Roger-341

"All the other SPARTANs and stupid enough to work for free. I don‘t have that problem."

- Roger-341

Lieutenant, Junior Grade Roger-341 (full name Roger Grffin Montevado at birth and Roger Jacobs after leaving the [[w:c:halo:United Nations Space Command Defense Force
 * military]], also known by the designations Sierra-Three-Four-One and Codename: EMBRY ONE ) was a highly experienced special forces operator and junior officer of the UNSC Navy during the last days of the Human-Covenant War as a SPARTAN-II Commando of Project ARES, the third class of the SPARTAN-II Program.   Taking part of several notable battles during the war, including the Siege of Paris IV, the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, the Fall of Reach, the Battle of Tribute, the Battle of Earth, and the Battle of Dosiac, he proved himself as an excellent soldier before his team met their despise on Dosiac.  In the aftermath of the Great War, he chose to depart from the UNSC military and form a private military company with the Sangheili Sunef ‘Mhackphisthoee (also referred to as Sunef ‘Maphis ).  This company would develop into a full fledged mercenary group, known as Executive Operations Security, until it’s near annihilation in a disastrous final mission in 2562.  Following this, Roger spent a large amount of time in cryo storage, before agreeing to help train the new 117th Special Operations Regiment, before finally accepting a post in Lambda Company, all for a full contract.

Roger was born on the human colony of Miridem on May 4th, 2534 to a naval captain and a factory worker. Following his fathers deployment and death at Charybids IX, his mother raised him as a single parent on the crowded colony world. Independent and extremely intelligent, he was a child prodigy, becoming very athletic and succeeding at academics as early as four years old. On his fifth birthday, however, his mother suffered a paralyzing stroke and was confined to a bed, and the young child was watched over by a civil service agent.

Not long after his sixth birthday, however, he was visited by Captain Griffin Standoff, an enigmatic stranger who interviewed him briefly before quickly departing, claiming to be part of a standard child survey. His true purpose was far darker, however, and unbeknownst to Roger, he was selected by the man to become part of the ARES Program, the next generation of SPARTAN-II Supersoldiers. Several weeks later, he was abducted alongside 49 other young recruits and secreted away to a top secret training ground on the planet Tantalus.

Arriving on the planet, she was introduced to her new life by Laszlo-108, and informed he would soon join the ranks of humanity’s greatest warriors. Apprehensive of the program from it’s start, his individualistic personality made his instructors keep a careful eye on him, even as he learned to hide his doubts and fit in. Despite his problems, he quickly proved himself as one of the most talented operatives in the program, if one of the least disciplined, and rose to squad leader of Crimson Team, pushing them to be among the best in the project under the tutelage of Laszlo and the head DI Dean Jackson.

After eight years of intense training, Roger and his brethren received chemical and genetic augmentations, transforming them into true SPARTANs. Equipped with SPI Armor, the three remaining members were deployed against the Covenant to the far reaches of UNSC space. Hopping from colony to colony, they defended the UNSC and it’s citizens even as the alien horde slowly destroyed more and more worlds. They quickly proved themselves to be one of the deadliest teams in the program, and after a year of fighting, all three members were still intact. Following the events at the Battle of Algolis, they were deployed to recover any classified technology, they discovered several experimental suits of MJOLNIR Mark V/CQC and Mark V/MP Armor.

The three SPARTANs retrieved as many of the armor suits as they could, but at Roger’s discretion, kept three suits for themselves when they delivered the prototypes to their mission commander. Discarding their SPI suits and enlisting the help of their former project commander, Griffin Standoff, they began operating under the radar with the new suits. Upgraded with the new armor, the trio of SPARTANs became force to be reckoned with, and quickly became one of the most efficient special forces teams in all of NAVSPECWAR, rivaling groups like Herald, Gold, Noble, and even original Class I SPARTAN-IIs.

The team finally suffered their first problem in July of 2552 at the Battle of Sigma Octanus IV, when, operating parallel to the original Class One SPARTAN-IIs, they attempted to head off a large group of enemy reinforcements moving towards Firbase Bravo and were caught in the midst of hundreds of enemy troops. During their escape, James-319 was hit by enemy fire and badly injured, in near critical condition by the time the team was able to evac him to the hospital ship in orbit. Grievously injured, his recovery was estimated to take months, even with his enhanced physical state. With the rest of Crimson still needed on the frontlines, they were forced to leave their wounded squad mate behind while they deployed once again.

