Spear of Light

"Rtas 'Vadum"

Spear of Light (Sangheili: Kel 'Darsam Silket) is a that was commanded by Prelate Tem'Bhetek. The cruiser was originally in service with the Covenant, and was later used by the Prelate to launch attacks on Sangheili colonies.

The cruiser is named in reference to the ballad of Kel 'Darsam, a Sangheili legend in which the demi-god Kel 'Darsam was killed by a spear before he was transformed into pure light by his father Urs, the lord of all Sangheili gods.

Covenant service
Spear of Light was an older cruiser that predated the Human-Covenant War that was once crewed by Sangheili. In order to reward the loyalty of the chieftains of the recently incorporated Jiralhanae, the San'Shyuum had Sangheili shipmasters gift these chieftains a handful of ships, including Spear of Light. The cruisers were also given to the Jiralhanae to allow them to fight against humanity in the nascent Human-Covenant War. However, the cruiser's major armaments and other systems had been deliberately disabled by the Sangheili to prevent the prideful Jiralhanae chieftains from becoming too powerful. Additionally, no shipmaster cared to give up the opportunity for frontline glory to train the Jiralhanae in the operation of comparatively underpowered, surplus ships such as Spear of Light. Instead, San'Shyuum Prelates of the Ministry of Preparation came aboard these ships to overtly serve as technical advisors to the Jiralhanae crews; Tem'Bhetek was the Prelate charged with serving aboard Spear of Light. During one of the Prelate's training missions, Spear of Light traveled to the Sangheili frontier colony of Duraan, where Duraan's unstable star caused the cruiser's energy shielding to drain. The Prelate took note of this, and sought to apply it in the future.

While this was partly true, the Prelates were tasked by the High Prophet of Truth to covertly refit the Jiralhanae ships and to train the crews to attack the Sangheili. Following the Battle of Installation 04 when the Sangheili failed to prevent the ring's destruction, the Sangheili began to fall out of favor among the Covenant, leading to Tem and the other Prelates redoubling their preparations. On November 3, 2552, Spear of Light was stationed at High Charity over Installation 05 when the Prophet of Truth ordered the Covenant to execute the Sangheili, marking the beginning of the Great Schism. At the time, Spear of Light was tasked with supporting the Sangheili-crewed Eternal Reward, along with five Covenant destroyers and two other cruisers, all crewed by Jiralhanae. The Prelate led the eight ships in attacking Eternal Reward; while the carrier was able to destroy all of its attackers with the exception of Spear of Light, Eternal Reward was badly damaged and its crew were forced to abandon the ship before the carrier was destroyed. Afterwards, Spear of Light was able to destroy or disable six more Sangheili ships, two of which were cruisers of larger classes. While Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum of Shadow of Intent led Sangheili forces, Tem led many Covenant ships against High Charity's attackers. As the Flood began to infect the city and 'Vadum worked to quarantine the city, Spear of Light retreated from the fight to aid in the evacuation of High Charity's San'Shyuum population. Docking with High Charity, the Prelate was able to rescue the Minister of Preparation, who lied to him that all San'Shyuum who were not already aboard ships were dead and insisted that they leave. Believing his family to be dead, Tem reluctantly departed High Charity aboard Spear of Light with the Minister and left the system to rendezvous with the surviving San'Shyuum. With the Minister telling Tem that the Sangheili had allied with the Flood, the Prelate blamed 'Vadum for the death of his family.

Post-Covenant War
"A light cruiser. It bombed the port and bastion compounds, then it dropped its infantry…"

- Tul 'Juran, after the attack on Rahnelo

At some point, the Minister had the Prelate take Spear of Light to a Forerunner installation that contained a prototype Halo installation; this area of space had previously been restricted to most by Covenant leadership. The Minister tasked Tem with capturing Shadow of Intent to allow him to transport the ring to Sanghelios and give it enough power to eradicate all life on the planet, while giving the Prelate an opportunity for revenge on 'Vadum. To gain 'Vadum's attention, in 2553, Spear of Light attacked the Sangheili frontier colony of Rahnelo. Upon arriving at the planet, Spear of Light destroyed Rahnelo's spaceport and bastion compounds before the Prelate led Jiralhanae infantry to the planet's surface. While engaging the planet's residents, the Prelate captured Kaidon Tulum 'Juranai and his two eldest sons. After the attack, Spear of Light and its crew returned to the Forerunner installation, where they executed their Sangheili prisoners by testing the ring's effects on them.

Afterwards, Spear of Light traveled to Duraan and began attacking the settlements to lead Shadow of Intent to the system. After Shadow of Intent arrived in the system, Spear of Light promptly bombarded the planet's largest settlement. Duraan's star drained the shields of both warships, but Spear of Light charged at the carrier as Shadow of Intent attempted to destroy the cruiser. Moving alongside of the carrier, Tem had the entire crew of Spear of Light abandon the cruiser to board Shadow of Intent by using the cruiser's escape pods. Once aboard the carrier, the Prelate sought to take control of Shadow of Intent and eliminate 'Vadum, but all of the Jiralhanae crew were ultimately killed and Tem was captured and interrogated by 'Vadum.

After the engagement, Spear of Light was captured by Shadow of Intent. Most of the cruiser's systems were beyond repair, but its navigational database remained in tact. 'Vadum analyzed the database and learned the coordinates of all locations Spear of Light had traveled to, including the Forerunner installation. With the coordinates, Shadow of Intent was able to travel to the installation to stop the Minister. After the installation was destroyed, 'Vadum further analyzed the cruiser's database and learned of Spear of Light's rendezvous with surviving San'Shyuum, realizing that possibly thousands of San'Shyuum lived.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Shadow of Intent