William Pierce

Category:Gamestrider1
Category:Characters
Category:UNSC Marine Corps Personnel
William Pierce was a Marine officer within the UNSC Marine Corps of the United Nations Space Command from 2152-2175, renowned for his leadership skills and combat experience in the Jovian Moon Campaigns, Rainforest Wars, and the Interplanetary War.
== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
William Pierce was born on Earth on July 16th, 2133, and had a relatively peaceful childhood. In his teenage years and through his early adulthood, he developed an interest in joining the military forces of the United Nations, and at the age of 24, he enlisted and received the rank of corporal.
=== Prelude to war ===
==== Jovian Moons Campaign ====
In 2158, the Frieden movement was established in Katreus, a major city on Europa. Largely backed by a group of corporate interests of the Unified German Republic, the Friedens sought independence from the administration of the United Nations. The movement quickly escalated towards violence when the Friedens leveled an embassy in Thynia with military-grade explosives. In response, the United Nations labelled the Friedens terrorists and deployed colonial advisors to the nearby Io to help organize policing efforts. 
In the years that followed, few colonists remained neutral as both the Friedens and Koslovics spread their influence among humanity's interplanetary colonies, with the United Nations lacking the military capability to prevent such actions. In an open act of rebellion against the United Nations, the Friedens attacked the colonial advisors on Io in 2160.
The attack on the colonial advisors led to three months of fighting between the Koslovic and Frieden forces from March to June 2160, sparking the Jovian Moons Campaign. The campaign would be fought among Jupiter's moons. The United Nations attempted to pacify the situation, but with no success. William was among the peacekeeping forces deployed, where he saw his first battles and remained deeply affected by the conflict for several years.
To strengthen their efforts, the United Nations called upon national governments of Earth to utilize their own militaries and aid in the campaign. The distributed nature of their forces led to disorder among the ranks of the Earth militaries. The death toll among all sides was substantial.
==== Rainforest Wars ====
In 2162, following the Jovian Moons Campaign, armed conflict ripped through South America as Koslovic, Frieden and UN forces clashed over ideological differences. Additional guerrilla attacks took place across Earth on military and nonmilitary targets, along with several concurrent off-planet skirmishes. 
Once again, William was deployed among the UN forces to pacify the situation. During the conflict, William was scarred from his left eye down to his lip by a Koslovic soldier who attacked him with a knife. Once again, the UN's attempts to handle the growing conflict came to no avail, leading to further doubts of the UN's abilities and widespread famine and suffering on Earth. 
However, realizing this, the UN created an improved military structure known as the United Nations Space Command to help secure and end the bloodshed across the planets, leading to the creation of the UNSC's respective Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine branches. William, now part of the Marine Corps and promoted to the rank of second lieutenant for his leadership skills and experience, would go on to fight in the Interplanetary War only a year later. 
=== Interplanetary War ===
In November 2163, the Friedens suffered a critical loss, as their leader, Nadja Mielke, was assassinated on her way to a command center in the Europan city of Pelagon. This enraged the Friedens, and in December they retaliated with nearly all the military assets at their disposal. A large-scale campaign against Argyre Planitia, the hub of Koslovic activity on Mars, obliterated the city within hours. More fighting occurred during the weeks that followed, as Koslovics scattered into the city's outskirts. By January 2164 the conflicts historically known as the Interplanetary Wars had officially begun, and once again the Sol system's three main factions clashed.
==== Operation: PALE TEMPEST ====
With conflict erupting across the Sol system, UNSC commanders sought to quickly end coordination among the Koslovics and planned to strategically eliminate the Koslovic leader, Vladimir Koslov, while he was visiting a military space station in the Jovian Moons in a plan called Operation: PALE TEMPEST. William was the perfect candidate for leading the operation, due to his skills, as well as his experience with fighting to Koslovics and his familiarity with the Jovian Moons from the brutal campaign four years prior.
On April 2nd, 2164, along with a small squad of marines under his command, William carefully snuck onto the station. However, plans quickly fell apart as their presence became known on the station, and Koslovic soldiers surrounded William and his marines inside one of the station's hangars. Attempting to push towards Koslov's personal quarters, William's marines fought hard to escape the hangar and move further into the station, but all efforts were met with unbreakable defense from more Koslovic soldiers.
The operation became a true failure when Vladimir Koslov's personal shuttle fled the station, bound for a safer hideout on Mars. William, attempting to salvage the operation, decided to extract from the station, drawing his squad away from the battle and putting up fierce resistance to the now-advancing Koslovics. Despite the unfortunate loss of half the marines brought with him, William and the surviving marines successfully extracted and returned to one of the UNSC Navy's ships to recover and await further orders.
==== Mars Campaign ====
By 2164, the conflict on Mars was still raging, and William, who had avoided the conflict on Mars until now, was deployed to fight against the large concentration of Koslovic and Frieden forces also clashing on the red desert surface. The battle on Mars lasted two full years as the United Nations bombed Koslovic remnants, stamping out any Martian opposition. The sorties of this campaign not only made it the first successful UN strike against Koslovic forces but were also the first widespread extraterrestrial deployments of UNSC marines as well. Thanks to the marines' success, actions that favored large contingents for ground assaults and ship-boarding maneuvers became part of the UN forces' standard strategy from that point onward. William himself, promoted to captain in 2165. participated in a number of these actions and pioneered such tactics, gaining further reputation for his bravery and motivational speeches used to rally his marines in dark moments of the battle.
