Editing Warrior-Servant

{{Era|Forerunner}}
<center>''This article is about the Forerunner rate. For other uses, see [[Warrior]]''.</center>
[[File:H4 - Warrior-Servant.jpg|thumb|250px|A [[Promethean]] Warrior-Servant.]]
'''Warrior-Servants''', or '''Warriors''', were the [[rate]] traditionally tasked with defense and warfare in the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]].<ref>'''[[Halo Waypoint]]''', ''[[Halo: Cryptum/Glossary|Halo: Cryptum glossary]]''</ref> In formal proceedings, the rate was also referred to as the '''Warrior-Servant Corps'''.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 296''</ref> They stood second-lowest in the hierarchy of rates during the last millennia of Forerunner rule. The highest and most respected class of Warrior-Servants were known as the [[Promethean]]s. The rank of [[protector of the ecumene]] — commander of the Forerunner military — was historically held by a high-ranked Warrior-Servant, the most well-known being the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]] and his successor, the [[IsoDidact]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 233''</ref>

==Overview==
While the Forerunners preferred to see themselves as being peaceful by nature, Warrior-Servants were ruthless in executing warfare against enemies of the ecumene, as they believed that defying the Forerunners was to show contempt toward the [[Mantle]] itself.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 50''</ref> Although their services were vital in maintaining galactic harmony, most Forerunners viewed their purpose and practices as being contradictory to the principles of the Mantle. As such, other rates looked down on the Warrior-Servants, who mostly kept to themselves as a result.<ref name="c107">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 107''</ref>

In battle, Warrior-Servants wore varying types of fighting suits—[[combat skin]]s—the [[war sphinx]] being an example of a medium-sized suit.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 43''</ref> Warrior armor was designed to optimize itself to counter enemy weaponry; this ability was capable of making their armor virtually invulnerable to repeated discharges from Forerunner infantry weapons.<ref>'''[[Halo: Escalation]]''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 10|Issue 10]]''</ref> The Warrior-Servants operated the Forerunners' most prominent [[Forerunner fleet|battle fleets]], comprising warships such as [[Fortress-class vessel]]s, [[Forerunner dreadnought|dreadnoughts]], [[planet-breaker]]s and [[Forerunner picket cruiser|picket cruisers]]. Warriors employed extensive drone support in the form of dedicated [[monitor]]s and [[sentinel]]s,<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 214''</ref> in addition to the [[ancilla]]s of their battle armor and ships.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 139''</ref> In fleet engagements, individual Warriors could be assigned control over up to a million automated [[weapon-ship]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 174''</ref> Warrior forces were organized into large-scale [[legion]]s which possessed a number of subordinate attack squadrons.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 104-105''</ref>

As with the other rates, Warrior-Servant [[form]]s were shaped based on qualities deemed most useful in their role; to best suit fighting and warfare, Warriors were more powerfully built and more robust than the other rates.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 279''</ref> While it was rarely necessary to engage in close-quarters combat in actual warfare, Warriors still possessed remarkable physical strength.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 86''</ref> The augmented mental capacity of Warrior commanders allowed them to perceive reality in many separate reference-frames with alternating flows of time whilst sharing sensory input with their compatriots.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 162, 316''</ref>

In the event of death, Warrior fighting suits were programmed to retain their wearer's last personality impressions for future study.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 137''</ref> It was also a common policy among Warriors to [[Mind transfer|extract]] the memory impressions of their vanquished foes before executing them.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 188''</ref> However, in the case of opponents they deemed worthy, it was considered more honorable to execute them outright.<ref>'''Halo: Primordium''', ''page 235''</ref>

Warrior-Servants had their own system of unique hand signals and gestures. Raising one's hand and giving it a half-turn was the sign for "command received".<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 24''</ref> Marking a Y over one's forehead and the bridge of their nose signified an admission of shame and guilt,<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 85''</ref> while touching the sixth finger of one's left hand conveyed "vengeful sympathy".<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 83''</ref>

