The Storm are a splinter faction of the Covenant that was formed in the wake of the Human-Covenant War.[1] Their leader is Jul 'Mdama[2] and the Sangheili serve as their leadership caste.[3]
Background
Breaking away from the main body of the newly peaceful Covenant, the Storm still continue to adhere to the religion and philosophy of the San 'Shyuum.[1] Their leader, Jul 'Mdama, became disillusioned with the Arbiter and humanity after being kidnapped by ONI forces and suffering the loss of his wife in the Sangheili Civil War. After escaping from ONI custody on Shield World 006, Jul gained a small following of Sangheili on Hesduros. There, he resolved to seek out the Didact - a surviving Forerunner and "living god" to Jul and other devout Sangheili - and awaken him from his sleep, with the intent to ask for his aid in destroying humanity.
In the summer of 2557, Storm forces on the shield world Requiem engaged UNSC personnel who had become stranded on the installation, defying the tenuous cease-fire between humanity and the Sangheili. By then, the Storm had managed to gather a formidable fleet, consisting of at least sixteen CCS-class battlecruisers and a single CAS-class assault carrier as their flagship.[2] The Storm still maintained a presence on Requiem six months later,[4] attempting to gain control of a powerful weapon hidden on the shield world.[1]
Member species
As in the original Covenant, the Sangheili serve as the Storm's military leadership caste. Sangheili Storm members have an unusual mouth structure in which the upper mandibles attach above and behind the eyes rather than beneath the hard palate; their mandibles are shorter and more tapered than those of other Sangheili.[note 1] The Unggoy still serve as cannon fodder;[3] Unggoy in service to the Storm appear to have been selectively bred, genetically modified, or otherwise represent a different species from the mainstream type.[5] Likewise, the Kig-Yar, (at least the Jackals), are still deployed as skirmishers and light infantry; similar to the Unggoy, they possess a noticeably different morphology from those commonly encountered during the Human-Covenant War.[3][6] The Mgalekgolo are also a member species of this faction.[7]
Military Assets
Although certainly a less formidable force than the original Covenant, the Storm has amassed a considerable amount of military assets as of its occupation of Requiem. The faction primarily uses weaponry formerly belonging to the original Covenant, as well as more recently-developed weapons like the Storm Rifle. Covenant vehicles such as the Banshee and Ghost are still mainstays of the Storm's ground forces, and the faction's armada is composed of vessels formerly used by the Covenant.
Ranks
Below is a list of military ranks and titles within the Storm's member races.[8]
Sangheili:
Unggoy:
Kig-Yar:
Gallery
- Halo4 Elite.jpg
A Sangheili member of the Storm. Note the unusual mandible structure.
An Unggoy in service to the Storm. Note its abnormal, vaguely reptomammalian morphology.
A Kig-Yar serving under the Storm. Note its predominantly reptilian appearance.
A Mgalekgolo serving under the Storm.
- Jul 'Mdama.png
Jul 'Mdama, the leader of the Storm.
- Storm fleet surrounding FUD.jpg
Storm fleet surrounding the remains of UNSC Forward Unto Dawn.
Note
- ^ Unlike the Unggoy and the Kig-Yar, there has been no canonical explanation for the change in the Sangheili's physiology. As such, this change could be an example of artistic license or a visual retcon rather than representing a different in-universe type of Sangheili.
- ^ a b c Halo Waypoint identifies the Storm's basic Sangheili and Kig-Yar units as the "Storm Elite" and "Storm Jackal", respectively; it is thus unclear whether the Storm use the traditional Minor rank for members of these races. However, the Unggoy seem to utilize the Minor/Major dichotomy and sport the same color-coding they used while in service to the Covenant.
List of appearances
- Halo 4 (First appearance)
