1: @Andromedai - Aviza Morgenstern
2: @Nallore -
3: @datadogie - Fye McDouglas
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The first IC post is up. Nothing that important, just a conversation between two main NPC's, setting up the start of the story.

I added an area in the characters tab for information about important NPCS.

Name: Fye McDouglas

Age: 29

Sex: Female

Appearance:

Rank: Lieutenant

Armor:

Weapons
Primary: M20/PDW
Secondary: M6H2 Personal Defense Weapon

Personality: Curious and explorative in nature, Fye is one to try and gather up the facts and try to make a conclusion out of them, adding to that conclusion as she gathers more information. Though an analyst at her core, she’s never afraid to fight alongside those beside her or by herself. Fye will always do her best to try and present the positives whilst attempting to hide the negatives until she has something to justify them with, though that doesn’t mean that she won’t speak of a negative situation if it’s immediately relevant and required. As for her mannerisms, Fye is playful yet confident, but she has the problem of trying to shimmy around what orders she can if she has found something more intriguing.

History: Born to a mother and a father that were both marines, Fye ended up left with her uncle, a medically-discharged marine, who frequently travelled on Earth with an interest in exploring cultures that Fye would soon adopt. Her uncle expected that the constant travelling to see new sights would inspire Fye to join the marines, and to follow in the footsteps of her parents, an expectation of her that her parents shared. When her uncle caught her watching battlefield footage of Covenant forces, he did not stop her from doing so. He figured it would allow her to build an image of Humanity’s enemy. He was wrong.

School projects became based around the Covenant, whether it be the Covenant as a whole or an individual race. Fye’s interest in the Covenant was one that did not fall along the line of someone wanting to be a soldier. It was at the age of fifteen that Fye’s uncle finally took notice, finally realised that she was not analysing the Covenant as a threat but as an equal, as a different culture like those that she explored with him when she was on holiday. An argument raged that night, questions of how Fye could respect those that her parents were fighting.

The arguments did not just last that single night. Week by week, the relationship between Fye and her uncle deteriorated. One night, Fye and her uncle received news that Fye’s father had died in combat during the Battle of Skopje. Her uncle did not take the loss of his brother very well, and took it out on Fye. She suffered a harsh beating that night, something that helped her very quickly in her decision to move out.

By 2552, her previous years were a memory to her. Fye had graduated from Edinburgh University, having studied Xenoarchaeology, quite unknowingly, under the watchful eyes of the Office of Naval Intelligence. As such, it was only a duo of days before the newly graduated young woman was hired. There was little research to be done before Earth was attacked by Covenant forces however, and it was by luck that Edinburgh University was untouched by the attack against Humanity’s home.

Fye became very quickly infatuated with the Forerunners and their technology, all by a sudden assignment at the Portal of Voi, where she without break explored the device. She was also, alongside this new assignment, provided with most of what Forerunner information that the Office of Naval Intelligence had, with lines of black ink placed here and there. It allowed Fye to build an image of what the portal was used for and begin her theories on the Forerunners, and piece by piece develop her knowledge.

It was during May of 2553 that Fye was directed off Earth. It took the signing of many documents before she was aboard a ship headed for a world named Trevelyan. With the long travel duration, Fye was placed into firearms classes aboard the ship, learning how to use and shoot an M6G. She had figured that wherever she was going would be safe, however the fact that she, a Xenoarcheologist, was being told that she would have to have a sidearm on the planet worried her a little about where she was going. Xenoarchaeologists were in demand, and arming them was just one way to keep them safer.

She left Trevelyan after a few years with a significant amount more experience and knowledge, and was transferred from project to project, and at a few points, danger to danger. At her posting in 2556, the research post she was stationed at fell under attack by a band of Kig-Yar scavengers and a trio of their ships. With minimal security on-site, Fye and the other researchers there were forced to fight the Kig-Yar scavengers on the ground with the security teams, and were almost forced into a defeat before the UNSC Delfino Plaza and UNSC Chouchoute able to respond and eliminate all three ships. Fye was praised for her efforts in helping in the defence.

