Zil 'Kanayee

Zil 'Kanayee was a Sangheili soldier of the Covenant and native of the world, Honored Duty, Living during the alliance’s 4th Age of Reconciliation, his early military career was filled with securing Forerunner relics, and combating pirates. Due to the Covenant's larger civil conflicts of the era, he would participate in several of these, such as the Battle of Bountiful Providence. 
__TOC__
==Biography==
===Early Life===
Zil 'Kanay was born in 490 BCE to the House of Kanay, a prominent clan on the world of Honored Duty. Born to Keepward Tarn 'Kanyai, and Head Matron Yun 'Kanay, the young Zil would train under the tutelage of his uncle, Jor ‘Kanayee like the rest of his peers. During the free time allowed to him, he would often join his cousin Nelt in exploring the family’s coastal shorelines in search of treasures or trinkets. Unfortunately as they grew older, Zil’s growing capabilities in combat would bring about a sense of jealousy in Nelt, making their friendship icy. 
=== Trial of Valor: The Kele'norik Hunt ===
Weeks after his tenth birthday, Zil and multiple other younglings would be chosen by Jor to begin their Trial of Valor. A rite of passage ritual, the younglings would be divided into two teams led by Zil and Nelt, and tasked with obtaining a carapaces from a local megafauna insectoid called the Kele'norik. 
During their first night of encampment, Zil's group would come under attack by a pack of Delchin. While the Sangheili suffered no casualties, one member, Gilik 'Qivroee, had suffered severe wounds fighting four of the creatures at once. Seeing himself as dishonored and too wounded to continue, he would ask for an honorable death at Zil's blade. Seeing such an act as foolishness, Zil would deny this request, instead praising his team mate for their glorious deed. Ordering trophies be made from the slain creatures for proof of Gilik's deed, Zil would have other members of the team take the wounded youth back to the keep, while he and the others restocked their supplies. 
The team's journey would resume the next day with the return of the escorts. Following several long hours of trekking, the Sangheili youth would manage to find their quarry, though in the form of an entire nest. Numbering in the hundreds, such a collection was unexpected, and several among the group would voice their concerns of ending the trial and reporting the discovery back to Jor. 
It was shortly revealed Nelt's own team had stumbled across the nest on its the far side. Using the reflection of their curveblades, both groups would silently communicate between each other, before a final plan of action was made by Zil. Both teams would work together to lead away a single Kele'norik knight and kill it, which would provide ample material for all. Before this plan could be implemented however, a pair of patrolling guards would become aware of the Sangheili presence, and raise an alarm.
In the chaos that followed, both team leaders became separated from their squads, forced to take shelter in a riverbed cave from a pursing knight. Here Zil would propose using himself as a distraction while Nelt freed a nearby wedged boulder to slay the beast. This planned worked, granting the two their prize. Despite this victory, things would become strained when Zil reminded his cousin that their brethren still needed rescue. Nelt would shockingly brush off the his cousin's concern, commenting sadly that their kinsmen were likely already dead and any rescue would only result on their own demise. When pressed further by Zil, he would only conclude that not all Sangheili were worthy enough to serve the Covenant. Disgusted at what he saw as cowardly betrayal, Zil coldly berated Nelt, before leaving to find the missing Sangheili on his own.
Returning near the nest site, Zil would find various clues that eventually led him to a small band of survivors trapped on a cliff by a pack of Kele'norik. Using a small outcropping to climb up out of sight of the swarm, he assisted his fellows in planning a way to escape. Things would worsen as the Sangheili would shortly become aware of the creatures attempt to shape a ramp to reach their position. 
Limited on options and time, Zil proposed the same tactic used earlier by Nelt and himself. Leading the healthiest of the group up higher, they would loosen a series of large stones above the camp, with the resulting rock slide killing the apparent leader of the insects and scattering the others. The following morning, they would harvest what they could from the slain beast, fashioning the largest pieces into sleds for those who could not walk. Journeying back to the keep, they would pause near the nest site, to allow Zil and another individual, Gvro, to scout ahead for safe passage. On checking the nest site they would be shocked to find the area a charred clearing of blasted trees and carbonized exoskeletons, with members of the keep's militia, the Custodian Watch, patrolling the area. 
Met up by Jor, the old warrior explained that Nelt had indeed returned to the keep, revealing the existence of the abnormally large nest. Granting the group praise for a successful trial, Jor would send them back to the keep for recovery, where Zil and the rest enjoyed a stent of popularity among their fellow younglings.
