Minister of Etiology

Minister of Etiology
Biographical information
Date of death	September 20, 2552
Physical information
Species	San'Shyuum
Gender	Male
Chronological and political information
Affiliation	Covenant
Rank(s)	Legate
Era(s)	Human-Covenant war

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The Legate, formally Minister of Etiology, was a Minor Prophet in the Covenant Empire during the Human-Covenant war, stationed aboard the Agricultural Support Ship Infinite Succor during the Battle of Installation 04.

Biography

Battle of Installation 04

During the Battle of Installation 04, the Infinite Succor was in orbit over Installation 04 along with the rest of the Fleet of Particular Justice, when a Covenant Spirit dropship filled with Flood Combat Forms crashed into the ship's docking bay. Soon after, the Special Operations Commander Rtas 'Vadumee and a Covenant Strike Team boarded the ship, and fought its way through several new Flood types (as the ship contained an infected hunting ground) all the way to the bridge, only to find Infinite Succor's controls disabled.

Here they met the Prophet Legate, Minister of Etiology who revealed to them that he had disabled the controls, and locked-out the self-destruct sequence override from another part of the ship. The Minister ordered the entire group medically scanned before he would meet with them, due to the situation of Flood outbreak aboard the ship.

The Minister absorbed by the Flood.

The group met with the Legate in a secret location on the ship, where a plan was devised to get everyone off of the ship and have the ship vaporized by the nearby Covenant Fleet. During this time it also became apparent that the Flood had gained the access codes to Infinite Succor through one of the infected Elites from 'Vadumee's party. As the Flood continued to spread throughout the ship, they reached the bridge and engineering room and begun fortifying the engineering room. The Flood were attempting a Slipspace jump to escape the system. At this time, 'Vadumee realized the Legate was only concerned with his own life, which had been costing the group precious time. In anger, Rtas 'Vadumee slammed the Legate into the floor, telling him that their prime concern was the Covenant's safety, not his. The Minister was later absorbed by the Flood, before the Infinite Succor was destroyed.

Quotes

From Halo Graphic Novel: The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor.

• "That is because I have disabled all primary systems onboard the Infinite Succor." - To Rtas 'Vadumee, by the screens, when self-destruct system was offline.
• "I will not, Commander." - When Rtas 'Vadumee asked him to re-enable the self-destruct system.
• "On that, we agree, Commander. But how can I trust you are not infected yourself? If I open up one system, you may be able to reach other systems, such as slipspace controls." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "The Flood cannot be allowed to escape, and you may be assisting it. I do not have accurate information on how quickly the Flood spreads. Thus you and your men are suspect." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "While in an other circumstance I would take your word for this, Commander. I cannot now." - When Rtas 'Vadumee told him, that he and his men are not infected.
• "Head to the Medical Bay where I can examine you remotely. If you are free from infection then I will meet with you."
• "Yes, I can see that. Go the primary Hydroponics Chamber one deck down, I will contact you there." - When Rtas 'Vadumee showed him that he's free from the infection.
• "And make sure the Flood does not follow you."
• "Excellent, Commander, please enter." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "Do hurry, and close the door. Don't want to give away our location."
• "Lacking a full security complement, I had this installed in case we were boarded. None of the crew knows about it, which is especially valuable now."
• "I see, you never studied, Commander. They are the Flood, one of the many tests and obstacles we must pass to activate the Holy Rings and begin the Great Journey." - When Rtas 'Vadumee asked him what Flood is.
• "They are mentioned in several of our religious texts, but the details are woefully inadequate given current circumstances. They arrived in one of our Dropships from Halo, but managed to destroy it in their rather crude attempt at landing here. They are now trapped here, on the Infinite Succor." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "As soon, as the boarding alarm was sounded, I locked down the primary systems and came here to await reinforcements."
• "Unfortunately, I feel now retaking the ship is not an effective course of action. The Flood infects any living or dead animal tissue they come into contact with. Taking control of an infected creature. The infection process also makes these creatures very resilient."
• "In the last half hour since they consumed your comrade, their behavior has changed dramatically. They have grown far more organized and shunted the atmosphere for some areas to the ship to create a defensive perimeter around Engineering and the primary cargo hold in the rear of the ship. In addition, they have set up patrols throughout the Infinite Succor. Thus it seems they also absorbed the knowledge of those they infect.." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "Now that they have destroyed the Bridge, the Flood have set guards in Engineering - I believe, they plan on using the slipspace drive to flee this system, and Engineering is the only place they can activate it from."
• "They have already absorbed the pilot, so they know how to plot a slipspace course. Using the command codes your underling knew they have begun trying to bypass my security lockout, and I have no doubt they will succeed in less than an hour."
• "The creature they are building I believe serves as their leader and organizer. They keep bringing it corpses and other flesh and it has been growing quickly by absorbing them."
• "So, Commander... How are you going to get me safely off this Infinite Succor and then destroy the Flood?" - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "Commander?" - When Rtas 'Vadumee was silent.
• "Not from this location. I only have minimal access from here, and the Bridge controls are destroyed." - When Rtas 'Vadumee asked him if he is able to pressurize the vacuum areas.
• "No, we had no Sangheili on our crew, and so no suits for them." - When Rtas 'Vadumee asked him about vacuum suits for Sangheili.
• "Commander! I must protest! There is no point in you going to Engineering - we can escape this ship and have the Fleet destroy it remotely." - To Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "Also, splitting your forces in hostile territory seems a bad move, considering you are responsible for my safety, which should be your foremost concern after destroying the ship. I am the Minister of Etiology after all.."
• "Your comrades... Part of us. We know... They knew." - Already infected, to Rtas 'Vadumee.
• "We...have command codes. Will soon leave, spread."
• "The Forerunners... Not defeat us. What chance... you?"

Trivia

• He is introduced in the Halo Graphic Novel story "The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor."
• The word "etiology" means "the study of causes, origins, or reasons," meaning he most likely is associated with studying the history of the Covenant races, the Forerunner, or even the Flood. This can be confirmed by the fact that he explained the complete history of the Flood to the Commander, implying he has studied the matter deeply.
• His hands have four fingers each, instead of three like the other San'Shyuum, probably an oversight from the artist.
• Despite using a Gravity Throne, it is most likely that he was unarmed when the Flood managed to infect him. This is because Gravity Cannons are available only for High Prophets.
• In one scene of the Graphic Novel, the Legate is grabbed in a choke hold by Rtas 'Vadumee, then slammed to the floor. In the next "slide" he is seen just fine, his headpiece unbroken and his being is robustly frail as any other Prophet. This is just a simple printing error, meant to be in a prior page.