Editing Battle for Sanghelios

{{Status|Canon}}
{{Conjectural title}}
{{Battle infobox
|name=Battle for Sanghelios
|image=[[File:H5G Achievement PreyingMantis.png|300px]]
|prev=[[Operation: ATHENA]]
|conc=*[[Battle of Kamchatka]]
*[[Cortana Event]]
*[[Battle of Genesis]]
|next=*[[Subjugation of Sanghelios]]
*[[Subjugation of Earth]]
|conflict=*[[Post-Covenant War conflicts]]
**[[Blooding Years]]
**[[Created uprising]]
|date=Before or around [[2558#October|October 17, 2558]]{{Ref/Book|Id=osfm95|OSFM|Page=95}}{{Ref/Note|Id=Oct17Note|Information in ''[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]'' is current to around the date of October 17, 2558; the date of Captain Lasky's letter in the book's introduction.}}-October 27, 2558{{Ref/Reuse|loochapt21}}{{Ref/Book|Id=myth195|HM|Page=195}}
|place=[[Sanghelios]], [[Urs system]]{{Ref/Reuse|loochapt21}}
|result='''Swords of Sanghelios victory'''
*Jul 'Mdama's forces routed and considered functionally destroyed.{{Ref/Reuse|myth195}}{{Ref/Reuse|loochapt21}}
*Fireteam Osiris leaves in a Guardian.{{Ref/Reuse|sunaion}}
|side1=*{{Icon|SoS}} [[Swords of Sanghelios]]
*{{Icon|UNSC Post}} [[United Nations Space Command|UNSC]]
|side2=*{{Icon|Mdama}} [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant]]
|side3=*{{Icon|Forerunner}} [[Created]]
|commanders1=*[[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]]
*Spartan [[Jameson Locke]]
|commanders2=[[General]] [[Kitun 'Arach]]†
|commanders3=*[[Cortana]]
*[[Warden Eternal]]
|forces1=*Numerous [[Sangheili]] [[Warship]]s
*Swords of Sanghelios ground and air forces
*[[Fireteam Osiris]]
|forces2=*Numerous [[Sangheili]] [[Warship]]s
*Covenant ground and air forces
|forces3=*Two [[Guardian]]s
*[[Promethean]] ground and air forces 
|casual1=Moderate
|casual2=Near total
|casual3=Heavy}}
The '''Battle for Sanghelios''' was a major global conflict fought in late [[2558]] on and around the [[Sangheili]] homeworld of [[Sanghelios]],{{Ref/Novel|Id=loochapt21|LoO|Chapter=21}} and a major engagement of the [[Blooding Years]];{{Ref/Novel|Id=OC1|HOut|Chapter=1}}{{Ref/Novel|Id=OC2|HOut|Chapter=2}} the civil war between various Sangheili warlords resulting from the [[Great Schism|collapse]] of the [[Covenant]] empire in [[2552]]. The conflict was primarily fought between the defending [[Swords of Sanghelios]] and a [[Covenant remnants|remnant faction]] of the [[Covenant]] led by the warlord [[Jul 'Mdama]], with both sides seeking to take control of the planet. The engagement abruptly ended on October 27, 2558, with the onset of the [[Created uprising]] forcing the end of hostilities despite the numerous defeats suffered by Jul 'Mdama's forces.

==Background==
After the collapse of the Covenant and the end of the [[Human-Covenant War]] in [[2552]], Sanghelios fell into a series of bloody internecine conflicts fought between the various warlords and [[kaidon]]s across the planet. By-and-large, the victor of these conflicts were the [[Swords of Sanghelios]], an alliance of [[keep]]s united under the Arbiter [[Thel 'Vadam]], which came to rule the majority of the planet and acted as the world's ''de-facto'' government. While these civil wars, which came to be known as the [[Blooding Years]], spilled off into greater [[Sangheili colonies|Sangheili space]], the Swords maintained their rule on Sanghelios, coming to act as defenders of lesser keeps.{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22p229|Enc22|Page=229}} The Swords of Sanghelios were beset against numerous remnant warlords in this time, though their greatest rival was a [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|resurgent Covenant]] led by [[Jul 'Mdama]] based out of the colony world of [[Hesduros]]. Although the Hesdurons who made up Jul's power base were largely still-aherent to the [[Covenant religion]], Jul himself remained atheistic in nature, instead motivated by the desire to exterminate his enemies (notably [[human]]ity) and to keep Sanghelios "pure". These factors would ultimately drive Jul to search for various superweapons of [[Forerunner]] origin, and lay the groundwork for his eventual attempt to take Sanghelios for himself.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=245-246}}

