Veta Lopis
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Veta Lopis | |
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Female |
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Height: |
177 centimeters (5 ft 10 in)[1] |
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65 kilograms (140 lb)[1] |
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Black |
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Hazel |
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Special inspector (formerly) |
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93553-24752-VL[1] | |
- "I don't chase phantoms, Major Halal. I catch killers. Quite a lot of them, actually."
- — Lopis in reply to Major Ira Halal during her investigation of the murders in the Montero Cave System[3]
Veta Lopis is an Office of Naval Intelligence agent who formerly served as a special inspector of the Ministry of Protection on planet Gao.[4][5] Following Operation: JOVIAN WHISTLE in July 2553, she defected from the Ministry of Protection to the United Nations Space Command, having become a fugitive on her homeworld, now leading an ONI Ferret Team comprising Ash-G099, Olivia-G291 and Mark-G313. Lopis was given the sarcastic nickname "Mom" by the trio due to her protectiveness toward them.[6]
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Veta Lopis was born on May 7, 2520 on the Outer Colony of Gao.[1] When she was seventeen years old, she was kidnapped and endured abuse in a small stone cellar for three weeks. She eventually escaped by breaking out and killing her captor with a rock, only to learn that her father had died of grief while she was gone.[7] This traumatic experience instilled in her the desire to see injustice of any kind met with strict retribution and so she enrolled at the Avelos Academy to study criminal investigation and become a homicide investigator.[8] Since the age of 20,[9] Lopis took down multiple hardened killers, and had become Gao's top homicide investigator by her early 30s.[6] Many of her childhood attitudes towards the UNSC were formed by the yearlong ordeal of the Blockade of Gao.[10]
Veta's mother died around 2551.[11] Her closest surviving family included two aunts and six cousins, all of whom lived on Gao, as of 2553.[12]
Crisis on Gao[edit]
- Main article: Operation: JOVIAN WHISTLE
In May 2553, the UNSC's 717th Xeno-Materials Exploitation Battalion arrived on Gao in search of a Forerunner ancilla in the Montero Cave System; however, the UNSC did not reveal their mission's goal to the Gaos, much to the fiercely independence-minded colonials' chagrin. The situation escalated when the ancilla, Intrepid Eye, began covertly murdering Gao citizens in the Montero Cave System in order to create discord between Gao's citizens and the UNSC. With many Gaos already accusing the UNSC for the murders, the Gao Ministry of Protection dispatched Lopis and her team to find the killer on July 2, 2553. In addition to her investigation, she was to covertly glean information on the UNSC's classified activities on Gao and report her findings to her superior, Minister of Protection Arlo Casille.[4]
Lopis could not carry out her investigation entirely unhindered, with Major Ira Halal of the UNSC Judge Advocate General's Corps intent on ensuring she did not incriminate the UNSC unfairly and Lieutenant, Junior Grade Frederic-104 of Spartan Blue Team reluctant to reveal classified information, despite the battalion's commanding officer, Commander Murtag Nelson, ordering the Spartan to cooperate with her. Due to the brutal nature of the killings—which would have required enormous brute strength—as well as Fred's secretive behavior and Lopis' ingrained dislike and distrust of the Spartans, she initially believed the murderer to be one of the supersoldiers.[4]
The caves[edit]
On July 4, 2553, Lopis and her team, escorted by Blue Team, arrived at Crime Scene India within the Montero Cave System to study a recently-discovered victim. From there, Lopis and her partner Cirilo, along with Fred-104, Ash-G099, Olivia-G291 and Mark-G313 made their way to the last known location of Major Ira Halal and Private Hayes, both of whom turned out to have been murdered. Lopis and Cirilo decided to follow a trail of an unidentified fluid—actually blood belonging to the wounded Huragok Roams Alone—deeper into the caves, accompanied by the Spartans. As they reached a large cavern after nearly a twelve hours' descent, they came under attack by Intrepid Eye's Aggressor Sentinels. Though the Spartans were able to destroy the Sentinels, Cirilo was killed and Olivia was seriously wounded.[4]
At this point Lopis discovered the young age of the Gamma Company Spartans, along with their reliance on "Smoother" drugs to control their mentally unbalancing augmentations. Additionally, having witnessed Olivia destroy a Sentinel bare-handed, she began to suspect one of them for being the murderer, with Mark in particular drawing her suspicion due to his standoffish behavior. Ordering the others to stay put, Fred left to reconnoiter the area. While waiting for Fred, Lopis and the Spartans were approached by Roams Alone, a Lifeworker Huragok who began to heal Olivia's wounds. Having discovered the Forerunner Covert Support Base 4276, Fred eventually returned and decided that the party should take the Huragok with them, return to the surface and report to Commander Nelson.[4]
With Olivia having lost her Smoothers during the fighting, Mark volunteered to take only one of the remaining five Smoother injections, leaving two doses each for Ash and Olivia. Mark took point as the group began their nearly one and a half day's climb toward the surface and eventually fell out of contact as he scouted ahead. As Lopis and the Spartans approached the surface, they began to come across bodies of Keepers of the One Freedom Jiralhanae warriors killed by Mark; during the group's time in the caves, the Keepers had landed on Gao and attacked the UNSC forces, seeking to take the ancilla for