Marc Bedragare

Marcus Den Bedragare ( 18305-38538-MB) is a in the and a former Field Agent for the . Augmented as part of the , Bedragare was transferred to after his service record was evaluated, then handed back over to the Spartan Branch per his request. He is active on the planet Trost, where he is the second-in-command of Spartan Fireteam Heracles under John-A222. He wears the and variants of .
== Biography ==
=== Childhood and early life ===
Marc was born in , on May 11, . His parents were both from , specifically Germany. They grew up wealthy and with a strong distaste for the . When they came of age, his parents moved to the far-flung colony of Harvest, where they felt that the UNSC's influence was the weakest. Despite being the primary language of the , Marc was raised , including language and customs. He showed signs of intelligence from an early age and was nearly fluent in German by his second birthday.
On February 3, , the Harvest , , made long-range radar and spectroscopic contact with the , . Soon thereafter, the first battle between the and ignited with Marc's family caught in the center. His father joined the newly formed while Marc and his mother were evacuated via the . Marc never saw his father again.
Marc's mother used the last of her family's fortune to buy a home on . There, she started drinking and soon became an alcoholic. She blamed the UNSC for the disaster at Harvest and forbade her son from ever joining them. But Marc, in contrast, saw the UNSC as the sole reason for their survival and vowed to return the favor. He finished grade school rapidly, graduating at sixteen years old. Marc later enrolled at the , where he became fluent in English, , and , in addition to German. When Marc was eighteen, he enlisted in the , beginning a lifelong military career.
=== Early military career ===
 Bedragare's first deployment against the Covenant was on . He fought valiantly alongside other UNSC forces for two days against overwhelming hostile forces. Marc received a very large gash on the right side of his face and a punctured lung when a smashed into a Covenant just a few meters away, peppering him with shrapnel. He was evacuated off-world with a large group of civilians after his squad's medic took a round to the head. From orbit, Marc watched as the Covenant burned a into Kholo's surface and then proceeded to the entire planet. He was awarded a and an for his performance in the battle and enlisted in the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Sometime afterwards, a drunken liaison between him and UNSC Army Private Alison Amato resulted in him having a daughter and being married to Alison (in that order).
Marc spent the next eight years fighting battle after battle, each one a Pyrrhic victory or an utter loss. He received several medals and commendations for his service, but they rang hollow in the midst of overwhelming losses. His daughter, Katherine, was raised by her mother's family, with Marc and Alison devoting their shore leave to parenting. Marc staunchly refused to allow his daughter any sort of contact with her grandmother and namesake. 
During the Covenant assault on , Marc, now a and squad leader, was deployed with many to secure the headquarters of a shipbuilding corporation during the evacuation of their shipyards. This was done under the justification that the recovered machinery, tools, and personnel could be relocated to Reach in order to continue building parts for the war effort. In doing so, the ODSTs were told to hold the perimeter at at all costs. Bedragare was posted on the battlements of the stone castle serving as the command center, providing cover fire for the soldiers in the trenches. The Covenant deployed waves of , , , and in an effort to overwhelm the defenders. 
Marc watched from a distance as two ODSTs were rescued by a large soldier in strange green-gray armor. The newcomer neutralized smaller aliens with impunity and met the larger ones on equal terms. It led the troopers to safety before returning to the conflict. Marc later learned that the soldier was a , part of a top-secret program. The encounter piqued Marc's curiousity but left him perpetually irritated. He found himself envious of the SPARTAN's battlefield prowess. This would effect Marc later on, but for now, it merely left him bitter towards SPARTANs as many of his fellow ODSTs were.
=== Later military service ===
In May , the Covenant entered the and attacked the system's only inhabited planet, . The UNSC had a large garrison stationed on the planet, and while surprised by the sudden invasion, was able to quickly organize a counteroffensive. The result was a three week siege of the planet's largest city, Poseidos. Bedragare, who was on shore leave at the time, quickly suited up and joined the defense. On the eleventh day, Marc's squad assaulted a Covenant camp alongside four other squads. The attackers triumphed and captured a crate of . However, Covenant reinforcements arrived far quicker than anticipated, and the and ODSTs soon found themselves defending the main evacuation center. It was while they were trapped that Bedragare met Staff Sergeant . Johnson told Bedragare of the first contact at Harvest, and Bedragare revealed his personal experience, thanking Avery. The two shared a flask of whiskey that night.
