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Servants of the Abiding Truth

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Servants of the Abiding Truth
SotAB.png
Government overview

Type:

Religious cult/terrorist organization

Head of state:

Societal overview

Capital:

Official language(s):

Sangheili

Official religion(s):

Pre-Covenant Sangheili beliefs; worship of the Forerunners

Notable event(s):

Historical overview

Formation:

c. 852 BCE

Affiliation:

Office of Naval Intelligence

 

"We do not allow blasphemers to live. The gods demand a return to piety. Truth abides."
— A message left by the Servants after the attack on Relon keep[2]

The Servants of the Abiding Truth (Neru Pe 'Odosima in an archaic dialect of Sangheili), sometimes shortened to the Abiding Truth, are an ancient religious order of Sangheili fundamentalists who follow their species' pre-Covenant religious beliefs. When the Great Schism broke out, they renounced the High Prophets for betraying their species.[3] Following the fall of the Covenant, the Abiding Truth became one of the more prominent splinter groups among the Sangheili.[4] Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and his allies take a view towards the Servants that the order considers to be blasphemous. With aid from the United Nations Space Command's Office of Naval Intelligence, the Servants of the Abiding Truth successfully incited an insurrection against 'Vadam's forces in 2553.[5]

For a time, the Servants' headquarters was a Forerunner structure known as the Temple of the Abiding Truth, located in the city-state of Ontom. The Servants converted their temple into a weapons cache and base of operations during their rebellion against Thel 'Vadam. After the Siege at Kolaar, the Servants fled to the former human colony of New Llanelli and established a new base of operations in a ruined city.

Avu Med 'Telcam, known as "the Bishop" by ONI forces, was the leader and main representative for the Servants of the Abiding Truth until 2558.[4][6] He was later replaced by Dural 'Mdama[7] following 'Telcam's assassination at the hands of SPARTAN-G059 once 'Telcam was no longer useful to ONI.[8]

With the destruction of Jul 'Mdama's Covenant and the start of the Created conflict, the Servants of the Abiding Truth were left as one of the most powerful Covenant remnants still active. Under Dural's leadership, they attacked the Sarcophagus shield world and battled for control of it with the occupying joint UNSC-Swords of Sanghelios forces while also taking refuge from the Created.[7]

History[edit]

Ancient history[edit]

The Servants of the Abiding Truth was formed following the establishment of the Covenant in 852 BCE. The organization originally consisted of Sangheili that hid Forerunner artifacts from the San'Shyuum. The order was still existent during and after the Human-Covenant War.[9]

Post-Covenant war and Great Schism[edit]

Main articles: Post-Covenant War conflicts, Siege at Kolaar, Blooding Years

After the war, the Abiding Truth, now a militant cult under the leadership of former Field Master Avu Med 'Telcam, coordinated their operations and stored large amounts of their arms and equipment in the Temple of the Abiding Truth.[10] Although the members of the Abiding Truth believed that the Covenant's Prophets had been false and betrayed them,[3] they still felt that the Forerunners were gods and demanded reverence and respect. Consequently, they believed that Thel 'Vadam and those loyal to him were committing blasphemy by saying otherwise.[11]

In January 2553, the United Nations Space Command's Office of Naval Intelligence organized a meeting between 'Telcam and Captain Serin Osman, along with Professor Evan Phillips on the glassed New Llanelli. The purpose of the meeting was to negotiate terms of cooperation between ONI and the Servants of the Abiding Truth, as ONI wished to create unrest amongst the Sangheili and thereby remove them as a threat to the UNSC and humanity. 'Telcam agreed to accept ONI's assistance on the condition that the UNSC ceased to "blaspheme" the divinity of the Forerunners, and that humanity would remain uninvolved with Sangheili affairs following the Servants' successful takeover of Sangheili society - terms to which Osman agreed.[12] 'Telcam met with ONI operatives again on New Llanelli, where he received a shipment of human and Sangheili weaponry to support his forces. However, he was questioning what Osman's real plan was.[13] After Relon had decided to demolish a Forerunner monument on his farmland, the Servants saw this as blasphemy, and they soon destroyed his keep with a Spirit. Relon and his brother, Jalam, were killed and hung. The Servants left a message on their mutilated corpses to deter anyone else from such acts.[14]

