Covenant Remnant (Labyrinth Canon)

After the eruption of hostilities between the Old Covenant and their former military class the Sangheili, the Covenant was held together loosely only through sheer reverence for the Prophet of Truth. Without his shrewd political cunning and skill, and with very few qualified enough to take his place with the blessings of all involved, the Covenant would fragment even further into almost a dozen different factions, each claiming to be the "true" Covenant. Some would be small affairs, ruling perhaps a single colony, while other larger factions would hold sway over large regions of former Covenant territory. All of them would remain a significant military threat to the still-recovering UNSC, and the vulnerable Sangheili.

True Covenant
The first, and to date largest, group to emerge from the chaotic period as the Covenant collapsed, the True Covenant would form itself around a new trio of Prophet Hierarchs. Seeking to try and keep the Covenant as unified as possible, the Prophets of Objection, Protestation and Devotion made many changes in the internal structuring and organisation of their faction, seeking to make better use of each of their member-races' talents. Yanme'e were elevated to the Warrior Caste, with Huragok taking their former technical roles, while Unggoy were removed from the military totally, relegated to civilian roles to build up the True Covenant infrastructure and to deny them the resources for revolt.

While outwardly the True Covenant claims to follow the religious motivation of the past set of Hierarchs, internally many acknowledge that a holy war simply isn't feasible at the moment. The Treat of Undying Virtue was signed between San'Shyuum, Sangheili and Human dignitaries in 2554, bringing an end to outward hostilities between the True Covenant and the UNSC-Sangheili alliance. This doesn't mean that peace has been made, and there was no formal end to the war agreed between the parties, but the True Covenant and the allies agreed to a set boundary of territory that neither would cross, in exchange for which the Sangheili leaders agreed to deal with the less built-up "Covenant" groups instead, to ensure security.

Since 2554, the True Covenant has yet to make any threatening movements or engage in actions against the UNSC and Sangheili, but limited intelligence gathered indicates a significant buildup of personnel and equipment - whether this is for a war against humanity and the Sangheili, or whether they have decided to finally stamp out the other "pretenders" is unknown.

Blood Covenant
Though the True Covenant is ruled by three new Prophet Hierarchs, the Blood Covenant rejects this system entirely, and is more accurately described as "Covenant" in name only. Rather, it is lead by a single Jiralhanae warlord, Alpha Chieftain Hephaestus, ruling over thirteen former Covenant colonies, based out on Glorious Ascension, a former Sangheili colony. While the Blood Covenant hold much less territory than the True Covenant, less than 47%, when the Covenant broke apart Hephaestus managed to bring together a significant number of ships and warriors under his sway, and today they maintain the largest military threat to the Sangheili, against whom all the Jiralhanae in the Blood Covenant have sworn eternal undying vengeance against for the murder of former Alpha Chieftain Tartarus at the hands of the Arbiter.

Though the Blood Covenant incorporate many of the races that once made up the Covenant, they hold the distinction of including no Prophets. Though the Jiralhanae remain outwardly pious and reverent to former San'Shyuum temples, there is a general undercurrent of belief that the ill tidings of the Jiralhanae in recent times - their devastation by the Sangheili fleet at Delta Halo, the humans at Earth, and against both at the Ark - are a direct result of Prophet meddling. Such "heresy" has particularly enflamed the representatives of the True Covenant, especially after the San'Shyuum Ministers of Malediction and Requisition were sent back brutally slaughtered by the Jiralhanae, and neither faction has ceased hostilities against each other. Part of the Undying Virtue Treaty's conditions was that the Sangheili deny assistance or recognition to the Blood Covenant - a foolish inclusion, as the Sangheili would never even consider such a move, nor would teh Jiralhanae accept it.

Holy Covenant
Certainly the briefest of the Covenant factions, the Holy Covenant was a dominantly Prophet-led faction, but since their species number less than thousand and will be extinct in a few generations, they were also the shortest-lasting. They merged with the True Covenant in 2553, brought into the fold of the rest of their kin, and taking high positions of power.

Unusually, they were the only faction that saw any Prophets deployed against their enemies. Without the legions of Unggoy, Sangheili or Jiralhanae bodyguards to protect them, the Prophets were forced to fend for themselves, adapting to conduct their own defenses, modifying their own hoverthrones, vehicles and weapons, and forced to "defile" their rechnology to keep up with the Sangheili fleets that were pursuing them. When they entered the True Covenant, much of their expertise were quickly applied to the True Covenant military.

Brotherhood of Ruskt
Technically, the Brotherhood of Rukt are an offshoot of the Covenant religion, modified by the Brutes for their purposes. After the Schism, and the collapse of the Old Covenant, the Brotherhood of Rukt came to control thirteen colonies, significant enough to hold its own against rival factions, and build up its infrastructure, but too trivial for the Sangheili to bother with. As it built itself up, it waged a war of conquest against other groups, wresting control of isolated planets and star systems from would-be warlords and pirates, eventually holding two dozen colonies under its sway. Its relationship with the Blood Covenant is an odd one - while they admire the sheer power of Hephaestus' faction, and the fact that it is ruled by Jiralhanae rather than Prophets, they refuse to bow down to what they see as an honourless barbarian. The Jiralhanae are not as brutal as their frontline warriors would allow observers to believe - while in battle they are bestial and brutal, out of it they are as intelligent as the Sangheili and humans.

The Brotherhood are particularly notable for their peace treaty with the Sangheili, the only group of Jiralhanae to seek it. The exact circumstances of the treaty are unknown, and both the Sangheili and the Brotherhood refuse to talk about, but a limited exchange of information, technology, goods, and personnel has allowed both groups to secure their borders. Exactly how long this brief alliance will last is unknown, but the Brotherhood don't seem particularly eager to return to their jihad against the Sangheili and UNSC.

Acolytes of Devotion
The decision for the Sangheili to split from the Covenant was a unanimous one, though the reasons for it were varied. The Acolytes of Devotion left the Covenant because of the betrayal of the Prophets and the rise of the Jiralhanae, but still retained a strong belief in the Covenant religion and the Great Journey, choosing to believe that the Propbhets had strayed from the path, and that it was the task of the Sangheili to lead everyone back to it. In true Sangheili fashion, the Acolytes quickly set to work weeding out the rival cults and religions that strove for dominance near its centre of operations, a closely guarded secret, and established its dominance over a small number of built-up worlds.