Swords of Sanghelios

"There was honor in our Covenant once and there shall be again!"

- The Arbiter to John-117

The Covenant Separatists are a breakaway faction of the Covenant, led by the Sangheili and "officially" formed after they learned the truth about the Installations near the end of the Battle of Installation 05 in November 2552.

Background
The Covenant separatists are made up of the Elite, Grunt and Hunter castes within the Covenant's hierarchical society. The members of the faction were somewhat "united" at the beginning of the Civil War of the Covenant, but the faction was "officially" formed when they learned the truth of the Halos and since both times, have been fighting the Covenant Loyalists, led by the Prophets and their Brutes, Drones, Jackals and some Grunt and Hunter supporters.

It is speculated that this disgruntled faction is led by the Arbiter, Ship Master Rtas 'Vadum and Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree. It is possible the remaining Councilors command the faction from Sanghelios as aides to the Arbiter offering their council to him as they once did with the Prophets. Fronts of this war include the covenant holy city of High Charity, Installation 05, Earth and areas of space where Covenant ships operate.

Origins of the Faction
The High Prophet of Regret led a botched mission to Earth and was forced into The First Battle of Earth upon discovering what turns out to be the Human homeworld. He escapes to Delta Halo, but is killed by the Master Chief, which is a significant failure on the Elites part to uphold their oath to protect the Prophets.

The remaining Hierarchs, led by the High Prophet of Truth, used this opportunity to replace the Elites with the Brutes as their protectors. However, this move effectively shames and angers the Elites, who have held the position since the founding of the Covenant and they threaten to resign from the High Council.

Truth then gives command of the Covenant fleets (the Elites' job) to the Brutes. Once there are enough Brutes in place, he secretly orders the Brutes to instigate a brutal genocide of the Elites, so they might replace them in society, disguised as a Brute insurrection against the Covenant and as an Elite revolt to the other Covenant factions (excluding the Brutes and the Prophets). The Elites respond, with the help of the Hunters and the Grunts and war breaks out in High Charity. Later, the Councilors are assassinated by the Brutes at the behest of the Prophets. When the Elites learn the truth about the Halos, it changes the war significantly and adds the humans to the struggle. Instead of a Great Journey, the Gravemind's revelation regarding the superweapon contradicts the Covenant's belief system and is motivating at least the Arbiter in his eventual opposition to the Covenant as they try to activate Delta Halo later in the game.

Ironically, the separatist forces at Joyous Exultation may have helped turn the tide of the war in the UNSC's favor had it not been for Sublime Transcendence's destruction by a NOVA bomb. However, at that early point in the Great Schism, both sides of the Covenant still opposed the UNSC. As inter-steller communication is not instantaneous, it would have taken some time for an alliance to be forged and for all the elements of the Faction to be informed.

Weapons

 * Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol - "Plasma Pistol"
 * Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle - "Plasma Rifle"
 * Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher - "Needler"
 * Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword - "Energy Sword"
 * Type-51 Carbine
 * Type-50 Sniper Rifle System -"Particle Beam Rifle"
 * Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenade - "Plasma Grenade"
 * Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon - "Fuel Rod Cannon"
 * Type-52 Directed Energy Support Weapon

Vehicles

 * Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle - "Ghost"
 * Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft - "Banshee"
 * (Undesignated) Spectre
 * Type-52 Troop Carrier - "Phantom"
 * DX-class Spirit Dropship
 * Type-47 Ultra Heavy Assault Platform - "Scarab" (Installation 05 Only)
 * Type-25 Wraith

Commanders

 * The Arbiter
 * Rtas 'Vadum
 * Surviving Councilors
 * John-117 (possibly)
 * Lord Terrence Hood
 * Miranda Keyes

Military

 * Elites (all)
 * Grunts (most) Note: Separatist Grunts are not seen in Halo 3 but are probably still alongside the Elites because most grunts' did not want to openly declare support for either side as they are the lowest of the Covenant castes
 * Hunters (most) Note: Separatist Hunters are not seen in Halo 3 but are probably still alongside the Elites
 * UNSC (all)

Also involved in this faction is the UNSC Defense Force, which helped the Arbiter on Installation 05 with the killing of Brute Chieftain Tartarus. It is known that the alliance has helped each other in the Second Battle of Earth.

While the Arbiter and Lord Hood agreed peace and friendship between Humanity and the Separatists, it is currently unknown how little or much this alliance will progress in the future, though it is expected to become official, considering that the Elites have long admired certain human traits and individuals.

Units

 * Fleet of Retribution
 * Sangheilian Fleet

Trivia

 * Even though that the Covenant Separatists were called "the Heretics" by the Prophet of Truth, they should never be confused with the Heretics led by Sesa 'Refumee.
 * This is not necessarily the first internal dispute in the Covenant's society; when the current Arbiter was assigned to his office, he was reminded by the High Prophet of Mercy that an Arbiter was necessary during the Grunt Rebellion, which was a conflict between the Covenant and its lowest caste, the Grunts.
 * Both the Grunts and Hunters are confirmed allies of the Elites. However, none are seen as anything but enemies in Halo 3. This may be Bungie's decision to not confuse the player of who is enemy and who is ally and there may have been Grunts and Hunters who fought with the Elites and Humans during the last battles of the Great Schism.
 * The Hunters and Grunts may be on another planet in Halo 3, explaining their absences.
 * Another possible reason why there are so few Hunters and Grunts, is that there are only 2 times when Separatists other than the Arbiter are found in-game at all. The first is the Elite special operations team in Floodgate and as they are inserted via Orbital Insertion Pod, there are no Grunts or Hunters present. The second is the attack force in The Covenant, where the Elites are found mid-battle and it's possible that any Grunts or Hunters may have already been killed and thus mistaken for fallen Covenant forces (though no Hunters are found in that area, dead or alive). They may also have been killed in the assault on the middle tower.