Weakened by two members, the squad was withdrawn for upgrades to their equipment and new orders. With the help of Griffin Standoff, they managed to procure several upgrades for their experimental Mark V suits, including upgraded power supplies, shield generators, and even prototype active camouflage. With upgrade to their equipment, they were in preparation for their deployment to New Jerusalem when the Covenant attacked. Caught on the ground during the invasion, the two SPARTANs aided in the defense of the planet for several days, until the situation on the ground became absolutely hopeless.

Escaping the surface, they continued the fight throughout the system, leading marines in the defense of Tribute and Circumstance, before finally retreating to the outer world of Tantalus. Helping to coordinate the evacuation of the military personnel there, Crimson saw to it that their benefactor, Captain Griffin Standoff, was evacuated in particular. Escaping the planet, the SPARTAN team retreated immediately back to earth along with the majority of the planet’s population.

Following the treatment, she was reassigned to another division of the Covert Operations Group – becoming a Class III equivalent of the Class I Leonidan Operatives. At this time, her identity was changed to 'Rachel Hawke' to maintain secrecy. She then undertook several solo missions, including operations HEARTSEEKER – a foray into Covenant-controlled territory to weaken their war machine – and BROKEN CHAIN – a mission to weaken the Covenant forces in the Eden Asteroid Belt – both of which were successful.

Following their arrival, the two man team was introduced to the newly reactivated Brown Team, lead by their former teacher, Laszlo-108. The reunion was short-lived, as the Covenant began their attack. Working alongside the three fellow SPARTANs, the small team proved crucial to the defense of several critical areas, even as the Covenant began to focus more and more of their attack on New Mombassa and The In Amber Clad left the planet to pursue the Prophet of Regret. As the battle intensified, the add-hoc Brown Team eventually split, with Crimson splitting off and heading for Africa to help in the ever escalating battle. While en route, they were shot down, and they were forced to spend the next week and a half fighting their way across the continent to the Mombasa area. By the time they arrived, the Elite forces had already arrived and pursued Prophet of Truth into the Portal.

In the aftermath of the battle, Crimson Team made contact with Lord Hood, who was intimately familiar with the ARES Detachment thanks to his experiences with Tan Team. Under direct command of the Admiral, Crimson participated in missions all over the planet, acting as the spearhead of the forces mopping up the Covenant remainders. When a small flood contingent landed on the planet on it’s way to the Ark, Crimson led it’s extermination, working alongside a group of Separatist special operations elites, led by the former Honor Guard Sunef ‘Mhackphistho. With the infestation contained, the SPARTANs continued working with the elites to push the remainder of the Brutes off the planet.

In the aftermath of the battle, Roger and Mica were reunited with James, who had finished his recovery on the Hopeful. Once again paired with ‘Mhackphistho and his elites, they formed the core of a joint SPARTAN-Sangheili special operations team. Back at full strength, the SPARTANs joined this new force and led the liberation of the remaining inner colonies. Beating back the Covenant one planet at a time with the help of the Separatists, they finally reached Doisac on February 29th, and were deployed ahead on the main force to attack an enemy power generator powering the shields for the planet.

The target, however, was an ambush, and the mission quickly became a disaster. As the Covenant forces closed in on them, Mica-311 and the vast majority of the Special Operations Elites were surrounded, as massed infantry backed by heavy armor closed in on them. With no choice but to leave them behind, Roger, Sunef, and James made their way to the shield generator and placed charges, destroying it. As they attempted to exfiltrate, however, several Brute chieftains attacked them, and James was killed in the resulting struggle. His team decimated in only a few minutes, Roger was forced to leave them behind and evacuate with Sunef to orbit. As the rest of the UNSC and Sangheili forces attacked the planet and took control, Roger was left to ponder his team’s death without anything to distract him.

