Jul 'Mdama: Difference between revisions

In [[2558#February|February 2558]], 'Mdama continued to lead the Covenant forces on Requiem, and due to his earlier alliance with the Ur-Didact, maintained some control of the Promethean Knights on the shield world. With his forces engaged in multiple conflicts, 'Mdama leaked his plans for Requiem to human intelligence services, planning to draw the UNSC into a war of attrition. Not only would this allow him to cement his control of the Covenant but also sacrifice those forces he did not feel were entirely loyal. ONI took the bait, with the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} arriving in [[2558#February|February 2558]].<ref>'''Halo Mythos''', ''page 178''</ref> A [[Requiem slipspace artifacts|Forerunner artifact]] secured by [[SPARTAN-IV program|Spartan]] [[Fireteam Crimson]] and brought aboard ''Infinity'' [[Slipspace translocation|transported]] Doctor [[Henry Glassman]] to a Covenant base on the planet. 'Mdama came to oversee his soldiers when Glassman, alive but injured, was brought before him by several other Sangheili.<ref name="S1E3">'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Catherine]]''</ref> 'Mdama put Glassman to work at a Forerunner "shrine", which he correctly believed contained the remnants of the [[Librarian]]'s consciousness in AI form. He intended to use Glassman to reactivate the shrine, allowing him to communicate with the Librarian and ask for her aid in reclaiming the Forerunners' technological wonders.<ref name = "S1E4">'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Didact's Hand]]''</ref>

After [[Fireteam Castle]] were killed by Covenant forces the UNSC began searching for 'Mdama, now know by the epithet "the Didact's Hand". [[Fireteam Crimson]] was sent to 'Mdama's location, [[Two Giants]]; however, soon after Crimson engaged [[Promethean]] forces 'Mdama escaped through a [[slipspace]] portal. When Crimson followed him to the [[Fortress]], he escaped through yet another portal to [[the Cauldron]]. When Crimson tracked 'Mdama through the Cauldron he tried to escape again, but not before Commander [[Sarah Palmer]] called in an airstrike on 'Mdama's location. He managed to escape, but not before dropping [[Didact's Gift|another Forerunner device]].<ref>'''Spartan Ops''', [[Didact's Hand/The Didact's Gift|''The Didact's Gift'']]</ref> 'Mdama oversaw the Covenant's attempt to retrieve the device from [[Galileo Base]] with his lieutenant, [[Gek 'Lhar]], but was only creating a diversion for the humans. 'Mdama was actually using the artifact recovered by Fireteam Crimson as a communication terminal, allowing Jul to anonymously communicate with Dr. [[Catherine Halsey]] via her datapad and to spy on ''Infinity''.<ref name = "S1E5">'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Memento Mori]]''</ref> After Halsey was removed from the room by Commander Palmer and [[Thomas Lasky|Captain Lasky]], Glassman managed to activate something in the shrine, prompting all the present Sangheili (save him) to bow before the artifact. With his captors distracted, Glassman escaped from the antechamber. After the artifact's energy sphere rejected Jul, the Sangheili commander directed his fury at the now-missing Glassman; six Sangheili pursued the scientist in the tunnels but Jul held Gek back. Stating that Glassman's escape was unacceptable, Gek reassured Jul that he would deal with the matter personally, leaving Jul and his two guards alone with the artifact.<ref name = "S1E6">'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Scattered]]''</ref>  

Some time later Dr. Halsey contacted 'Mdama, informing him that she had deduced he was her helper but that their alliance could free the Librarian. However, the ship's AI, [[Roland]], was able to recover from Halsey's subterfuge and cut off the connection. After this 'Mdama ordered the Covenant and Prometheans to board ''Infinity'' through the artifact to capture Dr. Halsey.<ref name = S1E7>'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Invasion (Spartan Ops)]]''</ref> Despite significant losses the Prometheans managed to capture the doctor. She was then taken to "Librarian's Rest", where 'Mdama had her disable the shield previously erected by Doctor Glassman's attempts to access the shrine. As the shield deactivated she quickly entered the beam of light being produced by the shrine; she vanished, to 'Mdama's great anger.<ref name = "S1E8">'''Spartan Ops''', ''[[Expendable]]''</ref>

Meanwhile, at Halsey's urging, 'Mdama had a fake Forerunner artifact placed in a Forerunner structure on Aktis IV. Per Halsey's plan, Glassman and a team of Spartans discovered the artifact and believed that it was related to the Janus Key. Halsey and Jul watched Glassman's investigation from ''Song of Retribution''; when 'Mdama expressed mock abhorrence at creating a copy of a "holy" Forerunner object, Halsey revealed that she knew Jul's public persona is a mere façade. Glassman requested for ''Infinity'' to deliver their half of the Janus Key to him on the planet's surface for further analysis. Anticipating this, 'Mdama had troops ready to ambush the UNSC convoy carrying their half of the Key. Much to 'Mdama's surprise, the dropship carrying the other half was shot down before he could give an order. In the confusion, the rest of the Covenant strike force began the attack. 'Mdama decided to scourge the [[D79-TC Pelican|Pelican]] crash site himself and ordered Halsey to remain aboard his carrier. Unknown to him, Sali 'Nyon was responsible for shooting down the Pelican and he claimed half of the Janus Key for himself.{{Ref/Reuse|HE14}} Upon arriving planetside, 'Mdama and his forces began to eliminate the [[Treason|traitors]]. Jul ignored a [[Sangheili Zealot|Zealot]]'s suggestion for him to return to his carrier for safety. Upon learning that his forces had almost broken past the human fortifications, he ordered troops to kill all the humans once they gained access to their site; however, he told them to spare Glassman as a special punishment awaited him.<ref name="HE15">'''Halo: Escalation''', ''[[Halo: Escalation Issue 15|Issue #15]]''</ref>

