Jeffrey Donald Hughes

Name: Jeffrey Donald Hughes Date of Birth: 2522 Gender: Male Height: 5’9” Weight: 160lbs

Branch: UNSC Marine Rank: Corporal (E4) Specialization: Sniper (Spotter) Starting equipment: M7S caseless submachine gun, M6G, M52B body armor (blacked out with soot and sweat stains), no helmet (prefers to wear the UNSC patrol cap backwards), VZG7 Armor boots, PG000E Portable electricity generator, knife Appearance: White hair much longer than regulations allow (down to the bridge of the nose), green eyes, lean musculature, (think compact track and field athlete), usually tan but right now pale from his 10 month hospital stint, years underground and now the battle of Maponos, ambidextrous

Biography:

Born in 2524 on planet Cyrus VII to Marty and Dianne Hughes. Marty was a Civilian liaison to the UNSC from a private medical corporation. He brokered trade deal agreements between the two sides and was a staunch supporter of the UEG. His father, Duane, was a Rifleman in the Marine division and always told stories of how the UNSC had helped many underdeveloped worlds and Outer Colonies during his time of service. As such, Marty and Duane instilled a strict sense of duty and professionalism in Jeffrey. He grew up in a very strict household. Always had to make his bed/do his chores/excel in school. His mother Dianne was a transit communications director for the city. She coordinated all the public transportation for the public. She also assisted the city’s (dumb) AI Georgia with coordinating shipment deliveries from private sectors.

By the age of 10 Jeffrey could write code, knew hand to hand combat, could disassemble his grandfather’s old UNSC firearms, and knew mediation/salesman’s skills from his father. He aspired to one day be a Captain in the Navy.

At the age of 14 he was a star student and athlete at his local high school. When he was 15 he developed brain cancer. His family was able to afford treatments due to their socioeconomic status. He fought cancer for 2 years and survived. However the battle cost his family a great emotional toll. His grandfather passed away from a heart attack. His father and mother fought constantly about what path Jeffrey should take, neither stopping to ask him what he wanted. Dianne left Cyrus VII and was never heard from again. Marty became curt and brief in his interactions with his son. Devoting himself to his career.

At 18 after (mostly) recovering from the cancer treatments, except for the mutations of his hair from blonde to white and his eyes from blue to green. He enlisted in the UNSC as a cadet. Jeffrey wanted to both honor his grandfather and regain recognition from Marty. He also secretly hoped his mother Dianne would hear about his enlistment and try to contact him once he distanced himself from Marty.

UNSC:

2 years of training and non-contact assignments. Jeffrey excelled at any task he set himself to. His detachment of marines was set to guard a trade vessel on its regular supply run to an inner colony. The vessel was attacked by a Kig-Yar pirate ship on the return trip. Jeffrey an E2 brazenly rushed into combat dispatching 4 of the 7 pirates before being shot in his left shoulder and bicep by the 5th Kig-Yar. He dropped to the ground and still managed to switch to his sidearm and eliminated the 6th and 7th pirates while the rest of his fireteam opened fire and killed one who had shot Jeffrey. When Jeffrey returned he was awarded the Bronze Star for his actions. However the plasma burn sidelined him for 10 months in a hospital on Sirona.

Sirona:

The typical time of recovery was lengthened because doctors couldn’t decide wether amputation or natural healing would be the best course of therapy. They eventually decided natural therapeutic measures would be best due to the location of the injury. During his extensive stay in hospital Jeffrey got to know each and every one of the hospital staff.

After his hospital stay and he was cleared for return to duty, he was promoted to Corporal (E4) and underwent ForceRecon training. His specialty was sniping. He was the best in his class, however he enjoyed teaching others and so he primarily performed the role of spotter in his two man squads. Since he was trained on Sirona and he had an affinity for the planet he requested and was granted permission to transfer to their marine branch.

Jeffrey was on Sirona and stationed at the Sironan Mainlain Nature Reserve when The Covenant attacked in 2544. He defended multiple sorties by the enemy in the first year. He and his partner Jax were routinely sent on recon missions of enemy fortifications. As a pair Jeffrey and Jax eliminated tens dozens of targets. Jeffrey earned the nickname “Casper” because of his white hair, green eyes, and ability to slip through enemy lines undetected. Jax earned the nickname “Paris” a nod to his home world of Earth and the Ancient Greek hero who shot Achilles with an arrow.

In May 2545 when the Nature Reserve was overrun Jax and Jeffrey were on an elimination assignment. Thus, they were not in the compound as it fell. They watched through their scopes as Zealot elites slaughtered their peers. They fell back to the forerunner ruins and assisted local civilian and UNSC personnel in defending the tunnels. Casper and Paris quickly came to have an exhaustive knowledge on the tunnel network. They were placed in charge of defending supply convoys between Maponos and the ruins.

In April 2547 Casper and Paris were just leaving Maponos to return to the ruins when they were ambushed by a squad of 10 Covenant; 7 grunts and 3 Kig-Yar. The enemy quickly eliminated the civilians who were carrying supplies and pinned down Jax behind a broken half wall. Jeffrey was the last to leave the pick up point so he still had relatively ample cover behind barricades and archways. He managed to pick off 5 grunts and 2 Kig-Yar. The final two grunts panicked. They turned their plasma pistols on the last Kig-Yar and slew him. After that they both activated two plasma grenades and rushed Jax. He died emptying his sniper into the grunts point blank. Jeffrey gathered what remaining supplies he could and true to his nickname, disappeared.

He refrained from broadcasting on the main coms channels. He primarily monitored and dictated news as it came in on his data pad. Jeffrey moved building to building edge of the city staying silent and hidden. Occasionally, at night, he would pick off lone Kig-Yar as they scavenged from the city. Made sure to always stay dark. Natural 6th sense saved him from multiple zealot encounters. One evening after taking down two grunts he heard on the comms channel he learned of the death of Brigadier General Guame and fall back point Alpha now being designated somewhere in the center of the city.