Hayden Kaleyi

General Hayden Kaleyi was an officer in the who rose to prominence during the interim conflicts after the and the early months of the . A native of , he entered corporate service at an early age in the hopes of rising high enough in the industrial hierarchy to earn his way offworld. When Hayden's father died in a tragic industrial accident, the local colonial authorities exploited a contract loophole to avoid paying life insurance benefits. Though Hayden wanted to avoid stirring up trouble his sister organized a series of labor protests against corrupt business practices. The protests disrupted local arms production and attracted attention from agents of the . Hayden's sister vanished during a police raid and was never seen again—Hayden suspected she had been conducted to an ONI blacksite. His investigation into his sister's disappearance brought him into contact with local Insurrectionist cells. A radicalized Hayden left Meridian and attended a URF training camp on , vowing to dedicate the rest of his life to opposing what he now viewed as the UEG's imperialist exploitation of the Outer Colonies.
The Human-Covenant War proved disastrous for humanity but fortuitous for the various Insurrectionist factions that avoided the 's vicious holy war. With the UNSC in tatters, Hayden proved himself a capable administrator and advanced through the URF's ranks. He made a name for himself after forces under his command defeated a in the Eridanus system. By the end of the Human-Covenant War he held the position of general within the URF's loose rank structure. Hayden was a proponent of aggressive secessionist policies and took a large detachment of URF fighters to aid in secessionist efforts on . During the initial fighting on Mamore he met the up-and-coming URF field commander Redmond Venter. Mamore's secession was an utter disaster: a UNSC task force descended on the planet and annihilated the Insurrectionist forces after months of savage fighting. Hayden fled the planet alongside Venter and surviving URF forces. The carnage witnessed on Mamore had a profound effect on Hayden, moderating his views and making him opposed to overt military action against the UNSC. He retreated to the galactic frontier where he and his forces often hired themselves out as mercenaries to the Syndicate criminal empire. Hayden frequently worked with the Syndicate's top enforcer, Tatiana Onegin, to further criminal enterprises in exchange for weapons and funding.
The URF was materially and ideologically depleted after the disaster on Mamore, hemorrhaging fighters to the and other Insurrectionist factions. As a member of the leading URF security council, he and moderates such as Angel Nnamani clashed with more aggressive frontline commanders like Venter. Hayden and his fellow officers ultimately dispatched Venter to stage a coup on , knowing he and his forces would likely be overrun by a UNSC counterattack. Events on Talitsa proceeded as Hayden expected, but his priorities shifted when the staged a vast AI rebellion throughout the galaxy with unstoppable Forerunner war machines. Realizing the URF could not hope to oppose the Created he instead sought to convince his comrades to lay down arms and accept peace under the . He was opposed in his efforts by the rogue Spartan Simon-G294, now operating under the alias "Simon Venter" as Redmond Venter's adopted son and successor. Simon and his allies ultimately outmaneuvered Hayden, framing him for murder and leading to the dissolution of the remaining URF forces. Most of the URF survivors were recruited into the fleet of warlord Shinsu 'Refum. Hayden himself was killed by Captain Mohsin Shah, one of Redmond Venter's surviving officers, as revenge for his role in the events on Talitsa.
==Literary Appearances==
*Halo: Heaven and Earth (2558)