Brenden-G122

Lieutenant, Junior Grade Brenden-G122 (born as Brenden Maclin; October 26, 2538), often referred to as Codename: HOUND by ONI reports, is a SPARTAN-III operator attached to the Office of Naval Intelligence’s Delta-6 Division, formerly a part of Gamma Company. Born on the UEG colony of Reynes, Brenden became an orphan alongside his younger sister during the planet’s first conflict with the Covenant. Conscripted into the SPARTAN-III program among many other angered children, he became a part of Team Cutlass, serving as the unit’s sharpshooter and designated marksman. 
Brenden would graduate in 2552 and deploy to the final battles of the Human-Covenant War. Soon after, he would be tagged KIA after a near-death incident during Operation: EMERALD CITY at the Battle of Earth. His aptitudes for long-range shooting, reconnaissance and infiltration landed him a role in the clandestine hunter-killer section of Delta-6; his transference being a skillful decision made by the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) to cover up the nature of his augmentations which were nearly revealed to medical personnel treating him. Following the end of the war and his reassignment to D6, Brenden would conduct covert operations against the reviving Insurrection and scattered Covenant remnant groups, involved primarily in the assassinations of key figures, sabotage and long-range surveillance. 
Amid the Created Crisis, ONI would deploy him against the Banished to uphold the Rubicon Protocol; to disrupt and slow any plans made by their forces. Though, he would ultimately find himself in the hands of the UNSC All-Seeing Eye, following the botched exfiltration of a Karve that jumped to a random point in space. Isolated from his superiors in an erratic galaxy, Brenden would endure the struggle and continue operating as he always had. 
==Biography==
===Early Life===
Brenden Maclin was born on October 26, 2538 and brought up in Birr, a mining colony on the planet Reynes to Sydne and Desmond Maclin. Born as the first child to a pair of settlers working in the mines, Desmond would perish in an accident following his wife’s second pregnancy, forcing her to support the two children by herself and with the help of others. During his upbringing, Brenden and his sister, Ciara often found themselves in the care of sitters and friends of hers while she continued to work. The lack of time spent with their actual mother left the boy feeling insignificant and he attempted to mend that feeling by caring for and spending time with Ciara. Over the following years, the two grew inseparable from each other, leading to Ciara developing a form of separation anxiety whenever Brenden couldn't be with her. Brenden grew up having to care for this girl, a task he thrust onto himself but couldn't regret. 
Growing up in a remote colony, he behaved with the usual childish naivety regarding the outside galaxy, constantly wishing to get out more and explore. But his duty to his sister often came first, disregarding these wishes. There had been one adult in his life he could look up to, that being his teacher from the local elementary school who would fill some of the void left by his father's death, but everything else in his early childhood felt rather uneventful – until the summer of 2543. 
On July 21st, a small Covenant task force arrived in the Kezu system in search of Forerunner relics, stumbling upon the remote colony and began a planet-wide purge of the human inhabitants in what would be called the First Battle of Reynes. Among the settlements attacked, Birr wound up being one of the first hit. When the Covenant began their onslaught, Brenden and Ciara had been playing in the backyard, suddenly startled by the sounds of yells and explosions. Sydne came rushing to them, sweeping them into her arms while they struggled to understand the situation. Brenden stared perplexed, having never seen his mother so serious before. Then, a plasma explosion blew apart their fence. While unharmed, the reality of what began finally set in for Sydne as she pushed to carry her children to safety. 
She hid Brenden and Ciara in a cramped cellar beneath their home, forcing them to sit in darkness as they heard and felt the chaos outdoors through the constant tremors. The two remained down there for a while, time passing by in droves – not realizing it when the booms had stopped and it became almost silent. The sun finally reunited with the siblings as troops from the Colonial Militia soon uncovered their cellar, pulling it open to reveal the kids still huddled together, starving and afraid. Birr had been reduced to a smouldering ruin, their house caving in during the attack. Nearly all the residents had been slaughtered, including Sydne who succumbed to shrapnel wounds during triage, begging troops to find her hidden children.
As he rested in one of the soldier’s arms, the Militia leading the few survivors out of town, Brenden found himself fixed on the bullet-riddled corpse of a Jackal. 
The fighting raged on across Reynes, with the humans fighting back with what little they had against the threat. Although resistance was impressively heavy, the battle still resulted in large amounts of disarray across the planet. Brenden and his sister moved from refugee camp to refugee camp, fleeing every time a Covenant force so much as threaded their area, finding themselves in new hands every week as the Covenant’s assault raged on. 
