Swords of Sanghelios

The Swords of Sanghelios were a martial order that came into control of Sanghelios in the 23rd Age of Doubt and remained in control following the collapse of the Covenant. It was a core polity of the Crimson League and the Concord of Reconciliation.

Origins
The Swords of Sanghelios share their name with several past coalitions dating back to ancient times. The first recorded incarnation of the Swords arose during the last of the Wars of Iron and Blood, as a military alliance of prominent states that banded together against the cruel and virulently expansionist Dominion of Nar'segha, under the rule of the despotic self-styled Arbiter Kol Tashran Nar'segha. Though the first known group to call itself the Swords of Sanghelios, this alliance carried on many traditions from even older warrior orders. The first Swords fell apart only decades after its formation, though it did usher in a period of relative peace and global dialogue for some time, giving rise to the renaissance of Sangheili space travel. Since then, several coalitions calling themselves the Swords of Sanghelios have emerged, usually in response to major crises around the homeworld. Some traditions of the modern Swords of Sanghelios can trace their origins to the polities that were once part of these various incarnations.

Rise of the modern Swords
"Ancient Kaidons relied on the Swords of Sanghelios to assist them in difficult times. We believe a reforged Swords could assist us now too."

- A correspondence written by Grand Kaidon Arad 'Nuusra in the 23rd Age of Doubt.

Governance has never been a straightforward affair for the Sangheili homeworld. Many overlapping organizations and alliances shape politics on Sanghelios, and it is the most influential of these that is generally recognized as the planet's government. Even with this being the case, however, a common banner usually encompasses a more muddled reality. While leagues of states and ruling houses come and go, only on rare occasions has the planet had a single governing body with any substantial power of its own. Common enemies periodically bring the divided states under a common banner, only for them to drift apart and resume their internal squabbles in ages of peace. Sanghelios' representation in the Covenant's bureaucracy was provided by a planetary council, but in practice, many organizations from Sanghelios (including the largest states) also had direct representation. This differs from many Sangheili colonies, which tend to be more internally united as they were often founded by single ruling houses claiming or being assigned the planet as their fief, as opposed to Sanghelios' long history stretching back to antiquity.

The Swords' genesis in its current form is heavily tied with the incorporation of the Jiralhanae into the Covenant. Many Sangheili saw the assimilation of a group of old enemies as a threat, and so wished to reassert their own identity within the Covenant. While Sanghelios was nominally represented to the Covenant by a body known as the Plenary Council, this assembly was seen by many as ineffectual and riddled with scandals; Sanghelios states generally wanted to either be more independent, or more unified, presenting a stronger common front to affect matters in the High Council. Into this relative vacuum came the Swords, who managed to consolidate the support of several key states. Following a minor civil conflict waged in accordance with Shal'annu, the Swords emerged as the preeminent power on Sanghelios and became recognized as the world's formal government by the Crimson League and the institutions of High Charity.

The Swords inherited a complicated geo-political system of fiefdoms, duchies, burgeoning nation-states, city-states, microstates, and numerous vassals. This arrangement was more-or-less left alone upon their ascension.

Leading Sanghelios and influencing the Crimson League
The campaign of extermination declared on Humanity divided the Swords throughout the war. While the group remained officially committed to the Hierarchs' cause, they were also the source of many of the protests and grumblings over both the prosecution of the war and the High Prophet of Truth's favoring of the Jiralhanae. On the latter issue, the Swords managed to rally many of the formerly divided member-worlds of the Crimson League, even aligned High Councilors in High Charity, with a new Council being appointed during the war. This, in turn, allowed the Sangheili to present a relatively unified front during the Great Schism and the events leading up to it, and enabled the Schismatics to organize relatively quickly against the Loyalist threat.

With the ignition of the Great Schism, the Swords would undertake two major actions. The first being the expansion of their political control to the Sanghelios moons and orbital swarm in 2553. This coincided with the return of Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and many of his allies from the Human Sphere.

