Matthew Cross

Matthew Samuel Cross (: 33209-87115-MC) was a  in the UNSC during the . After the war ended, Cross continued his service with the UNSC until 2561, he joined the Coalition of the New Earth Government as its primary marine general. He would continue to led the Coalition until his arrest in 2566 during the Vixel Rebellion. 
== Early Years ==
Born on the colony world of Demeter-2, Matthew Cross was born into a wealthy family and was the brother of Jonathan Cross. Matthew grew up a almost spoiled child, but still did his best to act independently. Due to his spoiled nature however, this drove Matthew to be a bit cocky and egotistical and raged about joining the marines. 
In time, the Human-Covenant War began and Matthew enlisted within the marine corps. However, due to the interference of his parents, Cross graduated early with the rank of Sergeant and was sent out into the heat of battle. 
== Human-Covenant War ==
After his graduation, Cross was deployed with his new squad, dubbed "Ranger Squad" and was sent to the colony world of Atlas to assist in local defense against the Covenant there. 
=== Battle of Atlas ===
Being deployed to the city of the same name as the colony, Ranger Squad was sent to the city to being to save civilians and join ODSTs in an assault on a Covenant station there. The team landed in onto the Star Gate Hotel and proceeded to clear the building. While moving through the building, Cross and his men rescued a group of captured civilians and led them outside and through the streets. While moving through the city, the team found other marine squads and were led to the Capital Industries Building. While moving through the building, the team was ambushed by a small elite strike team. Though the elites were all killed, several members of his squad and some civilians. The remnants proceeded through the building and cleared out a LZ for civilian evac ops. 
Afterwards, Cross and the three remaining soldiers under his command were joined by Delta-3 and another two marines all under Cross' command. The team proceeded to move outside the building and were joined by two warthogs and a single scorpion tank. While Cross and two of his troops drove one warthog, the rest of the squad drove the second and the ODSTs took the tank. The team charged down through the city and cleared out several Covenant deployments and took down a few phantoms as well. However, the team came across an abandoned marine base and were pinned down by a Covenant drop crews. 
The team was then ambushed by a squad of Brute Jumpers and drones and other Covenant vehicles including two wraiths. Though Cross and his squad were able to clear out some of the infantry, they were unable to save the scorpion. The squad was then saved by UNSC Air Force bombers and were picked up by a pelican crew. Afterwards, the squad were taken to ONI's Local Alpha Site and was debriefed on certain issues including the loss of his ODSTs and some of his own men. However, Cross was still needed and was deployed to the neighborhood of Park Gardens to fight into a Covenant Dark Zone. 
==== Mission to Park Gardens ====
Ranger Squad was sent to Park Gardens in order to infiltrate a Covenant Dark Zone and possible learn what the Covenant next move was. The team was positioned along a rooftop awaiting a Covenant convoy coming into the area. Once the convoy came into their pathway, the squad jumped onto the convoy and let them into the dark zone. The team then captured the Shadows they rode in own. With the transports captured, the squad followed the other Shadows and came across what appeared to be a motor pool. While the Covenant was unloading the cargo, Cross and Gunnery Sgt. Palmer hijacked two ghost and cleared the room, with the rest of the squad using the Shadow's guns to provide covering fire. 
With the area cleared, Cross and his squad left the motor pool and entered the building's command center. The team cleared the center and began to run through the Covenant data records in the base. However, while going through the records, and puling out important data, the team set of the alarm accidentally and had the entire area running towards their location. Cross then had explosives being placed and had the rest of the team back to the motor pool and used wraiths to hold off the Covenant. After the explosives were primed and ready, the squad reunited and escaped the area which then exploded. 
The team then proceeded deeper into the dark zone and engaged Covenant comm buildings and station defenses. The squad continued further into the area, underling the way cleared out an LZ for ODSTs to land in. Once additional UNSC forces dropped in, the area was quickly captured by human forces and the Covenant in the city were driven out. 
==== Mission to Cosmo Square ====
Ranger Squad was then deployed to Cosmo Square to assist in a strike force attacking a docked Covenant corvette overhead. When the squad landed, they met with the 94th Engineer Command, an army squad, and Charlie-5, a ODST squad with five ODSTs. When the squad engaged the Covenant, they were able to push the line back and to a small outpost for the Covenant. The squads then filed in and attacked the outpost. While the ODSTs attacked the turrets along the top of the building, Cross and his squad along with the army soldiers, entered the post and began to clear it out. The squads moved throughout the outpost and the cliff over hanging the building. The teams then entered the roof of the building and took out the remaining turrets. Afterwards, Ranger Squad was sent ahead while the 94th and Cross waited for the ODSTs. 
