UNSC Home Fleet: Difference between revisions

The UNSC Home Fleet's known history is short but distinguished. It is unknown how long the fleet has existed, but it is likely the UNSC has had a fleet of ships defending humanity's homeworld from external threats such as [[Insurrectionist]]s since [[space warfare]] became a reality.

[[File:H2A - BattleofEarth.png|250px|right|thumb|Ships of the Home Fleet engaging the [[Covenant]] during the early stages of the Battle of Earth.]]

At New Mombasa, the UNSC followed the surviving assault carrier, the ''[[Solemn Penance]]'', to the surface. The only known ship in this engagement was the {{UNSCShip|In Amber Clad}}; commanded by [[Miranda Keyes]]. The ''In Amber Clad'''s ground forces engaged the Covenant until; in retreat, the carrier fled the battle. The [[In Amber Clad]], {{UNSCShip|Paris}}, {{UNSCShip|Redoubtable}}, {{UNSCShip|Coral Sea}} and the {{UNSCShip|Dusk}} made it into the slipspace rift before it closed.

Only ''In Amber Clad'' successfully kept pace with the carrier. The ''Dusk'' arrived days later, though the ''Coral Sea'' arrived before the onset of the [[Great Schism]] and hid from the Covenant fleet in the system close to the surface of Delta Halo, and the fates of ''Redoubtable'' and ''Paris'' are unknown.<ref>[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/delta-halo '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Delta Halo''</ref>

The ''In Amber Clad'' deployed her ODST contingent on Installation 05, along with John-117 to assassinate the Prophet of Regret; who had escaped back from Earth in the assault carrier; itself no longer a target. The rest of the ''In Amber Clad's'' crew and remaining Marines went to find the Index. [[Avery Johnson]] and Miranda Keyes fought through the [[Quarantine Zone]] before encountering Thel 'Vadamee; an Arbiter, and being captured by the Covenant leadership. They were taken to High Charity and afterwards, the [[control room]] to fire Installation 05. ''In Amber Clad'', however, was taken over by the Flood and made a precision jump out of the ring's atmosphere, appearing inside High Charity. Cortana originally planned to destroy High Charity by detonating the Clad's [[fusion drive|fusion reactors]], though due to subsequent events, this plan never took place. <ref>'''Halo 2''', campaign level, ''[[High Charity (Level)|High Charity]]''</ref> Cortana would make a second attempt to destroy High Charity by sending a message to the UNSC, in hopes that they would send ships from Earth to [[NOVA bomb]] the station.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 182-183''</ref>

The UNSC Home Fleet dispatched [[Patterson's battle group|a battlegroup]] commanded by [[Admiral]] [[Carl Patterson]] to Onyx to recover [[Forerunner]] artifacts reported by [[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Halsey]]. When the battlegroup arrived, they engaged two [[Covenant destroyer]]s. {{UNSCShip|Glasgow Kiss}} was the first to be destroyed when it purposely turned into plasma fire from the destroyers intended for the {{UNSCShip|Stalingrad}}. They believed they had won the engagement, destroying one ship and heavily damaging the other. The damaged ship fled to the unseen side of the planet, with the UNSC ships in pursuit.  

The only ship to make it out alive was the {{UNSCShip|Dusk}}, which stayed dark and was lucky enough to not get hit by the reigning debris or be detected by the Covenant ships. It eventually escaped to slipspace by narrowly evading the Sentinels that erupted from the disintegrating Onyx.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''pages 375-378''</ref>

[[File:Storm3.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Several frigates attached to the Home Fleet attack the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]] activating the [[Portal at Voi|Portal]] leading to the [[Installation 00|Ark]].]]

During the later stages of the Battle of Earth in [[2552#November|November 2552]], the Home Fleet was still fighting the Covenant above Earth. However, they seemed to be holding their own against a [[Truth's Fleet|second fleet]] sent in by the [[Prophet of Truth]], judging by the order of Admiral Hood regarding Truth's ship (before John-117 contacted him) - "It's not one of ours, take it out." A mere day later, Truth's fleet arrived and, according to Commander Keyes, "...smashed what was left of the home fleet...". At about this time, the Home Fleet had significantly less ships and was almost to the point of destruction.<ref name="Crows"/> The UNSC was using its last reserves of ships to launch hit and run attacks on the Covenant.  