Towards 2558, the situation on Sanghelios had begun to stabilise; the Swords of Sanghelios had managed to drive other rivals such as the [[Servants of the Abiding Truth]] offworld, and the deaths of influential commanders in Jul 'Mdama's camp (such as [[Gek 'Lhar]]) had caused Jul-aligned keeps on the world to fragment.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=257}} This set the stage for the Swords of Sanghelios to begin their own offensive operations, on the one hand attempting to [[Attack on Ealen IV|negotiate a peace]] between the Swords and one of the larger [[Jiralhanae]] [[master-pack]]s, the [[Children of Oth Sonin]], which could free up some Swords of Sanghelios forces from their [[Sangheili-Jiralhanae war|ongoing war]] against the Brutes. On the other hand, they also began to conduct a concerted campaign against Jul 'Mdama, [[Battle of Hesduros|striking at]] his power base of [[Hesduros]] in the [[Aspero system]] with the goal of killing 'Mdama and destroying his Covenant for good. While they did fail in this objective, they were successful in devastating 'Mdama's infrastructure across Hesduros - forcing its abandonment and putting the warlord on the backfoot.{{Ref/Novel|LoO|Chapter=5}}{{Ref/Book|HM|Page=193}}

Jul's loss of Hesduros came on the back of a string of defeats inflicted against him by the UNSC, including [[Requiem Campaign|the loss]] of [[Requiem]] in February 2558, an [[Sali 'Nyon's Covenant|internal schism]] within his forces during [[Battle of Aktis IV|an engagement]] at [[Aktis IV]] in July, and [[Operation: ATHENA|a failed attempt]] to secure control of the [[Forerunner]]s' [[Absolute Record]] in September. Fresh from the defeat at the Absolute Record, Jul 'Mdama instead gambled on a new plan with the aim of taking control of Sanghelios from the Arbiter. To assist in this effort, the Covenant [[Naval boarding|boarded]] and took control of the UNSC research station ''[[Argent Moon]]'', hoping to salvage resources they could leverage against the defending forces on Sanghelios.{{Ref/Book|HM|Page=185}}

In the lead-up to Jul's invasion of the planet, tensions on Sanghelios began to increase.{{Ref/Site|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/sanghelios|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Sanghelios|D=13|M=4|Y=2016|LocalArchive=https://archives.halopedia.org/waypoint/www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/sanghelios.html}}

==The battle==
Jul 'Mdama's Covenant besieged Sanghelios some time prior to, or around, [[2558#October|October 17, 2558]],{{Ref/NoteReuse|Oct17Note}} leading to a global conflict across the planet with many of the planet's keeps and city-states seeing fighting.{{Ref/Reuse|osfm95}} Unlike the previous state of intermittent brushfire conflicts across the planet, Jul's invasion was characterised by [[human]] newsfeeds as a ''global war'', with Covenant-aligned assets across the planet joining the invasion in a mass-revolt in a final attempt to overthrow the Swords of Sanghelios.{{Ref/Reuse|loochapt21}} Despite the nature of the threat, the Arbiter did not request for aid from the UNSC, though by October 17 UNSC ''Infinity'' and [[Expeditionary Strike Group 1|her battlegroup]] were given warning that they may be required to intervene in the conflict.{{Ref/Reuse|osfm95}}

