Raid on Biko peace talks

In 2558, a peace conference on Biko was raided by the terrorist group Sapien Sunrise. They were repelled by the sudden arrival of John-117, and Richard Sekibo and the Sangheili ambassadors were escorted off-world by the Spartan.

Prelude
After years of diplomatic work, peace talks were finally scheduled between humanity's Unified Earth Government and an unspecified Sangheili group. The convocation was held in a regional embassy in a densely populated city on Biko in the human Outer Colonies. Richard Sekibo, the revered ambassador of the Outer Colonies, led the conference.

Sekibo had uncovered evidence of a terrorist plot by Sapien Sunrise one week before the attack. He petitioned the UNSC for help, but they rejected his request immediately.

The raid
As the conference was coming to an end, an agreement of peace was close to being reached. As the Sapien Sunrise infiltrators were about to begin the assassination, rogue Spartan-II John-117—who had apparently learned of Sekibo's request for aid from the Senate—entered the embassy and instantly killed Richard Sekibo's "bodyguard", who in reality was one of the Sapien Sunrise infiltrators. A firefight began, in which 10 security guards, several Sapien Sunrise infiltrators, and 3 Sangheili were killed. John abducted Sekibo and created an escape path through the infiltrators by killing them. John fled the embassy alongside the Sangheili delegation, which he escorted to safety.

Outside the embassy, an evacuation ship for John was waiting. He boarded the ship, alongside the alien diplomats, and fled the planet. However, Sekibo had been mortally wounded during the firefight and he eventually succumbed to his wounds. His corpse was left behind in a field near the embassy and the next day, local officials discovered a signal beacon that led them to the body of Sekibo.

Aftermath
The event was leaked onto human public networks and news sites by FERO, an unidentified Insurrectionist leader. Some of the people who had become aware of the event accused John-117 of being a traitor, working with the enemy, assassinating a beloved diplomat, and killing civilians. Many people became divided on whether the hero of the Human-Covenant War—the Master Chief—was a traitor or not. Many Inner Colony residents denounced the Master Chief, while Outer Colony residents were becoming increasingly disgruntled.

FERO leaked the event with the intentions of getting the public to feel betrayed by John's apparent disloyalty. Then, she would reveal the Office of Naval Intelligence was responsible for abducting children for the SPARTAN-II program and for ultimately psychologically transforming the Master Chief into a traitor. Meanwhile, a meeting was scheduled between the UEG Senate and ONI to discuss the event, during which a leak of ONI's action in the SPARTAN-II program occurred.

Ray Kurzig later revealed that the Sangheili sent a secret message to the UEG, protesting not just their own innocence but "the Demon's" as well, criticizing the UEG for their silence. He revealed that the government of Biko had been officially silent on the matter because of a gag order from Earth through the magistrate, Laurel Adams. After FERO's leaks, there was an unofficial investigation implicating Sapien Sunrise but the information was hidden by the UEG from the public.

As Benjamin Giraud prepared to go public with the truth about the SPARTAN-II program and the Master Chief, the UEG and Biko suddenly reversed course and revealed that Sapien Sunrise was behind the attack, clearing the Master Chief and the Sangheili of any wrongdoing. Ben called it a "classic ONI half-truth" and that Sapien couldn't have pulled it off without the UEG who had rejected Sekibo's requests for help, calling it "arrogant negligence." Sapien Sunrise implicated FERO as the arms dealer who supplied them with the weapons used in the embassy massacre and ONI framed Ben as FERO.

Trivia

 * The image of John-117 attacking the embassy appears to be a modified still of John during the final cutscene of Forerunner in Halo 4.

List of appearances

 * Hunt the Truth