The Grey Rebellion

"I wish to see the red hills of Sanghelios once more, our people thriving in peace with one another, the younglings learning to become fierce warriors under the protective light of Urs, Fied and Joori, without the lies of the treacherous San 'Shyuum clouding our vision and their false prophecies of a Great Journey. That is my final wish." — Kyrin 'Forus to Laras 'Jar Dunkaree moments before his public execution

The Grey Rebellion was an insurrectionist movement which occurred approximately five hundred and fifty years before the beginning of the and was headed by former  Kyrin 'Forus.

The Rebellion was significant enough in the to usher in the 29th  due to the entirety of the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice, under the command of Kyrin 'Forus, breaking off from the Covenant as a whole and becoming an independent entity. This schism was signified by the removal of rank colours and ornaments, where the name Grey Rebellion originated from.

Discovery of The Knowing
The events that ultimately led to the creation of the Grey Rebellion began with the discovery of the A.I. which identified itself as.

While on a routine patrol on the edges of Covenant controlled space, the Victorious Prophecy of the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice, under the command of  Zakl 'Nenilee discovered the planet designated as Zolea-3 which, after the planet was scanned by the on board  system was found to be housing multiple Forerunner artifacts buried underneath the planets' surface. He subsequently notified Fleet Master Kyrin 'Forusee and the of. Due to the Fleet Masters relative closeness to the Zolea Star System, Kyrin 'Forusee and his fleet were in orbit of Zolea-3 in short notice; while the fleet of the High Prophets were many away from the system.

Receiving the go ahead from the High Prophet of Accusation, Kyrin led a strike force into the earth of Zolea-3 to discover and document the multiple Forerunner artifacts buried within. The first Forerunner Artifact they attempted to uncover was the largest, and undoubtedly most dangerous. After narrowly evading several wall-mounted, motion-activated lasers, and even losing a Zealot in the process, Kyrin and his remaining Zealots made it to the central chamber which housed the Forerunner A.I. known as The Knowing.

When Kyrin first conversed with The Knowing, it became apparent it had extensive knowledge, not only of the and the Covenant, but of many things in the galaxy and was happy to share much of the information it had garnered over the thousands of years it had been isolated. What Kyrin learned of the shook him to the very core, and his beliefs were shattered.

Leaving the Zolea System
After the discovery of the lie that was The Great Journey, and spreading this knowledge to his fleet, Kyrin ordered a full retreat of the Zolea System, but not before blocking off the chamber of The Knowing, effectively blocking all entrance to its' vast knowledge for over five hundred years.

After convincing the soldiers of the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice of the terrible heresy they had been committing by following the Prophets on the path to The Great Journey, they quickly made haste out of the system, and cut off all communications from High Charity and the Hierarchs.

Contemplating New Knowledge
After Kyrin and the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice fled the Zolea System and touched down at a safe distance, Kyrin, along with the rest of his Sangheili contemplated the knowledge The Knowing had given them. After a cycle of determining their next course of action, all Sangheili agreed to break off from the Covenant, and so they stripped themselves of their ornaments and wiped away the colour that signified their rank in the Covenant.

Reveal to the Covenant
Three cycles after the Grey Rebellion was created, the fleet of the High Prophet of Accusation entered the Zolea System and found it devoid of Covenant forces. Already suspicious due to no contact with Fleet Master Kyrin 'Forusee and his fleet, his suspicions were confirmed when an individual Battlecruiser entered the system and announced the Grey Rebellion as an independent entity. Thus officially began the Grey Rebellion.

The Liberation of Balaho
Main Article: The Liberation of Balaho

The Liberation of Balaho was the first large scale attack the Grey Rebellion orchestrated against the Covenant, which resulted in a decisive Rebellion victory.

Balahos' Liberation was split into six different phases:
 * Phase One: Takeover of Covenant vessel.
 * Phase Two: Takeover of the Ardent Heresy, flagship of the Balaho Defence Fleet (BDF).
 * Phase Three: Destruction of Covenant communication satellites and arrival of the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice.
 * Phase Four: and capture of the  on the surface of.
 * Phase Five: Orbital bombardment of Covenant forces on the surface of Balaho.
 * Phase Six: Release and rescue of Unggoy slaves.

