| User Title: |
TNO God |
| Posts: |
27,497 |
| Credits: |
|
|
 |
The Covenant Empire
|
Purpose: |
Religious Government
|
Leaders: |
High Prophets
|
Role: |
Religious, Military, Defense |
Executives: |
Prophets / Councillors
|
State Religion: |
Forerunner Worship
|
Ruling Body:
|
High Council |
Technology Tier: |
Tier 2
|
Capital: |
High Charity |
Species: |
San'Shyuum |
Power Base: |
Multiple planets and shipyards
|
Client Species: |
Multiple |
Intel Branch: |
|
Currency:
|
None
|
Preceeded By: |
None |
Language: |
Sangheili, English |
Succeeded By: |
The Covenant Remnant
|
Current Status: |
Disbanded as of 2553
|
|
The Covenant Empire
The Covenant Empire, also known as The Covenant, was a multi-species religious theocracy based around the worship of The Forerunners. As a result of the alliance, The Covenant Empire spanned many lightyears, controlling a vast portion of The Milky Way Galaxy, concompassing countless worlds and hundreds of star systems. The Covenant itself was first established in 852 BC when the two founding races, The Sangheili and The San'Shyuum created the Writ of Union, the document that brought an end to the 86 year long war between the two races, as well as later becoming an oath of service to The Covenant. The Constitution of The Covenant is known as the Ratification Parley. There is very little known about this document, and the contents remain a mystery. Every species that was absorbed into the Covenant was required to take an oath of loyalty to The Covenant, as outlined in the Writ of Union. It was as a result of The Covenant's efforts to incorporate various races into The Covenant, that the alliance became the single most powerful military force in The Milky Way Galaxy, unmatched in their size and technological supremacy. In2525, The Covenant made first contact with Humanity on the colony world of Harvest. Contact was made between Humanity and The Jiralhanae. At first, contact between the two sides proved to be stable, but a misunderstanding, which resulted in deaths on both sides, proved to be the catalyst for what became known as The Human-Covenant War, in which The Covenant sought to systematically eradicate Humanity. It became a pattern, that over the next 27 years, The Covenant devastated almost every Human controlled world, killing in excess of 23 billion Humans, in addition to countless numbers of Covenant soldiers who were either killed in action or killed in counter attacks. In 2552, The Covenant underwent a political schism, as a result of tensions between The Sangheili and The Jiralhanae, and the union was dissolved into two factions; Seperatists (The Sangheili) and Loyalists (The Jiralhanae) with all other minor species divided between the two. By 2553, The Covenant had all but been defeated, with Humanity emerging as the victors.
- Intelligence Dossier
- General Information
- The Covenant Empire Military
- Navy
- Army
- Honor Guards
- Special Warfare Group
- The High Council
- Planets
- Shipyards and Stations
- Doisac Shipyards
- Station of Constant Sustenance
- Pegasi Delta
- Technology
- Naval Vessels
- Tactics
- Member Species
- Religion and Culture
- The Great Schism
- Notes
|
Intelligence Dossier
General Information
The Covenant, founded in 852 BCE, started as an alliance between The Shan'Shyuum and The Sangheili, in the aftermath of a long and bloody war between the two founding races, which lasted for 86 years. Throughout the course of The Covenant's long history, multiple other races were absorbed and included in The Covenant. The main motivation of The Covenant was to follow in the path of their gods, namely, The Forerunners, in their transcendence beyond the corporeal. This devotion to their religion was the driving force behind The Covenant's insatiable and unstoppable drive to collect Forerunner artifacts, as well as their genocidal campaign against Humanity.
The Covenant Empire Military
The Covenant Empire maintained a permanent, and powerful, military branch that was used for defensive and offensive purposes, as well as projecting their religion and way of life onto other races by means of extreme force. During the height of the Covenant's might, the military was led by The Elites, but in the final days of the Covenant's existence, The Brutes were placed in charge of the military. This was seen as one of the major factors of The Great Schism.
Navy
The navy of The Covenant was vast and powerful. In most instances during the Human-Covenant war, the Covenant navy utterly decimated the UNSC navy, usually resulting in heavy defeats for humanity. The Covenant navy was typically responsible for the initial attacks on Human colonies and worlds, and were responsible for the final glassing of said world. The navy was led by the Elites, first and foremost, with the rare exception of there being a Brute shipmaster, or even a Jackal ship mistress. In any case, the Covenant navy utilized powerful technology, such as pulse laser, plasma torpedos, and energy shielding.
Army
The army, typically supported by the navy, was responsible for all ground based operations during the war. The army, like the navy, was led by The Elites in almost every circumstance, but with noted instances of ground operations carried out by Brutes. The army had many weapons to use, from lightweight Ghosts, to the heavy Scarabs.
The Honor Guard
The Honor Guard is a special branch of the army which is charged with the protection of councilors and prophets. The title of Honor Guard is one of great religious importance, and is one that is bestowed onto Elites who have proven their valor and cunning in battle. In 2552, the title of Honor Guard was revoked from The Elites when the Prophets placed The Brutes in command of the military. This was done in direct response to the Elites being unable to defend a high prophet from assassination. This was another factor that led to The Great Schism. Despite this, high Prophets could have as many as 300 honor guards assigned to them, while lower ranking Councillors may have as many as 10.
Special Warfare Group
The Special Warfare Group was typically responsible for small scale operations of great importance to The Covenant. This branch of the military included the Covenant Special Operations branch (SpecOps) and Covenant Fleet Security. The Special Warfare Group is specifically tasked with high risk operations, which involve a great degree of stealth, skill, and expertise.
