Balkarus

Captain Balkarus is a veteran Jiralhanae officer of the Banished who once served directly under Atriox's command accompanying his war chief on several critical missions. In recent years, he’s attempted to leverage this trusted standing to earn a place in the Bloodstars spec-ops group - a former Covenant combat team, appropriated by Atriox as an elite unit trained for the singular purpose of killing Spartans. Though he has yet to achieve this goal, Balkarus has distinguished himself among his fellow officers for his ferociousness in battle, and has been known to kill his own soldiers for the slightest demonstrations of hesitancy on the battlefield.

Balkarus served in a trusted position within the Banished for multiple years, even accompanying Atriox himself on several critical missions. In recent years, he attempted to leverage his standing to earn a place in the Banished Bloodstars. Despite failing to join the elite unit, Balkarus still distinguished himself among his fellow officers for his ferociousness in battle and for his tendency to execute his own solders for showing even the slightest bit of hesitancy in combat.

On March 30, 2559, Balkarus made an announcement to the Unggoy under his command wherein he attempted to quash the rumor that a lone Spartan had lately been responsible for freeing prisoners near a water treatment structure on Installation 00. The rumor had recently resulted in the attempted desertion of two Unggoy and some were even saying the demon had been the Master Chief himself.

On May 1, 2559, Balkarus sent a message to Forticus about Atriox's new commander, Colony, and the uneasy feeling he had about the Lekgolo commander. Hours later, Balkarus sent a message to other Jiralhanae pack brothers about not throwing more Unggoy into the cloaking field and asked them to hold the field active until Colony's plan was complete.

Balkarus was among a cast of warriors, along with Jato 'Ratum, Okro 'Vagaduun, and Zeretus, picked by Atriox himself to return to the galaxy with him. The group boarded Atriox's personal Lich, Pegoras, and went through the portal on Installation 00 to Reach to meet with Escharum and was introduced to Castor by Inslaan 'Gadogai when he departed. Eventually, the group departed Reach on Eschuram's Intrusion corvette after the remaining Keepers took Atriox's Lich back through the Portal.

A few months later, Balkarus participated in the Installation 07 conflict as part of the Glelt Pack in the Advance Combat Element of the Exodus Guard.

During the Battle for Zeta Halo, Balkarus wielded both a Shea'p-pattern plasma cannon and a custom Mangler known as the Riven Mangler.

The Ukala Workshop Spike Revolver, also known as the Mangler, is a sidearm developed by Ukala Workshop and manufactured by Saizos Armory. The mangler is a highly powerful handgun that fires spike projectiles with close-range precision and immense stopping power. It heavily resembles a human revolver, with an eight round swing-out cylinder reloaded using a speedloader-like device. It fires large spike rounds likely using an explosive charge or powder encased in red metallic cartridges. The actual projectiles are perfectly cylindrical before firing, and appear to warp somewhat after firing, indicating they may not be completely solid. The mangler also has a pair of tandem bayonets arranged in a tusk-like formation under the barrel for melee attacks. For centuries prior to the Jiralhanae's alliance with the Covenant, the mangler was employed by Jiralhanae warriors and hunting packs.

The Riven variant of the Manger bears a painted white colouration, and fires three split-shard spike projectiles when the trigger is pulled. It has a lower rate of fire than a standard Mangler.

The Shea'p is a fully automatic plasma turret with a high rate of fire. As with many turreted weapons, it can be detached from its base to be fired from the hip, though the weapon is left with a limited energy charge. Additionally, once it is detached, unlike its human counterpart, which does not overheat in any situation, the detached plasma cannon overheats after firing 13% of its reserve energy; though it can be vented at any point after sustained volleys. The mounted plasma cannon is also employed as the side turrets on the Phantoms, while the detached turret is typically wielded by Jiralhanae Chieftains.

The United Nations Space Command (UNSC) is the military, exploratory, and scientific agency of the Unified Earth Government (UEG) and has acted as the emergency governing body of the human race at large for a time.

The Battle for Zeta Halo was a large multi-faction battle that took place starting on December 12, 2559, prominently between the United Nations Space Command and the Banished on the Forerunner Halo Installation 07, otherwise known as "Zeta Halo", and continues as of around mid-2560. The earlier stages of battle ultimately led to the death of Cortana, the deactivations of her Guardians and the splintering of the Created in various fiefdoms and fledgling cells while simultaneously severely damaging Installation 07, making it a turning point of the Created uprising, although the conflict itself continued as of 2560.

The Banished are a multi-species confederation of pirates and raiding clans. Acting as mercenaries, the organization's goals have been described as attaining power in their raids across the Orion Arm, while their killers and mercenaries plunder treasure in the name of their own free will.

They were formed and led by the Jiralhanae warmaster Atriox after rebelling against the Covenant. The Banished are primarily composed of Jiralhanae and have incorporated Sangheili, Mgalekgolo, Unggoy, Huragok, and Kig-Yar, as Atriox denounced vengeance between species as a petty restriction in the way of gaining rewards and treasures.

The Exodus Guard are a military unit within the Banished, formed in late 2559. They were formed by Atriox to serve as a cadre of hand-picked warriors and officers to escort the warmaster from Installation 00 back to the Milky Way galaxy.

Following the dissolution of the Covenant, the remnants of the Bloodstars were absorbed into the Banished. Atriox created a new iteration of the unit and tasked it with a new purpose of hunting and killing dangerous enemies; against the UNSC, this translated into killing Spartans.