The Battle of Reverent Devotion was the first engagement of the Sangheili-San'Shyuum War, occurring early in 938 BCE. A Reformist San'Shyuum reliquary expedition encountered a Sangheili defense fleet near an ancient Forerunner world; this first meeting turned violent due to drastically different religious doctrines, and resulted in a near-total victory for the Reformist expedition. This battle set the tone for future space engagements between the San'Shyuum and the Sangheili: large numbers of Sangheili warships outgunned technologically by a small number of San'Shyuum warships; in addition, the overwhelming superiority of the Forerunner Keyship was well-illustrated. Having defeated Sangheili space forces, the San'Shyuum bombarded a nearby Sangheili moon base, utterly destroying it. The vic