Dhas Bhasvod
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
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243.8 centimeters (8 ft)[1] |
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106.6 kilograms (235 lb)[1] |
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- "The Ark is still alive, and so is our faith.[2]"
Dhas Bhasvod is a San'Shyuum Prelate who served as an assassin for the Prophet of Truth during the reign of the Covenant empire.[3] He served under Truth during the battle of the Ark at the end of the Human-Covenant War and was left stranded on the installation at its conclusion, coming to lead a large cadre of troops to survive on the Ark inside the massive starship which had brought them there. In 2559 Bhasvod led his loyalist Covenant to join the ongoing war between the Banished and United Nations Space Command on the Ark, including a temporary alliance with the Keepers of the One Freedom in a brief but failed effort to fire the Halo Array.
Biography[edit]
Human-Covenant War[edit]
During the Human-Covenant War, Bhasvod served the Prophet of Truth as a Prelate assassin of the Silent Shadow.[3] He partook in front-line fighting in the war, and claimed to have fought two Spartan supersoldiers at once, a fight which he described as "intoxicating".[4]
During the Fall of High Charity, Bhasvod was part of a group organised with the task of ensuring the successful evacuation of a flotilla of San'Shyuum from the city, disguised by the launch of Anodyne Spirit. The flotilla intended to head to the shield world of Cloister, where they would await the firing of the Halo Array by the Prophet of Truth. Bhasvod did not join the flotilla, and instead remained in Truth's fleet as they joined the Battle for Earth and initiated the campaign on the Ark. Ultimately, the Prelate survived the battle, and rallied the surviving Covenant troops inside the grounded Anodyne Spirit, and hid for seven years as the Ark rebuilt itself - never renouncing his faith in the Covenant religion.[2]
Second Ark Conflict[edit]
Bhasvod and his troops were reawakened from their hiding in mid-2559, during a Banished raid on their keyship-turned-home. During the engagement, a Banished strike force were able to steal the shards of a Forerunner slipspace crystal from the Covenant,[5] which they used later in the year to open a portal connecting the Ark with a portal complex on Reach. Now-alerted to the fact that a broader war was being fought for control of the Ark between the UNSC and Banished, Dhas Bhasvod led his troops to join the conflict as a third party intent on retaking the slipspace crystal shards and reconnecting with their allies in the Milky Way. For Bhasvod in particular, this involved wanting to reconnect with the survivors of the refugee flotilla at Cloister.[2] After awakening, Bhasvod and his forces launched attacks on the Banished, with the Prelate becoming a legend among the Banished discussed in terms comparadable to a werewolf or gbahali.[6]
On October 12, Bhasvod led his forces in an attack on the Banished portal to the Milky Way, assaulting their lines concurrent with another assault by UNSC Spirit of Fire, also intent on capturing the portal. The Covenant and UNSC were not formal allies in the battle, but both remained mostly focused on destroying the Banished defences rather than fighting one another.[7] During the fighting, a Lich, Pegoras, emerged from the portal and crashed in a sector of the battle controlled by the Covenant. Bhasvod and his forces were the first to converge on the site,[8] and Bhasvod initially wanted to kill the survivors of the crash-a cadre of troops of the Keepers of the One Freedom led by Castor. Despite the Keepers' claims of belief in the Covenant religion and goal to fire the Halo Array, their arrival in a Banished craft left the Prelate skeptical of their motives. Upon first arriving at the site he engaged Saturnus in melee combat, though did not kill him, and released him with the announcement that the Keepers were now his prisoners and not his equals. Castor stayed off a fight during the tense negotiation by assuring Bhasvod that they shared the same gods and goals, though the Prelate did not believe him until a Forerunner ancilla, Intrepid Eye, intervened and encouraged Bhasvod to stand down. To do this, she hijacked the emitters of Bhasvod's hard light glaive such that when he activated the projectors, instead of a blade he encountered a hologram of a monitor. The Prelate reluctantly accepted the "oracle"'s orders and then invited the Keepers to join his forces as they attempted to activate the Halos, while transferring command of the ongoing battle to Idomenius.[3]
Bhasvod led the combined Covenant force to one of the Ark's Cartographers so that they could find out where the Clarion (the facility where the Halos could be fired from) was located. After realising that their air forces were being tailed by the Banished and UNSC, he ordered them to ground so that they could travel the remaining distance on foot, not wanting to draw attention from the Banished and UNSC.[2] As the Covenant and Keepers worked together, Bhasvod questioned Castor on his decision to admit humans in the Keepers of the One Freedom, believing that they would eventually betray them, and that they should simply kill most of the humans in Castor's cadre so that they could not do so. Castor refused to do this, believing that Veta Lopis and her "Ferrets" (in reality a team of double-agents working for the Office of Naval Intelligence) were loyalists to his cause. The two leaders eventually compromised on splitting the group up, with Veta permitted to ride in Castor's Phantom, while the Spartans were with Bhasvod.[4]