===Joining the Custodian Watch===
By 477 BCE, Zil would enroll in the Custodian Watch himself, the service not only mandatory for all clan males, but also would improve his chances of being accepted into one of the better war colleges. Over the course of the next few months he would be mentored under an Officer, with duties extending from simple security at the port, to patrols along the borderlands. It would be as a custodian as well, that Zil would begin training with the more military-grade weapons used throughout the Covenant. 
==== Protecting the Kaidon ====
During an annual festival of the clan's founding on the world in 475 BCE, Zil would be among those custodians charged with overseeing the festivities. At the height of the celebration as the Kaidon prepared to deliver a speech, a robed Sangheili would separate from the crowd and attempt to kill Kanay's leader with a plasma pistol. Managing to act fast enough to shield the Kaidon, Zil would manage to restrain the would-be assassin with the help of other custodians. Revealing a burn blade, the stranger would attempt to fight back, but ultimately take his own life rather than surrender. The identity of the assassin would remain unknown, only that he was not a native of Kanay. The reason for the attack would likewise remain a mystery for some time, with most believing him either hired by a disgruntled Elder, or having some personal grudge with the Kaidon. 
==== Raid on Kanay Keep ====
Months after the assassination attempt during a patrol near the outskirts of the keep, a Vera’num-pattern clipper vessel would appear off the coast of the keep, releasing several dropships. Perceived at first as merely dropping off cargo, Zil and the rest of the group would be surprised when the transports began attacking the dock area, revealing their nature as raiders. 
Tasked with securing weapons from the armory, Zil and his fellow squad mates would be ambushed by a group of the pirates en-route to the building. Attempting to hold their position with needle-bolters, they would almost be overwhelmed before the timely arrival of Nelt. Attacking the distracted raiders on his own, he would manage to take down several foes before the remaining ones turned to focus on him. During a brief moment of calm, Nelt would demand his kin to continue on, while he dealt with the enemy. Heeding his words, the group would manage to re-arm at the armory, and properly join the battle. Despite taking down several enemy soldiers himself, Zil and other nearby forces would be slowly forced back as some of the enemy transports moved in to begin strafing their positions.
Barricading the exit to the port, the custodian forces would gain relief when multiple talons of haunt strike craft would sweep into the area. Engaging the dropships and the clipper, they were able destroy the transports, and force the vessel itself into a retreat through sheer numbers. With their means of escape gone, the remaining raiders would attempt to disengage, and flee into the forests. Most of the Custodians would pursue the enemy, and manage to capture enough of them to be taken in as prisoners for questioning.
With the battle concluded Zil would be among those helping the wounded and collecting the dead, a task that stretched into the night. During this time, he would come across the body of Nelt, surrounded by multiple dead raiders. Honoring his cousin's sacrifice, Zil would make a request from the local priest that his cousin receive the Prayer of Anointment. Days later, it would be announced that the attack had come from members of the Horno clan, as a means to test Kanay's defenses. 
Combined with the previous attempt on the Kaidon's life, these actions would be decried by Sangheili of both clans, as it broke multiple treaties between them. Fearing retribution from the larger and more powerful clan, alongside rebellion from his own people, the Kaidon of Horno would attempt to appease his Kanay counterpart. Executing the Elders suspected for the attack and banishing their bloodlines, it was hoped this would be seen as a token of goodwill. While considered a sense of justice to the Sangheili of Kanay, feelings of mistrust between the clans would linger for years afterwards. For Zil himself, the event would bring about a disdain for those who turned their backs on the Covenant.
== Life at the War College ==
By 472 BCE, Zil would be accepted by the respected Urs' Blade academy, located in the northern province of Garnash. In celebration of this, he and his other kinsmen who were chosen would be honored by Jor with a baptism ceremony for the young adults. The day before he was to leave, Zil would be approached by one of the Kaidon's Keepwards, who sought to challenge the youth to a duel. Surprised by this, Zil would question his uncle on the matter, who granted permission for the duel. In the battle that ensued, Zil would manage to hold his own for a short time, but ultimately lost to the guard.
The older Sangheili however granted him a bow of respect, admiring the youth's refusal to yield until he had drawn blood from the guard. On his arrival to the academy, he would become part of the T'vlk warrior creche, a five-hundred strong class consisting of the newest students. Placed into a contubernium units, Zil would find himself partnered with three other trainees, Yorn 'Nekam, Soru 'Galnan, and Kusa 'Norna. 
Fighting together in various war games and other training exercises, Zil would quickly became the favored leader of the group for Yorn and Soru. Kusa however, would become embittered by this view. An up and coming swordsman hailing from a lineage of Zealots, he saw Zil's tactics as too cautious for a warrior of the Covenant. This would cause tension among the group, as Kusa would at times ignore orders and leap seek personal glory, or treat the others as below him.
