William Khaleed

"Covies did a rush job, and the planet survived. Less than a third is lechatelierite. So we chip away at the worst parts like cutting away the rot off an apple. Quick job. Should be done inside of twenty years."

- William Khaleed, regarding the deglassing of Meridian

William "Billy" Khaleed is a human excavator for the Liang-Dortmund Corporation working on the "deglassing" of Meridian.

Biography
"The plasma they use to glass planets burns so hot most stuff just vaporizes. But sometimes there's a flicker in the beam and the temp drops just enough. That's how get you stuff that's still intact. And yeah, sometimes you get bodies. It's ugly, but I didn't get hung up about it. What gets me though is the dogs. Just excavated a homestead and there was a leash leading under the porch. So I'm taking the day off."

- William Khaleed discussing the emotional toll of deglassing

Following the end of the Human-Covenant War, William Khaleed served as an excavator for the Liang-Dortmund Corporation on the human Outer Colony of Meridian, working to "deglass" the world's surface after the Covenant had glassed Meridian in 2551. Establishing the settlement of Meridian Station, the excavators began to reterraform Meridian's surface by mining away at the lechatelierite that covered the moon's surface. Khaleed estimated that the deglassing of Meridian would take approximately two decades, as he believed the Covenant had done a "rush job" when they glassed the moon during the Battle of Meridian. However, Khaleed found it to be emotionally difficult when he encountered the bodies of those killed by the glassing, particularly dogs. He recorded his experiences in a personal log.

On October 25, 2558, when Meridian was attacked by Prometheans, Liang-Dortmund attempted to fight off the constructs and prevent them from reaching Meridian Station. Their efforts were supported by the United Nations Space Command's Fireteam Osiris, who had come to Meridian for ulterior reasons; Governor Sloan reluctantly agreed to have his forces work with the Spartans. At the time of the attack, Khaleed was stationed at a service garage alongside Luiz Santiago, where they took care of Liang-Dortmund's M820 Scorpion tank. The service garage eventually came under attack by Prometheans, and Khaleed and his peers requested aid from Sloan. The governor directed Osiris to assist Khaleed in fending off the Prometheans and, in exchange, granted them access to operating the Scorpion, despite Khaleed's reluctance. The Spartans were quick to eliminate the constructs at the garage and, with access to the Scorpion, eventually prevented the Prometheans from attacking Meridian Station.

List of appearances

 * Halo 5: Guardians