[ He listens to that and he does remember. He just has a hardtime keeping the names of these groups separate - not enough context, for any of it except the Covenant. He nods slightly to show his understanding, and stays leaned back. ]

I wish I knew more of our history - or that anyone did - but it's so old and goes back so far that most of it's tangled in myth. I can make some assumptions that are safe, based on what is known and what's... forbidden.

I think the safest is that we were always... designed to be militia, but that the initial purpose did have to do with Peace of a meaningful sort. Then our ...designers, more than creators, disappeared and left to our own devices we became something that amounted to a... powerful weapon wielded by the highest bidder.

I do think that functionally generations of natural selection amongst a people under continous attack would result in much the same result.