The following day, Bedragare provided cover fire while Johnson used the plasma grenades to demolish the attackers. During their debriefing, Sergeant Johnson stated that it was Bedragare alone who saw them out safely. Johnson received a Commendation for Bravery, and Bedragare was given a promotion. He would not find out about Johnson's deception until years later.
Bedragare wished to continue, but the excessive radiation received during the siege gave him an archaic disease called . He was granted shore leave to recover and return to active duty when he saw fit. Marc saw this as an opportunity to advance himself, and was admitted into Reach Naval Academy. After six months, Bedragare graduated as a .
 
In January , Marc Bedragare led a company of ODSTs from the to in order to investigate a distress signal. They arrived to find the Covenant excavating something. They destroyed the excavation sight and repelled the Covenant with surprising ease. The invaders retreated so quickly that they forgot to glass the planet. The Troopers managed to successfully evacuate the colony with little casualties.
Bedragare's next fight was two months later, at . His company was assisting a SPARTAN team destroy a that was holding position in low orbit. One of the SPARTANs carried a bomb onboard the ship and subsequently detonated it. This destroyed the ship and broke the Covenant siege. Marc was relieved to see the battle over so quickly but was also suspicious that only of the six SPARTANs returned to base.
===The Fall of Reach===
:Main article: 
On July 18th, 2552, First Lieutenant Marc Bedragare and his men arrived via the at . The ODSTs went planetside and promptly scattered. The entire company had earned a few weeks of shore leave for their exemplary work and success in the past few engagements. Marc himself traveled to and visited a bar. There, he had alcohol for the first time since Paris IV. A second drink followed, and a third, and a fourth. As the drinks clouded his mind, Marc found it easier to forget the countless tragedies he had faced during his long career. His last coherent thought was about how he had failed to follow his father's heroic footsteps, and how much like his drunk mother he had become.
Bedragare went on a two day bar hopping binge that spanned the entire city, culminating in him being brutally beaten to unconsciousness by a group of seven bouncers outside of the .
Bedragare awoke three days later at the , with a concussion and a broken nose. He was discharged and promptly left the city to return to active service. While in transit, he heard talk of "terrorist activity" in a secluded mountain settlement. Suspicious of his mother, he redirected himself to visit his mother's kiva near . He arrived to find the settlement a smoking ruin. Marc investigated his mother's home and found her in a pool of blood in the living room. He knelt next to her, and saw the tell-tale cauterized puncture wounds and V-shaped footprints that indicated presence. He immediately, and without any emotions regarding his mother's death, left the kiva and returned to base where he reported his findings. He was unsurprised to find that his superiors already knew. He quickly resumed active duty and recalled all the men under his command.
The following day, planetary emergency directive was declared, and not a moment too soon. The Covenant assaulted an ONI base on July 26th. A little over two weeks later, India Company, under command of Marc Bedragare, participated in the first major engagement of the . The ODSTs dropped down in a mining complex some fifty kilometers north of . There, they engaged a pack of terrorizing an office complex full of civilians. Bedragare himself stayed behind while his second in command led the ODST's inside. He provided cover fire with his , and scored almost a half-dozen kills, including the leading the assault. While the mission was a success and the civilians were evacuated, India Company was still withdrawn when a appeared a ways southeast of their location.
India Company continued to engage the Covenant at different locations for the next two days, each time forced back by the looming threat of the supercarrier. The company defended a launch site on August 14th. Hours later, the Covenant supercarrier was destroyed in geosynchronous orbit. The ODSTs' elation died moments later when a titanic Covenant fleet appeared above the planet. Bedragare quickly ordered a fallback, never letting show his grief at the knowledge that there would be no victory at Reach.
