Richard Mack Jr.

"Only Human? Damn Right"

- Richard Mack Jr. in 2595

Richard Mack Junior was a highly decorated soldier, becoming known as one of the greatest non-SPARTAN combatants of the 26th Century, serving as an during the Human-Covenant War, and later going on to be a prolific commander in the Marine Corps, living up to the reputation of his father, who was a well known war hero. Mack was greatly involved with the lives of several SPARTAN super soldiers, particularly those of Sigma Team, one of the few ODST's to have frequent contact with them.

Joining the Marine Corps prior to the Human-Covenant War, Mack was marked out as an exceptional soldier early on, largely due to the enhanced abilities he had as a 'Spartan 1.1'. Mack was noted as a survivor of the 5-year battle to retake Harvest, being among the first Human forces on the ground in the UNSC counterattack. Once the planet was finally reclaimed from the Covenant in 2531, a chance encounter and fight with one of his father's old comrades landed him in Whiskey-04, an elite unit assigned to the SPARTAN Sigma Team. After undergoing the gruelling ODST training, Mack emerged as a valuable member of the unit, fighting in many bloody battles throughout the Human-Covenant War.

By late 2552, Mack was the last remaining member of the original ODST team, and it's commander. Despite coping with his father's death early that year and the crippling losses of the Fall of Reach, he pulled his team through, making it back to Earth before once again being made the only survivor following the Battle for Moscow. In the aftermath of the war, Mack was promoted and gained command over an ODST force, helping ONI direct several operations in the post-war period.

By the beginning of the First Galactic War in 2571, Mack had assumed a similar position to that held by his father decades before, being in command of several Marine Regiments, leading them in many successful battles against the Insurrectionist army that had been formed from his old unit. Mack played a pivotal role in the Siege of Eden V in 2583 and the Battle for Sanghelios in 2598, being one of the highest ranking military officials left by the end of the war in 2600.

Mack retired from active service in 2604, at the age of 95. He did not cease work altogether, serving as a military advisor for the UNSC, and helping to locate Marco-025 following his departure in 2609. Years later, it was Mack who rallied UNSC forces on Harvest for a counterattack against their foes during the Dark Uprising, once again assuming command in spite of his advanced age. After the war had finally been ended, at the cost of many lives, Mack withdrew from public life, and published several books in collaboration with one of his SPARTAN comrades.

On August 23rd, 2625, Richard Mack Junior died peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by family and friends. He was glad that for the first time in his long life, there was peace, and asked his remaining friends, hours before his death, that they do their best to keep things that way. The UNSC and humanity mourned the death of one of it's greatest heroes, a mere man who had fought for many, many years selflessly, tirelessly and bravely, to secure peace.

Early Life
Richard Mack Junior, born in 2509, was a career marine and Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, eventually becoming the of the UNSC's most respected military leaders. His father, Richard Mack Senior, was a War Hero, and a SPARTAN-I. Due to his father's augmentations, he was required to take several injections to ensure normal growth without any kind of defects. He grew up as something of a loner on the family estate, attending a local school, making very few friends over the years. At home, he was largely looked after by the maids that worked there, his mother having left shortly after his birth, never to return. Though his father would return some nights, being away working for a secret project, the two were never very close, largely due to their colliding stubborn natures.

Despite his highly intelligent nature and family wealth, Richard decided to enlist in the UNSC Marine Corps against his father's wishes, who had a place set for him at the Luna OCS Academy. Richard joined in 2525 at the minimum age of 16, and was assigned to the 27th Marine Company. The 27th were assigned to accompany Admiral Preston Cole's fleet in retaking Harvest. Mack's company fought for Harvest for 5 years, in which he was promoted twice, attaining the rank of sergeant.



After Harvest was finally reclaimed in 2531, the 27th were pulled offplanet and assigned to the UNSC Bright New Day. On the ship, Richard got into an argument with a superior officer, Major John Ackton, over a small incident in the Ship's cafeteria. The argument (started by Mack) ended in a fight, in which Mack was eventually overpowered, but not before he injured the Officer.

Mack was demoted to the rank of Corporal and was sentenced to be court-marshalled, until Major Ackton approached him, having been impressed with his skill and tennacity in the fight (although this was due to Mack being a Spartan 1.1), and after getting him out of being court marshalled, gave him an offer: train as an ODST, and join his Squad.

