Ash Mitchell

"People like Ash, the ones with all the rules and restrictions, good men like that, get chewed up and spat out by the system for trying to be heroes. They're the kind that, when they fall, they go down farther than anyone else."

- Mal Roberts

Ash Mitchell, born 2525, was an experienced soldier who saw several decades of military service in the 26th century. After fighting in the as an ODST he would later go on to become a successful mercenary for a number of years after his defection in 2560. Mitchell was knowing during his time as a Helljumper as a skilled and dependable trooper, following in the footsteps of his trainer, Henry McNair. Mitchell would later go AWOL in 2560, eking out a life as a mercenary on lawless outer colony worlds and remote stations for several years, feeling that he lacked purpose with the war over. This would lead to him working for the elusive figure known as Magnus on many occasions, taking part in various illegal operations. Following an attack on a large bank IN 2573 which killed hundreds, Mitchell was framed for terrorism by his ally and left for dead. Pursued by both the UNSC and ONI, the veteran trooper was forced to go on the run, moving from world to world as he fought to remain alive.

Early life
Ash Mitchell was born on Earth, in Cleveland, Ohio, in the. The year he was born, 2525, was the first year of the devastating, which would claim billions of lives. As such, Ash grew up hearing stories about the far-off war against an alien alliance, though much of the information put through the media was heavily filtered. When he was six, his mother and uncle joined the UNSC Marine Corps and were shipped off to fight the Covenant, leaving his father to bring the young boy up. After a few months, word came back that they, along with their entire company, had been declared missing with the.

The loss of two family members at such a young age had a great effect on Ash. At school, he refused to discuss his mother with other students, and was reprimanded on more than one occasion for his violent outbursts. He was an average pupil, better at sports and other physical activities than subjects such as science. Ash was not, however, lacking in intelligence, displaying a keen intellect that was largely let down by his own laziness in class. He ended up leaving school at seventeen in 2542 with a handful of decent grades and little to do with them, having very few ideas of what to do for his future.

After a month of doing very little, Ash's father gave him the ultimatum of finding work of some kind, or joining the military. Largely to spite his father, Ash chose the latter, believing that he would be assigned to some kind of colonial militia or remote outpost. He signed up, and was later sent to Reach for his basic training. It was there that Ash realised the true scale of the war, which had been downplayed somewhat by the mainstream media: Colonies glassed, millions dead, and victories that were few and far between. After a few weeks of basic training, Ash Mitchell and his company were dispatched to fight the Covenant on the colony world of.

Battle of Boundary
By the time Mitchell's Marine Company arrived on the besieged planet, things were already looking dire for the UNSC defenders on the ground. The city they were deployed in was under siege by the Covenant, whom were largely being held back by the sacrifice of hundreds of human troops, fighting street-by-street in what was quickly becoming a losing battle. The Pelican carrying Mitchell's squad touched down and was destroyed by plasma bombardment moments after the marines disembarked, killing three and forcing the rest to run for cover in the ruins.



After managing to link up with more marine forces, the survivors of the squad saw their first taste of action against the Covenant, Mitchell killing several Grunts with his assault rifle as they charged his position. The marines there were able to hold their ground against ever-increasing numbers of enemy troops until plasma mortars began to hit, killing a majority of the troops there and pushing the others back. Mitchell was struck in the shoulder by a bolt of plasma, falling to the floor in agony while the rest of his squad retreated. As the young marine attempted to crawl away, a Sangheili warrior discovered him and kicked him over, preparing to finish him with its energy sword.

Before the Elite could finish Mitchell off, it was hit with several bursts of rifle fire and killed. A platoon of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers had arrived, hitting the Covenant hard as reinforcements were dropped in. As they cleared the buildings, one of them introduced himself to the wounded marine as Captain Henry McNair, helping him up and taking him to a field medic before returning to the battle with the rest of his platoon. Luckily, the wound was not serious, though by the time Mitchell had been sent back into combat, the retreat order had already been sounded, waves of fighters making last-ditch efforts against Covenant ships and troops to buy the evacuation precious time. The surviving Marines made it back to the fleet aboard Pelican dropships, and fled the system before the Covenant began to glass the planet.

Boundary was the first of many battles that Mitchell would participate in over the course of the Human-Covenant War. After a few years of service, in 2545, he decided to volunteer to join the elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, or ODST's. Mitchell, along with several dozen others, was taken to Reach, where he met with a young man named Mal Roberts for the first time. The two became very good friends over the course of their training, helping each other out where possible. The recruits were trained by none other than Captain McNair, whom Mitchell owed a debt for saving his life on Boundary. After two months of intense training, during which over two thirds of the applicants had dropped out, both Mitchell and Roberts 'graduated' as fully-fledged ODST's, the former turning out at the head of their group.

Battle of Draco III
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In August 2545, the new ODST group had been assigned to Echo 1-1, a platoon-sized group stationed on the UNSC Pride. Mitchell was surprised to encounter McNair once more, who had been assigned to lead them while taking a break from his training duties. While in the system, a Covenant fleet arrived, sending the UNSC defenders into full alert. As the vanguard of an invasion force began to land on the planet, the ODST's were deployed into the city of New Albany and it's surrounding areas. McNair ordered most of the platoon to defend an ODG complex in the mountains, while he and a small squad, which included Mitchell and Roberts, helped to secure the city. Commandeering two warthogs from a passing Pelican, the squad set up a roadblock on the way into the heavily populated areas of New Albany, fending off Covenant forces to allow the evacuation to proceed. This went on for some time before heavy plasma bombardment forced them back with heavy casualties. Forced to retreat, the ODST's drove through the city until they fell into a Sangheili ambush. They would have been killed there, had it not been for the timely intervention of the SPARTAN-II Sigma Team, who fought off the enemy and secured the area. Rather than join up with the team of supersoldiers, McNair instead ordered them to defend the evacuation at the city spaceport before leaving.

While they drove out of New Albany to link up with the rest of Echo 1-1, Mitchell questioned the veteran trooper about his disposition against the Spartans, and was told of an incident on the many years before that left several ODST's in McNair's battalion dead. Though Mitchell suggested that he let it go, as one isolated incident should not corrupt his views against the Spartans, the Captain ignored him, being quite ingrained in his beliefs. Once the survivors arrived at the ODG Complex, the troopers stood by as a massive Covenant force overwhelmed New Albany as the civilian evacuation ended in a reasonable success. The Complex, which powered one of the few remaining orbital MAC guns, had to be defended at all costs. Shortly after, a small convoy of vehicles was seen heading towards the complex, carrying the Spartans of Sigma Team, as well as a smaller ODST unit, Tango Six. Another SPARTAN-II, Kryss-216, took command, her rank of naval Captain outranking McNair, much to his annoyance.