Before phase one of Balahos' Liberation, a single corvette made to look deserted and disabled entered the on the dark side of, the secondary natural satellite of Balaho. Drifting out into range of the BDF sensory systems, a single Covenant frigate was sent to investigate the lone vessel.

Unbeknownst to the soldiers aboard the frigate, the seemingly dead corvette housed the rebel leader Kyrin 'Forus and multiple boarding parties of Sangheili, Unggoy and Kig-Yar.

The Siege of Te
Main Article: The Siege of Te

The second significant attack on Covenant controlled space by the Grey Rebellion was the Siege of Te. A conflict between the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice and the Te Defence Fleet (TDF) and the Fleet of Shattered Upbringing. The siege eventually resulted in a pyrrhic Rebellion victory.

Due to the multiple natural satellites and broken down Forerunner structures and artifacts that orbit and surround Te, a staging area for the Grey Rebellion was set up in the away from the sensors of the TDF.

The Grey Rebellion was setting up for a large and quick assault on the TDF which would hopefully result in a decisive victory. However, unaware to Kyrin 'Forus the Fleet of Shattered Upbringing had entered the system the same cycle the attack was planned to begin.

The Fleet of Shattered Upbringings' intervention in the assault on the Covenant forces on Te and surrounding planetoids resulted in a long and bloody conflict, with the Rebellion barely achieving victory. While the Siege of Te wasn't directly a complete victory for the Grey Rebellion, it showed the Covenant the true capacity of Kyrin 'Forus' strategical mind in battle.

The Massacre of Pegasi Delta
Nearing the end of the 29th Age of Conflict, The Massacre of was the biggest defeat the Grey Rebellion suffered before The Apex itself.

When the initial attack on the refueling station on the surface of Pegasi Delta was struck, 'Forus noticed something was amiss, the defenses for an important facility like this were suspiciously low, and before he could react, the 3rd Fleet of Rectifying Judgement, headed by Imperial Admiral Laras 'Jar Dunkaree emerged from in a pincer movement around the Grey fleet.

The result was predictable. The fleet of the Grey Rebellion was decimated by the Imperial Admiral and the weaponry of his gigantic fleet. In less than half a over half of the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice was destroyed and the Grey Rebellion was nearly destroyed then and there. Dunkarees' decimation of The Grey fleet destroyed the moral of the remaining Grey forces which ultimately led to the total annihilation of the Grey Rebellion at the Apex above Sanghelios.

Dunkarees' knowledge of the upcoming attack of the fueling station on Pegasi proved to the rest of the Covenant that the strategical mind that Kyrin 'Forus had simply wasn't enough against the sheer firepower and ruthlessness of the Imperial Admiral and his fleet.

Grey Rebellion Apex
In the final cycles of the Grey Rebellion, Kyrin 'Forus and the last soldiers of the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice attempted a last ditch effort to spread the words of The Knowing to the citizens of.

While they ultimately failed in their suicidal endeavour, the Grey Rebellion became a permanent stain on the history the Covenant.

Destruction of the Remnants of the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice
When the Blinding Fury and the remnants of the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice entered the, the Defence Fleet (SDF) immediately moved to defensive positions, as an unprecedented slipspace rupture of that magnitude so deep in Covenant controlled space had never occurred before.

When the SDF was hailed by the Blinding Fury, Fleet Master Vaht 'Lhenatee contacted that the Grey Rebellion was in the Urs System. With that knowledge, Imperial Admiral Laras 'Jar Dunkaree and the 3rd Fleet of Rectifying Judgement, under the orders of the High Prophetess of Reconciliation traveled urgently toward the system in the hopes of finally crushing 'Forus and his fleet.

Before the Imperial Admiral arrived in the Urs system, the SDF engaged the Blinding Fury and the remaining ships of the Grey Rebellion. Outnumbered 3-1 by the defensive force, and not accepting the hails from the Grey Fleet, two light cruisers and a corvette were destroyed in short time.

Retaliating quickly, the Blinding Fury led an aggressive head-on assault against the SDF. Not expecting such a rash strategic decision, 'Lhenatee was caught off guard and five frigates and a battlecruiser were destroyed, with another light cruiser and a battleship of the Grey Fleet being destroyed.

