Minister of Etiology
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
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- "I see you never studied, Commander. They are the Flood, one of the many tests and obstacles we must pass to activate the holy rings and begin the Great Journey."
- — The Minister of Etiology, to Rtas 'Vadumee and Bero 'Kusovai[1]
The Minister of Etiology, also known as the Legate, was a San'Shyuum politician and Minor Prophet, serving as the Covenant Minister of Etiology during the Human-Covenant War. He was stationed aboard the Fleet of Particular Justice's Mjern-pattern agricultural support ship Infinite Succor during the Battle of Installation 04.[1][3] He was one of two San'Shyuum personnel in the fleet, the other being the Minor Prophet of Stewardship.
Biography
Early life
The Minister of Etiology spent much of his life studying the Flood. Eventually he was assigned to the Fleet of Particular Justice as the master of the support ship Infinite Succor.[4] While assigned to Infinite Succor, the Minister had a safe room installed on the ship for his own protection, fearing a naval boarding action would easily overwhelm the ship's small on-board security force due to its total lack of any Sangheili - something he considered lacking. The crew of the ship were left unaware of this fact.[1]
Battle of Installation 04
- "We...have command codes. Will soon leave, spread."
- — Etiology as the Proto-Gravemind
During the Battle of Installation 04, Infinite Succor was in orbit over Installation 04 along with the rest of the Fleet of Particular Justice, when it became subject to the ongoing outbreak of the Flood on the ring. Late in the campaign, the Dextro Xur-pattern Spirit dropship Brilliant Gift was able to leave the ringworld's surface and crash in Infinite Succor's hangar bay, depositing its cargo of Flood forms onto the ship - which promptly began to infect its crew. The Minister of Etiology retreated to his safe room as soon as the boarding alarm was sounded, and disabled the ship's primary controls to ensure the Flood would not be able to take control of the ship and escape the Soell system, also disabling the ship's self-destruct system. The minister planned to wait for reinforcements to arrive - something which proved true later when a Covenant Special Operations strike force led by Commander Rtas 'Vadumee was tasked by the fleet's Supreme Commander, Thel 'Vadamee, to board Infinite Succor, rescue the minister, and destroy the ship.[1]
Upon initial contact, the minister refused to re-enable Infinite Succor's self-destruct, worrying that Rtas and his troops were a ruse; that they had been infected by the Flood and were trying to trick him into opening his safe room. Consequently, he demanded that the team head to the ship's medical bay and submit scans to him that proved they were clean of Flood infection - before directing them to head to the hydroponics bay and into the safe room. During his time watching the strike team, he observed the Flood's behaviour change as it infected the Sangheili officers leading the force, and the Flood's evolution into a new stage - growing more organised and altering the atmosphere on-board to facilitate the creation of a Proto-Gravemind. He observed that the Flood appeared to inherit the knowledge of their victims and worried that they were planning to use the ship's borer to escape into slipspace and begin spreading the infection across the galaxy.[1]
While conversing with 'Vadumee, the minister repeatedly emphasised his own importance, and that the strike team's priority was to escort him to safety. He also noted that Infinite Succor lacked any vacuum suits suitable for Sangheili, on account of its lack of Sangheili crew, meaning that it would be impossible to simply depressurise the ship and kill the Flood that way. As such, 'Vadumee instructed that Sub-commander Bero 'Kusovai take a strike team to their boarding ship Glorious Advance while he took the other troops to Infinite Succor's engineering deck to enact the self-destruct. If 'Vadumee did not return, 'Kusovai was to signal the fleet to fire upon and destroy Infinite Succor. The minister objected to 'Vadumee's plan, noting that splitting the force would be insufficient to provide him adequete protection while he was escorted to Glorious Advance. 'Vadumee in turn noted that the time and effort it would take to escort the minister to safety would be a huge risk, especially with the Flood tirelessly working to hack Infinite Succor and leave the system - by contrast, it would be a simple matter to kill the frail San'Shyuum and posit that he had simply been killed in the initial attack. 'Vadumee promptly struck the minister before picking him up and throwing him across the room - killing him and taking his access codes.[1]
After 'Vadumee and his entourage left the safe room to finish their mission, the Flood infected the now-dead minister - absorbing him into the Proto-Gravemind and gaining all of his knowledge - including the command codes needed to operate Infinite Succor. As 'Vadumee worked to enact Infinite Succor's destruction, the Flood used the minister's face to taunt him, noting that the Forerunners had failed to stop the Flood, and that the Covenant had no chance. Despite this, 'Vadumee successfully completed his mission, causing Infinite Succor to fly into Soell and be destroyed.[1]
In-game information
Halo: Fleet Battles
The Minister of Etiology is available as a Heroic Character in Halo: Fleet Battles. As a Heroic Character he must be assigned to a specific formation base within the fleet at the start of the battle.[3]
| ZEALOTS: 0-2 per full 1000 Points / 1VP KIA | Each Zealot costs +10 Points |
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Production notes
The Minister of Etiology was first introduced in The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor, a story in the Halo Graphic Novel with an extremely heavily stylised visual style. As part of this style, the minister is illustrated as having four fingers on each hand rather than the three as shown in all other media. A minor oversight is also shown later in the story when the Legate is grabbed in a chokehold by Rtas 'Vadumee, then slammed to the floor. In the next panel, he is seen unharmed, his headpiece unbroken, and his being is robustly frail as any other Prophet. This is just a simple printing glitch, meant to be in a prior page.[1]
The minister was later featured in Halo: Fleet Battles as a Heroic Character, and given a new and definitive illustration more in keeping with Halo's canon visual direction (shown at the top of this page).[3]
Gallery
The Minister in the Graphic Novel
Halo: Fleet Battles busts of the Minister and other Covenant leaders
List of appearances
- Halo: The Flood
- Adjunct (Mentioned only)
- Halo Graphic Novel
- The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor (First appearance)
- Halo: Fleet Battles
Sources
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Halo Graphic Novel - The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor
- ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2011 edition), page 284
- ^ a b c Halo Waypoint, Canon Fodder - Infinity & Beyond (Retrieved on Dec 23, 2019) [archive]
- ^ Twitter, Halo (@Halo): "Assigned to Thel ‘Vadamee’s Fleet of Particular Justice as master of the support ship Infinite Succor, the Minister of Etiology would eventually meet his end fighting the very threat he had spent much of his life studying – the Flood." (Retrieved on Nov 22, 2019) [archive]