Whiskey-04
Mack went through training as an ODST under the veteran trooper Henry McNair, whom he would become good friends with. After passing his training, Mack joined the rest of the team on Earth, where they met with the people they would be in contact with for the next 20 years: Spartan Team Sigma. Mack was surprised to find out that one of the administrators of the Sigma Project was none other than his father, leading him to suspect that his reassignment to Whiskey was due to his influence, Ackton being an old team mate of his. In spite of this, he joined Whiskey and set out on a variey of missions.

Mack was assigned to work with Sigma Team, their first operation being a skirmish in early 2532. Despite being wary of the Spartans, having heard about an incident which left several ODST's dead, Mack quickly came to like the Spartans, establishing a friendship with SPARTAN-025. This was often a subject of debate between Mack and his mentor, McNair, who had been on the ship at the time of the incident, and had developed an intense dislike of the super soldiers. With their constant contact, Whiskey and Sigma operated well together and came to be one of the few military contacts that the Spartan team had.

As the years went by, Mack was promoted several times, attaining the rank of Staff Sergeant by 2545. That same year, Whiskey was stationed on Kurovan, a small world in the inner colonies, when it came under attack. As many high-ranking ground commanders were killed in the initial bombardment, Sigma led the defence in the city while the ODST's were assigned the task of deleting all relevant data pertaining to the location of Earth, much of this being accessible from the ONI centre on the planet. After dropping into the capital, the troopers came under attack as they made their way towards the target, being pursued by a large number of Covenant forces. By the time they reached the building only Mack, Ackton, and Steven Embry remained.



Still pursued by the enemy, the three descended into the main data centre below the building, where they found Fenn-145, who was working with the city's superintendent in directing UNSC forces while hindering the Covenant where possible. As the rest of Sigma had taken out an enemy cruiser over the city, Fenn had remained there alone. Upon greeting the ODST's, the SPARTAN-II directed them to an underground monorail line that would take them to the city spaceport, where a few transport ships remained. It was there that most of the survivors in the city were falling back to. While they waited for the monorail, the leader of Sigma was able to single-handedly wipe out an elite SpecOps team before retreating to the ODST team, leaving the facility as they detonated the explosives there.

By the time Whiskey and Fenn reached the Spaceport, the rest of Sigma and marine forces were already making a stand there, holding off a large Covenant ground force. It was largely due to luck that the majority of enemy ships were focusing on glassing the more rural areas of the planet at the time, with little support going to their attackers within the city. With assistance from a squadron of bombers, they were able to escape to the transports and take off, mere hours before the Covenant glassed the whole of Kurovan.

In 2546, on a mission to a small colony world that was under attack, Whiskey-04 came into contact with the Jiralhanae, or Brutes, for the first time. It was during this engagement that Mack received a set of scars from a Brute that had swiped at his face. Major Ackton, who Mack had seen as his mentor was also killed; shot in the head by a Brute Spiker whilst trying to protect Mack.

2552
In March, 2552, while Whiskey-04 was on Reach, the colony world of Harpa was attacked. Spartan Team Sigma, who were down to Seven members after losing Jacob-076 and Amy-133 during the Battle for the Hephaestus Array, were on hand to defend the planet, and did so for several days before the Covenant began to glass the planet. During the final stages of the battle, Mack's father, Brigadier General Richard Mack Senior, was killed by the Covenant Shipmaster Felo 'Ranakee. The Shipmaster was defeated and driven off by Jax-007.

The battle was bad for Sigma, who had lost another two Spartans: Nef-015 and their team leader, Fenn-145. Mack had lost his father. Whiskey-04, now under the command of Steven Embry, who had taken over after their new leader, Captain Frederick King, was killed in 2551, was sent on several counter-insurrectionist missions on Reach in the months between March and July 2552. It was in July that they found out that another member of Sigma, Resk-063, had been killed during fighting on an Inner Colony world.

Around the time of June-July, Mack fell into depression, having lost his father and several of his seemingly invincible Spartan friends. Mack seemed to accept death, and while not suicidal, or allowing himself to be killed, he lacked emotion or vigour on the battlefield. Whiskey-04 was assigned to Reach mere days before the invasion.

Fall of Reach
When the Covenant eventually attacked Reach, Mack and Whiskey were stationed in the Aszod region, but were transferred as part of the UNSC counter-offensive, being one of many ODST units dropped in during the. However, they were forced to retreat when the Covenant Supercarrier, Long Night of Solace, revealed itself.

