Dyne-G217

"He was more trouble than he was worth, that's for sure. But I haven't trained a washout yet, and I got him through his training even if I had to kick him there myself. Heck, probably turned out more trouble to the Covies than to me, so it all evens out. And if I need a job done, this kid still owes me some manual labor."

- GySgt. Pete Stacker

"We probably saw more hours on-duty than anyone else, because others are cryo-frozen during Slipspace jumps going from battle to battle. But I can't blame Command for not promoting us above Specialists, for more than a few reasons. After all, if every Spartan made Major, there'd be none of us left to do the fighting. So I guess I'm kinda happy being a grunt."

- Dyne on his service to the UNSC

SPARTAN-III Gamma Two-One-Seven, better known as Dyne-G217, was a member of and one of three SPARTANs in Ion Team, designated ION-2. Born in, , under the name Dyne Peregrin Clarke, he was recruited at age four into the Gammas by SSgt. Pete Stacker. Within their ranks, he would be deployed just in time to see the close of the Human-Covenant War, after which he would be assigned to military exploration and serve in dozens of minor covert operations throughout the Rebuild Era, later returning to combat under the Codename: ROSENCRANTZ.

The details of Dyne’s birth are somewhat sketchy, as his parents gave him to the Pendleton Orphanage in New Alexandria after his first few infant months. Dyne had once mused that the subjects of the ORION and SPARTAN-II classes were old enough to be his parents. During his training on Onyx and aboard the UNSC Hopeful, he promised himself that he would go back to Reach one day and find his family. This was not to be, however, as word reached the Gammas of Reach’s Fall just before their deployment.

His training was specialized towards being a scout sniper, paired with Morgan-G018 and trained by the man who would have been the SPARTAN-IIs greatest scout,. Dyne learned much from his stern but fair mentoring, and in dense terrain could outcompete most other recruits. Though it became useful as Ion was assigned to exploration after they served in the Second Battle of Earth, he found himself yearning for more open combat.

Birth and Conscription as a SPARTAN
"If you’re going to learn pickpocketin’ as a career choice, kid, I'd learn not to breathe so loud."

- Pete Stacker, first meeting Dyne.

The true circumstances of Dyne’s birth are known only to his own parents, an ODST medic named Otis Len, and Dyne’s overseer as a SPARTAN, Erin Coney. In a counter-insurgency mission that went very wrong, Isaac-039 and Vinh-030 were caught in the city underground of Dorado, Kholo as the planet was glassed in the, and a group of Wraiths with excavation guns began trying to dig them out. They broadcasted the Oly-Oly-Oxen-Free signal in hope of rescue, but quickly gave up on it. Believing themselves to be in their final moments, the two long-time teammates and friends had relations which led to Dyne’s conception. Later, in an unexpected turn of events, stealth-coated Pelicans flew in under the Covenant’s sensors and dropped off tanks to counterattack Field Master Vract Aeramee’s squadron of Wraith tanks. Major Erin Coney, an ONI operator and ORION, had picked up the signal, and with the help of a Prowler, had organized a mission to rescue them with the help of a group of ODSTs of the 11/6 Shock Troops under Captain Boris Alfonso ‘B.A.’ Felton. Ironically, after this Coney swore she wouldn’t make any more attempts to rescue crazy Spartans, which led her to abandon Dyne and Kodiak years later.

A week later, deployed on another counter-insurgency operation, Vinh experienced a sharp pain in her midsection during a high-G turn made by their Pelican. The operation was immediately put on hold as a medic examined her. It was revealed to Isaac and Coney that Vinh was pregnant. After a great deal of confusion, Vinh swore Coney and the medic to secrecy. SPARTAN-030 was discreetly transferred to Reach after refusing to abort the child, and stayed one month after having the boy, whom she named Dyne Clarke, using the last name of his grandfather. Against all odds, Dyne lived through infancy without any complications as a ‘Spartan 2.1’.

"If not for him, I would have never had the chance to become a Spartan. And for that I will forever owe him one."

- Dyne G217, on his future teammate.

