Keda 'Vadam

"Tonight we strike, there is thunder in the sky, together we'll fight, and some of us will die, but they'll will always remember that we made a stand, and many will die by my hand!"

- Keda before facing an Enemy onslaught

Keda 'Vadam, previously known as Keda 'Vadamee, is a well known and highly respected Sangheili.

Background
Keda (pronounced 'Keeda') was born into the Vadam lineage in 2501, in the State of Vadam, to a respected family. Keda's father, Fero 'Vadamee, was an Honor guard of the Vadam Kaidon, who treated all his guards with the highest respect. His mother was a merchant trader, and the family owned a ship at the Vadam Harbor. He was trained by his father during his spare time, and learnt to use an Energy pike and a plasma rifle by the age of 10. At the age of 14, his grandfather gave him his Energy Sword, prior to his death. Keda looked after it for almost his entire life. He learnt to use an Energy Sword at the age of 16. He was always respected by friends and others in the street, and treated well. His grandfather had been one of the Elders of the Vadam lineage, but was replaced by Koida Vadam when his death came. It was considered disrespectful to the entire lineage if Keda was harmed or treated badly, as he held the sword of one of the most popular Elders ever to sit in the Keep of Vadam. At the age of 17, he joined the Covenant military. Keda's favourite weapons were the Energy Sword and Plasma Rifles, as he was very good at using them. Keda was also witnessed talking and playing games with another young Sangheili, Thel Vadam, before he joined the Military.

History
"Glory, and fame, blood is the name, swords through the blundered hearts of steel. Killers of men, a warriors friend, sworn to avenge our fallen brothers. Son's of the gods, today we may die, open the Journey's door, let the battle begin, with swords in the wind, hail, gods of war!!"

- Keda Vadamee

Early Life
After joining the Covenant military, he trained with expert swordsmen at the Iruiru war college. after several years of training, Keda was given his 'ee' status making him Keda 'Vadamee. He came out of training as a Minor Domo. When he returned home, he was congratulated by family and friends, before leaving for Joyous Exaltation, where he continued training. In 2524, he and the rest of the team he was in were priveleged enough to go to High Charity. There, they were taught combat by some of the best Sangheili warriors alive. In 2525, they were scheduled to leave, back to Sanghelios. However, the Jiralhanae had discovered a new species, one that threatened the Great Journey. He witnessed the attempted escape of the oracle of the dreadnought, before being kept on High Charity, ready for combat. However, it wasn't until 2526, when they were sent for their first, real battle.

Battle of Harvest: 2526-2530
Keda 'Vadamee's first real battle was at the Second Battle of Harvest, from 2526 to 2530. He and his squad were taken down to the polar regions, where the Arbiter had discovered a point of interest. He was stationed here for a long time, until it was attacked by Human forces, which totally decimated the Covenant forces there. Keda rescued his team using a spirit dropship, before leaving the polar regions, and going to Invisible Fighter, a stealth ship. The ship fled the system as the entire fleet was destroyed, and the humans won.

Battle of Arcadia: 2531
Keda was then sent to Arcadia, a human world, onboard one of two battleships. They encountered a small force of human ships, destroying two and damaging the other two, but at the cost of their other ship. Their one landed, and they were sent to kill all the humans. After the shield fell, Keda was assigned to the dropship that The Arbiter was using, who was on a special mission from one of the hierachs. When he returned, he came with a human, before the dropship returned to the battleship and left, taking Keda and his squad to a place they'd never seen before.

Apex Incident: 2531
During the incident at the Apex, Keda was stationed on the Prophet of Regret's carrier, which awaited not far from the control center of the Apex, with a view of the Forerunner battleships. When a human Ship, known as the Spirit of Fire, was found outside the Apex, the prophet was sent by the arbiter back to his ship, to be taken to High Charity for safety. During the flight towards the exit of the Apex, Regret's carrier was attacked by the Spirit of Fire, but managed to limp out the Apex to safety, where they jumped to High Charity. A week or so later, back on High Charity, Keda began to hear rumors about the Arbiter's death, but did not believe them, as someone as strong and powerful as the arbiter he met on the dropship in Arcadia could never be killed.

