Trax 'Zadum

Trax Zadum, Tyrant, recieved his name for a reason. He split from the covenant and then refused to join the elites after the fall of the covenant. He is feared by his own kind, and rightfully so. But the elites are not the only ones that fear him, anyone he comes in contact with either leaves alive fearing him or is dead by the end of the encounter.

=Biography=

Early Life
Little is known of Tyrant's early life. Some say he has none and he was brought into the world as a warlord. However, there are a few records that link Zadum to a past life.

The Elites
He was selected for the covenant army by a prophet. Being of large height and strength he quickly became respected within the covenant. That is, until the covenant stopped being a challenge. During a training session he annihilated his peers, killing them all to try and get a good fight. None could provide one so he went to the brutes.

The Brutes
Seeing how Zadum was bigger, stronger and more savage than most of the brutes they had little trouble in accepting Zadum. It was with the brutes that he obtained the nickname "Tyrant", for he commanded absolute over his team of brutes. But by this time the prophets were beginning to fear Zadum's power, and attempted to secretly assassinate him. They sent a hunter pair to kill Zadum. Zadum ripped the hunters apart. He cut the first in two with his sword and impaled the other with the first's dead body.

One of the brute chieftains, amazed by Zadum's ferocity, gave him a Gravity Hammer. The entire covenant, especially the prophets and elites, looked on as this leviathan raised his new hammer. The prophets decided that Zadum had gone too far, and attempted another assassination, this time using a team of elite commandos. Zadum caught the first cloaked elite by the neck and strangled him in seconds. The others, their cover broken, deactivated their camo and attacked in unison. With a few swings of a hammer and slices of a sword the battle was over, five of the best elites in the covenant dead on the ground.

The Prophets
Now the prophets were worried, this elite was too powerful and too influential. If he was not dealt with soon he could rally enough strength to overthrow the covenant. Hunters and elites had failed to kill him, and those were their best choices. One prophet, the Prophet of Annihilation, took matters into his own hands and personally lead an assassination attempt on Zadum. He hoped to catch Zadum by surprise, for very few prophets had ever gone into combat. Instead of surprise Zadum felt joy. He would get to prove his power against the covenant itself. The prophet wanted Zadum to be destroyed in front of the whole covenant to show that the prophets were absolute power. His plan backfired when Zadum killed all of the prophet's Honor Guard, then began to advance on the prophet himself. Not even the prophet's wide variety of weapon's could stop Zadum. By the end of the battle most of Zadum's armor was burned away, but he stood victorious with the prophet's head in his hand. None in the covenant dared to face him now, and not even the might of the prophet's could stop him.

The prophets knew that no person in the covenant could defeat Zadum, but the entire covenant could. A massive war broke out within High Charity as Zadum tried to fend off the covenant forces, but not even he could defeat a force that massive. In the end he was backed into a room with one entrance where he held his ground until the walls around him were destroyed and he surrounded and captured.

Covenant Victory
Zadum was brought before the entire covenant the day of his capture, and then branded with the marks of shame. After being branded he took the nearest Honor Guard spear with his mouth and killed the three brutes holding him, when ripped out of his chains. Everyone immediately drew their weapons, and seeing that he could not get away Zadum threw his hands into the air. Truth approached him and said;


 * "Did you really believe you could defeat the covenant. Did you really believe you could defeat me?  Not even an army of you could defeat the covenant.  The great ones have seen to that.::


 * "We shall see prophet. I do not fear you, your covenant, or your gods."::

Zadum picked up a bubble shield and turned away from the prophet and began to leave. Truth just floated there and said "I think not my friend." And with that the covenant attacked. The first plasma bolts impacted Zadum's bare skin, then he deployed the shield, picked it up and ran with it. No one dared to enter the shield, and no attack could pierce it and so Zadum escaped.

Aftermath of the Escape
The covenant was devastated. A single elite defied all of them and lived to tell the tale. This showed a weakness that one strong person could damage and eventually destroy the mighty covenant. After Zadum escaped search for heretics and criminals increased and the punishments became more severe. The prophets couldn't let one elite destroy the inner workings of the covenant that took so long to build.

Halo from Hell
Zadum inspired others to leave the covenant. Many tried to join him just because he was strong and they feared him and what he might do if they were not his allies. Zadum either turned them away or if they kept coming back killed them. The few who joined Zadum that weren't fearful or weak, but strong were allowed to stay. Zadum was glad to let them join for one reason above all, they had ships. He did not.

One of the elites that joined him had control of two ships, and gave one to Zadum. It was the flagship Guardian and Destroyer. Zadum commanded the ship expertly, along with all the ships in his fleet that later became known as the "Halo from Hell", because when the fleet attacked they would surround their foes, and the glow of their weapons would create a halo of light.

The fleet consisted of all elites, Zadum did not allow brutes because they were too unreliable, grunts and jackals were too weak and hunters too stupid. Zadum allowed engineers because he needed them. He also allowed drones, he had seen the flying creatures in combat and found them quite effective although none of them were allowed command of a ship.

