Swords of Sanghelios

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

- Thel 'Vadam

The Covenant Separatists are a breakaway faction of the Covenant, led by the Sangheili. It was officially formed after they learned the truth about the Halo Installations near the end of the Battle of Installation 05 in November 2552. The Separatists no longer look to the Prophets for leadership, and thus have no defined leadership save for the surviving Councilors, although Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and a few other head Sangheili, such as Rtas 'Vadum and Xytan 'Jar Wattinree hold positions of power within their ranks.

Background
The Covenant Separatists are made up of the Elite, Grunt and Hunter castes (Grunts and Hunters are sometimes seen in Halo 2 as allies, but never in Halo 3 to prevent confusion.) within the Covenant's hierarchical society. The members of the faction were somewhat "united" at the beginning of the Great Schism, although the faction was "officially" formed when they learned the truth of the Halos and since both times, have been fighting the Covenant Loyalists, led by the Prophets and their Brutes, Drones, Jackals and some Grunt and Hunter supporters.

It is speculated that this disgruntled faction is led by the Arbiter Thel Vadam, Ship Master Rtas 'Vadum and Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree. It is possible the remaining Councilors command the faction from Sanghelios as aides to the Arbiter, offering their council to him as they once did with the Prophets. Fronts of this war include the Covenant holy city of High Charity, Installation 05, Earth and areas of space where Covenant ships operate.

Origins of the Faction
The High Prophet of Regret led a badly planned mission to Earth, against the wishes of Truth, and was subsequently forced into the First Battle of Earth, as he did not know that the planet was the Human homeworld. He escaped to Delta Halo, where he was killed by the Master Chief. Regret's death was used as a justification by the remaining Prophets to replace the Elites with the Brutes as their protectors. However, this move resulted in great turmoil within the Covenant, with the Elites threatening to resign from the High Council.

Truth then gave command of the Covenant Fleets, the post previously held by the Elites, to the Brutes. Once there were enough Brutes in place, Truth secretly ordered the Brutes to instigate a vicious genocide of the Elites (disguised as a retaliation to an Elite revolt against the other Covenant factions) so they may replace them in society. The Elites responded, with the help of factions of Hunters and Grunts, and war broke out in High Charity with Brute and Elite fleets fighting each other in space around it. Later, most of the Elite Councilors were assassinated by the Brutes at the behest of the Prophets. When the Elites learned the truth about the Halos and the Prophet's treachery, it changed the war significantly and added the Humans to the struggle. Instead of a Great Journey, the Gravemind's revelation regarding the superweapon contradicted the Covenant's belief system and was motivating at least the Arbiter in his opposition to the Covenant as they tried to activate Delta Halo.



Ironically, the Separatist forces at Joyous Exultation might have helped turn the tide of the war in the UNSC's favor had it not been for Sublime Transcendence's destruction by a NOVA bomb slipped into the fleet by Admiral Whitcomb. However, at that early point in the Great Schism, both sides of the Covenant still regarded the UNSC as their enemy. As interstellar communication was not instantaneous, it would have taken some time for an alliance to be forged and for all the elements of the Separatist faction to be informed, as some of them may not have been even after the Battle of Installation 00. Either way, the UNSC had no choice, since they sent a strike force to eliminate the humans at Onyx and recover supposed Forerunner artifacts, still believing in the religion that brought the Schism upon them, though it should be noted that the Elites were trying to preserve the Forerunner technology from being used, while the humans were trying to harvest it.

Sangheili-Human Alliance
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 they 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 Johnson and the Arbiter were coerced to unite in order to prevent Tartarus activating the Halo. . However, the Arbiter persuaded the rest of the Sangheili to join the Humans. While the two factions experience some friction, they learn to work with one another for their mutual survival. During the events of Halo 3, the Elites fight alongside Humans in battle and saved them from destruction.

The devastated UNSC Fleet in Earth's space were glad to accept the help of the superior Separatist warships. The Elites' understanding of enemy equipment and Covenant's combat tactics proved invaluable in the Battle of Installation 00. Recurrently the heroes of battle, the Arbiter and Master Chief fought alongside one another many times in the desperate and long conflict.

With Truth dead, High Charity destroyed, and the Ark essentially lost to the reborn Installation 04's firing, it is unknown what exactly the remaining Loyalist forces did. The Arbiter's presence at memorial services for the Master Chief indicated that in the wake of victory, Separatist and Human forces remained friendly to one another, as they both had made tremendous sacrifices in order to stop Truth and the Loyalist forces.

According to the Bestiarum in Halo 3's Limited Edition, the Grunts were too indecisive to continue the rebellion and the true political motivation of the Hunters, if any, remains a mystery. Ship Master Rtas 'Vadum stated that Truth's Fleet was destroyed. Had any of the Covenant survived on the Ark or in the ruins of their Fleet, they were either taken by the Flood or killed when the unfinished Installation 04 (II) fired and destroyed itself and heavily damaged the Ark. At the end cutscene of Halo 3, victorious Elites depart for their homeworld to ensure its safety.

