Andrew-B191

Spartan "Drew" Andrew-B191, born Andrew Soto Márquez, was a SPARTAN-III operative from the who was active during the Human-Covenant War. Drew was one of several SPARTAN-III's that would be pulled from Beta Company, particularly as one of twelve Rear Admiral Darren Cohen would use to staff the Diamond Initiative, a project focusing on the capture of important Xenotechology as well as s permanent residence of a Spartan contingent for those missions. In this circle, Drew became Diamond Team's in-field engineer, and Xenotechnological expert. 
Over the course of his military career, Drew would become an expert in all forms of electronic communication surveilance, Covenant technology and deployment, as well as a localized ONI field expert on Forerunner technology and interaction. He was also adept at CQB/CQC situations, often favoring the use of sidearms, carbines, and shotguns as a weapon of choice. His tech-savvy skills would set him apart as an indispensable asset to Diamond Team, as his dual-standing as a Spartan Operator and Technician nearly guaranteed successful interaction with both foreign and alien technology. 
His exploits with Beta Company's Team Golf and, later, Diamond Team, would consistently prove to be one of the entities guaranteeing their success of their overarching mission. Though he often seen as reserved with his own emotions, he is quick to entertain and bolster his fellow soldiers. This has made him an "emotional" leader of sorts, not shying away from maintaining morale even at his own expense. Though not an officer in rank, he consistently proves that he was able to steer his comrades right and would prove an indispensable asset to Diamond Team for the duration. He is sharp, resilient, and an expert soldier who seeks only to keep his comrades alive, and his enemies cold. 
== Biography ==
==== Early Life ====
Andrew Soto Márquez was born on to Felicía Márquez Rosario and Jonathan Soto García in 2528. Drew's parents met on while employed by a private security firm in Zaragoza, Spain. Soto, who grew up in the rural regions outside of Madrid, moved to Zaragoza for the security position, where he worked with Márquez, a native Aragonese who grew up in Zaragoza. The two dated for many years before settling down in 2524 and immigrated to the Colony world of Madrigal. Drew’s parents had one other child before Drew, a stillborn, in 2523, which proved to be a pivotal point for the young family. After the loss of a child, both believed it was best to have a new start, prompting them to travel to the distant colony.
Not long after their arrival on Madrigal, a close and neighboring planet, , was attacked sparking the Human-Covenant War. Drew was born a few years later in early 2528. At the time of his birth, Soto and Márquez were both members of the on Madrigal. Due to the looming worry of an invasion, the Soto had arranged for the young family to return back to Earth in 2529 to escape any impending threat. At this time, the Covenant's actions were not entirely known or understood, but the young couple decided not to chance their future on it. This action proved to come too late as Madrigal was in late 2528. The two, who were ordered to defend the planet, were able to arrange for Drew to be taken off planet in an evacuation. Ultimately both of his parents would perish in the line of duty, defending the planet as it was glassed, leaving Drew alone.
=== From Rubble to New Alexandria ===
In the care of strangers, Drew was harbored in the nearby asteroid belt before he was taken into state custody after he, along with dozens of other children, were given to a freighter captain returning to the inner-colonies. After this evacuation, Drew was brought to Reach where he became a ward of the state in . While institutionalized at the New Alexandria Federal Conservatory, Drew became a stand-out juvenile student. Early in his education, he had shown particular prowess with complex tasks and he began primary schooling years before his similarly aged peers. It is also around this time that Drew decided to go by the shortened nickname "Drew", in a small act of defiance as, though he was a intelligent and diligent child, he was troubled and often found himself being disciplined — he was yelled at often by his full name, reminding him also of the loss of his parents. For this reason, he never gave his full name to anyone, and soon he would only answer to "Drew". This defiance also saw that he was never far from any Conservatory compounds, as he had ran-away from several foster families.
When Drew was five, he was finally told of his parents fate by his counselor, having believed they abandoned him instead of being killed. The counselor, though they would not see the fruits of their labor, was successfully able to shift Drew's manor of behavior. This new truth changed his demeanor and doubled his intense will to learn. This also sparked his desire to fight back, bolstered by the fact that the Conservatory was plastered with UNSC banners and many alumni joined the UNSC. At a very young age, when some of his piers talked about being doctors, firefighters, or AI programmers, Drew wanted to be a soldier. It was apparent from this new stage in his life that he was a strong-willed child, and was incredibly quick as well. These traits were also likely apparent from his genetic map, which flagged him as a potential match for the SPARTAN-III project. Roughly around that time (at the age six), he was approached by an agent for the project, wherein he was told of the promises the program could make to the young orphan, which included taking the fight to those who had wronged him. With the prospect of taking revenge on the Covenant, Drew begged the agent to let him join. Within a year of their meeting, he was a Trainee.
