UNSC Home Fleet

The **UNSC Home Fleet** is a fleet in the UNSC Navy. Their assignment is to protect Earth and the Sol system from an invasion or attack. Its Commanding Officer is Admiral of the Navy SPARTAN Danielle Shepherd.

## Service History

The UNSC Home Fleet's known history is short but distinguished. It is likely that the UNSC Home Fleet existed ever since the formation of the UNSC in the 2160s; most likely for the defense of Earth during the Interplanetary War, and also against the Insurrectionists.

### Beginning of the Battle of Earth

"*The Prophet of Truth's ships breached the Luna perimeter, smashed what was left of the Home Fleet*"
—Commander Miranda Keyes to John-117
The Home Fleet's first known engagements with the conglomerate of alien races known as "the Covenant" were during the last stages of the Human-Covenant war in the Battle of Earth, where it successfully defeated a fleet directly commanded by a member of the Covenant's leadership in Earth's orbit. The engagement however, was against a very small fleet of two *CAS*-class assault carriers and thirteen *CCS*-class battlecruisers. This engagement, commanded by both Fleet Admirals Hood and Harper, suffered a number of casualties as the sixty-seven Frigates and eight Cruisers under Harper's command attempted to hold back the enemy cruisers from reaching Earth's Orbital Defense Platforms. With the known success of the ODPs in the Fall of Reach, nearly 300 ODPs were massed within the Home Fleet. They proved themselves to be the most effective weapons within the Home Fleet's arsenal in the battle, though they were later destroyed when the Covenant delivered a final push on the planet's defenses.

On *Cairo Station*, Fleet Admiral Hood was awarding John-117 and Sergeant Major Avery Johnson for their actions at Installation 04 and the subsequent Operation: FIRST STRIKE mission. When AI Cortana received a slipspace rupture report near Io, she relayed the information to FADM Hood. When the Covenant Force arrived, the Home Fleet was ready and waiting. Opening up with Marathon-class Cruisers and MAC Shells, they decimated the Covenant Fleet. Also during the engagement, the Covenant released boarding pods to occupy and destroy the MAC Platforms using antimatter bombs. Stations *Athens* and *Malta* were both destroyed, but *Cairo* was spared destruction due to the actions of John-117, who later took the bomb and destroyed one of the two *CAS*-class assault carriers.

At New Mombasa, the UNSC followed the surviving Assault Carrier to the city. The only known ship in this engagement was the UNSC *In Amber Clad*; commanded by Miranda Keyes. The *In Amber Clad'*s ground forces engaged the Covenant until Regret's Assault Carrier, the *Solemn Penance*, fled the battle. *In Amber Clad*, UNSC *Paris*, UNSC *Redoubtable*, UNSC *Coral Sea* and the UNSC *Dusk* made it through the slipspace rift before it closed.

### Battle of Installation 05

Only *In Amber Clad* successfully kept pace with the carrier. *Dusk* arrived days later, while *Coral Sea*, *Paris* and *Redoubtable* never arrived at all; most likely due both to the imprecise physics of Slipspace and the UNSC's rather limited technology for slipspace navigation, along with their unfamiliarity of their location in the galaxy.

*In Amber Clad* deployed her ODST contingent on Installation 05, along with SPARTAN-117 to assassinate the Prophet of Regret; the rest of *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, the 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 slipspace jump out of the ring's atmosphere, appearing inside High Charity. AI Cortana originally planned to destroy High Charity by detonating *In Amber Clad'*s fusion reactors, though due to subsequent events, she was unable to. 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.

### Battle of Onyx

The UNSC Home Fleet dispatched Battlegroup *Stalingrad*; commanded by Admiral Carl Patterson to Onyx to recover Forerunner artifacts reported by Dr. Halsey. When the battlegroup arrived, they engaged two Covenant destroyers. UNSC *Glasgow Kiss* was the first to be destroyed when it purposely turned into plasma fire from the destroyers intended for the UNSC *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.

Twenty Covenant Ships that had been hidden on the other side of the planet appeared from the gravity well of Onyx, and began to attack the Battle Group. In the ensuring mayhem, the remaining UNSC ships attempted to accelerate through the gravity well of the planet through the lines of the Covenant ships coming from surface of Onyx. The UNSC *Iwo Jima* got in between eight Covenant Warships, and detonated a nuclear missile inside of its engine room, sacrificing itself to destroy two Destroyers. Only five UNSC ships made it through. These ships disengaged when Sentinels destroyed three Covenant Ships using plasma capture. In an attempt to escape the Sentinels, the Covenant assigned a rear guard of two ships to protect the rest of the fleet. This helped them escape the gravity well of Onyx at the cost of these two ships.

The UNSC *Dusk* planted fourteen Hornet Mines around the moon of Onyx. Then, the surviving ships of Battle Group *Stalingrad* launched an attack. The attack however, was a trick to lure the Covenant force into the mine field. The mines detonated, but four Covenant Destroyers made it through the nuclear fireballs. The rest of the UNSC ships thought they would win the engagement, until thirty-two Covenant vessels, reinforcements from Joyous Exultation arrived. They destroyed the surviving ships of the battle group.

The only ship to make it out intact was the UNSC *Dusk*, which stayed powered down 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 missing the shockwave when Onyx exploded.