It was, however, on Ivanoff Station in 2557 that she got a very real taste of the might of the Forerunners, those that she had suddenly been studying for so long. Researching the composer, the ring and the artifacts recovered under the watchful eye of ONI Lieutenant Jäger, the research was abruptly brought to a halt. Fye was witness to an attack by the Forerunners themselves, or rather, the Prometheans, alongside Jul M’dama’s Covenant, as the Didact attempted to get to the Composer. Although escape craft were readily available and bing utilised, Fye did not feel like she could get away without first collecting what research she had made and securing it.

Fye and Lieutenant Jäger fought their way to Fye’s office with speed, forced to kill the Covenant as they pressed on. Once the data had been recovered and secured, they pushed with the security teams to the escape craft, and as they fled, were forced to bear witness to the killing of all those they had worked with by the Composer. Though upset at first, bearing witness to a fraction of the power and technology that the Forerunners had only drove her on, and further inspired her interest in both the Covenant and in the Forerunners.

However, the attack was not the only surprise to come. Once Fye finally was back in the safety of an Earthside office, she was once again contacted by her superiors in the Office of Naval Intelligence. It came as a massive surprise that she had been put forward as a candidate for the Spartan-IV program. The fights she had been involved with at her various posts had been noted, particularly against the Kig-Yar scavengers and alongside Lieutenant Jäger, and the latter had put her forward, under the suggestion that she be given more field assignments.

It took only a day for the decision to undergo the augmentation and the training. It took time to adjust, but soon enough she was placed back on field assignments and, eventually, she was transferred aboard the Celestian.

Extras: Fye is adapt in alien languages, which she chooses to learn over Human languages. This includes Forerunner languages, and all Covenant languages save for Lekgolo and Unggoy, the latter of which she is in the process of trying to learn. She can also speak both Forerunner-Huragok and Covenant-Huragok languages. She also can understand some Forerunner technology, though is mostly proficient in their culture and dialect.

Name: Alyia Iona

Age: 26

Sex: Female

Appearance: At 6' even Alyia stands noticeably shorter than most of her comrades, though still possesses the athletic frame of a Spartan, if somewhat more distinctly feminine than most. Straight, stark white hair frames her dark russet complexion, cutting off just below her chin. Her features are angled, with inky black almond-shaped eyes peering out from a veil of freckles. Her posture is generally relaxed, with a hint of a grin usually playing across her lips. A faint scar runs just below her left eye across her cheekbone, faded from age.

Rank: Spartan

Armor: MJOLNIR GEN2 FREEBOOTER-class armor supplimented with VENTURE-class helmet. Equipped with an enhanced diagnostic/scanning kit. Colored matte white with bright red accents. Almost always in a deconstructed state as she, much to the armorer's chagrin, tends to tinker with the systems out of habit. Utilizes Dianthus VISR.

Weapons:

Primary: Type-27 SASR (Modified)

Secondary: BR85 SR

Personality: Inquisitive with a distinctly mechanical mind, Alyia is for the most part personable enough to be pleasant to be around, even if she isn't particularly open or outgoing. Takes interest in the inner workings of most technology, a focus that has helped her more than once out in the field. She is competitive, with a healthy drive to better herself, a trait which was only enhanced with her induction into the SPARTAN-IV program.

History: Alyia was born on the backwater colony world of Venezia to an unforgiving world. With parents nowhere to be found in the collection of industrial buildings and establishments known in the city of New Tyne she grew up nearly entirely self-sufficient. She took help where she could and work when no help was to be found. Her natural talent with technology kept her afloat, while a good feel for danger kept her alive.

Growing up in the multicultural mixing pot of the multi-species city gave her a unique outlook on life, and a good feel for character regardless of species. Eventually working odd jobs became less of a necessity and more of a means to an end. By the time she was seventeen she had gotten herself a seat on a tradeship bound to the human core worlds.

Her skillset, and lack of a real home directed her to enlisting in the UNSC Marine Corp shortly thereafter, where she proved to be a resourceful soldier in the face of adversity, with a knack for operating Covvie tech. This made her a candidate for the SPARTAN-IV program in the post war years, an opportunity that the orphan-turned soldier leapt at. With a focus on her strengths, Alyia began training in the effective application of non-standard weaponry in concert with UNSC weapons R&D to collect field data. This lead to a particular fondness for various alien designs, and a pension for "improving" them in her offtime to better fit human anatomy.

