Rending

The Rending, also known as the Disassembly, was a conflict between the newly established Covenant and the Ussans on the Refuge.

History
After Ussan traitor Salus 'Crolon was captured by the Covenant, he informed the empire of the Ussans' refuge on the shield world. Interested in capturing the shield world and eliminating the Ussan rebels, the Hierarchs sent in a Covenant fleet led by the Prophet of Inner Conviction to do so.

Inner Conviction attempted to reason with Ussa 'Xellus and offered to aid in guaranteeing his people's freedom if he allowed himself and his mate to be tried before the Covenant, and likely executed. However, Ussa was not assured that his followers would ever be able to be allowed to return to Sanghelios alive. Instead, Ussa had monitor Enduring Bias activate the shield world's Disassembler process as the Covenant military invaded the world. The shield world was seemingly destroyed, along with all of its inhabitants.

Aftermath
Although Inner Conviction did not believe that the Ussans were killed, he decided to not court trouble and he ordered his fleet to leave the system. In truth, Ussa and his allies survived aboard large freight movers. After the fleet had left, Enduring Bias set the fragmented habitats of the shield world within the system's asteroid belt, as Ussa pledged to one day have his people take back Sanghelios.

The Ussans continued to inhabit the disparate components of the shield world until 2553, when they were discovered by a group of Sangheili-led Covenant fleeing High Charity. The inhabitants returned to contact with the Sangheili and those willing to return to Sanghelios were given the opportunity.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Broken Circle