Merg Vol

Merg Vol was a Sangheili Zealot and leader of one of the reformed factions of the Covenant that continued fighting against the UNSC after the end of the Human-Covenant War. He initiated the Battle of Draetheus V, one of the first human-Covenant engagements in the wake of the war. Though he succeeded in destroying Draetheus V, most of the colonists escaped and Merg Vol himself was killed by Spartan Sarah Palmer, ending his Covenant faction.

Biography

Draetheus V

Main article: Battle of Draetheus V

Following the Human-Covenant War, and the Covenant's dissolution, Vol created and led a reformed Covenant faction. In 2554, Merg Vol led a large-scale attack on the human colony of Draetheus V and its moon X50, searching for Forerunner artifacts in direct violation of the Treaty of 2552. After seizing the moon, which was in fact a Forerunner device, he activated the artifact and directed it on Draetheus V in order to disassemble the planet and destroy the UNSC forces there. Though Spartan Edward Davis managed to stop the device, it was too late to prevent the destruction of Draetheus V.

Death

At the end of the battle, the UNSC ordered Spartan Sarah Palmer to eliminate Merg Vol who, despite his forces being broken, could still act as a rallying point and cry for his followers. As a result, Merg Vol had to be eliminated if they were to get the colonists safely off the planet. Aware that the Covenant knew about her stolen Spirit dropships and would likely shoot them down, Palmer instead stole Parg Vol's personal transport to reach X50. The Trojan Horse proved to be successful with Palmer slipping through the Covenant fleet in orbit undetected, Vol having ordered the shooting down of all but the officers' Phantoms. Fighting her way across the moon, Palmer was able to eliminate the Sangheili's most loyal forces including his six lieutenants. Palmer eventually reached the entrance to the Forerunner structure where Vol, having spent considerable resources to unlock its secrets, was able to activate the structure's beam turrets to aid in his defense. Supported by a large amount of Kig-Yar and several Sangheili, Vol engaged Palmer in combat. After a fierce battle, Palmer was able to defeat Merg Vol who collapsed from his injuries and was then executed by Palmer with a close-range headshot from her sidearm.

Following his death, elements of Merg Vol's group joined Jul 'Mdama's Covenant, including Parg Vol, though he was assassinated by Fireteam Crimson in February 2558 during the Requiem Campaign.

Gameplay

Merg Vol appears as the final boss fight of Operation E Mission 5. Until the release of Operation F: Hydra, this was the concluding fight of the game.

After the player defeats three waves of Covenant infantry, Merg Vol appears armed with plasma grenades and a plasma pistol, which he fires overcharged at the player. Upon immediately emerging, Merg Vol stands near a control pillar in the center of the area for a brief time which contains a constantly respawning plasma grenade that the player can grab to attack with. While he is busy at the pillar, the player can take the opportunity to fire on Vol with their weapon of choice, damaging his shields somewhat before Vol has the chance to begin fighting back. After the player lowers one of Vol's shields he retreats to one of four pads to recharge, distracting the player with holographic decoys on the other three pads, activating the pads using the control pillar in the center of the area. While he is activating the pads, the player can fire on Vol, but it will not result in his death or stop him in any way. The player must also be careful not to get too close as Vol will attack with his energy swords if the player gets too close to him at the control pillar. Once Vol's shields are recharged, he will attack the player using active camouflage and dual wielding energy swords which makes him hard to hit with both conventional weapons and grenades.

When the player removes Vol's shields a second time, he will recharge yet again. This time he reemerges with a hardlight shield, which the player must find a way around. At this point, he is particularly vulnerable to plasma grenades. Throughout all of this, he is aided by Kig-Yar forces. Once the player removes his shields one last time, Merg Vol will convulse and collapse, at which point the player will be prompted to execute him with Palmer's M6H magnum sidearm.

Gallery

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  Palmer facing Merg Vol.

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  Palmer executes Merg Vol.

List of appearances

• Halo: Spartan Assault (First appearance)

Trivia

• Unlike most Sangheili names, Merg Vol does not have an apostrophe before the second part of his name.