The deaths of his team changed Roger, and he quickly became hard and cynical, falling back into old tendencies of suspicion and doubt of the UNSC he’d kept under wraps since training. His team and the constant Covenant threat had held him in place before, but now they were both gone, with nothing to replace them. With the war over and the remnants of the Covenant on the run, he was faced with either staying around to train new soldiers or join the scores of SPARTANs signing up for Operation: SAVIOUR to search for John-117. Taking perspective of his life and deciding he’d had enough of the UNSC, he did the unthinkable and resigned his commission.

After floating around the galaxy for a short time, living off a small pension from the military, he realized he wasn’t done with military life yet. Gathering what little money he had, he bought a cargo transport and contacted Sunef ‘Mhackphistho once again. Once he made contact with the elite, he offered him a job, working alongside him as a private military contractor. Even with the Great War winding down, the galaxy was still a very dangerous place, and all sorts of people would pay good money for solid military service. The elite, an outcast among his people for his role as an Honor Guard, accepted gladly.

So began a long partnership. Over the next few years, the two slowly built up their new company’s reputation, expanding their operations and building a name for themselves. Roger returned to the Algolis colony, and stripped the abandoned facilities there of the leftover suits of MJOLNIR armor, creating a personal stash of powered armor for himself. The new company, Executive Operations Security, built it’s reputation quickly, and soon, they were a common name in military circles. When a government needed something important done, especially poorer governments without access to specialized military forces, Roger and Sunef were the first ones they called.

The duo continued working together for several years, then began to expand the company, recruiting anyone crazy and good enough to join them. There were no limits or prejudices; if you could do the job, you were in, and if you couldn’t, you were out. Everyone from former Helljumpers to [w:c:halo:Unggoy|Unggoy]] special forces to Jiralhanae rebels were admitted, and the small company gained a reputation for diversity as well as deadliness. Gobbling up market shares for PMCs, it became one of the most valuable companies on the market.

After several years of success, however, disaster struck once again. During a contract for the UNSC, Roger and his team, Black Squadron, were ambushed by Kig-Yar raiders. While they were able to eliminate the raiders, they sustained heavy damage and were marooned in deep space without a slipspace drive. With no communications and no way of FTL travel, they decided to head back for known space with sub light engines. The crew was placed in cryo for the long trip home, while the onboard computers handled control.

The journey took just over thirty years, lasting from 2562 until 2594. At the end of their journey, they arrived back at civilized space and were brought out of cryo. After reacquainting himself with the changing galaxy, he once again contacted Sunef and found the company had been doing well, even without his presence. Still small and compact, it had dominated the market for the past thirty years. Upgrading his own equipment to modern standards, he once again began carrying out contracts, until 2596 when he was offered a major deal by ONI. In exchange for a large fee, they wanted him to help train new SPARTANs, as part of the SPARTAN-IV Program. Interested by the possibility, he agreed to serve as a part time instructor, teaching the young SPARTANs for one half of the year while performing more conventional contracts in the other half. When the SPARTANs were augmented and prepped for deployment, his contract was renewed, and he joined the unit as a full time, highly paid commander; placed in Lambda Company, he served well through the Necros War until retirement in the early 2640s.

Trivia

 * Roger’s name was one of the many random placeholder names used for the ARES Program article, and was chosen by the author because he thought it sounded cool.
 * Several elements of Roger’s character are drawn from Chris Jacobs, including his skepticism of governments and, most notably, his career choice.
 * The article includes several references to the Gears of War series, notably the Standed in particular.
 * Roger was partly inspired by wondering what would happen if Simon-G294 had been a Spartan II Class III, and then wondering what a mercenary SPARTAN would be like.
 * Roger is considerably more normalized and less disciplined than other SPARTANs; despite his violent line of work, he has a taste for the finer things in life and is very dismissive of the traditionally minimalistic SPARTAN outlook.
 * Roger and his Elite partner Sunef were partly inspired by a Halo Reach Beta Invasion game where the author and one of his friends decided to team up as SPARTANs and Elites, and the awesome victory that followed.

Internal

 * Spartan II Class III
 * Laszlo-108
 * 117th Special Operations Regiment
 * Lambda Company
 * [[Executive Operations Security Company
 * Mark V/CQC and Mark V/MP MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor

External

 * SPARTAN-II Program on Halopedia
 * Office of Naval Intelligence on Halopedia
 * Fall of Reach on Halopedia,
 * MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V on Wikipedia