Sangheili War of Unification

"Brothers and sons returned to their homes, their families, after a generation of war, against the innocent, against the liars, but returned to find their homes, their houses divided. Brother took up arms against brother, shedding needless blood in the preservation of lies. Our eyes were clouded with rage, as brothers slew one another, with no respite, no dawn to the darkness in sight, until one warrior prevailed above the others."

- Anonymous Sangheili scribe

The Sangheili War of Unification, also known as the Sangheili Civil War, or the War of Heathens, was bitter conflict fought after the Human-Covenant war to reunite the Sangheili race, and the dozens of factions it had splintered into.

Arbiter's Faction
With the end of the war, and a return to Sanghelios, the Arbiter found himself as the figurehead for a sizeable portion of the Sangheili military. Many warriors who served with him, or against the Brutes found themselves sympathetic to his views, and goals. As such, on his return, and return to position of Kaidon, he held a strong alliance with many military officers, especially those within the Special Warfare Group. However, with the bloodied war on Sanghelios, many of these forces were unavailable to lend to his aid, as they were still preforming operations against the forces of the Covenant, and the forces of the Flood. Many other officers, not aligned to the Arbiter's ideology mounted tenuous alliances with him to hold their position in the military, and Sangheili society.

The Arbiter's faction was, more often than not, on the back foot. Rival Kaidons brought thousands of warriors still loyal to them after the war and fought among each other, as warlords, in an attempt to rise their rank, and as such, the Arbiter's faction found themselves often out-numbered and out-gunned. They mostly focused on small unit tactics and raids to push their enemies back. For a period of time, the entire faction retreated to the Keeps and the territories it held, while many warriors left to join the escalating war off-world. It wasn;t until 2558 that they would return to a war torn Sanghelios, with legions of troops at their backs.

The Arbiter's faction flourished greatly by allying itself with other factions. The Justiciars eventually joined, several Kaidons and their forces, many senior officers within the military and the faction maintained close ties to many of the military orders, who mostly remained neutral, as well as being close allies of the Ascetics. Eventually, the joined the Republic Faction, forming the first units of the United Sangheili Republic.

Republic Faction
The Republic Faction was formed by the High Councillor Accla ‘Jar Vor Rojasee in the wake of the Schism. Having Survived High Charity, and survived Installation 05, Accla, and many other Councillors returned to their home to find it a broken and splintered realm. Rojas gave a speech to his fellow Councillors, to unit Sanghelios in a democracy, with a council, as it was in the old days before the Covenant, before the Prophets, before their lies. The Councillors took to Katruna city, the historical home of Sangheili democracy and with what military forces they had, fortified it and prepared to enter democratic talks with the Kaidons. While some Kaidons joined, and others were sympathetic to their views, many others saw this as an effort to slight their powers and weaken their states. Many others thought of themselves as future warlords and insisted that they would lead the people in a empire. However, the Arbiter was sympathetic to their goals, but could not weaken his position by joining them immediately, not until Sanghelios had been cleared of his enemies. The Republic, and the Arbiter, hosted democratic talks with the UNSC, but found themselves no closer to an alliance with each other.

When the Arbiter finally returned to Sanghelios with the military necessary to cleanse it of dissent, the Republic welcomed him back as a hero. He was recognised as the republics first Imperator, leader of their military, in over 3000 years. When Sanghelios was finally unified, they finally held their first elections, with Accla becoming the leader of the Republic, with the Imperator as his right hand.

The Republic, during the war years, found itself fighting a losing battle as a defensive force. While they held a sizeable territory, they were surrounded by hundreds of different factions. They found themselves behind fortified wars, battling against sieges and wars of attrition, lacking the manpower to mount counter attacks. By the time the Imperator returned, followers of the Bishop were on the doorstep of Katruna, laying siege to the ancient city.