Rtas Vadum

"If it takes my death, so be it. You will not defeat the Covenant."

- Rtas Vadum Rtas Vadum was a Sangheili Commander of the Covenant Army before the Great Schism, being extremly loyal to the empire and was the only known Elite who held the title of Special Operations Commander in the Halo series, allowing him to control every SpecOps unit. When the Great Schism, he was one of the leaders of Covenant Separatists and served as the Shipmaster of Shadow of Intent.

He helped Arbiter Thel Vadam during his suicidal missions and sent SpecOps units to assist in eliminating the Heretics and retrieving the Index at the Library. Rtas then become one of the heads of the Covenant Separatists alongside Arbiter Thel Vadam and Imperial Admiral Xytan Jar Wattinree. He glassed the half of Africa on Earth with his ships, eliminating the Flood on Earth but Humanity lost half of a continent. Vadum and his fleet alongside the UNSC fleet then followed the Prophet of Truth to Installation 00, the Ark, to prevent him from firing the Halo Array. After the war, Rtas and Thel along with the remaining Elites returned to Sangheilious.