Marc Bedragare

*“I haven't done half as much in twice the time as you. But I've seen and done some pretty amazing things. Not always things I'm proud of, but things I've always felt were the right things to do. I followed my gut, and where that failed, I followed my heart.”*
Marcus Den Bedragare (Service Number 18305-38538-MB) was a Commander in the Trost detachment of UNSC Spartan Operations and part-time field agent for the Office of Naval Intelligence. He served extensively on the planet Trost, where he was involved in numerous ONI operations in the sector. He died during a decisive engagement with Promethean Forces as part of the Hundred Days War. He wore the ARGONAUT variant of MJOLNIR [GEN2] with a GEN1 EOD helmet.

## Biography

### Childhood and early life

Marc was born in Utgard, Harvest on May 11, 2520. His father was from Sweden, Earth and his mother was from Visegrád, Reach. They both possessed a strong distaste for the UNSC and moved to the far-flung colony of Harvest, where they felt that the UNSC's influence was the weakest. Despite English being the primary language of the United Earth Government, Marc showed signs of intelligence from an early age and was a polygot by the age of four.

On February 3, 2525, the Harvest Orbital Defense Platform, Tiara, made long-range radar and spectroscopic contact with the Covenant Cruiser, *Rapid Conversion*. Soon thereafter, the first battle between the Covenant and Humanity ignited with Marc's family caught in the center. His father joined the newly formed Colonial Militia while Marc and his mother were evacuated via the Space Elevator. Marc never saw his father again.

Marc's mother returned to her family's home on Reach, where she turned to alcoholism. She blamed the UNSC for the disaster at Harvest and forbade her son from ever joining them. In contrast, Marc saw the UNSC as the sole reason for their survival and vowed to return the favor. When he was fourteen, a UNSC recruiter passed through Visegrád. Marc spoke at length with the man, who was forthright about the Covenant advance once Marc revealed that he was from Harvest. Marc remained adamant on his vow, but he recruiter nonetheless turned Marc down due to his young age. When Marc was seventeen, he left home and enlisted in the UNSC Marine Corps, beginning a lifelong military career.

### Early military career

*“they are dead. god help us they are all dead. we are all dead”*— Marc's shell-shocked journal entry immediately after the Battle of Kholo
Boot camp boosted Marc's confidence in the war effort. After graduation, Private Bedragare's first deployment against the Covenant was on Kholo. He fought alongside other UNSC forces for two days against overwhelming hostile forces. Marc was utterly caught off-guard by the brutality of the fighting. He was almost killed when a Covenant Ghost attempted to ram him. By sheer luck, a SOEIV impacted directly on the Ghost, destroying it. Marc was sprayed with shrapnel, suffering a large gash across the right side of his face and a punctured lung. The ODST that was in the drop pod dragged Bedragare to safety before returning to the fighting. A field medic applied biofoam and saved Marc's life. When the medic was killed by a Beam Rifle moments later, Marc was placed onto a civilian evac shuttle. From orbit, Marc watched as the Covenant carved a glyph into Kholo's surface and then proceeded to glass the entire planet. He was awarded a Purple Heart and an E-3 promotion for his performance in the battle. though it took him weeks to recover physically and the mental trauma would linger for years to come. Inspired by the man who saved his life, Marc enlisted in the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers afterwards.

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. During the Covenant assault on Skopje, Marc, now a Staff Sergeant and squad leader, was deployed alongside many other ODSTs 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 Unggoy, Kig-Yar, Jiralhanae, and Sangheili 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 "Spartan," part of a top-secret ONI program. The encounter piqued Marc's curiosity 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 2549, the Covenant entered the Paris System and attacked the system's only inhabited planet, Paris IV. 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. 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 plasma grenades. However, Covenant reinforcements arrived far quicker than anticipated, and the Marines and ODSTs soon found themselves defending the main evacuation center. It was while they were trapped that Bedragare met Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson.

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, nor his involvement at Harvest, until years later.

Bedragare wished to continue, but the excessive radiation received during the siege resulted in a rare genetic disease called "cancer". Unbeknownst to Bedragare, this development was later used as evidence by ONI for Johnson's supposed development of Boren's Syndrome after Johnson was exposed to the same radiation. Bedragare 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 Second Lieutenant.

In January 2552, now-First Lieutenant Marc Bedragare led a company of ODSTs from the 105th Division to Ariel colony in order to investigate a distress signal. They arrived to find the Covenant excavating something. Two of the men under Bedragare's command destroyed the excavation site 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 Fumirole. His company was assisting a SPARTAN team destroy a CCS-class Battlecruiser 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 five of the six SPARTANs returned to base.

### The Fall of Reach

On July 18th, 2552, First Lieutenant Marc Bedragare and his men arrived via the UNSC *Grafton* at Reach. 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. A week later, while in transit, Marc heard talk of "terrorist activity" in a secluded mountain settlement. Suspicious of his mother, he redirected himself to visit his mother's kiva near Visegrád. 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 Sangheili 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 WINTER CONTINGENCY 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 Battle of Reach. The ODSTs dropped down in a mining complex some fifty kilometers north of CASTLE Base. There, they engaged a pack of Jiralhanae 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 SRS99, and scored almost a half-dozen kills, including the Chieftain leading the assault. While the mission was a success and the civilians were evacuated, India Company was still withdrawn when a CSO-class supercarrier 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 Sabre 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 Wraiths 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 Earth. 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 Voi Portal, but Bedragare himself joined them. After the subsequent conflict on The Ark, Bedragare escaped onboard the *Shadow of Intent*, and was present at the commissioning of the hillside Voi Memorial. With less than a score of troops left in India Company, Bedragare made the decision to resign from active duty.

### SPARTAN-IV Program

Some months after retirement, a man approached Marc in Honolulu on Earth. The man introduced himself as "Jun". The man said that he had heard a lot about Marc, 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 distrusted their backgrounds. Jun paused, then asked Marc another question. The following is the reported conversation.

*“What is your opinion of the Spartans?”*— Jun-A266
*“Their skills are admirable, and their feats are incredible, but I dislike their secretive background and sheer lack of 'humanity'.”*— Bedragare
*“... In that case, I'll be brief. How would you feel about becoming one?”*— Jun-A266
*“This must be some sort of a joke. Don't waste my time, narr.”*— Bedragare
*“I understand your distaste, so I will leave you with this. You have two days to reconsider... perhaps you aren't cut out for it after all.”*— Jun-A266
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.﻿