Regret's fleet

Regret's Fleet is the name given to the Covenant fleet under command of the Prophet of Regret. Orginally composed of thirteen capital ships and two cruisers, the fleet suffered tremendous losses when it accidentally stumbled upon the heavily protected planet Earth.

History
After the Prophet of Regret accidentally discovered the human homeworld in his search for relics, his significantly out-numbered and out-classed fleet was quickly attacked by eight Marathon-class Cruisers and sixty-seven Frigates under the command of Fleet Admiral Harper.

The Covenant fleet began firing boarding craft at the Orbital Defence Platforms covering the planet, in hopes of destroying a cluster with a bomb. ODPs Athens and Malta would be destroyed this way, clearing a path for Regret's Carrier to reach Earth.

Meanwhile, the UNSC ships split into echelons, where one group of ships attacked the carriers and a second covered the cruisers. The Fleet's second carrier, staying above orbit, would destroy at least one Marathon-class cruiser with a beam of super-hot plasma. Two Longsword fighters would leave a hole in the carrier's hull protecting her hollow centre which housed the ships Reactor core. A SPARTAN supersoldier managed to disable the Covenant bomb meant for the Cairo and throw himself and the device into vaccum, activating it next to the core and propelling himself to safety. Thus, destroying the carrier.

After UNSC forces in New Mombasa began to push Covenant troops back to Regret's landing zone, Regret was forced to abandon Earth and activated the ships Slipspace drive, leaving a number of Jiralhanae troops behind to 'take care' of the Human threat. At least one other ship escaped the battle, the cruiser Pious Inquisitor, which would follow Regret to Installation 05.