Epsilon Eridani Fleet

The Epsilon Eridani Defense Fleet was a very large United Nations Space Command fleet in charge of protecting the Human world Reach and the rest of the Epsilon Eridani System. It was one of the largest known fleets in the UNSC Navy, but saw near-total destruction at the hands of the Covenant Fleet of Particular Justice at the battles of Reach and Tribute respectively.

History
The fleet was first established sometime after the colonization of Reach and the surrounding worlds. It was continuously built up and constructed for the centuries that followed. By 2552 fleet numbers had risen drastically, with over 100 to 150 warships in-system at any given time.

Following the aftermath of the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, the Covenant had discovered the location of Reach and proceeded to attack the planet, sparking the Battle of Reach. The Covenant were first detected by Fermion Remote Scanning Outpost, which continued to warn all UNSC forces in-system of the new threat. There were only about 100 ships at Reach at the time, which moved into defensive positions to defend the planet, with 52 more ships on the way. A large nuclear mine field had been set up to detonate the Covenant fleet, which destroyed roughly one hundred enemy ships. The opening salvo of Covenant plasma rounds were mostly blocked by three Refit Stations, letting the fleet fire their first MAC salvo unharmed. When the Covenant fired again however, a crushing 80 UNSC ships were destroyed.

The remaining UNSC ships regrouped with the reinforcements to defend the orbital platforms, but the Covenant began sending hundreds of dropships to the surface of Reach, accompanied by several cruisers to destroy the Orbital Defense Generators. Despite strong defense from UNSC ground forces, the Covenant managed to push through and destroy the generators, letting the remnants of the Covenant fleet move in and glass Reach, destroying the UNSC stragglers.

Only a handful of ships escaped Reach, most of which were badly damaged. After the Covenant glassed Reach, they moved in on the other in-system colonies, including Tribute. The Battle of Tribute was a short one, with only a fraction of the original fleet there to defend it. The fleet suffered 90% losses and Tribute was presumably glassed.