Weapons

 * Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle - Plasma Rifle
 * Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword - Energy Sword
 * Type-51 Carbine - Covenant Carbine
 * Type-50 Sniper Rifle System - Particle Beam Rifle
 * Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon - Fuel Rod Gun
 * Type-52 Directed Energy Support Weapon - Plasma Cannon
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol - Plasma Pistol (only used by Grunts and Minor Elites)
 * Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher - Needler (only used by Grunts and certain Elite ranks)
 * Energy Stave - (used only by Honor Guards in Halo 2 and Halo Wars)

Equipment

 * Active Camouflage
 * Flashlight
 * Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenade - Plasma Grenade
 * Elite Combat Harness
 * Elite Personal Energy Shield

Vehicles

 * Some human vehicles supplied by the UNSC
 * Type-26 ASG - Shade
 * Spectre - Halo 2 only
 * Shadow - Halo 2 only
 * Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle - Ghost
 * Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft - Banshee
 * Type-52 Troop Carrier - Phantom
 * Type-47 Ultra Heavy Assault Platform - Scarab
 * Type-25 Assault Gun Carriage - Wraith
 * Type-52 Anti-Aircraft Artillery - Anti-Air Wraith
 * Seraph-class Starfighter
 * CCS-class Battlecruiser
 * Reverence-class Cruiser
 * Assault Carrier
 * Supercarrier

Commanders

 * Thel 'Vadam (The Arbiter)
 * Rtas 'Vadum
 * Xytan 'Jar Wattinree (Fate unknown; probably deceased)
 * Voro Nar 'Mantakree (deceased)
 * N’tho ‘Sraom
 * Usze ‘Taham

Military

 * Sangheili- All
 * Unggoy- unknown how many sided with the Separatists, many seen continuing to fight alongside Loyalists.
 * Mgalekgolo- unknown how many sided with the Separatists, many seen continuing to fight alongside Loyalists.

Units
Covenant Separatist Navy:
 * Fleet of Retribution

Covenant Separatist Army:
 * Legions attached to Separatist Navy
 * Special Warfare Group
 * Covenant Special Operations

Other

 * Engineers (Unknown, but likely)

Reasons for the Absence of Grunts and Hunters

 * This was internally done by Bungie to avoid any possible confusion between ally and enemy, after reports that some found the Heretic levels in Halo 2 confusing, despite the Heretics having unique armour.
 * Reassigned duties for both species, or sent to protect their homeworlds and/or Sanghelios due to the absence of the Elites.
 * Not seen by the player, due to the few times Separatists (not counting the Arbiter) are seen. However, this may be incorrect, as they would have been seen on the Shadow of Intent at the end of Floodgate, and the other cut scenes it is featured in.
 * Yet another reason for the lack of Separatist Hunters and Grunts, as well as the other Elite ranks such as Honor Guards, Councilors, and Stealth is the fact that there are few allied Covenant in Halo 3 to begin with.
 * One final reason is that they may be fighting on other planets alongside the Sangheili and humans; or still with the main Sangheili Fleet. This has some support: during the level Floodgate when Thel 'Vadam spoke with the Sangheili Major commanding the Elite force he mentions "a fleet of hundreds". It is unlikely that no Grunts or Hunters were in that fleet on other worlds.

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 Elite, Sesa 'Refumee and destroyed by the Arbiter. If remnants of the Heretics were still around during the time of Halo 3, the Separatists would be on the same side as the Heretics, since they also knew the truth about the Halo Array.
 * This is not necessarily the first internal dispute in the Covenant's society; when the current Arbiter was assigned to his office, he was reminded by the High Prophet of Mercy that an Arbiter was necessary during the Taming of the Hunters and the Grunt Rebellion, which was a conflict between the Covenant and its lowest caste, the Grunts.
 * The Separatist Phantoms are green in color, quite unlike the Loyalist Phantoms, which are the same dark purple they've always been. However, this does not mean all Separatist vehicles' colors are the same color as well. During the ending of Floodgate, in the beginning cutscene of the part where the Separatist Phantom and a couple of Warthogs are seen stopping in the hangar of the Shadow of Intent, two purple Banshees are seen farther away from the hangar. Also in the cutscene, where Marines are sitting around in the hangar with some Elites, a Major Elite can be seen sitting on top of a purple Ghost. The Separatist Phantom is also equipped with Active Camouflage, used to cloak the dropships as they deliver Sangheili combat teams in Floodgate and The Covenant.
 * Some Zealots are seen in the Covenant Separatist Force, in the Halo 2 levels Uprising and Great Journey, where you get an infinite number of them. It is unknown if there were any more Zealots, whether these are simply commanding troops in other Theaters of Combat, filling positions vacant after the slaughter of the Council, or if they too suffered from execution by the Brutes.
 * The alliance between the Separatists and the UNSC was the second alliance between Covenant forces and Humans. The first was the alliance between the Insurrectionists and Kig-yar in The Rubble.