==History==
[[10,000,000 BCE|Ten million years]] before the final days of the Forerunner civilization, the Warriors were the highest rate.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 14''</ref> They were the ones responsible for rebelling against the [[Precursor]]s and [[Forerunner-Precursor war|hunting them down]] to near-extinction.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 251''</ref> Their status would gradually move lower over several millions of years, in part due to an increase in the political power of their [[Builder]] competitors and because the other rates viewed their field of work with distaste. This decrease of status would result in the name of their rate being suffixed with "-Servant", although on some occasions they were still referred to as "Warriors".<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 53''</ref>

Even though they eventually ranked second-lowest, the Warrior-Servants, particularly their highest and most respected [[Promethean]] class, still wielded remarkable political power and were in a prestigious social standing, serving in various roles in the [[Ecumene Council]] by the time of the [[human-Forerunner wars]] in [[110,000 BCE]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 59''</ref> After the conclusion of the war with humanity, the Prometheans, under the leadership of the [[Ur-Didact|Didact]], were opposed to the [[Builder]]s' plan to construct a new superweapon known as [[Halo Array|Halo]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''pages 43-44''</ref>

Though they managed to forestall the construction of the Halos for thousands of years, while preparing a defense of their own known as the [[shield world]]s, the Didact and the Warrior-Servants eventually lost the political war as a result of [[Master Builder]] [[Faber]]'s political maneuvering. When the Builders rose to supreme power within the Council circa [[101,000 BCE]], the Warrior-Servants were diminished as a rate, with their fleets and armies being systematically disbanded over the course of the next millennium as part of the Master Builder's scheme to secure the primacy of the Builder rate.<ref name="c239">'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 238-239''</ref> This would leave the ecumene ill-prepared for the [[Forerunner-Flood war|return of the Flood]]. However, many Warriors chose to move to the Builder rate, becoming part of [[Builder Security]].<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 47''</ref> The Didact and the Promethean commanders who had supported him were accorded harsh punishments, often execution, though many were offered the choice of self-imposed exile in "Warrior Keeps" known as [[Cryptum]]s.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 182''</ref>

In the final years of the [[Forerunner-Flood war]], after the Master Builder was stripped of his power due to his crimes, the standing of the Warrior-Servants was elevated once again with the [[IsoDidact]] - an imprinted copy of the Didact - being placed in command of Forerunner defense.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 20''</ref> Many former Warriors still remained in Builder Security, but their forces were combined with those of the Warrior-Servants in newly reconstituted forces led by the IsoDidact.<ref>'''Halo: Silentium''', ''page 197''</ref>

==Known Warriors==
*The [[Confirmer]]
*The [[Examiner]] (later Builder Security)
*The [[Falchion]]
*The [[Grammarian]]
*The [[IsoDidact]]
*The [[Strategos]]
*The [[Ur-Didact]]
*[[Endurance-of-Will]]
*[[Glory of a Far Dawn]]
*[[Sharp-by-Striking]] (later Builder Security)
*[[Bitterness-of-the-Vanquished]] (later Builder Security)

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:H4_-_Warrior-Servants.jpg|A squad of Prometheans during the [[Human-Forerunner War]].
File:H4-Terminal-WarriorServant.jpg|A Warrior-Servant using an unidentified energy-based weapon.
File:H4 - Warrior-Servants 2.jpg|Warrior-Servants fighting side-by-side during the Forerunner-Flood war.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo: Cryptum]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo: Primordium]]''
*''[[Halo 4]]''
**''[[Terminal/Halo 4|Terminals]]''
**''[[Spartan Ops]]''
*''[[Halo: Silentium]]''
*''[[Halo: Rebirth]]''
*''[[Halo: Spartan Strike]]''

==Sources==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Forerunner rates}}
[[Category:Forerunner rates]]
[[Category:Forerunner military units| ]]