Editing Zeretus

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|death=[[2560#May|May 28, 2560]]

|causeofdeath=Killed in battle by [[John-117]]

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|affiliation=*[[Covenant]] {{c|formerly}}

*[[Banished]]

|rank=[[Jiralhanae Captain|Captain]]{{Ref/Novel|Id=Sacrifice|SoR|Detail= Adjunct - [[Sacrifice]]}}

'''Zeretus''', also known as the '''Scourgemaker''' to those under his command, is a [[Jiralhanae]] [[Jiralhanae Captain|captain]] in service of the Banished. He was among the first to join [[Atriox]] in his rebellion against the [[Covenant]]. During the [[Second Ark Conflict]], Atriox selected him for [[Raid on Anodyne Spirit|a mission]] led by [[Chieftain]] [[Minas]] to retrieve [[Menachite Forerunner crystal|a]] [[slipspace]] [[slipspace flake|flake]] from the ''[[Anodyne Spirit]]''.{{Ref/Reuse|Sacrifice}} Zeretus accompanied the [[warmaster]] when he used the crystal to return to the [[Milky Way|galaxy]] months later.{{Ref/Novel|Id=SOR21|HSoR|Chapter=21}} Zeretus was part of [[Eta Pack]], [[Third Combat Element]], [[Lance of the Writhing Star]].{{Ref/Reuse|Hi}}

Zeretus joined the Banished very early; he either participated in Atriox's initial revolt at his attempted execution on [[Algolis]] or he was recruited into the fledgling mercenary organization shortly after this. He would continue to serve Atriox faithfully for at least a decade, and was even among those chosen to accompany him to the [[Installation 00|Ark]].{{Ref/Reuse|Sacrifice}}

In the midst of the [[Second Ark Conflict]], Atriox charged Chieftain Minas with the [[Raid on Anodyne Spirit|recovery]] of a slipspace flake from the interior of the [[Forerunner]] [[Anodyne Spirit|Dreadnought]], which had been [[Battle of Installation 00|abandoned]] by the [[High Prophet of Truth]] years earlier. The remaining shards of this crystal would be used to open a [[slipspace portal]] to the [[human]] [[human colonies|colony]] of [[Reach]]. Zeretus led one of the three small strike teams that were sent on this mission, with the other two being led by [[Blademaster]] [[Okro 'Vagaduun]] and Minas himself. Each team rode in a separate [[Banished Phantom|Phantom]] [[dropship]] to where the [[keyship]] rested in a presently uncontested region of the Ark they had dubbed [[Mahsko]]. After they had breached the vessel, a Jiralhanae warrior named Choros guided them to their destination. Early in the mission, Zeretus declared that the ship did in fact appear abandoned. However, the teams would soon be ambushed by surviving [[Covenant loyalists]] that stayed behind to defend the keyship, even after nearly [[seven]] years had passed since their empire had fell.{{Ref/Reuse|Sacrifice}}

With the crystal secured, Atriox sent word to [[Escharum]]—the appointed leader of all Banished forces still in the galaxy—that a [[Menachite portal complex|portal facility]] on Reach must be found and activated so that he could return from the Ark.{{Ref/Novel|Id=SOR3|SoR|Chapter=3}} Primarily due to the efforts of the allied [[Dokab]] [[Castor]] and his [[Keepers of the One Freedom]], the facility was found and activated. Atriox brought Zeretus along with him to Reach, and he was one of the officers that [[Inslaan 'Gadogai]] introduced to Castor as he stepped off the [[Banished Lich|Lich]] that had carried them through the portal. Upon seeing [[Ferret|the humans]] that the Keepers employed, he was overtly disgusted. Shortly after arriving on Reach, Zeretus escaped the planet along with the rest of the loyal Banished forces aboard Escharum's [[intrusion corvette]].{{Ref/Reuse|SOR21}}

In [[2560#May|May 2560]], Zeretus was one of the [[Banished]] occupying [[Installation 07]]. Along with the forces under his command, Zeretus was attacked by [[Spartan-II]] [[John-117]] as a target of opportunity. The Master Chief managed to kill Zeretus and eliminate his defending forces.{{Ref/Game|Id=Hi|Hi}}

During the Banished's raid on the ''Anodyne Spirit'', Zeretus was seen wielding a [[Type-2 gravity hammer]]. When fighting humans, he is known to regularly take weapons from fallen enemies and use them against others of their kind, thinking it to be more shameful for a human to be killed by an ally's weapon.{{Ref/Reuse|Sacrifice}}