These actions would begin to form cracks within the team's morale, causing several losses on further tests. Fed up, Zil would challenge Kusa to a curveblade duel, with the victor being deemed the official team leader. The latter would happily accept, picking the combat arenas it would take place in. 
Various other students would come to witness the battle, and true to his bravado Kusa would manage to keep Zil on the defensive for most of their duel. Relying on his endurance and speed to be able to match his opponent, Zil would last long enough to recognize certain patterns in Kusa's fighting style and counter them to claim victory. Humbled, Kusa would begrudgingly accept his defeat and acknowledge Zil’s authority. 
In the aftermath, Kusa would begin to work more cooperatively alongside his team mates, even developing a friendly rivalry with Zil in various activities. These would help them when Mahk 'Rakomee, Provost of the esteemed war academy on Saepon'kal, would visit Urs' Blade while traveling through the local sector. Hoping to curry prestige, the Battlemasters would have their students participate in more difficult and varied mock battles, with the Provost judging the creche's worth.
By the end of his week stay, the Provost was satisfied with what he witnessed, decreeing the college was up to the Covenant standards before departing. Despite succeeding and failing several tests, Yorn would be among the highest scoring students of the creche. For this, he would be rewarded a golden cast burnblade, representing one of the Sangheili Home Stars. 
==Covenant Military Service==
===The Battle of Ta'Telco===
In 470 BCE, Zil would graduate alongside the remaining two-hundred members of the T'vlk creche, becoming a full-fledged Tiro of the Covenant military. Stationed within the relic-recovery fleet of Hopeful Salvation, Zil would serve onboard the Hekar Taa-pattern blockade runner, the Blessed Absolution. His first months of service would often involve protecting the fleet's San 'Shyuum Diviners or Sangheili Glyph-Speakers, as they studied forerunner sites. This would change when the fleet received news from the Minister of Relic Protection via a courier vessel from High Charity. Bringing the coordinates of a world named Ta'Telco, the Minister claimed a glyph matching a Grand Luminary, a forerunner star map, had been found on the planet.
Upon their arrival to the world, the Covenant would discover a small forerunner city, to which the T'lvk creche would be deployed in order to help seek and secure the location of the Luminary itself. After weeks of searching, the building believed the hold the relic would be found, with a cathedral-fortress constructed nearby to act as a garrison for the ground forces. While the outer areas of the temple proved accessible, the inner halls would resist any attempts at entry, forcing the covenant forces to wait for the Diviners and their Huragok to open the inner sanctum.
During this period, Zil would spend his time in recreational activities, or touring the outer halls alongside Kusa. When the Diviners managed to unlock the inner sanctum, he would be present to witness a Zealot team enter and retrieve the sacred treasure, though any celebration by the covenant soldiers were cut short by the appearance multiple sentinels. 
The machines would demand the luminary's return, and for the Covenant to leave the planet. In response, the lead Diviner would recite the Psalm of Reclamation, which identified the Covenant as the rightful heirs to the Forerunners' legacy. To Zil's shock and horror the lead sentinel would declare this response incorrect, before it and its companions began an attack. Forced to defend himself, the Tiro would manage to take down several of the machines himself, as an attempt was made by the covenant forces to secure the area. As dozens of more machines continued to appear however, it wouldn't take long for a route to take place. This would allow the sentinels to return the relic back into the temple, though many others would continue to pursue the retreating soldiers.
Separated from the rest of his team, Zil would manage to make his way back to the cathedral, where he managed to re-group with several other Tiros and an Officer. Tasked with defending the location from any sentinel attack, the machines would arrive before any proper defense could be mounted, quickly engaging the Sangheili and killing their Officer.
Forced to take up command himself, Zil would order his brethren to use a crate of targe-shield pods as deployable cover, using the short-lived energy barriers to both engage the sentinels, and to move various crates and barriers into a more sturdier and proper defense. Managing to create a choke point, the group proved capable of holding back multiple waves of sentinels for almost an hour, before a larger sentinel variant appeared. Seemingly immune to their small arms fire, Zil prepared to order a retreat, before the sentinel was attacked by a pair of haunts.
The crafts' weapons proved effective enough damage to force the construct into retreat, bringing respite to the infantry. The pilots would reveal themselves as Yorn and Soru, and with their support the sentinels were driven back long enough for covenant reinforcements to land. Aware of the additional enemy forces, the sentinels would begin to materialize three Anti-air cannons around the citadel, targeting both dropships and insertion pods. Taking to the skies himself, Zil would join his team mates and join a larger contingent of covenant forces in an assault on these emplacements.
