Editing Warrior-Servant

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Center|''This article is about the Forerunner rate. For other uses, see [[Warrior]]''.}}
{{Affiliation infobox
|name=Warrior-Servants
|image=[[File:H4 - Warrior-Servants 2.jpg|300px]]
|type=[[Rate|Caste]] / military organization
|founder=
|documents=
|head=[[Protector of the ecumene]]
|head-title=Rate head
|executive=
|legislative=Defense of the ecumene
|legislative-title=Role
|judicial=Trillions of Warriors{{Ref/Reuse|unc}}
|judicial-title=Size
|branch=[[Promethean]]s
|branch-title=Subgroups
|main=
|anthem=
|language=*[[Digon]]
*[[Jagon]]
|script=[[Forerunner symbols]]
|religion=[[Mantle|The Mantle]]
|techlevel=Tier 1
|notable=*[[Forerunner-Precursor war]]
*[[Kradal conflicts]]
*[[Human-Forerunner wars]]
*[[Forerunner-Flood war]]
*[[Post-Covenant War conflicts]]
|formed=
|dissolved=
|affiliation=[[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]]
|section1-title=Rate overview
}}

'''Warrior-Servants''' or '''Warriors''' were the [[rate]] traditionally tasked with defense and warfare in the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]].{{Ref/Site|Id=CryptumGlossary|URL=http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/related/text/cryptum-glossary/62e29c59-a3f9-4b63-af76-def71fda5459|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Cryptum Glossary|D=14|M=03|Y=2014|LocalArchive=Halo: Cryptum/Glossary}} In formal proceedings, the rate was also referred to as the '''Warrior-Servant Corps'''.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 296''</ref> They stood second-lowest in the hierarchy of rates during the last millennia of Forerunner rule. The highest and most respected class of Warrior-Servants were known as the [[Promethean]]s. The rank of [[protector of the ecumene]] — commander of the Forerunner military — was historically held by a high-ranked Warrior-Servant, the most well-known being the [[Ur-Didact]] and his successor, the [[IsoDidact]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 233''</ref>

==Overview==
While the Forerunners preferred to see themselves as peaceful by nature, Warrior-Servants were ruthless in executing warfare against enemies of the ecumene, as they believed that defying the Forerunners was to show contempt toward the [[Mantle]] itself.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 50''</ref> Although their services were vital in maintaining galactic harmony, most Forerunners viewed their purpose and practices as contradictory to the principles of the Mantle. As a result, other rates looked down on the Warrior-Servants, who tended to keep to themselves. <ref name="c107">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 107''</ref>

In battle, Warrior-Servants wore varying types of fighting suits - [[combat skin]]s - the [[war sphinx]] being an example of a medium-sized suit.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 43''</ref> Warrior armour was designed to optimise itself to counter enemy weaponry; this ability was capable of making their armour virtually invulnerable to repeated discharges from Forerunner infantry weapons.<ref>'''[[Halo: Escalation]]''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 10|Issue 10]]''</ref> The Warrior-Servants operated the Forerunners' most prominent [[Forerunner fleet|battle fleets]], comprising warships such as [[Fortress-class vessel]]s, [[Forerunner dreadnought|dreadnoughts]], [[planet-breaker]]s, and [[Forerunner picket cruiser|picket cruisers]]. Warriors employed extensive drone support in the form of dedicated [[monitor]]s and [[sentinel]]s,<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 214''</ref> in addition to the [[ancilla]]s of their battle armor and ships.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 139''</ref> In fleet engagements, individual Warriors could be assigned control of over a million automated [[weapon-ship]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 174''</ref> Warrior forces were organized into large-scale [[legion]]s which possessed a number of subordinate attack squadrons.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 104-105''</ref>

As with the other rates, Warrior-Servant [[form]]s were shaped based on qualities deemed most useful in their role; to best suit fighting and warfare, Warriors were more powerfully built and more robust than the other rates.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 279''</ref> While it was rarely necessary to engage in close-quarters combat in actual warfare, Warriors still possessed remarkable physical strength.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 86''</ref> The augmented mental capacity of Warrior commanders allowed them to perceive reality in many separate reference frames with alternating flows of time while sharing sensory input with their compatriots.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 162, 316''</ref>

In the event of death, Warrior fighting suits were programmed to retain their wearer's last personality impressions for future study.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 137''</ref> It was also a common policy among Warriors to [[Mind transfer|extract]] the memory impressions of their vanquished foes before executing them.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 188''</ref> However, in the case of opponents they deemed worthy, it was considered more honorable to execute them outright.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 235''</ref>

===Hand signals and symbolic gestures===
Warrior-Servants had their own codified system of unique hand signals and gestures. Making use of their rate's six-fingered hands, this sign language relied on both hand and arm gestures to convey meanings and ideas without spoken words.

