Sebastian T. Shelby

"He actually joined more out of a sense of duty and tradition. Also did not make friends easy, but he did find them in close crew members on the Elysium. Even Admiral Dustin H. Troy from the Battle of Nu Scorpii was a friend despite their differences."

- Captain Nagata Shinano.

"Listen and take heed, alien scum. I am Vice Admiral Lord Sebastian Tiberius Shelby, commander of this fleet and 37th Viscount Shelby of Whitelaw. By the power invested in me, this world and its inhabitants are under my protection. If you want them, you’ll have to go through me."

- Sebastian Shelby, during the Battle of Thorney.

Vice Admiral Lord Sebastian Tiberius Shelby, 37th Viscount of Whitelaw, also known by his troops as the Blueblood Admiral and the Swordsman Admiral, and to the as one of the Seven Impediments, was a skilled naval commander of the  who served during the  and early. Born to noble blood in England,, Sebastian Shelby was always intended for greatness but sought to achieve it himself, without letting his heritage get in the way. Graduating from the esteemed, Shelby would quickly earn command of his first ship, the UNSC Galahad. Making only friends to those that can help his ascension, Shelby earned a reputation as a charismatic gentlemen who was particularly harsh on pirates, and played a particularly-active role during the Insurrection.

Despite expecting to retire by, Shelby would be forced to stay on in command when the arrived, beginning the. Now commanding the lead ship of the, Shelby would risk forced retirement until the massacre of Midvale. Now witnessing the horrors of the war he was now fighting, Shelby would famously defend every colony he was assigned until the last civilian was evacuated, taking severe losses but inflicting damaging casualties on the alien invaders. He would continue doing this for almost four years, when in he'd meet his match during the Battle of Thorney. He would sacrifice himself to buy his fleet and the colony the time to escape, meeting his death after a forcing to engage in a dual with a Covenant shipmaster.