Salus 'Crolon

"Salus 'Crolon"

Salus 'Crolon was a Sangheili warrior and an engineer who served with the Ussans. However, he grew distrustful of Ussa 'Xellus and defected to the Covenant.

Early life and rebellion
Salus 'Crolon was a skilled engineer who was trained to pilot starships and aircraft. Like all male Sangheili, he was trained to be a warrior, though he was not a true soldier.

After Ussa 'Xellus warned his keep to not trust the newly formed Covenant in 851 BCE, Covenant attack fighters razed the keep. Ussa led the survivors to the Nwari region, before he departed for the Refuge with his allies and other like-minded Sangheili—including Salus 'Crolon and his clan. On the shield world, now called the Refuge, the Ussans intended to grow and strike back against the Covenant. In 850 BCE, 'Crolon approached Ussa and his second-in-command Ernicka the Scar-Maker. He openly expressed his doubts about Ussa's decision, as he was worried about angering the Forerunners by living on the shield world. While Ernicka rebuked 'Crolon for his lack of faith in the kaidon, Ussa dismissed 'Crolon's worries and addressed all Ussans in a speech to give them hope and reminded them that they had crossed the "Great Torrent".

Conspiracy against Ussa
'Crolon was assigned to survey the south side of the uncompleted Forerunner devices in the Storage Chamber, alongside youngling Tersa 'Gunok. While the two worked, 'Crolon openly admitted his wariness to trust Ussa. Tersa grew uncomfortable by 'Crolon's near-treasonous prattle, but was unable to rebuke a senior Sangheili. Eventually, Tersa grew frustrated by 'Crolon's ramblings, and argued that Ussa was right and they could no longer return to Sanghelios. Ernicka ordered the two to set back to work, though 'Crolon had made Tersa begin to question Ussa himself. 'Crolon soon formed a companionship with 'Dren, a like-minded Sangheili. The two approached Tersa while the youngling was scanning pieces of technology. 'Crolon shared his theories with the two; the "gods" were using the shield world to decide what Sangheili was worthy of living. Tersa dismissed these theories and monitor Enduring Bias arrived, claiming that the youngling was correct. After Bias stated that Sooln 'Xellus had reprogrammed him to some degree, the monitor stated that he would accept the presence of San'Shyuum on the world if they brought Huragok. 'Crolon and 'Dren, distrustful of Bias, came to believe that the Ussan leadership were actually conspiring with the San'Shyuum, though Tersa again dismissed these claims. 'Crolon reiterated that he would never question Ussa's judgement and then departed with 'Dren to dine at the Hall of Feasts.

The next day, the two approached Tersa in the Hall of Feasts and questioned what he had heard the previous day. When Tersa avoided the question, 'Crolon and 'Dren warned him that they would use their seniority statuses to shift any blame on Tersa, if he attempted to tell Ussa or Ernicka about the duo's conversations. 'Crolon was later tasked with helping Ernicka, Tersa, and two other Sangheili repair burnblades in the Refuge's workshop. When Tersa had Lnur 'Mol show him her skill with a blade, 'Crolon commented that Lnur did not know her place. Angered, Tersa challenged 'Crolon to either apologize or duel. 'Crolon declined both options and left the room. Some time later, 'Crolon and 'Dren attempted to convince Scorinn and Gmezza to join them in their rebellion against Ussa. However, Tersa and Lnur overheard their conversation from a cliff at Ussa's Garden. The two Sangheili younglings were spotted by 'Dren, and the four Sangheili pursued them. Although 'Dren was able to catch up to them, he was briefly incapacitated and Tersa and Lnur escaped. 'Crolon and 'Dren falsely reported to Ussa that Tersa and Lnur had been planning a rebellion against him and had attempted to murder 'Dren for allegedly knowing too much. However, the two younglings explained that 'Crolon and 'Dren were lying and at Tersa's suggestion, Ussa had Enduring Bias, Gmezza, Scorinn, 'Crolon, and 'Dren all brought before the court. When the five appeared before the court, Bias provided footage of 'Crolon and 'Dren plotting against Ussa. Though 'Dren was killed by Ernicka when he attempted to escape, 'Crolon was arrested.

