Gorian

Gorian
Biographical information
Died:	May 14, 2560
Cause of death:	Stabbed with an energy sword by Tomas Horvath
Personal details
Species:	Jiralhanae
Gender:	Male
Height:	Nearly 300 centimetres (9 ft 10 in)
Weight:	About 700 kilograms (1,500 lb)
Hair color:	Black
Eye color:	Black
Political and military information
Affiliation:	Banished Bloodstars Witch's Eye (clan)

Gorian was a Jiralhanae in service of the Banished's Bloodstars under the clan Witch's Eye.

Biography

Gorian was among the many Banished soldiers on Installation 07 following the ambush on UNSC Infinity on December 12, 2559. During the opening stages of the Battle for Zeta Halo, Gorian had collected artifacts; his Phantom carried excavation tools and a selection of stone reliefs that were laser-cut from a larger slab or natural stone walls. These stone reliefs were carved with symbols that were not recorded in the UNSC’s Forerunner database.

On December 18, several days after an explosion at the Silent Auditorium fractured the ring, Gorian and a Jiralhanae Captain were surveying a chokepoint—an area of the ring that was nearly fractured in two, with a land bridge connecting two fragments over a wide chasm—when they picked up the scent of Spartan Tomas Horvath. In the ensuing chase, the Jiralhanae pursued Horvath on their Phantom and destroyed the bridge, causing the fragment to break away. Horvath was caught on the fragment and was buried by a landslide as the fragment flipped. The Spartan managed to dig his way out, but was left stranded on the ring fragment. Meanwhile, Gorian’s Phantom was attacked by an Aggressor Sentinel for destroying the alloys supporting the land bridge, and, in the ensuing crash on the same fragment, the Phantom pinned the Aggressor underneath its hull. Gorian himself was the sole survivor of the crash, but he was trapped between the Phantom's crushed hull and a jump seat near the cockpit; Gorian's shoulder was dislocated and he had three cracked ribs from the crash. After two days alone on the fragment, Horvath discovered the wreckage of the Phantom and Gorian. Without any alternative means to escape the fragment, Horvath freed Gorian. After a short brawl, the two formed a truce until they could escape the fragment, though both intended to kill the other once they have returned to the main fragment of the ring.

The two spent four days digging the Aggressor out from under the Phantom in hopes to hijack its impulse drive, then use it to fly across the ring's breach to the main fragment. On December 25, the two had dug out the Aggressor; Horvath's AI Elfie disabled the sentinel's operative directive and hijacked its impulse drive, allowing the duo to hold the sentinel by its arms while it flew across the breach. Halfway though the breach, Gorian struck Horvath; the ensuing struggle sent the Aggressor slamming into an embankment, and left Horvath severely wounded with an alloy shard impaled between his intestine and spleen. Gorian, having mentioned he would best Horvath in a fair fight prior, pulled the shard out and promised he would kill Horvath fairly the next time they met. Horvath crawled up the embankment and watched Gorian board Jega 'Rdomnai's Phantom. Sparing Horvath’s life, Gorian did not notify the accompanying Banished forces of the Spartan's presence.

Some time in the following months, Gorian and Jega 'Rdomnai captured and tortured ONI operative Kate Stalling; they stole her research on the ring's Conspectus network. For months, Gorian took Stalling to multiple excavation sites in search of the Conspectus network hubs, but eventually he abandoned her in a cave at an excavation site. By the time Horvath found Stalling on March 4, 2560, she was in a terrible state from the torture, but before the Spartan lend Stalling his sidearm to commit suicide, she told Horvath of Gorian's actions and his intent to access the Conspectus network. Enraged, Horvath became determined to hunt down and kill Gorian.

On April 26, Gorian and 'Rdomnai reached a Conspectus hub and used a human prisoner of war as a Reclaimer to extract its data on the ring's current coordinates as well as its defensive systems. Observing the proceedings, Spartan Bonita Stone attacked the excavation team, aiming to retrieve the data stored within the sylloge node, thereby disrupting Escharum's plans. After Stone succeeded in stealing the node, Gorian, driving a Riuctda Workshop Ghost, grabbed her and dragged the Spartan by her helmet. Stone managed to break free, then ran for the surface, killing a number of Banished troops. Hopwever, 'Rdomnai eventually snuck up on Stone and killed her with his energy sword. Gorian and 'Rdomnai recovered the stolen node from her body, but they were unaware that Stone had ordered her AI Ouco to copy the data into her armor and corrupt the node itself, rendering it useless to the Banished. Gorian and 'Rdomnai then joined the Banished forces at Site Novem to breach the Conservatory in search of the Monitor 117649 Despondent Pyre.

On May 14, Gorian led reinforcements from the Conservatory to a nearby beacon tower, where the Banished were in battle against the boat crew. Gorian recognized Horvath from a distance, and confronted the Spartan. Horvath and Gorian entered a game of cat-and-mouse, with Horvath quickly running out of places to hide and Gorian exhausting his brute shot's grenades. As Gorian expended the last of his ammo, Horvath managed to drain his shields with a spike grenade provided by Robin Dimik, putting them on equal footing. Gorian followed Horvath onto an overlook and tackled him, but Horvath punched the hilt of an energy sword into the side of Gorian's ribcage and activated it, cutting through Gorian’s bones, tissue, and organs before coming out on the other side of his ribcage. Gorian was killed, but as the two fell upon a translocation pad, they were teleported to another part of the ring; the pad was then destroyed by a Banished Thrasher missile. Teleported to a partially collapsed mountain facility far away from the beacon tower, Horvath shoved Gorian's body off the side of the mountain.

Personality and traits

Tomas Horvath: "Do you even know why you're fighting?"

Gorian: "War. It is the lifeblood that feeds the Jiralhanae soul. There need be no other reason than that. You think you are different? Is it not your lifeblood as well? What would you do without war, Spartan? Who would you be? Nothing. Nothing at all."

— Gorian and Tomas Horvath when they were stranded on the ring fragment.

Gorian is a sadistic and aggressive Jiralhanae that held a belief that the Jiralhanae lived for war. He enjoyed combat and was eager to fight; Gorian ordered Hectarius to stay out of his fight with Spartan Stone, as he wanted to reserve the right to kill her. When combined with his impatience, it made for an unpredictable fighter; when he and Horvath were being carried by a sentinel to the main ring fragment, Gorian decided to attack Horvath before they got across the gap.

Prideful and arrogant, Gorian boasted the accomplishments of Atriox and the Banished, all the while dismissing his enemies. He compared Horvath to kateukal pups, which he found small and stupid, and even called Horvath "pup". When the two held a truce on the stranded ring fragment, Gorian's pride would not let Horvath dictate when he rested or dug for the sentinel. His disregard for his enemies also made him react to Horvath's defiance with amusement. He threw food he had hunted and roasted at Horvath without hesitation, stating that he wanted to kill Horvath in a fair fight. When he approached Horvath at the beacon tower, he let out a deep, slow laugh before taunting Horvath.

Equipment

Gorian wore red Bloodstar armor which is equipped with energy shielding. During his confrontation with Horvath at the beacon tower, he brought a brute shot and held extra ammo on a sling across his chest.

List of appearances

• Halo Infinite (First appearance)
• Halo: The Rubicon Protocol