During the [[Battle of Voi]], three ships from the Home Fleet, including the {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}}, led a strike force of [[GA-TL1 Longsword|Longsword interceptors]] over what was believed to be- the [[Portal|"Ark"]] in [[Voi]], [[Kenya]]. Although they damaged the [[Forerunner Dreadnought]], it escaped though the slipspace portal.

The {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}} fought during the last battle of the [[Human-Covenant War]], the [[Battle of Installation 00]]. There, the ''Dawn'' helped UNSC Marines and the Sangheili against the Prophet of Truth's forces.<ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level, ''[[The Ark (level)|The Ark]]''</ref><ref>'''Halo 3''', campaign level, ''[[The Covenant (level)|The Covenant]]''</ref> The UNSC and Sangheili forces fought valiantly, until they were ordered to evacuate due to the imminent firing of [[Installation 08]]. The {{UNSCShip|Forward Unto Dawn}} was lost as the portal closed just as the vessel passed through and thus trapping the [[John-117|Master Chief]] in the void of space.

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{{Main|Invasion of Earth}}

Discovering that the Halo Array had been remotely activated, the UNSC planned to send a force from the Home Fleet, led by the cruiser {{UNSCship|Endeavor}}, to the Ark to deactivate the signal, and invited advisors from the Swords of Sanghelios, briefing them on the situation and asking for their assistance in activating the Voi portal to reach it. When the portal activated, a Forerunner Retriever emerged, and began to harvest the surrounding countryside, but was destroyed by the ''Endeavor'' with support from air forces from a nearby UNSC military base. While the UNSC wanted to send a larger force aboard the ''Endeavour'', Shipmaster [[N'tho 'Sraom]] refused to wait, and took his own ship, the Covenant heavy corvette ''Mayhem'', through on his own initiative, with UNSC personnel aboard.

The Home Fleet, consisting of dozens of ships, was in place to respond when [[000 Tragic Solitude]] sent through hundreds of Retrievers to strip Earth and the rest of the solar system to repair his installation. These sentinels were rudimentarily armed, but were destroyed in large numbers by Home Fleet, though it took heavy casualties and was on the verge of defeat until a stalemate on the Ark between the ''Mayhem's'' crew and Tragic Solitude, forcing the Retrievers to withdraw through the portal. Afterwards, the UNSC sent reinforcements through the portal to investigate the threat and discovering that the ''Mayhem's'' crew and passengers had survived. The carrier {{UNSCship|Witness}} recovered ''Mayhem'' within one of its hangars, and carried it back through the portal to Earth.<ref>'''[[Halo: Hunters in the Dark]]'''</ref>

{{Main|New Phoenix Incident}}

[[File:Dakota 3.jpg|250px|thumb|left|[[Battle Group Dakota]] of the Home Fleet help [[Spartan 117]]'s [[Broadsword]] defend Earth from the [[Mantle's Approach]] in a [[New Phoenix Incident|beautiful conflict]].]]

In [[2557]], the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]]'s ship, ''[[Mantle's Approach]]'', arrived in-system to use the [[Composer]] to digitize humanity. Having been forewarned by the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}, the Home Fleet was ready and led by the ''Infinity,'' engaged ''Mantle's Approach.'' [[Battlegroup Dakota]], led by the ''Infinity'' moved into position to confront the Didact's flagship, sustaining some losses due to the vessel's superior defenses. However, after learning that the [[John-117|Master Chief]] was on a [[Broadsword]] fighter with a [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon|nuclear weapon]], the Home Fleet let him handle it, with the ''Infinity'' blasting a hole into the ship with her MAC gun so the Chief could enter after he took out the point-defense guns. After the ship was destroyed, the ''Infinity'' rescued the Master Chief from the debris field.{{clear}}

In [[2558]] when [[Cortana]] reemerged as the new leader of the [[Created]] after her presumed destruction during the Didact's earlier attack, she activated a series of [[Forerunner]] [[Guardian]]s to enforce the will of the [[Mantle]], now believing AIs to be the true Reclaimers of the galaxy. The ''Infinity'' and her escorts again rushed to Earth's defense as a Guardian appeared above Earth, with the Home Fleet and the orbital defense grid scrambling their defenses in the wake of this new threat. However, having witnessed the capabilities of the Guardians, the crew of the ''Infinity'' instead chose to retreat, narrowly escaping the massive EMP blast that shut down all technology on Earth, rendering the Home Fleet utterly defenseless as their own vessels were also disabled in orbit.