With a large Covenant force heading their way, the UNSC forces fortified the Complex, Mitchell manning a wall section and fending off wave after wave of enemy infantry as they began to close in. In the facility's armoury, a single had been discovered by one of the Spartans, plans being made to set it off if they were completely overwhelmed. It was given to Mira Reyes, McNair's second in command, to protect within one of the generator buildings. The battle lasted over an hour before ammo began to run low and enemy numbers only increased. Luckily, Kryss was able to put out a distress call to the UNSC Bright New Day, which dispatched a wing of Shortsword bombers to hold up the advancing army as the survivors retreated. Mitchell retreated to the vehicle bay, where he was surprised to find McNair absent. Lieutenant Reyes' team had been slaughtered by a group of Sangheili, prompting McNair, along with one of the Spartans and a few troopers to move in to secure the nuke. Though the weapon was secured, the Captain was badly wounded and offered to stay behind in order to buy them time. Before leaving, he left a message with the Spartan, Marco-025, to give to Mitchell, stating that he was right about letting go past grievances.

With McNair about to detonate the nuke, the Spartans and ODST's were forced to leave quickly, heading into the mountains before the enemy could regroup after the bombing. Harried by Banshee fighters, the few dozen that remained alive arrived at an old mining complex, which before the attack was being turned into a highway leading through the mountain. While one of the Spartans set to work on the door, which was locked, everyone else being made to defend against encroaching Covenant troops and airstrikes. By the time it had opened, the survivors making it inside, only Mitchell and Roberts remained as the survivors of Echo 1-1. All of the Spartans had made it through with superficial injuries, there being another pair of ODST survivors from Kryss' group. As they headed through the mountain, the nuke was detonated by McNair, who had played a game of cat-and-mouse with the enemy before finally being caught, obliterating an entire Covenant Legion within the confines of the valley and damaging a nearby Destroyer. Once they had made it through to the other side, the survivors were evacuated to the Bright New Day to be reassigned. Draco III, though an eventual victory for the UNSC, had proved to be a traumatic experience for Mitchell's first mission as an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, forging a lifelong friendship between him and Mal Roberts, the only other survivor. McNair's sacrifice, which was captured from orbit via satellite, inspired the two troopers to go to any lengths if it meant winning the war.

Battle of Skjope
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Following the massacre of their unit on Draco III, Mitchell and Roberts were transferred to another platoon, under the command of Gunnery Sergeant Carlos Driscol, another trooper who had been trained by McNair years before. Mitchell did not always approve of Driscol's rather violent and unorthodox methods, however, often leading to arguments between the two. Their ODST unit was stationed on Skopje when it came under attack by the Covenant in 2547, the troopers immediately being deployed groundside to deal with the Covenant threat.

Mitchell's platoon was tasked with the defence of a shipbuilding corporation's headquarters, while vital tools, machines, and personnel could be evacuated. The ODST's arrived shortly before a Covenant attack force arrived, assaulting the headquarters in large numbers, slowly whittling away at the human defences. Though the evacuation was largely successful, by the time it was over almost half of the platoon were dead, prompting Driscol to give an order to fall back as they were overrun by the Covenant, escaping via warthogs and heading as far away as they could. It was not until they had escaped did Mitchell realise that they had abandoned dozens of workers there to be slaughtered by the enemy, something which prompted an argument between him and his superior.



After arriving in a frontier town to resupply, the heated debate almost turned violent when Driscol and Mitchell almost killed each other over leaving civilians to die. Things may have escalated, were it not for Mal Roberts calming the two down in light of the Covenant invasion. Calling for orders over the COM, the remnants of the platoon remained in the town, aware of approaching Covenant forces, enough to wipe them out with ease. However, several Pelican dropships arrived in the area unannounced, missiles driving back their attackers as they landed. Mitchell and the others emerged from the buildings to find that the Pelican crews were not part of the UNSC at all, markings of the being painted on the side of the dropships.

A firefight soon broke out between the ODST's and the rebels, with no side gaining the upper hand until Driscol, along with several others, fired on their own men, Mitchell being shot in the back by his commanding officer as he and his comrades fled. Wounded and bleeding, the trooper witnessed Driscol greeting the rebel troops, and handing over an object the platoon had been ordered to safeguard: A, to be used in extreme circumstances to cause as much damage as possible to the enemy if the ODST's were in danger of being wiped out. It was originally going to be used in the shipbuilding headquarters, but the approaching foe forced them to evacuate before it could be deployed. Roberts found Mitchell, injecting him with biofoam as the Pelicans took off, getting away from the carnage. Before they flew away, Driscol spoke to the survivors over the COM, mocking the troopers as he escaped.

For the half-dozen survivors, it seemed like the end, with low ammo and approaching Covenant forces making the situation seem hopeless. As Mitchell and the others prepared for a last stand, a barrage of missiles from a rare halting the Covenant advance as reinforcements arrived. Chief among these were a small group of unusual,, who slaughtered the Covenant infantry and allowed UNSC forces to advance while the surviving troopers were picked up. While in the end, Skopje was eventually overrun and glassed by the Covenant, Mitchell, Roberts and the surviving members of their platoon made it out alive, being assigned to the UNSC Bright New Day once again as they left the system. Following the battle of Skopje, Mitchell was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant for his heroic actions on the ground, and reported Driscol's betrayal to his superiors, who were confused as to why a man known for his exemplary service record would become an insurrectionist. Skopje had a profound effect on its survivors, cementing a hatred and desire for revenge against Driscol in Mitchell and Roberts. This would also mark their first real encounter with the Insurrection, the pair being very uncomfortable with fighting their fellow man on the battlefield.

Battle of Yusaris II
By 2551, Mitchell was a Gunnery Sergeant, leading a platoon of troopers against the Covenant on Yusaris II. As their foe wished to extract Helium-3 from the colony world before it's inevitable glassing, the battle was a long, drawn-out one. After dropping in to one of the planet's many lush jungles, Mitchell's platoon fought off Kig-Yar scouts before falling back to a defensible position, where they held the line for several hours until reinforcements arrived, decimating enemy forces and transporting them to one of the many cities on the colony. The ODST's spent several days in the city, fending off Covenant scouts for some time until a large assault force was dispatched to the frontlines, leaving Mitchell's platoon stuck in a UNSC outpost within the city. This bothered him greatly, being cut off from the main conflict and forced to wait for orders with Roberts and the others. One day, however, while patrolling outside the base, Mitchell and the others spotted a young woman dashing into cover. Knowing that most of the planet's civilians had already been evacuated or were already in the spaceport, Mitchell assumed that she was some kind of scavenger, and gave chase, attempting to bring her back to the base. The troopers were surprised to find their quarry shooting back with a Covenant plasma rifle.

