Nizat 'Kvarosee

"The humans are not intelligent enough to know that their days are truly numbered."

- Nizat 'Kvarosee

Nizat 'Kvarosee was a Sangheili officer serving the Covenant's fleet as the Master of the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience and the shipmaster of the Pious Rampage. 'Kvarosee was given command of one of the first campaigns during the Covenant's war against humanity and was responsible for the glassing of at least seven Outer Colonies. After the success of Operation: SILENT STORM and the decimation of his fleet, 'Kvarosee became a rogue leading the Flotilla of Unsung Piety and sought to redeem himself by destroying ONI.

Exiled on Netherop for the next thirty-three years and adopting the title of Worldmaster, Nizat waged a war against UNSC forces led by Lieutenant Commander Amalea Petrov who were similarly stranded on the planet. Nizat and his forces utilized leftover Precursor technology to survive, but things came to a head when the UNSC returned to the planet alongside the Swords of Sanghelios. Nizat's forces were wiped out and the Worldmaster himself was severely wounded and left stranded once again alongside his former steward, Tam 'Lakosee. Facing imminent death from infection, starvation and dehydration, Tam chose to mercy kill the dying Nizat rather than leave his friend to suffer.

Early life
Nizat 'Kvarosee was born on the Kvaros farmlands of Suban's Uka'Pala mesas on August 23, 2470. After joining the Covenant, 'Kvarosee saw a meteoric rise through the ranks of its military due to his remarkable proficiency in naval tactics. Shortly before the discovery of humanity and the dawn of the Human-Covenant War, he had assumed control of the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience.

A new war
At the onset of the Human-Covenant War and the Ninth Age of Reclamation, Nizat 'Kvarosee was serving as the shipmaster of the Pious Rampage, from which he commanded the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience as its fleetmaster. As he was sent into battle with the humans, he swore to execute the will of the San'Shyuum as if it were his own. The Minor Minister of Artifact Survey was attached to his fleet, serving as a ceremonial magistrate rather than a military commander. The Minor Minister was particularly ill-suited to the rigors of campaigns and glassing operations, and 'Kvarosee found himself taking a dislike to the unimpressive San'Shyuum politician. In this capacity, 'Kvarosee was charged with leading his fleet against the United Nations Space Command across the Outer Colonies.

His orders were to destroy human colonies as quickly as possible, and to survey their worlds and capture those that contained Forerunner relics, while glassing the worlds that did not. Under 'Kvarosee's invasion plan, he had numerous colonies designated as targets, with Amasa being the tenth. A unit of the Silent Shadow led by First Blade Tel 'Szatulai was tasked with scouting out the targeted worlds for any Forerunner artifacts and measure the defenses of each world.

Outer Colony campaigns
Early in 'Kvarosee's campaigns, Unrelenting and Radiant Arrow were lost through mysterious means while alone over Chi Ceti IV and Netherop, respectively. The loses of these ships led to much speculation among his staff officers. In March 2526, the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience was targeting the underdeveloped and primitive colony of Etalan in the Igdras system. After two uneventful cycles of glassing the planet, the Minor Minister grew restless and incited 'Kvarosee to expedite the extermination. Before anything could be done, 'Szatulai approached the fleetmaster with a message from General Harper Garvin of the United Rebel Front. Garvin revealed that Spartan-IIs were responsible for the loss of his ships, and intended to destroy his fleet at Biko, further proposing to help eliminate the Spartans if the Covenant left their worlds alone. 'Kvarosee had 'Szatulai assemble a kai'd to hunt down the Spartans and locate Garvin on Biko's moon of Seoba. To ensure the deaths of Etalan's inhabitants, 'Kvarosee bombarded Etalan's shield volcano with plasma fire, triggering an eruption that filled the sky with ash to suffocate its inhabitants.

After 'Szatulai had convened with the United Rebel Front, the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience attacked Biko, which 'Kvarosee hoped to capture to use as a forward operating base. After five days of battle, resulting in the loss of five cruisers and Biko's shipbuilding stations 'Kvarosee had hoped to capture, the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience defeated the last of human resistance and began glassing the planet. This was aided by information from the rebels that allowed the fleetmaster to adjust his tactics to the human boarding tactics. However, much to the fleetmaster's fury, the Spartan-IIs had slipped away to Etalan and decimated most of the fleet's supply convoy that 'Kvarosee had left behind, bringing the fleet's advance to a halt. While the Minor Minister threatened him with punishment from the High Council, 'Kvarosee called for a new logistics flotilla to meet with his fleet after gathering the surviving vessels at Etalan. 'Kvarosee and the Minor Minister met with 'Szatulai again, who warned them that the humans had captured a kelguid from one of his corvettes, which contained the fleet's supply network. While the Minor Minister feared the humans planned to attack High Charity, the Sangheili suspected that the nearby Covenant supply world of Zhoist was the likely target.

By April 15, 2526, the Fleet of Inexorable Obedience had arrived at Zhoist, where the Spartans began targeting orbital facilities and raiding its space elevators. 'Kvarosee dispatched the First Blade to hunt down the Spartans at the elevators, while he continued to hunt down the humans' remaining Prowlers. Despite his efforts, 'Szatulai was slain by the Spartans and two of Zhoist's Ten Cities were destroyed, along with the planet's Ring of Mighty Abundance and the under-construction Covenant supercarrier Hammer of Faith. While the Minor Minister threatened and disparaged the fleetmaster, 'Kvarosee's steward Tam 'Lakosee killed the San'Shyuum. 'Kvarosee resolved to incinerate the Prophet's body and inform the Hierarchs that the Minor Minister died in battle. 'Kvarosee had his fleet regroup to recover what he could and withdraw beyond the planet's gravity well. To his displeasure, the human captives only laughed when interrogated. Shortly afterwards, a number of his ships were destroyed by the octas the prisoners managed to smuggle into his fleet when they were captured. Though he intended to recover the information the First Blade had gotten on the Spartans and their armor, 'Szatulai's flagship Sacred Whisper was tethered to the Ring of Mighty Abudence and was destroyed with the Ring, taking with it the information that 'Szatulai had received.

Exiled on Netherop
Following the departure of Task Force Pantea and the Fleet of Swift Justice, Nizat and his surviving warriors were left stranded on Netherop. Before leaving, the Silent Shadow mined the planet's orbit with self-targeting plasma torpedos so thick that not even a drop pod could land with the intention of preventing any local captains from coming back to rescue him. Now referred to as Worldmaster, Nizat knew that none of the destroyed ships were the Quiet Faith which would gather more vessels to their cause and redeem Nizat and his followers by destroying ONI.

By the 47th Cycle, 110 Units, Nizat and his surviving men had grown gaunt as a skeleton and their skin had become ashy and scaly. The Sangheili had lost all track of time with the darkness on the planet being interminable. Watching Lieutenant Commander Amalea Petrov from a distance, Tam 'Lakosee urged Nizat to attack her as they needed food and to resupply their water bladders and weapons, all of which Petrov could supply. However, Nizat believed that Petrov had been sent to them by the gods and wondered what she would need in return. Nizat convinced his steward that it was not worth it to attack yet and instead to keep watch on Petrov. Nizat suggested that while they waited, they would see the gods true purpose in sending them Petrov as a gift. Tam expressed worry that their gods had forsaken them which Nizat agreed with and stated that he continued to pray.

The Prophet of Truth covered up Nizat's actions and the true nature of the events on Netherop, making it so that the Covenant World Registry made no mention of an orbital mine shell around Netherop, just the loss of the Radiant Arrow and the Steadfast Strike and that the Prophet of Truth had deemed the losses to be a sign of divine displeasure and forbade all Covenant vessels from entering the system. Nizat's exile on the planet was omitted with Thel 'Vadam only having heard of the events up to Nizat and his forces fleeing from High Charity and a general order from the Hierarchs that Nizat be killed on sight. The Silent Shadow also apparently left behind Blademaster Menuz 'Ra'ashai to help enforce the exile, although he ended up joining forces with Nizat during his years stranded on the planet.

Over the next thirty-three years, Nizat and his forces waged an ongoing war against Petrov and her forces, unaware that the Covenant was eventually defeated. The exiled Covenant forces would discover leftover Precursor technology that allowed them to create armor that they called Sanctum's Hide and a weapon that they called the Divine Hand which Nizat used to destroy two UNSC rescue missions that were sent to the planet. However, Petrov and her forces were able to kill a number of Nizat's people over the years, leaving him with only six remaining followers, while the humans had children and their numbers only increased as time went on. Nizat became more and more fanatical as time went on, but his followers, aside from Tam, started to become disillusioned by their harsh life.

