Editing Veta Lopis

{{Status|Canon}}

{{Outdated|[[Halo: Retribution]] ''and'' [[Halo: Divine Wind]]}}

|image=[[File:Enc22_VetaLopis.jpg|300px]]

|birth=[[2520#May|May 7, 2520]]{{Ref/Book|Id=Enc22P111|Enc22|Page=111}}

|height={{Convert|177|cm|ftin|sp=us}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P111}}

|mass={{Convert|65|kg|lb|sp=us}}{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P111}}

|rank=[[Special inspector]] {{C|formerly}}<br>[[Lieutenant, Junior Grade]]{{Ref/Reuse|DWEpilogue}}

|sn=93553-24752-VL{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P111}}

'''Veta Lopis''' is an [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] agent who formerly served as a [[special inspector]] of the [[Gao Ministry of Protection|Ministry of Protection]] on planet [[Gao]].<ref name="hll">'''[[Halo: Last Light]]'''</ref><ref name="Azure Noir">[https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-azure-noir '''Halo Waypoint''': ''Canon Fodder - Azure Noir'']</ref> Following [[Operation: JOVIAN WHISTLE]] in [[2553#July|July 2553]], she defected from the Ministry of Protection to the [[United Nations Space Command]], having become a fugitive on her homeworld, now leading an ONI [[Ferret|Ferret Team]] comprising [[Ash-G099]], [[Olivia-G291]] and [[Mark-G313]]. Lopis was given the sarcastic nickname '''"Mom"''' by the trio due to her protectiveness toward them.{{Ref/Reuse|ant}}

Veta Lopis was born on [[2520#May|May 7, 2520]] on the [[Outer Colonies|Outer Colony]] of [[Gao]].{{Ref/Reuse|Enc22P111}} When she was seventeen years old, she was kidnapped and endured abuse in a small stone cellar for three weeks. She eventually escaped by breaking out and killing her captor with a rock, only to learn that her father had died of grief while she was gone.{{Ref/Novel|LL|Page=123}} This traumatic experience instilled in her the desire to see injustice of any kind met with strict retribution and so she enrolled at the [[Avelos Academy]] to study criminal investigation and become a homicide investigator.{{Ref/Novel|Ret|Chapter=23}} Since the age of 20,{{Ref/Novel|LL|Page=284}} Lopis took down multiple hardened killers, and had become Gao's top homicide investigator by her early 30s.{{Ref/Reuse|ant}} Many of her childhood attitudes towards the UNSC were formed by the yearlong ordeal of the [[Blockade of Gao]].{{Ref/Novel|DW|Page=356}}

Lopis could not carry out her investigation entirely unhindered, with [[Major]] [[Ira Halal]] of the [[UNSC Judge Advocate General's Corps]] intent on ensuring she did not incriminate the UNSC unfairly and [[Lieutenant, Junior Grade]] [[Frederic-104]] of [[Spartan]] [[Blue Team]] reluctant to reveal classified information, despite the battalion's [[commanding officer]], [[Commander]] [[Murtag Nelson]], ordering the Spartan to cooperate with her. Due to the brutal nature of the killings—which would have required enormous brute strength—as well as Fred's secretive behavior and Lopis' ingrained dislike and distrust of the Spartans, she initially believed the murderer to be one of the supersoldiers.{{Ref/Reuse|hll}}

While the 717th prepared to evacuate, Arlo Casille, who had recently been elected [[President of Gao]], sent [[Gao Republic]]'s military to forcefully remove the UNSC from the planet. Lopis, Fred, Ash, Olivia and Roams Alone escaped pursuing Gao [[MV-29 Wyvern]]s and [[Gao battle-jumpers|battle-jumpers]] through the jungle in a Warthog to regroup with the rest of Blue Team, having retrieved Wendell's [[data crystal chip]]—now covertly housing Intrepid Eye—and a [[HAVOK tactical nuclear weapon]]. Lopis having now concluded that the murderer was in fact Intrepid Eye in light of the events in the support module, she attempted to explain to the Spartans that they could no longer trust Wendell; this was too late, however, as Intrepid Eye took control of Fred's armor through Wendell's data chip and attempted to kill Lopis. However, she was able to detonate the explosive she had placed in the armor earlier, powering down the armor.{{Ref/Reuse|hll}}

