Let 'Volir

Let 'Volir is a Sangheili mercenary of the Banished and former shipmaster of the Enduring Conviction, formerly serving the Covenant.

Human-Covenant War
During the Human-Covenant War, Let 'Volir commanded the Enduring Conviction as part of a larger Covenant fleet. The ship was known to the United Nations Space Command for some time, and from around 2549 to 2552, it was responsible for the destruction of quite a few UNSC warships. The Enduring Conviction was noted for one particular battle in 2551 during which it demonstrated an impressive evasive maneuver and counterattack.

Great Schism
Following the Great Schism, 'Volir and his crew left the Covenant and abandoned its religion. They fought against the Jiralhanae-led Covenant as the entire Sangheili species had been betrayed by the High Prophets.

After the Covenant's defeat, 'Volir's powerful carrier and his crew of veteran warriors, had no desire to join the emerging Swords of Sanghelios or reformed Covenant. As such, 'Volir retained his ship in the Sangheili-led separatist fleet it had been attached to previously.

Joining the Banished
Fleetmaster Arkad Nar 'Kulul, commander of the Sangheili-led fleet 'Volir was in, had stationed several forces at a separatist base. One fateful day on May 6, 2553, the base was raided by the Banished which resulted in numerous casualties. A distress signal was sent out to the CAS-class assault carrier Enduring Conviction which prompted Shipmaster Let 'Volir to respond immediately out of dire concern for their safety. 'Volir and several Sangheili soldiers landed at the base and reinforced their brethren against the Banished on the ground. The fighting stopped when 'Volir came face to face with the Banished leader: Atriox. 'Volir captured Atriox who had seemingly surrendered and brought him aboard the Enduring Conviction as a prisoner, finally bringing an end the skirmish.

Aboard the Enduring Conviction's bridge, several hidden Banished soldiers abruptly ambushed 'Volir and his crew turning the tables on the Shipmaster. Now as a prisoner of Atriox, the two began to talk. Atriox revealed that he allowed himself to get captured as an opportunity to make a proposition. Atriox pointed out how he was aware of Volir's wavering faith in the Covenant separatists and saw him as a good recruit for the Banished. 'Volir reluctantly accepted and told his crew that they wouldn't be misused as canon fodder for the separatists any longer and would serve the Banished as free mercenaries instead.

Let 'Volir received several incoming messages from Arkad Nar 'Kulul, inquiring on the status of Atriox's imprisonment. 'Volir deliberately ignored these messages leading 'Kulul to believe he was dead and that the Sangheili crew of the Enduring Conviction had been overthrown by the Banished. 'Kulul and the rest of his fleet approached and opened fire on the Enduring Conviction assuming it was now hostile and under Atriox's control. 'Volir ordered the Enduring Conviction to perform evasive maneuvers and make a sudden slipspace jump, successfully escaping from the rest of the fleet.

After escaping, Let 'Volir and his crew formally swore fealty to the Banished on neutral territory--an orbital installation. In exchange for their unquestioning loyalty, the Banished would supply the crew and fuel the Enduring Conviction indefinitely. Certain Office of Naval Intelligence operatives who had analyzed the ship's shift of allegiance from a distance, surmised that Atriox would lay low for a while after securing such a prize, as he would have painted a giant target on himself in doing so. 'Volir his crew eventually reemerged, notably raiding a human settlement on the planet Ansket IV, and making a name for themselves as members of the Banished. 'Volir later contacted a Jiralhanae warlord named Jovus in attempts to convince him to join the Banished. Upon seeing Let 'Volir's transmission, Jovus found the concept of Jiralhanae and Sangheili banding together to be ridiculous due to the animosity between their species, and ultimately refused the offer when he met with Atriox in person.

Let 'Volir's name has also been tarnished in Sangheili society for siding with the Jiralhanae, let alone working under one. In 'Volir's opinion, social dignity was not a luxury he could afford, as the well being of the Enduring Conviction and its crew were his top priority.