At this point in the skirmish, 'Dunkaree and his fleet entered the system. Caught between the SDF and the gigantic 3rd Fleet of Rectifying Judgement, the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice finally met its' end above the red skies of Sanghelios.

Capture of Kyrin 'Forus
After the remnants of The Grey Fleet was destroyed and the Blinding Fury disabled, multiple boarding parties, which included Imperial Admiral Laras 'Jar Dunkaree and a strike force with  under the command of Alei 'Komtaree immediately set out with the explicit orders from the High Prophetess of Reconciliation to apprehend Kyrin 'Forus, the leader of The Grey Rebellion.

Prepared for the ferocious and tenacious combat of the Grey forces, as was shown in the Liberation of Balaho and the Siege of Te, the Imperial Admiral and the boarding Covenant forces still suffered many casualties before finally making it to the Furys' bridge.

Alone on the bridge, 'Forus ambushed 'Dunkaree and the main boarding party with a fuel rod gun, wiping out a large portion of the Imperial Admirals' force due to the choke-point the entrance to the bridge created. Only the superior shielding and quick reflexes that Dunkaree possessed saved his life from the explosive rounds. In short time, 'Forus engaged the Imperial Admiral with his energy sword.

At first, the duel between the two was relatively even, but as 'Dunkaree recovered from the ambush, it became clear that he was the superior fighter of the two, as the duel continued, Laras eventually disarmed Kyrin and incapacitated him with an energy sword wound to the thigh.

'Forus was taken from the Blinding Fury onto the Ultimate Ascension and, as they left the Urs System the flagship of the Grey Rebellion was obliterated into dust.

Torture and Execution of Kyrin 'Forus
"Noble Hierarch, I was commanded to bring you the heretic alive, but you gave no mention of the state he had to be in when we returned." — Laras 'Jar Dunkaree to the High Prophetess of Reconciliation on the condition of Kyrin 'Forus.

During the short return to, Kyrin, incapacitated by his leg wound and stripped of his weapons and armour had the cut into the right side of his chest by Laras'. This act proved Dunkarees' dedication and faith in the Covenant and the Great Journey.



When the 3rd Fleet of Rectifying Judgement returned to High Charity, it was announced that the Grey Rebellion had been extinguished and Kyrin 'Forus captured. The public execution of The Grey Heretic was to be held in less than a cycle and all members of the Holy Covenant were invited to attend.

Before Kyrins' execution, he was brought before the Noble Hierarchs and, under the stare of the, the grey armour that signified his affiliation to the Grey Rebellion was burnt and destroyed, and his body virtually fried and branded with the Mark of Shame for a second time by Laras.

When Kyrins' body was nearly broken, he suffered one last act of torture. Once again using his energy dagger, Laras amputated 'Forus' four jaws and presented them to the High Prophetess of Reconciliation, as she specifically ordered.

When Kyrin was released from his bindings and made to kneel, facing the and thousands upon thousands of citizens of the Holy City, he was finally executed at the hands of the Imperial Admiral.

After Kyrins' decapitation, his head was formally presented to the Hierarchs and his body was hung by his entrails for all of the Covenant to see.

Sangheili
The Sangheili, while not making up the majority of the Grey Rebellions' forces are without a doubt the only reason it lasted for any significant amount of time. Their fierce determination, tenacity in battle and strategical prowess has only been magnified by their knowledge of the false lies the spread, along with the fact that they are essentially a cornered animal, they are far more ferocious and dangerous than their Covenant counter-parts.

Unggoy
Making up the majority of the Grey Rebellions' forces, the of the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice have become furious at their old masters that the Great Journey was simply a lie fabricated to keep their allegiance out of fear. The many sacrifices the Unggoy of had committed under the command of the Covenant was immeasurable, and they sought revenge, making the Unggoy of the Grey Rebellion far more blood thirsty, and far less likely to run from battle.

Kig-Yar
The, one of the two races of the Grey Rebellion that didn't follow the Covenant religion as heavily as the Sangheili and Unggoy, were still outraged at the San 'Shyuum for their lies, as they had mostly promised them riches and leisure, but instead would have been delivered death and total annihilation at the hands of the Hierarchs. The Kig-Yar had every right to go against the Covenant, but simply for different reasons.

