AUTHOR'S NOTE: I've fixed many of the formatting and grammatical errors that plagued the first installment of Negative Halo. I might also have fixed a single, glaring canonical problem.

There's no ulterior motive. Do not think too hard about it.

Office of Naval Intelligence Priority Transmission 79415K-62a
Encryption Code: Blue
Public Key: file /excised access Beta/
From: Lieutenant James Taber, Chief Public Affairs Specialist, Section Two
To: Director of Operations, Office of Naval Intelligence
Subject: Project LANTERN Results: Further Sangheili Culture Observation
Classification: RESTRICTED (BGX Directive)
/start file/

Dear Sir,

I've added more to the profile on Sangheili culture.

~j.t.

Attached File #1: sangcultobs.doc
One year on Sanghelios is the equivalent to 2.57 years on Earth, due to Sanghelios's longer orbital period around its three suns. The average lifespan of a Sangheili (based on census data reflecting natural deaths) is 42.1 Sangheilian years, equivalent to 108.1 Terran years.

The standard unit of currency is the sium.

There are six known castes in Sangheili society that have fallen largely out of use in locations such as Sanghelios and High Charity (while it was still a viable population center) but that still see some acknowledgment on colony worlds: the asneii caste (farmers/unskilled labor), the kerel caste (skilled labor/artisans), the uomo caste (mercantile), the praeclor caste (nobility), the pontuo caste (cleric), and the nogue caste (pariah). It's clear, however, that the manorialism common in Sangheili society just prior to the creation of the Covenant is in recession; what appears to be resulting is a more straightforward imperial system.

Names are a peculiarly important thing in Sangheili culture. When they are born, males receive a given name and a three- or four-letter Lineage name (for example, Sam). Upon successfully reaching adulthood they are given a clan name to distinguish themselves from more distant relations and that is added to the original Lineage name (Fulsam). Depending on where that Sangheili then goes in life depends on what honorifics are bestowed upon them: -ee is a military honorific, -ra applying to priests and Clerics, -a applying to Councilmen, and -ae applying to High Councilmen. There are two "dishonorifics" of note: -i representing a heretic or dishonored Sangheili, and -ri applying to widowed males (interesting note: according to culture, it is traditional for males to take their own lives if their mate should perish; this does not seem to work in reverse).

Females, on the other hand, are far more limited. When they are born they are given a "feminized" version of their father's last name (sans the honorific) and are not given the Lineage name (for example, if the father was 'Fulsamee, the daughter would be named Fulsa). When they are married they then adopt the pure Lineage name from their mate. In the event of multiple daughters, they are all given the same name except for modifiers placed at the end of the name. In the case of the daughter being named Fulsa, her sisters would be named Fulsa'a, Fulsa'e, Fulsa'i, Fulsa'o, Fulsa'u, and Fulsa'y. It is unusual but not impossible for there to be more than six daughters; when this happens, they take their mother's name and apply those same modifiers.

As male Sangheili grow older and distinguish themselves through battle or politics they may be awarded more names to honor their achievements and personalities. They originate from previous Sangheili heroes, being derived from the basic Lineage name of said hero. These names are placed between the given and full Lineage names (ex: Imperial Admiral Xytan Jar 'Wattinree). They are numerous, but this project has uncovered several of note:

Single Honors
Jar - "brave", one who has distinguished himself for his valor (reserved for warriors).
Dol - "cunning", one who has distinguished himself for his intelligence.
Cav - "wise", one who has distinguished himself for his patience and virtue.
Mur - "faithful", one who has distinguished himself for his belief.
Raq - "loyal", one who has distinguished himself for his loyalty.
Gor - "honorable", one who has distinguished himself for his dignity.
Das - "justice", one who has distinguished himself for his judgment (reserved for Councilors).
Wor - "legendary"; derived not from a name, but from the ancient battle cry, "Wort wort wort."
Loj - "grand," one who has distinguished himself for his oration.
Nar - "persistence," one who has distinguished himself for his perseverance.

