Truth's fleet

This article is based on canon information, but the article's title is conjectural and/or uses descriptions as the title, as there is currently no official name for the subject.

Truth's fleet
Formed:	2552
Affiliation:	Covenant
Group:	Covenant fleet
Type:	Fleet
Size:	Hierophant-controlled fleet Over 500 ships (originally, pre-FIRST STRIKE) Around 12 ships (post-FIRST STRIKE) At least 2 fleets (Earth) One excavation fleet (Mombasa) At least 8 ships (Oct. 2552, including Regret’s fleet remnants) At least 49 ships (at the Battle of Voi) At least 30 ships (at the Battle of Installation 00) Final assault armada (Nov. 2552) High Charity defense fleet remnants Unknown, likely several hundreds of ships
Flagship:	Anodyne Spirit (post-Great Schism)
Engagements:	Operation: FIRST STRIKE Battle for Earth Battle of Mombasa Second Battle of New Mombasa Battle of Voi Battle of Installation 00
Commanders:	High Prophet of Truth Chieftain of the Jiralhanae Tartarus Shipmaster Lepidus Shipmaster Hekabe

In the final months of the Human-Covenant War, the High Prophet of Truth had a massive fleet under his personal command. Originally composed of over five hundred capital ships, it was initially one of the largest known Covenant fleets although the fleet suffered tremendous losses when its command-and-control station, Unyielding Hierophant, exploded. After rebuilding the fleet for some time and aware of the Prophet of Regret's assault on Earth, Truth sent it to Earth, where it was dispatched at Mombasa to excavate the Excession that lead the Ark and secure the area for Truth's arrival by his loyal fleet. On November 17, the fleet was joined by remnants of the Covenant forces loyal to the Prophets from the High Charity defensive fleet and Truth himself. Later, the fleet journeyed through the Portal to the Ark, where it met its end.

History

The massive space station Unyielding Hierophant leading a combined Jiralhanae-controlled assault armada of over 500 warships assembled by the Prophet of Truth.

Formation

Main article: Operation: FIRST STRIKE

Following the Fall of Reach, the Prophet of Truth discovered the location of the human homeworld and started assembling a massive fleet of over five hundred warships for the planned invasion of Earth. Ships scattered around the galaxy were ordered to regroup, including one group of ships that was to jump to the Lambda Serpentis system, to gather tritium gas for their reactors and then the Hawking system to meet with three dozen carriers and effect a transfer of Seraph fighters. Finally, the fleet would be summoned to the command-and-control station, Unyielding Hierophant which was holding position in Tau Ceti system in September, 2552. When a sufficient amount of ships were gathered, the fleet would then make a collective jump straight to Earth.

Due to Truth's devious plans for the Covenant, this fleet was commanded exclusively by the Jiralhanae and featured only few Sangheili in its ranks; an arrangement unheard of in the Covenant before the Great Schism. For similar reasons, Truth kept the existence of this fleet, and the fact he had discovered humanity's homeworld, secret even from his fellow Hierarchs. This would make it a simple matter to turn the fleet against the Sangheili once the humans were wiped out. This plan had more immediate advantages as well; leaving the Sangheili to scour Earth in search of the most sacred Forerunner artifact in existence, the mammoth structure and portal generator that served as the gateway to the Ark, would have placed Truth's plan upon the shoulders of a species he had already decided to cast aside.