In [[2558#October|October 2558]], Halsey's usefulness to 'Mdama was rapidly drawing to a close. Realizing that her demise was certain if she continued to remain in the Covenant, Halsey led 'Mdama and his followers to the frigid Forerunner world of [[Kamchatka]]. Unbeknownst to 'Mdama, the trip to Kamchatka was actually a trap set by Halsey, who had contacted the UNSC and established a plan to rendezvous with {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} in order to escape 'Mdama's Covenant, motivated also by the growing threat of [[Cortana]]. By this point, 'Mdama's Covenant had started to fracture, due to his former Promethean allies turning against him.{{Ref/Reuse|universe}}

[[Fireteam Osiris]] soon arrived on Kamchatka, having been deployed by ''Infinity'' to rescue Halsey and assassinate 'Mdama. After the Spartans succeeded in fighting their way through Covenant and Promethean forces battling their own war across the world's surface, Osiris located Halsey and 'Mdama at a temple where the frustrated 'Mdama was attempting to have Halsey access the [[Forerunner]] [[Domain]] without success. 'Mdama and his Zealot guards engaged the Spartans in a close-quarters fight with 'Mdama himself battling Spartan [[Jameson Locke]] using an energy sword. 'Mdama proved to be no match for the former ONI assassin who, utilizing his armor's thrusters and greater agility to his advantage, slashed 'Mdama across the stomach and stabbed him in the abdomen before climbing onto the Covenant [[Supreme Leader]]'s back. Locke stabbed 'Mdama in the side of the neck with his [[combat knife]], killing him. Removing his knife, Locke let 'Mdama's lifeless corpse fall to the ground as Locke turned his attention to Halsey.<ref name="H5G">'''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]''', campaign level, ''[[Osiris (level)|Osiris]]''</ref>

Although 'Mdama often displayed typical Sangheili aggression and did not hesitate to use force or the threat of force to accomplish his goals, he could be both patient and highly manipulative at times. During his captivity on Trevelyan, 'Mdama placated his human captors by behaving according to their expectations of his species, while simultaneously gleaning information on ONI's plans whenever possible.{{Ref/Reuse|ttw275}}<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 56''</ref><ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 381''</ref> He also convinced [[Prone to Drift]] to give him key information about Requiem and the Ur-Didact,<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''pages 372-374''</ref> later forcing the Huragok to aid him in his escape by threatening to detonate his explosive vest and damage the installation - something he anticipated Prone would be unwilling to risk.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''pages 397-400''</ref> Later, during the Requiem campaign, 'Mdama deliberately allowed the crew of ''Infinity'' to take possession of the [[Requiem slipspace artifacts|slipspace artifact]], playing on their assumption that the Covenant wanted the artifact for themselves.{{Ref/Reuse|S1E5}} The artifact later enabled his forces to [[Invasion of the UNSC Infinity|board]] ''Infinity'' and abduct Dr. Halsey, at the same time [[interdiction web|physically binding the ship to Requiem]].{{Ref/Reuse|S1E7}}{{Ref/Reuse|S1E8}} Prior to attacking ''Infinity'', 'Mdama attempted to gain Halsey's trust by sending her anonymous messages offering information about the Prometheans.{{Ref/Reuse|S1E4}} He further appealed to her scientific curiosity by delivering to her the [[Didact's Gift|"soul"]] of a [[Promethean Knight]].{{Ref/Reuse|S1E5}} He was surprised, though not overly upset, when Halsey contacted him and revealed that deduced his true identity as only the Didact's Hand could've provided her with the "soul" of a Promethean Knight.{{Ref/Reuse|S1E7}} 'Mdama accused Glassman of treachery when he unintentionally activated a protective shield at "[[Librarian's Rest]]" and used the chance to [[Escape from Librarian's Rest|escape]]{{Ref/Reuse|S1E6}} and appeared shocked to learn that it wasn't an intentional betrayal from Halsey who, being more experienced and better equipped, was easily able to shut down the shield and activate the Librarians' shrine.{{Ref/Reuse|S1E8}}

As the leader of the Covenant, 'Mdama wore armor commonly used by the [[Zealot]]s of the new Covenant order. However, it was painted blue similar to the coloration worn by less experienced Sangheili soldiers. His high position was indicated by a holographic symbol that hovers over the forehead of his helmet. His armor featured multiple painted white handprints with Didact's [[:File:Didact unbound.png|unbound symbols]] on the palm, indicating his status as "the Didact's Hand."