Jul 'Mdama's Covenant
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The Covenant remnant[note 1] is an umbrella term for members of the former Covenant who remain loyal to the hegemony's ideals in the wake of the Human-Covenant War, the Great Schism, and the disappearance of the San 'Shyuum. The de facto leader of the remnant's main body is Jul 'Mdama.[1] The remnant continues to oppose the UNSC following the Human-Covenant War; its members are identified as terrorists by the UNSC,[2] and the organization itself is classified as being closer to a religious cult as opposed to the full-fledged empire of the original Covenant.[3]
Background
After the Human-Covenant War and the initial phase of the Great Schism, the Covenant's former member races returned to their home systems. Many Sangheili and Jiralhanae continued to fight each other, steadily dwindling both sides' military resources, though some Jiralhanae remained loyal to their Sangheili masters.[4] A great number of Sangheili began to forsake the Prophets' false religion. The Sangheili soon fell into civil war, sparked by Arbiter Thel 'Vadam's desire to make peace with humanity. In March 2553, a loose coalition of keeps opposed to the peace treaty launched an assault on the State of Vadam, though the timely intervention of the Template:UNSCship turned the battle in the Arbiter's favor.[5]
Jul 'Mdama, a former Shipmaster and an affiliate of the Servants of the Abiding Truth, became disillusioned with the Arbiter and humanity after being kidnapped by the Office of Naval Intelligence; his resolve was strengthened when his wife, Raia, was killed in the civil conflict. After escaping ONI custody on the shield world Trevelyan, Jul gained a small following of Sangheili on the colony world Hesduros. Feigning religious devotion to the Forerunners, he resolved to recover Forerunner technology from the shield world Requiem, much as the humans had done on Trevelyan. Though he believed it unlikely that any Forerunners still lived, 'Mdama also planned to find the Didact, the leader of the Forerunner military, with whom he shared disdain for humanity.
'Mdama's fleet arrived at Requiem in 2554, though they could not gain access.[1] By July 2557, the group had gathered a formidable fleet, consisting of at least sixteen CCS-class battlecruisers and a single CAS-class assault carrier as their flagship. It was at this time they noticed a human ship drifting toward the planet and attempted to stop it from entering.[6] The presence of Reclaimers near the installation caused an entrance portal to open, through a gravity well, both the Dawn and Covenant ships were pulled into the planet. They immediately began establishing positions all over the shield world, engaging Aggressor Sentinels and John-117.[7] The Covenant fleet eventually made its way to Requiem's core, where Didact was imprisoned. They fought against John-117, who was trying to contact the UNSC Infinity, and the Prometheans who were originally trying to prevent them from reaching the Didact. John-117 eventually made it to where Didact was imprisoned, and accidentally released him, causing the remnant forces in the area to bow in worship. Through their mutual hatred toward humanity, the remnant and Promethean forces (reprogrammed by the Didact) quickly formed an alliance. The remnant aided the Didact's forces in it's attack on the Infinity, defense of the particle cannons and the Didact's Cryptum as he attempted to leave Requiem.[8][9][10] The remnant would later lead the attack on Ivanoff Station, in order to acquire the Composer.[11]
The Covenant still maintained a presence on Requiem in February 2558.[12] By that time, they had begun searching for the Librarian's archived personality in hopes of finding more Forerunner artifacts.[13] This search brought them into conflict yet again with UNSC Marine and Spartan teams deployed from Infinity, which had returned 6 months after withdrawing from the planet.
Member species
As in the original Covenant, the Sangheili serve as the remanant's military leadership caste. The Unggoy still serve as cannon fodder.[14] Likewise, the Kig-Yar, (at least the Jackals), are still deployed as snipers and light infantry. The Mgalekgolo are also a member species of this faction.[15]
Military assets
Although certainly a less formidable force than the original Covenant, the remnant have amassed a considerable amount of military assets as of its occupation of Requiem. The faction primarily uses equipment formerly belonging to the original Covenant, as well as more recently developed weapons like the Storm rifle. Infantry are equipped with armor that appears to be a mix of new variants and styles used by the original Covenant; for example, Unggoy Storm troops are equipped with rebreathers modeled on traditional Unggoy diving apparatuses, whereas Sangheili Commanders wear armor that is very reminiscent of armor worn by Sangheili Officers of the Covenant.