Erin Coney would make several visits to Pendleton Orphanage, never letting the boy see her. Dyne never found himself happy there, and used every opportunity he got to escape, returning a few days later to the irritation of the caretakers. As years went by, Coney mentioned Dyne as a candidate for the SPARTAN-IIIs. SSgt. Pete Stacker investigated him as a possibility, almost missing him due to one of his escapades. Dyne would have missed out on the chance to become a SPARTAN, if not for his later teammate Kodiak, who had stowed away on Stacker's Pelican to the surface.

Kodiak found Dyne cornered by a group of bullies, and without a second thought ran to his aide. Together, the pair held their own against three larger opponents before scattering when Stacker came upon the scuffle. The Marine recognized him and called his name, and though Dyne escaped he believed if the man knew who he was, he couldn't return to the orphanage and needed to get off the planet. Meeting him again, Kodiak agreed to smuggle Dyne to with him. Sergeant Stacker found them in crates on the Pelican after throwing his pack on top of them, and knew from that moment the pair would be a problem.

SPARTAN Training and Augmentations
"I’m actually not all that concerned about the mongooses, not even my Warthog. I’m a little curious about the rest of the Warthogs, and I’d love to know why the generator building is a crater, but what I really want to know is WHERE ARE MY GODDAMN TANKS!?!"

- Staff Sergeant Pete Stacker, yelling at Dyne and Kodiak after a particularly large shenanigan

His suspicions would prove all too true, with Dyne and Kodiak wreaking general havoc on a regular basis around the training facilities. While their escapades never actually resulted in human casualties, material damage estimates have never been fully tallied up. Within the first three months, Dyne and Kodiak had accounted for the destruction of eight Warthogs, a dozen Mongooses, two Scorpion MBTs, three storage sheds, and an unknown quantity of explosives, food supplies, and miscellaneous equipment. For this, Lt. Commander Kurt Ambrose almost wanted to have them put down or expelled from the program, but Erin Coney able to convince him otherwise. They did end up paying for the adventures with plenty of manual labor and missed meals.

While put in Team Machete with Sam-G019, Marcus-G228, Kodiak-G114, and Sepia-G330, Dyne would receive special training from Lt. Commander, who had he cleared augmentations would have been the Spartan-IIs greatest scout. Fhajad, through some force, made Dyne work with Morgan-G018 of Team Bayonet, who at the time were bitter rivals. Though they once came to blows, the pair turned out as one of Gamma’s best sniper/spotter teams, rivaled only by Mark and Olivia of Saber.

It was late in his training that problems began to surface. Because of the extensive augmentations his parents had gone through, his body began to have complications. His independent structures began growing at their own erratic rates. Despite acute pain, he kept it to himself until one day he collapsed in the middle of an excercise. Rushed to Onyx's hospital, the best that the medicals could offer was to prescribe painkillers and hope for the best. When time came for augmentations, Sergeant Stacker argued to wait to put Dyne through it, but Ambrose overrode him.

Aboard the UNSC Hopeful, Dyne was one of the candidates Ambrose, Mendez, and Stacker worried over most. Their anxiousness proved to be for nothing, as he coped the best out of the entire Company with the augments. It seemed as if his body had been waiting for them to occur. Being on the small end of the class, Dyne nearly doubled in size by the end of it, and joined the rest as full-fledged SPARTANs.

Visit to Earth (October 2552)
Though no Gamma was killed by the augmentations, many were listed as such to join the Headhunters, two of which were Sam and Marcus and Kodiak was made the new leader of three-man Ion Team. After the majority of S2s were declared MIA at Reach, Kurt vied for the already produced suits of Mark VI MJOLNIR Armor for use by some of the Gammas, and sent Ion to test how well a SPARTAN-III could operate in one of the suits. All of these tests would be performed on the Seongnam Space Tether's Chiron Testing Facilities.

Other projects had the Mark VI suits in mind, and Ion met individuals and teams from projects like ORION and JAVELIN, and witnessed Maria-062’s test of the Mark VI’s sub-orbital jump capabilities. Maria later encountered the young SPARTAN aboard the tether, having to shake off his praise of her abilities. She told him of her plans to retire, which Dyne didn’t understand. He accused her of abandoning humanity, and the argument quickly led to a brawl between armored supersoldiers. Maria was much stronger and faster, and repeatedly threw the Gamma to the ground. Dyne refused to stay down, despite a number of broken bones and exhaustion. Finally, however, he collapsed on his own, still trying to get to his feet. She helped the unconscious Gamma to a bunk to cool off. While Dyne hadn’t convinced her to stay with the Navy, his determination had made Maria change her mind about the Gammas ‘pretending’ to be SPARTANs.

