Andrew-B191

Spartan "Drew" Andrew-B191, formerly Andrew Soto Marquez, was a Spartan-III Beta Company Commando from the mid 26th century. Early in his Spartan career, Drew would be pulled from Beta Company along with thirty-one other Spartan-III's by ONI brass Rear Admiral Darren Cohen's Diamond Initiative. Drew is best known for his exploits with Beta Company's Team Golf and later DIAMOND Team. He is a close friend and fellow operative of Spartan Annalee-B220.

While fighting in the Human-Covenant War, Drew would become an expert in communications, Covenant technology and deployment, as well as a localized ONI field expert on Forerunner technology and interaction. His skills, complimented by Annalee-B220 and the rest of DIAMOND Team, would set him apart as a hyper-lethal asset to the UNSC, best made evident during The Battle for Mendel IV when [THIS DATA REDACTED PENDING REVIEW FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION BY ONI SECTION 3]

Early Life
Andrew “Drew” Marquez was born to Felicia Rosario and Jonathan Marquez in 2528. At the time of his birth, Rosario and Marquez were both members of the Colonial Militia on Madrigal. Both met on Earth while employed by a private security firm in Spain. They dated for many years before settling down in 2524 and immigrating to Madrigal. Drew’s parents had one other child before Drew, a stillborn, in 2523. They believed it was best to have a new start, prompting them to travel to the distant colony.

Not long after their arrival on Madrigal, the closest neighboring colony, Harvest, was attacked sparking the Human-Covenant War. Drew was born a few years later in early 2528. Due to the looming worry of a Covenant invasion, the elder Marquez had arranged for the young family to return back to Earth in 2529 to escape any impending threat. This action proved to come late as Madrigal was assaulted in late 2528. Still an infant, Drew’s parents were able to secure his evacuation from the planet with neighbors of their community. Ultimately both of his parents would perish in the line of duty, defending the planet as it was glassed.

In the care of his neighbors, Drew was harbored in the nearby Rubble asteroid belt before he was taken into state custody during an UNSC evacuation. After the evacuation, he was brought to Reach where he became a ward of the state in New Alexandria. While in the New Alexandria Federal Conservatory, he became a stand-out juvenile student. Early on in his education, he showed prowess with complex tasks and he began primary schooling years before his peers. When he was five, he was finally told of his parents fate by the NAFC staff. This changed his demeanor and doubled the intensity of his will. By the time he was approached by Kurt Ambrose at age six and told of the Spartan-III program, he had developed into a intense, and quick boy. With the prospect of taking revenge on the Covenant, Drew begged Ambrose to be a Spartan. Within a year of their meeting, he became a trainee.

As a Trainee, Drew was assigned to Beta Company’s Team Golf. He was joined by Joel-B404, Ahmed-B077, Mary-B300, Wei-B256, and Annalee-B220. As a member of Team Golf, Drew used the designation Golf-4. Team Golf stayed together throughout their training as well as their initial deployments. During this time, Drew began his development into a specialist in field technology, and often provided support in the way of communications, navigation, and on-site hacking and fabrication if necessary. Also, by nature of being older than most of the group, the Team's "family dynamic" made him a bit of an "older brother" figure which, while not standing in rank, made him a bit of an emotional leader of the group. By 2542, Drew had been promoted to Petty Officer Second Class.

The Mata Hari Incident
Drew would help Team Golf particularly set themselves apart during the Mata Hari Incident of 2544, a hostage situation aboard UNSC Bravo 9 Relay Station.

The incident of Piracy/Terrorism was carried out by the crew of the notorious Pirate vessel Mata Hari. The crew of the Mata Hari raided the remote Bravo 9 Relay Station for supplies, but quickly found themselves in the middle of a hostage crisis gaining the ire of the UNSC Navy. Team Golf, relatively nearby after completing a training mission, was called into action to take Bravo 9 back after the Mata Hari crippled a responding UNSC frigate.

Operation: RAUCOUS SOLITUDE and the Diamond Initiative
In early 2545, Teams Golf, November, and Oscar were separated from the rest of Beta Company as initiated by Rear Admiral Darren Cohen of ONI. Cohen had pulled aside these Teams as part of the “Diamond Initiative” which would see Spartan-III’s integrated into the ranks of ONI as intelligence operatives and special, integrated strike teams.

The first mission of the Diamond Initiative, Operation: RAUCOUS SOLITUDE, ended with thirty of the thirty-two selected Spartans KIA. Drew and Annalee-220 were the only survivors of the operation, and thus the only two Diamond Initiative survivors. The nature of the program changed inherently, and saw to it that both Spartans would  receive promotions. By the time Drew would be promoted, Operation: TORPEDO had already concluded months prior, and there remained no Spartan-III’s to replenish the Diamond Initiative.

Ultimately Drew would be promoted to Chief Warrant Officer, due to his active role as a combat engineer, and communications specialist.

The Battle for Mendel IV
[PENDING REVIEW FOR PUBLIC CONSUMPTION BY ONI SECTION 3]

Trivia

 * Drew is inspired by a character of the same name in a drama/comedy Machinima called "Seekers", released in 2011. Seekers was also written and directed by the author.
 * Drew shares a surname and birthday with prolific Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez.