The Covenant Empire was an extremely large religious hegemony made up of several different species. The Covenant greatly expanded from its roots as a mutual alliance, drawing several species into its ranks, building and maintaining a titanic space fleet, and unerringly seeking the Great Journey embarked upon by their forerunner gods. The hegemony lasted just over 3,400 years, surviving several internal conflicts and minor external ones, but came apart in the final year of its first major conflict - the Human-Covenant War.