Peter Bonifacio

Peter Bonifacio was a citizen of the Rubble and one of the nine members of the Rubble Security Council tasked with the defense of the Rubble. He had been a well-known smuggler prior to the war.

Biography

The Rubble

Peter Bonifacio was an infamous smuggler across human space, often operating from the Rubble. After the Fall of Madrigal, he became reduced to the odd smuggling mission among the Inner Colonies. Soon, he began to lose ship after ship to Covenant and UNSC forces, so he began to settle down in the Rubble. Eventually, he was elected to become a Councillor on the Rubble Security Council. Ignatio Delgado would occasionally move cargo from asteroid to asteroid for him, but Bonifacio always paid late. After Madrigal was glassed by the Covenant, a Kig-Yar vessel passed through Hesiod's asteroid field and discovered the Rubble. While the rest of the Security Council was determining if the Rubble should fight or flee, Bonifacio hailed the vessel. He came into contact with Reth, one of the Kig-Yar aboard the ship. Bonifacio proposed a trade agreement with Reth. He explained that the humans inhabiting the Rubble were not affiliated with the UNSC, and sent them a manifest of the goods from within the Rubble's storage centers. One month later, Reth returned with a ship of his own, offering Covenant weaponry in exchange for human slipspace engines. However, Reth had actually informed the Prophet of Truth of the Rubble's location and was sent back to the Rubble to attempt to find the location of the homeworld of humanity.

Bonifacio believed that allying with the Kig-Yar was the first step for humanity eventually joining the Covenant. Later in the Human-Covenant War, Reth began offering the Rubble access to Covenant technology, power, and money in exchange to the coordinates for Earth and other human colonies. While a majority of the Security Council agreed that the Rubble would no longer be of use to the Kig-Yar and they would be attacked, Bonifacio trusted Reth and secretly conspired with the Kig-Yar to gain the coordinates.

Battle of the Rubble

Main article: Battle of the Rubble

Bonifacio soon learned that Ignatio Delgado held onto the Rubble's last data pad that contained navigation data to Earth. The two met inside a tube car and began to discuss the data. Peter expressed interest in a datapad that the Rubble Security Council had assigned Ignatio to look after. When Delgado refused to do so, Bonifacio had Delgado arrested. Delgado was later interrogated by the members of the Security Council, asking for the location of the navigation data. The Council revealed that they were intending to place the data to the Exodus Project for safekeeping. Delgado reluctantly agreed and he brought Bonifacio and Diego to where the data was hidden, aboard his freighter, the Distancia. When the three reached the freighter, Delgado was about to hand the data over to Esquival, but Bonifacio betrayed the two and shot Diego, mortally wounding him. Bonifacio took the data and left the two for dead, locking Diego and Delgado in the Distancia's damaged airlocks as the oxygen supply drained. Esquival succumbed to his wounds, but Delgado was rescued by Spartan Gray Team.

Bonifacio fled the Rubble with the data aboard his ship, the Kestrel, with the intention of giving the data to Reth. He was intercepted by Gray Team's freighter and the Kestrel was disabled. Adriana-111 boarded the ship and only found one of Bonifacio's bodyguards, Sean Williams. Bonifacio had fled in an escape pod to hide from the Spartans. He promised he would tell the Spartans where he hid the data if they allowed him to escape, which they reluctantly agreed to. After retrieving the data, Bonifacio continue on his way to Reth's ship. The Spartans decided to allow Bonifacio to flee, believing the Covenant would kill him in time.

Death

After making his way to Reth, the Kig-Yar left him stranded. Reth claimed that Peter was of no use to him now, and that he was doing Bonifacio a favor by not picking him up. Although Bonifacio did not initially believe that, in reality it was the truth, as Covenant never took prisoners and tortured them on the rare occasions they did. Despite finding safety in his escape pod, within hours he would discover a Covenant fleet that had appeared in the system. After foolishly attempting to communicate with the Covenant, in hope of finding rescue, a Covenant cruiser fired upon him, killing him instantly. The Covenant ship then plowed through the atomized remains of the pod as it adjusted its orbit.

Personality and traits

Bonifacio was very greedy, wishing to constantly trade for expensive objects. He killed Diego so he could gain access to Earth's coordinates and continue trading with the Covenant. His own shuttles were designed to be comfortable, often with roomy and plush interiors. Peter enjoyed Sweet William cigars, so greatly to the point that he had them smuggled in on his ship, the Kestrel. Bonifacio was very foolish and short-sighted, believing that the Covenant would help him, with no negative consequences. Despite this, he seemed to know some information on the Covenant's client species before he began trading with Reth. Bonifacio legitimately believed that the Covenant would be willing to pick up his escape pod and allow him to live, if he gave them the coordinates to Earth.

List of appearances

• Halo: The Cole Protocol (First appearance)