Trident

A trident is a troop unit consisting of 12 to 16. It is the third smallest unit in the Covenant Army, after the and, and roughly equivalent to the  squad and the. Tridents tend to be combined units made from two lances under a single leader, and as such are rarely seen in conventional battles, but commonly formed by the during joint missions.

History
The trident weapon ("Tikushma" in Sangheilian Common) is a important ceremonial tool in many Sangheili clans, representing prosperity and readiness for battle. The Sangheili trident takes on the uses of both human tridents and pitchforks, having a triple use as a farming, fishing, and combat tool. It is one of the earliest known of Sangheili weapons, and its pronged form had an influence on the design of other Sangheili weapons, such as the.

During the creation of the "United Warriors of Sanghelios", the national union formed in response to the, the name "trident" was chosen to represent the third unit of the Sangheilian military chain. Its large size of up to 16 warriors was represented by the long staff making up a trident's handle, and the three prongs standing for the three units making up the joint team. The two outside prongs represented the two lances that were being combined to form this larger unit. The middle prong stood for the trident's leader, who, to lead a trident, had to be considered by his superiors to be a warrior equal to an entire lance. The earliest trident units actually wielded trident weapons into battle, and after the war it and all other United Warriors units were repurposed into the Covenant's military organization.