Extras: Fluent in Yig-Kar and the pidgin trade language native to Venezia, as possessing a passing familiarity of Sangheili thanks to the latter.

Name: Nikolai “Nik” Markov

Age: 28

Sex: Male

Appearance: Before three weeks vacation at a little bed and breakfast on Mars, Nik Markov had been a little taller than your average grunt and built lithe. Skinnier than you’d really expect for special forces, not that you could tell when he was suited up to dive feet first into hell. Now he’s only really lithe if you stand him next to another Spartan and at 6’10” he’s taller than even many other IVs. For his old squadmates it’s a bit like talking to a tree trunk, not that he noticed during the PT to get used to his new frame. The Spartan IV augmentations gave him a whole new lease on life with combat capabilities that could extend well into the next century, but they didn’t do anything to hide a lifetime of injuries big and small. Outside his armor, Nik’s hands are calloused and pockmarked by well-healed scars. Without a shirt you could see similar marks across his body, along with a pale line tracing a path across his shoulder.

As much as some things change, though, plenty has stayed the same. It might be almost a foot higher than it was but Nik’s face stayed the same. Pale skin, sharp facial features, and deep green eyes could easily look unfriendly (especially with his new build) but they’re softened by a friendly, irreverent demeanor. He smiles a lot more than you’d expect from an ODST, let alone a Spartan. Nik keeps clean shaven, aside from the occasional five o’clock shadow depending on how busy he’s been, and his brown hair is kept medium length though not always tidy.

Rank: Spartan

Armor: Mjolnir [GEN2] Recluse with LOCUS Helmet

Weapons:





Personality: Friendly, laidback, self-assured, and easygoing; all of the words you would not expect to apply to someone who’s been among the most effective operatives in the UNSC for the better part of a decade. But nine times out of ten, before his augmentation, Nik’s first impressions ran contrary to preconceptions. That’s a lot harder now, but he would say all the more important for it. Don’t want to become as frightening to the guys on your side as the ones against, you know? In another time and place he would have lived a pretty peaceful life, but born five years into the Human-Covenant war didn’t leave many options. It’s when he becomes focused, on whatever has his attention, that it becomes clear why he is where he is. Nikolai can be driven in the extreme when he sets his mind to something, and considers success an inescapable fact. It’s only a matter of how you have to get there.

What reputation he has he prefers to downplay, making light of his accomplishments but taking great pride in his skills. The man’s much smarter than he lets on, although his education is extremely informal. He lacks the enmity towards Spartan that many ODSTs feel; they were on his side before, and they’re certainly on his side now that he’s one of them. Any team he’s been assigned to will find him a loyal, implacable ally though not quick to talk much about himself.

History: Nikolai Markov was born five years into the Human-Covenant War in 2530, fortunate enough to be far from the front lines but not fortunate enough to avoid its impact. The neighborhood he grew up in wasn’t very affluent, and like everyone else he felt the pressures of the conflict. He grew up in the shadow of the existential dread felt by a whole species, and unsurprisingly that weighed heavily on a child. Nik acted out, Nik did whatever he could to feel like he had some control over his life. Ironically, this usually meant flying in the face of whatever authority he could. Every bit of defiance proved that he wasn’t powerless in his own life. He wasn’t a bad kid, not by any means. But he was mischievous in the extreme. By his preteen years he had taken to bypassing whatever security systems he could, both physical and digital, just to gain access to places he shouldn’t be. Not to take anything, or see anything, just to prove that he could. He never got into any real trouble, a low income neighborhood whose youth were quickly going off to war had bigger problems. But he did eventually get himself a real snap on the wrist and some mandatory community service, and both were enough to push him a few degrees back towards the straight and narrow. He was old enough, by then, to be able to understand what it was that had made him feel so scared his whole life.

And the Covenant kept advancing, with human victories few and far between. With his knack for working with computers he would have gone off to college, but Nikolai got it into his head to enlist. He’d spent long enough being afraid, and the only thing he could do about it was go out and do his part to end it. So he enlisted the day after he turned eighteen, and shipped out after a party with everyone left in his neighborhood. He wouldn’t return to Mars for nearly a decade.