Second in command to Zadum was Tmue Qudum. Qudum's armor looks like that of the Arbiter's, for he forged his own armor in the likeness of the Arbiter. Qudum was famous for his skill in dual swords, and his amazing luck and aim in shooting himself out of a ship in a drop pod.

High Charity, Reach and Tantalus
Zadum explored and conquered planets while the covenant was looking for the halo rings. When they finally found one they turned all their attention to it. Zadum prepared for attack, not at eh ring, but at High Charity itself.

The Attack on High Charity
The Prophet of Truth had a strange feeling the day of the planned attack. He turned and looked out the window in time to see the Halo of Hell appear around High Charity. The fleet fired upon the covenant. The covenant who weren't prepared for the attack lost a good bit of their defenses by the time they were ready to launch a counterattack. By the time they did it didn't make a difference for Qudum and his team had already launched themselves at the holy city.

Guardian and Destroyer took on masses of covenant ships while Forward to Descent, Qulum's ship, unloaded it's troops. The covenant started to avoid the flagship because it was getting around that Zadum was the shipmaster. Those who weren't around during the time while Zadum was in the covenant rushed to prove themselves, but none succeeded as more and more eager elites were blown to their deaths by Guardian and Destroyer.

Zadum knew he did not have enough firepower to defeat the whole covenant armada, but none of them would come close to him so he managed to force a stalemate. The inside of High Charity however, was different. Qulum, though putting up a good fight, was forced to retreat. As a parting gift the Forward to Descent slammed into High Charity leaving a gaping whole where it crashed. The ship went critical and Qulum's forces escaped in various flying vehicles as the destroyer exploded dealing further damage to the already damaged part of the holy city. The damage was not enough though and the rest of the city was barely effected. Zadum and his forces jumped out of the system, their mission complete. It didn't go as well as Zadum wanted it to but they still dealt a major blow to the covenant.

Reach
Zadum heard of covenant operations on Reach, so he decided to go to the human colony. The fleet jumped to Reach and the covenant in the area immediately got out of the way for they knew none of them stood a chance. Zadum decided to let them be for the time and sent Qulum down to see what was going on. He found the covenant were looking for some holy relic, and he conveyed this information to Zadum who subsequently decided to glass the area. Qulum returned to the Guardian and Destroyer because after High Charity he no longer had a ship of his own. The Halo moved into position to attack the planet when the covenant armada appeared behind them. Zadum's fleet was in no condition to fight after High Charity and he was forced to retreat, destroying as he went.

Tantalus
Zadum returned to his new home, Tantalus, a planet he conquered after he left the covenant many years before. Zadum picked Tantalus for a reason, it had everything he needed. It had all the resources needed to create weapons, it had food and water, natural wildlife, varying terrain and building material. He build a mighty city that floated in the sky, orbiting around the planet. He named the city New Charity, so even after the mighty covenant fall Zadum could mock them.

Also on the planet was forerunner technology. They rebuild the Forward to Descent and Qulum got his ship back. They also added extra drop pods and drop tubes, along with more armor in the area where the pods were launched. An extra hanger was added and enlarge to hold more supplies, weaponry and armor. Along with that there were extra barracks. The ship was an airbase designed to transport units rather than fight.

Guardian and Destroyer was also upgraded. Zadum had his fleet scavenge parts from the destroyed ships around Reach while Qulum was on the surface. Zadum added two MAC cannons to either side of his ship, just as a precaution should the plasma weapons prove useless in an area. He also uncovered vital human intelligence. He found everything from family photos to top secret military codes, but nothing about any of the colonies until he loaded a bug into a computer and recovered some records of some improperly deleted data. Earth was the name of their homeworld. Located in the Sol system, Zadum went on for hours reading and learning all he could about the covenant's foes. In a week he learned their history, their beliefs and many other things. Most important of all he found the A.I of the UNSC vessel that didn't delete their data properly. It's name was Arthur, and took the form of a medieval knight. Surprised to see an elite he tried to raise alarm, before realizing he was not on his own ship anymore, but in a terminal in a city on a distant planet.

Arthur realized something was not right, for this particular elite had it's main armor off and under it's light armor a mark on it's chest could be seen, a mark the A.I matched with the covenant's mark of shame. That and the fact that these elites seemed different from the other covenant elites and the fact that many had human weapons lead the A.I to believe these were not covenant. In fact, the elite showed no interest in destroying humanity, but rather what it was like. Zadum wanted to know what made humans tick, why were they able to put up such a good fight against the superior covenant.

Proposal
When the elites split from the covenant the first thing they did was go to the humans, but a small force went a different direction, toward the star system Lirous and the planet Tantalus.

The elites, even though they were used to High Charity, were awed by the capitol of Tantalus. It was beautiful yet violent at the same time. They entered the great hall that lead to Zadum's chamber. Zadum welcomed them, for he knew that the elites had finally left the covenant. However he refused to help them in the war. One of the elites in the negotiations got angry and started to yell at Zadum. Zadum took out his sword and silenced the elite that spoke against him then he warned the others; "This is my world, and if your in it you obey and respect me above all others. If you do not like that, then leave." And the elites, knowing that Zadum wouldn't join them, left.

