Zag

Zag is a Kig-Yar that served in the Human-Covenant War, supported the Covenant Loyalists, and is currently the Head of the Manufacturing Corporation CovTech. Zag himself was born on the Kig-Yar home-world of Eayn, and from his early life he was always Power-Hungry. His thirst for power, among other things, lead him to eventually be a part of the Covenant Empire's military. He did not have a major Military Role until the Battle of Reach, however.

Pre-Service life
Zag was born on June 1st of 2525 A.D. on the Kig-Yar home-world Eayn. His mother was a Ship-mistress and his father was a Zealot. Like most Jackals, he was raised towards a more pirate and merchant like behavior, and as such he eventually became a very well known Merchant on the home-world. He often focused on any sales that would give him the most money, or in some cases what would get him the most power and popularity as a Merchant. Eventually, he joined the Covenant Empire's Military, as his Mother and Father did, as one of their many Jackal Mercenaries. His early campaigns in the military were mostly aiding in minor affairs, being nothing more than infantry in the background. However, his skills at survivng and killing enemies eventually got him from the Rank of Minor to Major.

Battle of Reach
Zag was among the many Covenant soldiers attached to the Fleet of Particular Justice during the Battle of Reach. He was first deployed along the Streets of New Alexandria while the NOBLE team took out the Shade turrets on the streets above. He was a Major Jackal of rank at this time, and he commanded a group of Minor Jackals on a Street Operation, successfully taking out seven UNSC soldiers and three civilians before the Minor Jackals in his squad were killed by Snipers. Zag himself managed to survive through escaping into a small club. He explored the building for a minor amount of time, and managed to take minor drinks from the club. However, soon enough a minor group of UNSC troops arrived into the club in an attempt to kill the Jackal inside. Zag however, turned off his shield and used a Human sniper he found on the floor and used it to strike the humans. Within seconds he took out three of the troops and only left four left. Soon enough gun shoots hailed towards him, but Zag managed to avoid getting killed from this gun fire by using his quick agility. Soon enough the four troops walked up to the level of the club that Zag himself was on. Rather than escape, Zag managed to climb into the vents above the troops and using his needler, he placed it into an open vent to finish off the troops. With his attackers deceased, he left the club with Drinks and minor paper work in hand and left onto a Dropship that had arrived upon spotting him along the streets of the city.

Zag was later deployed during NOBLE Six's run towards the Pillar of Autumn. His position was at the area where NOBLE Six and Emile-A239 were battling a group of Covenant, including a Wraith. Zag himself fought against the two spartans, though eventually thought it was a better plan to leave into the caves and leave the Area to let the other forces weaken the armored foes so he could hopefully make the kill. His plan foiled however, in the area where the Scarab walked as Six and Emile passed by. Zag attempted to lay his killing mark on the two spartans, though was unable to land a successful shot. However, he did manage to survive their attack. Zag however, would come back for the end of Noble Six's life. He was among many Jackals that attempted to kill Noble Six following the Pillar of Autumn's take off. He managed to mount many hits on Six, but ultimately he was a mere witness as Elite Zealots properly finished Six off. Zag was among the many forces called back as Thel 'Vadamee took all of his fleet's ships after the Pillar of Autumn.

Battle of Installation 04
Along with many other forces from Reach, Zag was with the ships 'Vadamee brought in pursuit of the Pillar of Autumn. Zag himself was pleasantly surprised when he saw the first Halo ring for the first time, though he and his species were not as interested in the religion of the Covenant as other races he was surprised mainly that Halo actually existed. Zag was only deployed on Installation 04 once, around the time that the Pillar of Autumn was being traveled to by Spartan-117 and Cortana. He was at the Library alongside a large group of Covenant Soldiers, present to aid combat against the flood. Ultimately, he managed to lay many kills against the parasites, though due to the growing numbers he was among those who retreated once the Pillar of Autumn was detonating. His group was the only group sent on Installation 04 to not be a part of the Truth and Reconcilation. Upon Returning to High Charity, Zag reached a brief break from battle, and following the Trial of 'Vadamee, he received the rank of Zealot.