Thinking that they may be dealing with some kind of Insurrectionist, Mitchell called for reinforcements before pursuing her into the city, ruined by Covenant bombardment. They spread out, looking for their attacker as they combed the rubble. Mitchell went off alone after the girl, scaling a wrecked building and creeping through it until he finally discovered her, preparing to ambush his men from above. As he moved in to incapacitate the girl, she noticed him, forcing the trooper to jump at her before she could shoot. A struggle ensued, in which Mitchell found himself almost beaten by the unnaturally strong girl, fighting for some time until the rest of his squad arrived, surrounding the girl.

Seeing that she was trapped, the girl broke down, crying. Mitchell ordered the others to stand down before removing his helmet, introducing himself and attempting to comfort the girl. She eventually relented, and allowed herself to be taken back to the base, under Mitchell's careful watch. Mitchell allowed her to shower and receive new clothes at the base before he noticed that she possessed a UNSC-affiliated 'barcode' on the back of her neck, signifying her role as a soldier in spite of her appearance as a teenager. Mitchell questioned the prisoner, who revealed her name, Layla, and little else to the trooper. He put her through some basic DNA testing to discover who she was, and was surprised to find a heavily classified file, one that resulted in a complete block from afar. The next day, a dropship containing several agents, purportedly from the, touched down at the base. It was revealed that another UNSC battlegroup had arrived, decimating the Covenant fleet above Yusaris II, gaining an immediate superiority in the battle. Though Mitchell attempted to question who the girl was, the agents took Layla aboard their ship, and left the planet as quickly as they had arrived.

In the aftermath of his odd incident, Mitchell's entire ODST platoon found themselves reassigned to another part of the fleet, with their leader receiving a promotion to as most of his unit was shuffled, gaining several new squadmates in the process. Though Mitchell resolved to try and forget what had happened with Layla, not wishing to interfere with ONI in any way, Roberts began to constantly question who exactly she had been, much to his friend's annoyance.

Battle of Tribute
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In August, 2552, the Covenant invaded the system in force, a massive fleet  Reach and other planets in a prolonged attack. In response, a large portion of the UNSC's fleet was mobilised to defend the system, the last one remaining before Sol, and Earth. Mitchell's squad was dropped onto the colony world of Tribute as part of a massive evacuation effort on the ground. Due to the tenacity and skill of the human ships above, it took the Covenant some time to break through and begin ground operations on the planet.

After several days of combat, Mitchell's depleted squad, which consisted of him, Corporal Roberts, Corporal, Lance Corporal and Private Bill Cross, were running evacuation ops in , one of Tribute's biggest cities. The city had come under heavy attack, enemy infantry severely hampering the evacuation there. The ODST's, moving through the wrecked streets, moved in to save a school from incoming Covenant soldiers. In the ensuing fight, many civilians were killed, and as the enemy began to press in from several positions, the situation began to worsen. Ash gathered the surviving children and teachers in a building, and ordered his men to defend it with their lives. They held out for some time until their ammo began to run dry, prompting a Covenant advance.



Surrounded, and seemingly with no way out, the squad seemed doomed, until a green-armoured soldier arrived at the scene, massacring the Covenant and driving them back before returning to the troopers. It was a SPARTAN, one of the legendary super soldiers who had become famous after their media exposure several years prior. Grateful to be saved, Mitchell thanked and identified himself to the SPARTAN, who to his surprise revealed herself to be Layla-B101, whom he had saved on Yusaris the previous year. Immediately, the group began to hurry towards the spaceport, getting there largely unhindered until they found half a dozen Covenant lances laying waste to the area and slaughtering the evacuees. Layla got the troopers to cover her as she moved in alone, attacking the enemy despite being heavily outnumbered. It was here that Mitchell noticed her apparent sub-optimal mental health, laughing with almost sadistic glee as she butchered her enemies.

Once the area was relatively clear, Mitchell's squad escorted the civilians further into the spaceport, wary of the SPARTAN-III after her manic outburst at the enemy. Before they could board a nearby transport ship, several Kig-Yar snipers began firing, hitting a few of the civilians and forcing many others to run for the ship, more being killed in the process. While Jones, the squad marksman, worked on taking out their foe, Mitchell noticed a young boy attempting to crawl towards the ship, having been knocked over in the mad rush to get aboard. With the transport's engines starting, he ran out, disregarding his personal safety and narrowly avoiding plasma fire to pick up the child and get him aboard, ensuring that the evacuation could finally be completed. Combined fire from the ODST's and Layla finished off the snipers, allowing them to report in and confirm that their mission was a success.

Shortly after, Mitchell's squad regrouped with the remainder of their ODST brethren and redirected to an important mission: an all-out attack against a Covenant battlecruiser heading towards one of Tribute's unevacuated cities. At this time, the idea of boarding and destroying enemy ships from the inside seemed to be the only choice for human forces, with severely depleted Naval assets either away or defending Reach. Using data acquired from Operation: UPPER CUT and DROPKICK, the ODST's were to accompany Layla, the only known SPARTAN asset present, in boarding the cruiser and detonating a tactical nuke within the ship after securing the bridge.

Though wary of the extreme danger that the mission posed, Mitchell took it on, taking command of the troopers, who would deploy via pelican once Layla and a cadre of pilots gained access to one of the ship's hangar bay. Once the operation began, the UNSC attackers took many casualties, Mitchell's pelican being one of two to make it out of the five that set out. Layla met with them in a hangar bay, and proceeded to methodically clear out the ship's corridors. Several ODST's were killed en route, but eventually they came to the ship's bridge. The command crew had prepared themselves for the human's arrival, and ambushed the team, wounding Roberts and almost killing Mitchell with an energy sword, had it not been for a quick intervention on Miles' part. With the SPARTAN on their side, however, they soon had control, Layla easily disarming the Sangheili Shipmaster. Oddly, she did not immediately kill her foe, instead ordering the troopers to leave while she set the nuclear device.