The second major action was their efforts to get the Crimson League to side with the newly-founded Concord of Reconciliation following the first Grand Council of the Schism in 2554. Although some member-worlds protested against this action, the unity built up in the last decades was strong enough to override such grumblings for all but a few exceptions, which then proceeded to secede from the League. Some of these errant polities would later become part of the True Communion, while others retained an independent existence alongside the Concord.

During this time, a small religious faction named the Children of Urs established its headquarters on Sanghelios. The group, which championed for a return to one of the ancient religions practiced before Forerunner worship became standard, would cause some tension on the world but their presence would be somewhat of a benefit to the Swords. Although there were disagreements between the two groups, the Children of Urs largely supported the Swords due to them being the governing body of the world. The Swords in turn found their cultural peculiarities as a tool to help craft a culture for the world to keep a tentative peace among disparate peoples.

Tribulations and Blooding Years
"The history of the Swords is long, and filled with stories of clans coming together to forge something greater for themselves and those around them. Why can't we now build towards the most grand goal of them all; a Sanghelios truly under one banner? A future where the White Curve-blade means one people in chorus?"

- A pro-full confederation youth leader circa 2570s.

Extremist and secessionist ideas and factions began to surface in the Concord from the late 2560s through to the 2590s causing cultural and political changes across their territory. This upheaval trickled down to the Crimson League and the Swords, causing internecine violence across Sanghelios and its moons.

More specifically, questions surrounding the very existence of the Swords and its relationship with the rest of the galaxy began to crop up both inside and outside the Diet of Lords. Should the Swords reform their political side? If so, to gain or shed control? Should it outright dissolve and let its constituents go free and do as they saw fit? Should the Swords remain and abandon the Concord? These different ideas eventually manifested in factions and groups advocating for what they thought should be done.

The beginning of the violence was the Sunaion Uprising in 2577 when the Watchers of Heaven, a Servants of the Abiding Truth affiliated religious group, battled against the Swords' forces on and around the eponymous littoral platform city. This would be the first battle of a much larger and longer conflict affecting the entire Sanghelios system. The conflict threatened to drain valuable resources from allied polities and organizations the Swords were a member of at a time when none could afford to.

Governance and politics
The Swords of Sanghelios are a warrior aristocracy relatively typical of Sangheili-led polities, helmed by a Diet of Lords encompassing Sanghelios' preeminent noble houses and encompassing all their holdings and vassals on Sanghelios proper. Although they are not formally incorporated to the Diet, various influential merchant families are able to substantially influence the Swords' politics. Under the ruling assembly, feudal politics between several descending tiers of nobility largely play out as usual, though the common threat of the Loyalists made them atypically unified, and the ongoing cycle of conflicts has led to the upheaval among the noble families. Some of the member states wished to maintain this spirit of unity even after the defeat of the Loyalists as a united force, though the 2570s onward saw the rise of many dissenting voices among them.

Although the Swords are a military alliance first and foremost, their take-over of Sanghelios and eventually its orbitals have resulted in them taking on more and more civilian duties. Foreign affairs are mostly handled by the Crimson League or Concord (depending on the foreign polity attempting interaction with them), but other duties such as culture, finances, and infrastructure were slowly added to the Swords' mission.

Constituent polities and holdings
Numerous polities on Sanghelios are part of the Swords as constituents. However, the vassals that some of these polities maintain on other bodies and in other systems do not. Often they report directly to their mother state, bypassing the Swords entirely. Counter-wise, the very few vassals controlled from elsewhere, but are on Sanghelios itself, are subject to the few laws and rules of the Swords and are under the Swords' military protection.

Due to heightened security concerns following the start of the Great Schism, the Swords expanded their political control over the moons and independent orbitals of the planet.

