Covenant: Difference between revisions

For the Covenant species, interstellar travel was made easy due to the reverse-engineered technology. Like humans, Covenant vessels can enter [[Slipstream space]] and travel significantly faster than light. However, the Covenant equivalent of the [[Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine]] is far more efficient and reliable, relying on a series of "micro-jumps" to maneuver through the slipstream. Covenant vessels do not suffer the "temporal fluidity" of faster-than-light to such a degree as human vessels, arriving at the precise time and location that they intend. However, after a slipspace jump Covenant vessels generally experience a temporary power outage, leaving the vessel vulnerable to attack. As a result, Covenant battlegroups are much more efficient when acting as a coordinated group, and can strike more quickly and decisively.<ref name="enyc224"/>

Covenant starships use [[repulsor engine]]s for propulsion in space, rather than traditional reaction drives such as the [[fusion engine]]s utilized by humanity.<ref>'''Halo: Ghosts of Onyx''', ''page 331''</ref> Covenant drive systems seem to be propelled by an unusual combination of gravity "waves" and some form of highly reactive plasma displacement, but the actual means and method of propulsion is currently beyond human understanding.<ref name="enyc224"/> Both starships and ground vehicles are equipped with various forms of [[anti-gravity technology]], allowing ships to hover easily inside an atmosphere and allowing frictionless movement of vehicles across terrain. The Covenant are also able to manipulate exceedingly large amounts of plasma energy by recycling detritus from sublight travel.<ref name="wp cov"/>

The Covenant dominated a relatively large portion of the [[Milky Way]] galaxy. The Covenant empire was based in ''[[High Charity]]'', a mobile holy city.<ref name="wp cov"/> In addition to six of the Covenant's primary client species' homeworlds, the Covenant established numerous colonies throughout the [[Orion Arm]] of the Milky Way galaxy.<ref name="enyc119"/> Some species, such as the [[Kig-Yar]] and [[Lekgolo]], had created colonies of their own before their incorporation into the Covenant. These worlds would be absorbed into the empire after the species joined the Covenant. Covenant space would grow to include new worlds as the hegemony expanded throughout the galaxy, and even [[Forerunner]] installations were settled by the Covenant. Despite the massive size of the empire, the Covenant would generally leave a newly discovered world untouched, unless the world held religious or practical significance. The primary worlds settled by the Covenant, or its client species, served as military bases established by the [[Sangheili]].<ref name="wp cov"/> The [[San'Shyuum]] settled [[Jiralhanae]] on resource-rich worlds to guard them from anyone seeking to claim them for themselves, although the Jiralhanae lacked the ability to mine the resources themselves.<ref name="esc1">'''[[Halo: Escalation]]''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 1|Issue #1]]''</ref>