Above the Ark
Zadum couldn't resist battle, and he moved the Halo to the Ark, in the middle of the fight. Both sides stopped firing when the Halo from Hell arrived. That cease fire didn't last long for Guardian and Destroyer began firing at both sides. The fight above the Ark was now three way, although the bulk was the elites vs. the covenant.

Forward to Descent launched it's drop pods, right through the covenant's ships. The super reinforced pods ripped through the shields, then the hull, then left through the other side on the way to the Ark.

The Arbiter and the elites were fighting at the second shield tower, when they were assaulted by four phantoms, they were pinned down until Qulum and his team arrived, tearing apart the phantoms as they arrived. The elites prepare to fire on them as Qulum raised his sword, ready for an attack. He then threw it at the Arbiter, it went over the Arbiter's shoulder and cut through a brute behind him. "Try killing them instead of us" said Qulum to the elites. Qulum and his team left as soon as the elites entered the tower.

They were proceeding to Forward to Descent when Zadum crashed down and stepped out of a pod beside them and pointed at the flood-infested High Charity. "We have unfinished business there." Those were the only words Zadum had to say to get his troops moving towards the overrun holy city.

Return to High Charity
While the UNSC and elites were fighting to stop Truth from lighting the rings Zadum and his team boarded High Charity. They were greeted by the flood, one jumped Zadum as he was the first one in the room and tried to pierce his skin. The flood easily cut through the armor, but couldn't pierce Zadum's skin. Zadum took the thing from his back, threw it down and stepped on it. His team activated something they invented back on Tantalus, an electronic pulse that was released any time the armor was pierced so even if the flood did manage to get them, the pulse would kill the flood and the person would remain unharmed.

Zadum split from his team, saying they could cover more ground if they split, he headed straight for the court room where he was branded with the marks of shame. Within he found something he didn't expect, the Gravemind. The Gravemind, unlike the other flood, did not attack, but instead wondered why he was on High Charity. Zadum replied he had unfinished business in the city. Gravemind was cunning, and had a plan to capture this powerful being and turn him into one of his own. He allowed Zadum to continue on his way, but set up an ambush for when he returned. Zadum was just as cunning. He used Arthur to unlock High Charity's generator controls, then proceeded to leave. He flicked on his cloaking and readied his gravity hammer as he reentered the room with Gravemind. The great flood felt his presence but could not see him, and ordered the flood to find him. Zadum used the hammer to destroy the supports of the stands and made them and the roof crash down on the flood, then left.

He reunited with his elites. "Let us go now." Qulum looked around and saw High Charity still in-tact. "We're done?" Zadum smiled and Qulum smiled too, Zadum had a plan that would destroy High Charity.

The fleet returned to Tantalus, most of it anyway. Guardian and Destroyer remained to see High Charity be destroyed by a single human and elite. "My revenge is complete. The prophets are no more and High Charity has been destroyed by the covenant's greatest enemy and once greatest ally."

New Charity
When Zadum returned to New Charity he found many ex-covenant species in the city. They had come for mercy, for they believe Zadum would hunt them down and kill them. Zadum had been considering it on the way back from the Ark. He told them that those who wished to live would live on planets he conquered and would obey him and only him. Law-breakers would be force to fight Zadum. Law-breakers would die. Zadum had complete control. Many, out of fear, agreed to stay. Others, seeing this no different from the covenant with the exception of not having a deluded plan to kill everything, stayed because they did not want to leave Tantalus, and because Zadum could offer protection no one else could.

The Hunt
Some covenant believers remained, and Zadum swore he would hunt them down, flush them out, then personally kill them. And he did. He massacred the few who still believed in the covenant. Zadum also tracked down and killed many San 'Shyuum, for he hated their race more than anything he had ever hated.

Zadum eventually became feared throughout the sentient galaxy. Many times if one saw the Guardian and Destroyer they fled. Zadum grew tired of his enemies running and developed a weapon that instantly fired upon leaving slipspace. This, and the halo formation, force his enemies to fight. Zadum many times personally boarded an enemy ship and took it. Qulum did the same.

Death of a Leviathan
Although when is unknown, Zadum died after gaining an expansive empire. He death was ironic, it was an age-old wound that killed him, a mark on his chest that made him who he was.

Unfinished Business
As Zadum grew old he, like all people grew weaker. His skin eventually softened, and his body wasn't accustomed to it. He began to be scratched, something that had never happened before. One day Zadum looked at the fading marks on his chest, and saw they got opened. Infection got in, but Zadum wasn't about to let that kill him. He gave control of New Charity to his son, Elzar Zadum, and left for destination unknown. Qulum was the only one who Zadum told where he was going, and Qulum refused to let him go alone. Qulum went along with Zadum. As he departed he said to everyone, "We have some unfinished business. Don't expect to see me again." The Guardian and Destroyer took off, and was never seen again. Neither was Zadum or Qulum.

The rule of Tantalus stayed in Zadum's bloodline, and each bore the Marks of Shame, to honor the mighty warlord.