Accomplishing this, they would re-unite with Kusa, as the Covenant mustered an attempt to reclaim the temple. The area around the temple would come under heavy bombardment via multiple fighter talons, before covenant forces surged into the area. Ordered with holding a tower near the temple, Zil's team would use multiple turrets and heavy weapons against the machines as seven Zealot strike teams breached the facility. Despite holding for a time, covenant losses would begin to mount. This, alongside receiving reports that the fleet itself was coming under assault by god-machines appearing on the vessels, forced the Field Commander to call a full retreat. Being one of the last to move out, Zil and his comrades would receive word that the remaining Zealots had obtained the luminary, and were making their way to the evacuation zone. 
Choosing to hold their position, the Sangheili Tiros would continue to hold off multiple sentinel attacks, as a new wave of fighter craft held back the larger and more dangerous constructs. A beetle transport would arrive shortly, carrying a single pair of Zealots, and the ancient relic sheltered between them. Joining the Zealots, the group would make their way back to the citadel, where Zil himself would suffer injury after moving in the way of a sentinel’s energy beam attack met for one of the Zealots. With the luminary safely aboard the dropship, the group would depart to the fleet, even as the warships themselves were already distancing themselves from the planet in order to prevent more boarding parties.
While recovering from his injury in the medical suite Zil would be visited by Kusa, to whom he would question on why forerunner machines would attack the chosen inheritors of the Forerunners. More knowledgeable on theological matters, the older Sangheili would tell him of tales from his own clan’s history, where warriors had combated god-machines in their countless forms. It was seen as a common test of faith by the Forerunner creations for the Covenant, one that would endlessly repeat until the faithful were proven worthy of the Great Journey.
On the fleet's arrival to a way-station to make repairs and pass the relic to a courier vessel for High Charity, Zil and the rest of the crew would attend a Transcendence ceremony, held by the vessel's head Deacon, for those lost during the battle.
===Exploration of the Labyrinth of Distant Solitude===
Months after Ta'Telco, Zil took part in a Reclamation operation, this time in securing a forerunner relic hidden within an alien station. Within the station, attempts to traverse deeper would be hindered not only by the labyrinthian pathways, but also with attempts to move further into the station, Zil's unit would notice that they appeared to be looping in circles, ending up at already explored rooms despite trying different pathways. Upon hearing of other teams reporting similar confusing reports, it would be Kusa who would realize the teams were interacting with some type of forerunner baffler system. 
At his suggestion, the Sangheili would make use of their accompanying Huragok as a guide, a tactic that helped them break through the illusion. Moving closer to the center of the station, the team would come under attack from another group of Sangheili. Believing them to be pirates, a prolonged firefight would ensue, before Yorn would impale one of the foes on his burnblade. To their shock, the slain Sangheili would crackle out of existence, revealing their true nature as a form of holographic defensive measure. 
Reporting this experience to the Praetor, the group would continue onward, though the eerie phantom warriors would continue various attempts at delaying them and the other covenant teams. Nearing a room the Huragok claimed held the relic, they would manage to link up with two of the other teams who had made it. Tasking the Huragok to unlock the chamber before them. Within would be the relic, hooked up to countless machines and pods containing more of the aliens. Attempting to disconnect the forerunner treasure though would bring about several new waves of ghost Sangheili, who battled the two teams. Only the removal of the relic would end the ghosts' assault on the Covenant. 
In the aftermath,records revealed that the aliens had attempted to use the forerunner technology with their own in order to gain a form of immortality. The result had granted them a form of digital existence, only able to interact with reality via the holograms the Covenant had encountered.which had at best granted them digital lives within the systems. The results had caused them to live digital lives trapped within the station's systems. Theorizing that these had been the source of the ghost warriors, it was considered a heresy by the Covenant. Considering the experience a somber lesson in the proper care of the Forerunners' gifts, Zil and the rest would depart the station.
===Conflict at Crucible-1090===
By early 469 BCE, Zil and his fellows would be part of another relic reclaimation operation. The fleet had been ordered to check a storm-rattled water world, where another fleet had gone missing. Arriving at the planet, a flotilla of twelve dropships would be sent forth to investigate the location of the relic and of the missing fleet. On entering the atmosphere, the drop ships would come under fire from previously unknown forerunner weapons. Piloting their craft with great skill, Soru would manage to find shelter within a half-submerged forerunner struture. 
Joined by two other transports, the only ones left, the survivors consisted of a mere fifteen Sangheili, three Huragok, and two pairs of Mgalekgolo. Salvaging what they could from the damaged craft, the group would move into the complex, hoping to avoid the worsening weather conditions. Within they would attempt to find a way to regain communication with the fleet, moving deeper and testing various terminals. On attempting to enter a room thought to finally hold a communication node, they would be greeted by a forerunner monitor.
