Ilsa Zane

Ilsa Zane
Personal details
Species:	Human
Gender:	Female
Height:	At least 2 metres (6.6 ft)
Hair color:	Black
Eye color:	Brown
Political and military information
Affiliation:	UNSC Navy (c. 2552) Office of Naval Intelligence SPARTAN-IV program (prototypic stage) New Colonial Alliance (2553–) Banished (2558–)
Rank:	Spartan (c. 2552)

"We are outnumbered and we are outgunned but our spirit is stronger. Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won with soul."

— Ilsa Zane

Ilsa Zane is a human insurrectionist leader within the New Colonial Alliance, which pledged allegiance to the Banished in May 2559. After being the sole survivor of the first phase of the SPARTAN-IV program, Zane defected to the NCA after her augmentations made her mentally unstable. She notably led an attack on UNSC Infinity in 2553. Isla is the fist known Banished Spartan.

Biography

Early life

Ilsa Zane was on Kholo circa 2539 when she lost her parents to the Covenant attack on the planet.

Spartan service

"Ilsa Zane was a walking science experiment gone wrong. At one point, she had been slated for the Spartan program, an attempt at building the ultimate unarmored killing machine. But she snapped. After defecting to the NCA, she was quickly indoctrinated and promoted to Admiral Drake's attack dog."

— Commander Maya Sankar

Zane was originally chosen for the first phase of the SPARTAN-IV program. The additional augmentations she underwent were meant to make armor unnecessary, however, they crippled or killed nine others and made Zane unstable. Because of her instability, Zane was discharged and assigned to the Office of Naval Intelligence, but subsequently escaped and defected to Mattius Drake's New Colonial Alliance.

Attack on the UNSC Infinity

Main article: Raid on UNSC Infinity

The rebels plot to take over the Infinity.

At some point, members of the New Colonial Alliance managed to steal plans of Infinity, which was undergoing construction in the Sol system's Oort cloud. Wanting to take the ship for themselves before the United Nations Space Command could use it, Zane led an attack group in January 2553 to commandeer the ship. They snuck on board, disguised as a construction crew, and took Captain Andrew Del Rio hostage. They immediately went to the bridge where she was instantly recognized by Aine, the ship's temporary AI. Zane quickly took Aine offline and proceeded to take control of the ship.

A small group of crew and Spartan-IVs led by Spartan Sarah Palmer and Commander Thomas Lasky foiled Zane's plans. With the Spartans' help, Lasky was able to reach a security panel and input override codes, which gave Del Rio and the other officers access to the bridge. Having made their way to Infinity's bridge from outside the ship, Palmer and Edward Davis reached Zane. As they breached Infinity's bridge, Ilsa Zane fought Palmer one-on-one. In the ensuing fight, Del Rio brought Aine back online, who then activated the ship's containment doors. Palmer then knocked Zane out a containment door and into space. However, due to her physical augmentations, Zane survived and was later recovered by an unidentified NCA prowler. Upon awakening, she was met by an unknown individual, whom she recognized and was surprised to see.

At some point between 2553 and 2558, Zane would met and fight against Spartan Hieu Dinh; both Spartans would survive their encounter but Zane would end up with a score to settle against Dinh.

The Guardians

"When I found you, there was no discipline, no uniformity. Just a bunch of misfits with different allegiances and philosophies. That was a problem of leadership. The Colonel had allowed this legendary faction of the NCA to devolve into a form for individual interests. You were scattered and slow, and that's a death sentence. I relieved him of his command because bands of misfits don't win wars. Big machines do. Big machines made of lots of little pieces, moving with the same purpose. That's what we needed to build here."

