Yanme'e

The Yanme ' e (Latin Turpis rex, meaning "dishonorable king" ), also referred to by Humans as Drones, are a race of aerial, intelligent, insectoid warriors which make up part of the unified conglomerate races of the Covenant.

They are informally referred to by UNSC infantry as "buggers". Although they have been part of the Covenant for some time, they have just recently been put to use as combatants in the war against the humans. They are suited to flight and combat in a gravitational-pull like planets such as Earth.

Background
Drones are insecticidal and are covered in natural chitinous body armor, although it doesn't provide that much protection. If you look carefully at a dead Drone, you can see small round technological/metal objects on its armor, assumed by some to be small anti-gravity generators and shield generators employed to make up for the Drones' obvious weaknesses. It seems, like the other Covenant species, Drones share a ranking system in colored armor, but it is unclear who is leader. They do not interact with other species except to trade and serve in a military capacity, and their exact position in the Covenant Hierarchy is relatively unknown, although it is reasonable to believe they are of higher rank than Grunts and of lower rank than Elites.

After the Covenant Civil War began, the Drones took the side of the Brutes.

The Drones, much like the Grunts, are a conquered race that was forced into service by the Covenant. They strictly follow the Covenant religion and obey any command without question, yet do not partake in social norms due to communication difficulty with other species. They view the Prophets as "Queens", a remnant of their former hive lifestyle.

Capabilities
Drones are deployed in battle situations among the Covenant Loyalists. They, unlike all other types of Covenant, can fly. They're used for surprise aerial ambushes, such as catching them off guard and causing them to shoot upwards as a diversion so that others may attack on the ground. This is a common Covenant tactic used to wipe out a whole squad of UNSC Marines.

Tactics
When fighting Drones, it's always good to keep your grenades where they are unless you meet them in a low room in which a frag grenade on the ground can clear a large amount if not all of them. It's very unlikely that even a Legendary-skilled player can stick a Drone, although it is devastating when it occurs due to the drone's swarm behavior. (On the retreat from Crow's Nest there is a swarm that flies past the player's path, and a brute stick results in every drone dying.) They're never stationary in the air, so it's best to wait until they land or crouch on walls to take them out. One headshot will do, and two body shots with a Battle Rifle will dispose of them in both games that they are present. The best weapon for these guys is an SMG because of its high-rate of fire.

Drone Anatomy and Physiology
Drones are an insectoid species first encountered as a combatant by human forces during the Battle of Harvest. They are covered in a natural chitinous exoskeleton that provides some protection from ballistic and plasma based weaponry.

Their exoskeleton is covered with multiple bumps, grooves, indentations and markings. Many of the markings appear to be of use as camouflage. On close inspection these markings bear resemblance to a head. This is reminiscent of many Terran insect species that bear markings that confuse predators into attacking less vital parts of their anatomy. This is indicative of the evolutionary path the Drones have taken, that they still bear the markings of their ancestry. They have the six limbs of an insect (although the last two appear vestigial), compound eyes and two furry antennae that jut forth from a small head. Drones also have peculiar light green/light grey blood. Drones are fast airborne marksmen, and they athletically make a hard target to hit. Drones make aerial assaults and attack in groups. However, they are used in conjunction with other Covenant forces. Drones are capable of powered flight, and have hovering capabilities. Using two large wings stowed beneath a protective carapace, the Drone is able to take flight. However, they can only do so for short periods of time before clinging to walls or landing for a period of rest. Drones are used to much more limited flight, as their home world's gravitational pull is twice as strong as Earth's.

Drones are both fast and agile and pose a serious threat to enemies unused to dealing with aerial infantry. Although they possess sharp claws on their hands and spikes across the majority of their body, Drones shy away from close combat, preferring hit and run airborne attacks.

Due to their hard chitinous outer shells, Drones would be difficult to infect by Flood Infection Forms. Also, perhaps because they lack large amounts of calcium they would not be infected at all.

Combat
Drones prefer to stay at a distance and use long range tactics. However, they are skilled close-range combatants as well if the need arises. They always appear in swarms, and usually in large, open areas, where, combined with their agility, they are hard to target effectively. Drones also have the distinction of being able to board vehicles. They do not seem capable of driving them, but will claw mercilessly at the driver until he is killed. However, their melee is weak, you can simply wait it out until someone shoots it down. Their capability for limited flight allows them to easily weaken an enemy and retreat as necessary when in danger.