Identifying itself as "The Mentor," it was revealed as the caretaker of the warrior-servant training grounds they occupied. Incorrectly believing the covenant soldiers to be new forerunner cadets, the group would be transported to a practice dome to hone their skills. Following the deaths of several Sangheili in these tests, along with the machine's continued ignorance of any Covenant Rites, the group would come to the conclusion the construct was either insane, or a false oracle. 
==== Lekgolo peace talks on Rantu II ====
Zil's next experience with battle would come in the form of the Lekgolo on the colony world of Rantu II, where interactions had gone sour between San 'Shyuum Diviners, and their Lekgolo underlings during the study of a forerunner site. To avoid further conflict, the Blessed Absolution would bring a group of ambassadors to aid in settling matters. Part of a contingent of guards responsible for the ambassadors' safety, events would change though, as the eels revealed they'd only speak to Sangheili, showing distrust of the San 'Shyuum members of the group. Unable to change their mind, the ambassadors would spend hours teaching the ship's most gifted Glyph-Speakers in the ways of the pen before they were sent down. 
Taken to a large cavern near the relic site, Zil would watch over the Speakers as they spoke with a Lekgolo meta-colony. Claiming to speak on behalf of the entire planet's population, the meta-colony would demand the world's freedom from the Covenant's yoke, having witnessed its kind used as mere tools by the San 'Shyuum. In return, it would allow the Covenant to finish their excavation of the main relic site. Unwilling to abandon the rest of the forerunner treasures on the world, the Sangheili delegation brought up the benefits and important role the species had reaped from their enrollment within the alliance. 
The colony however, would still decline offers of staying within the Covenant's union. Talks would ultimately break down as threats arose from both sides, before open conflict erupted as the Lekgolo attempted to kill the covenant soldiers. Zil and the other survivors would manage to make it to the drop ship, using its heavier weapons to fend off the swarms of Lekgolo worms. Informing the fleet of the circumstances, the Blessed Absolution would move into low orbit, using its weapons to clear a path around the site the San 'Shyuum researchers were held up in. managing to free them, the soldiers would fall back to their ship as it began to bombard the cave's location in plasma. 
=== Skirmish above the Dark Maw ===
During the fleet's examining of a binary star system consisting of a red giant and dark maw for, the Blessed Absolution's luminary would begin to alert the crew of a relic near the stellar bodies. The device would eventually reveal the fleet the source as a pair of shrine cores within a pair of derelict ORS-crusiers in orbit near the maw. Complications would arise when it was revealed a flotilla of corvettes and a single carrier were already at work attempting to claim the relics for themselves. Wary of firing on the enemy ships for fear of hitting the aged vessels, the Blessed Absolution would deploy boarding parties to capture the enemy carrier.
Zil and his team would be among those to take part in the boarding action, under the command of an Officer. Arriving in the enemy hangar alongside other covenant forces, they would battle their way down multiple hallways, before being ambushed by cloaked Sangheili outside the ship’s armory. While managing to slay most of the enemy forces, Yorn and Kusa would be severely wounded in the battle. Furthermore, the covenant realized they lacked the proper security codes to enter the armory. Hearing of reinforcements fast approaching over the battlenet, Zil would approach the last living pirate, offering clemency if they repented and gave the needed clearance.
Agreeing to these terms, the pirate would unlock the room, before being ushered inside alongside the Covenant forces. Managing to stabilize his team mates, Zil and join his Officer in hold back multiple waves of enemy soldiers that sought to retake the armory. A request for parley however would be declared by the Pathkeeper of the vessel, bringing the fighting to an end.
Returning to the hanger, Zil would come to find the fleet of Hopeful Salvation surrounding the vessel, alongside the Chartermaster himself onboard. Commended for his service by his superior, the Tiro would be ordered to escort his team mates back to their home vessel, and take the penitent pirate in for questioning. Hours later, news would reach Zil of the pirate carrier making a course change, heading directly for the dark maw.
Thinking this an insane attempt on the Chartermaster's life, he would come to learn the deed had been done by his superior himself after Huragok had plundered the vessel's data logs. It was declared as his own judgement for the pirates’ sins in tampering with the shrine-cores, one of which they had destroyed. With the enemy eliminated, the covenant forces would return to their original task of harvesting the remaining shrine core.