Revolutions were attempted within the Arbiter's power base of [[Vadam]] itself, which opened up the possibility of the Covenant staging a direct strike there. As such, they took control of the previously-neutral city-state of [[Sunaion]], located just off the coasts of [[Nuusra]], which they could use as a staging area to strike at [[Yermo]] and the [[Vadam Harbor]], the [[Kolaar Mountain]]s, and [[Vadam Valley]] itself. In response, the Swords of Sanghelios established their own forward operating camp at Nuusra with the goal of taking Sunaion for themselves and kicking the Covenant offworld again.{{Ref/Site|Id=wp sunaion|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/sunaion|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Sunaion|D=13|M=4|Y=2016|LocalArchive=https://archives.halopedia.org/waypoint/www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/locations/sunaion.html}}

===Jul's death===
{{Main|Battle of Kamchatka}}
In a [[Battle of Kamchatka|separate battle]] fought between the UNSC and Jul 'Mdama on the world of [[Kamchatka]] between October 17-23, the UNSC's [[Fireteam Osiris]] were able to accomplish what the Swords of Sanghelios could not - the assassination of Jul 'Mdama.{{Ref/Level|H5G|Osiris}}{{Ref/Book|Id=HM190|HM|Page=190}} With the Covenant's leader dead, the straggling forces situated across the galaxy began to rally under one of the [[Sangheili General|Generals]] who had been present on Kamchatka, [[Kitun 'Arach]]. Unlike 'Mdama, Kitun was largely disinterested in continuing to fight humanity and instead focused on the security of Sanghelios, with the goal of reforming the Covenant under his command to be led by a military council inspired by the likes of the Covenant's famed [[Imperial Admiral]] [[Xytan 'Jar Wattinree]].{{Ref/Site|Id=CFHVH|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/canon-fodder-high-value-histories|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - High Value Histories|D=08|M=09|Y=2022}} Some of the warships fleeing Kamchatka regrouped at ''Argent Moon'', where they rallied the forces there and prepared to head to Sanghelios itself. Ultimately, ''Argent Moon'' [[Operation: BIRD IN HAND|was destroyed]] by [[Blue Team]], though this left a sizeable fleet of [[vestige]] warships headed to Sanghelios itself.{{Ref/Level|H5G|Blue Team (level)|Blue Team}}

With 'Mdama's death, the Covenant were effectively doomed.{{Ref/Reuse|HM190}} Some within the Covenant camp on Sanghelios, such as [[Cha 'Kulma]], began to question the necessity of fighting for Sanghelios itself, as opposed to retreating to and retaking Hesduros. However these sentiments were rare, as the majority of the warriors still fighting for the Covenant remained insistent on fighting and dying for glory and honour as opposed to a tactical retreat.{{Ref/Game|H5G|Mission Intel|Detail=Sangheili Personal Log 503}} Many were reinvigorated by 'Mdama's death, with it serving to fuel their anger for 'Vadam and the Swords of Sanghelios.{{Ref/Game|H5G|Mission Intel|Detail=Sangheili Personal Log 139}} For the non-Sangheili contingent of the Covenant forces, morale dropped in the wake of their leader's death, and many (such as [[Drab Limist]] and [[Thol 'Barai]]) began to abandon their camps or defect to the Swords of Sanghelios outright.{{Ref/Game|H5G|Mission Intel|Detail=Sangheili Personal Log 601}}{{Ref/Game|H5G|Mission Intel|Detail=Dear Covenant Please Read}}

