Unggoy Ultra

Ultra Grunt is a Covenant Unggoy (Grunt) rank.

Rank
The ultra Grunt is the highest Grunt rank seen so far in the Covenant military. Like Ultra Elites, Ultra Grunts wear distinct white armor.

Ultra Grunts can sometimes be seen commanding lower classes of Grunts in battle, even leading black-armored SpecOps Grunts into combat.

Unlike Ultra Elites, Ultra Grunts do not appear to have any degree of impunity with command. It is just as likely that two or three will be encountered, yet the Elites are ultimately in command. They do not have authority over any other race of the Covenant, either.

Combat
Ultra Grunts usually tend to throw more grenades and fire more accurately that lower ranked Minor Grunts or Major Grunts. They are usually seen with Needlers or Plasma Pistols. They can also take much more damage than any other type of Grunt, although they are still vulnerable to headshots.

Appearances
These Grunts are exclusively seen in Halo: First Strike and physically in Halo 2. They are seen throughout Halo 2, but are far more frequent in the Heroic or Legendary difficulty levels than the Easy or Normal ones.

Background
The purpose of this rank designation has been generally unclear. They were first mentioned in Halo: First Strike, pushing carts of cleaning fluid and implying that they were even lower than Grunt Minors. However, they were also seen inside the Scarab walker in New Mombasa along with other high ranking Elites. They were also seen throughout Mombasa and Delta Halo. This led some to believe that they were "technicians" or engineers of some sort, but the production book, The Art of Halo, Confirms that they outrank Major Grunts. It has, however, been suggested that white armor actually signifies menial labor, while the more silvery armor means Ultra. Still, there is not a sufficient color difference to make this a significant case.