On September 3rd, a plasma mortar struck the middle of the camp, moments after the boy left to find aid for Ciara who’d been feeling sick. Brenden raced towards their tent and clawed away at the rubble before finally unearthing her body, barely alive with both her legs singed. From there, he carried her on his back across the camp towards the rest of the evacuees. After scouring the panicked crowd for help, the distraught Brenden handed Ciara to medical personnel who took her in a separate transport. Brenden would cry throughout the evacuation, blaming himself for leaving her alone and finally affirming his rage toward the alien invaders. Three days after reaching safety, Brenden immediately sprang to locate his sister only to see her in a wheelchair, both her legs gone from the thigh down. She didn't say a word, squirming when he got close and refused to acknowledge the presence of anyone. 
The local Planetary Defense Forces – consisting of the UNSC Army garrison and Colonial Militia – would put up their best fight, holding off the task force for a navy battle group to arrive and stack the odds in their favour. Biting off more than they could chew, any remaining Covenant resistance were temporarily driven off Reynes, allowing the humans a breath of victory and rest. Following the battle, the orphaned children relocated via a colony ship to the Epsilon Eridani system in late 2543, taken to live in the Esztergom Orphanage on the planet Reach. Brenden became a recluse, both ashamed and bitter, not bothering to try and talk to Ciara anymore. He didn't try to make any friends and spent most of his time alone, lounging about the facility, his behaviour catching the eye of a particular military intelligence service. 
A strange man visited the orphanage one night after dinner and spoke to Brenden. Initially indifferent, he gained his attention after bringing up all the ways the Covenant hurt him on his planet, putting great emphasis on the state of his mother and sister. Actually an ONI agent recruiting for the SPARTAN-III program’s next class, the man gave Brenden the offer to take back what he lost, fueling the boy’s unconscious need for retribution. Without thinking twice, he accepted the proposal. Before going to bed that night, he spoke to Ciara one last time. Like always, she didn't speak and seemed confused by what he told her. Nonetheless, Brenden apologized, embracing her; the next morning, he was gone. 
Discreetly transported off-world, Brenden woke up aboard the UNSC Agincourt on July 5th, 2545, in the ship’s cryo-chamber alongside 329 other children. After a series of medical procedures, they were all herded onto Pelicans and sent off to a planet called Onyx.
===Training & Augmentations===
=== Human-Covenant War===
====Battle of London ====
Following their deployment in late 2552, Team Cutlass almost immediately deployed during the Battle for Earth, alongside ten other fireteams from Gamma Company. Able to reap through the rewards of his prolonged childhood training, Brenden tasted first combat when Team Cutlass deployed to London with the 104th Shock Troop Battalion's Alpha-Six, part of a joint response force after the Covenant’s attack and partial capture of the city. 
They inserted in SOEIVs right into the center of the fray from the UNSC and during the insertion part of the operation, Brenden's HEV pod landed roughly in the center of the streets, a bit far off from the rest of Cutlass who landed on an elevated bridge, immediately engaged by a lance of Jiralhanae upon emerging from their pods. Fighting through the streets with Sergeant Tai Cruze, Brenden participated in the unit's assault on the Palace of Westminister, which the Covenant fortified as a base. While the ODSTs moved in, he acted as sniper support from a hotel outside and following the aftermath, and later reflected, relating these engagements to his memories of fading Reynes and relished in the satisfaction he felt finally putting down the ones who took so much from them. Brenden shuttered to think about how many more had been orphaned by the Covenant and how many didn't get the same opportunity as they did, but he buried those feelings when Cecilia requested a status report over the radio. 
====Battle of Sydney====
===Post-War===
====Operation: DYNAMO====
==== Mission to Keurus III ====
==== Mission to Circinus IV ====
==== Operation: STOLEN VALOR ====
==== Operation: PORCUPINE ====
==== Talista Insurrection ====
==== Operation: DELHI ====
==== Operation: DEEP ROOTS ====
==== Raid on Desolate Kindle ====
=== Created Crisis ===
==== Operation: BLIND FATE ====
==== Operation: BIGFOOT ====
==== Battle for Within ====
==Personality & Traits==
Among the more introverted candidates of Gamma Company, Brenden-G122 proved to be the most dutiful. He never let himself be distracted. He never allowed personal feelings to hinder him. Many say he never faltered to complete his objectives, but even more so, he never failed to cover the backs of team and never left a man behind. Part of it stemmed from a combination of feelings; his motivation to avenge what his younger sister had been through, while at the same time, regretting his decision to abandon her in favour of it. He quickly realized he'd been all but selfish in this regard, never actually wanting to avenge his sister’s suffering – instead desiring what every Spartan-III did: vengeance. He used his sister as a way to justify this goal to himself, never wanting to admit the rather selfish truth of his enlistment. This, as a result, pushed him down a path of personal penance and became one of the many reasons he grew so protective of his allies. While Brenden appeared naturally calm and reserved, he very much appreciated the company of others and preferred to remain quiet out of mere habit. He chose the marksman pipeline out of this necessity, viewing it as the most efficient way to “back up” his allies on the battlefield while putting himself in an effective position. 