Ultimately, it was decided most of the MJOLNIR suits would go into storage in the Misriah warehouses in Tokyo, Japan, a decision that was thought of as wasteful by supersoldier groups. As they were leaving the system, Ion was able to catch a broadcast of 's award ceremony.

Second Battle of Earth
Less than an hour after returning, the news reached them of Earth being attacked, and the Gammas were to be deployed. Now armed with suits of Semi-Powered Infiltration Armor, the UNSC Themistocles left for Earth with Gamma Company aboard. It would be the one battle of the Human-Covenant War he saw. Ion was assigned to help UNSC forces hold the war production facilities of the Tokyo megasprawl in Japan as part of Operation: ETERNAL SPIRIT. Initially, due to a grudge held by over an incident during his inspection of Gamma Company, they were to be relegated to guard detail of the  officers at Ryu Base, and given the rank of Specialists in the UNSC Army. However, when word reached Lieutenant Coney, who'd been assigned as their field advisor, she ensured assets wouldn't be wasted based on personal feelings. Though it was low-priority, Erin managed to have Ion put on combat duty defending a line of mass drivers.

Battle of Tokyo
"Whoo! Kid in a candy store!"

- Dyne after Ion was given access to the surplus Mark V(b) storage facility.

They were deployed by dropship Bravo 029, using cargo drop parachutes to jump onto the island of Izu Oshima, south of Tokyo Bay. As heavy surface-to-air artillery turned skyward to prepare for the impending assault by Covenant capital ships, Ion Team weeded out their advance scout parties that had dug in on the shore. A few hours after sunrise, a heavy fog rolled in, and Field Marshall Rimon 'Achachakee saw fit to deploy special ops teams to secure the island as a beachhead for a ground assault. Throwing Kig-Yar and Unggoy infantry at the defenders, the line was broken when Sangheili Rangers attacked from above and Stealth Elites cirled behind them. Ion escaped the chaos barely, and in their airtight SPI armor walked across the ocean floor to the mainland.

This only brought on more problems. Arriving on the Izu Peninsula, they found the area had been occupied by more Sangheili. Kodiak instead led Ion in close, getting a view of 'Achachakee inspecting his troops and giving orders to a Field Master. To make up for lost ground, Ion tailed the Field Master after securing a handful of small arms, and at an opportune moment, attacked. Dyne fought against a superiorly-armed Stealth Elite, and was almost wounded when he tossed Kodiak a Type-1 Sword hilt. In a firefight, he was able to kill the Sangheili with the last round in his pistol. They believed themselves successful, until Sepia announced she'd been wounded. She collapsed and Kodiak realized she needed medical attention, and called for evac to Ryu Base.

Fleeing the front ranks of the Covenant Army, Ion was rescued by the 24th Attack VTOL Squadron under leadership of 1st Lieutenant Mikiya Ryougi, and boarded a transport Falcon to Ryu Base. Medical personnel immediately took possession of Sepia, leaving Dyne and Kodiak to wait for news. It came after some time, and they were allowed to see their teammate. Thanks to her augmentations, quick attention, and a neutral buoyancy gel tank, Sepia survived, though she would require over a day recovering in the tank. What worried Kodiak was that she reported hearing a constant noise, and the attendant was worried about severe Combat Stress Reaction similar to Drop Shock. Sepia sounded panicked, and was sedated against her will. Kodiak and Dyne, in the meantime, returned to active duty.

Erin was waiting for them in the command center, and was furious with Kodiak's handling of the situation. Relenting presently, she assigned them to recon and recovery for the time, and sent them toward the Kawasaki District in search of an unresponsive M312 Elephant transporting parts to an artillery gun. Making use of the SPI's stealth capabilities, although damaged by seawater, they found it after ducking a Covenant. On it, they were shocked to find three dead SPARTAN personnel. A quick tag check revealed them to be three of the S-III Alpha Company washouts, who had been trainers for Beta and Gamma Companies, and now deployed like the rest of their company as Ambrose had promised. Commandeering the empty Elephant, they continued its mission, promising to return and hunt down the ones that had killed these SPARTANs.

