Harbinger of Piety

"This ship is impregnable. It has laid waste to worlds. Let them come. We welcome them."

- Minister of Inquisition to Ruwan Ackerson as he is still interrogating the civilian aboard his ship.

The Harbinger of Piety was a Covenant under the command of the Minister of Inquisition.

Human-Covenant War
During the Human-Covenant War, the Harbinger of Piety participated in numerous battles against the UNSC and the humanity, where it has laid waste to many human colonies. As of during the Great Schism, it was under control of the Jiralhanae.

Battle for Earth
The Harbing of Piety was present during the Battle for Earth and carried at least one San'Shyuum Minister, the Minister of Inquisition. However, it is unknown if the cruiser was present during the Battle of Cleveland. While the siege of the city was raging, the Minister was curious about a supposed Forerunner artifact called the Key of Osanalan, which was, in fact, fake. It had been made up by James and Ruwan Ackerson when they were young.

Ruwan Ackerson had met the Covenant and told the Covenant that he was actually the "key". Confused, the Covenant took the human to the Harbinger via a Phantom, where the Minister of Inquisition vows to spare Earth from the invasion in exchange for knowledge of the apparent "key". In reality, Ruwan had been implanted with an organic tracker for the UNSC to find and destroy high ranking Covenant officials. During the scramble aboard the Prophet of Truth's Forerunner Dreadnought, the Spartan Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 was ordered to find a way off the Covenant command flagship to avoid being caught in the impending destruction of Harbinger of Piety which was near the keyship. The Nassau Station eventually proceeded to destroy the Harbinger of Piety with a single shot from its MAC gun, killing everyone aboard including the Minister of Inquisition and Ruwan Ackerson.

Production notes
Harbinger of Piety is first depicted with four forward ventral prongs, as seen on Ket-pattern battlecruisers in Halo 3. However, the panel showing its destruction depicts it as only having two prongs like those in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Uprising