Kig-Yar

The **Kig-Yar** (*Perosus latrunculus*), often referred to as **Jackals**, are a sapient avian species among the members of the Covenant Empire.

## Biology

The Kig-Yar are derived from maniraptoran dinosaurs, from Earth, "seeded" on Eayn by the Precursors during the Cretaceous Period.

Kig-Yar are a sexually dimorphic species, where males feature quills as crests and on their elbows, while females have osteodermic plates on those locations.

Kig-Yar blood carries the protein haemerythryn, making it purple.

### **Subspecies**

The Kig-Yar are notable for exhibiting enormous phenotypic diversity, moreso than nearly all other species in the galaxy. Three subspecies, all capable of interbreeding, exist;

#### **Ruuhtian**

The Ruuhtian subspecies (*P. latrunculus* *latrunculus*) is by far the most numerous, and the one most often seen outside of Covenant space.

#### **Ibi'eshan**

The Ibi'eshan subspecies (*P. latrunculus* *ibi'eshensis*) are a more basal "breed", exhibiting more traits from the species' common ancestor than the other two. Ibi'eshans are more physically imposing than the other subspecies.

#### **T'vaoan**

The T'vaoan subspecies (*P. latrunculus* *t'vaoensis*) originates from the asteroid colony T'vao. Higher gravity, severe atmospheric anomalies, and a number of other environmental factors led to the colonists evolving into their own separate group rapidly. In the Covenant military, T'vaoans are segregated into their own units. Human and Citadel military personnel most often refer to them as "Skirmishers".

## History

**Ancient history**

The Kig-Yar's civilization started out divided into clans that sailed across Eayn's seas as merchants and pirates. There are stories that early Kig-Yar society was influenced by invisible hunters with glowing eyes who sought out the strongest of their warriors to take them as trophies.

The various clans agreed on the common goal of uniting and making developing to take them up into space. Their efforts proved successful, and they established colonies upon numerous asteroids and planetoids orbiting Chu'ot, independent of Eayn's government. This, however, led to many of the colonies becoming pirate havens. Those on Eayn were forced to form ruthless Commando units to fight the pirates, who had rendered commerce in space near-impossible.

**War against the Covenant**

The pirates and Commandos would soon face a common enemy, however. In 1342, Covenant expansionary fleets had reached the Y'Deio system. The fleets were assaulted by Kig-Yar pirates, so true Covenant battlefleets followed soon after, leading to an arduous war throughout the system.

One engagement involved a Sangheili shipmaster named Taso ’Varamee, who sought to defeat a notorious pirate captain known as Tuz Zed in order to bring the "eastern" side of the Y'Deio system firmly in the grip of the Covenant. Zed was known for tricking his enemies to follow his "fleeing" ships into ambush sites, where asteroids would be towed and launched at the Covenant ships, at either their engines or any existing escape routes. Once trapped, Tuz lead boarding parties to destroy the ships one at a time, leaving no survivors. Many were disturbed by the tendency for the ship's crews to be found with all their heads missing, inspired by the legends of the unseen hunters. Unfortunately for him, this backfired, as he witnessed the resolve of the Sangheili lead by Taso when he found Tuz’s main base. The two engaged in a battle sung of to this day. Taso left with a handful of feathers, blood all over him, and returned to the Covenant victorious in his fight.

After Tuz's death, eventually realizing of the nonexistent likelihood of them winning the war, as well as concluding that gaining access to trade throughout more of the galaxy would be beneficial, the Kig-Yar accepted Letters of Marque sent from the Ministry of Tranquility. The Kig-Yar would now serve the Covenant, yet still continue their marauding lifestyle, raiding the Covenant's enemies.

**War of Two Councils**

The Kig-Yar, though in a low ranking position in the Covenant found great opportunities to be of assistance to them. When the Covenant met the Citadel Council, this resulted in an intense time for all parties involved. For the rogue Kig-Yar pirates who attempted to attack the Citadel's ships, they found no easy prey, and were driven back again and again, with their dead collected by Salarians for study. When the Citadel Council saw the Kig-Yar among the Covenant, they were concerned with their decision to have pirates as their members, to which the San’Shyuum and Sangheili ambassadors clearly stated the role of the Kig-Yar in their society. While the Citadel had sympathy for the Lekgolo and Yanme'e, who in their eyes appeared to be enslaved, the Kig-Yar were a touchy subject, for piracy was never tolerated in Council space. Another point of concern was why the Kig-Yar had no representation on the High Council. The Kig-Yar themselves viewed the Citadel Council as one enormous pain, and cared little for their sympathy, and gladly served as infantry when the war broke out.

**Unggoy Rebellion**

When the Unggoy were absorbed into the Covenant hierarchy, they were placed on the same level as the Kig-Yar, which resulted in much animosity between the two races, who shared a bitter rivalry. On High Charity, the growing Unggoy population put pressure on the Kig-Yar as many of them were forced to relocate their homes and nests to accommodate the Unggoy. The massive relocation created severe stress for the female Kig-Yar that were undergoing their incubation cycles which as a result Kig-Yar infant mortality rose on and the birth rate declined. To exact vengeance, a radical group of Kig-Yar shipmasters poisoned infusions on both High Charity and those on the vessels operated by the Kig-Yar leaving many male Unggoy sterile. As a result when the High Council looked into the case, the offending Kig-Yar were not imprisoned and the guilty shipmasters were simply fined for damages leaving them unpunished and the case closed. The increased tensions between them, spurred along by Salarian manipulation, along with the Unggoy's general mistreatment by others, sparked the Unggoy Rebellion. The Unggoy attacked not only Kig-Yar, but all other Covenant races, forcing an Arbiter to glass part of Balaho to end the insurrection.

**Human-Covenant War**

The Kig-Yar missionary ship *Minor Transgression* was the first Covenant craft to make contact with humans. Over the planet Harvest, *Minor Transgression* raided a human freighter, and the incident would in part instigate the Human-Covenant War. Kig-Yar scouts were often responsible for finding human colonies.

During the war, the Kig-Yar were the only Covenant member race humans had any chance of peaceful interaction with. A notable occurrence of this was the "Rubble" asteroid field, co-inhabited by humans and Kig-Yar. In the end, the community was destroyed, but even brief coexistence is notable.

## Culture and society

The society of the Kig-Yar is matriarchal, with females being dominant from the familial to governmental level. While males are subservient, females are also subject to much higher expectations.

Kig-Yar are extremely individualistic, although they do place some importance on kin.

Throughout their history, there has been one facet that has remained unchanged - the romanticizing of the pirate. To them, the pirate is the epitome of freedom, which is of unparalleled importance to them due to their individualistic nature.

## Trivia

The concept of Kig-Yar being descended from dinosaurs brought to Eayn by the Precursors is a fanon concept created by Sombraptor, who details the hypothesis here.