Mitchell and the others spent the next half hour clearing a path to their Pelican, keeping it protected until she emerged, her armour covered in Sangheili blood. Layla ordered the ODST's onto the Pelican, and piloted the ship personally as they escaped, detonating the HAVOK once they had reached a safe distance. The battlecruiser was destroyed, though the troopers were extremely cautious around the SPARTAN while they flew back to a nearby UNSC ship. Before she departed, Layla spoke with Mitchell for some time, eventually thanking him for his actions the year before, saving her after her escape. Though she did not elaborate on her past further, Mitchell did not attempt to interrogate her on it, returning to his unit soon after. In spite of their valiant efforts in taking down the enemy ship, the arrival of several more completely overwhelmed the already overstretched UNSC Navy, which was still attempting to cover the evacuation from Tribute. By the end of the battle, more than 90% of Tribute's defence fleet had been wiped out, the remainder barely escaping intact alongside the last of the civilian ships. This had a profound effect on Mitchell and his troopers, giving them a great deal of respect for their Naval comrades following this colossal defeat.

Battle of Earth
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With the loss of the Epsilon Eridani system to the Covenant, the majority of UNSC forces pulled back to the Sol System, ready to make a stand against their foe. With an immense shortage of competent ODST commanders, Mitchell as given a surprise promotion to, and assigned as the senior NCO for the , stationed on the  for quick deployment across the system. On October 22, 2552, a Covenant Fleet, numbering a mere fifteen ships, arrived in the Sol System, quickly being engaged by the human defenders. Mitchell's ODST's, who witnessed the destruction of the and  ODP Stations from their post aboard, quickly boarded a nearby frigate, the UNSC Serengeti and were deployed groundside as soon as news came through that the Covenant had landed on Earth. Mitchell's Helljumpers were among the first to land in the besieged city of, where the Covenant carrier, , had deployed troops. The ODST's fought largely in Old Mombasa, the northern sector of the city, against a vanguard of Covenant troops who were massacring the civilians there. Mitchell ordered his soldiers to hold the line there, protecting the evacuees as they tried to escape the city. [[File:Mitchell Mombassa.png|thumb|200px|Mitchell moving through New Mombasa.
 * left]] Not long after, reinforcements arrived from the, successfully driving the Covenant back for some time. When the Carrier made a slipspace jump within the city, however, the platoon was left behind, trapped without a link to command. The departure of the Frigate after the enemy ship worried Mitchell, who immediately gave the order for all his surviving troops to pull out and regroup, not being able to reach the fighting in the southern part of the island.

At this time, a Covenant Fleet arrived in the Sol System, deploying more and more troops to the Sol System, fighting a bloody battle with the UNSC forces there. Mitchell's group were able to call for extraction via Pelican, being transported to ONI's PILLAR Base in Nepal to await orders as the remainder of the Home Fleet fought a slowly losing battle against their foe. Over the next few days, many more troops arrived at the base from engagements across the globe. There, they reformed and were dispatched against the Covenant worldwide, Mitchell's ODST's being deployed as strike teams designed to cause as much damage as possible before retreating. By early November, with the Human forces in tatters, it seemed as though the Covenant were close to victory. In a desperate attempt to hold on to several factories creating weapons and ammunition for the troops still fighting, Mitchell, along with several platoons worth of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, were sent to Germany, with orders to hold on to these vital structures at all costs.

After two days of fighting off the Covenant, reinforcements came in the form of Sergeant Major Richard Mack Junior, leading a fresh platoon of helljumpers, and three SPARTAN-III's; Martin-A136, Alex-A121 and Louie-A199. With their combined power, they were able to score a sound victory, several UNSC frigates bringing down a nearby Corvette with sustained MAC fire. The surviving ODST's were then transferred aboard the to await further orders. Mitchell was aboard when the Prophet of Truth activated a in Kenya, escaping through it as a vengeful Sangheili fleet arrived over Earth. He was surprised to find that the race that had been regarded as mandkind's greatest foe for nearly three decades had arrived with the intentions of peace, but remained aboard as Commander took command of the frigate, pursuing Truth through the portal.

Battle of the Ark
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The joint UNSC-Sangheili fleet arrived at an unknown location, near a. While their newfound allies engaged the Jiralhanae fleet in orbit, Mitchell's ODST's were to be deployed groundside. After a wave of Pelicans were dispatched, the Forward Unto Dawn launched a wave of pods to the surface. As the chief ODST NCO aboard, however, Mitchell remained on the Frigate until a second Pelican wave could be deployed. Along with Mal, Bill Cross, and nine others, the ODST's boarded the Pelican, heading for the surface of the construct to assist the outnumbered UNSC forces there.

As they came in closer, however, Covenant AA fire began to hit the dropship, destroying one of the thrusters and shooting them down. They crashed in a on the installation, far away from any reinforcements. With both pilots and four troopers dead on impact, Mitchell led the survivors away from the crash site before Covenant patrols could find them, hoping to link up with UNSC forces as soon as possible. The eight ODST's spent several hours moving undetected until a passing Phantom noticed them, opening fire and scattering the troopers into the nearby mountains. Mitchell and a few overs were able to find refuge within a structure, where they encountered dozens of odd, flying robots that largely ignored them unless provoked.

The troopers were able to find their way out of the structure not long after the landed, signalling a passing Pelican to pick them up as the Human and Sangheili forces closed in on the Prophet of Truth's location, one final effort needed to finally end the war. Mitchell's group was sent in as a diversion from the main attack, a few Pelicans and Phantoms drawing away Covenant armour for some time. Landing shortly after the shield surrounding the was taken offline, the troopers cleared out any stragglers as a  emerged, Mitchell's unit taking several casualties and almost being overwhelmed, were it not for reinforcements in the form of a pair of AV-14 Hornets providing covering fire and picking them up.

With a new Halo Ring emerging and the Flood threat, all Human and Sangheili forces retreated to the carrier,, moving back through the portal to Earth. There, it was announced that the Human-Covenant War, which had lasted roughly twenty-eight years and cost billions of lives, was finally over, a ceasefire being called between the United Nations Space Command and the Covenant Separatists. Mitchell, along with many of those who saw the war's final battle, was reassigned, Roberts remarking to his friend before leaving that he suspected a mass coverup of the Flood, the Halos, and the Ark. Nonetheless, he was given yet another promotion to, though after so much death and destruction, Mitchell saw this as little more than a hollow gesture by his superiors.

Post-War
Even with the end of the war, work did not end for Ash Mitchell and his fellows. Assigned to another unit, he spent several months hunting down Covenant Remnants in the Inner Colonies with a UNSC Battlegroup, a long and arduous process that in his opinion wasted valuable manpower that would be needed elsewhere. Nevertheless, he lead his troops to victory on many occasions as Humanity began to rebuild. When he was finally given leave in mid-2553, he returned to Earth and stayed with his sister, Sue, and her family for some time. It was here that Mitchell, after so many years away in the war, felt at peace for some time, though he discovered that his father had been killed in the Covenant invasion.