Death
Following the departure of the UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios from Netherop, Nizat and Tam 'Lakosee made their way towards the refectory by the light of two dying lamps following the removal of the vacuum energy condenser that was powering the tel. The two were so weak and thirsty that they could barely even walk, and it took a hundred centals to persuade Nizat to try for the aeroponics grange where there would be food and drink so that they could rejuvenate themselves. Both Sangheili developed infections from their wounds, but Nizat was much worse off than Tam with his ripped-off mandible. With their Sanctum's Hide armor sloughing off, a sure sign that both Sangheili were dying, a despondent Nizat came to the conclusion that they were being punished for failing the gods. Too weak to continue on, Nizat sent Tam ahead with orders to come back for him. However, Tam only found their crops ruined and the water contaminated which Tam believed was punishment for leading the UNSC to the Inner Sanctum and then allowing them to steal the Divine Hand.

Unwilling to be the one to confirm that the gods were punishing them and that they were marooned to die on this hellish world in pain, hunger and relentless heat, Tam filled a haversack with some of the withered fruit and withered vines and the water jug with the foul liquid and he returned to Nizat. By the time that Tam arrived, Nizat's Sanctum's Hide had dissolved completely, and he was so weak that Tam feared that he was already dead. Promising that the gods were still with them, Tam gave his friend the water and food before using his energy sword to mercy kill Nizat, leaving Tam alone to die of his infection, starvation or dehydration.

Personality and traits
Nizat 'Kvarosee was considered an honorable and competent commander, proud of his station and skill, with 160 Earth years of military experience under his belt as of 2526. He was loyal to his crew and those who served him, and willingly took responsibility for any mistake he made, imagined or not. This willingness to take responsibility earned him a high degree of respect from First Blade Tel 'Szatulai who excused some of Nizat's impudent actions towards him as a result. Though he considered humans to be weak and cowardly, Nizat educated himself to learn English and a handful of other human languages, and he had ordered the Vicars of the Fleet to do the same. Nizat considered the glassing of human colonies to be cruel, though admittedly found it glorious and beautiful. He believed that the annihilation of humans was his gift to the gods, a mere tithe he offered to one day be deemed worthy for the Great Journey.

However, Nizat had a hint of dissent growing within and found no delight from inflicting suffering and death on defenseless humans. He regarded the San'Shyuum as repulsively weak, though he was careful to address them with a tone just shy of reverence. He had a particular dislike for the Minor Minister of Artifact Survey, who he considered unimpressive and annoying. Despite this, he refused to lie to a San'Shyuum. On several occasions, Nizat found himself imagining killing the Minor Minister. At one point, Nizat contemplated whether or not 'Szatulai would follow the order if he gave it which 'Szatulai's own internal musings showed he gladly would've and wondered in turn if Nizat and his crew would be willing to cover it up. He found that his path grew darker after his steward Tam 'Lakosee slew the Minor Minister and the fleetmaster quickly decided to lie to the Hierarchs about the manner of Survey's death to save the life of his steward.

Nizat showed himself to be an incredibly cunning and adaptable opponent, proving himself to be one of humanity's earliest and most dangerous Covenant enemies. This was only amplified by the fact that humanity remained unaware of the true extent of the danger that Nizat posed to them. During Operation: SILENT STORM, Nizat's tactics were highly adaptable to countering the Spartans and the UNSC after learning from the Insurrectionists of their plans. After learning what had been taken from a downed intrusion corvette in the Battle of Seoba, Nizat and 'Szatulai quickly deduced the UNSC's next target and moved to stop them. It was only the Spartans own adaptability to the situation that allowed them to bypass Nizat's defenses and decimate his forces at Zhoist. Nizat subsequently came up with an elaborate plot to destroy ONI, recognizing it as the true danger amongst the UNSC even when the Hierarchs refused to listen. Using what he'd observed of the Spartans tactics during his previous engagements with them, Nizat successfully lured them into a trap on Netherop using one of his own ships as a lure and then using the Spartans to combat the Silent Shadow when they arrived. Although ultimately defeated and exiled on Netherop by the Covenant, Nizat succeeded in slipping a Luminal Beacon into the UNSC's possession and remained confident that his forces would be able to continue with his plan, even in Nizat's permanent absence.

Already a strong believer in the Covenant religion, Nizat became more and more fanatical as time went on during his exile on Netherop, but his followers, aside from Tam, started to become disillusioned by their harsh life. After meeting Nizat and hearing the story of how he had saved Tam when he had killed the Minor Minister of Artifact Survey, Thel 'Vadam had a hard time reconciling the merciful superior from Tam's story with the irrational zealot that Nizat had become.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Silent Storm
 * Halo: Oblivion
 * Halo: Outcasts