Torchbearers

The Torchbearers were a prominent coalition of Jiralhanae Loyalist warmasters intent on continuing the Human-Covenant War. Established in early 2553, the Torchbearers initially operated largely in and near the Human Sphere, but gathered various other Jiralhanae war-packs under their banner as the Great Schism progressed. At the start, the group was led by the Jiralhanae warmasters Belgarum, Vargax, Maractus and Cronus, with a small number of San'Shyuum officials assigned to their fleets acting as religious figureheads.

History
The Torchbearers were formed from the remains of Tartarus' coalition following the Prophet of Truth's defeat at the Ark. A considerable portion of their forces were present in the Human Sphere, either having been part of Truth's forces in the push to the Ark portal or not having made it there in time. This was not uncommon, as many Jiralhanae packs were tied up with local conflicts against either the UNSC or the Schismatics, or believed Truth would not enter the portal so soon. Others had been left behind by Truth, who instructed them to continue the fight against the "heretics" in the galaxy while he and his select faithful journeyed to the Ark to initiate the Great Journey for all.

Reports of Truth's defeat among Covenant forces were confused in the early days of 2553. Following the return of the Shadow of Intent from the Ark on January 6, news of Truth's defeat spread quickly, broadcast by the Sangheili to the Jiralhanae fleets in a bid for the latter to lay down their arms and submit; though this was unlikely, the demoralization and disarray caused by such news would nonetheless be a desirable outcome. Though most Jiralhanae were initially unwilling to believe them, the fact remained that the Sangheili had returned from the Ark and the faithless had not, as of yet, been burned away by the divine wind of the Halos. This realization alone was enough to shatter the faith of some Jiralhanae, though most quickly turned their desperation into rage against the Schismatic heretics and their human allies for stopping the Great Journey, vowing to finish what Truth had started. Another fringe group continued to maintain that Truth and his faithful had in fact ascended to godhood at the Ark, though the survival of the faithless continued to present a strong case against this belief.

Realizing that their claim to legitimacy as the Covenant's leading warrior caste rested on Truth's word, the Torchbearers quickly declared themselves a continuum of the Covenant proper, and claimed to be fulfilling the will of both Tartarus and the Prophet of Truth. Gathering in the Epsilon Eridani system, they made plans for a decisive strike on Earth, intending to wipe out what remained of humanity and the Schismatics, then seize the Voi portal and use it to travel back to the Ark and succeed where Truth had failed. Before they could act, however, the UNSC and the Schismatics of the Singular Bond struck first in Operation: FORTRESS SIEGE, reclaiming the Epsilon Eridani system and scattering the Jiralhanae forces which had rallied there. This was not the end of the Torchbearers, however, as they would only be pushed back system by system over the next three years until little trace of them remained in the Human Sphere, though they would continue to remain prominent as they gathered allies from Brute packs scattered across the spinward reaches of the Covenant Sphere and its crossing regions, most prominently the base worlds of Joyous Exultation and Zhoist.

In 2555, the Keepers of the One Freedom split off from the Torchbearers over ideological differences, no longer regarding the genocide of humanity as a crucial point of faith and wishing to separate themselves from the Prophets' control. While initially but a small group, the Keepers would over time come to eclipse the Torchbearers proper as the latter were gradually beaten back by the Concord.