ALWAYS OPEN [IC] Halo - Empty Throne: The Sanghelios Sphere

[Apothecary Bruce]

On December 12th, 2559, the UNSC Infinity disappeared. They had been sent to stop Cortana, leader of the Created, from using Zeta Halo for her own nefarious purposes. As many would later discover, the UNSC was not the only force who had come to Zeta Halo with that goal.
The Banished, who had thrived under Cortana's iron yet loose regime, had sent an invasion force. After contact, no signal was sent from the Infinity. All probes and scouts, from all sides, who went to the Ephu system - Zeta Halo's prior location - found the installation, and the fleets attacking it, had suddenly vanished. Only trace wreckage from the Infinity, Banished warships, and a Forerunner Guardian construct, remained.

For the UNSC, they had lost the Master Chief, and their strongest warship. Both were symbols of humanity's strength and resolve, the hero who had saved them, and the flagship emblematic of their post-war successes, an era which was now undoubtably over.
For the Banished, they had lost not only Atriox, but Escharum too. With the other senior leaders of the Banished trapped at the Ark, the nascent empire had been left without a central commander, but while the cracks could be seen visibly forming, the Banished were more than content feasting upon a ripe galaxy.

Whatever happened at Zeta Halo, it had been the end of Cortana. Her Created empire immediately fractured, breaking down into warlord states as AI carved out what they could of the galaxy, using what Forerunner assets remained active and available to them.
With the fall of the Created, came the return of interstellar travel. The galaxy was open once more - for better, or for worse.

It is January 12th, 2560, and all throughout the galaxy now see the future is uncertain. While some cower from uncertainty, the bold see it as an opportunity - and the prize would be total dominion over all civilizations remaining.

---

Regions of the Galaxy:
Human Inner Colonies and Sol (UNSC/Created)
Human Outer Colonies (URF/Banished/Created)
Doisac Sphere (Banished)
Eastern Covenant Sphere (Banished/Covenant Remnants/Swords of Sanghelios)
Sanghelios Sphere (Swords of Sanghelios/Covenant Remnants/Banished)
Western Covenant Sphere (Covenant Remnants/Swords of Sanghelios/Banished)
​

---

What is the Sanghelios Sphere?

Once, long ago, before the days of the Covenant, when the humans still walked their world and founded their first civilizations, the sangheili people had broke their planet's atmosphere. Studying the relics of the Forerunners left on their world, but not daring to disassemble them, these peoples were able to colonize their planet's moons, travel their home system, begin construction of fleets of starships both civilian and military. It was one of the galaxy's first interplanetary civilizations, after the firing of Halo.

More than two thousand years before humanity would do the same, the sangheili people discovered slipspace travel. With this faster-than-light travel, the sangheili expanded their dominion across the stars, colonizing nearby planets with great fervor. All on their own, minus inspiration from their gods, the Forerunners, the sangheili Council of Kaidons had forged an empire of over three-dozen colony worlds, with their martial pride leading them to develop a large, oversized military.

However, such a decision would turn out to not be so foolhardy. The sangheili would soon be confronted by the san'shyuum, an alien race stowed aboard their ancient Forerunner dreadnaught, the Anodyne Spirit.
Of course, this meeting would turn out to be a sour one. The sangheili revered Forerunner relics, sought never to harm them, and made them the center of their religions. Then, the san'shyuum told these warriors they sought to excavate these relics for disassembly and invasive study.

The war between the sangheili and san'shyuum started on the planet Ulgethon, and stretched to nearly every sangheili colony. Armies of defending warriors and their strong traditional military clashed with the seemingly endless and robotic Sentinel forces of the san'shyuum.
In the end, the sangheili and the san'shyuum, weary of battle and both sides reaching states of desperation, decided to use their overlapping faiths to found an alliance, once which would shape the future of the Orion Arm forever.

The Sanghelios sphere was once the core worlds of the Covenant Empire, and even now, with the Covenant destroyed, the region still holds an air of ancient respectability, history and power. The Swords of Sanghelios, led by the Arbiter, Thel 'Vadam, fight to unify the sangheili, starting with Sanghelios itself, the homeworld. The Banished, of course, seek to stop him, and to pillage what wealth remains in the region, conquering it in the name of their cause. Remnants of the Covenant still reside in the region, as well as independent states not owing their swords to any other banner.

To reside in the Sanghelios Sphere is to respect tradition, but how much to respect tradition is a topic which, in this sphere, can begin wars. It is the home of a warrior-people, once the undisputed strongest in the galaxy, now suffer for their cowing by the forsaken san'shyuum Prophets of the Covenant.



The Sangelios Sphere is the former core region of the Covenant Empire, and is home to the largest population of the Elites, or Sangheili. It was weakened by civil war and now is contested by the other Covenant successor states.