Blue Team eventually regrouped and headed toward the [[Well of Echoes]] in Warthogs, with the goal of destroying the Forerunner base below with the HAVOK. On the way, Lopis received a call from Casille, who attempted to convince her to reveal her position to the Wyverns, ostensibly believing the inspector was the Spartans' hostage. However, Lopis realized Casille knew she had sided with the UNSC and was merely attempting to eliminate her. As such, she deceived Casille into believing that she and Blue Team were traveling to the nearby [[Singing Grottos]], causing most of the Wyverns to change course. The group arrived at the Well of Echoes where they boarded the [[D102 Owl]] insertion craft ''[[UNSC Silent Claw|Silent Claw]]''. On board, Lopis was greeted by [[Serin Osman|Rear Admiral Serin Osman]], who offered her opportunity to place Intrepid Eye's data chip on the HAVOK nuke before it was deployed to make Intrepid Eye face justice for her crimes, but Lopis realized that ONI would never allow the ancilla to be destroyed and as such denied Osman's offer. Mark dropped the HAVOK into the Well of Echoes, destroying the Forerunner base as the Owl headed to rendezvous with [[Tuwa|Admiral Tuwa]]'s [[battle group]].{{Ref/Reuse|hll}}

[[File:HDW VetaLopis.png|thumb|During their infiltration of the Humans of the Joyous Journey, Veta Lopis adopted the distinctive hairstyles adorned by the cult.]]

In [[2559#October|October 2559]], during [[Operation: WOLFE]], Lopis unexpectedly appears to [[Fred-104]], surprising him as the [[Ferret]]s have been [[missing in action]] for more than two years and presumed dead. In reality, they have been working undercover amongst the [[Keepers of the One Freedom]] and help them to locate the [[Menachite portal complex]] on [[Reach]]. Lopis hands Fred a message capsule and orders to him to leave immediately, firing her M7 so close above his head that Fred isn't sure if she missed on purpose or not. Calling Fred a Demon and yelling at him to begone at the top of her lungs, Lopis fires another salvo at Fred's feet. Though confused, Fred runs off, deciding that whatever Lopis is doing, he isn't helping her by sticking around and asking a bunch of dumb questions. After a [[slipspace portal]] to [[Installation 00|the Ark]] is opened, the Ferrets provide [[Castor]] with cover from [[Atriox]] and join him in traveling to the Ark on a [[Eklon'Dal Workshop Lich]], ostensibly to start the Great Journey.{{Ref/Novel|Id=Chapter 21|SoR|Chapter=21}}

After arriving on the Ark, Lopis and the [[Ferret]]s become caught up in [[Castor]]'s mission to fire the [[Halo Array]], complicated by his alliance with [[Prelate]] [[Dhas Bhasvod]]'s faction of [[Dhas Bhasvod's Covenant]] and the return of their old enemy, [[Intrepid Eye]]. The [[Forerunner]] [[archeon-class ancilla]] exposes their status as spies after using Lopis to activate a [[Cartographer#Installation 00|Cartographer]] and locate [[Epsilon Clarion]]. Lopis and the Ferrets make contact with forces from the long-lost {{UNSCShip|Spirit of Fire}} who aid them in combating the Keepers and the Covenant. After learning the truth about Halo from Lopis and Intrepid Eye, Castor abandons his mission and the ''Spirit of Fire'' destroys both Epsilon Clarion and Intrepid Eye with an [[orbital bombardment]] of [[EMP]] [[MAC]] rounds on Lopis' order. Lopis and the Ferrets are rescued by [[Red Team]], but Mark is killed by Bhasvod while covering their escape.

Lopis is hardened, cynical and dedicated to her work. An exceedingly competent criminal investigator, she is highly observant and intelligent; in the beginning stages of her investigation of the [[Montero Cave System]] murders she managed to trick [[Frederic-104]] into indirectly divulging classified information several times. As a result of the abuse she suffered as a teenager, Lopis developed a rigid and inflexible sense of justice; her personal code dictated that she invariably terminate her suspects once their guilt had been proven, rather than bring them to trial. During her investigation into the murders on Gao, she relentlessly prioritized the apprehension of the killer even when full-blown violence had erupted between the UNSC, the [[Keepers of the One Freedom]], and the [[Insurrectionist]]-sympathetic [[Gao Ministry of Protection]]. She even attempted to interrogate [[Intrepid Eye]] while the [[ancilla]] was trying to suffocate her in the [[Portable Spartan Support Module]].