Drifts Randomly

Drifts Randomly, often simply referred to as Drifts, is a Huragok that served with the Covenant on the Forerunner Dreadnought until the Great Schism. After the Covenant's dissolution at the Battle of Installation 00, Drifts Randomly joined Arbiter Thel 'Vadam's Swords of Sanghelios. In 2555, Drifts participated in Operation: FAR STORM.

Covenant service
"It was part of the entourage that attended the ascetic priests of old—the ones who had searched and examined the ancient warship for centuries."

- Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, referring to Drifts Randomly

Drifts Randomly was once a member of the Covenant, serving the empire's San'Shyuum ascetic priests who searched and examined the Forerunner Dreadnought that resided within the center of High Charity, the Covenant's capital city. After the dissolution of the Covenant at the end of the Human-Covenant War in 2552, the majority of the Huragok either perished or fled. However, Drifts Randomly was one of the few Huragok that remained with the Sangheili and, by 2555, had aligned himself with the Swords of Sanghelios.

Operation: FAR STORM
"When the Arbiter heard of the plight we all now face, this particular Huragok was the only one that seemed remotely acceptable to him. It once served aboard the very Forerunner vessel that activated this portal during the war, and of all remaining Huragok, it would be the most familiar with the technology found here. In fact, it is really the only hope our peoples have of reactivating this portal, if such a thing is even possible."

- Commander N'tho 'Sraom to Captain Annabelle Richards

Around March 8, 2555, the United Nations Space Command informed the Swords of Sanghelios that the Halo Array's firing sequence had been activated and counting down to fire in five weeks. In response, a joint force of UNSC and Swords of Sanghelios soldiers and scientists were tasked with traveling to Installation 00 to stop the firing sequence—Operation: FAR STORM. Believing that the slipspace portal at Voi, Kenya on Earth was the best way to reach the Ark, Arbiter Thel 'Vadam selected Drifts Randomly to be deployed to Earth to help reactivate the portal, as 'Vadam believed that Drifts' prior experience with the Forerunner Dreadnought that opened the same portal would enable him to do so. With Commander N'tho 'Sraom and Usze 'Taham charged with protecting the Huragok, the three were stationed aboard Mayhem and sent to Earth. Ater arriving, Drifts, 'Sraom, and 'Taham were deployed to a research center near the portal, where numerous scientists of the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence were already working on reactivating the portal. Meeting with Captain Annabelle Richards who was in command of the UNSC forces in a part of the joint operation, Spartan Frank Kodiak brought Drifts and the two Sangheili to the facility, where the Huragok continued the work of the ONI scientists, who now supported Drifts in his efforts to activate the portal.

Personality and traits
Drifts Randomly communicated with others through Huragok sign language, though Commander N'tho 'Sraom theorized that he would not speak to others even if he could, as Drifts' sole capability was more or less doing what he was told. Drifts rarely chose to initiate conversation with others, instead preferring to speak when spoken to. While working with Forerunner technology, Drifts would often give little information away about what he was doing. When questioned about what he was up to, he would often simply reply: 'Working'. Although his methods were quite opaque, he was happy to comply with the requests of the Humans and Sangheili that accompanied him during Operation: FAR STORM.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Hunters in the Dark