All of this does, however, leave him at a detriment when he turns up as the one being left behind. Here, Brenden’s disciplined style begins to fumble, misunderstanding the reasoning behind these decisions – viewing them as other-worldly punishments, payback for his pitiful attempts at penance, and growing ever more anxious. Brenden carried a rather hefty guilt complex hidden behind his solemn demeanour and constantly sought to prove something to himself, which gave in when the universe seemed to be against him. Above all, however, being abandoned by those he served under rose to be his greatest fear and he gave everything to prevent these outcomes. 
In battle, Brenden favoured precision and efficiency above all else. He preferred to strike his targets from afar and vanish just as fast as they became aware of his presence. He often aimed to minimize the enemy’s strength as much as possible, to give himself all the fighting chances he could earn. It came as no surprise he’d been considered one of the top sharpshooters of Gamma Company, believing in this method since the dawn of their first class. He was resourceful in the field and persistent against those he sought after. While considered average in mid-range firefights, Brenden’s aptitudes for infiltration and close-quarters combat made him a possible candidate for the Headhunters program, though this never came to fruition as LCDR. Kurt Ambrose wished for him to remain with his team. In his off-time, Brenden enjoyed reading and maintaining his equipment, always looking to modify his approach to operations.
===Physical traits===
Brenden-G122 possesses dark brown eyes and black hair. During training, he like many other SPARTAN-III candidates had his head shaved during his training and augmentations, but it eventually grew out again. He stands at approximately 207cm tall and weighs at least 110kg (242lb.) unarmored. Following the explosion on Sydney which almost led to his death, he retains the heavy burn wounds along his torso which serve as a constant reminder of his former team. While temporally in his late teens, his physical appearance had been frozen back a good 2 years younger due to time spent in cryo-sleep, maintaining the face of a teenage boy, often raising more than a few eyebrows among elder operators.
==Equipment==
=== Armour ===
* SPI Armor Mk. II: The standard issue gear for SPARTAN-IIIs during the war, improved in a Mark II set after Beta Company’s deployment. Issued during training, Brenden’s SPI wore several configurations to match his skillset as a marksman, sporting several bandoliers and integrated targeting packages. After transferring to Delta-Six, he would see his helmet affixed with an upgraded O/I optics device to better assist in long-range acquisition and elimination. 
* [GEN2] WETWORK-class Mjolnir PAA: Issued and fielded tested by Brenden in 2555 as per his continued service within Delta-Six, the Spartan would make thorough use of this set throughout the mid-post-war conflicts. The WETWORK would prove to be a significant upgrade from his previous set of SPI, despite the lack of photoreactive plating. Utilized in conjunction with his issued artificial intelligence, Muses, proved to be a devastating force against those who faced him in the wild.
* [GEN3] RAKSHASA-class Mjolnir PAA: Requisitioned by Brenden in 2559, the RAKSHASA set would be yet another step-up from his previous armour suites, mainly due to its efficient maintenance and self-repair systems. Donning a SHIKARI-class helmet, equipped with TAS(2)/PATTERNWOLF module, with the rest of the set painted in adaptable camouflage – this would prove to be Brenden’s most favoured set as far as Mjolnir goes, with the armour’s versatility allowing him to “stay in the fight” longer than not. 
=== Weapons ===
==Trivia==
*Brenden is of Irish descent, though his accent is fairly light and easily missed while speaking through his helmet audio, it tends to grow thicker in high-stress situations. Despite this, he still retains a lot of the common slang.
*Brenden-G122 was originally meant to be a hard rewrite of WolfBeast5672's character: "David-G114," but he decided to make them each their own separate characters and David-G114's article was rewritten into David-B114, taking him one company down. 
**This explains the similarities in backstory, with both SPARTAN-IIIs having had a close relationship with a female before being forced to separate from them as a result of their enlistment and both being pulled from their respective companies to operate as goons under the Office of Naval Intelligence.
Category:Characters
Category:SPARTAN-IIIs
Category:SPARTAN
Category:Gamma Company
Category:WolfBeast5672