Gale Clayton

Out of Armor

In Armor

## **Physical Description**

Gale Clayton is a tall, middle aged war veteran. He is more lanky than others, and not as physically strong as most other ODST’s, though what he lacks in brute force, he makes up in agility and dexterity. He is capable of sprinting without tiring for a longer period of time than others. His speed and reflexes help with dodging and weaving through cover.

Outside of combat situations, or training, Gale wears average ODST fatigues, grey cargo pants, and a black tee-shirt with the symbol of the ODSTs on the front. While no means skinny and weak, the lack of armor brings more attention to the fact that Gale does not have as much muscle mass or tone as other soldiers, most of his muscle strength is unseen.

Gale Clayton’s face shows the decades of war he has been through. A prominent scar runs across the right side of his face, a result of an Insurrectionist sniper. He has a paler skin tone than many, partially because of his Scandinavian heritage, and partially due to the amount of time he has spent within his armor, or within space. His face seems to be in a slight scowl most of the time. His hair used to be jet black, but is now a salt and pepper grey, another sign of his aging.

## **Personality**

Decades of war against terrorists and the Covenant have made Gale a hardened veteran with a less than stellar view cockiness and unprofessional behavior while on duty. He frowns at bravado shown by anyone, seeing it as a sign of immaturity, or plain over-confidence, both of which he has seen kill dozens of soldiers. He always acts professional whenever a CO is around, or just when the situation calls for it. He is a ruthless man towards anyone he considers to be an enemy or a threat, willing to do whatever it takes to put them down, only hesitating if said action could put his closest friends at risk.

Gale is a calm and patient soldier, capable of taking a step back and replanning when a situation goes bad. There are few situations in which Gale will panic, or show fear, during a battle. He is a great tactician, being able to plan out how events will or should go. However, he has been known to be protective of his squad, seeing it as a mission to keep them alive. Gale’s extreme loyalty to his fellow soldiers has been seen as a blessing and a curse by Commanding Officers, as he makes it his goal to bring back as many men as possible, but that goal leads to Gale occasionally abandoning mission parameters to save them.

This willingness to save himself and his squad, also has proven to lead to questionable choices of his in the past. Upon being surrounded by Covenant, but undetected, he had executed a marine who was going to give their location away to try and surrender, in order to save his squad and complete their mission. This was only one example of many times throughout the war where Gale showed a brutal side of himself in order to succeed.

When not on duty, Gale, while seeming to be unfriendly due to a slight scowl his always seems to wear on his face, is friendly. He also enjoys cracking jokes with fellow soldiers when appropriate. His good nature turns sour however, when anybody does something he believes is incredibly stupid, and usually calls them out on the fact, letting the calm facade he usually has drop, to show some of the ruthlessness towards his enemies that developed during the war.

## **Bio**

Born in a small rural town on Reach, Gale lived a peaceful life with his family, spending his days studying to be a doctor, or hunting with his father Erik in the woods. His mother Maria was the town's doctor, which led to his interest in the field of medicine. All this changed however when a small Insurrectionist cell attacked his town to eliminate any UNSC loyalists, including his parents.Spending the next few years of his life with his Aunt and Uncle in New Alexandria, Gale soon signed up to the UNSC marines, hoping to help put down the rising Insurrection. Throughout training Gale showed great prowess in all fields, though excelled in tactical analysis, and combat marksmanship. Upon leaving training, he was offered the chance to join the ODSTs, a offer which he promptly took.

After finishing his ODST training, he was deployed to fight terrorists around the Outer Colonies, where in one fight an enemy sniper took a shot at him, barely grazing his face and leaving him with a scar. It was a few short months after that close call with death when the UNSC made first contact with the Covenant. For the first years of the war, Gale had continued to be deployed against terrorists, until 2526 when he was deployed with the fleet led by Vice Admiral Cole to retake Harvest.

He remained on Harvest fighting in brutal urban-warfare for the next few years until Admiral Cole returned once more and neutralized the remaining Covenant force. Gale was placed off active duty for a few months due to his extended period on the front lines. After his leave of absence he spent the next years fighting minor engagements against The Covenant and the few Insurrectionist forces that actually became a threat. During these years he heard of several major engagements throughout human space, and became slightly depressed with the continued losses suffered by the UNSC.

The next major engagement he fought in was the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV where he earned his nickname Hat Trick by killing three high value targets during a single firefight, shortly after which his squad was evacuated, and then Blue Team's nuke went off. From there he went to Reach and fought during the evacuation of New Alexandria, where he personally helped his Aunt and Uncle escape off world, before being injured by a plasma grenade and being evacuated to Earth. On Earth, Gale recuperated just in time for the start of the Battle of New Mombasa. Throughout the battle, Gale's squad held out within a downed building for the majority of the fight, with Gale on a higher floor of the rubble picking off Covenant patrols while the rest of his squad held the street below. When the Elites joined Humanity's side, Gale pushed forward out of the street he was helping defend, and help retake sections of the city. He personally watched as the *Forward Unto Dawn* entered the Ark portal.

Shortly following the end of the war, Gale was offered the chance to join the Spartan IV program, an offer which he declined, stating that he was at home with the ODSTs and he had no plan on moving anytime soon. He spent the next few years removing Covenant Remnant from planets within the Glasslands, before signing up to Task Force Omega and joining the UNSC Acheron.