When the time came to leave once again, he did so with a heavy heard, being reassigned once more to work in the Inner Colonies. This time, they were not up against Covenant forces, but a group of well-armed rebels who had stormed a number of UNSC-run warehouses in a city due to supply shortages on the planet. Since the local law enforcement could not contain the rapidly worsening situation, a number of ODST's were dropped in from orbit, swiftly eliminating their foe within half an hour. While they helped the UNSC regain control, Mitchell could not help but feel some sense of wrong for their actions, particularly the use of elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers in a civilian environment against their fellow man, so soon after a war against aliens.

Operation: ASHES
Main Article: Operation: ASHES

In mid-2555, Mitchell was chosen to lead a single ODST squad on a highly classified mission to Schönheit, a colony world in the Outer Colonies that had been glassed a decade before. He was pleased to find his old friends Mal Roberts and Bill Cross among the group, along with a number of unfamiliar troopers; Yin Maxwell, Vincent Angelo, George Calzaghe, and a young Michael Green. In spite of having almost no information on their mission, Operation: ASHES, Mitchell was in high hopes, until it was revealed that the troopers would be under the command of two legendary SPARTAN-II's: Elena-071 and Kane-099.

The group inserted onto the planet via SOEIV, landing a few miles away from their target zone. Though he was bothered slightly by the sudden appearance of the Spartans, he did not voice his concerns. Instead, he focused on the mission at hand, looking after the youngest trooper in the squad, Private Green. Coming close to the valley where their target was located. In spite of the glassing a decade earlier, there was a great deal of greenery present, along with a number of trees growing in what had previously been desolate glasslands. After neutralising a Kig-Yar outpost, Elena-071 revealed to the ODST's the true nature of their mission: The assassination of a rogue Spartan, Pierre-127.

Even with this revelation, and some degree of discontent from a couple of troopers, they pressed on into the new land, only to come under attack by a number of grunts. The ODST's were momentarily pinned down, with Calzaghe taking a plasma bolt to the knee, but they were able to push their foe back into the trees. The two Spartans quickly left to pursue them, leaving Mitchell's squad to look after the wounded soldier. As they checked Calzaghe's wound, a number of stealthed Sangheili launched an attack that would have killed Mitchell had it not been for the quick actions of Green. The battle soon turned against the Sangheili as the troopers moved into a defensible location, waiting for Elena and Kane to return. During the fight, Mitchell was saved by SPARTAN-071 after being thrown to the floor, only to be knocked unconscious by an unknown foe.

Mitchell awoke in a prison cell some time later, with the wounded Calzaghe and badly-beaten Maxwell, who informed him that their team had not taken any casualties in the attack. After conversing for some time, the trio was escorted from their cell by Sur 'Ranak, the Sangheili leader. Their captors took them down to a chamber deep within what appeared to be a Forerunner structure, where they finally found Pierre-127. The Spartan explained his survival to the captured ODST's until Maxwell attempted to shoot him with a concealed pistol, only to be swiftly killed. Dismissing Mitchell and Calzaghe, he then introduced them to the 'caretaker' of the facility they had been imprisoned in: 037 Repentant Observer.

The two prisoners were then taken to the top of the ancient facility, a control room of sorts, by Pierre and Sur. It was here that Mitchell was forcibly made to activate a control panel, which activated the 'Eden Facility', which was designed to restore life to damaged planets such as this one. While their captors looked over the newly-activated controls, Mitchell and Calzaghe were able to slip away, fleeing down towards the exit with Sur in pursuit. Liberating some Covenant weapons from an armoury, they fought their way outside, where they encountered the other ODST's assaulting the encampment, saving them from a number of Kig-Yar snipers. With orders from Elena-071 to escape towards the Sangheili ships, the troopers fled towards the mountains, only to be ambushed once more by Sur 'Ranak, who decapitated Sergeant Angelo before retreating under heavy fire.

With their second loss, Mitchell had to calm the younger Green down, persuading him not to pursue the wounded Sangheili. Instead, they made their way towards the concealed ships, which were promptly destroyed from above by a number of, which had begun to flood the sky around the Eden Facility. With no other choice, the ODST's were forced into the glasslands, contacting the orbiting UNSC Grievous for pickup, Elena informing them over the COM that she had activated the emergency 'HAMMER' protocol, which would have the ship deliver a destructive MAC round on the Facility. Mitchell's squad, now low on ammunition, formed a defensive perimeter around their extraction zone, only to be confronted by the now-rampant Repentant Observer, who severed Mal Roberts' right arm with an energy beam before dispatching a number of Sentinels to finish them off.

In their desperate last stand, Calzaghe was killed by their new foe, the troopers dropping over two dozen Sentinels before finally running out of ammunition. They were saved at the last moment by several helicopters, which quickly decimated the enemy as support troops evacuated the troops to the UNSC Grievious, which was coming into atmosphere to deliver the deadly MAC round. Mitchell encountered the SPARTAN Marco-025 here, asking for Elena's location before taking off to rescue the other Spartans in another Falcon. The surviving troopers spent some time recuperating aboard the ship, Mitchell visiting Roberts in the medical bay frequently. It was here that his longtime friend informed him of his intent to leave the UNSC once and for all, having had enough of the way they treated people like him, and the actions they would have to undertake as soldiers. Though Mitchell unsuccessfully tried to convince him otherwise, he found himself questioning his own beliefs as a soldier.

Leaving the UNSC
Not long after Operation: ASHES, Mitchell, who had been promoted to the rank of for his actions, met with Mal Robets for the last time as his old friend prepared to depart to the Outer Colonies. In their brief meeting, Roberts denounced the UNSC for its actions and stated his intention to start a new life. However, this dispute soon turned in to an argument, ending in the pair threatening to kill one another. Mitchell allowed Roberts to leave, knowing that his old friend would probably end up as one of the Insurrectionists they had fought time and time again.

Over the course the next few years, Mitchell found himself seriously doubting a number of orders given by his superiors in the field, especially since his ODST unit was deployed against rebels on a number of occasions. In spite of his many years of service, Ash found himself unable to continue, and retired from military service in 2560, shortly after accepting a promotion to. After staying at his family home for several weeks, he set out for the Outer Colonies, just as Mal had several years before. Rather than join the Insurrection, as many others had, Mitchell decided to try to eke out a living as a gun for hire on frontier worlds.

