- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
You should really read the books to understand the fully story behind Reach. I'm not going to slag anyone for not knowing, but that would help neutralize many assumptions.
Reach was glassed, but not fully. To make this short, the books explain how surviving Spartan II's and the Spartan II Program creator, Dr. Hasley fight and escape the Covenant infested planet with knowledge of more Forerunner information. Basically the Covenant found something on Reach, they never were going to fully glass it. Anyway, skipping some spoilers in case anyone does read the books, the events of books after Halo & Halo 2 lead to a planet called Onyx. Onyx is a shield planet designed to preserve a select few Forerunner (who are not there) and is entirely constructed of Sentinels below ground. It's like a last defense against Flood totally wiping out Forerunner existence. Blah blah blah, won't ruin anymore than I have.
If Bungie/Micro are really going to make an interesting addition to the Halo game series, it'd be best to focus on the events of Fall of Reach. Also, there's been a lot of buzz about the planet behind the Master Chief in Halo 3 Legendary ending being another shield planet, since it does seem to have some structural theme to it (or from what little can be seen).
Anyway hope this helps.