Zuka 'Zamamee

Zuka 'Zamamee was a Sangheili Special Operations Officer who served in the armed forces of the Covenant during the final months of the Human-Covenant War. He served in the Fleet of Particular Justice during the Battle of Installation 04, and served instrumentally in that campaign as a part of numerous unsuccessful assassination attempts on the SPARTAN-II supersoldier John-117.

Battle of Installation 04
In mid-late 2552, Zuka 'Zamamee served in the Fleet of Particular Justice as part of Covenant Special Operations. He was presumably present in the fleet at the Fall of Reach on August 30, 2552 prior to its slipspace jump to pursue the fleeing. As such, he was one of the many Covenant personnel in the fleet to arrive in the Soell system in September of that year and discover Installation 04, in orbit around the gas giant Threshold. On September 19, 'Zamamee was tasked with joining the Covenant boarding action on Pillar of Autumn, and engaged in combat with the ship's internal Marine Corps security complement. During the battle, 'Zamamee led a small group of Unggoy troops until he eventually encountered John-117, who was able to use an MA5B assault rifle to deplete Zuka's energy shielding and wound him. Zuka fell to the floor in pain, prompting the Unggoy following him to flee in belief that their commander had been killed - in which time they were promptly killed by the Spartan themselves (including 'Zamamee's assistant). Some time following his apparent "death", the site of Zuka's encounter with John-117 was stumbled upon by a group of Unggoy troops led by Yayap, who initially mistook the scene as the site of a massacre and would have moved on were it not for 'Zamamee's groaning. After some discussion on whether the Sangheili was worth saving, the group elected to carry 'Zamamee back to their Leech boarding craft for exfiltration and medical attention - something which would ensure the Unggoy themselves would be able to avoid seeing further combat aboard Pillar of Autumn.

After recovering from his injuries, 'Zamamee was impressed to learn of the Unggoy's initiative in saving a commanding officer and elected to visit the placeholder Unggoy barracks on the ringworld's surface. Rather than punish Yayap for cowardice, as had been feared by the Unggoy, he deigned to show his appreciation by transferring Yayap out of the regular infantry and into the ranks of Covenant Special Operations to serve as his replacement assistant. After instructing Yayap to pack his belongings and make his farewells with his brethren, he informed the Unggoy of his worries about the danger of the Spartan who had wounded him and his plans to kill him. Later that day, he attended a meeting with the Council of Masters aboard Truth and Reconciliation (a which had been damaged in the space battle landed on the ringworld for repairs) where he pitched this plan to Soha 'Rolamee and the Minor Prophet of Stewardship (among other unnamed Sangheili staff). Ultimately, the request to take leave of his unit and conduct a special mission was denied with the Prophet claiming 'Zamamee's reports on the danger posed by John-117 to be "combat-induced hysteria".

'Zamamee was later recalled by the Council of Masters late in the evening of September 19 following a raid on Truth and Reconciliation led by John-117, in which he had been able to personally inflict six-score casualties on the Covenant defenders and rescue a prisoner of war, Captain Jacob Keyes, from the ship's brig. After seeing the potential damage that a SPARTAN-II was capable of inflicting first-hand and confirming this with reports from other engagements with Spartans from the Fall of Reach, the Council of Masters reversed their prior decision and granted 'Zamamee leave to take any resources he required and eliminate John-117 at any cost.

'Zamamee set his first trap inside the security center of the Silent Cartographer, utilizing a pair of Mgalekgolo and a lance of Unggoy under Yayap's command. However, one of the Unggoy, Linglin, accidentally killed one of the Mgalekgolo with a clumsy overcharged plasma pistol shot to its exposed back, allowing the Spartan to overwhelm the team. 'Zamamee and Yayap survived only by hiding in a cargo pod. The Master Chief killed the other Mgalekgolo and shot Linglin in the head, decapitating him, and then escaped.

After escaping the island, 'Zamamee was then warned by the Prophet of Stewardship aboard the Truth and Reconciliation that the price of another failure was death. The Prophet showed 'Rolamee's severed head, and ordered 'Zamamee to continue seeking the human with the special armour.

'Zamamee later arranged for Yayap to be captured so that the Unggoy could be taken to Alpha Base and signal the former when the Master Chief arrived there. When signaled, 'Zamamee led a group of about thirty Special Operations Sangheili aboard the captured Pelican Charlie 217 and infiltrated Alpha Base. The mission was simple; capture as many landing pads as possible and hold them for six dropships filled with Unggoy, Kig-yar, and more Sangheili. He also coordinated for a contingent of ground forces led by Field Master Noga 'Putumee to lead a simultaneous assault on the base. Though he freed Yayap, the two figured out that the attack was failing. However, Yayap told 'Zamamee that the Master Chief was guarding the Banshees that had been stolen by the humans. Convinced, 'Zamamee headed over to the Banshees, only to realize that Yayap had tricked him. Angrily, he began to threaten Yayap, but Yayap threatened him in turn, going so far as to point his plasma pistol at 'Zamamee before the Sangheili could take any preventative action. 'Zamamee, knowing that the attack would soon fail and that his life was in imminent danger, decided to accept Yayap's plan to escape. The two barely managed to escape in a Banshee as the assault was repelled by the human defenders.

'Zamamee, as advised by Yayap, finally traveled to the Pillar of Autumn crash site where he took on the alias of Huki 'Umamee, another Sangheili who had been killed, to avoid punishment. He stayed there, performing the tasks asked of him until the SPARTAN arrived aboard the ship in order to destroy the reactor core. During a tense meeting, 'Zamamee offered to track down and kill the Master Chief, much to the relief of his commanding officer, 'Ontomee.

Using information fed to him by Yayap, 'Zamamee's final attempt to kill the Spartan was a plan to ambush the Master Chief on an elevator. Armed with a Shade turret and surrounded by Unggoy, he nearly succeeded in killing the Master Chief. However, the Master Chief quickly retreated and Cortana disabled the elevator, causing it to hurtle towards the bottom of the shaft. The SPARTAN tossed two fragmentation grenades down into the elevator shaft. The explosion killed the Unggoy and tossed 'Zamamee out of the Shade, stunning him. 'Zamamee and the elevator then impacted upon the bottom of the shaft, snapping his spine and killing him almost instantly. The last thing 'Zamamee saw before his death was the Master Chief.

Trivia

 * Although depicted in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary employing an infiltration harness due to the game's graphical remaster, 'Zamamee is canonically considered to visually resemble his appearance in the original release of Halo: Combat Evolved. In a Canon Fodder article published in September 2022, an image of 'Zamamee was deliberately featured by Alex Wakeford depicting him in the game's 2001 graphics as opposed to the remaster.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, many events that happen are inconspicuously caused by Zuka 'Zamamee, like the battle in the security room in the level The Silent Cartographer.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, on the level The Maw, the Elite who is encountered on the elevator after destroying the fusion reactors actually is canonically Zuka 'Zamamee, but he doesn't operate a Shade turret. Also, depending on the level of difficulty, there can be more than one Elite in the elevator.
 * 'Zamamee kept a journal during the Battle of Installation 04, excerpts of which are featured in the 2010 reissue of Halo: The Flood. In the journal, 'Zamamee displays a religious fervor somewhat at odds with his considerably more worldly characterization in the novel proper.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Combat Evolved
 * Halo: The Flood
 * Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary