Yanme'e Minor

Minor
Function:	Soldiers, mechanical engineers
Species:	Yanme'e
Affiliation:	Covenant; Merg Vol's Covenant;

Minor is a rank held by Yanme'e serving in the Covenant military and its remnants; including Merg Vol's Covenant.^[1] For fully-grown, non-pupal Yanme'e, Minor is the lowest rank attainable.

Overview

For Yanme'e serving in the Covenant, Minor is considered the lowest of any caste. Originally, Yanme'e were employed by the Covenant as engineers and technicians. However, most in this role were eventually replaced by the Huragok, and the Yanme'e began being deployed into combat roles.^[2] They are commanded by Majors and Ultras.

Age seems to be some factor in determining the rank of Yanme'e; Minors tend not to have any head protrusions unlike their older brethren.^[3]

Equipment

Yanme'e Minors are distinguished by their light green exoskeletons, and like all Yanme'e are equipped with anti-gravity technology that is attached to their wings that allow them to fly freely.^[4]

Generally, most Yanme'e Minors are armed with Type-25 plasma pistols. However, some are found with Type-33 Needlers, or rarely, the Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle.^[5]^[6]^[7] The Yanme'e serving under Merg Vol are typically equipped only with plasma pistols.^[1]

Gameplay

A Yanme'e Minor flies slower than Yanme'e Majors. All the Yanme'e that are encountered in Halo 2 and Halo: Spartan Assault are Minors; there are no Majors. They are often seen commanded by Yanme'e Leaders in Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.

Usually found equipped with Plasma Pistols, Needlers, and rarely Plasma Rifles, Yanme'e Minors are very low in rank but, like Unggoy, are quite a threat in big groups. They are also fairly good shots, especially on Legendary and Heroic. Most of the time, Yanme'e Minors appear in large swarms and can be quite dangerous. Yanme'e Minors, while powerful in swarms, are weak individually. They can be taken down easily and often make tactical errors such as flying into an enemy's line of sight or getting in the path of their ally's shot. Yanme'e Minors also land on the ground occasionally, making them extremely vulnerable to melee attacks.

Yanme'e Minors can be taken down easily with an M7 SMG, Assault Rifle, Battle Rifle, DMR, Needler or Plasma Rifle. Super-combining needles will cause an explosion large enough to take out most, if not the all, of the Yanme'e in the group. However, as the Halo 2 Official Strategy Guide points out, they can be deadly in conjunction with Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Sangheili, and Jiralhanae.

Production notes

The Yanme'e encountered in Halo 3 are split into Minor and Major ranks. However, outside of this name difference, the Majors exhibit no different behaviour from their Minor cousins, inheriting the exact same AI, model, textures, colouration and statistics.