 

[SurpriseMe]

In orbit above Eshin, twin holes were torn in reality. Yawning blue, the twin voids into slipspace blazed just long enough for a pair of ships to slip through them. One older, a purple hull signifying an older creation date. The other slightly larger, red and gold metal shining in the light of the interdimensional portal. Then they were through and gone, the Ancestor's Reprise and its escorting SDV beginning their cautious examination of the neighboring systems. It was to be a brief test of the vessels, crews, and the galaxy at large. A way to determine just what opportunities and peril might await while preparing for the slightly longer voyage to Sanghelios after they returned to deliver their report.

Below, skyward gazes returned back to their datapads and holo displays. In all honesty, looking up as the ships departed gave less information than those technologies would have. To the naked eye it was merely a pair of pinpricks of light. The video feed from the other ships in orbit gave a far more detailed view of the departure.

Sentimentality was stronger than logic in this moment. They could always look back at the feeds later if they truly wished to, but few would. Most had seen enough jump footage to satisfy that urge. It was the idea of looking into the void and seeing opportunity instead of a hardlight fist that drove them now.

With some good natured shouting and grumbling, forges below resumed work. There was always a need for more weapons and equipment in these dark times. Behind closed doors, clan elders and generals subtly jockeyed for position, all eager to influence the completion of the next two warships of the shipyard.

There was a brief clamor for increasing efforts to rebuild the shipwards, with advocates speaking glowingly of the potential benefits doubling the production lines would bring. This was true, but the Kaidon and Shipmaster overruled them.

Rebuilding infrastructure was good, but not if it was vulnerable. With Cortana's heavy hand removed, now proper defenses could be erected.

For the next several days, a steady stream of resupply spirits could be seen rising from the shipyards to the Vow of Judgement. Each delivered a single precious cargo, which was promptly jettisoned into space to hang in high orbit.

Several dozen plasma torpedoes in minefield mode was quite the effective deterrent to raiders after all.

 

[Apothecary Bruce]

In orbit above Eshin, twin holes were torn in reality. Yawning blue, the twin voids into slipspace blazed just long enough for a pair of ships to slip through them. One older, a purple hull signifying an older creation date. The other slightly larger, red and gold metal shining in the light of the interdimensional portal. Then they were through and gone, the Ancestor's Reprise and its escorting SDV beginning their cautious examination of the neighboring systems. It was to be a brief test of the vessels, crews, and the galaxy at large. A way to determine just what opportunities and peril might await while preparing for the slightly longer voyage to Sanghelios after they returned to deliver their report.

Below, skyward gazes returned back to their datapads and holo displays. In all honesty, looking up as the ships departed gave less information than those technologies would have. To the naked eye it was merely a pair of pinpricks of light. The video feed from the other ships in orbit gave a far more detailed view of the departure.

Sentimentality was stronger than logic in this moment. They could always look back at the feeds later if they truly wished to, but few would. Most had seen enough jump footage to satisfy that urge. It was the idea of looking into the void and seeing opportunity instead of a hardlight fist that drove them now.

With some good natured shouting and grumbling, forges below resumed work. There was always a need for more weapons and equipment in these dark times. Behind closed doors, clan elders and generals subtly jockeyed for position, all eager to influence the completion of the next two warships of the shipyard.

There was a brief clamor for increasing efforts to rebuild the shipwards, with advocates speaking glowingly of the potential benefits doubling the production lines would bring. This was true, but the Kaidon and Shipmaster overruled them.

Rebuilding infrastructure was good, but not if it was vulnerable. With Cortana's heavy hand removed, now proper defenses could be erected.

For the next several days, a steady stream of resupply spirits could be seen rising from the shipyards to the Vow of Judgement. Each delivered a single precious cargo, which was promptly jettisoned into space to hang in high orbit.

Several dozen plasma torpedoes in minefield mode was quite the effective deterrent to raiders after all.

JANUARY 12th, 2560
Earth Standard Time
Human Outer Colonies
The orders for construction spread out across Eshin and its moon fiefdoms, both in terms of small arms, combat harnesses and vehicles, but also the shipyard's next projects. With the collapse of Cortana's empire, the Lights of Eshin had been given the chance to take stock of what they had available to them, both in terms of resources and manpower.

Currently, the nanolaminate blending manufactorums were running behind schedule to supply the Lights of Eshin's various ground-based assembly forges and its four orbital forges with the necessary materials, forcing them to dip into reserves to continue construction of the two Ceudar-pattern heavy corvettes, and ground force weaponry and equipment, to say nothing of the two new planned warships. Once, Eshin might've been able to rely upon resource importing from mining colonies, like Creck or Feldokra.

