Great Schism

The Covenant Civil War, also known by members of the Covenant as the Great Schism, is a war between the two factions that split apart in October, 2552.

Cause
After the Prophet of Regret was killed by the Master Chief, the Prophets, most notably the High Prophet of Truth, deemed it necessary for the Covenant to undergo a "change of hats," namely the Brutes replacing the Elites as the protectors of the hierarchs. The Elites viewed this as a violation of the principle the Covenant had been founded upon and threatened to resign from the High Council arguing that if Truth had not withdrawn the Phantoms that had been on route to Regret's location, the Prophet's death would have been prevented, and the The Demon would have been killed.

Ultimately, Truth instigates the war by secretly ordering the assassination of all ruling Elites on and around High Charity, and presumably, the entire galaxy and beyond. This is disguised as a Brute inserrection against the Covenant to the Elites, the Hunters, and most Grunts, and as an Elite revolt to the other Covenant factions (excluding the Brutes). The war was originally fought to silence the revolts but after the Elites learned the truth of the Forerunners, it fought for the views of  the Great Journey

Factions
When war broke out on High Charity, the two sides were quickly decided, leaving the Covenant split in two. One force, the Covenant Loyalists consist primarily of the Prophets, Brutes, Jackels, Drones and, to a lesser extent, Grunts while the Covenant Seperatists fill out their ranks with the Elites, Hunters, and most of the Grunts. Furthermore, it appears that an alliance of circumstance galvanized in the control room of Delta Halo has tied the fate of the UNSC with that of the Covenant Separatists.

The Story so Far
Elites have been confirmed as allies to the humans of the UNSC. The "Story So Far..." page at halo3.com has stated: "Even with our newfound allies, the Elites, and their valiant and honorable leader, the Arbiter, we are still hopelessly outnumbered and at the mercy of the will of the Prophets, and the single minded force of the Flood."

Along with the Elites bio page: "The Elites have allied with their former Human foes in part because of a deep-seated resentment of the Prophet rule and in part because they actually understand the scale of the Flood problem."

2552
September 22: October 20: October 21: October 22: November 3
 * Installation 04 is destroyed by Human forces. Its Monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, escapes to Threshold. The Fleet of Particular Justice is wiped out. The fleet's secondary flagship, the Ascendant Justice, is captured by humans.
 * A Covenant Artifact Retrieval team led by Sesa 'Refumee is investigating the Gas Mine of Threshold when he encounters 343 Guilty Spark. Inspired by Spark's words, 'Refumee rebelled against the High Prophets of the Covenant.
 * The Supreme Commander of the Fleet of Particular Justice is tried before the High Council and sentenced to death.
 * The High Prophet of Truth overrides the council and makes the Supreme Commander an Arbiter of the Covenant. Truth then sends him to kill Sesa 'Refumee and destroy his rebellion, which they dub "Heresy".
 * The First Battle of Earth. The defeated High Prophet of Regret is forced to retreat to Installation 05, pursued by the UNSC In Amber Clad.
 * The Arbiter and a SpecOps Commander, Rtas 'Vadumee leads a team of SpecOps forces to Threshold, where they kill Sesa 'Refumee and successfully crush his rebellion.
 * The Master Chief tracks down and kills the Prophet of Regret on Installation 05.
 * High Charity arrives at Installation 05. Witnessing the assassination of the Prophet of Regret, the Prophet of Truth replaces the Honor Guard Elites with Brutes. Insulted, the Elite Councilors threaten to resign from the High Council.
 * The Arbiter and Tartarus are sent to retrieve The Index. The Arbiter successfully takes the Index, but Tartarus tries to kill him and takes the Index from him, as he was secretly ordered to do so by the Prophet of Truth.
 * Most of the Elite Councilors are taken to the surface of Installation 05 where they are massacred by the Brutes.
 * Tartarus declares war on the Elites. Fighting between Elite and Brute forces breaks out all over High Charity. As word spreads, fighting takes place throughout the fleet, as Elite- and Brute-controlled ships attack one another.
 * Tartarus attempts to activate the Halo.
 * The Arbiter, with the help of Sergeant Johnson and Rtas 'Vadumee, kills Tartarus.
 * The Prophet of Truth takes the Forerunner Ship to Earth, to join The Second Battle of Earth. The Brute forces there are already engaged in fighting with the UNSC. Unbeknownst to the Prophet of Truth, the Master Chief is on the ship, with the intention of "finishing the fight".
 * the UNSC Prowler Dusk witnesses the battle between Elite- and Brute-held ships above Delta Halo, both fighting each other pausing only to stop an immediate outbreak of the Flood from the ringworld, and links up with Battlegroup Stalingrad.
 * Major Domo Voro 'Mantakree kills his Ship Master while he is attempting to allow the Flood to enter the ship, assumes command, and becomes the de facto leader of the Second Fleet of Homogenous Clarity. He leads his forces to Joyous Exultation, pursued by the Brute Gargantum and his ships.
 * Imperial Admiral Xytan Jar 'Wattinree plans to lure the Brute leadership to Joyous Exultation, and plans an ambush for them. He deploys the newly-promoted Fleet Master Voro 'Mantakree to Onyx to recover the Forerunner technologies there, and prevent the UNSC forces there from claiming it themselves. A NOVA bomb captured by the supercarrier Sublime Transcendence devastates the planet moment after Mantakree's forces leave, the survivors joining Mantakree at Onyx.

Related Links

 * Elites
 * Brutes
 * Prophets