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dropped on your head?How many times were you dropped on your head?How many times were you dropped on your head?How many times were you dropped on your head?How many times were you dropped on your head?How many times were you dropped on your head?How many times were you dropped on your head?How many times were you dropped on your head?How many times were you dropped on your head?How many times were you dropped on your head?How many times were you dropped on your head?incompetence. Otar overestimated his skills and was taken by surprise when Usze avoided his attack, which gave Usze an opening to kill the rebel Sangheili.[1] After the mission, though he wished to return to his keep, the Arbiter ordered for Usze to visit his own keep. Upon arriving in Vadam, the Arbiter informed Usze that UNSC scientists had discovered that the Halo Array's firing sequence had been activated. Thel assigned him and N'tho to lead the Swords of Sanghelios half of a joint human–Sangheili team tasked with journeying to Installation 00 with the intentions of deactivating the sequence.[2]

Operation: FAR STORM

Main article: Operation: FAR STORM

Usze traveled to Earth aboard the corvette Mayhem. Upon arriving, he descended to the surface in a Phantom at the site of the deactivated portal in Kenya, Africa that led to the Ark. Along with N'tho and Huragok Drifts Randomly, he greeted the humans and begun working to reactivate the portal.[3] Two days after their arrival, Usze was watching Drifts work, alongside Olympia Vale. When the Huragok successfully managed to activate the portal, the three returned to the surface to witness its activation. Shortly after, Usze noticed a Retriever exiting the portal. As the massive construct began collecting resources from Earth's surface nearby, Usze grabbed Vale and escaped Retriever's path of destruction, with Drifts Randomly following closely behind them.[4] After the Retriever was destroyed by UNSC forces, all members of the expedition team met aboard Mayhem, at N'tho's request.[5] When Captain Annabelle Richards insisted that they required her superior's permission before entering the portal, N'tho regardless moved the corvette towards the portal as he and Usze felt that they could not waste time waiting for administrative consent. As they prepared to enter, Mayhem was attacked by another Retriever. The corvette managed to destroy the Sentinel and continued through the slipspace portal.[6] The trip only took several hours rather than several weeks, as expected[7]—due to an increase in the portal's power by monitor 000 Tragic Solitude.[8] Upon exiting slipspace, Mayhem was attacked by dozens of heavily armed Retrievers and the corvette ultimately crash landed on the surface of the Ark.[9]

Usze's allies N'tho 'Sraom and Frank Kodiak fighting blind wolves on the surface of the Ark.

The mission's team—Usze, N'tho, Kola 'Baoth, Zon 'Vadum, Vale, Richards, Holt, Spartan Frank Kodiak, Luther Mann, Henry Lamb, ten UNSC Marines, and Drifts—left the Mayhem and began venturing towards the Ark's Citadel to stop the Halo Array's activation. After encountering peaceful olfmeri, the group was attacked by a pack of blind wolves. The group remained silent and still at Vale's insistence, and the blind wolves moved on.[10] However, they were promptly attacked by chaefka. During the skirmish, Vale was knocked unconscious and was subjected to the psychotropic effect generated by an agent released by a chaefka which caused her to leave the area with the animal.[11] When Vale's disappearance was noticed, Richards ordered Usze, Holt, and Lamb to track her down by following her footprints in the snow leading towards the center of the Ark while the rest of the team continued towards the Citadel.[12] While searching for Vale, the three lost communications with the rest of the team and increased snowfall prevented them from following Vale's footprints. The group resolved to continue to the Citadel, hoping to either encounter Vale or the rest of the team. Along their journey, they were attacked by four armiger constructs. The armigers attempted to kill the group by rolling trees and rocks down mountains towards them. Having barely avoided the attacks, the three chose to make a stand against the armigers and destroyed the constructs. More armigers arrived at their location via slipspace portals, though Usze and Holt, with some help from Lamb, managed to destroy most of the armigers, while the surviving constructs fled. However, the armiger's attack further displaced the group from tracking down Vale's location.[13] As they continued towards the Citadel, the three were suddenly attacked by a mobile, carnivorous plant, which forced them to take cover in a nearby cave up on a cliffside. However, communications were enabled between both groups by Tragic Solitude, allowing Holt to contact Spartan Kodiak and request for support. Kodiak arrived and engaged the plant, allowing Usze to sneak behind it and kill it with his energy sword.[14]

