Swords of Sanghelios

"There was honor in our Covenant once, and there shall be again!"

- Thel 'Vadam

This faction is a splinter group of the former Covenant formed during the Great Schism, when the bulk of the Sangheili-led forces seceded from the Prophet-led hegemony. In November 2552, the Prophet of Truth had the Sangheili removed from their former position and replaced by the Jiralhanae as the Covenant's main military caste, resulting in an open war breaking out between the Jiralhanae-led forces loyal to the Prophets and the Sangheili. After the Sangheili learned the truth about the Halos near the end of the Battle of Installation 05, they allied with humanity on their mission to stop the Prophet-led Covenant.

As they no longer looked to the Prophets for leadership, the separatists initially lacked defined leadership, although Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum led their forces in the deciding battles of the war, with 'Vadam becoming the group's most prominent leader following the war's end. With the Covenant dissolved, the Sangheili returned to their homeworld and splintered into various factions, with the Arbiter and his policy of cooperating with humanity retaining a solid following. However, many Sangheili disagreed with his ideals, planning to overthrow the Arbiter and rise against humanity.

In the wake of the Covenant War, 'Vadam's group is often viewed as representing the Sangheili on the whole in their diplomatic relations with humanity. Similar to Jul 'Mdama's ideologically opposite Covenant group, 'Vadam's alliance considers itself—and is viewed by the UNSC as—the legitimate successor to the original Covenant.

Background
This disgruntled faction is led by the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum, since the highest-ranking Sangheili military leader, Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree was killed by a NOVA bomb soon after announcing the separation of the Sangheili from the main body of the Covenant. The group is mainly made up of Sangheili, along with some Unggoy and Mgalekgolo loyal to them. At the onset of the Great Schism, the separatists began fighting the forces loyal to the Covenant, led by the San 'Shyuum with their forces comprising Jiralhanae, Yanme'e, Kig-Yar and some Unggoy and Mgalekgolo loyalists.

The Arbiter's faction dismisses the Forerunners as false gods, rejecting both the Prophets' religion and the Sangheili's traditional faith. This has provoked the anger of many of their enemies, mainly the Servants of the Abiding Truth. Despite this, the Arbiter sought to build peace among the fragmented remains of the Covenant and remained as an ally to humanity. Indeed, the faction is the only known Covenant group to maintain diplomatic relations with the Unified Earth Government or, more specifically, the UNSC. By 2558, the UNSC's ambassador to them was Rear Admiral Horatio Temkin.

Origins
The High Prophet of Regret led a badly planned mission to Earth, against the wishes of the High Prophet of Truth, and was subsequently forced into the Battle of Earth, as he did not know that the planet was the human homeworld. He escaped to Installation 05, where he was killed by John-117. Regret's death was used as a justification by the remaining Prophets to replace the Sangheili with Jiralhanae as their protectors. However, this move resulted in great turmoil within the Covenant, with the Sangheili threatening to resign from the High Council.

Truth then gave command of the Covenant fleets, the post previously held by the Sangheili, to the Jiralhanae. Once there were enough of them in place, Truth secretly ordered them to commit a vicious genocide of the Sangheili (disguised as a retaliation to an Sangheili revolt against the other Covenant factions) so they may replace them in society. The Sangheili responded, with the help of factions of Mgalekgolo and Unggoy, and war broke out in High Charity with Jiralhanae and Sangheili fleets fighting each other in space around it. Later, most of the Sangheili Councilors were assassinated by the Jiralhanae at the behest of the Prophets.

Sangheili-human alliance
The Unggoy were too indecisive to continue the rebellion and the true political motivation of the Mgalekgolo, if any, remains a mystery, although Mgalekgolo pairs could have followed the Sangheili they protect. The shaky-to-steady alliance between the separatists and their former foes, the humans, was forged entirely out of necessity. The UNSC forces were on the defensive, and both factions had two common enemies that wished for their extinction: the Covenant and the Flood. The alliance of circumstance was forged in the control room of Delta Halo, when UNSC Sergeant Major A. J. Johnson and the Arbiter were coerced to unite in order to prevent Tartarus, Chieftain of the Jiralhanae, from activating Installation 05. After that, the Arbiter persuaded the rest of the Sangheili to join humanity. While the two factions experienced some friction, they learned to work with one another for their mutual survival. By the end of the Human-Covenant War, the Sangheili fought alongside humans in battle and saved them from destruction.

