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Fleet of Particular Justice

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Template:Infobox Military Unit

The Fleet of Particular Justice was a Covenant naval unit. The Fleet of Particular Justice was one of the Covenant's largest fleets, known to have been surpassed only by the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose, led by Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, and the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity, whose purpose was to defend the Covenant capital city, High Charity. It was formerly led by Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee. This fleet was part of the armada that was largely responsible for glassing Reach, and it pursued the UNSC Pillar of Autumn to Installation 04.

History

Formation

The Fleet of Particular Justice was formed in 2535 during a reorganization of the Covenant military as ordered by the Hierarchs, against the wishes of many conservative Sangheili High Councilors and fleet commanders. In gratitude for his service at the Rubble, Shipmaster Thel 'Vadamee was given command of a ship in the fleet.[1] The fleet first consisted of only five vessels, but eventually grew in size to nearly sixty ships. The Fleet of Particular Justice was first identified by the UNSC shortly after 2535, with Thel 'Vadamee now in command of the fleet.[2] Undiminished Entelechy was one of the first vessels assigned to the fleet.[3]

Early engagements

At some point, the fleet was involved in the assault on Camber, a human colony that manufactured UNSC Navy fleet materials. The Fleet of Particular Justice caught the UNSC forces on the planet completely unaware. Supreme Commander 'Vadamee led the ground and orbital assault before most of the planet was aware of the attack. While seventeen vessels in the fleet bombarded key defensive positions, 'Vadamee personally led an attack on the UNSC system headquarters. After most of the human forces on the planet were wiped out, 'Vadamee returned to his flagship and the planet was glassed.[4] The Fleet of Particular Justice would also be responsible for the glassing of numerous other human colonies, including Bounty, Alluvion, Mesa, Greydowns, Kroedis II, and Estuary. The fleet was responsible for over one billion human casualties—23,000 of them military personnel—and the destruction of one-hundred and twenty UNSC ships.[5]

Fall of Reach

 
The fleet pursuing Pillar of Autumn.

During the Fall of Reach in summer 2552, multiple Covenant fleets were dispatched to invade the planet,[6][7] among them the Fleet of Particular Justice which arrived on August 30.[8][9]

Before the initial battle, the Covenant sent a smaller advance fleet, the Fleet of Valiant Prudence, to Reach;[10] after Valiant Prudence's flagship, the CSO-class supercarrier Long Night of Solace was destroyed, another Covenant fleet, possibly the Fleet of Righteous Vigilance or the Fleet of Holy Respite, arrived and began attacking the planet in earnest.[11] Over the coming weeks, the Covenant continued to whittle away at the UNSC's defenses until, on August 30, an armada consisting of 315 ships, among them the Fleet of Particular Justice, arrived. Over two-thirds of the combined fleet was destroyed, mainly because of the planet's defending "Super" MAC-equipped orbital defense platforms[12] and an intervening nuclear minefield,[13] though the defenders were soon overrun. After the Covenant ships began to glass the planet,[8] the Fleets of Particular Justice and Holy Respite moved to the system's perimeter to form a blockade and prevent remaining human vessels from escaping. When the UNSC Pillar of Autumn jumped in the system, Supreme Commander 'Vadamee and the Fleet of Particular Justice pursued the ship.[6]

Battle of Installation 04

Main article: Battle of Installation 04
 
The Fleet of Particular Justice discovers Installation 04.

On September 19, the Covenant warships, being faster than human ships, were the first to arrive at the Pillar of Autumn's destination: Halo Installation 04. They quickly established a blockade to prevent the humans from landing on the installation. In the battle that followed, the Autumn managed to destroy at least four of the fleet's cruisers and damage several others, including Truth and Reconciliation.[14] The Prophet of Stewardship then decreed that the fleet may not fire on the Pillar of Autumn for fear of hitting the ring, prompting several boarding parties to be dispatched to the ship; the Autumn's crew managed to hold off the boarding parties long enough to launch its escape pods at Halo. Supreme Commander 'Vadamee, ignoring the Prophet's edict, had his ships open fire on the Pillar of Autumn,[6] destroying some of the pods, though the rest landed on the ring. The Pillar of Autumn itself soon crash landed on Halo despite the fleet's best efforts to stop it.[14]

Shortly after the fleet's arrival at Halo, a small scouting force with the carrier Ascendant Justice as its flagship was sent from High Charity to accompany the fleet in the recovery of the Forerunner construct.[15][note 1] Over the next several days, the fleet remained in orbit around Halo, sending numerous troops to the surface in an attempt to both learn the secrets of the ring and to eliminate the human presence. Because the ring was considered sacred, the fleet was unable to simply wipe the humans out from orbit as they were accustomed to doing.