Sanghelios

 * Watchers of Heaven
 * State of Vadam
 * Port of Rhathon
 * Erka Zolam
 * Bdaoro City

Suban

 * Subanite Brotherhood
 * Warriors of Malaston

Qikost

 * Archkaidonship of Qikost

Culture and society
While the Swords have been mostly focused on the task of governance and defense, recent developments have caused some of their members to begin cultivating an increasingly coherent common identity as Swords of Sanghelios, as opposed to the Covenant. This varies based on those members' conviction to the Swords as a project. Many continue to profess allegiance to their clan first and foremost, while others look to the wider Crimson League or the Concord as the group they identify with the most. Much of the Swords' day-to-day culture is largely a continuity of the Covenant-era practices of the member states, with gradual transformation brought on by natural change as the Schism develops, alongside the Concord's reforms. While the Swords have no official state religion, adherence to branches of the Covenant religion still exists widely in various capacities, though the Swords' leadership has officially forsworn the doctrine of the Sacred Rings following the Arbiter's example. Others on Sanghelios have sought to revive religious traditions from before the worship of the Forerunners.

In their current form, the Swords' holdings are home to billions of Sangheili, but also most of the other former Covenant client species, which continue to inhabit parts of Sanghelios and its orbital space in various capacities. By far the most numerous of these are Unggoy serfs and servants, along with Lekgolo colonies bound to local clans. Although Kig-Yar are not present on Sanghelios in great numbers, many do live in the major port cities and orbital facilities.

Aesthetics and design
The Swords of Sanghelios use a crimson and white scheme, a set of colors traditionally associated with the world of Sanghelios as a whole. This scheme was used on individual combat armors (with variety in color distribution to signify rank), Banshees, Wraiths, Ghosts, and Spirits.

Though vassal-states' individual color schemes vary, they configure their plating to the official Swords colors when representing the organization in a formal context. As well, Swords have been known to fly the Concord's emerald green and silver when engaged in joint operations, either fully or as an added flourish over their regular color scheme. Members of the Swords known to be the most ardent supporters of the Concord and the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam also frequently appear in livery incorporating the Concord colors as a tacit way of showing their support to those among the Swords' own ranks. Conversely, nobles tend to boldly sport the Swords' colors in internal clan or state meetings when they see fit to display their fealty to the Swords over other allegiances.

A type of orange-red energy sword called the Sunlit Guard, used by some members of the organization, has become associated with the Swords as a whole.

Military
Like many post-Covenant polities of note, most of the Swords' military forces are feudal vassals bound to the members of the alliance, though they also maintain a standing military. Formerly little more than a policing force, their armed forces have expanded considerably since the fall of High Charity.

The Swords acquire most of their ground materiel from Sanghelios or Sanghelios-moon based armories and forges. They maintain naval forces with a number of Attack Ships and Bellators. Two Vestiges from the later ages were found years after the beginning of the Great Schism and added to the fleet.

While their leadership is composed of Sangheili, all of the former Covenant client species are present in the military in some capacity. The Unggoy still comprise a large portion of their light infantry, while Lekgolo colonies operate as heavy weapons platforms and in logistical roles. Kig-Yar mercenaries or levies continue to be relatively common as scouts and snipers, though contrasted with the Covenant, more Sangheili also fill such roles. Other species are found more sporadically, with Yanme'e serving as technical specialists but being less common in combat roles; Huragok occupy a similar but even more exclusive niche. Even a small force of Jiralhanae exists under the Swords' banner. The latter are composed largely of those who never pledged their allegiance to Truth, or surrendered to the Sangheili during the Schism.

The distribution of the different species among the Swords' ranks varies by unit. Like in the Covenant, the Swords' elite units remain Sangheili-only, while common forces are more mixed. Auxiliaries and levies comprised solely of Unggoy are occasionally deployed, albeit usually with an embedded Sangheili leadership to ensure "proper" conduct. With the Sangheili filling more of the combat-oriented niches, and so many having perished in the Great Schism, the Swords have come to employ a larger number of female Sangheili fighters than Covenant units did, usually as scouts, marksmen and skirmishers along with logistics, engineering and pilot roles. This development mirrors a similar one in the overall Concord, though it has not come without controversy.

Prominent members

 * Xola 'Rhathon - Representative for the Swords of Sanghelios and Crimson League to the Concord.