Battle of Earth
Shortly after receiving the rank of Zealot, he was brought back into active battle as part of the many forces the Prophet of Regret took with him when he flew to Earth once he was deceived by the Prophet of Truth. He was among the many Jackals brought down by Phantom onto Earth, and was present in the tunnels of New Mombassa. During the attack, he briefly witnessed Spartan-117 riding on a Warthog through the tunnels, with a marine on the back as a gunner. Zag managed to kill the gunner, though was nearly killed by the Master Chief's own driving. Only thanks to the Chief's top priority did he survive the strike. Zag was eventually brought onto Regret's assault carrier to offer more defense for the High Prophet. As such, he was on the ship when it left into slipspace to head onto Installation 05.

Battle of Installation 05
Once the Assault Carrier was on the second discovered Halo ring, Zag was now present on the surface of his second halo. He was among those present during the Hierarch's sermon, and actually managed to spot the Master Chief arriving at the structure. He ordered his fellow Jackals to intercept the Spartan while he alerted the Prophet of Regret himself. His Jackals, along with the other forces that went after John-117, were made short work of. However, the battle intensified once John and a minor squad of Marines made it into the Sermon's room. Honour-gaurds and Grunts alike relentlessly fought with the Humans alongside the Prophet himself. Zag himself attempted to kill the Spartan, but was fought with by one of the Marines in his attempt. His struggle lead him and his enemy into falling down the slope leading out of the room. Their fight continued and lead outside when Zag finally finished his determined opponent. However, it was too late, as the Spartan had already killed Regret inside. Zag noticed the ship about to destroy the entire structure, and used the Gondola to escape the fire. He eventually was taken back to High Charity via a Phantom, he was among the only surviving members of the covenant and the main source that confirmed John-117's involvement in Regret's death though the fact would've been obvious regardless.

The Great Schism
Following Regret's death and the changing of the Gaurd came the Elites' leave from the Covenant and the start of the Covenant Civil war. Zag himself was attacked by an entire squad of Grunt Ultras while he was walking around the Gardens of High Charity. He easily used his Cutlass to make short work of the Grunts while other Kig-Yar around him helped the High-Ranking Zealot with the others. Zag quickly took command of the Six other Kig-Yar (two Jackals and four Skirmishers to be specific) and lead them towards the Council chamber. On their way they fought numerous Separtists, though they survived up to the Gravity Lift to the Council Chamber thanks to surrounding Loyalist members. It was then they soon learned from the dead corpses around that the spartan had already been through the area. Zag was then contacted with an order to leave High Charity by the Brute Chieftan Tartarus. Zag and his Squad then focused on reaching the Docking platforms that the other High Prophets, Truth and Mercy, were located. This involved fighting through numerous other Separtists, this time there were casualties within the group. (Two of the four skirmishers were killed), though the group did not stop. They managed to arrive at their destination and get onto one of the phantoms only a short time before Tartarus arrived and the Prophet of Mercy was left to die by Truth. Zag himself was on the phantom that Truth was on, and as such was present on the Dreadnought. He did not encounter John-117 on the ship, likely due to it's size, and was present on the ship the entire time until Truth himself got off of it.

