Sons of the Crimson Blade

The Sons of the Crimson Blade were a militaristic supremacist brotherhood of Sangheili warriors formed shortly after the formation of the Covenant and the Sangheili race's alliance with the San 'Shyuum. Founded by Sangheili hard-liners who believed that the Sangheili had adopted a disgustingly subservient role within the Covenant's hierarchy, the Sons remained a small secret society during the early centuries of Covenant history, but used the Covenant's growth as an opportunity to expand their numbers without drawing the full attention of the Covenant government that would undoubtedly have resulted in a destructive purge due to their many heresies against the San 'Shyuum and the Covenant in general. Originally espousing a doctrine that stated that the Sangheili should become the galaxy's sole sentient species through the extermination of all other rivals, the Sons eventually modified their dogma so that they sought to make the Sangheili the sole dominant species in the galaxy. The Human-Covenant War and the Great Schism worked to the advantage of the Sons, as both events led to increases in strength for the brotherhood that allowed them to eventually become a small but stable private army following the end of the war.