Prophet of Stewardship

The Prophet of Stewardship was a minor Prophet attached to the Fleet of Particular Justice. He was aboard the CCS-class Battlecruiser, the Truth and Reconciliation.

Biography

Stewardship was a member of the small group of the High Council of Masters with the Fleet.. When the Fleet of Particular Justice arrived at the Soell System and discovered Halo, Stewardship immediately claimed authority over the Fleet per the reclamation procedure, as Halo was a religious matter. Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee was reluctant to cede authority with the UNSC Pillar of Autumn heading for the system, and after a meeting on the Seeker of Truth to contact High Charity to verify who had command, no decision was made. During the battle above Halo, Stewardship forbade Ship Master Orna 'Fulsamee from using Plasma Torpedoes to destroy the Pillar of Autumn, saying that a stray torpedo could damage Halo, an order Thel 'Vadamee overrode. This proved to be a grave mistake as the Pillar of Autumn held out against the Covenant boarders long enough to crash land on the ring. Stewardship oversaw the battle of Installation 04, giving Zuka 'Zamamee orders, first denying then later granting permission to hunt down the Master Chief. He also threatened 'Zamamee with execution when the first attempt on the Chief failed.

As the battle wore on, Stewardship, alternating between the Truth and Reconciliation on the ground and the Ascendant Justice in orbit, began to disregard the Sangheili's authority. When he discovered a Gas Mine located in Threshold which was clearly Forerunner in origin, Stewardship sent an expeditionary force under Sesa 'Refumee and Loka 'Bandolee to investigate, an act which Thel 'Vadamee believed unwise because of the human presence. Two more teams were sent to secure a weapon's cache, both of which lost contact, leading a fourth to be sent. Thel finally sent a formal request to cease force misappropriation, which was ignored. The failure to secure a science facility resulted in the execution of Soha 'Rolamee. At this point, Thel 'Vadamee sent a single infantry unit to relieve the Prophet of Stewarship until the humans were eliminated, but Stewardship ordered them destroyed on final approach to the Ascendant Justice, warning that any further affronts to his leadership would be met with equally lethal results. Thel finally assembled a force to retake the Ascendant Justice and physically relieve the Prophet, but Stewardship relocated to the Truth and Reconciliation, leaving orders for the crew to arrest the Supreme Commander if he interfered with his consecration of the Ring, an order the crew ignored. Soon, however, SpecOps Commander Rtas 'Vadumee was recovered from his mission to the Infinite Succor, revealing that the Flood was on the ring, leading Thel to initiate emergency quarantine response, priority alpha, meaning that Stewardship would not be able to leave the ring unless his ship was uninfected.

Stewardship was captured during First Lieutenant Melissa McKay's raid on the ship. He made no attempt to hide his status as a Prophet from his captors, no doubt so that they would take him prisoner rather than kill him on the spot. He was able to send a rescue request ordering all available Covenant vessels to rescue him, but Thel denied the request as the ring was about to detonate. The Prophet of Stewardship died when Lieutenant McKay disabled the ships main controls with a grenade, causing the ship to crash, thereby reducing the chance of spreading the Flood infestation.

Trivia

• The Prophet of Stewardship went unnamed in the original release of Halo: The Flood, being only referred to as "the Prophet". His name was revealed in the priority broadcast log included in the 2010 re-release.
• "Stewardship" is the office of a steward, someone who manages the property or affairs of someone else in their absence. Like the other named Prophets, his name is ironic, as Stewardship refuses to relinquish his authority over the ring.
• Rather than the anti-gravity chairs used by many of the higher ranked San 'Shyuum, he wore an anti-gravity belt.