Ruwan Ackerson

Ruwan Ackerson was a hotel concierge in Cleveland. He was the younger brother of Colonel James Ackerson. He drove a 20th century Pontiac GTO.

Early life
During their childhood, James and Ruwan often imagined that they were fighting a dragon. Together, they created the imaginary Key of Osanalan, which they quested after whenever they imagined fighting the creature. Later in life, Ruwan would live in Mombasa, Kenya on Earth.

Battle of Cleveland
In November 2552, Ruwan was not present in Mombasa when it was destroyed, but rather found himself caught in the Covenant-invaded Cleveland, Ohio with musician Myras Tyla. He, Tyla, and hundreds of other civilians were captured by the Covenant and incarcerated in a sports stadium. The Covenant demanded the Key of Osanalan. The aliens were not aware that the object was fictional; Ruwan recognized the object from his childhood and realized that his brother had given him a chance to escape.

After civilians were rescued by a team of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, Ackerson and Tyla escaped in a dilapidated transport Warthog. After evading enemy patrols, they were found by UNSC forces and evacuated by a D77-TC Pelican. During their escape, Ackerson and Tyla spontaneously decided to be married after the war.

After informing his rescuers about what he knew regarding the Key of Osanalan, he was taken to an underground Marine base in the old sewers of Cleveland. There, he met Sergeant Twyker and Intellignce Operations Manager Wesley.

Death
Although initially hostile to the civilian, Twyker realized the significance of the fake Key and, in conjunction with Wesley, devised a plan to use this knowledge to their advantage. The Marines contacted the Covenant and informed them that they had the Key, requesting a meeting to hand over the Key. Ruwan volunteered to partake in the meeting despite the protests of Tyla, and was injected with Tykos 30, an organic tracking material. He then was taken to the agreed upon meeting place at Chagrin Falls, where a Jiralhanae Chieftain demanded he give them the key. Ruwan hesitated, and then told the Covenant that he was the Key.

Confused by this development, the Covenant took the human onboard the Harbinger of Piety to meet with the Minister of Inquisition. He questioned the human and promised to spare Earth in exchange for his knowledge. Ruwan played along until the Prophet informed the human he knew about the organic tracking material.

The Prophet believed that Ruwan was using the tracking material as a rescue beacon. Ruwan informed the Prophet that he was mistaken: the tracking compound was actually a targeting vector. With his last words, he told the Prophet to "kiss [his] ass". He had one final flashback of his childhood with James before the Orbital Defense Platform Nassau used its Magnetic Accelerator Cannon to destroy Harbinger of Piety, killing Ruwan and everyone else onboard.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Uprising