Elites (Sangheili)

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Posted: Sat Mar 31, 2007 7:54 am

The Sangheili, or Elites as the Humans call them, are the iron heart of the Covenant military.

There are a few varieties of the Elite, but all are roughly 8'6" tall and incredibly strong. Their strength allows them to rely on brute force when necessary, but they are quite capable of brilliant battlefield tactics as well. Their natural resilience is augmented by full body energy shielding which recharges when depleted. They wield plasma pistols, plasma rifles, plasma grenades, needlers, carbines, beam rifles, fuel rod guns, and the formidable energy sword.

Elites consider the other Covenant client races to be below them in all ways. The Elites are the only known race permitted to operate starships within the Covenant, though the crews are always a mix of races.

In the Elite culture, names are considered a privilege. Only things of importance are named. The Elites generally consider humans to be nameless, and resent the fact that humans have assigned the label "Elite" to them, as humans have no standing to be naming things.

Because names are important to the Elite society, each element of the name has a meaning. Elite names are contructed from a series of parts. An example is Ado 'Mortumee. "Ado" is his given name, which is all he had until he was considered an adult. As an adult he earned the right to carry the badge name "'Mortumee". This name is made up of three parts: MOR (an adjectival descriptor, such as "fast", or "deadly"), TUM ( a créche name, basically his family name), and EE (an honorific indicating he is a participant in the military). Most Elites will have names with this kind of construction.

The Covenant military promotion is by merit. A Covenant soldier must succeed to advance. Success is often measured in scalps. A Covenant of "Admiral" or equivalent rank, may have personally slaughtered thousands of individuals.

Elites have several classes or ranks:

The Blue armored Elites are Elite minors, and generally serve as foot-soldiers. However they have been seen commanding several of the lesser Covenant races.

The Red armored Elites are Elite majors, or veterans who command other Elites and larger squads.

The Gold armored Elites are Zealots and "Ship Masters", and normally captain starships or lead whole regiments of troops in large engagements.

The Black and White armored Elites are Spec-Ops and usually command Spec-Op Grunts.

Gray and Light Blue armored Elites are Infiltrators and are rarely ever seen without their active camouflage generators engaged.

Elite Rangers are trained to use anti-gravity thruster packs in combat, are are equally dangerous in low or no-gravity enviroments as well as in "normal" gravity environments.

Elite Councilors are rarely seen in combat since their role within the Covenant seems to be strictly political. This does not mean, however, that they are unskilled combatants.

Honor Guards are Elites with especially ornamented armor, and are the best of the best. Instead of fighting out in the field with the Covenant troops on the front lines, they guard the Prophets from harm personally.

Elites have an interesting physical appearance. Their jaw is quadruple-hinged; they have an upper jaw, and then four mandible-like lips which are lined with sharp teeth. Their legs are double jointed so they can jump great distances compared to humans, and their unusually shaped hoof-like feet give them tremendous balance. Their hands have four fingers; two middle fingers and two thumb-like fingers on the outside of the hand for grasping. They have grayish-brown skin and purple-blue blood and it is not known what chemical makes the blood this color, though it is assumed they breathe oxygen because they can breath the same atmosphere as humans.

It should be noted that the higher-ranking Elites have strange glyphs on the backs of their armor. Upon closer examination, these glyphs were found to be directly related to the same strange symbols that have appeared in ancient Forerunner structures found throughout known UNSC controlled space. This leaves considerable evidence that the Covenant worship, or at least revere, the Forerunners.