The Council
The Council of The Covenant was the ruling Government. The Council was typically comprised of Elites (to represent the military) and Prophets (to represent the interest of the Covenant religion. As the Covenant was a theocracy, the religious aspect of the Council had a more important role, and thus, had higher precedence. The Council was led by three high Prophets, typically considered to be the utmost religious authority in the Covenant.
Planets
The Covenant Empire controlled many worlds at the height of its power. Every world that fell into the jurisdiction of a member species, fell under the control of the Covenant. While ONI is unsure as to the exact number of planets controlled by The Covenant, it is estimated that there were over 100 worlds that were directly and indirectly controlled by the Covenant. Due to the vast amount of information on this topic, each planet has been listed in a general ledger, and provided its own dossier. This information can be accessed by reviewing the notice below.
For further information on the pkanets under the control of the ONI CC, please refer to the following Dossier and access subcategories as needed: Planets and Locations
Shipyards and Stations
There is very little information pertaining to Covenant shipyards used during the war. However, a few locations have been known to exist, but their official designation is unknown.
- K7-49
- Acute Mercy
- Uruckus
Technology
The Covenant has access to a very diverse and power array of technology, giving them an edge in combat. The following is a list of technology employed by The Covenant:
- Anti-Gravity Technology
- Gravity Manipulation Technology
- Plasma and Pulse Based Weaponry
- Energy Shielding
- Active Camouflage
- Advanced Metals and Compounds
- Forerunner Technology
- Teleportation Technology
- Advanced Slipspace Capabilities
- Repulsor Engine Techmology
- Holographic Technology
- Advanced Medical Technology / Understanding
- Reverse Engineered Hard Light Technology
Naval Vessels
The Covenant has a very wide range of naval vessels which they use to facilitate day to day operations. The following is a list of vessels which are most commonly used by The Covenant:
- Corvettes
- SDV-Class Heavy Corvette
- SDV-Class Heavy Stealth Corvette
- Destroyers
- CPV-Class Heavy Destroyer
- Frigates
- Cruisers
- Heavy Cruisers
- CCS-class Battlecruiser
- Reverence-Class Cruiser
- Battleships
- CAS-Class Assault Carrier
- Warships
Tactics
The Covenant employed a very wide range of tactics in order to facilitate its operations. The follow is a list of the most commonly employed tactics:
- Use of large battlecruiser to glass entire planet surfaces.
- Use of active camo technology to facilitate stealth ground assaults.
- Use of Grunts as suicde bombers abd cannon fodder to inflict heavy enemy casualties.
- Use of Jackals and Skirmishers as long range infantry and snipers.
- Use of Brutes as shock troopers and secret police.
- Use of Hunters as heavy artilery.
- Use of Drones as airborn infantry.
- Use of smaller Corvettes and Frigates to lay siege to planet surfaces in ELO.
Member Species
The Covenant was composed of multiple species, all of which, save for The San'Shyuum, and The Sangheili, were absorbed into the Covenant as client races. The following is a list of races that served in The Covenant in some capacity:
- San'Shyuum
- Sangheili
- Jiralhanae
- Lekgolo
- Unggoy
- Kig-Yar
- T'vaoan
- Yanme'e
- Huragok
Religion and Culture
The religion of The Covenant created a very distinct and obvious caste system, with very strong theocratic underpinnings. While The Sangheili and San'Shyuum ruled The Covenant, both in a political and militeristic fashion, The San'Shyuum were exclusivly the leaders of the religious aspects of The Covenant. Other races, such as The Jiralhanae served as shock troopers, while the lesser races, served as manual labor or slaves in almost every respect. It has been because of this disparity, that many of the rebeliions and uprisings have occured, most notably, The Great Schism, an event that was preceded by the intense hatred shared between The Sangheili and The Jiralhanae.
The entire culture of The Covenant is grounded in the worship, reverence, and idolatry of Forerunners. As such, all of the races that were absorbed into The Covenant had this culture forced upon them, and if unlucky enough, were subjected to the total eradication and erasure of their prior history and culture, as a means to facilitate an easier transition.
The Economy of The Covenant was non-existant as Humans would know it. Instead, The Covenant used commerce as a form of economy. Every member of The Covenant was given some form of employment or role, that they would be forced to carry out, in exchange for goods and necessities. Service for salvation was the moral motivation for the entire population, and was held in the highest regard. However, despite this fact, the lower races were treated as second-class citzens, and often discriminated against, all while having little to no political voice.
The Great Schism
The Great Schism is the term given to the fracturing and subsequent civil war that took place in The Covenant in the final days of The Human-Covenant War. However, the conflict itself had been preceeded by years of animosity between The Sangheili and The Jiralhanae, as well as The Covenant Leadership's distrust of The Sangheili and belief that The Jiralhanae were far easier to manipulate. In large part, many Jiralhanae fell victim to this manipulation, and unwittingly brought about the cataclysmic desstruction of The Covenant, which resulted in countless deaths for all parties involved.
The first major event of The Great Schism was the Changing of the Guard, an event which saw The Sangheili stripped of their title as the protectors of The Prophets, as well as the leader of the fleets. These titles were bestowed upon The Jiralhanae, much to the dismay and anger of The Sangheili. The second major event was the assassination of nearly the entire Sangheili council. This was the final betrayl that finally tore the Covenant apart, and began The Great Schism.
Notes
|
|
Covenant_Empire
12-07-2012
Linear Mode
