Heretic

Summary
The Heretics are a Covenant faction of Grunts and Elites who believed in the words of the Heretic Leader and joined his cause. Probably due to the Heretic Leader's belief in the words of 343 Guilty Spark, the Sentinels work with them against the Arbiter and his forces. The Heretics also fought against the Flood.

The origins of the Heretics have only been recently revealed; they were a Artifact Retrieval Group attatched to the Fleet of Particular Justice. During the events on Installation 04, the group was on Threshold investigating a Gas Mine. Spared from the ring's destruction, they were inspired to rebellion upon the discovery of 343 Guilty Spark.

The Arbiter and the SpecOp forces led by the Ultra Elite "Half-Jaw" slew large numbers of Heretic forces on their quest to find the Heretic Leader.

With the death of the Heretic Leader and the destruction of their base on Threshold, the Heretics as a unit were crushed.

Heretic Grunts
Heretic Grunts wield only Needlers. They have never been seen using Plasma Pistols, the weapon more commonly used by their regular, non-Heretic counterparts, although a fair amount of Plasma Pistols are scattered throughout their base of operations. They are also not as suicidally stupid as their Covenant counterparts, and they never panic or run away. They are also noticably tougher and harder to melee due to their reduced armoured re-breathers.

Heretic Elites
Heretic Elites seem to use either Carbines or Sentinel Beams. Apart from the Heretic Leader himself, they never use the Plasma Rifles wielded more oftenly by their regular counterparts. It may be possible that there is also a ranking scheme for the Heretics due to the fact that some carry Plasma Swords, although this could be dismissed as there is no difference in armour colouring, shield strength, and the fact they they have to retro-fit covenant tech. This could mean that they use what they bring when they defect, or they utilise what they find.