Clan of the Long Shields

The Clan of the Long Shields, often simplified as Long Shields, are a Jiralhanae-led Banished clan under the leadership of Warlord Pavium and his brother Voridus, larger than a pack though not the size of a legion. They were decimated in the events surrounding the Battle of Epsilon Clarion, leaving only a few known survivors.

Unleashing the Flood
Pavium and Voridus were sent on a salvage mission to the wreckage surrounding High Charity, with Atriox ordering them to avoid going into the Covenant's former holy city out of fear of the Flood surviving within. Not believing in the existence of the Flood, Pavium and Voridus led the clan to High Charity, deactivated the Ark's Sentinel defense network and breached the quarantine shield with a Banished Scarab. However, when the Long Shields entered High Charity, the Flood within quickly set upon them, infecting many of the Banished forces and escaping from their quarantine to infest the Ark once more.

Pavium and Voridus quickly regrouped with their remaining forces to contain the Flood. Regardless, Atriox became enraged by their actions which forced him to pull back from positions that he had spent months fortifying in order to focus on the threat of the Flood. As Pavium and many of the Long Shields he;d the line, Voridus led more troops into a Forerunner structure where he managed to reactivate the Sentinel defense network.

With the Ark's defenses back online, the Long Shields attacked a massive Proto-Gravemind which was in danger of soon becoming a Gravemind. With the help of a Retriever Sentinel, the Long Shields were able to destroy the Proto-Gravemind before an angry Atriox arrived to admonish Pavium and Voridus. The Long Shields then joined a force of thousands of Sentinels in containing the Flood outbreak completely. Ultimately, the Banished and the Sentinels succeeded in "scouring" the Flood from the ruins of High Charity and plundering the ruined city's data stores, retrieving, amongst other things, various access codes for Anodyne Spirit and a Forerunner entanglement dish.

The conflict cost the Long Shields hundreds of troops and vehicles - 40% of their total forces.

Stopping the Great Journey
After being disgraced following the Flood outbreak, Pavium and Voridus discovered a note left behind by Veta Lopis, a covert double agent inside the Keepers of the One Freedom. This note informed them that the Keepers intended to fire all the Halo rings from the Ark. Seeing this as an opportunity to redeem their clan, they set out to stop the Keepers who had allied with Dhas Bhasvod's Covenant loyalists. Throughout their mission, Pavium's authority was indirectly challenged by Thalazan who saw an opportunity to compete with the disgraced warlord for leadership.

During the Battle of Epsilon Clarion, the Ferrets alerted the loyalists and the Keepers to the clan's presence as their impending attack threatened the UNSC's plans to destroy Intrepid Eye. The battle decimated all three sides, leaving Voridus, Pavium and possibly Thalazan as the only survivors of the Long Shields. Following the orbital bombardment by the Spirit of Fire that destroyed Epsilon Clarion and stopped the attempt at firing the Halo Array, Pavium and Voridus plotted to claim that the Long Shields had held off the Keepers long enough for the humans to commence their bombardment, knowing that there was no one left alive to contradict their claims.

Military assets
The Long Shields make use of various Banished vehicles and weaponry. While predominantly composed of Jiralhanae, fifteen of the Banished's many humans were in the clan, as well as Sangheili mercenaries from Let 'Volir's clan, Unggoy, and Huragok. A few humans in the clan defected to the UNSC after the Flood outbreak on the Ark, leading Pavium to pre-emptively kick out the humans under his command, killing some in the process. Warmaster Atriox was upset with his decision to do so, considering all Banished humans to be valuable assets.

List of appearances

 * Halo Wars 2
 * Halo Wars 2: Awakening the Nightmare
 * Halo: Divine Wind