At the Cartographer, Bhasvod attempted to cut Lopis out of the search as much as possible despite using her to activate the Forerunner technology within. This resulted in his rebukement by the Cartographer's ancilla, which would not accept him trying to speak for Veta. Once permitted entry, he remained terse with Lopis, not trusting her commitment to his cause.[4] After being provided the location of the Clarion facility, Bhasvod and company retreated back to their Phantoms for the flight to the facility. During the flight, Bhasvod and Castor plotted their next moves, with Bhasvod agreeing to a plan proposed by Castor to use plasma artillery to melt the thick ice surrounding the Clarion so that they could gain entry. In reality, this discussion was a ruse for Veta, as in the interim Castor had been informed by Intrepid Eye that she was a spy, and the two leaders had discussed her betrayal while she slept. Veta was allowed to overhear the coordinates of Bhasvod's planned Weevil artillery deployment, with the Phantoms intending to rendezvous there before heading to the Clarion.[9] This landing was a trap: after landing Bhasvod encouraged Veta and her Ferrets to set up an observation just outside of the camp and then waited for her to inevitably call in a UNSC strike on the position. After the call was made, he ordered an aerial bombardment of Veta's position from a Jiralhanae named Ferko.[10] The coordinates Veta had been allowed to overhear were for a Banished staging area being used by the Clan of the Long Shields, resulting in the UNSC wiping out the Long Shields' fightercraft with a barrage by a flight of AC-220 Vulture gunships.[6] While plotting this attack out, Bhasvod intentionally allowed the Banished pursuing him to eavesdrop on his command, which resulted in the Long Shields' commander Pavium intentionally deploying a talon of Seraphs there led by his rival Thalazan;[10] the resulting attack ensured Pavium's secure leadership of the Long Shields.[11]
Now-believed to be free of the spies, Bhasvod and Castor continued their flight to Epsilon Clarion with the last remaining human of the Keepers of the One Freedom, Quenbi. With the single human left alive, and the UNSC distracted with a strike on the Banished, they would be free to enter Epsilon Clarion and light the Halos with minimal interference.[6] During the flight they led their now massively outnumbered into a region of the Ark called the Maze Rift, where they launched a devastating ambush on the pursuing Long Shields air forces, buying them time to reach their objective.[11] Once at the site, Bhasvod and his allies were bombarded with an Anvil-II missile barrage by a UNSC Pelican Romeo 008, killing several troops. Intrepid Eye guided Bhasvod to the entrance though he was denied entry due to his status as a San'Shyuum. By this point Quenbi had been killed by the Ferrets to prevent Bhasvod from activating the Halo,[12] though Lopis was captured by Inslaan 'Gadogai during the firefight and the Covenant allowed access. Bhasvod led the remaining troops from the front into the complex, with Arcas, Castor, 'Gadgogai, Krelis, and an imprisoned Veta following. The group were followed by a group of warriors from the Long Shields, resulting in another firefight which Bhasvod led, engaging Jiralhanae in close combat alongside the others, at one point being saved from death by Castor.[13]
Once inside the control room at the heart of the Clarion, Veta Lopis called in an orbital bombardment from UNSC Spirit of Fire, intending to destroy the complex, Intrepid Eye, and the remaining Covenant soldiers. In the chaos, Bhasvod and Castor erupted into a brawl, with Castor now having been completely disillusioned of his faith and having little reason to hold back. Along with blademaster 'Gadogai, the two final surviving Keepers were able to push Bhasvod into a pit below the control room, with 'Gadogai claiming that he had been looking forward to the opportunity.[14] Bhasvod survived Spirit of Fire's bombardment and destruction of the Clarion, and subsequently stumbled across Mark-G313 while wandering the battlefield. After being caught off-guard by Mark's attempt to fire upon him with a sentinel beam, he was able to close in and engage the SPARTAN-III in close combat. The two briefly fought, but Bhasvod was able to get a hold of Mark and twist his neck, killing him outright. After this the Prelate retreated from the battlefield, recognising that the damage done to his armour and body would be unsustainable if he continued to try and fight.[15]
Despite his failure to fire the Halos, Bhasvod and his Covenant remain undeterred in their convictions.[16] As of 2560 he is still set on trying to retake the slipspace crystals from the Banished and return to Cloister to rejoin his fellows in the Order of Restoration.[1]
Personality and traits[edit]
As the Prophet of Truth's personal assassin, Bhasvod's reputation preceded him among the Covenant's upper classes and organisations like the Silent Shadow. Blademaster 'Gadogai knew of Bhasvod as soon as the Prelate stepped off his dropship, while Castor remained unaware of who specifically he was. As such, 'Gadogai urged Castor that the Keepers of the One Freedom would find no partnership with Bhasvod, and that a quick death would be preferable.[3]
Due to his loyalty to the Prophet of Truth and the Covenant religion, Bhasvod still considers humanity to be "infidels" that he must genocide. However, he was convinced of their reclaimer status by the ancilla Intrepid Eye, who used the Prophet of Truth's failure to light the rings as an example of how his blind faith led to his own downfall.[3] This conflicting information is something he struggles to reconcile, at one point exclaiming that "the gods must be mad" to entrust their legacy to humans.[4]
Among his troops, Bhasvod is referred to with the honourific "Fell One".[2]
Equipment[edit]
As a Prelate, Bhasvod can be easily identified by his graphene fighting skin, a powered exoskeleton which enhances his fighting abilities. These include in-built active camouflage[12] also capable of hiding him in the infrared spectrum and an active repair system that can, over time, restore the suit to functional condition if damaged.[15]
Bhasvod also uses a hard light glaive in combat, a weapon with which he has extreme proficiency.
Gallery[edit]
Dhas Bhasvod on the cover of Halo: Divine Wind.
List of appearances[edit]
- Halo: Divine Wind (First appearance)
Sources[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 249
- ^ a b c d e Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 7
- ^ a b c d e Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 5
- ^ a b c d Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 8
- ^ Halo: Shadows of Reach - Adjunct: Sacrifice
- ^ a b c Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 11
- ^ Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 2
- ^ Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 4
- ^ Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 9
- ^ a b Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 10
- ^ a b Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 8
- ^ a b Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 13
- ^ Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 15
- ^ Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 16
- ^ a b Halo: Divine Wind, chapter 17
- ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 195