They wield lightweight weapons such as the Needler and Plasma Pistol, though they never charge up a shot of their Plasma Pistol to break a shield. They also enter battle in a pack (the number differs depending on the difficulty). Furthermore, they are not susceptible to headshots, though sniper weapons will always kill them with a single shot regardless of where it hits them. This is most likely due to a natural physical weakness, as the sniper rifle's shot would likely travel straight through the exoskeleton and cause the Drone to go in shock. Drones never dual wield or have heavy weapons because they can only become airborne while lifting a small amount of weight. When fighting, they have to take frequent rests while in the air, probably due to the gravitational pull from Earth and High Charity. However it is unknown if they can last longer while in space. They are said to have replaced the Elite Rangers after the Covenant Civil War began, probably due to their inherent maneuverability and skill in Zero-G combat.

On Easy and Normal difficulty, the Drones are easy to kill and present no real threat. However, on Legendary, they can be an extremely deadly enemy to face. Their ability to fly means that if you have cover, they can still fly over and around you, and due to their pack mentality they can outnumber and kill you very quickly. Individually, however, they are still rather weak in resistance. One tactic is to lead the pack into a narrow corridor and throw any kind of grenade at them. Most of the time this tactic will kill a majority of the pack.

In Halo 3, Drones have the ability to lift Marines from the ground, similar to the Brutes. The only time this has been witnessed is during scripted events.

Halo 2


Drones were first seen after a long period as combatants during the First Battle of Earth, and were featured often in overwhelming swarms in open spaces. They had less distinguished, shinier, chitinous armor, and luminescent eyes, and a less insectoid and more alien-like appearance. They are enemy combatants in the following levels:
 * Cairo Station
 * Outskirts
 * Delta Halo
 * Regret
 * Gravemind
 * Uprising
 * High Charity
 * The Great Journey

Halo 3
Drones appear a few times in the game, but when they do, they are nearly always in swarms of fifteen or more. Here is the list of drones in the following levels:
 * Crow's Nest
 * Tsavo Highway
 * The Storm
 * The Covenant

The best tactics for dealing with a Drone swarm is to hide behind cover and take the Drones down one at a time. If a Drone boards a vehicle, it will claw at the driver until they are killed, a certain amount of time has passed, or they themselves are killed. An effective, but dangerous way to remove them from vehicles is to ram the vehicle into a nearby wall or large structure. This does, however, risk the destruction of the vehicle and possibly the death of The Chief.

On the level Crows Nest, if the player is vigilant enough, he/she can take and save a Deployable Cover from the hangar. After the Drones grab a Marine (seen through the mesh), run to the left and place it in front of the .50 Cal Turret. Doing so will enable one to shoot through and kill while avoiding the incoming Plasma Pistol shots from the Drones.

Trivia

 * The Drones in Halo 2 were all in the rank of Minor, while all the Drones in Halo 3 appear to all be in the rank of Major.
 * It is unknown why the Drones joined the Covenant and how or why the Covenant chose them and more importantly, what is in it for them at the Great Journey.
 * In the multiplayer map called "Guardian" you can hear Drone screeches and the texture and layout is the same description as the Drones home world called "Palamok" which means Guardian could be placed on the Drones home world
 * Turpis means "dishonorable, disgraceful". Rex means king.
 * The nickname "buggers" is possibly a reference to Starship Troopers or Ender's Game, or more likely, because they resemble "bugs".
 * In Halo 2, the Yanme'e is more green-colored and shinier, but in Halo 3, Drones are more grey-colored.
 * In Halo 3, it is possible to shoot a Drone in the wing and cause it to land. They crawl away from the player at a speed slightly faster than that of a Grunt.
 * Due to the fact that they were not seen in Halo, it is commonly conceived that they joined the Covenant after the first Halo ring was destroyed. However, Yanme'e were seen clearly in Halo: Contact Harvest, meaning that this isn't true. Also, it has been clearly stated that the Jiralhanae are the most recent addition to the Covenant, and it has been shown in Contact Harvest that the Jiralhanae have been a part of the Covenant since before the Human-Covenant War began, further confirming that the Drones must have been part of the Covenant before the events of the first game. Also in Contact Harvest, it is shown that the Yanme'e were used for engineering ships as a kind of substitute for Huragok when they were unavailable prior to the discovery of their usefulness in combat, which accounts for why they aren't used on Installation 04.
 * With the exception of the Hunters, Drones are the only frequent Covenant combatant that do not have a rivalry with another race. (Except in Contact Harvest where they had a simple dislike for the Huragok)
 * In Halo: Contact Harvest, Drones can be killed by one shot from a Plasma Pistol. However, in the games they are a lot tougher. This may be because in Contact Harvest the Drones were just engineers. The ones in the game may be tougher because they have military equipment, or it might just be for gameplay reasons.
 * When killed, Drones have a frequent habit of air swimming.
 * If you look very closely once you've killed a Yanme'e, you might be able to see its eyes blink. This only occurs in Halo 3.
 * The markings on their outer shells are similar in appearance to the Plasma Pistol charge meter. They also resemble the camouflage markings on some real-life insects.
 * There is a rank of Drone called the Drone Major.