===Campaign of Bountiful Providence===
In 465 BCE, the fleet would be called upon to assist in the reclamation of a secessionist world by the name of Bountiful Providence. Once a great source of wealth and resources for its local sector, the planet had fallen under the sway of a Sangheili supremacist group, the Brotherhood of Urs. Claiming their leader as the new Arbiter of the Sangheili people, this sparked a civil war between his faction, and those still loyal to the Covenant. While war fleets had been mustered by High Charity, the fleet of Hopeful Salvation was close enough to be sent in as a temporary stop-gap measure until these reinforcements could arrive.
==== Invasion of Pious Tranquility ====
Zil would join the T’vlk creche's assault on Pious Tranquility, one of the cities currently contested between the two factions. Using a pair of trireme legion carriers, the creche would be able to establish a base camp within a loyalist-controlled section, before moving outward. Zil's own contubernium unit and several others joined loyalist militia forces in the defense of a cathedral near the city outskirts. 
Fortified as a shelter for the local civilian populace, its defenses allowed Zil and his allies to repulse multiple enemy attacks, before a covenant bombing run decimated the majority of brotherhood forces, the survivors of this would commence a final charge rather than surrender. Fusing the doors shut to buy time, the militia Commander revealed a secondary escape route through a series of underground catacombs for the covenant and loyalist forces. Problems would unfold when it was quickly revealed that the large and unwieldy forerunner relics the cathedral held could not be taken as well. Several of the more zealous individuals would be angered at this, but ultimately relent. Making it back unto the surface some distance away from the cathedral, the militia Commander activated a series of explosives, bringing the building down on the enemy, and destroying the relics within. 
Angered at this apparent sacrilege, Kusa would threaten the Commander with execution. It would be Yorn who would reel in his comrade's temper, reminding him of psalms that spoke of the Forerunners having to perform similar grim tasks. The civilians would be brought to a covenant camp set up near the command base, while the contubernium unit was re-deployed with fresh equipment. Over the next day, brotherhood forces would eventually be pushed out of the city, securing a Covenant victory. Limited on manpower, the city, along with a few regions in the surrounding landscape, would serve as an unofficial headquarters for those opposed to the Brotherhood of Urs. 
====Mountain Relic Security====
A week into the campaign, the first covenant war-fleets, that of Tempered Judgement and Providence's Mercy, would arrive. With these additonal forces, the T'vlk creche would mainly be re-assigned to the tasks of securing forerunner sites from brotherhood forces. In one such mission, Zil would join a force of covenant soldiers in an attempt to capture a forerunner lab within a mountain region held by the rebel Sangheili. Studded with heavy anti-air encampments, the defenses forced the Covenant to use Lekgolo centipede walkers to scale the craggy slopes. Slow moving, the walkers were unfortunately caught in an ambush by brotherhood forces with heavy weapons. While Kusa and Yorn would dismount to engage the enemy and pull attention away from the transport, Zil and Soru would use the walker's turret defenses to provide cover fire. Managing to fight off these forces, the Covenant would near the installation, only to witness brotherhood forces evacuate the facility as it vanished in an explosion. 
====Battle of the Crystal Gorge====
During a covenant assault to capture a suban crystal assembly forge, Zil and Soru would be part of a haunt strike craft rear guard, charged with preventing enemy reinforcements from reaching the facility. Using their craft to great effect, the flight talon would manage to take out multiple convoys of enemy forces, before their foes brought forth several wand-launchers. While archaic, the weapons were still powerful enough to force the talon apart, with one of the missiles managing to strike Soru's aircraft. Witnessing this, Zil would immediately inform the talon Commander of his plans to rescue his friend against his superior's orders. Putting his own safety at risk, he would strafe the gathering enemy troops around the crash site, before landing nearby.
To his great dismay, he would find Soru had not survived the crash. Securing his friend's identification wafer from his harness, Zil would quickly find himself cut off from his craft by newly arrived enemy soldiers . While managing to defeat several opponents, he would find himself quickly surrounded. Prepared to go down fighting, Zil would be saved by the return of the rest of the covenant flight talon, as they cut through the enemy lines, granting him time needed to escape to his own haunt.
Berated for his reckless action, the Commander would offer his warrior a chance for penance, as the local Field Commander had requested their support in dealing with a column of enemy tanks and aircraft at the facility. In the following battle, Zil would personally eliminate three of the enemy aircraft, alongside two enemy tanks. Unable to hold them back, the defenders would either surrender or flee as the covenant ground army finally secured the facility. On their return to the base the Field Commander would honor the pilots, though Zil would still face punishment for his earlier disobedience, which took the form of multiple lashings by his superior. Later on seeing Kusa and Yorn again, the trio would hold a small service for their departed brother. 
