Kig-Yar: Difference between revisions

The '''Kig-Yar''' (sometimes rendered as "'''Kig-yar'''";<!-- Most official sources render the species' name as "Kig-Yar" rather than as "Kig-yar".--> [[Forerunner]] designation: ''Perosus latrunculus'', [[Wikipedia:Latin|Latin]] for "hateful bandit";<ref>[http://carnage.bungie.org/haloforum/halo.forum.pl?read=865756 '''halo.bungie.org''': ''Bestiarum Latin names translated'']</ref> [[human]] designation: ''Covenant secundarium carnivora prœdonis'', Latin for "Covenant secondary carnivorous combatant"<ref>'''''[[Dr. Halsey's personal journal]]'''''</ref>), are a bird-like saurian species<ref name="B.net">[http://www.bungie.net/projects/odst/guide.aspx '''Bungie.net''': ODST Guide]</ref> which serve the [[Covenant]] as mercenaries and privateers. There are several distinct races of Kig-Yar; the most common of these races are known to humans as '''Jackals''', while the more heavily-built '''[[Skirmisher]]s''' represent another prominent subtype. In combat, Kig-Yar typically serve as snipers and scouts within the Covenant due to their excellent senses of sight, smell, and hearing.

The Kig-Yar were one of many species indexed by the [[Librarian]] as part of the [[Conservation Measure]] and preserved on [[Installation 00]] from the firing of the [[Halo Array]]. They were subsequently returned to their homeworld, where they began re-building their culture.

During their early history, Kig-Yar society was divided into clans that sailed across [[Eayn]]'s seas as pirates, raiding the encampments and settlements of rival clans. Eventually, the clans united, and the Kig-Yar species worked together in developing space-travel technology. Shortly afterward, they established colonies on many small asteroids around [[Chu'ot]]. Some Kig-Yar continued their ancient ways of life and became [[Space piracy|pirates]] once more, preying upon merchant starships. These groups of pirates were the Kig-Yar's only effective response to the overwhelming [[Covenant military]] juggernaut that arrived in the Kig-Yar home system in [[1342]].

The war between the Covenant and Kig-Yar forces culminated in sieges of redoubts on the asteroids surrounding their world. Eventually, in order to survive, they accepted Letters of Marque: commissions from the [[Ministry of Tranquility]] to engage in the services of the Covenant, though often this was merely used as an excuse to continue their plundering lifestyle. The Kig-Yar would spend much of their time preying on the ships of the Covenant's enemies, such as [[Human]]ity.

Kig-Yar are around the same level as the [[Unggoy]] in the Covenant hierarchy, although the Kig-Yar despise the Unggoy and believe themselves to be superior. This reached a boiling point in [[2462]], when some Kig-Yar in High Charity attempted to poison [[Infusion]]s, recreational narcotics the Unggoy enjoyed, which would have left the Unggoy sterile, in retaliation for the Unggoy encroaching on their habitats and displacing Kig-Yar nests. Although [[Prophet of Truth|a junior staffer]] in the [[Ministry of Concert]] found evidence of this, the [[High Council]] failed to properly investigate the incident, culminating in the [[Unggoy Rebellion]].

A Kig-Yar [[missionary ship]], the ''[[Minor Transgression]]'', was the first Covenant vessel to make contact with Humanity. The ship raided a [[Horn of Plenty|commercial freighter]] leaving the planet [[Harvest]], and the events that followed would later lead to full-scale military action on the part of [[human]]ity and the Covenant.

File:H4 Jackal Storm concept.jpg|Concepts of an Ibie'sh Jackal for ''Halo 4''.