While they could petition the Swords of Sanghelios for resources when they reached Sanghelios or a major Swords fortress world, likely in return for a tithe of warriors, some of First Kaidon Jas 'Kahom's closest advisors warned the sangheili leader about becoming too reliant on Sanghelios, urging him to at least consider capturing a few mining colonies which do not already bow to the Swords.
The closest were Eudolaan, two weeks away, Alda'demo, two weeks away, Velaasa, three weeks away, and Singing Hills, four weeks away, by the account of the Lights' pre-Created star charts.

All four were mining worlds, providing all the necessary components for nanolaminate production. Eudolaan was under the thrall of traditionalist Covenant remnants, guarded by an outpost of Sali 'Nylon's Covenant.
Alda'demo was simply protected by itself, led by a classical and young warrior-kaidon named Hilo 'Talak. He traded away resources to the Swords of Sanghelios before the Created, but never outright pledged itself to any banner. Now, 'Talak's allegiance - or status - was unknown.
Velaasa had belonged to Jul 'Mdama's Covenant, before the Created Crisis. Eshin's maps did not tell the story of what happened after Jul 'Mdama or Sunaion.
Singing Hills had been a planet which did not give up its Covenant ways, and had been led staunchly by an elderly sangheili named Valoa 'Jahmaee. It had merely continued its production of nanolaminate base components since even the Great Schism, and had resisted several jiralhanae raids on their world for the years since. Jas 'Kahom couldn't see old 'Jahmaee surrendering to the Created, and thus they might be ripe for conquest.

Of course, conquest wasn't the only pathway. Business with the Swords of Sanghelios was possible, usual even.

Regardless, at the current moment, the Lights of Eshin were using more nanolaminate than they could produce. They would, at this rate, run out of reserves by February, and then slow their industry to a slow crawl, or they could produce simpler and less effective blends, be they heavier than usual, less durable, prone to mutation, or all three, and maintain production comfortably enough, and indefinitely.


The Ancestor's Reprise, and its SDV-pattern escort, discovered little in the systems surrounding Eshin. They were empty, devoid of population or notable materials. It seemed luck hadn't paid off this time. Still, the two ship's slipspace borers worked perfectly.
Still, Eshin's closest inhabited neighbor was the colony world of Grellas, in the Yalma system, a world which had a very generalized economy, not producing too much of any one thing, yet boasting self-sufficiency in the same breath. They had been staunch supporters of the Swords of Sanghelios.

Grellas, now, lacked the typical garrison fleet it had a year prior, the two grey and purple Maugen-pattern armored cruisers of yesteryear, protected by several Zanar-pattern light cruisers. Instead, it bore three ships in its orbit, with a similar build to UNSC frigates, except larger, bulkier, more jiralhanae in design. There was still a Maugen-pattern warship, yet now it bore red paint, a clear difference in ownership. In all likelihood, Grellas was under Banished occupation.

 

[SurpriseMe]

Deliberations were tricky at the best of times. The traditional usage of assassins slowly falling out of favor had been good in many ways. Fewer promising warriors fell afoul of that bloody custom, be they failed assassin, or assassinated.

Despite that, it had been a stress relief valve. When duels to the death and assassins had been more openly accepted then there was less worry about other intrigue. With it gone, the path forward was uncertain. Would spurned captains desert? Simply fight less enthusiastically? Plan some other, potentially worse, plot? Perhaps it would be the kind of thousandfold minor complaint which saw a realm grow less prosperous and happy over time.

Fools either tried to make all happy or ignored the unhappiness of all. The rest picked what they could sacrifice, and what had to be preserved. So it was with the Kaidon and his councilors.

Reluctantly, production was momentarily stepped down. Two of the orbital forges fell silent, leaving only the continuation of the partially completed warships to continue, and one of the ground forges was shifted to provide parts for infantry equipment instead of complete items.

With a galaxy full of enemies, obtaining more raw materials was critical. The choice was simply how.

The solution was as simple as it was inevitable: battle.

There was a moment of great unanimity, heads nodding sagely as they envisioned warriors fighting to satisfy their warrior honor while strengthening their home. Visions of an invincible avalanche growing in weight as worlds were brought together.

With a roar of agreement, talons struck at the starmap in three locations simultaneously.

"We strike at Eudolaan, to take from the remnants of the false prophets!"/"At the singing hills, to seize the opportunity!"/"At Grellas to take the ships of the Banished for our own!"

There was a moment of silence as the falsely assumed consensus was realized, before a sigh was heard from the Kaidon as squabbling erupted again.

When the hubbub subsided, the Ancestor's Reprise and her escort were sent to Eudolaan, to engage in a long range scouting operation to determine the status of the world's defenses while thousands of warriors began drilling more intensely for battle across the planet.

