Bero 'Kusovai

Bero 'Kusovai was a special operations sub-commander Sangheili known for his great skill with the Energy Sword.

Biography
'Kusovai was known to fight practice duels with Rtas 'Vadumee. Later, he joined the group that boarded the Infinite Succor and realized that something iwa amiss. When they headed into a hunting preserve, Flood-infected animals began attacking the group. The group fought its way through to the ship's bridge, where they found the controls had been disabled.

'Kusovai was eventually infected by the Flood and fought the uninfected Rtas 'Vadumee. The Flood were almost able to make a Slipspace jump out of the system, but not before Rtas 'Vadumee changed the course so that the ship flew towards the sun. 'Vadumee, while fighting the infected 'Kusovai, was injured as an Energy Sword cut off his left mandibles. 'Vadumee defeated Kusovai and managed to escape two minutes before the Slipspace Jump occurred. Rtas 'Vadumee is believed to be the only survivor of the Infinite Succor mission, as all members of Rtas' team and the original crew of the craft, as well as the Legate on board, were presumably killed and absorbed by the Flood. If not, they were killed when the ship jumped into the system's sun.



Rank
'Kusovai's rank was Sub-Commander, and his armor color was shown in blueish-green, alongside Rtas 'Vadumee. It is most likely that he was only subordinate to 'Vadumee in his unit.

Name
Kusovai's naming structure is odd, as he does not posses the "-ee" suffix common to military Elites. However, given his mastery of the energy sword, it seems foolish to conclude that he is a civilian. More likely, it is an oversight, error, or piece of artistic license on the author's part.

Another explanation is that Elites never put "-ee" after a vowel, only after consonants. Many Elites whose last name finishes in vowel don't have "-ee"(Toha 'Sumai). The reason for this is probably for the purposes of pronunciation and aesthetics, since "Kusovaiee" neither looks good nor sounds good. Three Elites, however, featured in Ghosts of Onyx, do have the suffix after a vowel. These are Zasses 'Jeqkogoee, Uruo 'Losonaee and Y'gar 'Pewtrunoee.

It is also possible that the -ai at the end of his name is in fact his suffix, perhaps to designate his swordsmanship skill. If this is true, it is a title apparently shared by Toha 'Sumai, another Elite master swordsman.

Related Links

 * The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor