Isna 'Nosolee

Isna 'Nosolee was a Sangheili warrior in service in the armed forces of the Covenant in the later years of the Human-Covenant War.

Battle of Installation 04
In August 2552, 'Nosolee served in the Fleet of Particular Justice and was presumably present at the Fall of Reach prior to the fleet's jump to Installation 04 in pursuit of the fleeing. At this time, 'Nosolee served in Covenant Fleet Security within the Special Warfare Group in the role of a Stealth operative. When Pillar of Autumn emerged in the Soell system on September 19, Covenant forces within the fleet were directed to commence boarding actions in the ensuing space battle and began to deploy in Leech boarding craft to deploy aboard the cruiser.

'Nosolee was one of the many troops charged with this task, was given special consideration and a unique mission. Unlike the majority of his brethren, 'Nosolee (due to his experience) was granted the title of Ossoona, or "Eye of the Prophet". In this role, he was not to engage enemy forces but instead observe and gather intelligence to relay back to Covenant command - who felt that the Covenant's regular troops were often too destructive to leave behind useful information for analysis. Accordingly, 'Nosolee was tasked with three main objectives including:
 * Capturing the controlling Smart AI aboard Pillar of Autumn, Cortana.
 * Capturing senior personnel and command staff such as the ship's Captain, Jacob Keyes.
 * Recording everything he saw or encountered via the use of video cameras.

Despite feeling ashamed at the disgrace of such an assignment, 'Nosolee nonetheless proceeded to follow his orders to the letter. To this end, 'Nosolee employed the use of active camouflage to sneak around the ship during the boarding action and tour the ship's fire-control systems and engineering deck before finally heading to the vessel's bridge. While aboard the bridge, 'Nosolee was able to remain completely undetected and watch the senior crew closely, eventually correctly identifying the senior commanding officer as Keyes (or "Keezz", as he heard it) - briefly risking being spotted by the Captain. When Keyes made the decision to evacuate Pillar of Autumn entirely, the command staff began to retreat to a specially-equipped Bumblebee lifeboat with 'Nosolee in tow. Once inside the shuttle, 'Nosolee was able to stow himself inside the bay at great difficulty, just barely managing to avoid touching any of the humans inside the cramped pod and make himself known. Promptly, he planned to wait until the lifeboat touched down on Installation 04's surface and then split Keyes away from the rest of his party, so he could be captured and turned into Covenant custody.

Unfortunately for 'Nosolee, Keyes had noticed a shimmer in the air on the bridge of Pillar of Autumn and again inside the lifeboat, correctly deducing that a Covenant stealth unit had been stalking him. As such, he took an M6D magnum from one of his Marine escorts and proceeded to shoot 'Nosolee in the head. 'Nosolee was unable to react quick enough to draw his own Type-25 plasma pistol and promptly took three 12.7x40mm rounds - with the third passing through a slit in his helmet and blowing his brains out. 'Nosolee's body proceeded to float around the cabin during re-entry, before being carried out of the cabin by Keyes and Aki Hikowa and dumped in a nearby crevice after landing.

Isna 'Nosolee's corpse was later discovered by Covenant scouts investigating the nearby downed lifeboat. Once his identity had been confirmed within Covenant command, intelligence services were notified and questions were raised as to why an Ossoona had risked his life to board a human lifeboat down onto Halo's surface - a question ultimately resolved with the realisation that the lifepod must have been harbouring high-level staff of some kind. This consequently led to the deployment of Ardo 'Moretumee and other Covenant forces into the region to begin hunting down - and ultimately capture - Keyes and the other command crew.

Equipment
Due to his role as an Ossoona, and a Stealth specialist before that, 'Nosolee was equipped with minimal fighting gear. He made use of a Sangheili harness fitted with energy shielding and active camouflage, alongside two video recording devices affixed to his helmet. His only weaponry consisted of a Type-25 plasma pistol and half a dozen s.

Trivia
Isna 'Nosolee was the first Sangheili character to be named in the Halo franchise, appearing in the opening pages of 2003's Halo: The Flood - predating Zuka 'Zamamee later on in that same novel and Thel 'Vadamee's introduction in Halo 2.

List of appearances

 * Halo: The Flood