Mercenary Years


Much to his surprise, there were at least a dozen colony worlds that had either been abandoned by the UNSC or repopulated by humans directly in the wake of the war. Even worlds that had once been integral parts of the once well-protected Inner Colonies such as Circumstance had essentially become self-governing after the UNSC redirected all its assets toward defending the Sol System. With this new system, mercenaries were in high demand across these worlds. Mitchell began working on simple guard missions for freighters, largely transporting goods through patches of space known for Kig-Yar pirates. While they were rarely attacked, the odd occasion on which a group attempted to take a shipment would prove the worth of Mitchell and others.

As time went by, Mitchell became well known in certain influential circles operating in the Outer Colonies as a dependable and hardy mercenary. He would focus on one contract at a time and slowly accumulated a decent amount of money doing this. Most of his wages went towards the upkeep of his heavily customised ODST armour and weapons, though he did keep some back for himself. The rest was sent back to his sister on Earth via secret bank accounts in order to help her family out. In the late 2560s, Mitchell discovered that his old friend Mal Roberts had taken part in an infamous terrorist attack on Earth itself, which left several high-ranking UEG leaders dead and had the perpetrators escaping with a NOVA bomb.

Immediately various contracts began to come in directed at Mal and his insurrectionist comrades from various sources. Some of these were UNSC-affiliated individuals, while others were simply wealthy contractors wishing to claim the astronomically high bounty for the capture or killing of these people. Mitchell decided to keep out of it, having no interest in Mal or the rebels in general. He remained on the fringes of Human-controlled space for some time, fighting in a small Jiralhanae conflict with a wealthy Chieftain as his contractor. It was here that he became famous for his actions in a particularly bloody battle that only left him and a few others standing. Mitchell's skull-visored helmet and black armour became the stuff of legend in the mercenary world following this, bringing him to the attention of a certain powerful individual.

Partnership
In early 2568, Mitchell was surprised to hear of Mal Roberts death. He had been killed along with several Insurrectionist figures on the Caucasus Station, a large independent asteroid base that housed thousands of civilians. While official sources blamed it on the UNSC attack which had left much of the settlement defenceless, many people living there had seen security footage of a large, unknown figure slaughtering the Insurrectionist leadership during the battle. Several months after, Mitchell was recovering from a mission in one of the many bars across the asteroid settlement when he was approached by this very figure, who identified himself as Magnus.

Mitchell was fully aware that this man had killed his own friend, but after their first meeting it was made clear that Magnus would, and could kill him if he refused the offer of joining him. From then on, the pair recruited a large band of fellow mercenaries as their jobs became much more dangerous. In 2569, Mitchell encountered another old comrade while raiding a civilian freighter: Bill Cross. The off-duty ODST attempted to stop their heavily armed group from obtaining the DNA of a millionaire businessman and a storage case of 'dumb' Artificial Intelligences, but survived thanks to the intervention of another passenger. Mitchell began to have serious doubts about working for Magnus in spite of their greatly increased pay and began making plans to leave the group at the first opportunity.

Over the next few years, their actions would become much more dangerous in nature. The Tannis Uprising in late 2572 would be the peak of Mitchell's operations under Magnus, as their group would not be fighting against other mercenaries or raiding isolated bases, but instigating a full-blown revolution on the colony world. Acting as one of the key figures behind the rebel colonists, Mitchell taught many how to shoot, create improvised weapons and explosives, as well as small-unit tactics and ambush strategies against their better-armed foes. The uprising would last just over two months before the UNSC finally brought down the hammer on the rebels, unleashing their SPARTAN-IV's for the first time to end the conflict in a matter of days. Mitchell, Magnus, and less than a hundred others survived and escaped Tannis before they could be captured, Mitchell sustaining several injuries as they fled. It was here that he became very conscious of the fact that he was getting older now, and at the age of 47 he was getting rusty, something that would likely prove fatal if he didn't leave his present company.

In 2573, Mitchell underwent his final mission for Magnus. In the city of Kuiper, Circumstance, the central bank had been established, housing many goods that would be of great value to their leader. Accompanying a group of hardened mercenaries, Mitchell was tasked with leading the assault on the bank with the intentions of getting out as quickly as possible. To avoid being caught and quickly tracked down, Magnus had assured them that all security devices would be disabled remotely by him during the operation. Though he was suspicious of why Magnus would send them in on what appeared to be a menial target, he went along with the mission and quickly secured the bank, demanding access to the vault.

It was here that several of his comrades began to slaughter the staff and civilians present, something that was not in the original plan. A firefight quickly broke out between two of the mercenary groups in the bank, followed shortly after by two massive explosions from adjacent buildings as what appeared to be C-12 charges detonated. By this point, heavily armed police officers had arrived and a pitched battle erupted in the street outside. Mitchell led the survivors away from the building using explosives to carve a path through the police until they had a clear shot for the safehouse. Magnus was waiting for them when they arrived, and after taking the bags containing what loot they had grabbed, promptly began to execute the men. Mitchell lasted longer than most, though after a short battle he was blasted through a window by a direct shotgun blast, falling to the street below.

Fugitive
"You're not an easy man to kill, Ash Mitchell. I'll enjoy watching you run."

- a message from Magnus after learning of Mitchell's survival

Miraculously, Mitchell survived his fall with several injuries, and was able to drag himself away from the safehouse before the police could arrive. Lightly-armed and wounded, he stole a car at gunpoint and escaped into Kuiper's undercity, a near-lawless district where he could hide out and get his wounds tended to at a local clinic. It was here that he found his face plastered over every news channel as the perpetrator of the attack, along with a number of other incriminating documents supposedly found belonging to Mitchell. Lastly, a massive bounty had been put out by the UNSC for people to take him in dead or alive.

Knowing that this would almost certainly have every bounty hunter and undercover agent in the colonies after him, Mitchell quickly boarded a shuttle and left the planet before news of his whereabouts could spread. The media labelled him as the 'Butcher of Kuiper' for his actions, with over a hundred innocents dead in a single day. New accounts began to come out for Mitchell's supposed crimes, including several incidents that he had never even participated in. He knew that even after years of working together, Magnus had finally betrayed him to cover his own tracks. Alone and friendless, Mitchell was forced to travel for a number of months on the run, surviving a number of run-ins with bounty hunters after his head. Each sighting brought UNSC soldiers and worse, ONI agents, closer to the former ODST who had depleted most of his accumulated cash in bribing as many people as he could as he fled farther away.

In mid-2574, Mitchell arrived on the colony world of Iskandar after stowing away on a transport freighter. Entering the city of Thebes, he took up residence in an abandoned building on the outskirts and spent several days attempting to find work from small-time criminal gangs under a false name. In his first few weeks he earned a small amount of cash as an enforcer before his boss caught wind of his true identity, and the bounty attached. Mitchell killed twenty four people after the gang attempted to ambush him and took what money he could before heading back out into the lower area of Thebes to look for more work. He encountered several more hapless assassins in a bar, gunning down the inexperienced men in seconds before leaving. It was shortly after this that Mitchell met a new, unnamed employer, one who offered him decent pay and protection in exchange for his services. Desperate and in need of allies, Mitchell accepted.

