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Zeretus, also known as the Scourgemaker to those under his command, is a Jiralhanae captain in service of the Banished. He was among the first to join Atriox in his rebellion against the Covenant. During the Second Ark Conflict, Atriox selected him for a mission led by Chieftain Minas to retrieve a slipspace flake from the Anodyne Spirit.[1] Zeretus accompanied the warmaster when he used the crystal to return to the galaxy months later.[2]
History
Warrior of the Banished
Zeretus joined the Banished very early; he either participated in Atriox's initial revolt at his attempted execution on Algolis or he was recruited into the fledgeling mercenary organization shortly after this. He would continue to serve Atriox faithfully for at least a decade, and was even among those chosen to accompany him to the Ark.[1]
In the midst of the Second Ark Conflict, Atriox charged Chieftain Minas with the recovery of a slipspace flake from the interior of the Forerunner Dreadnought, which had been abandoned by the Prophet of Truth years earlier. The remaining shards of this crystal would be used to open a slipspace portal to the human colony of Reach. Zeretus led one of the three small strike teams that were sent on this mission, with the other two being led by Blademaster Okro 'Vagaduun and Minas himself. Each team rode in a separate Phantom dropship to where the keyship rested in a presently uncontested region of the Ark they had dubbed Mahsko. After they had breached the vessel, a Jiralhanae warrior named Choros guided them to their destination. Early in the mission, Zeretus declared that the ship did in fact appear abandoned. Howvever, the teams would soon be ambushed by surviving remnants of the Covenant loyalists that stayed behind to defend the keyship, even after nearly seven years had passed.[1]
Zeretus expressed his utter disbelief at this discovery, but still led his team to victory against their assailants. As Minas's team and then 'Vagaduun's ascended the final lift leading to their prize, he received word from the chieftain that he and his team should not follow them up and that they should instead cover their exit. The Covenant defenders had attacked them one last time, hoping to repel them from the holy vessel. When Minas and 'Vagaduun returned alone with the crystal shards, Zeretus and his remaining men quickly escorted them out of the ship and back to their Phantoms.[1]
Return from Installation 00
With the crystal secured, Atriox sent word to Escharum—the appointed leader of all Banished forces still in the galaxy—that a portal facility on Reach must be found and activated so that he could return from the Ark.[3] Primarily due to the efforts of the allied Dokab Castor and his Keepers of the One Freedom, the facility was found and activated. Atriox brought Zeretus along with him to Reach, and he was one of the officers that Inslaan 'Gadogai introduced to Castor as he stepped off the Lich that had carried them through the portal. Upon seeing the humans that the Keepers employed, he was overtly disgusted. Shortly after arriving on Reach, Zeretus presumably escaped the planet along with the rest of the loyal Banished forces aboard Escharum's intrusion corvette.[2]
Equipment
During the Banished's raid on the Anodyne Spirit, Zeretus was seen wielding a Type-2 gravity hammer. When fighting humans, he is known to regularly take weapons from fallen enemies and use them against others of their kind, thinking it to be more shameful for a human to be killed by an ally's weapon.[1]
List of appearances
- Halo: Shadows of Reach (First appearance)