But much like the Demon, the Arbiter found some measure of safety in the installation’s bizarre underground - he also found the seething Flood lying in wait. Beneath the surface of Delta Halo, the Flood had created a Gravemind, a centralized consciousness as part of their natural evolutionary cycle.

With the Demon in one tentacle and the Arbiter in another, the Gravemind explained to his defiant Sangheili captive that the ringworlds were really weapons capable of killing all sentient life. Having seen the lies of the Hierarchs first hand, the Arbiter slowly became convinced that the Gravemind was speaking the truth.

The Flood sent him to Delta Halo’s control room, where he and the SpecOps Commander discovered that the Jiralhanae had killed almost all of the Sangheili members of the High Council. With this news, High Charity began to descend into chaos. The Sangheili and the Jiralhanae waged a full-scale war and the city began to fall apart. This provided an opportunity for the Gravemind and its Flood to leave Delta Halo and arrive on High Charity using captured human ships.

Saving only a handful of councilors from their demise, the Arbiter and the SpecOps commander moved against Tartarus at Delta Halo’s control room. The Arbiter was now completely convinced that activating the installation would do just as the Gravemind said, kill all intelligent life. The seed of doubt planted by ‘Refumee on the gas mining facility only a short time ago, had now grown into an absolute certainty in the Arbiter’s mind. While the installation was being activated, he slew Tartarus and formed a tenuous bond with a pair of humans there.

• The Arbiter and Rtas ‘Vadumee both served in the Covenant’s Fleet of Particular Justice. In their most dire hour, this brotherly devotion helped unite the Elites under one banner against the Covenant.

The ring had not fired, but merely placed the entire weapon network on standby. The Oracle, freed from Tartarus’ clutches, immediately explained that the only place one could now fire the rings was from the Ark. The Flood did not take long to spread throughout High Charity, but by the time the Gravemind had arrived, the Hierarchs and much of the Covenant armada were already making preparations to venture back to the human homeworld and eventually, the Ark. In their last moments of preparation, the Prophet of Mercy fell victim to the Flood and Truth, in one last dashing of the truce between the San ‘Shyuum and Sangheili, untethered the Forerunner Keyship and allowed it to take flight, leading the Covenant armada back to Earth.

With High Charity and Delta Halo falling to both the Flood and a massive civil war, the humans and the Arbiter left for Earth immediately. This event would later be called the Great Schism - the day in which the Elites separated from the Covenant and found allies in humanity. In the wake of the battle, the remnants of the Sangheili quarantined Delta Halo and then attempted to deal with the infestation of High Charity.

• The Great Schism was a brutal war with an incredibly high body count for half a dozen species, including humanity.

When they arrived, the bond between the Sangheili and the humans had been fully realized – the Spartan, who was once called the Demon, and the Arbiter joined together to fight a common enemy: The Prophet of Truth. By the time they arrived, the Hierarch was already using the Forerunner Keyship to activate the gateway portal and reach the Ark, where he was convinced that the Covenant would have access to the Great Journey. When the gateway portal was activated, Truth quickly left with the dreadnought and the Covenant armada - passing through slipspace to the Ark.

The humans had no time to consider pursuit as immediately thereafter another slipspace portal opened, this time with a Flood-infested vessel from Delta Halo. Shadow of Intent, an assault carrier being operated by Rtas ‘Vadum, who now bore the rank of Shipmaster and a slightly altered name, followed this ship with its fleet in close pursuit. Once the infestation was quelled, the Shipmaster, the Arbiter and a detachment of humans, with all of the vessels in their command, followed Truth and the Covenant back to the Ark.

The Sangheili fleet passed through the portal and immediately engaged the Covenant armada waiting at the other side. While space filled with death and destruction, the Arbiter, the Spartan and a number of soldiers from both species touched ground and moved quickly to stop Truth from activating the rings.

• Rtas ‘Vadumee, the SpecOps Commander, assumed the mantle of Shipmaster and became ‘Vadum acquiring full leadership of the last remaining Sangheili fleet and its assault carrier, Shadow of Intent.

