Siscand

Siscand is a phantom of the past, a woman of many shades. Flowing freely like a liquid, her new mortal body bestows her the legacy of a , and the sword of its vengeance. Shrouded in an ever present shadow, Siscand vowed to use her new body to revive her family's legacy and honor the empire she had once served. Adorning the war paint and symbols of her people, her rebirth has deluded her into the belief of newfound divinity in a strange new galaxy. A chosen champion to lead humanity into a new golden era. Born from manipulating the of Morta during an ill-fated UNSC expedition, an imprisonment carrying a sentence of a hundred millennia came to an end by retrieving her memories from the servitor Ashan and the replicated physical essence of its bondmate. The ancient human enters an unrecognizable and unstable galaxy to shape in her own image. 
Originally hailing from a wealthy and influential family during the closing decades of the , Siscand became an effective military strategist, taking an active role in the final years of the war, even coming face to face with the . From her actions, she would be granted the title of Lady Marshal, rising to be one of the most influential humans and source of misguided hope for a battered and defeated empire.
Following the , Siscand was defeated by the Didact in one of the last naval engagements of the war. Taken prisoner, her original body was and its digitized essence was locked away on Forerunner prison-world Morta.
In life, Siscand was immortalized as a legendary figure. Responsible for feats many would consider impossible or myth, her death at the hands of the Didact would inspire her followers on the last strongholds of the human empire to fight to the death or commit suicide rather than become prisoners. Many Forerunner historians dispute that it was not the fall of Charum Hakkor that broke Humanity's empire, but rather the fall of their most fanatical leader. 
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==Biography==
===Heiress of Man===
The only child and daughter of a wealthy noble family, Siscand was raised in the the midst of a losing war. Like most ancient human nobility before the war, her life would've been one of limitless plenty and comfort. But the circumstances that surrounded the Human-Forerunner Wars would raise her as a soldier as much as she was a child. By the time of her adolescence, she had already witnessed countless battles by travelling with her father, a Lord Marshal, commanding one of humanity's largest battlefleets. As she grew into an adult, she possessed remarkable skills of military strategy and planning, rising through the ranks of the human Navy as a Constable, commanding her own ship by the age of twenty-five. Attached to her father's battlefeet, Siscand proved herself as a master tactician, outsmarting and destroying several Forerunner and . Her actions in battle, in both commanding her ship and in personal combat, granted her widespread popularity throughout the faltering Human empire. 
While humanity was losing their war against the Forerunners, Siscand's fame reinvigorated the human war effort, with some revering her as a Hero. Despite her low rank, Siscand achieved high favor among all castes and ranks of human society, breeding a brutal fanaticism that intensified the war on multiple fronts. Promoted to Lady High Constable following the Battle of the Serenading Monad, she would take command of her very own fleet, a raiding flotilla striking deep into Forerunner territory. Her fanaticism and cult of personality would see her followers denoting her as the "Heiress of Man", with many of them believing that she would be the one to lift the siege of , turning the tide of the war. 
The name Siscand would become synonymous with the words "battle", "warrior", and "victory", and though she would never have children of her own, she would give birth to fanatical legions known as the Siscandites. The Siscandites would spread all throughout human space, even on besieged worlds. What was once a war of calculated effort and careful cunning, turned into a war of attrition for even the nearly unstoppable Forerunner Ecumene. Some estimates would place the Siscandites at half a trillion, giving rise to a war of such ferocity and magnitude that the Forerunners had not faced since the time of the Precursors. 
With the war rapidly changing in all directions, even those within the human military were growing concerned by the sudden rise and fervor of the Siscandites. The Lord of Admirals himself, , refused to grant passage and transport of Siscandite legions with his fleets. Fears rose among Forerunner military leadership of what would happen if Siscandite legions would reach Charum Hakkor, as several fortified human systems were being liberated. Even without the aid of their largest fleets, the bulk of the Siscandite forces turned their gaze toward Charum Hakkor, which had been besieged by the Forerunners for decades. 
The Siscandite cause would be partially successful in their campaign towards Charum Hakkor, as the atrocities committed by them drew the attention of the Ur-Didact, drawing him away from the Siege and personally taking command of the effort to eliminate the legions currently burning their way through both human and Forerunner space. At the same time, Forthencho's fleets beyond Charum Hakkor were given orders to begin blockading Siscandite-aligned worlds, in order to prevent or mitigate further bloodshed that within just three years, who had taken the lives of tens of billions of humans and Forerunners alike. Despite these efforts, Siscand's influence in the top levels of human leadership granted her the promotion of Lady Marshal, directly below the Lord of Admirals himself. 
Even while isolated on Charum Hakkor, Forthencho's status and station were now directly threatened by Siscand's rise. A battered humanity that had lost hope, was now radicalized into a fanatical fury that was destined to bring complete ruin the human race. On what human worlds remained, the battle cries of the Siscandites rose into a chorus, channeling a renewed vigor for a war that was already lost. 
===The Marshal and the Sundered Star===
As her fleet raced towards Charum Hakkor, Siscand was not fully aware that she had roused the Didact from his seat. Fueled by fanaticism and a raging bloodlust for retribution, the bulk of the Siscandite fleet clashed with the Didact's forces above the planet known as the Heathered Egg. Within mere moments, thousands of warships were burning over the purple glow of Heathered Egg. The battle became a colorful dance as ships unleashed their full payloads capable of cracking entire planets in half. 
