Ryn 'Alun

Ryn 'Alun is a Sangheili officer, notable for serving in the Covenant remnant forces led by Jul 'Mdama during the Requiem Campaign. 'Alun served as the shipmaster of Panom's Canticle, a in service of the warlord, and leader of the Silent Blade special operations unit.

Early life
Alun presumably hailed from, or had some other ties to, Nes'alun keep on Sanghelios. The specifics of this connection are presently unknown to United Nations Space Command xenolinguistics experts.

Post-Covenant war era
Following the sundering of the Covenant empire at the close of the Human-Covenant War, Ryn 'Alun found himself drawn to the ranks of the emerging remnant state led by Supreme Commander Jul 'Mdama. During his time in service to 'Mdama, 'Alun led the special operations unit known as the Silent Blade, and had charge of the light cruiser Panom's Canticle. In July 2557, 'Alun was present for the Battle of Requiem and was one of several Sangheili to reach the core of Requiem itself - one of few to see the reawakening of the Ur-Didact. Alongside several other Sangheili deemed worthy including Jul 'Mdama, 'Alun was transported to a sanctum on Requiem's surface known as the the Refuge, and witnessed the Didact's crowning of Jul 'Mdama as the Hand of the Didact. During the encounter, 'Alun's zealous nature toward veneration of the Forerunners saw him latch onto the Didact's words as a mantra he would later often repeat for guidance; "You are Sangheili. Loyal and strong."

While the Didact would ultimately depart from Requiem for other plans, the Covenant forces were granted control of Requiem and tasked with its defence. Ryn 'Alun and his forces were tasked with the protection of the Refuge site from incursions, something they would later deal with in February 2558 with the beginning of a mass invasion of the world by a United Nations Space Command force led by. Although the Refuge site was infiltrated twice by the humans' Fireteam Crimson, Ryn 'Alun made it his personal mission to ensure there would not be a third. Following reports that the fireteam had begun an attack on the site, he deployed Panom's Canticle over the Refuge site with the aim of eliminating the intruders. Ryn deployed several Silent Blade troops on the ground to deal with Fireteam Crimson, but was interrupted with the arrival of a dropship commandeered by another Spartan-IV fireteam, Fireteam Shadow.

During the engagement, 'Alun reprimanded himself for losing focus due to his nerves - as he felt a shipmaster should not betray anything other than his confidence to his subordinates. The arrival of the Phantom helped provide a break from the nerves, as the dropship crash-landed inside the hangar bay before it could be hailed over radio. 'Alun then ordered his two guards to follow him and ignited his energy sword, proceeding to the cruiser's pinch fusion reactor to intercept the Spartans before they could succeed in sabotaging the ship. Along the way he acquired a dozen followers who were able to reach the reactor before Fireteam Shadow, with 'Alun leading the charge with a battle cry, heading straight for Horatio Fry and able to knock the Spartan off his feet onto onto the floor. He then continued to attack Fry in melee combat while delivering a series of insults in his native language and prepared to finish off Fry with his sword - though was stopped by Bonita Stone.

Ryn was able to escape the carnage that followed Shadow's sabotage of the reactor, and had made it to the ground on Requiem by the time Panom's Canticle finally began its final crash into the jungle. Seeing his ship destroyed, Ryn questioned the validity of the Didact's words - protesting that he (alongside the Covenant as a whole) had served with strength and loyalty, and had yet to see these attributes rewarded with victory. However, his conclusion ultimately saw him strengthen his convictions and use the destruction of Panom's Canticle to build a purpose to augment his loyalty and strength - and pledged himself to hunting down the Spartans in revenge of his fallen brothers.

Ultimately, 'Alun's fate following the destruction of Requiem and the collapse of Jul's Covenant (and reformation under Sali 'Nyon) is unknown, though as of 2560, he had failed to hunt down Fireteam Shadow - who continued to serve the UNSC in the campaign against the Banished on Installation 07.

Equipment
Ryn 'Alun served aboard Panom's Canticle in an ornate command harness design, and carried an energy sword in combat.

List of appearances

 * Vertical Umbrage