Editing Covenant military

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The defunct Covenant's various newly formed [[Covenant remnants|remnant factions]] have scavenged assets of the fallen military to utilize, as well as recruitment of its former soldiers.

==History==

[[File:Staging area.png|250px|thumb|left|A Covenant staging area in the [[Viery Territory]] during the [[Fall of Reach]] being observed by [[Spartan]]s of [[Noble Team]].]]

During the [[Great Schism]], the Covenant military was violently torn between those who continued to follow the [[Hierarchs|High Prophets]], and the [[Sangheili]] who had been cast out of the Covenant along with those loyal to them.{{Ref/Level|Id=uprising|H2|Uprising}} As the battle raged, the [[Prophet of Truth|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 [[Fall of High Charity|Flood outbreak on ''High Charity'']] and the eventual destruction of the remaining Covenant leadership in the [[Battle of Installation 00]],{{Ref/Game|Id=h3|H3}} the Covenant military ceased to exist as a functioning force due to the absence of a structured Covenant government.

==Organization==

===Political oversight===

Politically, most of the military fell under the jurisdiction of the [[Ministry of Resolution]],{{Ref/Book|Id=evg1|EVG|Page=10-11, 175}} 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.{{Ref/Reuse|fb}}

The Covenant's military leaders, however, class any ship not dedicated enough to be deserving of a shipmaster's chair as an attack ship - an ambiguous role rarely considered in the plans of a supreme commander.{{Ref/Book|Id=attackships|HWF|Page=72-73}} Attack ships like the {{Pattern|Zanar|light cruiser}} would often be assigned to escort duties for executors,{{Ref/Reuse|executioners}} examiners,{{Ref/Book|Id=examiners|HWF|Page=64-65}} and convoys of pilgrims passing to and from High Charity,{{Ref/Reuse|attackships}} though would complete their mission without fervor and could not be counted upon for more than the most basic tasks.{{Ref/Reuse|executioners}} However, these crews would make almost any sacrifice necessary to serve on the crew of the main ship when escorting "Examiner"-type vessels.{{Ref/Reuse|examiners}} As such, these vessels were typically staffed by Jirlahanae and Kig-Yar, who were less concerned with the acquisition of honour and glory.{{Ref/Reuse|attackships}} Attack ships would also serve in roles analagous to a UEG police cutter, patrolling systems to conduct inspections and enforce travel laws.{{Ref/Reuse|attackships}} Some ships were also tasked with chartering dangerous routes through slipspace and fighting civilisations who resisted the prophets, though such matters were considered beneath the attention of true warriors.{{Ref/Book|Id=ardent|HWF|Page=76-77}} Smaller deployment craft such as the [[Lich]] would also be utilised in civilian and security roles alongside their military applications.{{Ref/Book|Id=vestiges|HWF|Page=78-79}}

The smallest organizational unit of the Covenant military was [[file]], typically consisting of cannon fodder [[Unggoy]]. A [[lance]] was a small unit of Unggoy commanded by a low-ranked Sangheili (later [[Jiralhanae]]), a rough equivalent to a UNSC [[fireteam]]. Jiralhanae were also organized into the tribal [[pack]]s traditional of their society. Large numbers of these units comprised [[legion]]s, which were organized into task-based groups within their respective naval fleets. Legions encompassed all Covenant warriors and vehicles in a specific region. Cruisers typically held two or more legions on board.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22p239|Enc22|Page=239}} A subset of legions led by young warriors were called warrior crèches and carried within fleets as well.{{Ref/Novel|GoO|Chapter=38}}

The reasons for these restrictions are often cultural; for instance, Sangheili view wielding shield gauntlets as dishonorable and that "lesser species" do not deserve their privileged weapons. The Covenant's interspecies politics also played a large part in this segregation: while Sangheili-led mixed units existed, the Sangheili and the Jiralhanae often maintained their own individual command hierarchies largely segregated from one another to prevent conflict and authority issues from arising between the two. It was originally rare for the Jiralhanae to receive their own ships to begin with, and the ones given to them by the Sangheili were smaller and less powerful such as the lowly attack ship classifications,{{Ref/Reuse|attackships}} while the Sangheili maintained the bulk of the Covenant's fleet.<ref>'''Halo: Contact Harvest''', ''pages 195, 199''</ref> When the Jiralhanae were made the Covenant's main military caste, their indigenous weaponry and vehicles—equally brutal in design and function—became a staple on the battlefield alongside the Covenant's more refined technologies.{{Ref/Reuse|h3}}

This discrimination among the Covenant military is centuries old, but the dynamic is occasionally changed by violent rebellion. The [[Unggoy Rebellion]] caused Elites to mix their units with Grunts and give them better training. Likewise, the Great Schism put Jiralhanae in command of former Sangheili units, gave them [[Jiralhanae power armor|personal shielded armor]], and made Jiralhanae [[pack]]s a prevalent unit within the military in addition to the mixed-species lance.