Zuka 'Zamamee

Zuka 'Zamamee was a Special Operations Covenant Elite in Halo: The Flood. He is said to be Prophet-blessed and holds the position of Special Operations Officer, wearing the black armor of a SpecOps Elite.

He leads a group of Grunts onto the Pillar of Autumn where he encounters the Master Chief and Cortana escaping. He tries to stop them but the Master Chief shoots him in the head with a Pistol, injuring but not killing him. As he lay wounded, another unit of Grunts, led by Yayap and Gagaw, pick him up and carry him off the ship for medical attention. He then takes Yayap as his assistant and appeals to the High Council of Masters members aboard the Truth and Reconciliation. Soha 'Rolamee, a Councilor Elite, turns his idea down at first but it is approved after the Master Chief raids the vessel, killing hundreds of soldiers and rescuing the valuable POW, Captain Keyes.

He sets his first trap inside the chamber of the security center of The Silent Cartographer, utilizing a pair of Hunters and a squad of Grunts under Yayap's command. However, one of the grunts, Linglin, accidentally kills one of the Hunters, allowing the Master Chief to overwhelm them all. 'Zamamee and Yayap survive only by hiding in a cargo pod.

The Prophet aboard the Truth and Reconciliation then warns him by way of 'Rolamee's disembodied head that the price of another failure is death.

He later arranges for Yayap to be captured so that the Grunt can be taken to Alpha Base and signal him when the Master Chief arrives there. When signaled, 'Zamamee lead a group of some 30 SpecOps Elites aboard the Pelican Charlie 217 and infiltrates the base. He also coordinates for a contingent of ground forces led by field master Noga 'Putumee to lead a simultaneous assault on the base. Though he frees Yayap, the two barely manage to escape in a Banshee as the assault fails miserably.

He finally travels to the Pillar of Autumn crash site where he takes on the alias of Huki 'Umamee to avoid punishment. He stays there doing the tasks asked of him until the Master Chief arrives aboard the ship one last time. Using information fed to him by Yayap, his final act is to attempt to ambush the Master Chief on an elevator. Armed with a Shade and surrounded by Grunts, he nearly kills the Master Chief using the plasma cannon. However, John-117 then retreated and Cortana disabled the elevator, causing it to hurtle towards the bottom of the shaft. John tosses two fragmentation grenades down into the falling elevator and the explosion kills 'Zamamee's Grunts and tosses him out of his Shade, stunning him. The elevator then impacts the floor, killing him instantly. The last thing he saw before impact was John-117.

Rank
He is legitimately called a "Special Operations Officer". This title and the fact that he wears jet black armor confirms that he is a SpecOps Elite. The fact that he is put in charge of a group of Elites lead some to speculate that he is either equivalent or subordinate to a SpecOps Commander, just like Rtas 'Vadum.

However, he is stated to be outranked by Soha 'Rolamee (a Councilor) by "two full levels". Two levels below Councilor in the Covenant Hierarchy is the Ultra rank.

On the other hand, it is unlikely that 'Zamamee is an Ultra, since his armor is stated to be black. It seems likely that he is between Special Ops Commander and Special Operative in rank, perhaps at the same rank of "Subcommander" as was Rtas 'Vadum's aide, Kusovai. It is also possible that this is a continuity error on the part of the author.

He can be briefly encountered in the elevator before it drops on the level The Maw in Halo: Combat Evolved.

Trivia

 * It is possible that 'Zamamee planned on killing Yayap because he states that, "Soon I'll have victory, and regain my honor. Then I'll take care of the tiresome Grunt." The reason for this is unknown, but it could be because he didn't want to share the glory of killing the Master Chief but rather wanted to horde all the honor himself. It is also possible because Yayap manipulated him and threatened him with a plasma pistol.
 * As said above, during the Elevator part of the level The Maw in Halo: Combat Evolved you actually encounter 'Zamamee, In Halo: The Flood it states that the Master Chief encounters 'Zamamee while the Elite is manning a Shade, but in the game he is not in a turret.
 * 'Zamamee is one of the few Covenant characters that are in the novel and the game.