After the squads reunited, they met with the rest of Ranger Squad who were pinned down by some turrets and other elite forces. With the rest of the group's assistance, the station was cleared the then teams proceeded forward. The team arrived to the corvette and began to board through the upper landing platform. While on the platform, the team engaged a small squad of Elite Rangers, but were able to wipe them out. The team then infiltrated the ship and took out the crew below them. The team then proceeded through the ship and attacked the hanger bay. However, before the team could make through the hanger, the ship took off and returned to the upper atmosphere. Cross then acted fast and attempted to continue on, but the teams were soon outmatched by Covenant strike squads. Cross then ordered the squads to take a ship and get of the corvette. The team took a seraph fighter and rather than run, they attacked the engines and thus had the ship crash. 
==== Battle at Mantle Pass ====
Ranger Squad was then sent to Mantle Pass to hold off a Covenant ground assault onto a nearby UNSC outpost. The squad landed in the middle of the pass with Zeta-5, a ODST squad along with other marine squads. The team was placed under the command of Major Gates of Zeta-5 and were given two scorpions to use as defenses. Cross and his team did not take a tank and rather went on foot with the rest of the marines. The marines then encountered the Covenant battalion coming to the outpost through the pass. The teams held off the Covenant for around twenty minutes, but were soon overpowered by incoming bombers and overwhelming forces. 
The remaining marines then fell back to the local trench canals leading to the post. Once the Covenant came, the teams reengaged the Covenant with the outpost giving them local heavy fire support. The squads held off the Covenant long enough for a pelican to come in and drop off a team of s. With the spartans assistance, the teams were able to push back the Covenant assault. Cross then led Ranger Squad back towards the canyon to seal it off from Covenant ground units. The team placed dozens of explosives along the canyon wall and when the Covenant launched a counter-attack, they blew the canyon and killed several squads of the alien empire. 
Ranger Squad and a few other marines were sent back into the canyon to stop Covenant motors from bombing the outpost. While the team flew over the canyon, some marines fired rockets and other explosives at the Covenant below. When the team reached the motor station, they quickly cleared the area and took down some of the squads. Cross and Ranger proceeded onward and soon found a small Covenant staging area. While Cross' comms officer warned the UNSC, the team moved down and attacked the area. The team was pinned down a few times but were able to push through and continue forward. The squads were then joined by the Spartans and UNSC bombers and the UNSC then cleared the area and recaptured the entire region. 
==== Siege of Downton ====
Though the UNSC was able to recapture a small portion of the planet, the Covenant soon attacked the most populated city, Downton. The Covenant attacked in force and burned down a majority of the city in a few hours. Cross and Ranger Squad were sent to evacuate civilians and pull the Covenant out of the city. As UNSC frigates did battle with the three cruisers over the city, Cross and his squad landed nearby a UNSC command building. The squad moved through the local boardwalk and linked up with local army soldiers engaging Covenant forces and escorting civilians. After the boardwalk was cleared, the group proceeded into the atrium of a shopping mall. While pushing through the Covenant line, the squad then waited for an elevator for transport. Once the elevator arrived, Ranger squad and a group of 5 civilians entered and went to the top floor for evac. 
Once at the top floor, the team waited for additional civilians to arrive and the evac pelican to come to their coordinates. Once the pelican came, Cross got the civilians on board and the army soldiers along with the rest of the his squad. Cross then went to the base of the building, killing incoming Covenant soldiers along the way. Once at the base, Cross planted a few explosives on old support pillars. He primed the explosives and got outside the building and made it to the beach by jumping off the seawall. He detonated the explosives and had the building come down on Covenant forces along with a few civilians as well. Though Cross was crushed by this, he still signaled a pickup and was reunited with Ranger Squad. 
The team was deployed to run counter-ops around the city against Covenant air deployments and docking platforms. The team cleared out a few platforms until eventually another Covenant fleet came into the system and eliminated the UNSC fleet above the city. Ranger Squad was then placed onboard a ship and taken off world to another deployment. 
=== Battle of Demeter-2 ===
Sometime in 2540, the colony of Demeter-2 was placed under attack by the Covenant with Cross leading Ranger Squad which was now officially a special operations units. Cross was also given the rank of . The squad arrived while the planet was day six of the massive invasion against the planet. Once on the planet's surface, the squad was sent to a small research facility to extract data on an artifact neither human nor Covenant in origin somewhere in the deep jungles of the planet. The team landed at a local farmer's homestead and interrogated the farmers who relived possible Covenant activities nearby. While Cross had some men bring them to safety, he and four others moved up through the area and found some deployed Covenant squads. 
