Editing Warrior-Servant

{{Status|Canon}}

{{Center|''This article is about the Forerunner rate. For other uses, see [[Warrior]]''.}}

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'''Warrior-Servants''' or '''Warriors''' were the [[rate]] traditionally tasked with defense and warfare in the [[Forerunner]] [[ecumene]].{{Ref/Site|Id=CryptumGlossary|URL=http://halo.xbox.com/en-us/intel/related/text/cryptum-glossary/62e29c59-a3f9-4b63-af76-def71fda5459|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Cryptum Glossary|D=14|M=03|Y=2014|LocalArchive=Halo: Cryptum/Glossary}} 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]] and his successor, the [[IsoDidact]].<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''page 233''</ref>

While the Forerunners preferred to see themselves as 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 contradictory to the principles of the Mantle. As a result, other rates looked down on the Warrior-Servants, who tended to keep to themselves. <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 armour was designed to optimise itself to counter enemy weaponry; this ability was capable of making their armour 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 of over 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 while sharing sensory input with their compatriots.<ref>'''Halo: Cryptum''', ''pages 162, 316''</ref>

Though they managed to forestall the construction of the Halos for thousands of years, while preparing a defence 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 [[98,445 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>

Trillions of Warrior-Servants were killed in their ultimately futile efforts to contain the Flood during the three-century-long [[Forerunner-Flood war]].<ref name="unc">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-uncharted-waters '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Uncharted Waters'']</ref> In the final years of the conflict, 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>

File:H4 Concept DefeatedAncestors.jpg|Warrior-Servants guarding captured Ancestors on Charum Hakkor.

File:H4 Terminals ForerunnerWarriors Concept.jpg|Concept art of Warrior-Servants and the Didact.

File:H4 Terminals ForerunnerWarriors Concept 2.jpg|Concept art of Warrior-Servants.

**''[[Terminal (Halo 4)|Terminals]]''

*''[[Rebirth]]''

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