=== Spartan Trainee ===
As a Trainee, Drew was first assigned to Beta Company’s Team November. He was joined by Joel-B404, Mary-B300, and Thad-B155. As a member of Team November, Drew used the designation November-4. November, largely, stayed together throughout their training as well as their initial deployments. During this time, Drew began his development into a specialist in field technology, and often provided support in the way of communications, navigation, and on-site hacking and fabrication if necessary. Also, by nature of being older than most of the group, the Team's "family dynamic" made him a bit of an older brother figure which, while not standing in rank, made him a bit of an emotional leader of the group. He particularly found a profound friendship in Joel, as they had both been Madrigal natives and both of their parents had died as Colonial Militia.
As their squads became more established, Drew noticed that most squads, including November, had a very similar dynamic. This amplified, to him, the strange relation that Oscar and Golf shared and he confided in Joel his annoyance of Oscar Team's competitiveness. He had, however, inadvertently set off an intense rivalry between Joel and Oscar Team's leader Spencer-B337 or "Spike". A small hiccup in this, as well, as Spartan Trainee Annalee, who was Spike's closest confidant. 
Most saw Spike and Annalee as nearly inseparable, and during Joel and Spike's tit-for-tat competition, Annalee even went as far as defending and fighting for Spike. Drew suspected their friendship was a little more than just that, and as such he considered Annalee and Spike almost as a separate team. In particular, Drew once found that he was paired with Annalee for sparring, and his loyalty to Joel led him to not hold back, and the two severely beat one another. Annalee and him got into two more fights outside of sparring because of this, often with both walking away battered and without a clear victor. Drew would come to learn that Annalee would continue to bad mouth a lot of November on behalf of Spike, including painting Drew as one of the laziest Spartans in all of Beta Company.
==== Changing His Tune ====
The inter-team competition came to a head when Joel accidentally knocked out an Oscar Spartan with a training round. Spike accused Joel of doing this purposely, which started a brawl between the two teams. Drew tried to pull them apart, but to no avail, even getting sucker punched by Annalee at one point drawing him and Golf's team leader, Nalini-B099, into the fray as Drew tried to fight Annalee. Most were separated by trainers — some even knocked out or incapacitated — and eventually Spike and Joel were carted away and tossed into the brig while the rest of the company was marched for hours. 
After they were marched, Drew, who thought he had had a decent friendship with Golf's Team Leader, Nalini-B099, spoke with her and made clear his frustration with the infighting, especially since they were all on the same team and working towards the same goal. He told Nalini specifically that he and Annalee had come to fighting several times outside of sparring, and it bothered him that they all couldn't find a way to work as a team. He admitted he was wrong, but he wanted to try and have them all start over.
Later the next day, Annalee would approach Drew, and the rest of November, to apologize to them directly. From that moment, Drew quickly turned the other cheek and he became fast friends with Annalee. They would joke, often, that the easiest way into a Spartan's friend-circle was either working together, or "kicking the other one's ass".
==== The Incident ====
In April of 2541, sections of Beta Company were moved to a remote UNSC outpost for an exercise off planet. By this time, most Beta teams had carried out similar missions before, and they would again try and prove their lethal precision. One of the evenings while in the field, however, Nalini-B099, who although they had been usurped as a Team Leader by Annalee, gathered up Team Golf and a few other Spartans to sneak from their barracks to have fun in a nearby town. Drew, a friend of some of the Spartans including Nalini and Annalee, was invited but he chose not to go. Spike, at some point, had also heard of their little escapade and went to report them as AWOL. Drew tried to stop him, but Spike couldn't be convinced otherwise. Drew didn't force the issue, as he assumed the worst that would happen is that the Spartans would be thrown in the brig. 
The teams that were taking part in the training exercise were woken very early in the morning, and brought into a meeting to be briefed. There, Drew would learn that earlier that morning Nalini killed one of their trainers inadvertently when they went to retrieve the Spartan trainee's. The teams were notified that this moment may signify the end of their teams as they knew them so they might be rearranged. Murmurs quickly spread that this only happened after another Spartan tipped off CPO Mendez. The Company was split on the matter, some blaming the unnamed Spartan and some blaming Nalini. Some, of course, blamed both. Regardless, Drew never revealed who it was as he felt some guilt for not trying to stop Spike.
