Covenant loyalists

The loyalists are a group of Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar soldiers that were assigned as part of the crew of the Keyship Anodyne Spirit during the final weeks of 2552. Following the Covenant empire's fall during the Battle of Installation 00, these soldiers remained inside the Keyship to defend it from intruders, and remained vigilant in their duties and beliefs long after the death of the Prophet of Truth and the firing of Installation 08.

Battle of the Ark
During the final months of the Human-Covenant War, the Prophet of Truth commandeered the Anodyne Spirit to escape the Fall of High Charity and head to The Ark to begin the process of firing the Halo Array. When his Keyship landed in the Mahsko region, Truth and his entourage departed for the installation's Citadel, while a charge of Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar soldiers were left with the keyship to fend off potential attackers.

At the battle's conclusion, the Covenant was formally defeated and Installation 08 fired, severely damaging the Ark in the process and stranding these Covenant troops on the Ark well outside the Milky Way. Thanks to the keyship's ample supply reserves, the soldiers were able to survive for the ensuing seven years, seemingly in hiding from the exploration and discovery of the Ark by UNSC forces.

Second Ark Conflict
During the later months of 2559, a force of Banished soldiers led by Chieftain Minas were deployed to the Keyship to retrieve several shards of a slipspace flake, intended to be used to re-connect the Banished forces with their allies in the Milky Way.

While exploring the ship, the Banished troops were ambushed by the surviving Covenant forces aboard the keyship - who no one had expected to still be alive. Despite using their old Covenant-era equipment, the Covenant troops were able to put up heavy resistance against the Banished troops and arranged several successful ambushes. Later on, they deployed six Phantom dropships to support their attack, proving to outnumber the Banished raiding party considerably. Nonetheless, the Banished force's Skewers proved capable anti-air weapons in the battle, and the force was ultimately able to escape with the shards retrieved - though at considerably cost to their own numbers. The loyalist forces remained inside the keyship a potential threat to future operations in the region.

Military assets
Given their status as soldiers picked for their loyalty to the Prophet of Truth during the Great Schism, the loyalist troops consist primarily of Jiralhanae and their Kig-Yar subordinates, numbering in the dozens. As expected, the loyalists remained outfitted with Covenant-era arms and weaponry including Type-51 carbines and at least six Phantoms.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Shadows of Reach
 * Sacrifice