Thebes Incident
Main Article: Awakening Demons

Mitchell's first assignment at the hands of his new employer was to destroy six police stations in the inner city. While uncertain of the motive behind these attacks, Mitchell carried them out diligently, the armoured mercenary slaughtering his way through one station after another over the course of a few hours. After torching his final target, Mitchell evaded more patrols and moved back into a busy section of the city's lower districts, where he was fired on by a lone sniper. What followed was a pitched battle in the street as he used smoke grenades to get close before wounding his attacker with a grenade. Mitchell then pursued the man to the roof, cornering him before another two men ambushed him. He was able to kill both of them, though he was badly wounded by the assassin's high-caliber pistol. In the ensuing struggle, Mitchell managed to knock the man off the roof by tackling him, breaking his opponent's neck as they hit the ground. He then took the sniper's dog tags and escaped to his safehouse.

Due to his injuries Mitchell did not leave his hotel room for several days, slowly recuperating and keeping an eye on the news. Though he had not been explicitly identified, there was a great deal of speculation about the 'Butcher of Kuiper' being the perpetrator due to Mitchell's distinctive helmet being seen on CCTV. It was here that he realised that his new employer was no different than Magnus, and would likely use him to commit further atrocities before throwing him aside. Mirchell decided to get off the planet as soon as possible, and arranged to have a new identity made for him for a large sum of money. Before leaving the hotel, he also attempted to make contact with his sister, Sue, back on Earth. He kept the message brief, simply letting her know that he was alive and apologising for his actions before sending the transmission. He would almost immediately regret this, believing that his message did more harm than good.

After meeting up with his employer, Mitchell was taken to the city's warehouse district where a large criminal organisation known as the 'Minutemen' had set up. It was their leader who would supply Mitchell with a new name and smuggle him off-planet. Almost immediately after their arrival he came face to face with none other than Carlos Driscol, the man who had left him and his squad to die on Skopje over twenty years before. The subsequent confrontation between the two would have turned deadly were it not for the arrival of half a dozen Pelican dropships, carrying squads of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers to wipe out the Minutemen in their base. Mitchell put aside killing Driscol to defend himself against these new attackers, who made short work of the guards outside and were quickly surrounding the warehouses. Mitchell killed several soldiers before retreating with his nameless employer into an armoury. There they were able to supply themselves with enough explosives to blast their way through to the next warehouse in an attempt to escape.

Even with their improvised plan, the pair were still vastly outnumbered by the UNSC forces in the area and moved slowly through the district. They would have most likely been caught, were it not for a massive explosion in the Minutemen's main headquarters that destroyed several Pelicans and killed dozens of ODST's in the process. In the confusion that followed they were able to escape in a stolen car to a nearby safehouse. While Mitchell assumed that Driscol had died, the old man sent them a transmission shortly after, berating the pair and confirming that he had escaped offworld within a few hours. Mitchell came close to killing his employer until the man offered him another chance at gaining a new life. This time he was true to his word, supplying the mercenary with a fake name, picture and past, as well as enough money to get him to the colony world of his choosing. Mitchell left Iskandar the next day, glad to have done business with someone who had not tried to betray him.

New Identity
Following his close encounter with Driscol and the UNSC on Iskandar, Mitchell discreetly moved to the colony world of under the name 'Henry Roberts', a portmanteau of his deceased friends Henry McNair and Mal Roberts. Despite having been on the run for barely two years, the UNSC were not pursing Mitchell as fervently as before, many believing that he had died alongside the Minutemen on Thebes. He spent several days in a cheap motel while he prepared to face civilian life after years on the move, packing away his distinctive ODST armour before applying for a job as a manual labourer nearby. While it was hard work, it helped to keep the ex-mercenary in shape as he managed to find affordable housing nearby to live in. Mitchell didn't mind life on Gilgamesh, though his time on the run had made him rather paranoid and unfriendly; he rarely left his house outside of work and remained distant from others. After a few months he began to miss life as a mercenary, largely due to the boredom of his current line of work and the feeling that his life was going nowhere. When news arrived that Gilgamesh was recruiting for a Colonial Militia to help with the war effort against the Legion, Mitchell signed on alongside many others, believing that a return to his old military lifestyle might do him some good.

As the fake background of 'Henry Roberts' had no indication of military history whatsoever, Mitchell was subjected to training that he considered rather sub-par compared to what he went through when he signed up for the Marine Corps thirty years ago. He unsurprisingly rose to become the best marksman in his group and spent a great deal of time assisting his new squadmates. At the age of fifty Mitchell was one of the oldest recruits and was given a hard time by the Drill Instructors for supposedly being too old or slow to keep up; their taunts got worse when he turned out as the most talented person there. Though he no longer possessed a military rank, he was assigned to the role of squad leader during training exercises and genuinely enjoyed his time spent there among the other recruits. However, Mitchell had a lingering fear of his true identity being uncovered and spoke very little about his past before coming to Gilgamesh. In August of 2575, shortly after Mitchell's group had finished their training, the colony came under attack from a single Covenant warship. As the war had been over for over two decades this took the colonists by surprise, Gilgamesh's single being destroyed by a barrage of plasma fire within minutes of the ship's arrival. When dozens of landed in urban areas it became apparent that their attackers were part of a rogue group, consisting largely of Kig-Yar and Jiralhanae. Mitchell, who had returned to work at this point, was able to evade a patrol and make it back home, where he donned his old armour once more to save his new home.

The arrival of a well-armed soldier took the raiders by surprise as Mitchell gunned down dozens of aliens attempting to round up civilians; many would be used as slave labour or even food by the attackers. After saving a large group from certain death, Mitchell encountered a squad of his fellow militiamen on the outskirts of the city. However, he was met with some hostility as a few recognised the distinctive armour and skull-patterned visor that revealed his true identity. Unwilling to kill his former comrades during an alien attack, Mitchell convinced a few to follow him into the city in order to take on the invaders while the others went their own way. He spent the remainder of the day engaging enemy squads in the city, utilising an garbage truck for cover as they moved from block to block. When UNSC forces entered the system, the CRS-Class Cruiser departed with hundreds of captured colonists aboard and was pursued by several ships. The newly-formed Colonial Militia had almost been wiped out in the attack, with barely a dozen survivors following Mitchell by the end. While he had helped to save as many people as possible and was regarded as a hero by many on Gilgamesh, there were still some who regarded him simply as the 'Butcher of Kuiper' and reported him when UNSC Marines arrived to help the colonists. Mitchell was forced into hiding, abandoning his identity as Henry Roberts and escaping the city with the help of his newfound friends in the Colonial Militia. He spent the next week hiding in an old mine that had long since been abandoned by Gilgamesh's colonists, living off meagre supplies as he attempted to wait out the UNSC investigation.

