Canon

Covenant Battle Calendar

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The Covenant Battle Calendar was the standardized timekeeping calendar employed by the Covenant military, intended to assist in chronological coordination between ships, units, and planets in different systems with different measures of time. It is the Covenant equivalent of the military calendar employed by the United Nations Space Command.[1]

The calendar is measured in cycles and then broken down further into units. The calendar had been implemented and utilized by the San'Shyuum Reformists by 876 BCE.[2] After the fall of the Covenant Empire in 2552, the calendar was still used by the Sangheili.[3] The calendar also remained in use by the Ussans by 2552.[4]

Terms used in the calendar[edit]

Unit[edit]

A unit was a standard unit of time, comparable to an hour on Earth.[5] However, the meaning of the term is dependent on the context in which it is used. A unit was a Covenant term referring to either a standard unit of measurement, which is comparable to a foot in the human imperial system.[1] Indeed, one meter is approximately equivalent to 3.3 units.[6] A unit is also a measurement of temperature.[7]

Cental[edit]

A cental is another unit of measurement, measured as one hundredth of a unit - and roughly equivalent to thirty six seconds. Five centals is roughly equivalent to three minutes.[8]

Cycle[edit]

A cycle was a Covenant unit of time based on the Forerunner temporal unit of the same name.[9] Containing 265 units, one daily cycle is equal to a single artificial day on the Covenant's holy city of High Charity.[10][11] A solar cycle, or an annual cycle,[3] was the Covenant equivalent of a year.[12] Other forms of units of time included a weekly cycle[13] and a monthly cycle,[14] with the former being similar in length to a standard human week.[13] This however seems rather odd, as a standard day cycle is equal to 265 hours or 11.0417 human days.

List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ a b Halo: The Flood, p. 7
  2. ^ Halo: Broken Circle, p. 7
  3. ^ a b Halo: Hunters in the Dark, p. 30 (Google Play edition)
  4. ^ Halo: Broken Circle, p. 204
  5. ^ Halo: The Flood, p. 177
  6. ^ Halo: Oblivion, Chapter 14 notes that 10 kilometers is approximately 33 thousand units. Simple math indicates one meter equals 3.3 units.
  7. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, p. 128 (Google Play edition)
  8. ^ Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 6
  9. ^ Halo: Blood Line, Issue #5
  10. ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2009 edition), p. 31
  11. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, p. 349
  12. ^ Halo: Broken Circle, p. 266
  13. ^ a b Halo: Hunters in the Dark, p. 54 (Google Play edition)
  14. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, p. 55 (Google Play edition)