Jjaibii Shroud Nexus

The Jjaibii Shroud Nexus is a mercantile ex-Covenant faction led by the Unggoy matron Div'qup and her small circle of associates. They have managed to amass an impressive amount of wealth, in local terms, from almost nothing during and after the Great Schism thanks in equal parts to good fortune, financial shrewdness, and the effective application of military power.

The Nexus is nominally headquartered in the Rift, a trade port located in a molecular cloud known to the Covenant as the Jjaibii Shroud. The Rift is based on an otherwise inhospitable rock world, a city stretched across both sides of a spectacularly deep chasm sealed by atmospheric shields on top, and has been a lively center of commerce for centuries due to its location in the confluence of key slipspace lanes; even now it remains home to millions of souls. During the Schism, a Jiralhanae pack took over the upper districts of the Rift, but they were driven off by mercenaries hired by Div'qup's militia shortly afterward; they would also form the basis of the Jjaibii Shroud Nexus, alongside Div'qup's existing commercial crews. Ultimately, it was the debilitation of the Sangheili leadership in much of the Jjaibii Shroud during the Great Schism that tipped the scales in Div'qup's favor and cemented her hold on the region, with many key Sangheili commanders killed in battle either against the Jiralhanae, or in the Devatation of Joyous Exultation after heeding the Imperial Admiral's general summons there.

Essentially a mercantile oligarchy comparable in nature to the maritime empires of ancient Earth, the Nexus has little in the way of ideological goals. Div'qup and her inner circle hold supreme power, though as their net of interdependence has grown through trade deals they have been forced to take various member states' interests into account in their decision-making. Apart from holding vital resources -- refineries, shipyards, industry and spaceports -- they care less about controlling territory such as population centers than the ability to trade freely and maintain their merchant outposts in advantageous locations. As such they do not physically control much space, but have activity across the Jjaibii Shroud and beyond, including operations as far as the Hades Gulf and the human sphere, on worlds such as Far Shore, Amethyst Skies, and the New Vietnam asteroid-habitat.

The Jjaibii Shroud is in an advantageous position regarding passage to human space and houses a considerable amount of Covenant-era supply infrastructure, said infrastructure having been relocated to the region during the war to facilitate invasions into the human sphere. The Nexus fleet doubles as a trading flotilla and war-fleet, their merchant ships being escorted by an impressive array of ships of war thanks to Div'qup's swift seizure of a Covenant naval depot in the Rings of Hseng during the Schism. Likewise, their military is more or less a mercenary force, as Div'qup prefers to employ her own army rather than hire external groups.

Their species makeup is as mixed as that of any similar ex-Covenant merchant polity. Div'qup imposes no formal caste system and cares more for merit and ability than species, though she does appear to take some delight in having Sangheili or Jiralhanae serve under her -- even as she values the former's expertise on military matters. As for humans, she is supremely indifferent aside from seeing the human sphere as an expanse in trading opportunities. The most prominent species of the Nexus include Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Yanme'e, Jiralhanae and some Sangheili. Although not many Sangheili are willing to serve under an Unggoy, those few able to swallow their pride are usually attracted to the fat paychecks; it is also some consolation that Sangheili hold significant military positions in the highest levels of the Nexus' somewhat loose internal hierarchy. Lately, more humans have begun appearing in the region as it is the first stop to many entering the Covenant sphere, and a number of Outer Colonials have enlisted in Div'qup's fleet.

The Nexus has trade and non-aggression pacts with the Concord of Reconciliation and several of their satellite polities as well as various independent planetary governments, though there is suspicion they have had dealings with various warlords opposed to the Concord though intermediaries. The Nexus is in direct competition with the Chikri-Merkaa Conflux's Haar Nappar Freehold, though they do trade with one another to an extent, and both of their respective merchant fleets frequent each other's trade stations -- with substantial tolls paid by both sides. The Nexus is particular about their relatively few territorial holdings, especially where they are of significant strategic and economic value. Unfortunately to them, most of said holdings are also located in politically volatile and/or pirate-ravaged territory.