Despite the vast death toll, there was little concern on Earth about the ethics of the strikes; most felt that they were justified as a way to prevent the violence from spreading to their own soil. The campaign, concluding in 2166, was an unquestionable success. As a result, future military doctrine favored large contingents of Marines for ground assaults and ship-boarding actions. However, Vladimir Koslov survived the campaign, fleeing once again to Lake Autolycus on Luna.
==== End of the war ====
Although the Koslovics suffered extensive losses in the early parts of Martian assault, they continued to thrive on Luna and at isolated points on Earth. In August 2167, however, Vladimir Koslov and his family were killed in a bombing near Lake Autolycus on Luna. While the UNSC denied involvement, many believed that the Friedens were not capable of carrying out such an attack. Whatever the cause, this act severed the head of the Koslovic movement. Despite some difficulty on the UNSC's part, Europa, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto all saw large-scale invasions by the UNSC Marine Corps, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of Frieden bases and weapon caches. The last of the Friedens fought savagely under Oscar Bauer, nephew of Nadja Mielke, but by mid-2169, little remained of their movement, and what did was systematically eliminated by UNSC forces by 2170.
William personally participated in the majority of the final battles against the Friedens, becoming a legend among the UNSC Marine Corps, leading as a symbol of courage and hope. Combat footage of William's battles made its way to Earth, and the United Nations capitalized on it, making him the face of UNSC propaganda and recruitment advertising in this time.
Before long, the last vestiges of both were apprehended by the UNSC. The United Nations penned the Callisto Treaty, a ceasefire agreement borne out of fear and simple practicality that gave the UNSC complete military and police jurisdiction in all colonial territories. The treaty was signed by representatives of all three factions in March 2170 on the Jovian moon of Callisto. Basing its core ethos on a strategy that hearkened back to the United States of America, the technocrats in the UN used its increased power to effectively take charge of Earth's remaining national governments. The UNSC became the single organizing independent force in control of the combined military hierarchy of humanity. With this, a single authority came into existence, called the Unified Earth Government. This would be the seat of power and governance for all of Earth's colonies henceforth.
=== Retirement and later life ===
William remained in the UNSC for several years after the end of the war, helping ensure the peace across the UEG's domain lasted. He continuously turned down promotions that would take him off the frontlines and into a desk, preferring to stay with his fellow soldiers, becoming a caring old mentor to many of the Marine Corps' aspiring leaders when he finally retired in 2185, receiving full honors and leaving the UNSC with a number of medals. A ceremony was held in Geneva, Switzerland, to see him off. The broadcast of his retirement was spread across the Sol system, and it made headlines on countless news networks.
Spending the remainder of his life in quiet peace on Earth, retired captain William Pierce passed away on April 15th, 2207, at the age of 73.
=== Legacy ===
William Pierce was remembered as a symbol of the early UNSC Marine Corps, held in a position comparable to Spartan John-117 in the Human-Covenant War over five centuries later. Countless propaganda posters were created with his face encouraging enlistment. Replicas of these posters are displayed in the Museum of Humanity on Earth.
== Personality and traits ==
William Pierce was inexperienced and often panicked in battle in his early years. His first battles in the Jovian Moons Campaign left him traumatized for many years. However, as time went on and William saw more battle, his will became more unwavering and steadier, his nerve calm and controlled in the heat of combat. His way of thinking through seemingly hopeless situations, along with his bravery and leadership abilities that grew over the course of the Interplanetary War, made him a beacon of hope for countless UNSC marines and UN civilians. During his post-war mentoring of new aspiring leaders in the Marine Corps, he came across as caring and wise to his apprentices, imparting valuable knowledge on his students and making sure they were prepared for a future in the UNSC, while supporting them emotionally when their wills wavered throughout their training.
== Relationships ==
William Pierce built many strong battle-forged bonds with his fellow marines across the Interplanetary War and prior conflicts. He became a symbol and a hero for other marines and the entirety of the UN and the UNSC. His actions were honored across Earth, and those who honored him saw his memory preserved throughout centuries as humanity stretched across the galaxy and faced great threats. He developed especially strong bonds with the aspiring leaders in the UNSC that he personally mentored. They took his death the hardest, as he had helped them become stronger and helped them even at their lowest, becoming like a second father to them.
== Physical characteristics ==
William Pierce was a Caucasian male measuring 6'2 in height and weighed 159 pounds. During his time in the Marine Corps, his training regimen saw him build a healthily muscular body that allowed him to perform feats of strength across his extensive service history. He had brown hair cut short enough that it was well-hidden by his helmet and blue eyes. 
== Equipment ==
During his time in the UNSC Marine Corps, William typically wore a standard light gray marine combat uniform, complete with helmet and protective goggles. In exo-atmospheric operations, William wore a pressurized combat spacesuit. He also utilized standard UNSC rifles in battle, preferring their simple design and reliability. For ceremonies, most famously his retirement ceremony in Geneva, he wore a white military officer's dress uniform, decorated with his many medals, ribbons, and other various marks of achievement.
Category:Humans
Category:UNSC Personnel
Category:Males