===Fighting at Nuusra===
[[File:Unidentified Covenant Excavator2.png|thumb|250px|A Covenant Kraken fighting over Nuusra.]]
{{Quote|With Arbiter's victories and the death of Jul 'Mdama, the Covenant grow desperate. They have began an assault on 'Vadam lands, targeting Arbiter specifically.|[[Mahkee 'Chava]] to Fireteam Osiris.{{Ref/Reuse|swords}}}}
{{Main|Battle of Nuusra}}
On the morning{{Ref/Game|H5G|Mission Intel|Detail=Unggoy Personal Log 023}} of October 27, 2558, the Covenant made a last-ditch attempt to kill the Arbiter at [[Nuusra]].{{Ref/Reuse|loochapt21}}{{Ref/Level|Id=swords|H5G|Swords of Sanghelios (level)|Swords of Sanghelios}} The engagement began thanks to a traitor within the [[House of 'Vadam]], [[Murok 'Vadam]]; Murok hoped to attain personal power and prestige and thus betrayed Thel's location at the [[Elder Council Chamber]] to the Covenant.{{Ref/Game|H5G|Mission Intel|Detail=Sangheili Security Officer's Log}} The fighting at Nuusra was fierce and almost resulted in the death of the Arbiter, though this was prevented by the timely intervention of the UNSC ''Infinity'' and Fireteam Osiris. Osiris assisted Swords forces in repelling the Covenant, having been brought to Sanghelios as part of a separate mission that coincidentally required them to travel to Sunaion to activate the [[Guardian Custode]] buried below the city.{{Ref/Reuse|swords}} With both the UNSC complement and the Swords of Sanghelios in alignment, the two negotiated an agreement; The Swords of Sanghelios would assist Osiris in their mission to activate the Guardian and hunt down [[John-117]] and Blue Team, and Osiris would assist the Swords in fighting off the Covenant.{{Ref/Level|Id=alliance|H5G|Alliance}}{{Ref/Book|Id=HM194|HM|Page=194}} 

To activate the Guardian, Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] surmised that the allies would require a [[Constructor Sentinel]] to interface with the machine. She expected that they would be relatively easy to find in the Forerunner temples and support facilites surrounding the Guardian in Nuusra's hills,{{Ref/Reuse|alliance}} and thus Fireteam Osiris were deployed via [[D79H Pelican|Pelican]] to find one, with the Swords of Sanghelios providing assistance in the form of air cover and additional manpower. The second stage of the battle of Nuusra ultimately saw the destruction of one of the Covenant's heaviest assets, a [[Shuul'se-pattern Kraken|Kraken excavator]], and the successful acquisition of the Constructor.{{Ref/Level|H5G|Enemy Lines}} With it in hand, the stage was set for a final assault on Sunaion itself, now the final major stronghold of the Covenant on Sanghelios.{{Ref/Level|H5G|Before the Storm}}

For Arbiter 'Vadam, the humans' activation of the Guardian was something he viewed as a boon for the upcoming fight; for the [[Covenant religion|still-faithful]] in the Covenant army, he hoped that the sight of [[human]]s activating sacred Forerunner technology would help to convince them to lay down their arms.{{Ref/Reuse|alliance}}

===Last stand===
[[File:H5G Battle of Sunaion 2.jpg|thumb|250px|Covenant and Swords forces fighting in Sunaion.]]
{{Quote|The Covenant soldiers will hear the Guardian wake from its slumber, they will look up over the bodies of their brothers, through the smoke of their burning city, they will look to the horizon as their holy idol rises from the sea and forsakes them. And that is when the Covenant dies.|Thel 'Vadam to a few of his officers.{{ref/Reuse|alliance}}}}
{{Main|Battle of Sunaion}}
In the evening of October 27, the Swords of Sanghelios, with Fireteam Osiris' assistance, launched their final assault on Sunaion. The engagement included a large air and naval battle fought between both sides' fleets of [[vestige]] warships in the skies over the city alongside intense urban combat in the city's street. Fireteam Osiris were air-dropped into the city alongside the Arbiter and an escort of Swords infantry, where they proceeded to fight through the streets to disable the Covenant's [[Anti-aircraft weapon|anti-aircraft]] [[Upisa'weri-pattern Shrike|Shrike turrets]]. Osiris then dropped into the city's underlevels, fighting through Covenant defences until they reached the site of the Guardian.{{Ref/Level|Id=sunaion|H5G|Battle of Sunaion (level)|Battle of Sunaion}}

