Prophet of Regret

**High Prophet of Regret** is the secondary antagonist of *Halo Wars* and main antagonist for John-117's first part of *Halo 2.* He is rash, ambitious, immature and naive compared to the other Prophets and was the youngest of the three Hierarchs, as well as exhibited traits of alcoholism and smoking.

## History

### Halo Wars

Upon the onset of the Human-Covenant war, Regret formalized the Fleet of Glorious Interdiction; an Elite-led military force under his personal supervision, and appointed Arbiter Ripa Moramee as it's leader, choosing him for his ruthless efficiency and undying loyalty. Obsessed with the Forerunners and the prospect of activating the Halo Array, Regret dispatched Ripa on numerous missions throughout Covenant and Human space to find the means to do this. Eventually, during the Harvest Campaign, Covenant forces discovered a Forerunner relic buried in the planet's nothern polar region. This relic proved to be some sort of Forerunner mapping device. Dispatching a force led by Ripa, valuable information was recovered. With UNSC forces closing in however, Regret ordered the relic to be destroyed to prevent the retrieved information from falling into Human hands. Against his instincts, Ripa obeyed. However, despite Covenant efforts, the site was not destroyed, allowing the Humans to learn of the information Regret planned to use.

Later at the Apex, a Forerunner hangar, he discussed with Ripa his plans to activate the Forerunner ships located there. When he could not activate the artifact himself, he ordered Ripa to capture Professor Ellen Anders who they encountered at the Ice Relic and bring her at the Apex. Later when Ripa returned with her, Regret was in disbelief, saying he can hardly think them of a threat. When they learned the Humans were closing in on them, Regret evacuated to High Charity. However, Regret's plans to use the dormant ships was foiled when the crew of the UNSC Spirit of Fire overloaded the Shield World's internal sun, destroying all the ships and the planet.

### Halo 2

Three years later, Regret was present at the Battle of Charybdis IX, with his personal Assault Carrier, Infinite Sacrifice, where he oversaw Supreme Commander Thel Vadam, and the glassing of the planet. He then called upon Thel to find the source of Human-modified Covenant weaponry, and bring them to the Prophets. Little did Regret know, that he was in fact, interfering with the High Prophet of Truth's plans to find the location of all the Human colonies and also Earth. Most of his men were killed by the Brutes, but the Humans at UNSC Midsummer Night took out the Jackals responsible with the help of Spartan Grey Team. Afterwards, his plans eventually fell back into tandem, but Regret knew that they would likely clash again.

In 2552, Regret served during the destruction of Installation 04 and helped condemn Thel who was responsible for the loss of the ring. Some time before this, Regret managed to discover the location of a Forerunner artifact of great importance: a device which would generate a Portal to the Ark, where the Covenant believed they could begin the "Great Journey" by activating the Halo Array. Unbeknownst to Regret, the world this machine was located on Earth. While Truth knew of the Human presence on Earth, he had kept it, along with his personal plans for the planet and the Covenant, a closely guarded secret.

Without even informing the other Hierarchs, Regret subsequently led a small fleet of two Assault Carriers and thirteen Battlecruisers to Earth. After Truth learned of this, he quickly sent a massive support and excavation fleet to Earth.

When Regret arrived near Earth on October 20 2552, he quickly found himself greatly outnumbered by UNSC defenses. Instead of retreating however, he sped towards the world in religious fervor, sending Ranger Elites and Boarding Craft to destroy the Orbital Defense Platforms Malta, Athens and Cairo so he can push through into the heart of Africa. Despite John-117's actions, his ship made it to the ground and deployed the first full-scale invasion force by the Covenant on Earth.

After landing in New Mombasa, Regret's forces searched the city for the Forerunner artifact, supported by Scarabs and many Phantom dropships. As the UNSC approached his carrier, Regret's ship initiated a slipspace jump in the middle of the city to escape and regroup. The force generated by the jump heavily damaged the ship. The action was so surprising that only UNSC In Amber Clad and a few other UNSC ships could follow the ship through the portal.

Regret's forces deployed ground and infantry forces on the surface of Installation 05, and set up presence around a temple in the middle of a lake, from which Regret began his religious sermons. He transmitted an apology to Truth, indicating that he couldn't have known that the Humans weren't there or they had such a force. Truth responded that only Mercy had spared him from public condemnation. Nevertheless, High Charity and the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity rushed to the new Halo, and a flight of Phantoms was deployed to rescue the Hierarch.

In Amber Clad arrived in the system soon after and deployed ODST forces on the ring along with John-117 to locate and kill Regret. The operation was a success, with John breaking through Covenant defenses, beating the Prophet to death with his bare hands. Soon afterwards High Charity made a jump to the ring and ordered one of the nearby ships to use it's Energy Projector to destroy the temple, nearly killing John and leaving Regret for dead.

Regret's body was nearly assimilated and reanimated by the newly formed Gravemind when his body was flung into the depths of the large lake surrounding the temple and later discovered by the Gravemind. He expressed anoyance with another captive, 2401 Penitent Tangent, and reacted to the presence of Thel Vadam, warning him to forget any heretical suggestions made by the Monitors and the Humans and to pursue the Great Journey. It was thanks to Regret the Gravemind discovered the location of the gateway to the Ark. What remained of Regret was destroyed with the Gravemind when Installation 04B was prematurely fired by John and Cortana during the Raid on Installation 04B.