Capture and death
"Vil 'Kthamee"

The next day, 'Crolon stabbed his guard, 'Kwari, in the hearing membrane with a small blade. The guard opened the door to kill 'Crolon with his burnblade, but the traitor stabbed 'Kwari in the eye with his makeshift blade and wrestled the burnblade from his grasp. Decapitating the injuring guard, 'Crolon ran towards the shield world's hangar. Sooln became aware of 'Crolon's escape and informed Ussa. The two ran to the jail, where Enduring Bias showed them how 'Crolon escaped. 'Crolon sabotaged the hanger's controls to prevent Bias from stopping his escape. 'Crolon enabling an emergency fail-safe within the hangar that allowed him to board Clan's Blade and open the hangar door through the ship's controls. Despite the trio's attempts to stop him, 'Crolon escaped and fled the system by entering slipstream space. Fearing that 'Crolon might give the shield world's coordinates to the Covenant, Ussa prepared the Ussans for war. However, Clan's Blade was soon intercepted by the Covenant and 'Crolon was captured. He offered to show the Covenant where the shield world was located, though his help was not needed as the world's coordinates were found in the vessel's records. Nonetheless, he was interrogated and kept alive in hopes of bargaining with the Ussans in the inevitable conflict that ensured. During his interrogations, he claimed that he was attempting to act as an agent for the Covenant, but Qurlom searched the records and confirmed that the only Covenant agent on Sanghelios had been killed.

'Crolon was brought aboard Pledge of Holiness, the flagship of the Covenant fleet tasked with quelling Ussa's rebellion. Mleer brought 'Crolon before the Prophet of Inner Conviction, the commander of the fleet, to be interrogated. Inner Conviction revealed his intent to use 'Crolon as a negotiator, however, the Ussan traitor insisted that he would be killed by Ussa. He claimed that Ussa was aware of 'Crolon's support of the "holy and sacred Covenant" and his love for the Great Journey, and that he had fled the shield world and Ussa's "dictatorship" to join the Covenant. He grew nervous when he called Enduring Bias a "diabolical intelligence" and realized that the monitor would be revered by the Covenant, and instead reiterated that Bias was programmed to be diabolical by Ussa and Sooln. Conferring with his Sangheili advisers, Inner Conviction realized that 'Crolon was a liar and had Mleer lock him up in the carrier's brig. 'Crolon was sent to lead the first invasion force of the Covenant military to the shield world's surface, despite his reluctance. He encountered Ussan forces that attacked the Covenant-loyal Sangheili. Realizing that he had been spotted by the Ussans, 'Crolon attempted to run and requested for the Covenant soldiers to pull back to a safer vantage point. However, three Ussans surrounded 'Crolon and cut him down with their burnblades, killing the traitor.

Hundreds of years later, Salus 'Crolon would be remembered as a traitor among the Ussans. Sculptures of slithering, semi-saurian depictions of 'Crolon being slew by Ernicka the Scar-Maker were placed in the Refuge's Hall of the Godminds.

Personality and traits
"Do not jump to conclusions about him. No need to mistake an annoying personality for a treasonous one."

- Ussa 'Xellus, to Ernicka the Scar-Maker, referring to 'Crolon

Salus 'Crolon was a smooth-talking, dishonest Sangheili who was very much orientated towards his own survival. 'Crolon considered himself to be an individual that thought logically and methodically, and pondered each side of a dilemma. When he spoke to his superiors, he always exuded false modesty and humbleness. Ussa 'Xellus believed him to be an annoying individual. He was rather religious, and held on to Sangheili beliefs that existed before the San'Shyuum-Sangheili War. 'Crolon remained reluctant to use technology created by the Forerunners, and believed that doing so would incur their wrath. As such, he was wary to live on the Forerunner-built Shield World 0673. Although most Sangheili respected Sooln 'Xellus for her intelligence and wisdom, 'Crolon believed that she did not know her place in their species' patriarchal society. He also criticized Lnur 'Mol for having considerable experience with weapons. When the Ussans gathered to eat in the Refuge, 'Crolon was always one of the first to eat.

'Crolon began to doubt Ussa's leadership capabilities and often engaged in near-seditious conversations with other Sangheili. He was evidently aware that his opinions could potentially label him as a traitor and he took care to only express his views away from Ussa, Ernicka, and Sooln. When question on his views, he claimed he was only speculating possibilities for the sake of discussion. He felt that either Ussa would lead them to safety or the Ussans would all perish on the shield world, but there was no middle ground. Unlike his companion 'Dren, 'Crolon was initially more willing to trust monitor Enduring Bias. However, after learning that Bias was partially repaired by Sooln, he believed that the Ussan leadership and the monitor were conspiring with the San'Shyuum when Bias stated that he would accept the presence of a San'Shyuum if they brought Huragok.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Broken Circle