==== Siege of the Eternal Monument ====
With brotherhood forces being slowly pushed back, they would begin to rally at a main stronghold, a Forerunner fortress dubbed the Eternal Monument. Here brotherhood Glyph-Speakers had proven capable via Huragok assistance, of activating a ring of defensive turret systems around the city. While only semi-operational, these machines still proved capable of halting any major covenant ground or air assaults. Deemed too holy to bombard, covenant Commanders were forced to surround the city with a series of defensive trenches, in hopes of starving the enemy out. Zil, alongside Kusa and Yorn, would lead a loyalist militia levy within one of these trenches. The weeks that followed were filled with repeated rebel attacks, and attempts to avoid enemy artillery barrages.
During one such skirmish, Zil would manage to obtain a data wafer from a fallen rebel Commander. Thanks to a Huragok, it would be found to contain coordinates matching multiple covenant positions and a command camp itself. Delivering it to the local Field Commander, the areas in question would be evacuated shortly before a rebel bombardment hit the areas. For his actions in saving his fellow warriors and superiors and his past deeds, Zil would be granted the honor of becoming an Adjutant Officer. Along with his new station, the Sangheili would be given a new Tiro to finally replace the loss of Soru, a warrior named Pern 'Raltoree. 
==== High Charity Intervention/Brotherhood's Defeat ====
As the battle around the Eternal Monument ground on to become the main focus point on the world, Zil would gain command of another contubernium unit, leading them and his original team on several raids to capture brotherhood outposts alongside the city'e edge. During one such battle, their battle with the defenders would come to a sudden halt, as High Charity appeared overhead. Dismayed at its appearance, the enemy Sangheili would take their own lives, refusing to live with the shame of surrender. Moving back to a command base, Zil would be present to listen to a message from the Hierarch of Providence. Deeming the city too tainted by heresy, the Hierarch would declare a Forsaken edifice edict. Using a pair of Sinaris-pattern destroyers, Providence would personally carry out the task of burning the city and its heretic inhabitants himself. With the loss of their leader and main stronghold remaining brotherhood forces would either surrender, or take their own lives. Those taken into custody by covenant forces would be sent to various penal bases across covenant space to atone for their crimes. 
=== Conversion of Virtuous Tribute ===
Some years after the battle for Bountiful Providence, the fleet would follow a new luminary signal to a new world. On arrival, those aboard would be shocked on discovering the planet occupied by an apparent primitive Sangheili society. Scans revealed the population had once been more advanced, with crumbling ruins matching those made by pre-covenant artisan forges. Sending a query to High Charity on how best to proceed, the fleet would deploy multiple teams ground-side to monitor their lost kin.
As one of these teams, Zil and his comrades would fashion a camp site some distance away from one of the villages, donning cloaking robes during the night hours in order to more closely study the native's way of life. After several days of observation, they would report back to their Pathkeeper, judging the natives as a Tier 6. 
=== Battle of Chi'run ===
By 461 BCE, the fleet would be called on to assist in fighting a growing rise of piracy on the covenant border worlds. Already engaged with an important excavation, four of the fleet's vessels were granted for this new task. The brigantine carrier, Dutiful Devotion, would lead three blockade runners Psalm of Unity, Mendicant's Path, and Blessed Absolution, to the world of Chi'Run to assist in an ongoing pirate raid. Arriving in-system, the covenant warships would assist the native defense flotilla while Zil and other ground forces made for the planet's lone city.
Suffering damage due to heavy fire from Wyvern anti-air spear towers, the apparition carrying Zil's team would crash some ways outside the city. Those that survived would make their way to the designated landing zone. Finding the city covered by a shield, the Field Commander would attempt to overload the defenses via sustained volleys of tank fire, but this proved futile.
Worse, news over the battle net revealed that the defense flotilla had now joined with the pirates in their attack on the covenant fleet, revealing the entire campaign as a trap. Attempting to find a way in, the Field Commander would have multiple Mgalekgolo colonies charged with creating tunnels for teams of Sangheili to pass through under the city wall. As part of this mission, Zil would lead one of these teams, slowly following a Lekgolo swarm under the defenses and into the city. By the time their group breached the surface, night had already fallen, allowing easier travel towards their target.
Navigating the streets and alleyways, the group would stumble across another strike team. Led by a fellow Officer named Clek, he informed Zil that they had found the building holding the reactor powering the city shields. Unfortunately, due to the size of the facility, the exact location of the main fusion reactor was left unknown. Forced to infiltrate the structure, they would manage to make it to a cartographer room, using it to find the reactor's location. Finding the main chamber heavily guarded, the covenant soldiers would discover a pair of rooms housing limiter stations, each balancing the station's output. Suggesting the destruction of these stations, Clek and Zil would divide their forces, attacking both areas at once. 
