User:Kolar 'Refum/Heretic Defence Force

The Heretic Defence Force is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the Covenant Heretics Union, and a constituent military force within the United Sangheili Republic Armed Forces. It consists of two branches, the Heretic Army and the Fleet of Divine Reclamation, both of which are under the command of the Council of Seven and, nominally, the High Council of the USR.

Establishment
The Heretic Defence Force was established at the conclusion of the Battle of Installation 04, on September 19 2552, by the High Architect of the Covenant Heretics, Sesa 'Refumee as a defecting contingent of Sangheili and Unggoy troops from the Covenant Empire. After the crushing defeat of the HDF at the Battle of the Gas Mine at the hands of an Arbiter, two High Architects to be, Kolar 'Refum and Caecili, both students of Sesa, took command of the HDF. They led them into victories over the Covenant forces, aquiring their first fully fledged fleet, the Fleet of Divine Reclamation. The HDF then joined the Human-Covenant War on the side of the UNSC, instigating the initial skirmishes around High Charity at the Battle of Installation 05. Following the Great Schism, the Heretics joined with the Sangheili, Unggoy and Lekgolo who had been betrayed, forming the Covenant Separatists.

Covenant Civil War
The HDF fell under the command of the Separatists, namely Thel 'Vadam and Rtas 'Vadum. The pyrrhic victory at the Battle of Installation 05 left the Separatist and HDF fleets in tatters. Reorganisation was in order, and the First Council of Heresy was initiated. In it, the new commander-in-chief of the HDF was confirmed as High Architect of Warfare, Caecili. The HDF, under orders from 'Vadum, engaged in space skirmishes with Covenant Loyalist ships around Installation 05 with the few active ships they had left, with the rest either being in repair at the Heretic spacestation, the Hammer of Crisis, or being kept in good condition in the hopes that they might join 'Vadum's ship, the Shadow of Intent, on its expedition to the Sol System. After the Arbiter and 'Vadum had left for Earth, the remaining HDF regrouped a smaller, inferior fleet, the remains of the Fleet of Divine Reclamation, as a reserve fleet should 'Vadum require aid. Under the command of 'Refum, Caecili and 'Mantak, this fleet of 8 ships, spearheaded by 'Refum's flagship, the Seek and Reclaim, slipped to Earth, supplying the UNSC with Covenant Anti-Aircraft Batteries, before seven of the eight ships entered the Portal to give aid to Fleet Master 'Vadum. The victory of the UNSC/Separatist Alliance and the destruction of the Covenant Loyalists and Flood heralded a new age of cooperation between the races of the old Covenant and humanity.

Independent Military State
At the end of the Great War, the Separatists revised the Separatist Constitution drafted at the First Council of Heresy and established the United Sangheili Republic on March 19 2553. The High Architects did not agree with the proposed structure of the USR society, choosing to stay true to the old Covenant societal structure. At the Second Council of Heresy, the High Architects again declared their heresy, this time against the USR, establishing the Covenant Heretics Union. During the period from 2553-2569, the Heretic Defence Force became sole military organisation responsible for the defence of the Union. They played a major role in the survival of the CHU state, providing the CHU with a strong defence force, in essence averting the eyes of a now territory hungry, recovering USR, as well as providing the UNSC with humanitarian aid and resources in both manpower and technology for the rebuilding of many glassed UNSC colonies. The HDF maintained an antagonistic stance against the USR, but made sure that it was heard on the galactic stage by joining the USR and UEG with their universal crackdown on piracy. The HDF did not enter open conflict with any galactically recognised state until 2570, when the HDF attacked a gas mine on Buwan, killing all Sangheili USRAF personnel in the facility. Under orders from High Architect Caecili, this initiated the Heretic Insurrection, which culminated in the crushing rout of the Fleet of Divine Reclamation by the USR Navy and the more modest, yet still decisive defeat of the Heretic Army by the Sangheili Ascetic Corp. This left the HDF in tatters, and the Union an open target for the USR to annex.

Part of the United Sangheili Republic Armed Forces
By the end of 2570, the Union's economy was slipping into stagnation, as the trade embargos placed upon the Union by the USR began to take their toll, and the HDF could do nothing as contingents of the USR Navy and Army moved into CHU territory, claiming it for their own. Before the USR could completely annex the dwindling CHU, the High Architects ceded all of the Union's territory in which the Union members were the minority to the UEG, whilst retaining the HDF and such territory as the Hammer of Crisis and Basis. Thus they placed the Union in suspended animation, maintaining their independence yet unable to administrate over the majority of their populace. When the USR and UEG formed the Alliance of United Races, they invited the CHU to join. At first, the High Architects were suspicious, but they were ultimately forced to join to save their state from disappearing. They were forced to amalgamate their HDF into the USRAF, and the HDF continued to operate as a part of the USRAF.

Technology
Due to the trade embargos placed upon the Covenant Heretics Union by the United Sangheili Republic, the Heretic Defence Force is technologically inferior to the rest of the United Sangheili Republic Armed Forces. The weapons in common circulation are those which are produced on the Hammer of Crisis and Basis, which are identical to those manufactured during the Human-Covenant War. There are a few limited production weapons distributed amongst the highest ranking in the HDF, which are prototypes produced from the designs of the High Architect of Technology, the Prophet of Reclamation. Many of these are either refurbished scavenged Forerunner weapons or weapons based upon said scavenged weapons. The ships of the Fleet of Divine Reclamation are also inferior to those of the rest of the USR Navy. Smaller, slower and with fewer arms, the ships of the Reclamation are outdated and outclassed by modern ships of the line. However, there are a few armaments on these ships which have a heavier payload than what is common in the USR Navy proper, but these are extremely limited, only found on Kolar 'Refum's flagship, the Seek and Reclaim, and also the spacestation, Hammer of Crisis. These are the Forerunner Type-7 Beam, a huge beam weapon similar to that of a Forerunner Sentinel, but on a much larger scale, uncovered within Basis.