Suban

Suban is the more massive of Sanghelios' two moons, alongside Qikost. Known as both a rugged industrial world and ancient holy site, it is home to a major Sangheili colony and famed throughout the Holy Ecumene as the source of Subanese crystals.

History
Important to Sangheili astronomy and mythology dating back tens of millennia, Suban is the oldest Sangheili space colony, with its first settlers having arrived in the earliest days of Sangheili space travel long prior to the Skyfall.

Government and politics
Today, the pseudo-religious Subanite Brotherhood is Suban's most influential political player, and has been called the moon's de facto government due to its vast wealth and connections all the way up to the now-lost institutions of High Charity. Although the Brotherhood does not directly govern most of Suban, their influence permeates most of the states there, and they functionally represent Suban in many outsider assemblies (with other political representation being regarded as secondary at best, a token gesture at worst in comparison). Suban's political landscape is divided between independent states and feudal dependencies of Sanghelian governments, most of these claims dating back to the early days of the second Sangheili space age. Commercial interests, both from Sanghelios and its orbital space, also hold considerable sway there outside the Subanese crystal harvesting operation.

It is often said that the Subanians are as contentious with Sanghelios as they are with the sister-moon, Qikost. Many lesser wars have been fought between the moons throughout history, and they have taken opposing sides in large conflicts several times (with a number of notable exceptions).

Culture and society
The Subanites are a proud and ancient people, and the early history of the moon's settlement blends with mythology. Numerous clans call Suban home, many of them laying claims to mining industries. While the moon's population is not ethnically homogeneous, Subanians are generally slighter of frame and taller than average Sangheili due to the moon's lower gravity. Although their identity has assumed different nuances over time and varies by their political and clan affiliation, most Subanites still see themselves as culturally distinct from the peoples of the parent planet. One noted characteristic is the endurance of certain pre-Skyfall customs and even religious practices on the moon, despite eras of persecution and forced assimilation attempts following the Conquest of Suban. Since then, the people of Suban have repeatedly rebelled against the homeworld's influence (even as they have made alliances with certain Sanghelios polities in pursuit of that goal), and already managed to establish their place as standing alongside Sanghelios in pre-Covenant times. The famed epic poem known as the Subaniad recounts a tale of grand battles and the heroes who defended Suban during the early conquests, many of said heroes now revered as keystones of Subanite culture.

Suban, sometimes called the "Rust-Moon", has been a key element of the mythologies and religions of nearly all Sangheili cultures since ancient times. Once worshiped as a deity by many cultures, Suban has been called by epithets such as Raiser of the Waters, the Stormbringer, and Shaker of the Foundations of the Deep due to its tidal influence on Sanghelios. In the most enduring versions of these myths, the sky-god (or demigod hero in some traditions) Suban is identified as masculine and Qikost as feminine; Suban is traditionally associated with the archetype of the Eternal Hero who reincarnates throughout time, whereas Qikost's associated figure is one of darkness and death, the relationship between the two complex and eternal. Many ancient cultures tied the two moons' orbital resonance into the mythology around the two characters. Their periodic encounters, always in the same spot, occur in darkness when viewed from Sanghelios as Joori or Fied are seldom visible and Urs never. These reunions are either cast as epic battles fought without quarter or lovemaking sessions, depending on the interpretation. In pre-Skyfall times, the Sangheili of the so-called Age of Decadence purportedly saw their colonization and exploitation of Suban (one of the gods of old) as a victory over the old ways, and one step closer to becoming gods themselves.

While most of those on Suban now adhere to some denomination of the Covenant religion, Suban is also home to native faiths, one of which has survived until the present. In addition, many Subanians practice denominations syncretizing Subanese beliefs with Forerunner worship. The immense, stygian pillar known as the Spire of Miatistina, which stands at the moon's south pole, serves as the moon's principal religious and cultural site, once tied to worship of the sun-gods of the Urs system. Matching no architectural style or material composition found in known space, the Spire's origins are enigmatic. It is evident that the baroque structure far predates the activation of the Halo Array, and based on its composition, is highly unlikely to have even been constructed from local materials. Though the early Sangheili were known to have added to its ancient design, modifying the tower has been taboo since at least the Subanian conquest.

The various adjectives used for Suban, or their translated forms, have slightly different connotations, though they have also been used interchangeably. "Subanese" is the most commonly-used demonym used to describe people and things from or of Suban, though "Subanian" also occurs. "Subanite" refers Suban's native population and culture in particular, though in English the word is now more commonly used as a synonym for Subanese crystals. "Subanine" is used to refer to things resembling Suban in some way, and connotes to the cultural mythology and astrological beliefs surrounding the moon, such as the ancient concept of Subanine temperaments or events - in this sense, a thing that is Subanine is powerful, ominous, worthy of respect and/or fear, and has large, sweeping implications. The term is not morally loaded in either direction; a Subanine individual might be a just leader, but also a cruel tyrant; the important factor is that they impart their influence on the world.