— Ilsa Zane, to the rebels under her command

After her recovery, Zane was sent to the remote world of Conrad's Point, where the undisciplined NCA rebels and mercenaries on the world were being poorly commanded by an unidentified colonel. After relieving the colonel of command, Zane organized the insurgents into a more formidable force. As commander of NCA forces on the world, Zane operated ruthlessly and killed any individual that did not carry their weight. Afterward, she began preparing the NCA forces on Conrad's Point for war with the Unified Earth Government and had accumulated a large amount of nuclear weapons. In 2558, after Conrad's Point was attacked by a Forerunner Guardian, Zane had all NCA forces move to the Guardian's attack site and secure the crater it left behind. Making camp in a nearby compound, the NCA sought to search the ruins of a city destroyed by the construct for clues on the Guardian's next site of attack. Not wanting the Guardian site to fall under rebel control, ONI sent Commander Maya Sankar—who operated with the insurrectionists under the codename "FERO"—and smart AI Black-Box to infiltrate the faction and rendezvous with operative Ari Rezneck, who had already infiltrated the New Colonial Alliance.

When Sankar, Black-Box, and Reznek arrived at the NCA compound, Zane arrived shortly after. She congratulated the NCA soldiers for being useful to the cause and working together effectively. Zane informed them of the apparent death of Spartan-II John-117 and encouraged her soldiers to celebrate the death of the UNSC's "poster boy". Meanwhile, the UNSC was informed of Zane's current location and planned to kill her by bombing the compound. As Sankar and Reznek moved to leave the compound, Zane approached them before the other insurgents and recalled that "FERO" wished for the New Colonial Alliance to stop combating the UNSC and protest peacefully instead. Zane mocked "FERO" for believing that negotiations with the UNSC were a viable plan to gain colonial independence and questioned what use she had to the NCA. When Reznek defended her, Zane killed him with her sidearm and revealed that she knew that he was an ONI operative. As Reznek vouched for her, Zane concluded that Sankar was also an ONI operative. However, before Zane could kill her, Sankar's friend within the NCA—Bostwick—raised a knife to Zane's throat and insisted that "FERO" was not a spy. Zane attacked Bostwick, but Sankar revealed that she was an ONI operative by informing her that a UNSC airstrike was incoming. Before anyone could react, the compound was bombed by UNSC aircraft. Sankar fled the compound with the injured Bostwick, while Zane pursued. The two escaped the area on an M274 Mongoose and eventually escaped the world aboard Sankar's prison ship. Furious, Zane continued to futilely fire upon the vessel as it left Conrad's Point.

Zane and the NCA later tracked Maya's group to Laika III, intent on killing them and securing the planet's Guardian before it activated. She forced their ship down, and later pursued them away from a Triad camp where they had taken refuge. A detachment of ONI troops, also pursuing the renegades engaged the rebels in combat as the Guardian began to rise. Zane was last seen engaging UNSC troops in hand to hand combat.

After the events on Laika III, Zane was captured by the Banished.

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Banished Spartan

Ilsa Zane wearing MJOLNIR armor with Banished-manufactured armor pieces.

"There was the orphan, who I used to be during the Covenant War, a life that seems a thousand light years away from me now. Then, after the war, I became a tool to be used and discarded for a new generation of insipid UNSC propaganda. And now they call me the Banished Spartan. I like that. It feels... right, and I’m eager to discover what this third life has in store for me."

— Ilsa Zane

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Equipment

After she pledged her allegiance to the Banished, Ilsa Zane killed a Spartan, taking their MJOLNIR [GEN3] Mark VII armor for herself. Zane wore the armor in conjunction with the Banished-manufactured Champion armor, the Colosseum Prize chestplate, and a reinforced vambrace on the right arm.

Production notes

• Ilsa Zane's name is once misspelled as "Isla" in the second issue of Halo: Initiation.
• Zane is portrayed by actress Tamara Taylor in Hunt the Truth.

Browse more images in this article's gallery page.

Gallery

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  Jun-A266 reveals Ilsa's origin.

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  Ilsa rallying her forces before their attack.

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  Ilsa fighting Palmer.

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  Ilsa's punch knocks Palmer's helmet off.

List of appearances

• Halo: Initiation (First appearance)
• Hunt the Truth
• Halo: The Third Life