Ossoona

"Eye of the Prophets"

- Translated Covenant Definition of "Ossoona"

Ossoona is a Covenant Sangheili (Elite) title and rank granted to certain Elites that are given Active Camouflage and sent on espionage missions.

Rank
Unlike most other Covenant rankings, an "Ossoona" is a temporary rank bestowed by the Prophets of the Covenant upon specially selected Elite warriors, making it comparable to the typical rank of the Arbiter.

Due to a lack of intelligence on the United Nations Space Command, the Prophets have begun to pull a handful of Elites from active duty into temporary service as Ossoonas. To be chosen, an Elite must already have the rank of Elite Major. This is because the higher ranking Elites are "worth" more in active duty, whereas the lower ranking Elite Minors are considered too untested and liable to either become easily compromised or abandon their mission in pursuit of their own personal glory.

The mission of an Ossoona is to collect information on the enemy while avoiding any type of combat. Many of these Elites feel that there is little honor in such an assignment, but they do as they are told due to their reverence of the Prophets. Covenant leaders feel that while zeal is a quality to be admired, an espionage job would help tame young Elites and help teach them the finer arts of stealth in battle.

The title of Ossoona is usually bestowed for a single mission, though a series of missions are sometimes given. An Ossoona is always equipped with Active Camouflage generators and devices similar to UNSC Helmet Recorders. They are usually equipped with a Plasma Pistol and Plasma Grenades as well as energy shielding just in case. Ossoona missions tend to include non-combat intelligence gathering, such as capturing high ranking enemy personnel, equipment, AIs, weapons, etc.

Role
During the Covenant attack on the UNSC ship Pillar of Autumn during the Battle of Installation 04 in 2552, Isna 'Nosolee (the only known Ossoona) was made an Ossoona and charged with three missions:
 * Record footage of the Human ship on his helmet recorder
 * Capture the Human Artificial Intelligence
 * Capture senior personnel.

Because many Elites were reckless and tended to destroy everything in their path, the Prophets, hoping to learn more about the Humans (including the location of Earth) sent 'Nosolee on a special mission to gather intelligence. Even though he was killed (Captain Keyes shot him in the head with a M6D Pistol), the attendance of the Ossoona in the life pod Captain Keyes had fled aboard alerted the Covenant to his importance and ensured that they captured him instead of killing him along with his party.

Known Ossoonas

 * Isna 'Nosolee

Trivia

 * The Mayan Ossoona Codex, a writing system that to this day cannot be translated, likely inspired the name of this rank.
 * Ossoona means "Eye of the Prophets" in the Covenant language.
 * Stealth Elites differ from Ossoonas in the fact that they are used for combat/confrontations with the enemy. Ossoonas are designed to gather information about the enemy.
 * Though Stealth Elites have Brute counterparts, Brute Stalkers, there is presently no known Brute "Ossoona". This may be because the Covenant had already captured enough data on the Humans or because Brutes are simply not stealthy.
 * It is shown in Halo: The Flood that many Elites prefer to be fighting with their comrades rather than be an Ossoona and sneak around -- something that they see as a cowardly act.
 * Ossoonas can be seen in Halo 2 on either the Heroic or Legendary difficulties in the level Metropolis in the highway tunnel after a marine offers you a shotgun. They are nearby the closest Jackal Sniper and there is usually one on Heroic and two on Legendary.