Joyous Exultation

Joyous Exultation is, to date, the only known Covenant colony. It was located in the fringe of the massive Covenant empire in the Salia System and had a small moon, Malhiem.

During the Civil War of the Covenant, the world was a rallying point for the Elites, under the leadership of Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree. The Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose met here, along with ships from the Second Fleet of Homogeneous Clarity as well as many other Elite controlled vessels. They planned to set up a meeting with the Covenant Loyalists on this planet, where they would massacre the Brutes and Prophets leadership.

Unfortunately, the plan failed when a NOVA Bomb taken from Reach by the supercarrier Sublime Transcendence (the Covenant flagship) detonated (the fault of a Grunt, Kwassass), vaporizing a quarter of the world, shattering the planet's moon, destroying much of the Covenant fleet gathered there, and causing massive shock waves that leveled many cities on other parts of the planet. In addition, the explosion resulted in 300 mph winds that wrecked many of the remaining cities, and created massive tidal waves that destroyed much of the coastline. Needless to say, few of the planet's inhabitants survived the blast itself or the severe conditions caused by the after-effects of the weapon (climate change, fallout etc.)

The current allegiance of the planet, the state of its inhabitants, and the status of Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree is still unknown, although it's likely that they were all killed by the blast or after-effects. The first Covenant to settle here were the Elites and the Prophets as they were the first to form the "Covenant".

Sources

1. Nylund, Eric. Halo: Ghosts of Onyx. New York: Tor, 2006. pg. 236-245.