Topography
An unusually massive and dense moon, especially for a planet the size of Sanghelios, Suban has an active iron-nickel core and its own magnetic field; early human remote surveys identified the Sanghelios-Suban pair as a double planet. The moon's mantle and crust both house unusually high concentrations of heavy metals, and an abundance of iron oxides in the crust gives Suban its rust-red coloration similar to Sanghelios. Although different in its composition, the physical properties of Sanghelios' smaller satellite Qikost are likewise highly unusual. A common theory holds that the unusually stable Sanghelios-Suban-Qikost system was partially or fully artificially engineered, one or both moons perhaps having formed deeper in the inner system and moved to Sanghelios' orbit. However, it is most likely that Suban formed as a result of a protoplanet colliding with Sanghelios in primordial times (yet fairly recently in geologic timescales) due to similarities in the two bodies' compositions. Suban is very tectonically active, exacerbated by its tidal interactions with Sanghelios.

While arid, Suban is habitable to Sangheili, something commonly attributed to Forerunner terraforming in ancient times. However, it remains a harsh world due to its craggy terrain, abundant volcanism, presence of radioactive elements, and scarcity of large surface-based bodies of water. It nonetheless hosts an ecosystem distantly related to that of Sanghelios, though the biosphere is not as rich as that of Qikost. Artificial gravity generators are used by many habitats to avoid long-term muscle and bone loss caused by the moon's relatively low gravity.

Its metallic composition has made Suban a premier source of raw materials for space-based industry throughout the Sangheili's spacefaring history, and Suban is now thoroughly industrialized. Suban's relatively high escape velocity made material transit to orbit costly before the advent of gravitics, causing the early Sangheili to look more to near-Sanghelios asteroids for raw materials. Still, Suban-sourced materials saw use in the construction of several space stations and habitats after the construction of enormous mass drivers and skyhooks; today, most orbital cargo transit is provided by gravitic sky-lifts.

The moon is most notably the source of the Subanese crystals used in Covenant shard weaponry. The production and harvesting of the crystals is monopolized under the Subanite Brotherhood, which holds enormous wealth due to the importance of their export and acts as the de facto government of the moon. The moon's unique ability to produce the purest Subanite crystals in the Holy Ecumene has been attributed to the precise mix of certain radioactives in the crust.

Orbit
A "Subanine month", or one orbit around Sanghelios, lasts about 18 Earth days and eight hours. Suban and Qikost are in a 2:1 orbital resonance; Qikost takes exactly twice as long to complete an orbit, and the two always meet in the same spot in the sky. Suban orbits in a 3:2 spin-orbit lock with Sanghelios, completing three axial rotations for every two orbits around Sanghelios; a Subanine "day" lasts approximately 12 days and five hours.

An ongoing cause of concern and public debate regarding Suban is the moon's decaying orbit around Sanghelios. Since the effect was first documented by astronomers in the centuries following the Skyfall, it is commonly attributed to the destruction of the Shard of Heaven, the Forerunner satellite supposedly having maintained the stability of the moon's orbit. However, some prehistoric Sangheili astronomical codices are recorded as having observed the moon's irregular orbit even long prior to the Skyfall. Whatever the case, tidal effects on the planet have been slowly increasing over the last three millennia, and the moon is expected to hit the Roche limit within the next million years. Without intervention, Suban will be disintegrated by tidal forces, with subsequent apocalyptic tidal effects on Sanghelios rendering the planet uninhabitable long before the moon directly collides with the planet. Various efforts have sought to stabilize Suban's orbit, but even with the Covenant's exotic drive technology, the moon is far too massive for their drives to make a difference. A brute-force solution involving the construction of a vast reaction engine has been proposed, but the scale and cost of such an undertaking has meant the idea has not, as of yet, left the planning stage. Instead, many Sangheili hope salvation will come in the form of an extraordinarily powerful Forerunner engine, and multiple Sanghelian statesmen throughout history have sponsored expeditions to find such a relic. So far, these efforts have not born fruit.

Technology
Subanese weaponry is best known for the incorporation of Subanese crystals. One traditional Subanese weapon is the phaatko, an edged weapon akin to the Mesoamerican macuahuitl sporting a multitude of shards that would embed themselves in a victim when struck but still allowing subsequent strikes with the remaining shards. Such weapons, along with crystal-based spears and arrows were used to great effect against invaders during the early conflicts on the moon, as well as in inter-Subanian warfare. Since then, Subanese weaponsmiths have specialized in the design of Subanite-based weaponry, of which the Needler is the best known.

Locations

 * Spire of Miatistina