Covenant military
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Armed forces |
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Defense of the Covenant, Exploration and retrieval of Forerunner artifacts, Execute the will of the Hierarchs. |
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Covenant forces |
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Since its inception, the Covenant maintained a pervasive military force which it used to carry out the Hierarchs' will throughout the Covenant's vast empire. Rather than being a singular organization, the Covenant's military forces were a collection of organizations under the oversight of various political bodies, which in turn carried out the edicts of the High Council.[3] The Sangheili originally served as the leadership caste for the Covenant's various armed forces, until they were replaced by the Jiralhanae during the Great Schism.[4] The Covenant military fell alongside its empire at the Battle of the Citadel.
The defunct Covenant's various newly formed remnant factions have scavenged assets of the fallen military to utilize, as well as recruitment of its former soldiers.
History[edit]
In the early centuries of the Covenant, the Writ of Union established the armed forces of the Sangheili as the hegemony's sole military force, with the San'Shyuum having little part in its day-to-day operation. The military's original purpose was to allow the Covenant to establish dominance in the Milky Way by force, but its primary goal was to acquire Forerunner technology and to bring forth the Great Journey. The fact that the Covenant military, the empire's largest and most powerful entity, was completely under the control of Sangheili led to some San'Shyuum distrusting the species.[4] One of the Covenant military's earliest engagements was during the Rending, an insurrection led by Ussa 'Xellus which was seemingly quelled by Mken 'Scre'ah'ben and his Ministry of Relic Safety.[5] As the Covenant conquered and assimilated various species for its cause, members of each race were incorporated into the Covenant military to perform different roles, adding their own unique advantages and disadvantages. The Unggoy Rebellion in 2462 ushered in a major restructuring of the military: because they had proven themselves in combat in the eyes of the Sangheili, the Unggoy were allowed into formerly Sangheili-only units and were given better weaponry, giving rise to the Unggoy as a proper infantry class.[6]
During the Great Schism, the Covenant military was violently torn between those who continued to follow the High Prophets, and the Sangheili who had been cast out of the Covenant along with those loyal to them.[7] As the battle raged, the High Prophet of Truth formally transferred command of the military to the Jiralhanae, a position once exclusively held by the Sangheili. Following the Schism, the Flood outbreak on High Charity and the eventual destruction of the remaining Covenant leadership in the Battle of Installation 00,[8] the Covenant military ceased to exist as a functioning force due to the absence of a structured Covenant government.
A number of splinter factions formed in the wake of the Covenant's destruction. Members of the former Covenant who followed Arbiter Thel 'Vadam banded together to form the Swords of Sanghelios. However, several other groups took up arms against the Swords, including the Servants of the Abiding Truth and later a new Covenant led by Jul 'Mdama. These groups have marshaled significant amounts of the Covenant's former matériel and troops while maintaining the practices and traditions of the former Covenant's military forces to varying degrees.[9]
Organization[edit]
Political oversight[edit]
The Covenant did not posses a single standing military force like that of the UNSC. Rather, it possessed a number of martial organisations under the control of one or more governmental ministries,[3] each competing with one another in bloody internal wars for prestige and promotion of their orthodoxy.[10] The power of these ministries waxed and waned over the years, though only three of any significance to humanity during the war.[3]
Politically, most of the military fell under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Resolution,[11] which originally started as one dedicated to anti-piracy operations but soon grew in scope and power at the start of the war with humanity, as its postings that regularly involved extended periods of removal from Covenant society gave perfect cover to send Covenant fleets beyond the borders to fight humanity, while hiding the losses of troops to stall inconvenient questions by the Sangheili military leaders.[3]
Some ministries, however, maintained much more specialised military forces with different objectives, such as the Ministry of Fervent Intercession in the Zealots' case.[12] The Ministry of Fervent Intercession was primarily tasked with discovery and control of Forerunner sites, and would be able to call upon resources and volunters directly from the colonies and even other ministries. Their fanaticism made them useful during the war, though they would pay little heed to orders not directly concerned with the safety of Forerunner artifacts.[3]
The Ministry of Tranquility was granted military assets to aid in the ministry's function: the acquisition of Forerunner relics. However, ships of the Ministry of Tranquility rarely participated in fleet action.[3] The Ministry of Preservation had some oversight in the military, as the ministry was tasked with quelling internal rebellions and uprisings.[13] The Ministry of Abnegation likely had some authority in the military, as the ministry absorbed the Ascetics' guard.[14] Like the rest of the Covenant, the Covenant military was under the ultimate jurisdiction of the High Council,[15] formerly composed of Sangheili High Coun