The devastated UNSC Home Fleet defending Earth were glad to accept the help of the superior separatist warships. The Sangheili' understanding of Covenant equipment and combat tactics proved invaluable in the Battle of Installation 00. Recurrently the heroes of the battle, Thel 'Vadam and John-117, fought alongside one another many times in the desperate and long conflict.

End of the Human-Covenant War
With Truth dead, High Charity destroyed, and Installation 00 essentially lost to the reborn Installation 04 firing, what remained of the Covenant was all but destroyed, with its member species divided into multiple factions. In the wake of the conflict, the Arbiter and his allies remained friendly to humanity and wished to build mutual peace, as they both had made tremendous sacrifices in order to stop Truth and the Covenant forces. On their homeworld, however, they were challenged by a resurgent faction of religious fanatics known as the Servants of the Abiding Truth, who viewed the Arbiter's allies as "blasphemers" and began an insurrection, secretly with the support of the UNSC Office of Naval Intelligence. The Abiding Truth managed to gather a large amount of followers in a relatively short timespan; while the faction had a strong religious underpinning, many Sangheili had more practical motives for allying against the Arbiter, among them resentment toward humanity.

Over the next six years, the Sangheili continued to wage war against the remaining San 'Shyuum and the Jiralhanae. At first, the Sangheili were at a major disadvantage, as millennia of depending on the San 'Shyuum for technology meant that the Sangheili were unable to properly repair or replace the ships they lost in battle. The odds began to even out when the San 'Shyuum vanished and the Jiralhanae began to fall back into internecine conflicts.

In March 2558, the separatists attempted peace talks with the Jiralhanae chieftain Lydus on Ealen IV. Admiral Terrence Hood volunteered to moderate the talks between the two factions. However, the meeting was interrupted by a surprise attack by Covenant mercenaries under the command of Shipmaster Vata 'Gajat.

Military structure
'Vadam's separatists have been observed to use the same ranks as used by the former Covenant.

Notable individuals

 * Thel 'Vadam, the Arbiter, leader of the Covenant separatists.
 * Rtas 'Vadum, Special Operations Commander and Fleet Master.
 * Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, Imperial Admiral during the early stages of the Great Schism. Killed by a NOVA bomb in 2552.
 * Voro Nar 'Mantakree, Fleet Master. Killed by a FENRIS nuclear warhead in 2552.
 * Unidentified Sangheili Shipmaster
 * Usze ‘Taham, operator within the Special Warfare Group and liaison to the UNSC.
 * N'tho 'Sraom, Special Operation operator.

Military assets
Thel 'Vadam's Covenant utilized much of the same equipment that the original Covenant used. Most Unggoy used the Type-25 plasma pistol and Type-33 Needler, while Sangheili personnel were typically armed with the Type-25 plasma rifle and Type-51 carbine. The Type-50 particle beam rifle remained as the separatists' main sniper rifle. Type-32 Ghosts and Type-26 Wraiths made up the majority of the faction's ground vehicles. Like the original Covenant the Type-26 Banshee remained as the main aircraft of the faction. Type-52 Phantoms were used as the main troop transports, although these sported a green color instead of the usual purple and utilized active camouflage. The faction's navy was composed of multiple s, s, and.

Units
Fleet units
 * Fleet of Retribution
 * Shadow of Intent
 * Pious Inquisitor
 * Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose
 * Sublime Transcendence (destroyed by a NOVA bomb on Joyous Exultation)
 * Fleet of Righteous Vigilance

Ground forces
 * Several legions
 * Special Warfare Group
 * Covenant Special Operations

Trivia
Though the Covenant separatists were called "heretics" by the High Prophet of Truth, they should not be confused with the heretic faction led by the Sangheili Sesa 'Refumee and destroyed by Arbiter Thel 'Vadamee, although they do have the same goal and beliefs.

Gallery
 File:2973083-Medium.jpg|Two Sangheili Minors during the Battle of Installation 00. File:Thel 2558.png|Thel 'Vadam and escort on Ealen IV in 2558. 

List of appearances

 * Halo 2
 * Halo: Ghosts of Onyx
 * Halo 3
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * The Return
 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo 4
 * Halo: Escalation