Ayit 'Sevi

"When it comes to the Sangheili, our greatest challenge is the cultivation of reliable assets. The species' rigid code of honor, combined with their culture of overt and direct aggression, makes them naturally poor candidates for ONI's line of work. Our search has been for the deviant. The abnormal social profile that shows an instinct for self-preservation and deception. Basically, we looked for the most human Sangheili we could find."

- Admiral Serin Osman, regarding ONI's recruitment of 'Sevi

Ayit ' Sevi is a Sangheili mercenary working for the Office of Naval Intelligence.

Ven III
Ayit 'Sevi was hired as a mercenary by the UNSC's Office of Naval Intelligence at some point prior to May 2558. He was sent to extract a bioweapon on Ven III, a small, barely inhabitable planet that became home to numerous Kig-Yar pirates, smugglers, black market arm dealers, and slavers. After the UNSC High Command failed to respond to the pirate threat, Admiral Serin Osman hoped that the presence of the bioweapon would lure in to destroy the pirate nest. On May 8, 2558, Ayit retrieved a canister containing the biological agent from a former Covenant laboratory where the bioweapon had killed several Kig-Yar. Ayit's departure was observed by a UNSC spy drone which transmitted the feed to ONI. In order to have the UNSC take action against the pirates, Admiral Osman lied to Captain Thomas Lasky of the UNSC Infinity that ONI believed Ayit to be an operative of Jul 'Mdama's faction, and that the Sangheili may have double-crossed the Kig-Yar in the facility and killed them with the bioweapon. In response, Osman sent Infinity to Ven III to capture the Sangheili for interrogation.

Spartan-IVs Gabriel Thorne and Naiya Ray were deployed to the planet to capture the Sangheili. During their mission, Ayit destroyed the spy drone and observed the Spartans enter a series of canyons. When the two Spartans entered a structure, they were ambushed by the Sangheili and a contingent of Kig-Yar. During the resulting skirmish, Ayit attached a device on Thorne's armor and rendered him unconscious. Taking Thorne aboard his Ghost, Ayit fled the area. Ray pursued the Sangheili and followed him to the massive Kig-Yar black market.

Ayit met with the Kig-Yar pirate queen that ruled the pirates on the planet and offered to trade her the Spartan. The Sangheili told the queen that he originally came to the planet for a bioweapon and warned her that the UNSC would be arriving in the Ven system shortly to rescue the Spartan. Ayit returned to the chamber holding Thorne along with several of the queen's underlings to complete the transaction. However, they were attacked by Ray who killed the Kig-Yar, freed Thorne, and captured the Sangheili. Upon the arrival of Infinity, GA-TL1 Longswords bombed the pirate base, and Ayit escaped and fled on a Ghost in the confusion. Ray grabbed her own Ghost and pursued him, eventually disabling his vehicle and capturing him. Before she could interrogate him, however, ONI operatives arrived and seized the bioweapon from the Sangheili, revealing him to be their own agent. Ayit was then led onto a prowler by ONI agents, unrestrained.

Absolute Record
At some point in 2558, 'Sevi sabotaged a communications node on a world in the Urs-Fied-Joori system, killing two Sangheili Storm warriors that attempted to investigate his activities in the process. ONI recorded this incident and used it as proof of his unorthodox nature and cunning.

By September 2558, 'Sevi was able to infiltrate inside Jul 'Mdama's Covenant faction and provided ONI with information about Doctor Catherine Halsey and her discovery of the Absolute Record. After his last report, 'Sevi traveled to the UNSC Infinity to assist with Operation: ATHENA, a mission in which 'Sevi would use his false affiliation with 'Mdama's Covenant to allow a four-member team—Spartans Gabriel Thorne, Sarah Palmer and Holly Tanaka, and Dr. Henry Glassman—to infiltrate Breath of Annihilation. Once aboard the assault carrier, the team would alert ONI of the Absolute Record's coordinates once 'Mdama's fleet arrived at its location. On September 17, 2558, 'Sevi piloted a Phantom into a hangar bay in Annihilation with his human allies aboard. When 'Mdama's fleet traveled to the coordinates provided by the Janus Key, a slipspace portal leading to the Absolute Record formed nearby. Slipspace ruptures materialized around the fleet, destroying two Covenant cruisers and damaging Breath of Annihilation. 'Sevi and the others prepared to abandon their position, but discovered that their way of contact with ONI was destroyed.