Meeting with Forze 'Mdama and Jul 'Mdama in the state of Ontom, 'Telcam took them on a tour of the Temple of the Abiding Truth, pointing out the symbols that may lead to the Halo Array.[15] In March 2553, Jiralhanae servants in the state of Ontom launched insurgent attacks, which resulted in the death of dozens of Sangheili. Their revolt was quickly quelled by the city militia. This led 'Telcam to the decision for an immediate assault on Vadam. Along with nine ships and forces from Nuan keep and Rtova keep, 'Telcam commanded the assault from the frigate Unflinching Resolve.[16] Eventually, the Unflinching Resolve suffered a direct hit and crash landed. Despite being caught off-guard it appeared as though the Arbiter would be victorious, however, news spread that he allowed humans to land on Sanghelios; this caused many keeps to ally with the Servants of Abiding Truth and the tide turned in their favor. The Arbiter was caught off guard and when his own reinforcements couldn't arrive on time, he reluctantly accepted Admiral Terrence Hood's offer for help in fending off the attackers. The tide turned when UNSC Infinity arrived over Sanghelios and destroyed the rebel destroyer Defender of Faith before finishing off the rebel ground forces with a MAC round.[17] The UNSC Port Stanley, posed as a Kig-Yar pirate ship, destroyed a few of 'Vadam's ships in order to maintain the stalemate between the two factions, leaving the Arbiter with a Pyrrhic victory.

After the battle, 'Telcam fled to New Llanelli. Due to a lack of ships, 'Telcam put out a reward to the Kig-Yar to find the ship Pious Inquisitor.[18] A shipmistress known as Chol Von soon took his offer, although she secretly planned to take the ship for herself and use it as a means to defend the Kig-Yar from external threats.[19] Some time later, 'Telcam once again met members of Kilo-Five on New Llanelli, this time receiving Dr. Evan Phillips' notes on the Forerunner temple at Ontom for the religious significance they held. In return, 'Telcam provided information on the status of his civil war, the disappearance of Jul 'Mdama, and Pious Inquisitor.[20]

2558[edit]

By the time of the Battle of Requiem, the Servants of the Abiding Truth had refused to join Jul 'Mdama's Covenant even after suffering great losses at the hands of the Swords of Sanghelios. 'Mdama himself was unaware that his son Dural 'Mdama, now known only as the Pale Blade, had risen to become a leading member of the Servants, working directly under 'Telcam.[21]

Several months later, on January 21, 2558, the Servants of the Abiding Truth were dealt a crushing blow when Avu Med 'Telcam and two of his ranking commanders were assassinated. 'Telcam had outserved his usefulness to ONI and was dispatched on New Llanelli by a lone Spartan, SPARTAN-G059. Although the Spartan-III assassin claimed the life of the Servants' leader, her secondary target, Avu Med 'Telcam's protege: Dural 'Mdama, was not present during the attack and lived on.[6]

Under the guidance of Dural 'Mdama, the Abiding Truth soon struck back at the UNSC and its Sangheili allies, infiltrating the Forerunner Dyson sphere at the former site of Onyx and endangering the scientific community inhabiting inside.[22] After Sarcophagus was returned to its slipspace bubble for protection from the Created conflict and with the news that Jul 'Mdama and his Covenant were gone, the Servants retreated to the planet Mackintosh which had been pulled into the slipspace bubble as well and which contained a Forerunner warship of unknown class and the supplies needed for them to bide their time until they could strike back.[7]

Military assets[edit]

Jul 'Mdama: "The Servants of Abiding Truth? But they were monks."
Levu 'Mdama: "Well, we let them become warriors, and now they're dangerous, savage fools. And they seem to have stockpiled arms."
— Levu 'Mdama warning Jul of the Abiding Truth's resurgence[2]