After the AWOL Spartans were removed from the brig, Mendez met with them and then called for Joel and Spike to also report to him. Upon returning to the barracks, they carried out a final shuffling of November, Oscar, and Golf Teams. As an act of discipline, Nalini would immediately be removed from Beta Company and face a Court Martial. Mendez, recognizing that Golf, November, and Oscar teams had been terribly petty and undisciplined during this and other episodes, reordered their teams effective immediately to the chagrin to almost all involved. This also showed that, regardless of what internal drama the Spartans had, it was likely their Commanding Officers knew all about it. 
Annalee, who had very recently been promoted to Team Leader, was demoted as an act of discipline. Thus, Joel remained a Team Leader, now leading Golf, and brought with him Drew and Mary to finish the roster. Spike would take over as November's Team Leader and take Wei and Ahmed from Golf. Drew, though disappointed that Thad would be moved by himself to another team, was relieved most of the team remained with him. He was already comfortable with Annalee, as well, and looked forward to working with her as they had grown to be good friends since their early troubles. However, in the shadow of Nalini's Court Martial, Drew recognized that Annalee was quietly distraught and unwilling to intermingle with her new team.
==== Operation: TANGLE ==== 
Mendez would then order Golf back to Onyx, early, where Nalini would face her court martial. While en route to Onyx, a hostage situation developed aboard ONI's Bravo 9 Relay Station located in Interstellar Space. By chance, the Spartans of Golf were aboard the closest UNSC vessel. Joel, given the choice by the captain of the ship, gave the green light for the team to respond.
The incident had been carried out by the crew of the notorious Junker Pirate vessel Mata Hari. The crew of the Mata Hari raided the remote Bravo 9 Relay Station for supplies, but quickly found themselves in the middle of a hostage crisis gaining the ire of the UNSC.
=== The Diamond Initiative ===
==== Project CHRYSANTHEMUM ====
Not long after Drew and the new Team Golf returned to Onyx to finalize their training, the Spartans of Beta Company were alerted to the decision to Graduate 300 of the 418 trainees. Initially all of Team's Golf, November, and Oscar were not listed to graduate and instead were selected as "washouts" that had automatically been assigned to train the next company of SPARTAN-III's. Drew and the rest of the Spartans were obviously disappointed and upset, but Drew already made plans to transfer to ONI to become an agent, of some sort, so that he could help in the war effort. Within days, however, it was apparent that Mendez and Ambrose had something else in mind. 
When it came time for the potential graduates to leave for the UNSC Hopeful, Drew and Team Golf were eventually ordered aboard and all of Golf, November, and Oscar were to receive Spartan augmentations, though it was notably off the record. Annalee questioned Mendez about the matter, and she reported back to Drew and the rest of the team. Mendez, apparently only assured her that it was not a mistake and that all three teams had been carefully constructed by a unit within ONI, and they would now work together pending a separation from the rest of Beta Company. When questioned further, Mendez could only reiterate that this was hardly done in error, and Annalee and the eleven other Spartans would be fully fledged Spartans, much to Drew and the rest's relief.
Of the Beta Company graduates, including the off-books twelve, all received successful augmentations and were soon after put through even more rigorous training to test their new limits. During this time, all graduates were equipped with the upgraded Semi-Powered Infiltration armor and readied for impending operations. Once they had again proven their abilities, and were familiar with their new equipment, they would spend the next year conducting a series of smaller operations, generally against Insurrection targets, but occasionally against highly vulnerable Covenant targets as well. During this phase, although officially under Colonel Ackerson's command, the teams of Golf, November, and Oscar would almost always work together and were referred to as the "Diamond Lance" on direction from Rear Admiral Darren Cohen. Cohen, the benefactor of the off-books augmentation of the Diamond Lance, had managed to arrange for the teams to work closely before they would, eventually, be reassigned to the yet to be incorporated 90th Xeno-Materials Exploitation Battalion.
==== Operation: CARTWHEEL ====
TBD
==== Operation: RAUCOUS SOLITUDE ====
In early 2545, the Diamond Lance were officially separated from the rest of Beta Company as instructed by Cohen. Though the Diamond Lance had yet been notified, they were now officially under the Umbrella of Cohen's Diamond Initiative. There had been one caveat, however, to their impending operation. While in negotiation for access to Spartans, Ackerson agreed to release full control on the Diamond Lance on the condition that they would conduct an operation that would test a new in-field data collection apparatus called STARS , as well as agree to hit a target that would both benefit Ackerson's goal to slow the Covenant war machine as well as Cohen's goal to collect vital Xenotechnology. Cohen agreed, and Operation: RAUCOUS SOLITUDE was compiled and planned accordingly. 
