Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity
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Unknown - November 3, 2552 |
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Protection of the Holy City of High Charity |
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The Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity[5] was a very large Covenant fleet, and was a part of the High Charity defense fleet during 2552. The fleet numbered in hundreds of warships and had the sole responsibility of protecting the Covenant holy city of High Charity.[6]
History[edit]
In the 9th Age of Reclamation, the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity served as the vanguard fleet of the Covenant homeworld High Charity. It accompanied High Charity to the Soell system in September 2552, arriving shortly after the recently-discovered Installation 04's destruction at the hands of Spartan John-117. High Charity and its defense fleet was still present near the shattered Halo ring by October 20, 2552, when the former Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice Thel 'Vadamee was tried and sentenced for his failure to protect the Halo.[7]
Battle of Installation 05[edit]
- Main article: Battle of Installation 05
After the Prophet of Regret's arrival at Installation 05 following his failed assault on the human homeworld of Earth, he transmitted an apology to the other two High Prophets on High Charity, apologising for his reckless actions. While the Prophet of Truth angrily condemned him, High Charity and it's defense fleet, among them the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity, hastily left the Soell System for Installation 05. They arrived just as Spartan John-117 arrived at the temple where Regret had taken refuge, seeking to kill the Covenant leader. The fleet launched wave after wave of Phantoms to assist the Prophet of Regret. Before they could arrive to reinforce the Regret, they were recalled by the Prophet of Truth, allowing the Spartan to assassinate the Hierarch.[6][8]
During the ongoing battle of Installation 05, the Prophet of Truth begun his long-planned betrayal of the Sangheili, first replacing the Covenant Honor Guard's Sangheili with the Jiralhanae,[9] and later ordering the execution of the Sangheili Councilors at the hands of Jiralhanae Captain Melchus and his troops.[8] As the holy city of High Charity erupted into civil war, the Second Fleet similarly descended into chaos. Jiralhanae and Sangheili-controlled ships began to engage one another over High Charity.[10] At the same time other ships were trying to keep the Flood from escaping Installation 05. Some of the ships became infected by the Flood and many were destroyed, some sacrificing themselves to save the others. Sangheili Major Voro 'Mantakree of the Varric-pattern heavy cruiser Incorruptible managed to negotiate a brief truce between the warring vessels to focus on eliminating the Flood threat, but the Jiralhanae attacked the Sangheili before all Flood-controlled craft had been destroyed. The Incorruptible opted to leave the ongoing fight, in order to heed the summons of Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree,[5] but was pursued by three Jiralhanae-controlled frigates.[11]
Those Sangheili-held vessels of the Second Fleet that did not leave for the Salia system or scatter elsewhere reformed into the Fleet of Retribution, under the command of Rtas 'Vadum, and continued to fight the Jiralhanae around High Charity even as the plantetoid itself fell to the Flood and the Prophet of Truth left for Earth on board the Forerunner Dreadnought.[12] Eventually the Jiralhanae were defeated, with the participating loyalist ships remnants retreating to follow the Prophet of Truth's ship, and crushing almost entirely the already-weakened UNSC Home Fleet during the escalated invasion of Earth. The remaining Sangheili ships, still consisting of hundreds of ships,[13] proceeded to glass the surface of Installation 05 to prevent the Flood from leaving the Coelest system.[14] While the remaining Sangheili ships of the Second Fleet held the Flood-infested High Charity in quarantine, a single Flood-controlled CCS-class battlecruiser managed to break through the blockade and make a slipspace jump to Earth, with a detachment of ships led by Rtas 'Vadum in pursuit.[13]The fate of the remaining vessels is unknown, as the Flood Gravemind used its knowledge of Precursor science to have High Charity perform a slipspace jump out of the system without the Dreadnought, the city's primary power source.[15]
Onyx Conflict[edit]
- Main article: Onyx Conflict
A portion of the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity were among the Sangheili-held vessels that rallied with Xytan 'Jar Wattinree and the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose at the world of Joyous Exultation in the Salia system. Here, Wattinree proposed the creation of a new Sangheili-led Covenant and planned to ambush and massacre the Jiralhanae and San'Shyuum leadership. He gave Voro 'Mantakree, the de facto commander of the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity the title of fleetmaster and instructed him to take the fleet to Onyx and protect the Forerunner artifacts there from falling into human hands. Immediately after the Second Fleet, composed of twenty-two ships, transitioned into slipspace, the majority of the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose was destroyed by the accidental detonation of a NOVA bomb by a group of Huragok on board Wattinree's flagship Sublime Transcendence.[16]
Upon their arrival at Onyx, the fleet was approached by thousands of Sentinel constructs. 'Mantakree ordered Shipmaster Qunu of the destroyer Far Sight Lost to supplicate the drones. As Qunu conducted the ritual greeting, the drones suddenly opened fire, their combined fire quickly destroying the Far Sight Lost, which had not yet activated their energy shielding. The rest of the Second Fleet then opened fire on 'Mantakree's order, decimating the majority of the Sentinels before they broke formation and wiped out the surviving drones. 'Mantakree then ordered the destroyer Absolution to perform a precision slipspace jump to the northern polar region of the planet to scout for any targets of value. Unexpectedly, several more formations of Onyx Sentinels tapped into the ship's slipspace field, aligning themselves perfectly to destroy the Absolution as it left slipspace. 'Mantakree told the rest of the fleet not to transition