Thousands of Siscandite ships continued to exit slipspace around the planet, swelling the ranks of the human fleet, and intent on surrounding and collapsing the Forerunner formation. But even as it seemed like an endless tide of humanity were joining the battle, their fleet was little match for the largest of the Forerunner vessels, cutting through Siscandite ships with ease 
Noticing that the balance of power was locked in stalemate, Siscand stood aboard her prized flagship the Udas, and ordered it to be rammed into the nearest carrier. Neighboring ships focused their fire on the Fortress enough to bring down its shields just before the Udas slammed directly through the center of the carrier. 
With its hull breached, Siscand led the boarding personally, charging directly into the line of Warrior-Servants that had come to meet them. To her followers, she invoked the image of a God, and once they had closed the gap Siscand proved herself as one of the greatest warriors of the human empire. The close quarters boarding action would last hours, soaking the metal floors of the Forerunner ship in the blood of both combatants. 
Battling through wave after wave of Warrior-Servants, Siscand finally reached the command center of the Fortress, gaining control over the ship and using the vessel's powerful arsenal against its own. She targeted the secondary Fortress-class, unleashing successive barrages so viscous it nearly disintegrated the ship. More and more Forerunner ships were cut down, and a noticeable thinning of their numbers began to show. In a desperate attempt to break out of their encirclement, they focused the bulk of their fire against Siscand's captured Fortress-class, destroying its shield arrays and disabling most of its weapons systems. 
The last of the Siscandite ships seemingly entered the system, and just as all seemed lost for the Forerunner fleet, a ship nearly three times the size of the Fortress emerged from slipspace just beyond the bubble. Aboard his personal flagship, the Mantle's Approach, the Didact had finally joined the fray. 
The Siscandite fleet proved little challenge for the Didact, who swatted them away like flies. The mightiest Siscandite ships seemingly burst from the inside out as precision beam cannons cut through them at near instantaneous speeds. As Siscand watched her fleet melt away, she turned the weapons of the Fortress against the Mantle's Approach, drawing its attention and allowing a handful of human ships to flee. Even the strongest of Forerunner ships was no match for the Didact's flagship, and soon the weapon and life support failed from the merciless display of firepower coming from the Mantle's Approach. Disabled and with limited options of escape, Siscand rallied her followers to the command center, waiting for the Didact's boarding action. 
Just as Siscand anticipated, the Didact led a force numbering 1,000 Prometheans to board the Fortress. Just as the battle above proved little challenge for the Didact, so did the battle within the ship prove to be no match for humanity. Thousands of Siscandites were struck down by the Prometheans, as if they were surgeons removing a tumor from a body. The challenge for them only came when Siscand joined the battle, cutting down more than a hundred Prometheans on her own in brutal hand-to-hand combat. Even coming face to face with the Didact himself, Siscand was intent on dying with her followers, and charged the Forerunner in a final dance. 
Despite the Didact's superior neurological and physical abilities, Siscand fought to the very limits her body could withstand. Exhausted, alone, and without options, she requested a ritualistic suicide. This was seen as an honor that the Didact could not allowed, and thus refused. For the path she and her followers had burned through left the Didact in a searing rage. The Didact ordered her to be bound and brought aboard the Mantle's Approach, to answer for her crimes. 
===New Body, New Galaxy===
Siscand, now the personal captive of the Didact, was set to be given the harshest of punishments; witnessing the devolution of her species. She visited the nearly endless halls of wounded and dying humanity, prisoners of war taken from the Fall of Charum Hakkor or other battles across the galaxy. There, she witnessed the molecular decomposition of every human on Charum Hakkor. Their bodies and minds dissolved and reduced to digitized lines of code and data. Everyone she has ever known, loved, or came into conflict with were gone in an instant. There was no residue left over, nothing to remember them by, not even a strand of hair. It was as if the planet itself was never populated to begin with. 
She had no reason to believe any other humans had survived, and those that did had to be far from the Forerunners' reach. When it was done, all that remained within the hall was her, the Didact, a handful of Lifeworkers, and their military escort. Demoralized and broken by what she had witnessed, she could not muster the strength to speak.
Whatever the Didact had spoken to her in that moment, she could not spare the moment to pay any attention. As the initial wave of shock washed over her, her demoralization slowly morphed into hatred for all things Forerunner. 
When it was her turn to face the Composer, she stood vigilant and stone-faced. She gave no final words, no cursing of the Didact's name, she gave them no more weapons to use against her people. She freely walked to her death knowing she will join the rest of her people, beyond the reality of this world to something greater. For her and billions of other humans, the Great Game had ended, allowing all Mankind and their spirits to rest. 
But this would not be the end for Siscand, and neither for those composed. The Forerunners would not grant humanity the victory of death, instead digitizing their minds and imprinting their memories onto future generations of humanity. In a way, they will live on, guiding humanity back to greatness once again. 
But for Siscand, her punishment was just beginning. 
==Personality and Abilties==
==Relationships==
==See Also==
===Related Pages===
===Appearances===
*Halo: Wiara w Morta
Category:Commonwealth Human Characters