Loyalists

The Loyalists, usually called Truth loyalists by the Schismatics or (somewhat non-specifically) as the Covenant loyalists by the UNSC, were a faction of the Great Schism who subscribed to the "Truth Doctrine", i.e. the replacement of the Sangheili with the Jiralhanae as the Covenant's primary warrior caste as decreed by the Prophet of Truth. The Loyalists sided with Truth and Tartarus' coalition in the subsequent civil war, while the Schismatics held Truth's rule to be illegitimate as he had broken the holy Writ of Union. Since the Loyalists had been elevated by Truth, they regarded the Schismatics as insurgents and themselves as the Covenant's only rightful continuity. In practice, this meant most of the Loyalists were Jiralhanae — though not all Jiralhanae were Loyalists — and San'Shyuum affiliated with Truth. The major Yanme'e queens of High Charity and some of the domains also pledged allegiance to Truth, though in the Sangheili-predominated domains, Peripate caravans or worldships their allegiances were far less uniform. Kig-Yar mercenary companies mostly went with whoever was paying or whoever seemed most likely to pay in the future, though the personal preferences of their generalissimos also played a role. Unggoy fighters and menials usually had little choice but to follow whoever was their master at the time, though given the chance, most preferred the Sangheili. Among the Lekgolo, there was a clear trend of favoring the Sangheili for historical reasons.