Ussan system

"Zo Resken"

The Ussan system is a planetary system home to the Refuge. The system is named after Ussa 'Xellus, a Sangheili that led the Ussans to the Refuge within the system.

History
"Tul 'Imjanamee"

The system was once under the control of the Forerunner ecumene. The Forerunners built Shield World 0673 in this system—apparently one of the last shield worlds to be built—shortly before the firing of the Halo Array.

The system was rediscovered by Sangheili 'Crecka sometime before 938 BCE. He discovered the shield world, but fled the system after believing its monitor, Enduring Bias, to be hostile. Years later, in 851 BCE, 'Crecka brought Ussa 'Xellus and his followers to the shield world, so they could use it as a refuge for their rebellion against the recently formed Covenant. In 850 BCE, the Covenant discovered the shield world and invaded the system, led by the Prophet of Inner Conviction. In response, Ussa activated the shield world's Disassembler process. The process made it appear that the shield world had been destroyed, which caused the Covenant to leave. However, the shield world, now known as the Refuge, survived in fragmented, habitable sections scattered across the system's asteroid belt. To apparently hide their failure to claim the Refuge for themselves, the Covenant marked the system with a scarlet border, meaning it was forbidden to travel to. Meanwhile, the Ussans continued to thrive in the Refuge. Though, by 2552, the colony had fallen into entropy and a rebellion had broken out throughout the Refuge.

On November 3, 2552, with the dawn of the Great Schism, supply ship Journey's Sustenance fled from High Charity with its crew of Sangheili, San'Shyuum, and Huragok defectors. The ship's commander, Shipmaster D'ero 'S'bud, chose the system as the Covenant had marked it as forbidden, meaning they were unlikely to be found there. San'Shyuum Zo Resken, a descendant of the Prophet of Inner Conviction and a passenger of the supply ship, realized that the system was named after Ussa 'Xellus, whom his ancestor had written about. Guessing the Covenant had marked the system as forbidden to cover up what the Hierarchs considered to be a failure, Resken believed that the Ussan system was home to the Refuge. Hoping to discover the Refuge, Resken persuaded the crew of Journey's Sustenance to search the system for the colony. For half a year, the supply ship's crew searched the orbiting bodies in the system—particularly the asteroid belt—for the Refuge. The ship eventually discovered the colony and aided the Ussans by quelling the rebellion. The supply ship's Huragok helped repair monitor Enduring Bias and numerous damaged parts of the Refuge. Shortly after, Kaidon Bal'Tol 'Xellus had Bias connect the portions of the Refuge into a small ringworld. While some Ussans traveled to Sanghelios, most remained living in the system.

Planetary system
The Ussan system was a massive planetary system. The system hosted rocky natural satellites, numerous planetoids, planets with methane winds, and an expansive asteroid belt. The asteroid belt was not dense, with a large amount of distance between each asteroid. The belt was also home to shattered planetoids and moons, as well as numerous fragmented comets and meteors. At least one gas giant orbited the sun. Beyond it, Forerunner Shield World 0673 laid in orbit as well. After the activation of the shield world's Disassembler process, the world's fragmented and habitable sections were placed inside the system's asteroid belt.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Broken Circle