;"Command received": Raising one's hand and giving it a half-turn to indicate affirmation of an order. This gesture appeared to have been the standard form of displaying a quick confirmation.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS2|Sil|Chapter=string 2}}

;"Salute / Goodbye": Lifting one's hand to touch the chin. This farewell gesture was used for expressing respect toward a superior or comrade.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS7|Sil|Chapter=string 7}}

;"Sympathy": Pressing the sixth finger of the left hand against another Warrior-Servant's left sixth finger. This gesture was used to express shared sentiment and solidarity.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS5|Sil|Chapter=string 5}}

;"Admission of guilt": Marking a Y over the forehead and bridge of the nose with a finger. This gesture signified a warrior's awareness of their own shame and guilt.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=HSS5}}{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS9|Sil|Chapter=string 9}}

;"Dismissal / Disbelief": Raising the left arm and twisting the hand. This gesture was seemingly used by commanders to convey disapproval or to signal a rejection of some claim.{{Ref/Novel|Id=HSS29|Sil|Chapter=string 29}}

==History==
[[10,000,000 BCE|Ten million years]] before the final days of the Forerunner civilization, the Warriors were the highest rate.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 14''</ref> They were the ones responsible for rebelling against the [[Precursor]]s and [[Forerunner-Precursor war|hunting them down]] to near-extinction.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 251''</ref> Their status would gradually move lower over several millions of years, in part due to an increase in the political power of their [[Builder]] competitors and because the other rates viewed their field of work with distaste. This decrease of status would result in the name of their rate being suffixed with "-Servant", although on some occasions they were still referred to as "Warriors".<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 53''</ref>

Even though they eventually ranked second-lowest, the Warrior-Servants, particularly their highest and most respected [[Promethean]] class, still wielded remarkable political power and were in a prestigious social standing, serving in various roles in the [[Ecumene Council]] by the time of the [[human-Forerunner wars]] in [[107,445 BCE]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 59''</ref> After the conclusion of the war with humanity, the Prometheans, under the leadership of the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]], were opposed to the [[Builder]]s' plan to construct a new superweapon known as [[Halo Array|Halo]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 43-44''</ref>

Though they managed to forestall the construction of the Halos for thousands of years, while preparing a defence of their own known as the [[shield world]]s, the Didact and the Warrior-Servants eventually lost the political war as a result of [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]]'s political maneuvering. When the Builders rose to supreme power within the Council circa [[98,445 BCE]], the Warrior-Servants were diminished as a rate, with their fleets and armies being systematically disbanded over the course of the next millennium as part of the Master Builder's scheme to secure the primacy of the Builder rate.<ref name="c239">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 238-239''</ref> This would leave the ecumene ill-prepared for the [[Forerunner-Flood war|Return of the Flood]]. However, many Warriors chose to move to the Builder rate, becoming part of [[Builder Security]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 47''</ref> The Didact and the Promethean commanders who had supported him were accorded harsh punishments, often execution, though many were offered the choice of self-imposed exile in "Warrior Keeps" known as [[Cryptum]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 182''</ref>

Trillions of Warrior-Servants were killed in their ultimately futile efforts to contain the Flood during the three-century-long [[Forerunner-Flood war]].<ref name="unc">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-uncharted-waters '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Uncharted Waters'']</ref> In the final years of the conflict, after the Master Builder was stripped of his power due to his crimes, the standing of the Warrior-Servants was elevated once again with the [[IsoDidact]], an imprinted copy of the Didact, being placed in command of Forerunner defense.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 20''</ref> Many former Warriors still remained in Builder Security, but their forces were combined with those of the Warrior-Servants in newly reconstituted forces led by the IsoDidact.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 197''</ref>

==Known Warriors==
*The [[Confirmer]]
*The [[Examiner]] (later Builder Security)
*The [[Falchion]]
*The [[Grammarian]]
*The [[IsoDidact]]
*The [[Strategos]]
*The [[Ur-Didact]]
*[[Adequate-Observer]]
*[[Animus-To-Remain]]
*[[Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished]] (later Builder Security)
*[[Capital-Enforcer]]
*[[Dutiful-Marcher]]
*[[Endurance-of-Will]]
*[[Glory of a Far Dawn]]
*[[Habit-To-Sever]]
*[[Malice-Begets-Demise]]
*[[Sharp-by-Striking]] (later Builder Security)
*[[Silence-in-the-End]] (later Builder Security)
*[[Sorrow-for-Lost-Voices]]
*[[Sprightly-Runner]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:H4-Terminal-WarriorServants.jpg|Warrior-Servants on Charum Hakkor.
File:H4-Terminal-WarriorServant.jpg|A Warrior-Servant using an unidentified energy-based weapon.
File:H4 Concept DefeatedAncestors.jpg|Warrior-Servants guarding captured Ancestors on Charum Hakkor.
File:H4 Terminals ForerunnerWarriors Concept.jpg|Concept art of Warrior-Servants and the Didact.
File:H4 Terminals ForerunnerWarriors Concept 2.jpg|Concept art of Warrior-Servants.
File:H4-SO-Cauldron-05.jpg|Warrior-Servant architecture.
File:HM_Warrior-Servant.png|An illustration of a Warrior-Servant in ''[[Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo]]''.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]''
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminals]]''
**''[[Spartan Ops]]''
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''
*''[[Rebirth]]''
*''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]''
*''[[Halo 2: Anniversary]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Last Light]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''
*''[[Halo Mythos]]''
*''[[Halo: Fractures]]''
**''[[Promises to Keep]]''
**''[[Defender of the Storm]]''
*''[[Halo: Renegades]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Point of Light]]'' {{C|Technology only}}
*''[[Halo: Epitaph]]''

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources|2}}
{{Forerunner rates}}
[[Category:Warrior-Servants| ]]
[[Category:Forerunner rates]]
[[Category:Forerunner military units| ]]