Much to Mitchell's dismay, the UNSC did not abandon their search for him or believe that he had left the planet. Instead, agents from the Office of Naval Intelligence's infamous BRUTUS group arrived and intensified their search, eventually tracking down Mitchell's location after interrogating a militiaman. Luckily, one of Mitchell's comrades had bought him passage away from Gilgamesh on a civilian cargo ship heading for Mamore, which was still an Insurrectionist haven after decades of fighting the UNSC. When his group arrived at the spaceport, they came under fire from a number of disguised ONI agents and would have died were it not for Mitchell's quick actions in ramming their vehicle through a blockade and into a maze of shipping containers. A prolonged firefight ensued, Mitchell and his accomplices fending off the agents as they made their way towards the ship. Even the feared BRUTUS operatives proved no match for Mitchell's tenacity as several were gunned down before Mitchell made a run for his transport before it took off. Though he survived thanks to his thick armour and quick trigger finger, Mitchell was the only survivor; his friends had gone down in a hail of gunfire from the ONI agents. The crew of Mitchell's transport, the Warsaw II, were friendly towards him and patched up his wounds before revealing that someone else had paid a small fortune to ensure his safe transport to Mamore. Mitchell became very suspicious at this, as he could not think of anyone who would try and save his life. When the ship touched down on one of Mamore's many settlements to unload it's cargo, Mitchell attempted to discreetly slip away. He was met with a group of heavily armed mercenaries who quickly surrounded him before he could fight back. As Mitchell hesitated, several attacked him with, quickly rendering him unconscious with near-lethal bursts of electricity.

Skills and Abilities
While initially possessing few practical skills upon leaving school, aside from his intellect, Mitchell soon found a place for himself in the military. His training with the Marine Corps gave him several useful talents, though these largely based around survival and killing others. He was generally a decent shot with a rifle, killing at least half a dozen enemies in his first deployment. As time went on, he began to become much more proficient in what he did, becoming a very proficient combatant by the time he entered the ranks of the deadly Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. Years of fighting in the Human-Covenant War gave Mitchell a great knowledge of the weapons used by both sides, though in general he found himself to be at home with shorter-range weapons for close quarters.

By the time he finally left the UNSC, at the age of thirty-five, Mitchell had become a veritable force of nature on the battlefield, mixing his near-expertise in combat with a talent for deadly force. Even years later, with the general downsides of his ageing body, he remained an extremely dangerous opponent for any foe. He would constantly work to keep in top physical condition, becoming a feared mercenary in the near-lawless frontier worlds and space stations for his skills. While he was never exactly the best in the business in terms of lethality, Mitchell was known for the fact that he would always make it out alive at the very least, rumours of his survival in supposed suicide missions spreading into the criminal underworld, leading to him being much sought-after by interested parties.

In addition to his considerable physical talents, Mitchell was quite an intelligent man in terms of planning and strategy, as well as more practical talents in the field such as the repair and maintenance of vehicles. He even possessed some limited knowledge of computer hacking, though he often carried the equipment to take care of it for him. Mitchell would often use his generally unassuming features to his advantage, particularly when infiltrating somewhere without his distinctive suit of armour. Not being particularly large or intimidating would often lead to others underestimating him, making a great mistake in doing so.

Personality
Mitchell was known for being rather headstrong and outspoken at a young age and retained this attitude after entering the military. He made friends easily and retained a rather optimistic outlook on things in spite of the fact that Humanity was losing the Human-Covenant War. He would occasionally butt heads with his superiors on missions over certain issues such as putting an objective over human lives, though he generally fell in line when push came to shove. Years of experiencing the horrors of war began to change him as he rose in rank, making few new friends as his old ones were killed. As an ODST, all he could look forward to was surviving their mission, causing him to eventually lose all prospects of a future beyond the war. Seeing so many men die under his command hardened Mitchell into a much tougher person when it came to newer soldiers in particular and made him concerned for those under his command.

While the end of the Human-Covenant War brought back his optimistic side somewhat, the pressures of having to now fight his fellow man disturbing him greatly. While he put this aside for the most part and concentrated on his missions as he had before, the departure of his best friend Mal Roberts in 2555 following a classified mission shook his faith in the UNSC and made him unsure of what to do with his life. As he had few skills beyond fighting and resented the inactivity brought about by shore leave he found himself worrying immensely about his own life. Mitchell was aware that his military life would leave little time for socialisation and romance; seeing his sister with two children made him consider leaving to try and start his own family at one point, though he rejected his own idea. While he was promoted to the rank of Captain, Mitchell was close to having a mental breakdown by the time he left the UNSC for good and made for the outer colonies seeking some kind of purpose. Mitchell's subsequent years as a mercenary would give him a much more pessimistic outlook on life. Having seen the scum of the galaxy in his travels, he began to view himself as little more than a gun for hire and settled for some time in this way of life. As he was free of any responsibilities brought about by military or civilian life, he fought for himself and became rather prideful; he was known for never accepting bribes that would damage his reputation with employers. With his new freedom came a new attitude towards combat, greatly enjoying the thrill that his missions brought him as opposed to the methodical nature he had undertaken in the past during the War. He deliberately strove to inspire fear in his foes, becoming much more brutal in his methods and making his skull-visored helmet an icon in the mercenary world. These years did bring some kind of happiness to Mitchell, though some part of him disliked how he had changed over the years.

Following his betrayal and subsequent role as a fugitive, he became much more desperate and had few qualms about accepting jobs that were completely unethical in exchange for money and shelter from the authorities. As he fought off a number of bounty hunters he became increasingly misanthropic and aggressive towards others as he viewed himself as being completely alone at this time. The fact that he had been repeatedly betrayed by others made him extremely mistrustful and justifiably paranoid of potential foes, making him wary of remaining in once place for too long. While he lived in infamy, Mitchell did have a strong desire to do something worthwhile with his life before he died, strongly believing that he was living on borrowed time. While not suicidal, he was more than willing to sacrifice himself to save the lives of others.

List of Appearances

 * Battle of Draco III (RP)
 * Halo: Mercy Kill
 * Departure
 * First Impressions
 * Jacked
 * Awakening Demons (RP)