Battle of Installation 00
Zag eventually took a brief part in the fight on the Ark, being stationed at one of the shield generating towers that protected the Citadel and the Prophet of Truth. It was at this station he met with Commander Brute Surturnis, who himself expressed dislike towards the Loyalists. Zag himself was not pleased with this brute, though there was not time for much conversation as soon enough the Elites arrived at their tower, which included Thel 'Vadam, who was now the Arbiter. The Arbiter and Zag had a brief struggle, with Thel unable to lay a hit on the quick moving Zag as his fellow Elites pushed into the tower. However, a harmful hit on the leg sent Zag falling off of the tower as he jumped, plunging him into the sea waters below. Despite the fall, however, the Kig-Yar Zealot was not finished. He survived the fall, but was wounded by the Plasma Rifle shot. As such, he walked with a limp as he got back onto the shore. He got back onto the land just as the forces made the final push towards the Prophet of Truth, but at the entrance of the cave he was unable to continue on and fell to the ground, blacking out. Eventually, he regained consciousness on-board of the Separtists's Supercarrier Shadow of Intent. It was there that he learned Surturnis betrayed the Brutes in the tower, and even was the source of Zag being spared. The Jackal Zealot was not actually grateful of this however, in true Jackal fashion, instead he simply was returned to Eayn by the Separtist forces while the Brute who was responsible for saving his life went on to be the only Brute on the Separtist side.

Kig-Yar Bounty Hunter
Following his time in the Covenant Empire, the Zealot returned to his Merchant life once back on his planet again. However, he used his training in the military to offer Bounty Hunting services along with Merchants. This gave him even more valuables and other goods from those who sought out his services, so much so that it eventually became his sole service. His most notable targets were a Brute who was scamming numerous Jackals into swindles, A Grunt responsible for a Jackal losing his job, and Surturnis himself. However, once Zag found Surturnis, he also found out about the existence of CovTech. Upon Surturnis' offer, Zag joined the Company as Surturnis' second-in-command.

The CovTech Corporation
As Surturnis' second-in-command of the corporation of CovTech, Zag himself was in charge of managing the Headquarters stationed on Eayn itself despite Eayn being a non-separtist planet. This of course, brought a more negative impact onto Zag's reputation. As such, Zag highly desired to make a deal with the New Covenant Empire, though Surturnis would always refuse to go with Zag's suggestion. In the end, this lead to Surturnis' downfall as once Zag learned that he would be the next head of the company, he plotted to kill Surturnis, despite the fact Surturnis prevented him from being killed back on Installation 00. There were many attempts, such as having plasma detonators set up, charging a special task squad of Jackals and Skirmishers to do the job, and even give a New Covenant War Chieftan the coordinates to the HQ of CovTech. All of these plans failed, and Surturnis began excluding Zag more and more from the Company's dealings. This ironically gave Zag more time to plan Surturnis' assassination. It was at a public speech on Earth that Zag sniped Surturnis in the head, this time succeeding in both the deed and the get-away. Following this, he took Surtunis' spot as head of the company, and also convinced the UNSC that they were in need of Vehicles, as well as secretly joined the Sovereign Covenant Empire. This joining was kept secret to avoid conflict with the UNSC or Covenant Separtists.

Well kept Secrets
The secrets of his joining of the Sovereign Empire was shadowed by hidden away documents, and the only other important being who knows of this being the Prophet of Decadence. To do his part in the Empire, Zag offered his company's services in the direct designing and construction of the Premonition (along with Decadence's own Variant), the Mantis, and the Hecate, along with other projects such as weapons and armor. He also secretly runs a Jackal training ground for the Sovereign Empire within the CovTech headquarters. Since Eayn is now run by the empire, there are also no UNSC or Separtist forces present to see the truth behind Zag's affiliation.

Personality
Zag's personality is not very surprising given his species. He is Power-Hungry, and also a bit greedy. Not to mention he is always bloodthirsty and ruthless when it comes to battle. However, he is able to be clever and cunning at the same time, which is a trait not many Jackals tend to have. It is likely this trait that has kept him alive through-out his military career and to his position at the top of CovTech. He is also shown to not care about those who show him friendship, such as Surturnis who actually saved his life for example. Unlike the Prophet of Decadence however, he is not a very manipulative being.

Trivia

 * He is a secondary Antagonist in the works of EternalSonic1997 with the primary being the Prophet of Decadence.
 * Zag is one of very few Kig-Yar Zealots.