Galactic Covenant

The Galactic Covenant were a militaristic and theocratic alliance of races. They were composed of a variety of diverse species united under the religious worship of the Sith. They fought a war of attrition with the Galactic Republic for unknown reasons; the Galactic Covenant treated all of other species as infidels worthy only of destruction.

Society
The Galactic Covenant were governed by the Sith, who in turn are advised by their monarchy.

In addition to the Sith, several advisory councils and one official ministry had been identified:


 * The Council of Concordance advises on maintaining law and order.
 * The Council of Doctrine and Deed advises on military tactical and strategic matters.
 * The Council of Masters is the parent council of Doctrine and Deed in times of war.
 * The Ministry of Tranquility organizes [[privateer and mercenary organizations as well as archiving and libraries

The species are seen united in worshipping the Sith, an ancient and supposedly extinct alien race who have left behind several artifacts and technologies used by the Galactic Covenant and the Sith. Some species allied to the Covenant actually evolved on a planet once home to a Sith colony. The Covenant have a tendency to conquer, coerce, or hire other races and force them into the alliance, adding to their ranks.

History
The Covenant's organization of time and dates is not elaborated in detail by many historians. The Covenant's date system is split into seven epochs, detailed as follows:
 * Age(s) of Abandonment
 * Age(s) of Conflict
 * Age(s) of Discovery
 * Age(s) of Reconciliation
 * Age(s) of Conversion
 * Age(s) of Doubt
 * Age(s) of Reclamation

Covenant War
The outbreak of outright war between the Republic and Covenant developed in 2525 BBY. The Republic was totally surprised by the first contact with the alien alliance. The Covenant declared a crusade against the Republic, and began to eradicate several colonies.

Because of the Covenant's heretical perspective of opposing races, the Covenant engaged in a practice known as "glassing" using their plasma weaponry. This tactic, as the name implies, burns the surface of the planet at very high temperatures in order to eradicate anything and everything. Between the Covenant's extreme orbital bombardment campaigns and the sheer technological and numeric superiority, it was difficult for the Republic to find a victory

Though the Republic forces fought bravely, their inferior technology and numbers meant that any victory, small or large, was hardly guaranteed. Given the Covenant's propensity for deciding upon vitrifying a planet (as opposed to landing ground forces to retake the planet), any advantage humanity possesses in ground-combat is severely compromised. Once a planet's orbital defense weapons are destroyed or taken off-line, the planet's surface is completely vulnerable to total and complete destruction.

Using their superior weaponry, the Covenant was able to defeat the human colony worlds one by one until they finally reached the last major colony on Felucia twenty-seven years later. Though the colony was defended by Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, the Covenant were able to destroy the station's planteside generators, rendering the defense grid useless; they then proceeded to glass the planet.

Discovery of Installation 04
The Covenant armada pursued a cruiser, tracking the ship through space. They discovered the Elkhorn, a Republic base. The Covenant deployed ground troops to engage the Republic, while trying to find Elkhorn's Control Room to activate the station However, the Republic forces learned of the Covenant's intentions, with a team of troopers reaching the Control Room before the Covenant. At the same time, by accident or by design, the Covenant released the Red Eater plauge, which rapidly infected Republic and Covenant hosts. The Covenant were forced to divert their attention to stemming the spread of the disease, leading a special operations team to a damaged cruiser in order to prevent it from falling into the Flood's control. In the ensuing chaos, a commander detonated the cruiser's fusion reactors and destroyed Elkhorn, a major setback for the Covenant; in addition to the station being destroyed, the Covenant suffered grievous casualties.

Shortly after the defeat at Elkhorn, the Covenant had amassed a large fleet allegedly to assault Dantooine. The Covenant discovery of Dantooine was accidental; A deviation of Covenant protocals allowed a Covenant scout to enter Dantooine's space and transmit its location.

When the ship tumbled into real space and crashed on the moon, the scouts sent a message to the Covenant military command. This message included detailed information about Dantooine, the system the planet was located, and the presence of Sith artifacts on the planet's surface.

Covenant Attack on Dantooine
Believing the fleet was ordered to destroy the Republic's last refuge, Republic forces infiltrated and destroyed the fleet by detonating the capital ship. The subsequent explosion destroyed most of the fleet before it could reach Dantooine.

Shortly after this defeat, the Covenant led a small fleet of fifteen ships to Dantooine to locate a Sith holocron. Though outgunned by the Republc's new orbital defense grid of Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, the Covenant's flagship managed to break through the defenses. The Covenant ground troops quickly spread through Dantooine, destroying both military and civilian resistance, but a counterattack by the Republic drove them back. His fleet having been destroyed in orbit when he landed, Covenant leader Coran Altoal was forced to retreat. His cruiser jumped into Hyperspace from within orbit, destroying most of the Republic base.

A single Republic ship followed Altoal to the Covenant base on Bostna. Troops was sent to Bostna's surface. The Republicans forced their way through Altoal's forces until they had reached the mastermind himself. At that moment, a Covenant cruiser, having learned of the base, arrived and launched multiple waves of dropships to aid Altoa, but they were too late. Altoa was killed, and the Covenant fleet recalled the ships in favor of bombarding the area.

Darth Bane told the Covenant of the Republic's location and forces was sent to attack it. The mission was complicated though by the unexpected release of the Red Eater plauge. Despite this, the forces successfully reached the Republic forces and prevented them from claiming a holocron. Just as the holocron was found, a captain of the Covenant stole it, kidnapping several officials. However, the holocron was stolen from the Covenant by Jedi, who then attempted to kill the captain. With the Holocron secure, the Covenant then ordered their forces to begin eradicating the Covenant squad that failed, thus starting the Covenant Civil War.

Covenant Civil War
The Covenant splintered in a civil war (termed the Great Schism) after a team of elite warriors were ordered to replace the existing leigon in several positions.

The remaining Covenant cited the Legion's tenacity was not a substitute for the Warrior's sheer power. Because of this disparity, the Covenant decided their forces were unable to guarantee their safety. This sudden displacement further fragmented and damaged the Covenant's union.

The feuding parties are clearly established based on race. Opposing forces are split into respective loyalists and separatists.

The Separatists on Dantooine engaged in an uneasy truce (if not outright alliance) of opportunity with the last Republic forces left on the planet. Despite the peace on Dantooine, battles between the remainder of the Republic and the entirety of the Covenant still continued on and around the galaxy.

Technology
The Covenant were technologically imitative rather than innovative — They weaponize technologies discovered rather than technologies researched. The technology mostly centered around the military weapons and deployment (such as guns, ships, and vehicles), while little was known to Republic researchers of any commercial- or domestic-use commodities.

The Covenant, not having researched the technologies relied upon, were incapable of utilizing them to their full potential. Because the Covenant only incorporated technologies into their armies, as opposed to actually researching them, their knowledge of the fundamental functions of weapons was minimal. The Covenant's arsenal was comprised primarily of plasma- and energy-based projectile weapons.

Species
Covenant society was a caste system composed of many races, some of which were forcibly incorporated.

Known species
Jiralhanae Lekgolo Sangheili Kig-Yar Unggoy Yanme'e