Installation 00
On November 25, 2558, 'Volir commanded the Enduring Conviction as it arrived in force at Installation 00, carrying with it a massive amount of infantry, vehicles, and aircraft. Instead of launching any orbital bombardments from the ship, Atriox ordered ground forces to be deployed to the Ark's surface. These made short work of the UNSC researchers at the Henry Lamb Research Outpost. Forthwith, the ship remained stationed above the installation for months while the Banished began to extract power and resources from the Forerunner creation. Anything valuable discovered or taken was commonly ferried to the Conviction.

Around four months after the Banished first took control of the Ark, the also exited slipstream space above it on March 28, 2559. After the presence of the Banished was revealed to the crew, a protracted conflict between the Banished serving Atriox and the UNSC troops following the lead of Captain James Cutter. During this time, 'Volir used the Conviction's pulse laser turrets offensively to melt UNSC forces on the ground. In the first instance the ship was used like this, it was during a defense of a salvage operation being overseen by Decimus. From the ground, Decimus not only had the carrier make a show of damaging the Spirit of Fire's recently-built firebase, but also repeatedly ordered 'Volir to target his own location briefly and with precision, as he was protected from the plasma lance by a powerful energy shield. When it became clear that he would not be able to fend off the attack, Decimus retreated but the Enduring Conviction continued to bombard the area, killing UNSC and Banished troops alike, ostensibly to keep the humans from learning anything from the operation. The same tactic was repeated when Decimus entered the fight once more on May 17. Decimus was killed at that moment, however, and with that, 'Volir attacked the Spirit of Fire more directly by launching Banshee fighters to harass it while moved the Conviction to hover over the location where it had been deploying troops and supplies to the Ark's surface via a gravity lift.

'Volir and a number of his crew survived the destruction of the Enduring Conviction, brought on by Jerome-092 and the AI Isabel by infiltrating the carrier and using its energy projector to damage the Ark, causing the installation's Aggressor Sentinels to destroy the carrier in response. The shipmaster later reported on his losses to Atriox in the wreckage of the Conviction, assuring the Jiralhanae warmaster that he retained enough men to fulfill his contract. Upon the launch of Installation 09, 'Volir was ordered by Atriox to deploy all of his forces on the ring to prevent it from falling under the UNSC's control, another task that he would fail yet again.

Personality and traits
"Let 'Volir"

Let 'Volir is a skilled commander, and believes that a captain should sacrifice everything just to keep his crew alive. He became conflicted with the dawn of the Great Schism in 2552 as he was forced to abandon the Covenant religion and battle the Covenant's Hierarchs as the Sangheili were betrayed by the empire. With the Covenant's fall later that year, 'Volir still continued to command Enduring Conviction, as he felt that it was his obligation to keep his crew alive and together. With the Covenant's demise, 'Volir fosters animosity towards virtually all of the fallen empire's successor states. While he disagrees with the Swords of Sanghelios' peace with humanity, he viewed the reformed Covenant as a falsehood that crippled his people and repressed their nature.

When approached by Atriox to join the Banished in exchange for fuel and supplies, 'Volir reluctantly agreed as he felt that there was no other option. However, he was uncomfortable with serving under Atriox, as he was used to commanding the Jiralhanae in the Covenant. Atriox often teases 'Volir about the name of his carrier, Enduring Conviction, as he believes that it is particularly ill-suited for a mercenary shipmaster. Following the loss of the Enduring Conviction, 'Volir exhibited a timid and submissive demeanor around Atriox.

Ironically, despite believing that a captain should sacrifice everything for his crew, Let 'Volir did not go down with his ship. Enduring Conviction and the majority of it's crew was destroyed during a battle on the Ark in 2559, however enough crew members remained to honor his contract with Atriox.

'Volir is relatively short for a Sangheili standing under 7 feet and 6.5 inches tall, roughly more than a foot shorter than Atriox.

Trivia

 * Let 'Volir is voiced by American actor Darin De Paul.
 * His armor, and helmet design in particular, is reminiscent of the Ultra units deployed on Reach.

List of appearances

 * Halo Wars 2
 * Halo: Rise of Atriox
 * Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual