Jul 'Mdama's Covenant

''For the artificial weather phenomenon, see portal storm. For the Halo 3 level, see The Storm.''

The Storm are a splinter faction of the Covenant that was formed in the wake of the Human-Covenant War. Their leader is Jul 'Mdama and the Sangheili serve as their leadership caste.

Background
Breaking away from the main body of the newly peaceful Covenant, the Storm still continue to adhere to the religion and philosophy of the San 'Shyuum. Their leader, Jul 'Mdama, became disillusioned with the Arbiter and humanity after being kidnapped by ONI forces and suffering the loss of his wife in the Sangheili Civil War. After escaping from ONI custody on Shield World 006, Jul gained a small following of Sangheili on Hesduros. There, he resolved to seek out the Didact - a surviving Forerunner and "living god" to Jul and other devout Sangheili - and awaken him from his sleep, with the intent to ask for his aid in destroying humanity.

In the summer of 2557, Storm forces on the shield world Requiem engaged UNSC personnel who had become stranded on the installation, defying the tenuous cease-fire between humanity and the Sangheili. By then, the Storm had managed to gather a formidable fleet, consisting of at least sixteen s and a single as their flagship. The Storm still maintained a presence on Requiem six months later, attempting to gain control of a powerful weapon hidden on the shield world.

Member species
As in the original Covenant, the Sangheili serve as the Storm's military leadership caste. Sangheili Storm members have an unusual mouth structure in which the upper mandibles attach above and behind the eyes rather than beneath the hard palate; their mandibles are shorter and more tapered than those of other Sangheili. The Unggoy still serve as cannon fodder; Unggoy in service to the Storm appear to have been selectively bred, genetically modified, or otherwise represent a different species from the mainstream type. Likewise, the Kig-Yar, (at least the Jackals), are still deployed as skirmishers and light infantry; similar to the Unggoy, they possess a noticeably different morphology from those commonly encountered during the Human-Covenant War. The Mgalekgolo are also a member species of this faction.

Military Assets
Although certainly a less formidable force than the original Covenant, the Storm has amassed a considerable amount of military assets as of its occupation of Requiem. The faction primarily uses weaponry formerly belonging to the original Covenant, as well as more recently-developed weapons like the Storm Rifle. Covenant vehicles such as the Banshee and Ghost are still mainstays of the Storm's ground forces, and the faction's armada is composed of vessels formerly used by the Covenant in addition to the newer Lich.

Ranks
Below is a list of military ranks and titles within the Storm's member races.

Sangheili:
 * Minor
 * Commander
 * Ranger
 * Warrior
 * Zealot

Unggoy:
 * Minor
 * Major
 * Heavy
 * Minor
 * Major
 * Imperial
 * Minor
 * Major
 * Ranger

Kig-Yar:
 * Minor
 * Heavy
 * Ranger
 * Sniper

Lekgolo:
 * Mgalekgolo

List of appearances

 * Halo 4