Alexander Raven

Alexander Raven is a supersoldier who served in multiple battles during the final year of the  and is currently engaged in the  as a member of  Purity, operating under the call sign Purity Actual. Notably he is one of the few people to have set foot on all discovered other than  and return alive.

Childhood
Alexander Raven was born in Australia, Earth. He was born into a middle class family and was an only child. He attended primary school and then high school, although he did not move on to higher education due to the war.

UNSC Marine Corps
Alexander enlisted in the on June 12 2551, after 6 months of training he graduated on December 12. On January 2 2552 he was transferred to .During his deployment on Reach he saw little to no combat up until the Covenant invaded. After serving six months in the Corps he was promoted to, one month prior to the Fall of Reach.

Fall of Reach

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When the Fall of Reach began PFC Raven was stationed at the Aszod ship breaking yards. Up until the final days of the Fall of Reach there had been no large scale Covenant attacks on the ship breaking yard, however on the 29th of August the Covenant launched a full scale assault on Aszod, the last off-planet extraction point left on the Eposz continent. Alexander along with the other marines defended the Pillar of Autumn's landing site but they were fighting a losing battle, more and more Covenant were pouring into the ship yard and the UNSC convoys desperately trying to make to Aszod in hopes of escaping the planet were destroyed.

Finally with the package in Keyes' hands all remaining marines were ordered to fall back into the Pillar of Autumn. Under heavy plasma fire Alex made a mad dash back to the Autumn under covering fire from those marines already there. Much to his dismay he passed many bodies of marines who he had been fighting with only minutes earlier. With the Captain aboard and the battlecruiser shot down the Pillar made it's escape via a slipspace jump. In recognition of his defense of the Pillar of Autumn and Aszod in the face of innumerable Covenant forces he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal (with a V device for heroism).

Battle of Installation 04

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PFC Raven was aboard the Pillar of Autumn when it made the jump to  in the  system and was subsequently boarded by Covenant under the command of the. Alexander valiantly defended the Autumn until  gave the order to abandon ship after which he boarded an  along with seven other marines and successfully escaped. When the pod crash landed it impacted the side of a snowy cliff face and plummeted to the ground killing seven of the nine occupants.

PFC Alexander along with the other surviving marine emerged from the wreckage shaken but largely unharmed. They gathered what supplies they could as they didn't know how long it would be before they would be found, if at all. The escape pod was stocked with enough food to last a week, which was more than enough for them. Once they had what they needed they proceeded to scout the area for a suitable location to hold out until evac could arrive.

After a day of surviving in the frigid wilderness and evading Covenant patrols a crash landed nearby and immediately came under attack from Covenant forces. Rushing to the aid of the inhabitants the marines opened fire and took cover behind the fallen Pelican. Together with the survivors they held off the attacking Covenant long enough for along with   to arrive and provide some much needed assistance.

Alexander then joined up with Fireteam Zulu and aided in clearing the area of all enemy forces. After the elimination of all Covenant forces in the vicinity sent a distress signal tagged with their current position where they soon received evac. At the conclusion of the Battle of Installation 04 PFC Raven escaped with  and PFC. For his acts of outstanding survival and his part in the assault on the control room he was awarded the Silver Star.

Battle of Earth

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Alexander was present at the Battle of Mombasa as part of A Company. After the destruction of the scarab he was aboard the UNSC In Amber Clad with the remaining marines of A company.

Battle of Installation 05

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During the Battle of Installation 05 he was captured along with Banks, Johnson and Stacker, along with any other surviving marines in the squad. At the conclusion of the battle he was evacuated by one of the vessels from the Fleet of Retribution and returned to Earth.

Return to Earth

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PFC Raven was stationed at when Spartan-117 crash landed back to Earth. He aided in the defense of the base until he was assigned to Gunnery's Sergeant Stacker's convoy which was bound for Voi with much needed supplies. When the convoy was attacked he defended it until John-117 and Gunnery Sergeant Reynolds provided reinforcements. From here he joined the assault on where the Covenant AA gun was successfully neutralized.

When the Flood-infested battlecruiser crashed and unleashed the Flood upon Voi he was pinned down taking cover behind sandbags along with Sergeant Stacker and the other marines under his command. Things looked grim until Thel'Vadam and John-117 showed up and provided enough support to dispatch the onslaught of Flood. Stacker along with Alexander and the remaining survivors joined them in their mission to retrieve Cortana. Outside they were joined by Special Operations Sangheili from The Shadow of Intent. After the successful retrieval of what turned out to be only am message from Cortana Alexander along with the remaining survivors were evacuated to the Shadow of Intent. For his actions he was awarded the Navy Cross.

