Real World

The Covenant on Reach

From Halopedia, the Halo wiki

The Covenant on Reach is a short Halo universe documentary uploaded to Halo Waypoint in 2010.

Blog transcript[edit]

The following is a transcript of the original blog posted to Halo Waypoint to serve as context for the video.

Video transcript[edit]

The Covenant is an empire composed of a variety of distinctive groups and organisations including a military force so powerful that they have pushed our species to the brink of extinction. We've been losing this war for 27 years. First it was the Outer Colonies, all of them gone, all of them reduced to ash. Then came the Inner Colonies, crushed one by one, each step of the way drawing nearer to the planet Earth. Now they're on Reach, the last offense before humanity's home planet, and the Covenant have brought a force unlike anything we've ever seen.

In the lowest tier and in the highest numbers are the Unggoy, better known as Grunts - the primary infantry force within the Covenant military. Almost always sent en masse, Grunts are intended to flood and overwhelm their enemies byu sheer numbers. But some units even required to commit suicide if enemy lives can be claimed in the process. Yanme'e, or Drones, also use numbers to overwhelm their enemies since individually their frail frames offer little to no threat against a well-armed combatant. They attack primarily from the air. There are large numbers engulfing their enemies from every possible angle.

Deployed for exploration and research are the Huragok, also known as Engineers. Though much remains unknown of this species, they appear to be artificial in nature. neutral in affilication and largely harmeless apart from their ability to augment any Covenant armour located within their proximity. The Kig-Yar, on the other hand, represent a significant and diversified fighting force within the Covenant military. Their distribution serves not only scouting and reconnaissance roles. but active infantry groups with leadership over other species on occaision. Within the Kig-Yar species are two distinct classes, colloquially they are referred to as Jackals and Skirmishers - the former being more common, slightly weaker, and usually seen bearing an energy shield gauntlet. Skirmishers, on the other hand, are swift, agile, and somewhat more reislient with visibly distinctive features sepraratting them from their same species cousins. In contrast to the smaller and lower-tier Covenant units are the Mgalekgolo, or Hunters, formed from the Lekgolo eels of the planet Te. Hunters are enormous and powerful, with no other equal within the Covenant in terms of size and potency. Hunters are always seen in pars, a bond reflecting their deeply social but distinctly alien culture.

Relatively new to the Covenant are Jiralhanae, or Brutes, a vicious species which though involved in the highly-classified first contact between the humans and Covenant, have been rare in their deployment. The Brutes offer a vicious and rapacious fighting contingent to the Covenant arsenal, with a history of being deployed into area with high civilian populations as a genocidal weapon more than an occupational entity since their species is known for acts of abject horror and cruelty such as torture, and even consumption of humans. They have not only become a physical threat, but a psychological one as well.

At the head of the Covenant's military war machine are the Sangheili - the Elites. Though they are known for their own brand of brutality, they are far more cunning than any other species in the Covenant, rightfully giving them their position and authority. Sangheili are deployed in a variety of ways, from individual squad leaders to high-ranking Zealot classes as extension of their culture's appreciation for warfare. While the full extent of the Covenant's intentions on Reach remain unknown, it is assumed that once they've found what they're looking for, they'll unleash complete and total devastation on the planet. Humanity's hope for survival can be found on the surface of Reach with the men and women who will give their lives to not only free the planet from the iron grip of the Covenant, but in doing so, give hope to what may be the last, fleeting, breath of human existence.


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