 
The fleet awaiting for the arrival of Autumn.

Over the course of the battle, an internal crisis occurred within the fleet between Supreme Commander 'Vadamee and the Prophet of Stewardship. After the Prophet sent several artifact retrieval teams to a supposed Forerunner weapons cache, 'Vadamee ordered the Minor Prophet to stop misappropriating his forces. Receiving no response, 'Vadamee dispatched a team to Ascendant Justice to relieve the Prophet of his duties until the human forces were eliminated. However, Stewardship had the incoming ship destroyed and vowed to do the same with any future attempt to challenge his authority. 'Vadamee prepared to personally lead a strike force to apprehend the Prophet, but this was interrupted by the revelation that the Flood had broken loose on the ring. Meanwhile, the Prophet of Stewardship relocated with his personal security contingent to Truth and Reconciliation. 'Vadamee and his team subsequently boarded Ascendant Justice whose crew quickly swore allegiance to him.[6]

On September 21, the fleet's agricultural support ship, Infinite Succor, was boarded and subsequently hijacked by the Flood.[16] Realizing that the battle on Halo's surface would be lost due to the overwhelming Flood, Supreme Commander 'Vadamee ordered the Fleet of Particular Justice to retreat from Halo—ignoring the Prophet of Stewardship's fleet-wide requests of rescue aboard Truth and Reconciliation.[6] Truth and Reconciliation was taken over by first the Flood and then the humans, but was ultimately destroyed by being crashed into the installation.[17] Upon learning that SPARTAN-II John-117 was about to detonate the Pillar of Autumn's engines in an effort to destroy Halo, 'Vadamee ordered all ships to take refuge behind Threshold to avoid being destroyed.[6]

During the battle, an expeditionary team led by Sesa 'Refumee and Loka 'Bandolee had been sent by the Prophet of Stewardship to investigate a Forerunner gas mine in the atmosphere of Threshold, the gas giant that Halo orbited.[6] Shortly after the ring's destruction, its monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, came into contact with this team within the gas mine. Upon meeting the ancilla, Sesa ordered that all communication with the fleet was to be cut so as to avoid the San'Shyuum's interference as it told him the truth about the rings.[18]

A routine log of the fleet's actions during the battle was filed. Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee sent a copy of this log to Lak 'Vadamee while he awaited the High Council's ruling on the matter of his part in Halo's destruction.[6] 'Vadamee and Seeker of Truth were soon ordered to High Charity before the Council and lost control of the fleet, but was given the title of Arbiter.[19][20][21]

Known vessels in the Fleet of Particular Justice

Known personnel

Military
Political

Gallery

List of appearances

Note

  1. ^ In Priority Broadcast Log/Eleventh Cycle, Third Unit featured in the Adjunct section of the 2010 reissue of Halo: The Flood, it is stated that the Ascendant Justice was already present at Installation 04 during the Battle of Installation 04. Meanwhile, page 68 of Halo: First Strike (2001 edition) specifies the ship was part of a scouting picket from High Charity, separate from the Fleet of Particular Justice. From this, it can be inferred that Ascendant Justice and its scouting picket must have arrived before or very early into the battle.

Sources

  1. ^ Halo: The Cole Protocol, page 349
  2. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named h2aterm
  3. ^ Halo Waypoint: Cannon Fodder: Beta Late Than Never
  4. ^ Halo 2: Anniversary, Terminal 2
  5. ^ Halo 2: Anniversary, Terminal 3
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Halo: The Flood (2010), Priority Broadcast Log/Eleventh Cycle, Third Unit
  7. ^ Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe, "The Return"
  8. ^ a b Halo: The Fall of Reach, page ??
  9. ^ Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 151
  10. ^ Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 111
  11. ^ Halo: Reach, campaign level Long Night of Solace
  12. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 358
  13. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 334
  14. ^ a b Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Pillar of Autumn
  15. ^ Halo: First Strike, page 68 (2001 edition)
  16. ^ Halo Graphic Novel, The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor
  17. ^ Halo: The Flood, page 332
  18. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Terminal 11
  19. ^ Halo 2, campaign level Heretic
  20. ^ Halo 2, campaign level The Arbiter
  21. ^ Halo 2: Anniversary, Terminal 13
  22. ^ Halo Waypoint - Halo 5 Truth (Catalog's answer)