Following the collapse of the Covenant empire, the Abiding Truth had begun stockpiling firearms and stealing former Covenant vehicles.[2] The Servants of Abiding Truth, being an insurgent group, are not properly equipped to be a stand out military and make use of any material they can find. The Servants are known to utilize the Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle and the Type-25 plasma pistol as their main weapons. By 2553, a majority of the Abiding Truth's weapons were supplied by the Office of Naval Intelligence's Kilo-Five.[23] The Servants have been also seen using Zurdo-pattern Wraiths and Karo'etba-pattern Ghosts as part of their vehicular ground forces, as well as the Rizvum-pattern Revenant. The Wuzum-pattern Spectre also serves as a troop transport and anti-infantry vehicle.[24] The Type-26 Banshee is the group's primary ground support aircraft and a number of Dextro Xur-pattern Spirit and Ru'swum-pattern Phantom dropships have been used as troop transports and attack craft, albeit limited.[24][25]

The faction has also made use of several older Covenant models as part of their aircraft, such as the old Keljiric-pattern Tarasque.[26] Many other vehicles have also been utilized as part of their assault force. 'Telcam was known to use several vehicles when traveling across Sanghelios and New Llanelli, including a Kig-Yar shuttle.[27] The group's fleet consists of at least eight frigates, and at least one unknown type of cruiser.[28] However after the destruction of the Unflinching Resolve, they gained another vessel in the form of one destroyer.[citation needed] It is unknown what other ships were used during the remainder of the Blooding Years, however what ships the Servants do have are currently house somewhere on Qikcost.[29] The group itself is mainly made up of thousands religious fanatics and true believers and have gained support from several other loyalist keeps, though they may not share their religious view.[30] In the aftermath of the assault on Vadam, the Servants of Abiding Truth only had three frigates left on New Llanelli.[31]

Personnel

Starships

Main article: Covenant starship





List of appearances[edit]

Sources[edit]

  1. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page 329
  2. ^ a b c Halo: Glasslands, page 95
  3. ^ a b Halo: Glasslands "We have been in thrall to mongrel races long enough. We have let the false prophets of the San’Shyuum corrupt our pure connection to the divine.", Avu Med 'Telcam
  4. ^ a b Official Xbox Magazine: Halo - The 10th Anniversary — Glasslands excerpt
  5. ^ Halo: The Thursday War
  6. ^ a b Halo: Tales from Slipspace, Knight Takes Bishop
  7. ^ a b c Halo: Legacy of Onyx
  8. ^ Halo: Tales from Slipspace - Knight Takes Bishop
  9. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 19
  10. ^ Halo: Glasslands, pages 138-139
  11. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 20
  12. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 23
  13. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 133
  14. ^ Halo: Glasslands, pages 91-95
  15. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 177
  16. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page 114
  17. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page 302
  18. ^ Halo: Mortal Dictata, Chapter 3
  19. ^ Halo: Mortal Dictata, page 75
  20. ^ Halo: Mortal Dictata, pages 118-124
  21. ^ Halo Mythos, page 178
  22. ^ Halo Waypoint: Community Update - Golden Clouds
  23. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 21
  24. ^ a b Halo: The Thursday War, page 133
  25. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 93
  26. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 116
  27. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 255
  28. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page 268
  29. ^ Halo: Legacy of Onyx, chapter 22
  30. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 173
  31. ^ Halo: The Thursday War, page 333 ("But three made it out, and that's a good result.")

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Polities, organizations, and civilizations
Contemporary
Interstellar/Interplanetary organizations Banished • Covenant • Swords of Sanghelios • Created • Children of Oth Sonin • Concert of Worlds • Frieden • Insurrectionists (Arcadia/Harvest • New Colonial Alliance • People's Occupation • People's Occupation Government • Secessionist Union (Eridanus secessionists) • United Rebel Front) Koslovics • San'Shyuum flotilla (Dhas Bhasvod's Covenant • Tem'Bhetek's faction) • Unified Earth Government (Colonial Authority • United Nations Space Command)
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Private organizations 'Gajat mercenaries • Shields of Requiem
Religious organizations Covenant remnants ('Mdama's Covenant • 'Nyon's Covenant • Keepers of the One Freedom • Vol's Covenant) • 'Refumee's heretics • Servants of the Abiding Truth
Planetary/Local organizations Council of City States • Reformists (Keepers of the Dawn) • Stoics
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