The squad eliminated the Covenant and proceeded forward and cleared out a small outpost and saved local UNSC forces. The squad was then joined by these forces and proceed towards the research station. Once there, the other forces held off the Covenant with Cross while three of his men were trying to break into the facility. Once the main doors opened, the group entered into the building and found a terminal in order to download then needed data for the artifact. The team then were able to get the data and called in an evac ship. Once the falcons came, the group was escorted out and returned to the city of Vacuo. 
==== Mission to the Artifact ====
After the artifact data was received, Ranger Squad and Dr. Jacob McCoy were sent to the artifact to potentially activate it to stop the Covenant. However, when the team arrived, they were ambushed by Covenant forces already stationed there. While the team and the doctor survived, they were forced to make the rest of the journey on foot. Once the group arrived at the artifact's sight, the Covenant had already made a stable defense of the area. Cross then gave the order to destroy the artifact or the entire area as well. With the doctor's help, the team slipped past some areas of heavy Covenant and planted several explosives and even activated some Covenant explosives. 
After a few more minutes of plating explosives, the group ran away from the area and blast range and detonated the explosives. The artifact was not destroyed, but it was heavily damaged and all Covenant killed. However, it meant little as another Covenant fleet came and glassed a majority of the continent. The team and doctor was escorted off world and were placed on the UNSC Demeter and sent off to reengage the Covenant in a different systems. 
=== Battle of Earth ===
In 2552, Cross and his new division were brought to Earth to assist in a local defense of the planet. Cross was given the rank of  and was leading the 22nd Infantry Division. The division arrived on the 30th of October and he deployed his men to the surface of Mombasa and others to the city of Cleveland. The division fought until the Battle of Voi when Cross had directly all his forces to the city to assist the other marines stationed there. After the battle ended, Cross retracted the division and and took them off world. 
== Coalition of the New Earth Government ==
After the war ended, Cross formed a friendship with fellow general, John Scrapper and later Patrick Irons. As the years went by, Cross' view of the UEG was getting worse. Soon, he learned of his brother's death by Insurrectionist and the UNSC was powerless to do anything. This made Cross pull the line and joined the Coalition with Scrapper and Irons. After his enrollment, Cross was placed on Vixel and was placed under the command of Connor Stewart. 
=== Vixel Rebellion ===
While on Vixel, Cross had deployed troops all over the planet and had a deployed troops to a research base in Chun Kin. While there, the troops were joined by a local militia group and together held a solid defense. However, in October of 2565, a squad of spartans attacked the research center and captured or killed all of Cross' men. 
Later, Cross would be engaged by Spartan Team Tango of the Alpha-Zulu Corps and his main base would be left devastated by the attack. However, during the attack, Cross was able to kill two of the six spartans and left the others in retreat. While Cross would stay alive with little injury, he demanded higher security for himself and was rejected by Stewart. Cross then retreated to the Souther Tribal Lands in order to survive the attacking UNSC forces of the north. However, in 256, his new base came under attack by November Team and he was eventually arrested by Michael-G047. However, he and his men were able to bring down five of the spartans and only stopped due to Cross' orders when he was captured. 
=== Prison Sentence ===
After his arrest, Cross was brought to Earth for trial of his crimes against the UEG and UNSC. Due to the extreme of his actions, the loss of military property, the loss of UNSC assets by himself, he was sentenced to life in prison. While in prison, Cross was known to be in several fighters and gang beatings from rival prison members. 
== Psych-Interviews ==
=== Personality ===
Matthew Cross could be described as an arrogant, self centered and self-entitled stubborn human being who used his money and positions of power to abuse others. Matthew was extremely arrogant and cared little for either the superiors or his subordinates in the military and only valued himself. Cross was also self-entitled and would take "no" for an answer and only valued his opinion above all. Cross was also known to but heads with Connor Stewart several times during his time of the Coalition. 
=== Physical Appearance ===
Matthew Cross could be described as a mid-height human male with brown-reddish hair with brown eyes. He had a few scars along his back but nothing along the face. Cross his also known to have an average height and stamina of a human and was not known for his athleticism or strength at all. His stamina was also lacking as even an elderly Connor Stewart could bet him in a fist fight. 
=== Relationships ===
==== John Scrapper ====
Being Scrapper's subordinate, Cross his hot-headed and cares little for John. in return, John also cares little for Cross and cares little if he lives or not.
==== Connor Stewart ====
Cross held Stewart at a higher respect than most of this other commanding officers. Whether it was out of fear or respect is unknown, but Cross seemed very frightened around Stewart, leaving many to assume the latter. 
== Quotes ==
== Confirmed Kills ==
Least to Greatest
Drones: 19
Brutes: 78
Jackals: 92
Humans: 109
Elites: 185
Grunts: 238
Total Kills: 721 (2533-2566)Category:Coalition of the New Earth Government
Category:BEN THE BESTverse
Category:BEN THE BESTverse Villains