Eventually, both groups met up at the entrance of the Citadel and continued on together. Inside the structure, Mann shut down the firing sequence, but the team was promptly attacked by armigers. As the constructs arrived at their position in waves, Usze, Mann, Lamb, Drifts, and Kola retreated down an elevator shaft, while the rest of the team escaped through a portal created by an Armiger.[15] Finding themselves within the Citadel's inner tunnels, the group discovered its damaged, central power station. While Drifts worked on repairing the station, Lamb was killed by a Sentinel, which was immediately destroyed by Usze. Utilizing a local map, Drifts discovered the Citadel's exit. However, the group came across a heavy, locked door blocking their path, with the Foundry's control suite on the other side, followed by the Citadel's exit. Usze and Kola managed to lift the door, which allowed Mann and Drifts to slide through.[16] While waiting for Drifts to gain access to the controls and open the door, the two Sangheili were ambushed and attacked by dozens of armigers. Meanwhile, Drifts infiltrated the Ark's systems and took control of the installation from the rampant Tragic Solitude. By the time Drifts managed to open the door, Usze and Kola had defeated the armigers, though they were moderately wounded.[17] While Drifts maintained control of the Ark's systems, the Spartans, N'tho, and Zon located Vale and engaged the monitor. After they managed to destroy Tragic Solitude, Usze, Kola, Mann, and Drifts arrived and regrouped with the rest of the team.[18] Afterwards, the team returned to Mayhem, only being threatened by a small pack of blind wolves along the way.[19] Shortly afterwards, UNSC Witness entered Earth's slipspace portal and arrived at the Ark. Mayhem and its crew were brought aboard the UNSC carrier and returned to Earth.[20]

Personality and traits

"Those who always look to the sky never see what is right before them."
— Usze 'Taham, quoting a saying among his clan[21]

Usze 'Taham is an independent, resourceful, and vigilant Sangheili.[22] Usze is notably honorable, and was considered worthy enough to be recruited by the Ascetics. He is known to display a tempered zeal in combat that is considered to be unusual for a warrior of his relatively young age.[23] Usze preferred to anticipate situations and problems and remain constantly on guard, rather than react to and deal with an unexpected situation as it occurred.[2] Usze rarely chose to sit, as he believed that the action lacked a purpose and only contributed to a lack of preparedness to an unexpected difficulty.[4] He declined his invitation to join the Covenant Honor Guard as he felt that his skills could be best used elsewhere. Additionally, Usze held less interest in ceremonial positions and honorable titles than in personal deeds and actions. He believes that he was born to fight, which he realizes that he does quite capably.[24] Usze attempts to never hold regret in regards to how he handles a situation, but instead looks at the victories drawn from the situation's outcome.[21] Usze found human laughter to be "ridiculous"; he believes humans only appear threatened or frightened when they express laughter.[4]

Usze apparently holds some diplomatic skills, as he was twice approached by the Ascetics to become one of their liaisons for the Covenant,[25] and later the Swords of Sanghelios. He was also selected by Arbiter Thel 'Vadam to serve as an emissary of sorts to the Unified Earth Government, during joint missions between the two governments.[24] Usze has little to no disdain for humans; even after spending the entirety of his service in the Covenant slaughtering humans, he recognized that they had committed no crimes as the San'Shyuum decreed.[1] Usze, as a warrior, held that ending the life of another individual was a grave responsibility, nor did he feel any pleasure from killing—particularly if he respected the said individual. However, he never experienced any pangs of regret, as Usze felt content with successfully completing a mission.[2] Over the course of his return to the Ark, Usze developed a sense of respect for Olympia Vale, finding her to be interesting.[4] After the mission, Usze comforted Vale aboard Mayhem, who was saddened that her diplomatic skills proved useless against 000 Tragic Solitude.[21] 'Taham came to respect Luther Mann and Henry Lamb, and was saddened upon his death. Stating that Lamb was a comrade and a warrior, Usze encouraged Mann to mourn the death of his friend.[16]

Skills and abilities

Otar 'Bemet: "Very good. You're… very good."
Usze 'Taham: "I have worked hard to become so."
— Otar 'Bemet and Usze 'Taham[26]

