quickly found a cheap, effective way to create Spartans while maintaining superior quality soldiers. Putting a demoted Field Marshal in charge of the Spartan-IV production, the Emperor had only just returned to his secret location on Earth when the B.L.U.E. struck the Lunar base. After tracking the ex-Field Marshal from Reach, a B.L.U.E. Spartan strike force led by Tim Carpenter infiltrated the Spartan-IV training center unaware of it's purpose. Upon discovering the Spartan-IV's, the B.L.U.E. quickly began to raid the facility for information while fighting off the superior R.E.D.D. Spartans.
As the battle on the moon raged, the B.L.U.E. scrambled to get their stolen data out alive. In a act of desperation, Carpenter ordered his men to flee while holding off multiple Spartans. As the B.L.U.E. Officer slowed the oncoming forces, his trusted soldiers managed to liberate an Imperial Prowler and rescued him as the R.E.D.D. Spartans breached through the last door of his escape route. The Prowler then quickly turned and jumped out of system to Reach where they would find friendly forces able to help with their extraction, Spartan-IV's following.
The Spartan-IV secret had been revealed, and the Empire wanted to use every last second they could to take advantage.
Treasures Unmeasurable
As the B.L.U.E. team quickly jumped into system with their stolen Spartan-IV data, a large Imperial Fleet arrived opposite them from the Outer Colonies. Having organized a counter-attack to the B.L.U.E. forces in system, Outer Colony ships led by Alex Price and Forest Novak arrived and began to bombard rebel positions on the surface. Remaining B.L.U.E. ships in orbit quickly descended to retrieve their ground forces in an attempt to run. Having the new Spartan-IV information was one small victory, but transmission from Eposz soon illuminated to both sides the possibility of a way to finally end the conflict once and for all. As the last major confrontation between R.E.D.D. and B.L.U.E. forces took place at the Vigilance Outpost in Eposz, both sides soon experienced a large scale earthquake that split the ground as a Forerunner installation rose from the dirt.
As the battle moved inside, B.L.U.E. quickly discovered a Forerunner Cartographer that detailed the location of major Forerunner installations on both the Inner Colonies and outer Colonies. The two major functions of these installations, the storage of The Flood, and the storage of old Forerunner Weapons. Taking this new information, the B.L.U.E. quickly began to call for help while holding off the oncoming R.E.D.D. who surged forward with a renewed ferocity as more Imperial ships arrived in orbit. Knowing that this information could change everything, the B.L.U.E. abandoned many of it's soldiers on the surface and fled, their command now holding both key pieces of intelligence.
Leaving behind their soldiers however, turned out to be a mistake, as one of the units left behind traded their lives for the Cartographer data. Enlisting into the Imperial Forces and being folded into the R.E.D.D. these defectors supplied the Empire with the Forerunner locations.
Once again, the stage appeared to be set for another campaign. A race for Forerunner weapons.
