Kieran Blair

Captain Kieran Blair ( 25465-94045-KB) is a highly decorated senior officer serving in the who served during the middle and latter years of the .
A keen marksman, Blair became one of the UNSC's leading experts in the field of gunnery, earning a Bronze Star whilst serving as the gunnery officer of the cruiser UNSC Sendai and a posting to Luna OCS as Gunnery Instructor for three years.
Despite his already decorated career, and the UNSC's preference of retaining him at Luna, Blair returned to active duty as the executive officer of the frigate UNSC Wayward Son in order to attain the necessary experience needed for his own command, where he won the Navy Cross for leading the crew in successfully repelling a Covenant boarding party from the ship.
In 2550 Blair was given command of the Paris-class frigate UNSC Black Prince. Despite a lack of munitions Blair would earn acclaim during the Fall of Reach for remaining behind until the end of the battle in order to the rescue the crews of several destroyed UNSC warships, along with a contingent of Spartans for which he was awarded the Legion of Honour.
Post-war Blair would initially take command of a flotilla of Frigates tasked with anti-piracy and internal security operations within the human sphere of space, being promoted to the rank of Captain in late 2553. In early 2554, Blair was reassigned to become the of Rear Admiral Aaliyah Karim in his new post as the commanding officer of the legendary UNSC Blood of Kings where he would take the ship into combat against humanities enemies in a now changing universe.
__TOC__
==Biography==
===Early life===
Kieran Blair was born on , at the Suomi Central Hospital in the city of Suomi, ; the youngest of four children to lawyer Anya Blair, and her husband and Michael Blair. Despite being a member of Suomi's wealthy middleclass, he would attend a state-run school for the majority of his education, as his parents wanted him and his siblings to grow up without the sense of privilege that would only hinder him in his adult life. This view was influenced by a trend of amongst the cities middle-class youth who grew up to be spoilt troublemakers, who were known to abuse alcohol and illegal narcotics which commonly lead to criminal cases that his mother would often have to prosecute.
Unlike his siblings, Kieran was a restless child, often found either up a tree, playing sports alongside children from the neighbourhood, or laying elaborate but harmless traps on people who had annoyed him. Despite this, he was an academically gifted child with a detailed grasp of mathematics and physics, a love of history, specifically naval military history. By early , Kieran had become entranced by the idea of a naval career, which some attributed to it appealing to his need for excitement, yet his parents forbade him from applying to the UEG's , such as the , in the hope that this would persuade him to seek a more 'peaceful' occupation, as the CMA and UNSC were at that time embroiled in the midst of the insurrection.
However, with the public becoming aware of the outbreak of the Human-Covenant war and the need for wartime expansion, Kieran was able to take the UNSC Officer corps entrance exam upon turning eighteen in February of , now able to enlist in the Navy without his parents consent. Despite the exam still being the pre-war entrance exam that was designed to admit only the most intelligent of applicants, Blair passed the exam with ease and was subsequently accepted into the . Despite their initial hesitance at the prospect of their son seeking a career in the military, Kieran's parents none-the-less supported their son after learning of his admittance into one of the UNSC's most prestigious schools, secretly hoping that he would join a non-combative branch of the service.
===Training===
Blair began his studies at Luna OCS Academy in the fall of 2527, where he was both praised for his intelligence and performance in practical and theoretical exercises, and admonished for his inability to stay out of trouble, often being the responsible party for several noteworthy pranks and suspected of being part of a group of candidates that were believed to be in the possession of an illegal still. Although this was never confirmed as the implement in question could not be found despite repeated searches by the staff.
It was during this period that Blair began to specialise in the field of gunnery, having taken a particular interest in the careers of the Royal Navy's who's emphasis on accurate gunnery had , and the US Navy's who had famously used his gunnery skills to lead the US Navy to victory in the .
Blair would take particular inspiration from Lee in joining the Academy Shooting Team, where he proved himself a capable and accurate marksman, although he was not considered the teams best shot due to the inclusion of a number of Army and Marine Officer Candidates but was noted as being the best of either of the Navy or Air Force cadets.
Despite being in continuous trouble during his studies, Blair would graduate in the middle of the class of 2531. However, one of his former instructors would later remark to him that if he had been better behaved during his studies he could have easily been at the top of his class. Now holding the rank of Ensign, Blair would receive his first posting, being assigned to the Halberd-class destroyer UNSC Mexico City as a junior member of the ship's weaponry department.
However, due to the nature of the war, the expansion of the Navy as the emergency vessels that had begun construction at the wars outset began coming into service, and the need to replace combat fatalities, Kieran would be unable to return home for a visit prior to his first deployment, despite having not seen his family in person since he had left for Luna OCS in 2527.
