Hastati Squad

Hastati Squad, Squad 4-H was a UNSC officer cadet training unit led by then-senior at the until its dissolution by the . Squad 4-H was a function beneath the larger, multi-year "H-Company (Hastati)" along with other training squads sharing the unit's name. The squad produced some notable UNSC officer including of the flagship and Senior Communications Director .
Squad 4-H included as many as twelve freshman cadets at inception in late , however, two washouts left through the first semester. The squad is infamous for being among the only survivors of , and completed their final education at the Mattis Academy of Military Science (MAMS) on . Hastati Squad, including its fallen, received honorary diplomas from the Patuxent River Academy of Military Science (PRAMS) in during a speakers-and-reunion visit, including a memorial honoring the fallen of Corbulo Academy.
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==Members==
===Class of 2526===
: A Harvest native, April was born in 2508 to two high-ranking UNSC officers from the colony, Roger and Madelyn Orenski. Her family was generational-military who fought with Insurrectionists, putting April at risk. Despite the danger, her parents kept her close under a form of Witness Security, moving between UNSC-hardened settlements on Harvest until she came of age without incident and attended the offworld Corbulo Academy. After passing through multiple years at Corbulo, she entered her senior cadet year in late 2525 and took mentorship of Hastati Squad, 4-H. While a typical and reliable senior cadet with many friends in Academy, she followed school tradition and maintained a mostly professional distance from her freshman cadets in 4-H earning the moniker, "The Robot." She later noted feeling insecure sometimes being smaller than most her freshman cadets.
Mid-semester performance scores among 4-H slipped following the death of Cadet Lasky's brother, a renown graduate of Corbulo and effected squad morale. Her distance from subordinates made it difficult to recover scores as they approached the end-of-term, however, they managed through, earning April a respectable final score as she considered her future deployment options for an officers' academy or non-commissioned posting. April was not informed the "missing, presumed dead" status of her parents during the First Battle of Harvest, leaving her orphaned. However, she and Hastati Squad were forced to evacuate Corbulo when the Covenant attacked Circinius IV. She, Lasky, and Sullivan were the only "official" survivors of the colony attack after the UNSC Navy abandoned the Circinius system to the Covenant fleet. Upon escaping to Mars, the UNSC Navy transferred Hastati Squad from her command to continue their processing and education.
April spent several months debriefing with the Office of Naval Intelligence, and grieving the deaths of her friends and family before deciding to return to her military career prospects. She threw herself into the ground service, thirsty for revenge, and taking on a junior non-commissioned role in the UNSC Marine Corps, becoming a Scorpion tank crewman. April survived through Human-Covenant War, a colonel in the UNSC Marine Corps by 2553. She joined and led her fellow Corbulo survivors Lasky and Sullivan in a short reunion-and-speech tour at the Patuxent River Academy of Military Science in 2558.
===Class of 2529===
: Walter Vickers was born on Boundary in the 2510s, the son of a Misriah Armory advisor and generational-family of UNSC Marines. He was to attend Corbulo Academy alongside his twin brother, but the sibling died in an unspecified incident before the 2525-2526 school year. Despite the personal loss, he persevered and displayed leadership potential early on. His classmates often denoted him for his striking-ginger hair which he grew long before attending Corbulo. Following the death of Cadet Lasky's older brother, senior Cadet Orenski reassigned Walter as freshman squad leader due to the former's failing leadership in class activities and exercises. Walter succeeded in maintaining some cohesion in Squad 4-H but Lasky's insubordination continued to drag down scores breeding animosity between former and current squad leaders.
Lasky's performance at the end-of-term field exercise regained Walter's respect for his teammate but they lost their chance to rekindle a friendship when the Covenant invaded Circinius IV. Walter died from a plasma bolt to the chest while creating a distraction so his friends could escape a Sangheili Zealot. Walter's father petitioned successfully in the Covenant War to have his son's name memorialized as as conference chamber at the Misriah Armory Corporate HQ on Mars. It is believed he sought to join the UNSC Army Rangers or Orbital Drop Shock Troopers had he survived.
: Chen "J.J." Junjie was born in the Earth-nation of China in the 2510s, an only son from a family of UNSC logistics officers and freelance military-industrialists. His mother died five years before his attendance at Corbulo Academy but it was both parents' wish he attend as offworld academies carried a reputation for "greater experience" compared to SolCore military schools. He often swapped between glasses indoors and HUD-contacts with outdoor wear. Despite talents in the classroom and with theory, Junjie preferred FTX activities despite his performance and score shortcomings attributed to a self-confidence deficiency, possibly originating from high familial expectations. Due to washouts, he previously bunked with Cadet Tchakova but transferred to a sophomore cadet's bunk room instead. Junjie was one of the most fit in Squad 4-H upon attendance due a prior, year-long physical conditioning regime. He also earned an odd reputation as a nervous-sleeper and for doing backflips as "exercise," however, Junjie was a shy cadet and easily influenced by others, often looking to please more than standout. Junjie died to a Sangheili energy sword while leading his training squad to safety in Battle of Circinius IV. He was survived by his father after the Covenant War. It is believed he sought to join the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, or a quieter role in bureaucracy, had he survived.
: Dimah Tchakova was born on Reach in the 2510s to dynastic UNSC military officers, her mother was Secretary of UNSC Navy Fleet Command and her father was a senior official in the Office of Naval Intelligence. She was known to flaunt her so-called "pedigree" and display some uncaring immaturity for her age, earning her a on-and-off nickname "Navy Princess" from her roommate Cadet Sullivan, previously bunking with Cadet Chen. She bailed Sullivan out of disciplinary action on multiple occasions for his hobby of hacking military software as he channeled some of her own curiosities and childhood sense of rebellion.
Despite her manufactured confidence, Dimah was a mostly average cadet in classroom and field training. She was often the most outspoken, leading verbal abuse towards Cadet Lasky. She also had a sentimental soft side hidden in her bunkroom including an old plush monkey doll from Reach. She hosted squadmates one-on-one in meaningful conversation, opposite from her public hazing - sometimes describing it a separation of "service-time and friend-time." She looked out for friends in her own way, but was prone to selfish tendencies. UNSC records label her "missing-in-action" in the Battle of Circinius IV after bribing her way onto a evacuating space elevator compartment when a Covenant corvette destroyed the tether. She likely died falling to the planet's surface. Her parents died later in the Human-Covenant War, however, her legacy carried on with Cadet Sullivan. Dimah's father, after speaking to the survivor, put in a good word and fast-tracked Sullivan's career into the Office of Naval Intelligence. Had Dimah survived, she would likely follow a similar path.
: Chyler Silva was born on Cygnus in 2510, raised by UNSC Army non-commissioned officer-parents and her older brother Grayson. However, she was only a few months old before the Haven Arcology Bombing of 2511 and her family moved to Mamore as part of the UNSC deployment surge in response. Her parents died fighting the Mamorian Insurrections, then raised by her brother who helped her get into Corbulo Academy.
: Thomas Lasky...
: Michael "Sully" Sullivan...
:
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Female Extra</u: Junjie's roommate.
Washout #1:
Washout #2:
Category:Units