abstract
| - The smuggling rings that sprung up after the Human-Covenant War were mostly composed of preexisting criminal organizations that had survived the chaos of the War, using the chaos of early reconstruction to come into possession of military equipment, mostly small arms and other personal gear. However, with reconstruction after the War forcing the UNSC to downsize its military to pay for the immense costs, an influx of heavy equipment being retired found its way to the criminal underworld, and from there to the Insurrection. By 2554, the smuggling rings had become massive affairs, all under the nose of the UNSC through corrupt officials, both political and military, on the criminal payroll. The rings did not just sell UNSC and human weaponry, but also Covenant equipment as well, through Kig-Yar criminals, who, without the Covenant keeping them in check, were free to indulge their smuggling tendencies, selling weaponry to the highest bidder. The most infamous of these alien smugglers was Sav Fel, a Skirmisher who sold rebel Staffan Sentzke the CCS Class Battlecruiser Pious Inquisitor.
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