Inka 'Saham

Inka ‘Saham is a Sangheili shipmaster who gains notoriety during the Human-Covenant War for commanding the Mutan Et-pattern storm cutter Heresy’s Sorrow. Under his leadership, the vessel harasses United Nations Space Command supply lines and Unified Earth Government trade routes, building his reputation as a persistent threat throughout the conflict.

After the Covenant collapses in 2552, ‘Saham pledges his ship and crew to the Banished under War Chief Escharum. His merciless nature fits seamlessly into the Banished’s ranks, and he thrives under their war-driven hierarchy. In 2559, a Spartan-IV headhunter is sent to eliminate him, but the mission fails. The Spartan is captured, and rather than interrogating the prisoner for intelligence, ‘Saham tortures the operative purely for his own enjoyment. This act earns him recognition within the Banished, and he is inducted into the Bloodstars, a specialized unit tasked with hunting and training warriors to kill Spartans.

During the Battle for Zeta Halo in 2560, ‘Saham leads Banished forces against the Forerunner Sentinels that defend the ring. He wears a maroon-colored Sangheili Warlord’s harness and wields a Meluth’qelos-pattern energy sword along with a customized rapidfire pulse carbine. His presence in the campaign further strengthens the Banished war machine and cements his place as one of Escharum’s most ruthless lieutenants.

Appearance: Inka ‘Saham is a Sangheili male clad in full maroon-colored Warlord’s combat harness. The armor is angular and heavily plated, with reinforced pauldrons, segmented thigh and shin guards, and a chest plate with a raised central ridge. The helmet has a prominent crest with pointed projections extending upward and backward, framing the head. His exposed facial features include greyish-brown skin, reptilian eyes, and mandibles characteristic of his species.

The pulse carbine is a directed-energy weapon hailing from the same line as other plasma weapons like the Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle and Kelos'vaarda-pattern storm rifle. Unlike the more traditional plasma rifle, the pulse carbine shares more of a visual similarity with the storm rifle or the Nakata'vho-pattern plasma repeater, consisting of a fully-elongated rifle with a full stock and barrel. The pulse carbine is capable of fully-automatic] or burst fire, and is designed to quickly overwhelm targets with a barrage of superheated plasma bolts. The Rapidfire variant of the pulse carbine differs from the standard design pattern in one major way—as its name suggests, it has an increased rate-of-fire. The outer nanolaminate carapace has a silver-white coloration, as opposed to the purple of the standard pulse carbine.

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, humans, 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 Valorguards of the Chosen are a Sangheili mercenary clan within the Banished, with General Inka 'Saham as a prominent member.

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.