Over the next week, Ion would fight all over Tokyo and other regions, with a number of memorable encounters. When they returned to Ryu to retrieve Sepia, she was in a state of panic trying to escape her stasis tank. Kodiak believed it was a complication of their illegal augmentations and tried to calm her down, but Sepia broke out of the tank and used Dyne's weapon when a Covenant special ops team dug into Ryu Base from underground, routing the attack. The team was given access to the unused Mark V(b) MJOLNIR suits, then hunted down a Jiralhanae Pack responsible for the dead SPARTANs, had an encounter with Vinh-030, and recovered a FENRIS nuclear warhead.

Lastly, Ion used the warhead in a last-ditch aerial assault when a Covenant Supercarrier threatened Japan. Dyne would fly Pelican Bravo 020 with Sepia copiloting, flying wingman for Bravo 029 flown by LTJG Angel Yasunaka. The dropships' guns would be useless against Covenant shields, and many dropships were lost in combat with Banshee fighters. But this was a diversion, waiting for Kodiak aboard Charlie 009 to deliver the FENRIS warhead. Charlie 009 was shot down over the carrier's hull, and for a moment he was believed dead and their attack foiled. However, Kodiak had jumped off in the nick of time, then recovered the warhead and slipped beneath the carrier's shield. Avoiding Banshee fire, he set the nuke on a timer and jumped to Tokyo Bay below. Due to Erin covering up their failed first assignment, their service here beyond Izu Oshima was off-record and Ion was never officially recognized for its heroics.

Post-War
Against formal complaints, Ion Team was put on military exploration for the forseeable future. Surveying glassed colonies for hypothetical recolonization and charting new habitable or terraformable planets became the norm for them, and during month-long Slipspace jumps, often stayed out of cryo-freeze and made use of time aboard the UNSC Themistocles. For about a decade, Vinh-030 was also assigned to the Themistocles as a technician, having pulled strings to be assigned to it rather than frontline so that she could watch over Dyne. She usually kept her distance from them, but from time to time came to ground with the exploration teams and, on more than one occasion, fought shoulder-to-shoulder with them. But while most of their time was spent exploring, as one of the ships farthest from Earth, the Themistocles would be called upon to support combat units nearby, leading to a number of battles Dyne and the rest of Ion would participate in. And as SPARTANs, the Office of Naval Intelligence and NavSpecWep would call upon them for a small number of covert ops.

K7-49 Operation (2559)


The Human-Covenant War had forced the UNSC to leave many loose ends untied, many with dangerous potential. So when the Office of Naval Intelligence found evidence of alive on the remains of, Erin Coney was ordered to dispatch a team to eliminate him. She selected Dyne and Morgan-G018, despite their disdain for one another. They were sent on a small slipspace-capable ship to the site of Alpha Company's demise. Setting up in a canyon they were sure their target would traverse, they waited several hours before spotting him.

Morgan took a shot, but luck saved him and he evaded a second shot, disappearing into a thick section of trees. Dyne and Morgan gave chase, but were unprepared for him to fight back, as they didn't know the identity of the target. In the scuffle, Dyne's suit power supply was destroyed, leaving him unable to move, while Morgan was blinded by her own flashbang. Soren left them alive, seeing no reason to kill helpless foes.

Despite their predicament, they continued the attempt. Morgan carried Dyne as he guided her, making for a back-up shooting point. Dyne again spotted for her and called the target's range and elevation, and Morgan took another shot. Despite improbable odds, they wounded Soren, though it was not life-threatening. They felt proud of how well they had worked together, and at this point their antipathy began to transform into fondness.

TGL-49 Expedition (2574)
More than twenty years after the Human-Covenant War came to a close, Ion Team, now composed of only Kodiak and Dyne, were launched to map and record a life-sustaining planet numbered TGL-49, as part of a compliment from the UNSC Themistocles. Using Mongooses to get around, the team was called upon to go after Golem Team Three, who had broken off communications. They discovered a bloodied MJOLNIR helmet, and immediately unlocked weapons. Inside a dormant lava tube, they found Aspen-G145, and two other SPARTANs. Returning outside to find their ATVs destroyed, Dyne did his best to commandeer the Golem crawler and return to base. En route, Erin Coney reached them over radios and warned that the had been encountered, and the exploration teams were to evac immediately. In a battle over Checkpoint One, Mirage Team and most of the marine force made it aboard an Albatross Dropship, but Coney, Kodiak, and Dyne were left behind.