The tactic would work successfully, with the stations suffering enough damage to destabilize the main reactor. With its power now wildly fluctuating, the reactor would begin to tear the building apart. Both covenant teams would flee the facility, fighting against various bands of enemy forces who attempted to get in their way. Sadly, Clek himself would perish while he and Zil held a rear guard for their Tiros to make it out of the building.
Taking shelter in a structure a few blocks away, they were mostly spared when the core finally failed. The resulting detonation vaporized the facility, while the concussive blast collapsed the surrounding structures, including that of the covenant survivors. While some were killed by the debris, Zil and a few others were merely knocked unconscious, later to be found by militia search teams. Brought to a penance hall for holding, they would languish for days, alongside other captured covenant and those Sangheili who had refused the Warden's rule.
While some of the other inmates would take their own lives to avoid family dishonor, Zil and others would hold faith that the Forerunners would provide salvation. As the days passed, word began to filter down of the battle swinging more in the Covenant's favor. Either due to this, or seeking penance, a guard would eventually open the cells and release the prisoners. The rest of the defenders as mere skeleton crew, were quickly overwhelmed by their charges, either killed or thrown into the holding chambers themselves.
Helping to re-arm his fellow prisioners, Zil would lead them to the surface, where warden reinforcements awaited them. In the battle that ensued, Zil would shepard several civilians, while providing sniper fire against their foes. The conflict would end, when an artillery shell impacted outside the building, causing the entrance to collapse on the enemy force. Wary of a new assault, the besieged forces were instead met by fresh covenant reinforcements.
Meeting with a fellow Officer, Zil found that most of the city was now under their control, with only the governor’s tower remaining unclaimed. Joining with a team of Urs’ Blade Commandos to  provide support, he and other covenant forces would breach into the building, battling their way up various levels. Within the San 'Shyuum's personal room, they would find the Governor herself, alongside Tarvo. Demanding their surrender, this was rebuffed by the pair, before suddenly vanishing in the flash of a forerunner teleportation matrix. 
While unable to track a signal, with the colony retaken the battle was declared a victory. Afterwards however, the cache of forerunner relics that had been reported to exist were unable to be found. Fearing they had been taken by the traitor Governor and her underling, and what damage they could cause, the Hierarchs would bring forth a team of San 'Shyuum Inquisitors to hunt them down. Assigned to the Blessed Absolution, the Inquisitors would have the blockade runner tasked with this mission.
===War with Harno Keep===
Some time after the end of Chi'run, the Pathkeeper of the Blessed Absolution would request an audience with Zil, revealing a priority message had been sent from his homeworld. In it, Jor 'Kanayee revealed that Horno had recently begun multiple border skirmishes with Kanay and their allies. With the prospect of a full war breaking out, Jor had invoked the Oath of Blood, a tradition for a Sangheili to help defend his homeland. 
Seeking to fulfill this, Zil was granted a request of dismissal, and prepared to head back on the next transport. Kusa and Yorn would both bid him farewell, hoping to see him again someday, or on the Journey. Arriving at Honored Duty a week later his transport would bring to the keep of clan Welnik, one Kanay's allies. The Kaidon would greet him on landing, updating him on recent events. 
It would be revealed that the old Kaidon of Horno had died, whether by old age or assassin blade was unclear, though the latter was suspected, due to the hard times Horno had recently fallen on. His successor, in an attempt to acquire new resources for his people and their allies, would lead a combined lightning strike against several of Kanay’s allied keeps. Forced to aid in their defense, battles between the various keeps had raged for weeks with no clear victor.  Granted a spare eidolon vehicle and some rations, Zil would attempt to make his way back to his family’s keep. On nearing his home, he would be ambushed by a group of Sangheili Rangers. Their leader would demand Zil to identify himself. Recognizing their emblems as that of Kanay, he revealed himself as one of their kinsmen. Amazed, the leader likewise identified himself as Gilik ‘Qivroee, now leader of the Custodian Watch.
===Personality and Traits ===
Raised with a deep sense of loyalty to his clan and the Covenant, Zil would prove a zealous individual, believing it his duty to protect the covenant faithful, and to help bring others onto the Path of Salvation. This would at times cause him to act reckless in protecting those he cared about. Despite having a great dislike for Sangheili who practiced piracy or purposely turned their backs on the Covenant, he frowned on the idea of genocide, considering it a sin.  Likewise, the beliefs of taking one’s life to avoid dishonor, and refusing medical treatment, were also ideas he protested against. 
Category:Covenant units
Category:Sangheili