As in the Covenant, the Ghost, Wraith, and Banshee are mainstays of the remnant's ground and air forces, in addition to the Lich. The faction's armada is composed of vessels formerly used by the Covenant, including at least one CAS-class assault carrier and several CCS-class battlecruisers,[1] although in contrast to the original Covenant, the formerly ubiquitous CCS-class is far less abundant and is largely replaced by the smaller and less powerful CRS-class light cruiser as the primary capital ship of their fleet.[note 2]
Unlike those of the original Covenant, much of the hardware utilized by the remnant bears green-glowing lights, as opposed to white, blue or purple lighting.
Ranks
The remnant use a streamlined version of the Covenant's long-standing rank hierarchy. Veterans of the war with humanity are organized into cadres of higher-ranked personnel. The highest-ranking Sangheili, most notably Zealots, also hold sway in the restructured Covenant's civil arena.[16][17]
| Classes | Sangheili | Unggoy | Kig-Yar | Lekgolo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profiles |  |
 |
 |
 |
| Ranks and type classes | ||||
| Minor/standard ranks | Storm | Storm | Storm | Hunter form |
| Specialized troops | Ranger | Ranger | Ranger and Sniper | |
| Junior leaders/veterans | Commander | Imperial and Heavy | Heavy | |
| Senior leaders | Zealot and Warrior | |||
| Titles | ||||
| Ratings | Shipmaster | |||
Gallery
- Storm fleet surrounding FUD.jpg
'Mdama's fleet surrounding the remains of UNSC Forward Unto Dawn.
Jul 'Mdama with Gek, another key figure of the remnant faction.
Note
- ^ In Halo 4 and its ancillary material, this group is referred to simply as "the Covenant"; the "remnant" title is merely a descriptor to distinguish the group from the original Covenant Empire. According to an inaccurate article by the Official Xbox Magazine and perpetuated by Examiner, the Covenant forces encountered in Halo 4 are known as "the Storm". However, this arose due to a misunderstanding of the Covenant's streamlined "Storm" ranking system and the new storm rifle. These articles also claim that the "Storm" follow the religion of the San 'Shyuum; while they do continue to worship the Forerunners, most have forsaken the Covenant's original religion after the fall of the Prophet of Truth.
- ^ While the majority of the Covenant cruisers seen in Halo 4 closely resemble the CCS-class in design, they are much smaller; this is clearly evident from their appearance in the level Dawn, where even the 490-meter long Charon-class light frigate UNSC Forward Unto Dawn is noticeably larger. The size difference is also conspicuous in the first episode of Spartan Ops, in which the UNSC Infinity rams a large Covenant cruiser (evidently of the CCS-class) while many of the smaller cruisers are seen nearby. Since the Essential Visual Guide describes the CRS-class as being essentially a smaller version of the CCS-class, and its given size coincides with the smaller cruisers in Halo 4, one can surmise that the cruisers seen in Halo 4 belong to the CRS-class.
List of appearances
- Halo: The Thursday War (First appearance)
- Halo 4
Sources
- ^ a b c Halo Waypoint: Halo 4 Terminal: Jul 'Mdama
- ^ Spartan Ops, S1E3 Catherine
- ^ Halo 4 Limited Edition, Mission Briefing
- ^ Halo: Glasslands, page ???
- ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page ???
- ^ Halo 4, Dawn
- ^ Halo 4, Requiem
- ^ Halo 4, Infinity
- ^ Halo 4, Reclaimer
- ^ Halo 4, Shutdown
- ^ Halo 4, Composer
- ^ Spartan Ops
- ^ Spartan Ops, S1E4 Didact's Hand
- ^ The Halo Bulletin - 5.9.12
- ^ The Halo Bulletin: 8.22.12
- ^ Halo Waypoint - Halo 4 Intel: Enemies - Covenant
- ^ Halo Waypoint: New Halo 4 Renders