After waking up the next morning, having been knocked out after being thrown from a tower, he grabbed some supplies and found the other two survivors. The three of them then made for Checkpoint Two onboard a derelict Cougar AFV to find a means of faster transport. Dyne helped fend off Flood using an external Gauss turret and hand combat.

Inside the checkpoint, Coney sent the other two to complete separate tasks, with Dyne responsible for fueling the Pelican. He never got the chance, as Flood entered the base and engaged him. Linking up with Kodiak, the pair made to grab onto the rising dropship, but the Pelican rose up and left them behind. Coney contacted them on a video feed, and said that she regretted leaving them behind, but it was necessary. She wouldn’t make it far without fuel, and the two of Ion Team quickly caught up to her after escaping the base in a Warthog. Dyne opted to watch the Flood kill her, but Kodiak forced him to help save her, as she was the only one who could get the prowler, the UNSC Nightshade, off the ground. Making it to the Nightshade’s hangar, they barely escaped the clutches of a Proto-Gravemind, leaving behind an active Shiva nuclear warhead.

Demon Hunting
Rather than killing Coney after she'd left them to die, Dyne and Kodiak agreed to follow and assist her when needed, both out of interest in ONI secrets and for the fact that she still outranked them. Only after landing the Nightshade on an uncharted planet and infiltrating an abandoned Covenant Citadel did she explain her task: going after covered-up and highly sensitive breaches in the Cole Protocol. These included captured UNSC AI units, one of which lay inside the compound that Dyne recieved, as he had been rated for AI augmentation, a biology-dedicated system nicknamed Jasmine.

Technology wasn't the only breach. As Coney and Kodiak descended into the Citadel, Dyne was sent aboard the Nightshade to the glassed planet of in search of a subject from another supersoldier program. By blasting into a somewhat intact skyscraper, he was able to rapell down into the city underground through an elevator shaft. Just when he thought he had found his target, he was knocked unconscious from behind, waking up some time later with his armor removed and arms bound. His captor, the supersoldier, revealed herself and explained her history. As one of three survivors from five of the program, Metria was stronger of body than any SPARTAN, but her system needed to take in blood plasma to survive. During the Battle of Madrigal, she'd killed the Human scientists and taken Covenant Elites prisoner, and had survived by keeping them alive to feed. She was also eager to taste SPARTAN blood.

Dyne resisted, and after a short struggle held Metria at gunpoint. He left her alive, refusing to add herself to the list of people who'd wronged her, and had Jasmine list the target killed. After, he joined Kodiak and Coney to head for another target. En route, they picked up a distress beacon originating from the destroyed UNSC Themistocles. Searching the debris, only one life pod was found, with the remainder of Mirage Team aboard: Branwyn-G160, Aspen-G145 and Morgan-G018. Dyne was thrilled to see the latter, though she kept her emotions masked.

Arriving in the polar regions of an otherwise tropical world, they entered a pair of Covenant research outposts, which were built upon structures made to study. Almost as soon as they came upon them, a troop of Elites led by Vract 'Aeramee attacked them, forcing the SPARTANs into a firefight as Kodiak went deeper into the installation. While providing sniper cover from a ridge away from the main fighting, 'Aeramee surprised both Dyne and Morgan, wounding him and taking her hostage. Returning to his leaders, Vract began to grow angry with his close friend, and killed him in anger. As Dyne watched, a third figure in MJOLNIR armor mortally wounded Morgan. He recognized it as being his old teammate, Sepia-G330. As Sepia and Vract talked, Dyne retrieved Morgan and when noticed, shot a Forerunner power core to cover his escape.

Picked up by a remote-piloted Pelican, he told Kodiak of Sepia's presence, and had to watch as Aspen tried to keep Morgan alive. As it became clear she wouldn't last long, he removed his helmet and talked with her face-to-face. She asked him to recount the score of their competition, which she had won by two points. Morgan asked him to even the score by killing Vract and Sepia, then kissed him. She died in his arms, their lips locked. Boarding the Nightshade, Kodiak ordered them to make for the colony of with all speed.