For the next few weeks, Whiskey was sent on various missions, albeit without assisting Team Sigma, who were deployed alongside SPARTAN-III teams against Covenant invaders. The squad, at the time consisting of nine members, was eventually pinned down during the, fighting atop a skyscraper while under orders to destroy a Covenant jammer. Though their mission was successful, Captain Steven Embry, one of the original members of the team, was killed by a banshee strike along with two others. The team was trapped until a eliminated their attackers, allowing them to escape.



With Mack now in charge, he ordered that the team make their way towards the nearest evacuation site-The Aszod Shipbreaking Yards. Arriving there barely a day later, the ODST team were able to make it to the UNSC Bright New Day, which had been scheduled for decommissioning and was sitting in a drydock. However, with the Covenant invasion, the ship, which was still fully functional, had been left there with only a skeleton crew to manage it.

Whiskey-04 held off Covenant forces for some time until they received a transmission from Kane-099, who had taken command of SPARTAN teams Sigma, Upsilon and Tau. The surviving Spartans made their way to the ship and assisted the ODST's in defending it as preparations were made for takeoff. Eventually, the Day was able to escape the planet, with six Spartans on board. As the majority of the Covenant fleet was preoccupied with glassing the planet or pursuing the Pillar of Autumn, the frigate was able to escape from the system unnoticed.

Skills and Abilities
As a Spartan 1.1, Mack was mentally and physically superior to 'normal' human beings, despite not having the chemical augmentations of his father. Mack possessed above-average intelligence from a young age, and was offered a place in the Luna OCS Academy, something that his father, a distinguished figure in the UNSC, wanted for him. However, after enlisting as a private in the Marine Corps, Mack was quickly promoted for his skill and valour.

Throughout his years as part of Whiskey-04, Mack was usually assigned as the unit's technical specialist, being adept in hacking computer systems and repairing vehicles and equipment. Later on, when forced to take command of the team, Mack proved to be an adept leader, directing the ODST Squad for over a month. In his later years, he became, like his father before him, a well known and charismatic leader, coming to command an entire Marine and ODST Company by 2585.

In combat, Mack's increased strength, reflexes and speed gave him an edge on the enemy, though he constantly maintained that he was "Only human" in spite of his exceptional 'abilities'. Mack's weapon of choice was generally a MA5 Series Assault Rifle, with a M6D Pistol as backup. He disliked fighting in close quarters, but was competent with a combat knife and his fists.

Personality
"Been soldiering all my life, it's all I know. Hell, I'll probably drop dead within six months of retiring"

- Mack in 2605

Over the years, Mack's personality changed drastically, having served in the military for just about his entire adult life. In his youth, he was easily angered, often picking fights or getting into arguments at the slightest provocation, something stemming from his father, who was quite a harsh disciplinarian. It was this attitude that got him into Whiskey-04, fighting John Ackton, who had him put into ODST training for his tenacity.

The harsh training measures Mack went through to become an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper got rid of his brash nature, Henry McNair, his trainer, teaching him the value of patience and remaining calm in battle. By this point, he had fought the Covenant on Harvest, having experienced first-hand the death and destruction that war brought. McNair's teachings stayed with Mack for his entire life, his mentor's voice being a constant reminder to stay calm even in extreme situations.

Throughout his life, Mack strived to impress his father. Mack Senior, who was a SPARTAN-I and a well-known figure in the UNSC, often seemed quite distant from him. Mack's squad, Whiskey-04, protected the Brigadier General on Fargad, during which Mack's father told him, as a Covenant plasma bombardment neared their position, how much he was proud of him, and that he was sorry for being a terrible father. Though both survived the battle, Mack felt that he had achieved the best he could hope for in life. Subsequently, his father's death on Harpa caused him a great deal of grief, his team being deployed elsewhere at the time.

Overall, towards the end of the Human-Covenant War, Mack's confidence and leadership abilities shone through, leading what remained of Whiskey-04 in the Battle of Earth, and afterwards taking on a similar supervisory role as his old mentor. As he got older, it was remarked by some UNSC Veterans that he had become much like his father, being harsh, if fair on the troops under his command. Mack treated all with respect, and was quick to reprimand his troops for rudeness of misconduct, an incident during the Siege of Eden V being one example.

Unlike some ODST's, who loathed Spartans and saw them as 'Section III freaks', Mack had no problems with the super-soldiers, being in constant contact with Sigma Team making him used to fighting alongside them, even befriending several Spartans. Some, such as Kane-099 and Marco-025, were lifelong friends.

Literary References

 * Halo: Mercy Kill
 * ''Halo: Last of the Brave
 * Boot (Short Story)
 * Halo Fanon: Survival of the Fittest Season 4 (Non-Canon)