Buran 'Utaral

"You need to do more than overthrow the Arbiter. You need to wipe both him and Vadam from the face of Sanghelios, because as long as that state exists, it will remain loyal to him, and it will exert its power and influence."

- Buran 'Utaral to Avu Med 'Telcam

Buran 'Utaral was a Sangheili and a former Shipmaster for the Covenant. Following the Human-Covenant War, he was a commander in the Servants of the Abiding Truth. He is of the same clan as Kantar 'Utaralee.

Biography
During the Human-Covenant War he was the shipmaster of the Unflinching Resolve, but he lost command of his frigate during the Great Schism. By January 2553, he had joined the Servants of Abiding Truth. During one of their meetings he stated that he believed he still held the loyalty of most of his crew, and that with a few volunteers he could retake it. When three other shipmasters, including Jul 'Mdama volunteered to help, they were amused at the thought of four shipmasters on one ship. He asked Jul what his plan was to retake the ship, which was to simply to go to the shipyards and fly it out. He agreed with Jul's plan and promised to contact his loyal crewmen in order to retake the ship. His ship was located at the Aanrar Shipyard on the Ranarum Orbital Platform, orbiting Sanghelios. Jul, Avu Med 'Telcam, and Forze 'Mdama accompanied Buran to the shipyard. After the group got to the frigate's bridge, Buran told the shipyard's dockmaster that he was taking Unflinching Resolve for maintenance assessments. After the dockmaster allowed the ship to depart, Buran took his frigate outside of contact range with the dockmaster. The four agreed to hide the frigate in Bekan quarry in the state of Mdama until the ship was needed.

Some time later, Buran had a Jiralhanae loyal to him, Manus, take the Piety to transfer weapons and a Huragok to 'Telcam. Although the ship was ultimately disabled by Kilo-Five and the crew was killed. After 'Telcam departed to an unknown location to receive supplies from unknown individuals, Jul questioned if 'Telcam's mysterious suppliers were trustworthy and why 'Telcam refused to tell them the names of the location and individuals. Buran claimed that 'Telcam refuses to inform them on the deals and stated that 'Telcam may not trust the two of them.

After the attempted Jiralhanae uprising in the state of Ontom, 'Telcam decided to launch an attack on the state of Vadam. Buran and 'Telcam came to Mdama to retrieve the Unflinching Resolve where they met Forze and Raia 'Mdama, Jul's wife. After Raia and Forze joined Buran and 'Telcam, Buran took the frigate out of state and picked up several loyal troops. With nine vessels, 'Telcam declared that it was time to attack Vadam, though Buran felt that they needed more troops and ships. 'Telcam led the assault on Vadam at the bridge of the frigate with Buran, Forze, and Raia. Buran was warned by 'Telcam to avoid damaging any Forerunner relics in the state, much to his disbelief. During the assault, Unflinching Resolve was damaged. Buran warned 'Telcam that the frigate needed to retreat, but 'Telcam ordered him to continue the attack. Ultimately, the frigate was shot down and the ship crash-landed on the Vadam shoreline, although 'Telcam, Raia, Forze, and Buran survived. Buran was later given command of the Promised Revelation.

Personality and traits
Although Buran agreed to join the Servants of the Abiding Truth, he was not religious and held little care for Forerunner artifacts. He joined simply to help kill the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam and his allies. Buran was concerned with the future of the Sangheili following the Human-Covenant War. He believed that the Sangheili could not be taken away from war and expected to live peaceful, quiet lives as they are a species of warriors. He thought that the Sangheili needed a purpose for their existence or they would "veer from the path of virtue" like the humans.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Glasslands
 * Halo: The Thursday War
 * Halo: Legacy of Onyx