===Human-Covenant War===
====Early Career====
Upon arriving aboard his first posting as a part of a standard crew rotation, Blair was given a speech by his new commanding officer, the veteran destroyer skipper Commander Camille Pasternak, who explained to her new subordinates about herself, their ship, and what they could expect to happen whilst aboard the Mexico City. Due to being fresh out of the academy, Kieran's first weeks aboard the Mexico City were spent shadowing the ships Weapons officer, Lieutenant Malcolm MacDougall for evaluation and learning purposes, before he was assigned to one of the ships weapons teams, tasked with the servicing and operation of the ships MAC battery due to his understanding of the physics needed for accurate operation of kinetic weaponry.
Despite Commander Pasternak's assertion that the Mexico City would be seeing combat in its near future, the ship would miss the Battle of Arcadia and the next four fleet engagements due to being assigned to act as an escort for the fleet train of Admiral Cole's Third Fleet. Unfortunately, these months of inaction, compounded by a lack of shore leave due to theatres operational tempo and the loss of multiple human colonies along with their entire populations, would begin to eat away at the ship's moral, resulting in an outbreak of ill-discipline amongst the ships compliment, primarily amongst the ships veteran personnel.
Eventually this status quo resulted in a brawl breaking out following the loss of the highly populated outer colony world of New Normandie with little of the civilian population escaping the doomed planet despite the presence of an entire UNSC Battlegroup. Despite being not amongst the agitators, Kieran was caught up in the ensuing melee when he and a handful of the ship's officers attempted to break up the fight, resulting some bruising due to being accidentally struck before the ships Marine detachment could arrive to supress the combatants, resulting in a black eye and a minor head wound, whilst his attacker was never identified due to the chaos of the brawl. Despite the fight, Commander Pasternak would use the brawl as to campaign for the ship to be moved back to frontline combat, citing that the fight had been a result of a frustrated crew lacking an external threat that the crew could direct their anger at and had thus turned on itself. 
Despite her campaign the UNSC JAG Corps would open an investigation into the incident to determine where the blame lay for the brawl, which would no doubt have harmed every member of the ships crew, especially Blair and his fellow officers who had tried to quell the fight. However, the Covenants subsequent attack on the colony of Vodin in April of 2532 would prove a blessing to the destroyer and her crew, as with much of the Third Fleet's strength reassigned to aid the Fourth Fleet in the Battle of Jericho VII, there was a desperate need for warships to reinforce the meagre force at Vodin. As a result Admiral Cole would interceed by having the case against the Mexico City's crew quashed and for the vessel to be moved back to combat operations with the main body of the Fleet.
Despite concerns by some about the crews questionable cohesion, Kieran would find that his captain had been correct in her assessment of the situation as Unlike his previous time aboard the destroyer, the Battle of Vodin would prove to be one of the happiest periods that Blair would have aboard the ship. Now facing a common external threat, the crews anger would reforge them into the battle hardened team that Pasternak had claimed them to be, with men and women who had previously fought each other in the destroyers hallways now one of the Fleets most effective units, earning a Navy Efficiency Award for their efforts.
Assigned to the Destroyers secondary MAC Battery Ensign Blair would be in almost constant action during the battle, where the ship would repeatedly be matched up against Covenant vessels that on paper outclassed the Halberd, yet Blair and his fellow sailors would prove the worth of their ship in battle. With the ship being eventually credited with the destruction of two CAR-class frigates by itself along with assisting in the destruction of CPV-class destroyer and the damaging of a CCS-class battlecruiser by the rest of its formation.
For their service at Vodin and now needing repairs and rearmament after the conclusion of the battle, Blair and the Mexico City were ordered to return to Camber for a refit after the ships extended time on operations. Due to the length of time that the ship would be dockyard hands and having been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade for his performance at Vodin, Blair would be granted permission to leave the ship for this period to visit his family on New Carthage.
Arriving at his family's home, Kieran would cause a brief scare for his family when he decided to appear at his parents front door in his full dress uniform, unaware that the message of his return home, along with his last three correspondences had not reached them, and that he had physically changed significantly in the intervening five-years which made him difficult to recognise. Especially as his arrival had been announced by one of his older siblings children who had been born during his time away and had thus never seen him in person. Thus the sudden appearance of a Naval officer in a dress uniform caused his parents and his older siblings who were present to fear that he had been killed in action and that they were about to be informed of his death, until they realised his identity upon opening the door.
Unfortunately, once the confusion had been cleared up, Kieran found it impossible to get a moments peace from his family, especially his now numerous nephews and nieces, who were keen to hear about his exploits in the ongoing war, although he would swiftly downplay the dangers present in his tales once he realised the distress they were causing his parents and siblings. Worse still, in his time as an officer Kieran had taken to occasionally smoking a Sweet William cigar like many of his fellow UNSC officers along with recreational drinking, much to the consternation of his mother who would vocally disapprove of these new habits, once going as far as making an attempt to 'dispose' of his meagre supply of cigars, only to be caught by Blair as she searched his kit bag, much to his displeasure at the betrayal of his privacy.