It was not long until they discovered where this Ark was located, far outside the range of the galaxy and the Halo installations. They also uncovered the location of the control room on the Ark itself, a citadel within which Truth had barricaded himself and his Jiralhanae cohorts. Once the humans and Elites had removed an energy barrier protecting the Hierarch, ‘Vadum’s ship attempted to level the citadel and stop Truth permanently. Before he had an opportunity, High Charity emerged from slipspace and debris struck the Shadow of Intent, injuring it severely. The Covenant city-ship had fallen prey to the Flood and was brought to the Ark by the Gravemind; the creature no doubt hoped that it could permanently disable the Halo rings. The Arbiter and the Spartan wasted no time and assaulted the heavily-guarded citadel, locating the Prophet of Truth at long last. In a measure of vengeful irony, the Arbiter, the Blade of the Prophets, executed the last remaining Hierarch.

One betrayal begat another and the voice of the Covenant was finally silenced.

• Without the Sangheili, humanity would have likely lost their war with the Covenant. It is incredibly ironic, since Prophets were the reason for the Great Schism to begin with.
  

The Spartan stopped the rings from firing, but it was clear that the Gravemind and its Flood had no plans of relenting. Before it could consume the Arbiter and the Spartan, the two escaped and discovered the true purpose of the Ark - to manufacture the Halo installations themselves. The two unlikely allies stood side-by-side as a new installation emerged from the surface, rising into space. On one side was the Spartan who had destroyed the installation’s predecessor and on other, the Sangheili who had been brought to shame because of it.

With the Covenant completely destroyed, the Sangheili returned back to Earth through the portal. The Arbiter and the Spartan, however, stayed behind and set their sights on this new and unstable installation. Their plan was simple: they would use it to destroy the Ark and the Gravemind, bringing an end to the conflict once and for all. Although they were successful in activating the installation, the Arbiter was the only one to return back to Earth alive. Despite overwhelming evidence that suggested the Spartan had perished, the Arbiter held to the belief that he was still alive. Since the Hierarchs deceit was now made known, the Arbiter was reinstated by his own kind and took the leadership position from Rtas ‘Vadum. The comparatively small count of Sangheili on board were presumably all that was left of their military and now they were returning to Sanghelios, probably for the first time in decades.

A good deal of mystery exists about what they will find when they reach their planet. Will they be welcomed home by Sangheili who had been made aware of the Prophet’s deceit or would there be strife and confusion filling the void which their religion had once occupied? The Sangheili were on the verge of a massive social and philosophical transition. The Forerunner artifacts had united their kind long ago as a passionate religion, but could they exist in peace without the same hope and faith which had once bound them together? Would the Arbiter and ‘Vadum return to a peaceful welcome party, to a civil war or, perhaps, to something much, much worse?

• Although the Arbiter has no idea what his return to Sanghelios will yield, he’s stared death in the face more than once and survived - he’s, no doubt, fully prepared for what lies next.

Whichever direction the Sangheili story goes, rest assured that if it is handled as delicately as these prior tales were, we’ll be in for a treat. This story is not only fascinating, but it speaks to what makes them so special as a race within the Halo fiction. They had an incredible amount of faith and passion, yet time and time again, the overriding element of their nature is their solidified belief in the value of honor. Even when their faith was questioned and shattered, they forged a new promise - a new covenant with humanity. And with that promise they fought and died alongside humankind, recognizing the importance of absolving their former sins by eradicating the horror that was the Covenant.

This philosophical approach to their society is inspirational. It provides us with a framework on how we as people should operate with regards to loyalty, commitment and honor. Halo is largely considered to simply be a shooting game for young males with too much time on their hands - but that notion ignores the cultural tapestry and brilliance of the story itself.

There are lessons to be learned from Halo; the Sangheili tale is irrefutable evidence to support this.

In the wake of the Halo Array’s demise, the future is an interesting place for Halo fans. Much of the Sangheili story is fresh and untapped, ready for a storyteller’s touch. There are stories which have yet to be fleshed out from the Sangheili history and tales even within the time period covered by the Halo trilogy which could warrant their own telling. With the end of the Halo story arch, is our time with the Elites over or will Bungie and Microsoft choose to unveil even more about the proud and noble Sangheili?

I, for one, certainly hope so.

/vociferous

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