### Final Stages of the Battle of Earth

During the later stages of the Battle of Earth in November 2552, the Home Fleet was still fighting the Covenant Loyalists above Earth. However, they seemed to be holding their own against a second fleet sent in by the Prophet of Truth, judging by the order of Admiral Hood regarding Truth's ship (before SPARTAN-117 contacted him) - "It's not one of ours, take it out." A mere day later, Truth's fleet, the largest fleet in record history, arrived. Although the massive fleet took heavy casualties from the Home Fleet's ODPs, according to Commander Keyes, it still "smashed what was left of the home fleet." Only a handful of UNSC Frigates and several Longswords was what remained of the Home Fleet. The UNSC was using its last reserves of ships to launch hit and run attacks on the Covenant.

During the Battle of Tsavo, three ships of the Home Fleet, the UNSC *Forward Unto Dawn*, UNSC *Aegis Fate*, and a third vessel led a strike force of GA-TL1 Longsword-class Interceptors over -what was believed to be- the "Ark" in Voi, Kenya. Although they damaged the Forerunner dreadnought, it escaped though the slipspace portal.

The fleet whom attacked the combined forces of UNSC and the Elites upon their arrival at Installation 00 consisted of at least 36+ ships. It is heard over the radio shortly after the flood-infested CCS-battlecruiser arrival at Voi that the enemies ship-presence at Earth has been reduced by 50%, therefore there is a maximum of 36 ships left attacking Home Fleet, whom during this stage consisted of 21 active warships. It is presumed that Truth's fleet consisted of hundreds and hundreds of ships upon arrival at Earth, however, the Home Fleet's powerful ODPs inflicted massive casualties.

At least two ships of the Home Fleet, the UNSC *Aegis Fate* and the UNSC *Forward Unto Dawn* fought during the last battle of the Human-Covenant war, the Battle of Installation 00. There, the *Dawn* and the *Fate* helped UNSC Marine and Covenant Separatist forces against the Covenant Loyalist Army. The UNSC and Covenant Separatist Forces fought valiantly, until they were ordered to evacuate due to the imminent firing of Installation 04B. The UNSC *Forward Unto Dawn* was severed in half when John-117 and The Arbiter tried to escape through the portal with only the forward half making it back to Earth. The UNSC *Aegis Fate* was most likely evacuated in the *Shadow of Intent*'s hangar bay.

### Didact's attack

In July, 2557, Earth would come under attack by the *Mantle's Approach*, under the command of the Ur-Didact. A formation of the Home Fleet, led by UNSC *Infinity* engaged the Forerunner vessel and eventually assisted John-117 in entering the vessel.

## Composition

### 2552

* Battlegroup Stalingrad
	+ UNSC carrier
		- UNSC *Stalingrad*
	+ UNSC destroyer
		- UNSC *Brasidas*
		- UNSC *Glasgow Kiss*
		- UNSC *Iwo Jima*
	+ UNSC prowler
		- UNSC *Dusk*
* Sixth Battle Group
* Sol Defense Group 3/A-5
* Unknown
	+ *Marathon*-class heavy cruiser
		- UNSC *Say My Name*
	+ *Charon*-class light frigate
		- UNSC *Aegis Fate*
		- UNSC *Chioglossa*
		- UNSC *Forward Unto Dawn*
	+ *Stalwart*-class light frigate
		- UNSC *In Amber Clad*
	+ *Paris*-class heavy frigate
		- UNSC *Paris*
	+ UNSC frigate
		- UNSC *Redoubtable*
	+ UNSC corvette
		- UNSC *Coral Sea*
		- UNSC *Chalons*
	+ UNSC prowler
		- UNSC *Tokyo Rules*

### Post-war

* Battlegroup Dakota
* UNSC *Infinity*
* Unknown
	+ *Autumn*-class heavy cruiser
		- UNSC *Song of the East*

### Orbital Defense Platforms

* ODA-142 *Cairo Station*
* ODA-143 *Malta Station*
* ODA-144 *Athens Station*
* ODA-??? *Nassau Station*
* ODA-??? *Oaxaca Station*

## Appearances

* *Halo 2* (First appearance)
	+ *Halo 2: Anniversary*
* *Halo 3*
* *Halo 3: ODST*
* *Halo 4*
* *Halo: First Strike* Template:First mentioned
* *Halo: Ghosts of Onyx*
* *Halo Graphic Novel*
* *Halo: Uprising*
* *i love bees*

## Sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 **Halo 3 -** Level: *Crow's Nest*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 **Halo 2** - Level: *Cairo Station*
3. ↑ **Halo 2 - L**evel: *High Charity*
4. ↑ **Halo: Ghosts of Onyx**, pages 286-300
5. ↑ **Halo: Ghosts of Onyx**, pages 325-333
6. ↑ **Halo: Ghosts of Onyx**, pages 375-378
7. ↑ **Halo 3** - Level: *The Storm*
8. ↑ **Halo 3** - Level: *The Ark*
9. ↑ **Halo 3** - Level: *The Covenant*
10. ↑ **Halo 3** - Level: *Halo*
11. ↑ **Halo 4** - Level: *Midnight*

Template:UNSC Naval Fleets
Template:UNSC Home Fleet Units