Operation: RAUCOUS SOLITUDE was a high-risk, Spartan-only operation that commenced on June 13, 2545. Tragically, it resulted with most of the Diamond Lance KIA in the first hour of the mission. Joel-B404 and Ahmed-B077 had both died within mere minutes of landing, and Drew was separated from the rest of Golf and Oscar Teams, land linked up with the survivors of November, many of whom were gravely injured. They were able to assault a bunker that held a Mantis canon that shot down several of the Spartans SOIEVS. They were able to make contact with Oscar team via a runner, Mary-B300, who told them of a several hundred Covenant wave of Unggoy and Kig-Yar approaching. Mary left them, and Drew did not see her for the remainder of the time during the Operation. Eventually, the wave of Covenant Mary warned of assaulted the Mantis bunker the team held, and Drew and Spike were forced to retreat, the remaining Spartans deciding to stay behind to hold off the waves. 
After the breakout, Spike and Drew were unsure of the status of the rest of the Spartans and decided to attempt to infiltrate the outer perimeter of the which contained their target goal. They would accidentally bump into Annalee-B220]] while infiltrating the camp, and the trio devised a two part plan to destroy the Citadel with a and then attempt to escape the planet with at least something of value. After an intense firefight at the base of the Citadel tower, made easier by distractions caused by Drew and the unexpected arrival of a volunteer force led by Waimarie "Lucky" Paiwei to help extract the Spartans, the three were able to swipe a working data storage device and fight their way off of the Citadel tower and onto the UNSC Boudica, which arrived to retrieve the operatives. Sadly, Spike would sacrifice himself to allow for Annalee and Drew and the remaining ODST's to escape, leading them to believe they were the only Spartan survivors. Eventually, this would learned to be false as Mary-B300 and Wei-B258 would escape the surface via other methods. 
==== Interlude on Reach ====
When the Boudica finally arrived back with survivors to UNSC space, Darren Cohen was dismayed to learn that had already concluded months earlier, and there remained no SPARTAN-III’s to replenish the Diamond Initiative's personnel goal. The stinging irony, he would realize, was that the STARS system directed the Spartans to a highly inoperable landing zone, and this could have indicated a potential flaw in their design and maybe even the postponement of Operation: TORPEDO. As the mission took longer than expected, and the Boudica had enacted the , which dictated they make several random jumps away from Earth before returning to Human-Controlled Space, they arrived back too late to make a difference in the outcome.
Though the project now had a terribly dismal outlook as it had lost nearly all it's Spartan Operatives, the survivors had dragged working Xeno-technology back with them, and the data it contained was a game changer. Cohen, with aid from the Initiative's AI Fluellen, would seek to discover why the Covenant had put so much effort into learning about the artifact they referred to as the Guiding Light. The rest of the program, of course, would change inherently due to the lack of Spartans for a larger strike force. This change prompted Cohen to make sure both the Spartans in his charge received promotions and be placed into leadership positions, with Annalee now being the leading ground commander for this new team. His visions of a Battalion was diminished, and he instead planned to focus the small Spartan team to be an elite, intelligence team that would seek out leads that stemmed from Operation: RAUCOUS SOLITUDE. 
In the short "down time" between major deployments, Drew assisted local ONI operations in counter insurgency operations, giving himself time to try out the SPI Mk. II armor he and Annalee would thereon sport. Drew, who was recognized for his role in RAUCOUS SOLITUDE, was promoted to Warrant Officer, and then Chief Warrant Officer quickly thereafter. He was also conveniently able to better know MSgt. Waimarie Paiwei while Annalee was training to be their lead officer. He and Paiwei would run small operations for ONI until Annalee was set to graduate, readying both of them for their next large deployment which would emphasize counter-insurgency for a time. 
=== Diamond Team & The Battle for Mendel ===
==== Operation: SWEEP ====
==== The Centroid ====
== Relations ==
== Service Summary ==
=== Major Assignments ===
* — 2537 to October, 2545
* Special Assignment, Naval Special Warfare Command — November, 2545 to January 9th, 2546
* Diamond Team, — January 9th, 2546 
=== Dates of Rank ===
Insignia	Rank 	Date	Circumstance
 	Spartan Trainee (E-1) 	2537	Conscription
 	Spartan Recruit (E-2) 	2538	Promotion
 	Petty Officer Second Class (E-5)	2543	Promotion (Grad.)
 	Warrant Officer (W-1) 	2545	Promotion
 	Chief Warrant Officer (W-2) 	2546	Promotion (OCS)
== See Also ==
== Trivia ==
* Drew is inspired by a character of the same name in a drama/comedy Machinima called "Seekers". The character's choice to utilize a blue visor is a nod to their choice of armor color in that series.
* Drew shares a apellido materno and birthday with prolific Colombian author .
== Appearances ==
=== In Circulation ===
* Centroid
Category:SPARTAN
Category:Beta Company
Category:SPARTAN-IIIs