Splendid Dust of Ancient Suns

Splendid Dust of Ancient Suns (more commonly known as Splendid Dust or simply Dust) was a young Forerunner who served as First Councilor of the Ecumene Council.

Biography
Unlike the generations before him, Splendid Dust's mutation was based on a new pattern in which he underwent a single mutation over a single year, as opposed to many such procedures over several centuries. This led in a more natural end result, with less distortions - both physical and mental - from the Forerunner baseline. One of the differences was Dust's ability to smile, unusual in mature Forerunners; Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting was somewhat unsettled by this, seeing Dust's smile as more of an awkward rictus.

After the Master Builder, Faber, used a Halo installation to punish the San 'Shyuum for rebelling, the Builders stripped Faber of his title, and a political revolution occurred. Though only a first-form, Splendid Dust and other first-form Councilors like him were brevet appointments intended to curb the abuses of the Council that Faber controlled.

After his appointment, Splendid Dust went to Bornstellar Makes Eternal Lasting's homeworld to speak with Bornstellar's father about Faber's fall, and to retrieve the young Bornstellar, who now hosted the memories of the Didact, supposedly executed by the Master Builder at Janjur Qom. During Faber's trial at the Capital, Splendid Dust served as First Observer of the Court to the Supreme Mantle Court. However, the proceedings were interrupted by Mendicant Bias, who had defected to the Flood and attempted to use the Halo he had been given control of, taking control of the metarchy and shutting down everyone's armor. When the Didact's imprint within Bornstellar managed to temporarily shut down Mendicant Bias, a Warrior-Servant known as Glory of a Far Dawn rescued Splendid Dust and Bornstellar aboard a Falco-class space pod.

As the trio escaped through the chaos of the battle around the Capital, Glory of a Far Dawn asked Splendid Dust for permission to subdue Bornstellar, as she was unable to direct the pod due to Bornstellar being in control. Splendid Dust harshly rebuked the Warrior-Servant for this, revealing that it was the imprint of the Didact himself - not Bornstellar - piloting the craft. Thanks to the Didact's skill, the small ship successfully escaped to the greater Ark via one of the Capital's slipspace portals. In the damaged pod over the Ark, Splendid Dust and the Bornstellar Didact discussed the attack and Mendicant Bias' defection, before falling into unconsciousness. They were eventually recovered by the installation's resident Lifeworkers and given medical care.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Cryptum