Battle of Installation 00

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Alexander took part in Operation: BLIND FAITH. When the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn landed on The Ark Alex was part of the reinforcements sent down to help Master Chief fight his way through to the cartographer. He manned the gun on a warthog and came under little enemy fire until they crossed over the light bridge and into the open again. There was heavy enemy resistance, ghosts, choppers, wraiths and even a scarab. Out of no where a fuel rod collided with his warthog, the detonation sending him flying from the turret slamming into the sand and the warthog tumbling.

The bruised and scraped but largely unharmed marine got to his feet and surveyed the damage. Thankfully the warthog had landed top side up and the driver and passenger had not been ejected from the vehicle. As he reached the smoking vehicle he saw that both occupants were knocked unconscious but didn't seem to have sustained any grievous injuries. He pulled them out of the hog and dragged them to cover where he gave them what first aid he could. In recognition of this he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (with a V device for heroism).

Once the scarab had been dispatched and the remaining enemy forces dealt with the wounded marines were medevaced and PFC Raven joined the remaining able bodied marines in the assault on the Citadel. Once the first and second towers had been disabled, although Johnson's squad had gone silent Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum moved The Shadow of Intent into range for the destruction of the citadel. Before it could unleash it's weapons the Flood infested High Charity appeared from slipspace raining down fragments and dispersal pods, one of which collided with Shadow of Intent rendering it's weapon systems useless.

With the Intent's firepower out of action Master Chief and Thel 'Vadam would lead the final push towards the citadel. Alexander was dropped in with other marines equipped with heavy weaponry along with vehicles as reinforcements for the Chief and Arbiter. Alex hopped on the back of a mongoose, rocket launcher in hand. As they reached the citadel two scarabs dropped from the sky impeding their progress. Two hornets provided aerial assistance. Using rocket launcher to dispatch ghosts and other ground forces PFC Raven did his best to keep as much fire off the Chief and his vehicle.

After Truth had been dealt with and the rings stopped the area was too overrun with Flood to remain any longer. Alexander along with all other surviving marines and covenant separatists were picked up by the Shadow of Intent and and escaped back to Earth via a slipspace portal.

Post War
Following the war Alexander was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on February 21 2553. He was present at the Voi Memorial.

Installation 03
Spartan Raven was among the crew on the UNSC Infinity when it was tasked with moving the from  to. The whole task took three months to complete. For his aid in project he was presented with the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

Requiem Campaign

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First Tour
Alexander was aboard the Infinity when it was caught in the gravity well and crash landed on Requiem. His role in the battles that followed is currently unknown, it is however known that for outstanding leadership he received a field promotion from Petty Officer First Class to Lieutenant Junior Grade and his fireteam received a Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation.

Second Tour
Spartan Raven is currently stationed aboard the UNSC Infinity and he along with his fireteam are among those deployed to Requiem's surface.

Appearance
During his service in the Marine Corps Alex was well muscled, priding himself on his top physical shape. Coupled with his tall stature he was an imposing figure on the battlefield. After receiving augmentations courtesy of the Spartan-IV program his physique was greatly enhanced and he now stood a head over most marines even when outside of his armor. Along with Paul DeMarco his height rivals that of some Spartan IIs.

Personality
Spartan Raven displayed exemplary teamwork skills during his service in the UNSC Marine Corps and has continued to do after his acceptance into the Spartan IV program. Raven is at his best under a good leader. He has shown reluctance to lead but this will most likely come to him in time. Prior to augmentation Raven had innate athleticism that has only been enhanced by the aforementioned augmentations.

Aboard Infinity Alexander spends most of his free time talking with his friends and squad mates. He occasionally partakes in ' and antics when it suits him. Alexander relishes competitions, performing to his best no matter how small the competition may be as demonstrated by his performances in the 5km fun run and the Chili Cook-Off.

Equipment
Spartan Alexander wears the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor [GEN2]/R variant, more commonly known as Recon armor. During battle he favors the M395 Designated Marksman Rifle but also carries a M7S Submachine Gun as a secondary weapon and the M6H Personal Defense Weapon System as his sidearm. During stealth missions he uses his SMG in favor of his rifle. He also carries M9 High-Explosive Dual-Purpose grenades and a combat knife. To fully utilize his extraordinary athletic ability Alexander has the M805X Forward Acceleration System equipped to his armor.

Promotions
Throughout his military career Spartan Alexander has held eight ranks, six of which were earned whilst serving in the Marine Corp and his current rank of Petty Officer First Class was obtained when he joined the Spartan Branch. His promotion from sergeant to staff sergeant was meritorious as a result of exemplary performance in the Human Covenant War and the years of rebuilding that followed. During his first tour on Requiem he received a field promotion to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade.

Decorations and Awards
As of February 2558 Spartan Alexander has been the recipient of 27 military decorations and awards (29 including his Marine Corps marksmanship badges) they are listed below in order of precedence.

Trivia

 * Alexander Raven participated in the inaugural Chilli Cook-Off aboard the UNSC Infinity but failed to place in the top three.
 * Alex is 1cm shorter than John-117.