Francis Henderson

== Francis Henderson ==
=== Early Life ===
Rear Admiral Francis "Frank" Henderson was born on the Inner Colony of Hawkins on the 5th of April 2497 to Jeremy and Kira Henderson. His parents were both officers of the UNSC Navy, with his father being a Captain of the UNSC Last Call Marathon cruiser and his mother the Executive Officer of the UNSC Twilit Dawn. This gave Frank the eligibility to be taught at CAMS, where he was trained and graduated with full honours in 2516, before joining the UNSC Navy as an enlisted Non-Commissioned Officer on the UNSC Steele.
== Military Life ==
=== Non-Commissioned Life ===
Frank now as a NCO, much to his parents dissatisfaction, rose up the ranks of the UNSC quickly, getting from the rank of Petty Officer Third Class to Senior Chief Petty Officer in seven and a half years, acting as the head NCO on the UNSC Steele up until 2526. He mainly acted as a bridge between the officers and the enlisted service men, keeping both sides of the commission happy and content on the ship. As a NCO, his skills and leadership awarded him with the Non-Commissioned Officer Development Ribbon and the Outstanding Seaman of the Year, and for his ability to protect the bridge during a failed Covenant attempt to capture the vessel, he was awarded the Silver Star and the Naval Combat Action Ribbon. 
=== Commission ===
In 2526, one year after the start of the Human/Covenant War, Frank requested a commission. Due to his rank and, much to his annoyance, his parents pulled a few strings and got him to bypass the rank of Ensign and Lieutenant, Junior Grade to the rank of Lieutenant. He served his time as the Third Mate on board a Marathon Cruiser, the UNSC Dreamweaver's Shield, under the command of his friend and mentor, Captain Lincoln Woods. He fought on this vessel with Woods for six tours before getting promoted to lieutenant commander. 
In 2532 he was made the second mate of the UNSC Clarkson Cruiser under the command of Captain Catharine Galloway for three tours until 2535. At this time was he taking part in patrols of the Andromeda Groombridge 34 system, his vessel often working as a Naval detachment of the Joint Forces Fleet (JoFF). This led to the UNSC Clarkson to get involved in the infamous Attack of Niu Aljazayir in 2535. This was where he was given the chance to command a ship for the first time.
=== Attack of Niu Aljazayir ===
The UNSC Clarkson was docked up with the JoFF for stock replenishment. As the second rate, he was to keep the operations of the ship in check as the Captain and XO were being debriefed by the Office of Naval Intelligence on the SMAC station that they were stationed on. It was during this time that the Covenant invaded and as protocol dictated, all UNSC vessels are to immediately undock from any station. As the temporary commander, he followed the doctrine to the letter. Leaving the SMAC station before it started firing a salvo at the oncoming covenant vessels.
The station was quickly destroyed as it was caught in the path of a Covenant ventral beam. This left the lieutenant Commander as the official commander of the UNSC Clarkson making him the lowest ranked officer to be in charge of Halcyon Class Cruiser, while also being the lowest ranking Ship CO in the JoFF. He and his first mate, Lieutenant Jennifer Hudson, successfully survived the Covenant onslaught using hit and run tactics as well as every trick in the book, ranging from Van Allen Signature Hiding (VASH), Secondary System Shutdown Hiding (S3H) as well as deliberately sabotaging secondary sections for a look similar to a destroyed or damaged ship.
After the great success of the Air Forces Opertation Oran The UNSC Clarkson the attack and came to support the UNSC Ark Royal as it led the charge against the remnants of the Covenant fleet still in orbit and by the 13th of April 2035, the final Covenant ship was removed from the space around the colony of Niu Aljazayir. The one month of drawn out combat was worth it as the ship, now on its last legs after its unorthodox treatment was decommissioned.
=== Captainship ===
Hudson and Henderson were both promoted and were awarded the Navy Distinguished Service Medal and Naval Cross respectively. Henderson was promoted to the rank or Captain, missing the rank of commander altogether, and chose the recently promoted Commander Hudson as his XO. He was put in command of the Marathon Cruiser UNSC Sligo and continued the role as the Naval detachment of the JoFF. During his time as captain, he married Commander Hudson in 2539, who birthed two children in 2540 and 2542. 
He was often used to act as patroller of the outer colonies, he did also take part in emergency evacuations of a number of minor colonies as well as acting as a hub for emergency troop deployment incase of a Covenant attack, where he aided the evacuation of Miridem. He spent a large amount of firepower and took a lot of damage, using his ship as a shield and sword in an attempt to let as many civilian ships escape the atmosphere and enter slipspace. His ship barely got out alive, but got lucky as the Covenant jumped out of system.
=== Retirement ===
He acted as the captain of the UNSC Sligo until 2543, when he retired from active service to spend more time with his children and his wife on the Colony of Actium.. Though he was still active as volunteer for the Navy.
=== Reactivation and Admrialship ===
Category:UNSC Naval Personnel
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