In the weeks that followed, Bedragare's ODSTs fought increasingly desperate battles against increasingly overwhelming odds. By August 20th, India Company numbered half it's former size. That day, his company joined an additional company of ODSTs to halt a convoy of on their way to an evac center. Both companies suffered heavy losses, but the Wraiths were all demolished. It was during the battle that Marc met the other company's CO, Miranda Rower. The two shared a flask later, and both companies escaped via the same evac shuttles they defended.
=== Later ODST Service ===
Two months later, the Covenant attacked . A still-depleted India Company fought valiantly on several fronts, including Moscow, London, and Bedragare's ancestral homeland, Berlin. Bedragare's men stayed behind while the majority of the UNSC's remaining strength entered the , but Bedragare himself joined them. After the subsequent conflict on , Bedragare escaped onboard the , and was present at the commissioning of the hillside . With less than a score of troops left in India Company, Bedragare made the decision to resign from active duty.
A few weeks after retirement, Marc received the news that his wife, Alison Amato, had been killed during the Fall of Reach, in the city of Quezon. The colony that his daughter lived on had remained untouched throughout the war. 
=== SPARTAN-IV Program ===
Some months after retirement, Marc had fallen into a depression and was living a nomadic life in Earth's great cities. A man approached Marc in Honolulu while he was moping in a bar. The man introduced himself as "". The man commended Marc on how difficult it had been to track him down, and that he came highly recommended. When Bedragare asked for an explanation, Jun instead asked Marc what he thought of the Spartans. Marc replied honestly, that he admired the Spartans' abilities, but resented the attention they received when millions of normal human soldiers had died for the exact same cause. Jun paused, then asked Marc another question. The following is the reported conversation.
Marc was cynical, and waved him away, but that night, Marc dreamt of Harvest. He relived parts of his military career. Marc then dreamt of Reach and his mother, awaking only to the thought about the lives lost. Most importantly, he considered how different things would have been if he were a Spartan. He thought of how many more lives he could yet save as a Spartan. The next morning, he contacted Jun and accepted the offer.﻿
After receiving his , Marc spent his early days as a Spartan acclimating to his new physical stature and abilities. Upon his graduation to more specialized variants of , Marc selected the variant, which he would use until . This armor featured a Blue and Steel coloration. 
In mid 2557, Marc was selected to field test a MJOLNIR set codenamed ODIN. Odin consisted of armor components from the and platforms incorporated into a GEN2 suite, primarily and . Results from the field testing would be used to help refine some of the GEN1/GEN2 hybrid variants that would exist by . He would wear this experimental armor until 2558.
After great developments in the MJOLNIR GEN2 platform, Marc was issued a custom armor set of armor, featuring the Marauder variant of the helmet. Given the acclimation and synchronization required by both the ARGONAUT and HELLCAT variants, Marc would field test this suit for just over a year. 
:
In mid 2559, Marc would return to his EOD-class MJOLNIR while his HELLCAT/ARGONAUT set's move-by-wire reflex enhancers were adjusted. He would go on to be reissued the finely tuned ARGONAUT/HELLCAT armor in late 2560. Bedragare continues to wear this armor, featuring a darker Blue (Blueberry) and Steel (Pepper) coloration.
== Traits and Personality ==
"Poker night Thursday! Winner takes all! Open to all!"
"Except L.C. Bedragare."
-Posted on UNSC Alpha Base news bulletin. ﻿
Marc is shown to be very strong willed, with very few things being able to shake or even distract him. His own mother's death had little visible impact on his ability to lead and wage war. He is also shown to be tremendously stubborn, with an aggressive take on military tactics and a near-suicidal disregard for his own safety. Despite this, Marc will avoid plans and actions that place people at risk; he has a very strong sense of duty and responsibility to humanity. He is not immune to tragedy, however; his wife's death nearly destroyed him, and the thought of his daughter coming to harm is one of Marc's greatest fears. When Kat joined the Army, Marc was furious and hurt at her apparent rebellion against his wishes. 
Marc possesses a very dry sense of humor, which at times can be very cutting and aggressive. This is one of the coping mechanisms he has built up during his long military service. He is also largely jaded toward hardship and disaster, and is very cynical and contemptuous toward people who linger on such things. He is shown to be cautious and untrustworthy to strangers, particularly after spending the better part of a decade working for ONI. But Marc is protective and caring to those he considers friends. One of his superiors remarked that if Marc had been born ten years earlier, he might have been a .