Mgalekgolo


The worm colonies of that make up the  still hold bad blood for the Covenant after their near extinction at their home world of  and the event known as the, so when they discovered that the Hierarchs of the Covenant had lied to them about the Great Journey, it simply fueled the fire for their rebellion against them. Though relatively few in number in the Grey Rebellion, the Mgalekgolo are a valuable asset for defense against boarding parties, should the need ever arise.

Fleet Master Kyrin 'Forus


Ship Master of the Blinding Fury, Fleet Master of the 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice and eventual Leader of the Grey Rebellion, Kyrin 'Forus is nearly strategically unparalleled in the Covenant Military and the one who sowed the seeds for the events of The Great Schism five hundred years later. A pivotal figure in Covenant history, Kyrin 'Forus is someone that should never be forgotten by those who once walked the halls of High Charity.

'Forus finally met his end at the hands of Imperial Admiral Laras 'Jar Dunkaree after he was captured at the Grey Rebellion Apex. In the halls of High Charity they sang the word "Heretic" as his head was presented to the.

Imperial Admiral Laras 'Jar Dunkaree
"I will rip out his hearts and feed them to the Kig-Yar..." — Imperial Admiral Laras 'Jar Dunkaree to the High Prophetess of Reconciliation on Kyrin 'Forus.



Menacing, deadly, ferocious, nigh unkillable, Ship Master of the Ultimate Ascension and the mastermind behind the 3rd Fleet of Rectifying Judgement, the largest in the Covenant at the time, Dunkaree is a Sangheili none would wish to fight. He was the one that began the aggressive and ruthless assault on the Grey Rebellion and he was the one that decimated Grey forces at Pegasi Delta.

Without his leadership of the Covenant Military the Grey Rebellion would of been a far larger thorn in the side of Hierarchs.

Ship Master Zakl 'Nenil
Second-in-command of the Grey Rebellion, Zakl 'Nenil is responsible for the discovery of The Knowing on Zoela-3 and ultimately the creation of the Grey Rebellion. A fierce warrior with an extremely strong sense of honour and loyalty, even in the culture of the Sangheili.

Zakl was killed along with the majority of the rebellion at Pegasi Delta when Imperial Admiral Laras 'Jar Dunkaree emerged with one of the biggest singular fleets in the Covenant Military in system.

High Prophetess of Reconciliation
One of the three Noble Hierarchs of the Covenant, Reconciliation had the largest involvement in the Grey Rebellion and the Y'deio Uprising out of the three High Prophets. Her silver tongue, that all San 'Shyuum had aided her greatly in commandeering the Imperial Admiral and the 3rd Fleet of Rectifying Judgement in response to the rebellion.

When the eventual capture of Kyrin 'Forus occurred at the Grey Rebellion Apex above Sanghelios, Reconciliation was responsible for the public torture and execution of the rebel leader. She made sure that the head of 'Forus was paraded through High Charity and presented to the Noble Hierarchs.

Alei 'Komtaree
Only present during the Liberation of Balaho and the capture of Kyrin 'Forus Alei 'Komtaree shares blood and a detailed history with Imperial Admiral Laras 'Jar Dunkaree.

Years of service in the Covenant Army saw 'Komtaree rise in the ranks until he was offered to be a part of the branch. Accepting, he served as a SpecOps soldier until he was promoted to the rank of Officer, where he served until his death in the early days of the Y'deio Uprising in the latter half of the 29th Age of Conflict.

Related Articles

 * Kyrin 'Forus
 * Laras 'Jar Dunkaree
 * Zakl 'Nenil
 * High Prophetess of Reconciliation
 * Alei 'Komtaree
 * Vaht 'Lhenatee
 * Haer 'Lunjasee
 * The Liberation of Balaho
 * The Y'deio Uprising
 * Blinding Fury
 * The 2nd Fleet of Undying Justice
 * Ultimate Ascension
 * The 3rd Fleet of Rectifying Judgement
 * Victorious Prophecy
 * Ardent Heresy
 * The Fleet of Shattered Upbringing
 * Zolea-3 (Planet)
 * Zolea Star System