 

[Apothecary Bruce]

Deliberations were tricky at the best of times. The traditional usage of assassins slowly falling out of favor had been good in many ways. Fewer promising warriors fell afoul of that bloody custom, be they failed assassin, or assassinated.

Despite that, it had been a stress relief valve. When duels to the death and assassins had been more openly accepted then there was less worry about other intrigue. With it gone, the path forward was uncertain. Would spurned captains desert? Simply fight less enthusiastically? Plan some other, potentially worse, plot? Perhaps it would be the kind of thousandfold minor complaint which saw a realm grow less prosperous and happy over time.

Fools either tried to make all happy or ignored the unhappiness of all. The rest picked what they could sacrifice, and what had to be preserved. So it was with the Kaidon and his councilors.

Reluctantly, production was momentarily stepped down. Two of the orbital forges fell silent, leaving only the continuation of the partially completed warships to continue, and one of the ground forges was shifted to provide parts for infantry equipment instead of complete items.

With a galaxy full of enemies, obtaining more raw materials was critical. The choice was simply how.

The solution was as simple as it was inevitable: battle.

There was a moment of great unanimity, heads nodding sagely as they envisioned warriors fighting to satisfy their warrior honor while strengthening their home. Visions of an invincible avalanche growing in weight as worlds were brought together.

With a roar of agreement, talons struck at the starmap in three locations simultaneously.

"We strike at Eudolaan, to take from the remnants of the false prophets!"/"At the singing hills, to seize the opportunity!"/"At Grellas to take the ships of the Banished for our own!"

There was a moment of silence as the falsely assumed consensus was realized, before a sigh was heard from the Kaidon as squabbling erupted again.

When the hubbub subsided, the Ancestor's Reprise and her escort were sent to Eudolaan, to engage in a long range scouting operation to determine the status of the world's defenses while thousands of warriors began drilling more intensely for battle across the planet.

JANUARY 26th, 2560
Earth Standard Time
Sanghelios Sphere

Eudolaan had a population of some six thousand sangheili, and another five thousand unngoy. Once upon a time, the planet was a neutral, minor trading partner, yet it seemed the planet's defenders had been defeated by Created forces some five months ago. Now, what remained of their guardians had been driven into hiding, for as soon as the Created abandoned the planet, the Storm Covenant moved in.

In orbit, a quartet of Ceudar-pattern heavy corvette conducted the occupation, as well as three-dozen Lich dropships. Such a heavy occupation suggested a proximity to the Storm Covenant's main stronghold of worlds.

One could easily tell the Eudolaan people, from the warriors of the Storm Covenant. While humans had relatively minor difference between their 'phenotype sub-groups,' sangheili physiology - partially due to a body better at adaptation, and partially due to their veterancy in space travel and colonization - could vary even more heavily. The population of Eudolaan was indistinguishable from the Sanghelios, 'prime' phenotype, but the Storm Covenant recruited heavily from the Western Covenant Sphere, where the more 'brutish' sangheili could often be found.

Alongside them were kig-yar, Ibie'shans from the looks of them as well. It seemed the Storm Covenant were just as much of a rejection of the classical Covenant as they were an embracing. They offered to revive the Covenant, the power and wealth of the great union, but with the outcasts this time at the helm. One could see why they were successful, despite their numerous major defeats.

All in all, Eudolaan was divided into three populated regions - the mines, the borough to its east, and the spaceport and associated town further east.
The spaceport, named Alaa'hel, was the center of Covenant control. Twenty-two D'nomlhe-pattern Banshee flyers were stationed in wait, while a further six ran an hour-long patrol. Every hour of the day - each of the twenty-eight standard Earth hours per cycle - the six flyers were rotated out, and a fresh six were rotated in.
In addition, there was a good two thousand troops of mixed species stationed in Alaa'hel, supported by twenty-three newer pattern Ghosts and a Revenant heavy skimmer.

In the Eudolaan Borough, there was another thousand troops, acting as the direct occupational forces. In the event of an attack, these troops would likely have to deal with an uprising as much as they would fending off Eshin forces. They had eight Ghosts of older patterns, but the borough only really had a couple streets wide enough to permit them, though they helped patrol the desert wastes surrounding it.

The mines were the most heavily defended. Two-dozen shade turrets defended the great chasm in the earth, along with four anti-aircraft Wraith hover tanks. Inside, it was hard to tell, but there was at least three hundred troops, likely more. It seemed, from local chatter, that several hundred local workers were being kept inside to work as prisoners, as they extracted vital resources.

The advance elements had finished their scouting rather quickly, on top of arriving a few days early in slipspace. Now, it was time to make a decision - will the Lights of Eshin strike, and if, how?