Battle of Charybdis IX: 2534
Keda was promoted to Major Domo after the events of Harvest, and was stationed on Infinite Sacrifice, the Prophet of Regret's personal Assault Carrier. He was sent to the surface of Charybdis IX, to fight the humans. He retrieved several modified Plasma Rifles, made for human use, and took them back to Infinite Sacrifice, before handing them over to the Prophet of Regret. He then witnessed the glassing of Charybdis IX from a viewport.

Battle of Jericho VII: 2535
At the Battle of Jericho VII, Keda was stationed on the flagship of the Covenant fleet there, and was sent to the surface along with many others to hunt demon's which had apparently been seen there. He was one of few who survived, and witnessed the mass slaughtering of thousands of Unggoy. He was promoted to Ranger, for his skill and determination to finish what his fallen brothers had started.

Battle of Miridem: 2544
During the Battle of Miridem, Keda managed to help gun down one of the Demons, and he was highly credited for it, being promoted to the rank of Ultra.

Siege of Paris IV: 2549
Keda took part in the Siege of Paris IV, and helped in the assault of the main evacuation complex. He was almost killed when they came under attack from human's who had captured plasma grenades. He was awarded and promoted to Fieldmaster, after his ship's fieldmaster was killed.

Battle of Reach: 2552
During the Battle of Reach, newly promoted Shipmaster Keda 'Vadamee took part in the assault. His ship, Unaltered Destiny, was slightly damaged during the long battle, but took part in the ground assault. Keda witnessed Supreme Commander Thel Vadamee leave the battle, but for unknown reasons. Towards the end, his ship was called to Unyielding Heirophant for repairs.

Attack on Unyielding Heirophant: 2552
After returning to Unyielding Heirophant, the station came under attack from human forces, and Keda and his crew fled to the Prophet of Regret's carrier, which inevitably avoided the station's destruction. He and Regret's remaining forces were sent to Earth.

First Battle of Earth: 2552
During the first battle of Earth, Keda was stationed on the Prophet of Regret's carrier, for lack of his own. His life was ultimately saved by this, as the assault carrier soon left, after devastating the city of Mombasa via atmospheric slipspace jump. This lead them to Installation 05; another Halo.

Battle of Installation 05: 2552
For the early stages of the battle, before the arrival of High Charity and her fleets, Keda took command onboard Regret's carrier whilst Regret himself went down to the surface temples. Shortly after, however, reports of human forces began to rise, and before anything could have been done, Regret had been killed by the demon; SPARTAN-117. Keda was given strict orders not to recover the body of the prophet, but to destroy the temples ad the surrounding area.

Shortly after the skirmish at the temple, the flood had been released from their secure lockdown zones, and they scoured the Installation. Regret's carrier was taken over by flood, with many of its crew succumbing to them. The surviving crew members made for the Phantoms, and all but one left. The last one waited for Keda; whom was setting an anti-matter bomb. He escaped to the phantom, and they took off, right before the bomb detonated, vaporising both the ship and its new inhabitants.

Quotes
"Tonight we strike, there is thunder in the sky, together we'll fight, and some of us will die, but they'll will always remember that we made a stand, and many will die by my hand!"

- Keda's speech before facing an enemy onslaught outmanned, outgunned and outnumbered.

"Without loss, there is no victory"

- Keda to a lower-ranked sangheili, who was grieving his brother's death.

"I will lead the charge, my sword into the wind, Sons of Vadam fight, to die and live again..."

- Part of an ancient Vadam poem, sung by many Vadam warriors before going to battle.

Facts

 * Keda's speech is infact from the song 'Hand of Doom' by ManoWar.