After the Constructor Sentinel began trying to activate the Guardian, numerous [[Promethean]]s began to appear in the warzone to add to the carnage, including [[armiger]]s, [[Promethean Knight|knights]], and an instance of the [[Warden Eternal]]. These Prometheans were under the control of the nascent [[Created]] and were tasked with defending the Guardian. They were unsuccessful in this role, with the Warden defeated by Fireteam Osiris, who were then able to jump onto the now-rising Guardian, before departing with it to the Forerunner [[shield world]] of [[Genesis]] to complete their own mission.{{Ref/Reuse|sunaion}} With the Covenant now broken, their remnants were driven off by the Swords of Sanghelios, who were able to claim a short-lived victory over the planet. This peace, however, was interrupted the following day with the onset of the [[Created uprising]] and [[Cortana]]'s proclamation to the galaxy of rule under the Created's dominion. This started off an occupation of Sanghelios by the Created, and a new guerilla war fought by the Sangheili against their new overlords.{{Ref/Novel|Id=BB1|HBadB|Chapter=1}}

The Battle of Sunaion saw the death of the Covenant's short-lived leader, General Kitun Arach, who was slain at the hand of his brother [[Jacul 'Arach]].{{Ref/Reuse|CFHVH}}{{Ref/Game|H5G|Mission Intel|Detail=Message to Jacul 'Arach 4/4}}

==Aftermath==
===Created occupation===
{{Main|Subjugation of Sanghelios}}
After the Sunaion Guardian's departure late on October 27, Sanghelios was briefly the site of victory for the Swords of Sanghelios. However this was only short-lived, as a second Guardian was dispatched to the world the following day by the Created alongside Cortana's declaration of enforced peace upon the galaxy. The Guardian initially set to attacking the remaining Covenant warships across the planet, with a focus on those on the far side of the world from Sunaion. It eventually ended this campaign of destruction by using its [[attenuation pulse emitter]] to cause a widespread [[electromagnetic pulse]] across the hemisphere and causing the unlucky Covenant ships caught in its wake to sink into the sea or crash to the ground. By this time, UNSC ''Infinity'' had retreated far enough away from Sanghelios that it was spared the destruction, before it evacuated back to the [[Sol system]].{{Ref/Reuse|BB1}} The Created would eventually take total control of Sanghelios, as well as placing an administrator in charge of the planet.{{Ref/Reuse|OC1}}

===The Covenant===
The Covenant's defeat at Sunaion saw the final destruction of Jul 'Mdama's war machine, and the defection of some troops to the various other factions vying for the now-vacant power vacuum. These included the Swords of Sanghelios and the [[Banished]].{{Ref/Novel|Id=ET16|ET|Chapter=16}} However, the majority{{Ref/Reuse|ET16}} instead chose to rally around [[Sali 'Nyon]], the "True Prophet" who had rebelled against 'Mdama months earlier due to Jul's lack of faith.{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=247}} While 'Nyon would ultimately go on to preach similar claims to 'Mdama, promising the resurrection of the Covenant but without the [[San'Shyuum]] leadership which toppled the old empire, he would ultimately find himself aligned with High Lord [[Dovo Nesto]] and the [[Order of Restoration]].{{Ref/Reuse|ET16}} Throughout the next year, 'Nyon slowly built up a power base from the fortress-world of [[Okal'supen]]{{Ref/Book|Enc22|Page=257}} though was eventually killed at the [[Battle of Boundary]] in December 2559, at which time his forces largely came under the control of the Order of Restoration.{{Ref/Novel|ET|Chapter=47}}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:H5G-SOSformation.png|The forces of the Swords of Sanghelios, assembled and ready to assault Sunaion.
</gallery>

==List of appearances==
*''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo]]''
*''[[Halo: Legacy of Onyx]]'' {{C|First named}}
*''[[Halo: Bad Blood]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual]]'' {{Mo}}
*''[[Halo: Outcasts]]'' {{Im}}
*''[[Halo: Empty Throne]]'' {{Im}}
*''[[Halo: Fifth Canticle]]'' {{Mo}}

==Notes==
{{Ref/Notes}}

==Sources==
{{Ref/Sources}}

{{Post-Covenant War conflicts}}
{{Created conflict}}