Strewn Shore

The Strewn Shore, formally the Diocese of the Strewn Shore, is a loosely-defined region of space located beyond the Cygnus-Aquila side of the human colonial sphere, home to the single largest surviving group of survivors from the Covenant's holy city, High Charity, before its complete takeover by the Flood. The Strewn Shore has since become synonymous with its government, headed largely by a prominent remnant of the ministerial bureaucracy and other high-level officials. Although crucial to the Concord of Reconciliation's formation, this self-declared Covenant government-in-exile exists in a complicated and at times unclear relationship with the greater Concord and its allies, the Phoenix Initiative and the United Nations Space Command. The Shore's government is invaluable to the Concord in some cultural and religious matters; however, the goals of the two polities do not always meet, and there are Sangheili within the Concord view the Shore's government with resentment and distrust due to its San'Shyuum leadership.

History
As High Charity was located at Halo Installation 05 at the time of its assimilation by the Flood, its best-coordinated flotilla of survivors led by the Minister of the Common Weal, following the wake of the Fleet of Retribution, eventually arrived at the far borders of the human Outer Colonies. Rather than attempt to cross the human sphere into the Covenant Empire proper, the leadership of the flotilla elected to wait out the Great Schism and the uncertain situation of the war overall within the bordering regions of the Loop III Bubble and the Local Bubble, far spinward of much of the Covenant's territorial holdings and within a decent stretch of space to serve as a buffer between them and the UNSC. There, they managed to occupy and repurpose several outposts established by the Covenant during the Human-Covenant War in search of human colonies. One of these outpost-worlds, now known as Journey's End, became the Shore's capital.

In 2554, the leadership of the Strewn Shore was involved in a standoff with a group of Schismatics. This incident was eventually defused by the intervention of the Arbiter, Thel 'Vadam, and led to the convening of what would be known as the First Schism Council and the formal establishment of the Concord of Reconciliation.

Over time, the Strewn Shore became involved in trade with several human worlds, most prominently those of the Via Casilina Community due to their relative proximity to one another. As the Via Casilinans also served as a useful buffer between them and the UNSC, they supported attempts to maintain the polity's independence, which included the internment of Madaran ships during the Shaps Crisis.

At the guidance of their leadership, the occupants of the Strewn Shore eventually took it upon themselves as a civilization-wide project to begin constructing a new mobile capital. The completion of this project, while but a dim shadow of the splendor of the original holy city, eventually led to much of the Shore emptying out as the bulk of its inhabitants departed for the Covenant Sphere proper.

Military
The Strewn Shore had a sizable military force, with much of its strength hailing from some returning Covenant explorer fleets that were originally sent out to find human colonies, often being diverted far from the actual Human Sphere due to decoy transmissions and intelligence. This was at once a blessing and a curse to the Strewn Shore, as it granted the survivors of High Charity enough military might to stand on their own. On the other hand, the returning fleetmasters were powerful enough to have a hand in the Shore's politics. They played favorites with different factions, splitting apart what the Minister of the Common Weal had worked so hard to keep together.

Known colonies

 * Neluse: Located in the Biraan system of the Rivera Sector, Neluse was right on the border of the Via Casilina Community.
 * Infinite Fortitude: A colony with under 10 million, it was located in the Qialewui system.
 * Journey's End: The capital of the Strewn Shore, it was located in the Nauke system.
 * Fortuitous Absolution: Located in the Nonakal system.
 * First Pillar of Dawn's Light: An Assembly Forge recovered from High Charity, which made a years-long journey to the Nauke system.