Retribution
"You didn’t even know Morgan. Actually, the fact you’re still alive proves you never met her on the battlefield. But just because you’re on the same ship as her murderer, I’m going to make your last moments more painful than even your false gods thought possible!"

- Dyne to a special operations Sangheili team aboard the Renewed Strength

Alternate Universes

 * Shards of Reality
 * The Saulosian Campaign

Strengths and Weaknesses
"We laugh in the face of danger. But sometimes, danger doesn't get the joke."

- Dyne

Maybe out but never down, Dyne never let a bad situation get the best of him or those around him. His cheerful determination and endurance reminded Maria-062 of, but came off as annoying to many other SPARTANs he encountered. Gamma Company was seen as young and naive, resented because others had been through things like PROMETHEUS or TORPEDO. Dyne took this as a challenge, and was arguably most driven to prove himself to others among his siblings. Throughout his time on Onyx, Dyne was an instigator for much of the trouble in Gamma Company. This mischievous streak stayed with him most of his life, to the detriment of his friends and enemies alike.

Hobbies
Thanks to his interactions with the AI, Dyne gained an interest in classic comedy. Searching for the oldest entertainment files available, Deep Winter came up with a number of twentieth-century films including The Great Dictator, Animal Crackers, and audio files including Abbot & Costello's Who's On First routine. It sparked a lasting interest, and he used many hours of the down time Ion Team had on the Themistocles listening repeatedly to the recordings.

After spending much time with his teacher Fhajad and a fellow Gamma trainee named Malak, Dyne learned to speak Egyptian Arabic. Few Covenant translators could understand it, making it useful as a secure means of communication, but he and Kodiak more enjoyed the perk of not being understood by their fellow humans. Morgan-G018 and Branwyn-G160 got back at them, however, by speaking French in a similar capacity.

Armor
Like the other Gammas, after augmentation Dyne received a suit of SPI armor for stealth operations, but was also given a Mark IV MJOLNIR suit for equipment training, the particular suit being previously worn by his father, Isaac-039. While deployed with his SPI suit, it's camouflage imaging systems were ruined after escaping Izu Oshima by walking the floor of Tokyo Bay during the Second Battle of Earth. Later in the battle, Ion was given access to the MJOLNIR Mark V(b) Suits in storage in Misriah's Tokyo Warehouses. Much of this armor had been recovered from dead supersoldiers, and he was unable to find a full suit. He assembled a set of, which were welded and bolted to the , and an helmet along with an old  Database. Dyne used the suit for more than twenty years, and the sand paint had already begun to weather away when he acquired it. Though he wouldn't use it for many years, Dyne had a hologram emitter in his left palm that allowed an AI to manifest itself should he ever possess one, and he usually carried a pack filled with stolen desserts and miscellaneous supplies.

When he first received his Mark IV training suit, he discovered that on the right side shoulder, someone had painted the image of a grenade across it. He took it up as his personal standard, sometimes marking equipment with it. This behavior was soon followed by several other Gammas, each with their own image for team or individual. After the death of Morgan in 2574, he painted her crest on his left shoulder on a crimson field, along those of other SPARTANs whom had died.

Weapons
Usually operating as Ion's marksman, Dyne frequently used a for its combination of range, accuracy, and firing rate. For more close-in fighting, which in Ion's case was typically more frantic, wielding a pair of allowed him the versatility of fighting with two weapons akimbo. When longer range was required, he took the time to hand-pick and modify rifles with clips extended to six rounds, but didn't carry one often and seldom had the time to find or fashion the magazines. Ion also carried a number of with them for demolitions, anti-vehicle, or grouped infantry use.

Vehicles
As a scout, Dyne was capable of operating a wide range of UNSC and Covenant transports. Commonly, he used the as a means of reconnaissance transportation, and was an expert operator of the ATV. He was able to figure out the controls of a Golem Crawler, a forest-clearing vehicle used to rapidly cut trails through brush wide enough for an Elephant Troop Transport to use. Like other SPARTANs, he was trained to use standard front-line vehicles like the and. While a fair driver, the only aircraft Dyne was capable of operating was the.