Epitadeus Secondary Defense Fleet

The Epitadeus Secondary Defense Fleet, also officially known as Task Force Echo by the ONI, was a fleet within the UNSC Navy that was assigned to defend Hope from the Covenant Fleet of Consecrated Contribution (and later, the Fleet of Harmonious Compromise) after the previous fleet was decimated.

The ship was composed of three Battlegroups previously attached to the Epsilon Eridani Defense Fleet, but were organized into a fleet after an emergency redirect from Fleet Admiral Terrance Hood. After engaging the Covenant during the Battle of Hope with minimal casualties, they were pulled into the slipspace wake into the Zenith Complex and continued to engage to Covenant there. After escaping the Zenith Complex, they later were folded into the Home Fleet and participated in the final stages of the Battle of Earth.

The Fleet was comprised of Battlegroup Jericho, Battlegroup Fortune, and Battlegroup Armageddon. Its flagships were the Marathon-class Cruiser Soldier of Fortune (of Battlegroup Fortune, commandeered by Vice Admiral Hiroki Fujiwara), the Avenger-class Heavy Destroyer Walls of Jericho (of Battlegroup Jericho, commandeered by Rear Admiral Peter Longstreet), and the modified Gehenna-class Destroyer Armageddon's Edge (of Battlegroup Armageddon, commandeered by Vice Admiral Dennis Howe.

Battlegroup Jericho

 * UNSC Walls of Jericho - Flagship - Avenger-class Heavy Destroyer
 * UNSC Thermopylae - Avenger-class Heavy Destroyer

Battlegroup Fortune

 * UNSC Soldier of Fortune - Flagship - Marathon-class Cruiser

Battlegroup Armageddon

 * UNSC Armageddon's Edge - Flagship