High Honors
Jol-Dan - "one of great heart"
Luk-Em - "one of great achievement"
Haj-Kol - "one of great work"
Sal-Xac - "one of great love" (rare; seems to have fallen out of common use)
Ver-Vir - "one of great truth"

Attached File #2: huntertaming.doc
The Taming of the Hunters is an interesting story nestled in the history of the Covenant. Since the annexation of the separatist movement into an alliance with the UNSC many records of past disunities within the Covenant have come to life, revealing that it has been just as rocky and uncertain at times as other organizations in human history, including the United Nations Space Command itself. This incident involving the subjugation of the Lekgolo is a prime example of that, perhaps second only to the Grunt Rebellion.

When the Covenant encountered the planet Te, they had originally come to conduct strip-mining. They found a curious lifeform: colonies of worms that could shape themselves to any body shape, and therefore prove to be extremely capable. Yet their attempts at convincing and outright forcing the Lekgolo, as the Elites referred to them, were met with resistance. The colonies showed sentience, which was unfortunate as the Prophet Hierarchs at the time had hoped to find a species just as blindly subservient as the Engineers. What resulted was open war that turned brutal: the Elites would attempt to fight on the ground but the Lekgolo would only arrange themselves into any shape and make use of any object, including trees, as weapons. In fact, there are records of multiple worm colonies merging to create organic catapults, hurling half-ton boulders for miles. Even with advanced armor and vehicles the Covenant possessed at the time they were little match against the ferocity of the natives. The only edge the Covenant could boast was the use of orbital bombardments, the first time such a technique was employed. Certain histories point out that it was only around that time that the Engineers were able to "unlock" the weapon capabilities of the Forerunner ships the Covenant had been using, which explains why such weapons were not utilized during the war with the Elites (see War of Fortune).

Only after more than half their planet was destroyed by orbital bombardment and the atmosphere irrepairably damaged did the Lekgolo finally submit. Yet this was not the end. The Prophets, having found massive caches of Forerunner armor, had the Lekgolo, now known as Hunters, form themselves into twelve-foot "combat bodies" to fit them. The suits had oval energy shields mounted on the left arm and burning lasers (similar to the Sentinel beams recovered during the Battle of Halo 05) on the right. Unfortunately the Hierarchs failed to see the flaw in implementing such tools so soon: almost the moment they were properly equipped the Hunters turned on the Covenant and battled with the new weapons, using their almost telepathic bonds to share experiences with the new tools of destruction and become familiar that much quicker.

With the Covenant fleet being destroyed from the inside the Prophets and Elites began to panic; it was at this time that an Elite stepped forward and pronounced himself the new Arbiter, rallying the Elites to fight against the Hunter menace. Though the Arbiter died in combat with the Hunter "leader" (described as such because he acted as a nexus for all the Hunters' subsonic communication) the remaining insurrectors laid down their weapons and allowed themselves to be subjugated. As a result the Elites and Hunters treat each other with a respect not to be found between any of the other client races.

There are two further points of note regarding this conflict, the first being the Hunters' armor. For a while they continued to use the cached Forerunner models, yet a great number of them were damaged during this uprising; they weren't nearly as invulnerable as the ones we were exposed to during the Human-Covenant War. Eventually all the units became so damaged due to fighting (most during the conflict with the Kig-Yar, but some remained for the subjugation of the Yanme'e) that the Covenant sought a new answer. What came was a more familiar design, made out of almost impenetrable battleship plate. Because no proper generators for energy shielding could be found again they created more analogue shields; the weapon on the right arm, however, has undergone many changes. Originally it was nothing more than a glorified plasma rifle fastened to the forearm, allowing for a manipulator on the end. However, over time it was replaced with more powerful weaponry, eventually becoming the Fuel Rod Cannon after the Covenant successfully reverse-engineered the Sentinel beam (hinting at previous encounters with the robotic Forerunner guardians, but no details regarding this have yet been released).

The second interesting point is that of the Arbiter's armor. The armor worn by this Arbiter is the same suit worn by the most recent, and all Arbiters in between, admittedly modified since then to allow for active camouflage and energy shielding, when those units were developed. It has doubtlessly undergone many refits and repairs since then, but back then that was the standard design of all Elite armors. Differences for rank were found in differences of markings on the surface.

Attached File #3: accessprojects.prj: