Evan Phillips

Professor Evan W. Phillips is a human xenoanthropologist recruited by the Office of Naval Intelligence as a Sangheili specialist and analyst. Formerly serving with the black ops team Kilo-Five, he specializes in Sangheili culture and is distinguished as being a highly fluent speaker of the Sangheili language.

Post-war
Phillips served as an anthropologist and linguistic xenoanthropologist professor at Wheatley University in Sydney, Australia. In January 2553, he was asked by Captain Serin Osman to get her an audience with a high-ranking Sangheili who could be a threat to the rule of Thel 'Vadam. On New Llanelli he got an audience with Avu Med 'Telcam of the Servants of the Abiding Truth, prompting Osman to trust him. He was recruited by the Office of Naval Intelligence to serve as a Sangheili expert in the clandestine unconventional warfare unit Kilo-Five, which was tasked with sowing dissent among the Sangheili in the aftermath of the Human-Covenant War.

In February 2553, Phillips along with Captain Serin Osman, Corporal Vaz Beloi and Admiral Lord Terrence Hood, were the first humans to visit Sanghelios. There, 'Vadam and Lord Hood discussed continued peace and the fragile state of both their species. 'Vadam took great interest in Phillips and invited him to return and study Sangheili history and culture on their homeworld.

Lost on Sanghelios
In March 2553, Phillips arrived on Sanghelios. He was greeted by the Arbiter in Vadam and requested a tour of their most ancient cities to which Thel approved. During his stay at Ontom, Phillips was shown to be adept at figuring out the Sangheili toy and puzzle, the arum, a skill which earned him respect and attention from many Sangheili. As he was solving arums for a crowd of Sangheili, he received a written warning from 'Telcam. Phillips then distracted his assigned bodyguard Cadan 'Ilmir with a half-finished arum and went to meet with 'Telcam. As 'Telcam and Phillips approached the entrance of the Temple of the Abiding Truth, they were caught in the midst of a bombing orchestrated by Jiralhanae dissidents. In the wake of the uprising, 'Telcam planned to launch his attack on the state of Vadam. Phillips was taken into the custody of the Servants of the Abiding Truth, who permitted him to explore the interior of the stone Forerunner structure.

As Phillips explored the temple, he noted that the micro-camera unit on his shirt, which contained a fragment of the AI Black-Box, had been peppered with shrapnel. The placement of the unit had saved Phillips' life, but the AI fragment inside had taken damage and activated an emergency purge function, wiping important data and higher personality functions from the AI's memory. While the BB fragment was far less useful in this state, Phillips nonetheless was able to use it to aid in translating certain symbols inside the structure. The data they collected inside was soon speculated to be the locations and operational status of the remaining Halo installations. Phillips and the BB fragment eventually found their way to a room with a translocation portal. Phillips unlocked the portal's activation system—similar in design to an arum—and was translocated to the portal's receiving end in Acroli, roughly 80 kilometers from Ontom.

In Acroli, Phillips found himself in a Forerunner ruin and soon encountered Unggoy field laborers Dengo, Gikak, and Sensen. After a brief conversation, they agreed to take Phillips to their lords at Nes'alun keep. On their way to the keep they were attacked by Banshees, one of which killed Sensen. Arriving at Nes'alun keep, Phillips met Elar 'Nas, a female Sangheili who was left in charge of the keep after the males had gone off to fight in the Blooding Years.

Elar 'Nas and her sisters had been defending their keep from the Lacalu keep, who had taken advantage of the civil war to launch an assault on Nes'alun Keep in the hopes of acquiring more Acroli land. Phillips proceeded to help Elar 'Nas and the other ladies defend the keep from a wave of attackers. After the skirmish, Elar 'Nas called 'Telcam to inform him that the human he wanted found was with them. Upon receiving the call, 'Telcam ordered Forze 'Mdama to retrieve Phillips and escort him to Tart-Cart, so Kilo-Five could return him to the UNSC safely. After pilot Lian Devereaux performed necessary repairs to the Tart-Cart, Phillips left Sanghelios unsettled by the fate of Elar 'Nas and the others of Nes'alun keep.

Return to the UNSC
On their flight back to a fire erupted and they had to re-route to the. There, Phillips met with Dr. Catherine Halsey to see if she could help BB by reintegrating him with his other fragmented-self. He later witnessed Infinity in action as it helped the Arbiter by destroying many of the Abiding Truth's vessels. Admiral Parangosky then ordered Kilo-Five to extract their informant 'Telcam from the ground. Utilizing the newly repaired and upgraded Tart-Cart, Kilo-Five extracted 'Telcam from the battle and dropped him off on New Llanelli. They were later retrieved by Port Stanley.

Upon his request, Phillips was brought to Trevelyan where he had a conversation with Jul 'Mdama, who was being held prisoner there. Jul asked Phillips for news about his wife Raia, whom Phillips had last seen in company with Forze. Phillips promised to find out what had happened to her. Shortly after this, Jul escaped the planet and learned of her demise.

Pious Inquisitor
Following the mission on Sanghelios, Kilo-Five was tasked with neutralizing the terrorist threat posed by Venezian insurgent Staffan Sentzke and seizing the battlecruiser Pious Inquisitor before Sentzke could use it against Earth. During the mission, Phillips learned that Avu Med 'Telcam had hired a Kig-Yar Shipmistress, Chol Von, to steal back the Inquisitor. Later, Phillips, Naomi, Devereaux, and Osman returned to New Llanelli to meet with 'Telcam. On the planet, Phillips gave 'Telcam a translation of the Forerunner inscriptions from the temple at Ontom, in exchange for intel.

Later, Phillips began translating Sangheili and Kig-Yar conversations that he had gathered from his listening station aboard Port Stanley and from conversations that Kilo-Five had recorded on Venezia. With these recordings, Phillips learned of Chol Von's name and figured out basic information about her. He later discovered that 'Telcam was growing impatient with Von. When Kilo-Five finally came across the Inquisitor, Phillips and Mike Spenser operated Port Stanley's communications, while Naomi and the ODSTs infiltrated the ship. Learning that Von and her crew had taken control of the ship, Phillips warned them of mev-uts, Kig-Yar bounties.

The mission was eventually a success and Kilo-Five was granted shore leave on Cascade. Phillips went to a concert with Lian Devereaux, the two having grown fond of one another during their time with Kilo-Five.

Section Two career
After his time with Kilo-Five, Phillips went on to give introductory lectures to officer candidates applying for Section Two, ONI's public affairs and psyops branch.

Personality and traits
Phillips appears somewhat naive and is heavily driven by an almost childlike academic curiosity and enthusiasm about the Sangheili. Despite this, he was remarked as being surprisingly competent, even devious, by Captain Serin Osman. Phillips was saddened by the death of Elar 'Nas and the others of Nes'alun keep, believing that they could have lived if he had helped. Although Phillips respected and admired the Sangheili, he still considered many of them to be the enemy. In addition to being fluent in the Sangheili language, Phillips could understand the Kig-Yar dialect to a degree.

Phillips is a small man, mentioned as being slightly fitter than the average civilian. He has reddish-brown "scrubby" hair and a beard. He is roughly in his thirties as of 2553.

Equipment
Evan received a Type-25 plasma pistol from Elar 'Nas. Due to its big size, Phillips had to grasp the pistol as if it were a submachine gun. After the skirmish at Nes'alun Keep, he kept it and refused to be parted from it. It was later hung in Port Stanley's wardroom.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo: Mortal Dictata