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. After the Prophet of Regret was killed by the Master Chief, the Prophets instituted the Changing of the Guard having the Brutes take the former role of the Elites as guards. This was all caused by the Elite guards failing their duty of protecting the Prophet of Regret from the Demon (though Truth's recalling of the rescue Phantoms was to blame) causing the Prophets to no longer feel safe under the guard of the Elites,and because the Elites were becoming more and more suspicious of why the Prophets ordered they attack the humans and start the war without first giving them the option of joining the Covenant because the humans have not done anything wrong or against the Covenant before the war at Harvest.

The Elites were enraged with this decision and, in an attempt to regain some of their authority in the Covenant, threatened to resign from the High Council, but were not reimbursed. Tension began to raise between the Prophets and Elites, putting the Covenant on the brink of a civil war. As if to purposely instigate the event, the High Prophet of Truth ordered the assassination of many of the Elite Councilors, sending the Elites into a final fit of rage and vengeance. Violence broke out and the High Prophet of Truth declared war, and the first battle of the Covenant Civil War began on High Charity. Within a short amount of time the word of war spread and the war began to spread among the fleet as well. Skirmishes in the ships and space battles erupted within the fleet and soon the entire Covenant.

When war broke out on High Charity, the two sides were quickly decided, leaving the Covenant split in two. One faction consisted mainly of the Prophets and their new guards, the Brutes, with the other faction being the Elites, whom the Prophets had betrayed, and whom had been protectors of the Prophets' as far back as the discovery of the Forerunners. They are joined by the Hunters, as well as many of the Grunts. The Arbiter, who is seen as the leader of the Elites, seems to have sided with the Humans at the end of Halo 2, as Sergeant Johnson helped him defeat Tartarus in the Control Room of Installation 05.

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."

Summary
DATE: November 3 , 2552?

LOCATION: High Charity, all throughout the Covenant empire and Installation 05, and possibly Earth and other human worlds.

INVOLVED: Covenant, Covenant Separatists

SYNOPSIS: The Civil War of the Covenant is the most recent battle amongst the Covenant, still taking place at the end of Halo 2.

OUTCOME: Currently unknown.

The Covenant Separatists
LEADERS: Xytan 'Jar Wattinree & The Arbiter.

HOMEWORLD: Joyous Exultation.

MILITARY FORCES: Unknown number of Elites, Hunters, Grunts and Humans.

The Arbiter and Rtas 'Vadumee are the commanders of the Covenant Separatists. Those who have sided with them include the Hunters and many of the Grunts, though some of the grunts sided with the Loyalists, possibly (and most likely) out of fear.

The Covenant Loyalists
LEADERS: High Prophets, Tartarus.

HOMEWORLDS: Multiple worlds.

CAPITOL CITY: High Charity

MILITARY FORCES: Unknown number of Jackals, Brutes, Grunts, and Drones. Multiple ships of various classes.

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 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