Hailing from a shipbuilding planet the Navy was his natural first choice. He excelled in his basic training, excelled at his duties, and spent a couple years serving shipside. A few skirmishes with the Covenant, of which he was fortunate to make it out alive, but it wasn’t enough. He wasn’t doing enough.

He got his chance to do more when his efforts to get into the ODSTs paid off. The training was beyond grueling, pushing its candidates to the very limit of their abilities. Lots of them didn’t succeed, but the drive to do more and the humiliation it would be to be Returned to Unit prevented him from even considering quitting. It wasn’t short, either; the training took months. But when he eventually returned to the front lines it was in a drop pod, serving among the best of the best. In time to serve on numerous typical (if there was such a thing) missions for the ODSTs, fulfilling extremely dangerous missions often behind enemy lines. Knowing the importance of information, and with his own system intrusion skills from his youth, Nik took to claiming any additional files or information he could to send back whenever he deployed behind enemy lines. He excelled as a saboteur, particularly, making sure that any Covenant technology that couldn’t be taken or repurposed was rendered completely inoperable. His assignments went on like this for the better part of a year, until he happened to be temporarily assigned to Reach in August 2552.

It was his dubious honor, as such, to take part in the defense of Reach. Though it ultimately failed, Nikolai earned praise for his performance under the circumstances. The Martian repeatedly brought undue risk to his own life to protect civilians, and bolster the morale of standard UNSC troops alongside his unit. Though his superiors declined to report the exact nature of the remarks used to keep them all in high spirits, the handful of teammates who survived for very long continued to remark on them for the rest of the war.

The retreat from Reach brought him to Earth, where just over a month later he participated in its defense. In particular his defense of his ancestral homeland, snowy Russia, where the fireteam he was assigned to had to reclaim a key UNSC facility. The team’s commanding officer was injured in their descent, leaving Markov to take command of the mission. The facility was a Research and Development unit in rural Russia, tasked with developing weapons and armor for the UNSC. Though Russia wasn’t experiencing nearly the extent of the invasion that Africa was, command still considered any significant foothold to be unacceptable.

So it was that outgunned and woefully outnumbered, Markov’s unit had to retake the facility from its occupying Covenant forces. Entry into the building was easy, as was securing a foothold, but by then the occupying forces had noticed their presence. The next skirmishes further depleted their supplies, and left another trooper with minor injuries. With the element of surprise no longer on their side and insufficient manpower to wage a conventional battle, he hit on another idea. Even though the facility’s computers had been largely disabled, both accidentally and to deny the Covenant any information, they were largely intact. Under his direction the team made their way to an ancillary security control room, and successfully reset the security countermeasures. The only problem, then, was getting them to take action. The system registered their own IFFs, but Markov lacked the credentials to be able to activate the system himself. It would have to be tricked.

So he directed the fireteam to establish a defensive perimeter around the security office, and set out to bait their would-be hunters. Drawing their attention was risky, to say the least, but not difficult; the Brutes were looking for something else to kill. The round fired pierced his armor at the shoulder, enough that he himself required not insignificant medical attention, but the system had flagged all of the Covenant forces as hostile before he even found cover again. Once the automated defenses were done, mopup was completed and a perimeter re-established within a matter of hours. Despite the odds the mission finished without any casualties. It was not his only participation in the defense of Earth but the most often cited when reviewing his service record.

After the war’s completion in December of the same year he didn’t get very much of a break. The UNSC was re-embroiled within small scale conflicts almost immediately, and many of them needed the not-so-soft touch of an ODST fireteam. ONI had been keeping track of the intelligence gathered from missions he partook in throughout his career and approached him, not long after the war, with an offer of employment and post-secondary education. By this point a number of his operations had been the sort hidden with a black marker, and the offer held some sway. But a competing offer came around the same time; selection for the Spartan IV program.

It wasn’t a difficult decision to make.

Extras: Though not formally educated, Nik holds several certificates of technical aptitude relating to computer systems and their security. He regularly employs this knowledge in the field wherever pertinent.