His father would be more understanding as Kieran's grandfather, Owen Blair had been an CAA Marshal prior to his retirement due to injuries in 2503 and who had died in an accident when Kieran had been a toddler, and so understood the burden of a service driven career. Although he too did still attempt to moderate his sons habits, particularly his alcohol intake, but didn't attempt to prevent them unlike his mother.
====Task Force Einherjar====
On returning from his leave, the Mexico City was assigned to the UNSC's Task Force Einherjar, a 'Supported Wolf-pack' task force that was being assembled to conduct a deep penetration raid into the Covenants rear area in the hope of slowing down the Aliens push into human space, with the destroyer becoming a part of the units strike element, designated as Harii Force.
====The Royal Oak====
=====Battle of NX-583=====
====Medical leave and the Sendai====
====The Instructor====
====Return to action====
====First Command====
=====Battle of Reach=====
=====Battle of Earth=====
===Post-War career===
==Naval Career==
===Promotions===
Rank	Rank 	Date of Promotion
 	Captain 	March 6, 2553
 	Commander 	January 21, 2550
 	Lieutenant Commander 	November 1, 2543
 	Lieutenant 	July 31, 2536
 	Lieutenant Junior Grade	May 18, 2532
 	Ensign 	September 27, 2531
===Postings===
Posting 	Service History	Position 	Status 	Notes
UNSC Mexico City	2531-2533 	Weapons department 	Active 	First posting after graduation.
UNSC Royal Oak 	2533-2537 	Weapons department 	Destroyed 	Lost during the Battle of NX-583.
UNSC Sendai 	2539-2544 	Gunnery Officer 	Destroyed 	Crippled during the Battle of Miridem, scuttled to prevent capture after the crew were transferred off.
 	2544-2547 	Training Instructor (Gunnery)	Operational	Advised in developing the modified MAC gun for the refitted alongside his teaching work.
UNSC Wayward Son	2547-2550 	Executive Officer 	Destroyed 	Posted to acquire needed experience for promotion to commander. Lost during the Fall of Reach.
 	2550-2553 	Commanding Officer 	Active 	First independent command, took as flotilla flagship post-war.
 	2554- 	Commanding Officer 	Active 	Promoted to act as Flag Captain to Rear Admiral Aaliyah Karim following ships recommissioning.
==Decorations==
Below is the ribbon bar of Captain Kieran Blair:
1st Row	
Legion of Honour	
Legion of Honour	
Legion of Honour	
Legion of Honour	
Navy and Marine Corps Cross	
Navy and Marine Corps Cross	
Navy and Marine Corps Cross	
Navy and Marine Corps Cross	
2nd Row	
Silver Star	
Silver Star	
Silver Star	
Bronze Star	
Bronze Star	
Bronze Star	
Human-Covenant War Medal	
Human-Covenant War Medal	
Human-Covenant War Medal
3rd Row	
Armed Force Expeditionary Medal	
Armed Force Expeditionary Medal	
Armed Force Expeditionary Medal	
Purple Heart	
Purple Heart	
Purple Heart	
Combat Citation Award	
Combat Citation Award	
Combat Citation Award
4th Row	
Combat Action Award	
Combat Action Award	
Combat Action Award	
UNSC Navy Efficiency Ribbon	
UNSC Navy Efficiency Ribbon	
UNSC Navy Efficiency Ribbon	
UNSC Navy Rifle Sharpshooter Ribbon	
UNSC Navy Rifle Sharpshooter Ribbon	
UNSC Navy Rifle Sharpshooter Ribbon
5th Row	
UNSC Navy Pistol Sharpshooter Ribbon	
UNSC Navy Pistol Sharpshooter Ribbon	
UNSC Navy Pistol Sharpshooter Ribbon	
Ark Conflict Campaign Ribbon	
Ark Conflict Campaign Ribbon	
Ark Conflict Campaign Ribbon	
Sol Campaign Ribbon	
Sol Campaign Ribbon	
Sol Campaign Ribbon
6th Row	
Inner Colonies Campaign Ribbon	
Inner Colonies Campaign Ribbon	
Inner Colonies Campaign Ribbon	
Outer Colonies Campaign Ribbon	
Outer Colonies Campaign Ribbon	
Outer Colonies Campaign Ribbon	
Covenant Sphere Campaign Ribbon	
Covenant Sphere Campaign Ribbon	
Covenant Sphere Campaign Ribbon
==Trivia==
Category:UNSC Naval Personnel