Usze 'Taham is an incredibly skilled Sangheili, famed one of the deadliest Special Operations commandos alive. His skill in combat and war has proved invaluable in his service with the Swords of Sanghelios.[23] Trained aggressively in his youth by Toha 'Sumai, Usze 'Taham is a skilled combatant. He significantly refined his capabilities with an energy sword and other weaponry at Yermo's war college and ultimately graduated with top honors. Having proven his skills at the war college, Usze attracted the attention of several individuals "in high places".[24] As a warrior of Sumai keep, Usze was trained to recognize and counter 'Anyame technique. During his duel with Otar 'Bemet, Usze was able to recognize his opponent's use of the method and counter it by feigning incompetence and hiding his true skills.[1] Even at a young age, 'Taham proved to be a prodigy in combat.[23]

'Taham is renowned for displaying incredible prowess with the energy sword and Type-25 plasma rifle.[23] Known to deftly wield an energy sword, Usze operates the weapon with remarkable speed and power.[11] Usze is able to use the blade of his energy sword to block shots from energy rifles. During Operation: FAR STORM, Usze engaged numerous armigers head-to-head and succeeded in destroying the constructs, despite the size, swiftness, and dexterity of the armigers.[13] His skill against the constructs proved useful when Usze, along with Kola 'Baoth, were forced to defeat dozens of armigers in a small room, with only his energy sword.[17]

Equipment

During the initial outbreak of the Great Schism in late 2552, Usze wore a custom assault harness with a distinctive claret color.[23] Having trained extensively in swordsmanship, Usze prefers to fight with his Type-1 energy sword whenever possible. Following the dissolution of the Covenant, Usze began using some weapons of pre-Covenant design, which were considered to invoke ancient Sangheili heritage.[27] His energy sword has a traditional, pre-Covenant design that displays intriguing ridges with an upper blade significantly longer than the lower blade.[1] Usze armed himself with an old, modified design Type-51 carbine.[28] As of 2555, Usze began to don a combat harness with crimson and ivory coloring. Polished, though battle-scarred, Usze's armor was similar to the combat harness worn by N'tho 'Sraom.[3]

Trivia

  • Usze 'Taham is the fourth playable character in Halo 3 co-operative Campaign. However, neither Usze nor N'tho 'Sraom, the third playable character in co-op, are seen in cutscenes.
  • Claret, the color of Usze's armor, is not available to players. The color looks remarkably similar to that of the paint scheme on a Spectre. He is also the only known Sangheili to have claret colored armour.
  • When he activates his flashlight, the light is simply projected with no point of origin, as no visible flashlight is on his shoulder. This also applies to the third Halo 3 player character, N’tho ‘Sraom.
  • Both Usze 'Taham and N'tho 'Sraom appear to holster weapons backwards on their legs. This is most apparent with the Needler, with the side that has the protruding needles opposite the direction of other Sangheili models.

Gallery

List of appearances

Sources

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named hitd46
  2. ^ a b c Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 52-57 (Google Play edition)
  3. ^ a b Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 64-68 (Google Play edition)
  4. ^ a b c d Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 98-105 (Google Play edition)
  5. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, page 110 (Google Play edition)
  6. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 113-118 (Google Play edition)
  7. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, page 120 (Google Play edition)
  8. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 256-260 (Google Play edition)
  9. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 123-129 (Google Play edition)
  10. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 140-150 (Google Play edition)
  11. ^ a b Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 152-155 (Google Play edition)
  12. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 160-161 (Google Play edition)
  13. ^ a b Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 176-187 (Google Play edition)
  14. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 206-214 (Google Play edition)
  15. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 218-225 (Google Play edition)
  16. ^ a b Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 236-247 (Google Play edition)
  17. ^ a b Halo: Hunters in the Dark, pages 263-267 (Google Play edition)
  18. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, page 289 (Google Play edition)
  19. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, page 295 (Google Play edition)
  20. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, page 298 (Google Play edition)
  21. ^ a b c Halo: Hunters in the Dark, page 298 (Google Play edition)
  22. ^ Halo Encyclopedia, page 137 (2011)
  23. ^ a b c d e Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named universe
  24. ^ a b c Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named hitd87
  25. ^ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Coop
  26. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, page 50 (Google Play edition)
  27. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, page 91 (Google Play edition)
  28. ^ Halo: Hunters in the Dark, page 149 (Google Play edition)