Zuka 'Zamamee
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Zuka 'Zamamee was a Prophet-blessed Sangheili Special Operations Officer who fought in the Battle of Installation 04.[1]
Biography
Soon after fleeing Reach, the UNSC Pillar of Autumn arrived from Slipspace into the Threshold system, where Installation 04 was located. The human ship attracted the attention of the Covenant forces in the area, which subsequently sent boarding parties to destroy the ship. Zuka 'Zamamee was one of the leaders of the raid.
'Zamamee led a group of Unggoy into the Pillar of Autumn where he encountered SPARTAN John-117 and Cortana attempting to escape. He attempted to stop them, but the Master Chief shot him in the head with an M6D pistol; this wounded 'Zamamee, but did not kill him. However, 'Zamamee's assistant was killed.[2] As he lay wounded, a unit of Unggoy, led by Yayap and Gagaw, picked him up and carried him off the ship for medical attention so they could avoid having to fight and inevitably die.[1]
Not long after the the battle, 'Zamamee took Yayap as his new assistant, much to the latter's immediate dismay. He told Yayap about a plan to kill the human who had wounded him, "a warrior so capable that he represent[ed] a danger to the entire battle group" and appealed to the representatives of the High Council of Masters aboard the Truth and Reconciliation.[3] Soha 'Rolamee, a Sangheili aristocrat, turned his idea down at first, but later approved it after the Master Chief and several Marines raided the vessel, killing hundreds of soldiers and rescuing Captain Jacob Keyes, who had been held prisoner on the ship.[4]
'Zamamee set his first trap inside the security center of the Silent Cartographer, utilizing a pair of Mgalekgolo and a lance of Unggoy under Yayap's command. However, one of the Unggoy, Linglin, accidentally killed one of the Mgalekgolo with a clumsy overcharged plasma pistol shot to its exposed back, allowing the Spartan to overwhelm the team. 'Zamamee and Yayap survived only by hiding in a cargo pod.[5] The Master Chief killed the other Mgalekgolo and shot Linglin in the head, decapitating him, and then escaped.
After escaping the island, 'Zamamee was then warned by the Prophet of Stewardship aboard the Truth and Reconciliation that the price of another failure was death. The Prophet showed 'Rolamee's severed head, and ordered 'Zamamee to continue seeking the human.
'Zamamee later arranged for Yayap to be captured so that the Unggoy could be taken to Alpha Base and signal the former when the Master Chief arrived there. When signaled, 'Zamamee led a group of about thirty Special Operations Sangheili aboard Pelican Charlie 217 and infiltrated Alpha Base. The mission was simple; capture as many landing pads as possible and hold them for six dropships filled with Unggoy, Kig-yar, and more Sangheili.[6] He also coordinated for a contingent of ground forces led by Field Master Noga 'Putumee to lead a simultaneous assault on the base. Though he freed Yayap, the two figured out that the attack was failing. However, Yayap told 'Zamamee that the Master Chief was guarding the Banshees that had been stolen by the humans. Convinced, 'Zamamee headed over to the Banshees, only to realize that Yayap had tricked him. Angrily, he began to threaten Yayap, but Yayap threatened him in turn, going so far as to point his plasma pistol at 'Zamamee before the Sangheili could take any preventative action. 'Zamamee, knowing that the attack would soon fail and that his life was in imminent danger, decided to accept Yayap's plan to escape. The two barely managed to escape in a Banshee as the assault was repelled by the human defenders.
'Zamamee, as advised by Yayap, finally traveled to the Pillar of Autumn crash site where he took on the alias of Huki 'Umamee, another Sangheili who had been killed, to avoid punishment. He stayed there, performing the tasks asked of him until the SPARTAN arrived aboard the ship in order to destroy the reactor core. During a tense meeting, 'Zamamee offered to track down and kill the Master Chief, much to the relief of his commanding officer, 'Ontomee.[7]
Using information fed to him by Yayap, 'Zamamee's final attempt to kill the Spartan was a plan to ambush the Master Chief on an elevator. Armed with a Shade turret and surrounded by Unggoy, he nearly succeeded in killing the Master Chief. However, the Master Chief quickly retreated and Cortana disabled the elevator, causing it to hurtle towards the bottom of the shaft. The SPARTAN tossed two fragmentation grenades down into the elevator shaft. The explosion killed the Unggoy and tossed 'Zamamee out of the Shade, stunning him. 'Zamamee and the elevator then impacted upon the bottom of the shaft, snapping his spine and killing him almost instantly. The last thing 'Zamamee saw before his death was the Master Chief.[8]
Rank
He was called a "Special Operations Officer". This title and the fact that he wore jet black armor confirm that he was indeed a Special Operations Elite. The fact that he was put in charge of a group of Elites, lead some to speculate that he was either equivalent or immediately subordinate to a Special Operations Commander, such as Rtas 'Vadumee. However, 'Zamamee was outranked by Soha 'Rolamee, apparently a councilor, by "two full levels." Since 'Zamamee wore black armor, it seems likely that he is between Special Operations Commander and Special Operative in rank, perhaps at the same rank of "subcommander", as was 'Vadumee's aide, Bero 'Kusovai.
Trivia
- Zuka 'Zamamee is the only known Sangheili to be manipulated by an Unggoy, though it is possibly a result of the abuse he had inflicted upon Yayap. 'Zamamee might have been stressed and frightened at the time, or else simply realized that he would not be able to take any action before Yayap was able to fire his plasma pistol, particularly at point-blank range. Also, 'Zamamee does not seem to be bound to the honor that controls the lives and actions of most other Special Ops Sangheili, as he not only flees from battles, he also takes the identity of a dead comrade, and allows an Unggoy to manipulate him. This would be considered a grave dishonor by any other Sangheili, though it is likely that 'Zamamee concluded to himself that the honor of killing John-117 would far outweigh the dishonor of these actions.
- In Halo: Combat Evolved, many events that happen are inconspicuously caused by Zuka 'Zamamee, like the battle in the security room in the level The Silent Cartographer.
- In Halo: Combat Evolved, on the level The Maw, the Elite who is encountered on the elevator after destroying the fusion reactors is canonically Zuka 'Zamamee, but he doesn´t operate a Shade turret. Also, depending on the level of difficulty, there can be more than one Elite in the elevator.[9]
- 'Zamamee kept a journal during the Battle of Installation 04, excerpts of which are featured in the 2010 reissue of Halo: The Flood. The journal is written in a particularly religiously devout tone, which gets more and more fervent by each entry.
List of appearances
- Halo: Combat Evolved (First appearance)
- Halo: The Flood