 
Marc has few weaknesses. He is prone to seizures due to neurological damage following a brutal two-day battle on . The seizures themselves are rare, short and leave no lasting damage, but the potential of one occurring during deployment almost resulted in him being honorably discharged; it was only through contacts he had made during his career in ONI that prevented this. His overprotective behavior toward his daughter Kat has often caused trouble with his superiors, nearly resulting in a court martial at one point. Marc has admitted that he do anything to keep her safe, regardless of the consequences.
He has a variety of hobbies, reading and card playing chief amongst them. Sadly, he is so proficient at cards, he has been repeatedly banned from participating in poker competitions. Marc also likes food that he himself prepares, and doesn't trust the chefs in the mess to make a good meal to save their lives. He doesn't consider MREs to be food, but will grudgingly eat them as the situation demands. Marc is an avid reader, preferring fiction as escapist entertainment. 
Marc has a slight stigma towards non military personnel. Not as severe as SPARTAN-IIs or IIIs, but spending the majority of his life in service has left him hesitant when interacting with those who never served. he despises the fact that his daughter is military. He sees it as a stupid decision made purely to spite him. This is only partially true, however, as Kat was more interested in following in her mother's footsteps.
Marc has built up several relationships in his life. He has a close friendship with John-A222, a Commander whom he has fought beside on many occasions. At one point, Marc was marooned on a Forerunner installation with John. Their fight for survival solidified their trust of each other. Marc admired John, trusting the SPARTAN-III to make the right decisions.
Marc had a close relationship with his wife Alison and a strained relationship with his daughter Katherine. Both being soldiers, Alison and Marc spent the vast majority of their time on deployment. They both devoted their shore leave to their daughter, but their shore leaves almost never overlapped. When Alison died, Marc didn't see his daughter for almost a year. He spent the next several years carefully juggling his military life and family life, and managed to build up his relationship with her, regaining her trust. In 2560, Marc and John went MIA for two years. During this time, his relationship with Kat fell to tatters. Becoming an adult, Katherine Bedragare changed her name To Katarina Amato, to distance herself from her father. She then began modelling herself after her mother, including joining the Army. Since Marc's return, he has failed to gain an audience with his daughter, and hasn't had any opportunity to rebuild their relationship. This has affected him deeply, distracting him from his work on several occasions and causing trouble with his superiors.
== Trivia ==
* In Swedish, "bedragare" translates most closely in English to "liar" or "con artist". This references both Marc's Swedish ancestry and his relation with the notoriously dishonest Office of Naval Intelligence. 
* The idea of Marc Bedragare was conceived in late August 2014. The creative designer drew inspiration from the character Miraak from the video game Skyrim. His first name, Marc, is derivative of "Miraak". 
* "Den" means "the" in Swedish. Marc's full name, translated from Swedish to English, is literally "Marcus The Liar" or "Marcus The Con Artist". 
* Early facial designs of the character portrayed him as pale skinned, with unkempt black hair, sideburns and piercing eyes. It was eventually decided the look was too villainous. As of his most recent portrayal, Marc has a somewhat darker skin tone, light brown butch cut air, and a salt and pepper goatee. 
* Marc's present character design is based off of Taylor Knox, who also provided the model for Francis from the Left 4 dead video game.
* Marc was intended to have a neutral to antagonistic role, a "schemer who always knew more than he let on". This eventually was scrapped in favor of a more chaotic good and honest character.
* Marc is currently one of the only known Spartans to have been born on Harvest colony. 
* Marc's personal emblem has changed several times in his career. Most reference something from Scandinavian history, mythology, politics, etc. Designs have included the Swedish coat-of-arms and the Horns of Odin.
* Marc enjoys old media from the 20th and 21st centuries, stating that everything since has been copies and clichés of material from that time period. This has resulted in him making references that have confused and frustrated people on several occasions.
* Marc claims to have a taste for antique music from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
* Marc is one of the only humans in recorded history confirmed to have a Forerunner geas.﻿
Category:SPARTAN-IV
Category:ONI Personnel