Deciding to commandeer a Phantom from a nearby hangar, 'Sevi told the humans to follow him a minute after he leaves, giving him time to take out the Covenant soldiers outside of their damaged dropship. Creating a smoke screen, 'Sevi eliminated all Covenant soldiers in his way as he traveled to the next hangar, but the Spartans were forced to forego 'Sevi's wait time when Glassman was knocked unconscious. As they moved towards the next hangar, they encountered several Sangheili and Kig-Yar soldiers. After fighting their way to the hangar, a Wraith prepared to fire on them. However, 'Sevi managed to operate the Phantom in time and destroyed the tank. Once the humans were aboard the dropship, 'Sevi piloted the Phantom to Song of Retribution, 'Mdama's flagship. Accessing Covenant communications, 'Sevi learned that 'Mdama intended for only Retribution to enter the portal while the rest of the fleet remained behind to make any necessary repairs. Realizing that they still needed a way to contact the UNSC, 'Sevi and Thorne returned to Breath of Annihilation in the Phantom where establishing contact with the UNSC was more viable, while Palmer, Tanaka, and Glassman remained on Retribution.

While en route to the damaged carrier, 'Sevi learned that prisoners from 'Mdama's flagship were being transferred to Annihilation, including former rebellion leader Sali 'Nyon. 'Sevi considered the possibility of using 'Nyon as a distraction while they attempted to contact the UNSC. Later, 'Sevi witnessed a heated debate between a group of Sangheili Storm discussing whether or not there was a Spartan aboard their ship. With some of the Sangheili on the verge of mutiny, 'Sevi decided to use the argument to his advantage and so further chaos aboard the ship. After successfully convincing Thorne to trust him, 'Sevi had the Spartan attack several of the Sangheili throughout the ship while also providing him with directions. Once 'Sevi had Thorne return to hiding, numerous Kig-Yar and Sangheili soldiers began searching for the Spartan.

Entering the ship's prisoner chambers, Ayit learned the Covenant were on to Thorne's location, and warned him by COM to flee for now. While Thorne led his pursuers on a chase, Ayit went to the cell of Sali 'Nyon, and freed him with an offer of a second chance at rebellion. Though 'Nyon was initially reluctant, fearing his former followers would shun him for having been captured, Ayit wormed his way in the rebel leader's trust with motivational words about proving them wrong. At his urging, 'Nyon rallied his followers and stormed the Breath of Annihilation's deck, eventually captured control of the ship and Jul's vault of artifacts from Requiem. While Sali trusted Ayit wholeheartedly, some of his followers were more suspicious of him, especially when they overheard Ayit communicating in English to Thorne, urging him to stay away from the ship.

Despite Ayit's insistence, Thorne was too wounded to stay the field and began returning to the Annihilation in a Banshee. When the vault was secured, Ayit left Sali's group under the pretense of securing the hangar, but the two suspicious Zealots followed him there. Overhearing Ayit's communications again, they confronted him and prepared to kill him. Discovered as a spy, Ayit bargained for his life by claiming he would lure Thorne to them, giving him the precious seconds he needed for Thorne to land and kill both Zealots for him. Ayit then helped to hide Thorne and the other humans where they teleported onto the Annihilation. When the captured carrier flew into Sangheili space, Ayit took the humans offship in his Phantom and set up a rendezvous with an ONI Prowler for all of them to head home.

Personality and description
Ayit is irregular compared to most Sangheili, placing little value in honor and more on ingenuity and self-survival. Before he was recruited by the Office of Naval Intelligence, he showed signs of mechanical ingenuity, often upgrading the advanced equipment around despite tampering with Forerunner inventions being viewed as heresy. While these traits would immediately turn Sangheili allies against him, 'Sevi was also cunning enough to ensure his own survival and his foes' death, allowing his outlier activities to continue. 'Sevi had managed to quick-think his way of many cases of being cornered, and with the rest of his enemies being none the wiser. '

Despite his anomalous behavior, 'Sevi was adept at performing in the manner of a typical honor-bound Elite. In his spy career he frequently took on such a persona to gain the trust of the leaders whose factions he was infiltrating, keeping them fooled through a stream of meaningless religious rhetoric.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Escalation