Fleet of Valiant Prudence

"That's no strike force, it's an invading army!"

- Jun-A266

The Fleet of Valiant Prudence was a Covenant fleet. It was the advance Covenant force during the Fall of Reach.

History
On or prior to the night of July 23, 2552, the fleet arrived on planet Reach, Epsilon Eridani system, undetected from the human defenses. The fleet dispatched a small strike force to the planet's one of the three communication relays in Visegrád to cut off the connection between Reach and other UNSC colonies. The Office of Naval Intelligence, assuming it was an action from the Insurrectionists, together with the UNSC sent Army troopers to the relay. After losing contact with the troopers, Spartan team Noble Team was sent to investigate. The team discovered the Covenant presence and report back to UNSC command. Over the next few weeks, the fleet continuously sent Covenant forces to attack the planet and gain intelligence. One of the corvettes in the fleet was sent to assault the ONI facility Sword Base, but was destroyed by an orbital round after the assault failed. The ground forces also focused on defending their fleet's landing zone, deploying anti-air cannons and outposts around Szurdok Ridge, their effort, however, resulted in failure when Recon Team Bravo discovered the landing zone on the night before August 12, 2552.

On August 12, 2552, the UNSC attacked the Covenant landing zone, destroying a Covenant Spire in the progress. Subsequently, the UNSC strike force was forced to retreat when the leading supercarrier of the fleet, the Long Night of Solace, was revealed to be holding position over the planet, cloaked by the Spires. The UNSC on Reach, with little help until the arrival of additional reinforcements, derived an operation to take out the supercarrier. Operation: UPPER CUT, created by Spartan-III commando Catherine-B320, was initiated on August 14, 2552, in an effort to destroy the supercarrier. With the capture of the Ardent Prayer, a makeshift "slipspace bomb" was activated, destroying the Long Night of Solace. Even though the fleet's flagship had been destroyed, the immediate arrival of another, larger Covenant fleet turned the tide of the battle in the Covenant's favor. It is most likely that, if any, remainder of this fleet joined the newly-arrived fleet.

Known vessels in the Fleet of Valiant Prudence

 * Long Night of Solace - CSO-class supercarrier - Rho 'Barutamee - Destroyed
 * Ardent Prayer - SDV-class heavy corvette - Ardo 'Moretumee - Destroyed

List of appearance

 * Halo: Reach