User:Minuteman 2492/Sandbox

Short Story
"Enola 1-1, you are cleared for takeoff. Godspeed."

"I copy control."

In the cockpit of his F/A-440, Venezian People's Air Force Lieutenant Emanuel Stasiuk looked around one last time, and pulled the canopy down, locking it into place with a clack. Donning his helmet, he hooked the oxygen into the port next to his seat, and synchronized its visor with the aircraft's sensors, and a green HUD appeared, contrasting with the blackness of the night outside, for which the visor also adjusted for, putting his vision in a darker green filter than that of the heads up display.

Taking a deep breath, he grasped the throttle, and pushed it to one hundred percent, as the engines began to whine, and the fighter began to thunder down the makeshift runway, as he was bounced around in his harness. Nearing the end of the runway, he grasped the stick with his sweating hands, and yanked back, sending the aircraft skyward. As he continued to rocket into the air, Stasiuk tapped a few icons on the touch screen in front of him, and a whir sounded through the aircraft as the words "LANDING GEAR RETRACTED" flashed next to the icon.

Looking at his course, Stasiuk saw his aircraft was directly on the right path for the encamped UNSC Marine Corps unit, marked on his course with a white diamond. Cycling through the weapons, he saw there was only one missile, mounted inside the fuselage. He remembered. This was going to be a one way trip. He had volunteered, but he had yet to come to peace with his own mortality. But Stasiuk resisted the urge to turn back and land. If he did that, he would die anyway for treason.

"Press on.", he thought to himself. There was no one else to talk to. All Venezian units in the area had gone to radio silence. He was all alone, alone with his thoughts. Now less than a hundred feet above the treetops, Stasiuk glanced down at his course. He was only ten minutes from his drop point, and UNSC anti aircraft guns were all along his path. With barely enough fuel to make it, he pushed the throttle forward to one hundred percent, and the aircraft began cutting through the air, its unmistakable crack as it broke the sound barrier alerting anyone nearby to its presence.

And then it came. Without warning, the F/A-440 lurched, and when Stasiuk looked back, he saw smoke pouring out of his starboard engine. "Goddamnit!", he yelled as gripped the stick tighter to control his trembling hands. As the white triangle began to approach the white diamond on his HUD, Stasiuk felt a slight sting in his left arm. Looking down in horror, he saw a blotch of red beginning to spread along the olive drab material of his coveralls on the forearm.

Looking up again, he saw the area in front of him erupting in activity. Searchlights shot elongated fingers of bright light into the sky, and anti aircraft guns continued to fire their bolts of death towards his aircraft, now spewing smoke from both engines. Then, another burst of rounds found their mark, as Stasiuk felt the same stinging all over his legs. "Just. One. Final. Duty.", he whispered, as the depressed the crimson button on his stick, and bright light, with a trail of smoke behind it, flew from his aircraft. Laying his head back, Stasiuk's vision slowly went black, before there was nothingness.

In his encampment, Venezian Army Corporal Ryan Sullivan sat up at the crack that thundered above their tents. Jumping out, he yelled to the sentries, "What the hell was that?!" One of them, a young, fresh face private, turned to him. "Looked like a Venezian fighter sir. Coming in on a wing and a prayer too.  He was pouring smoke like you wouldn't believe."

"Where was he headed?", Sullivan asked. At this, the private shrugged. "Hell if I know. Maybe to attack that UNSC unit we've been hiding from."

"One fighter?"

"Yessir, one fighter."

Sullivan scratched his head at this new info, "Eh. Maybe it's just another airstrike..."

But before he could finish his sentence, Sullivan was interrupted as the night turned to day. On instinct, he grabbed the fighter, "Get down!", he yelled as he pushed both of them to the forest floor. Covering his head, Sullivan felt the air around him become hot, and his back blistering. After a minute and a half of keeping his head down, he finally looked up, and, to his horror, saw a mushroom cloud rising above a nearby hill.

"My God...", he said.

Looking around once more at the fighters of his unit, he asked, "Where's the Lieutenant?"

One man, his face smeared with dirt, responded, "He was on the other side of that hill. Probably dead too.  Looks like you're in command now."

With this new information, Sullivan looked up, and ordered, "We have to get out of here now before the radiation and fallout gets us. Leave whatever gear you have here.  If you can, burn it.  Go!"

It's a Long Way To Victory
Verse 1:

Up to mighty New Tyne

Came a young recruit one day

As the streets were packed with troops,

And everyone was gay,

Singing songs of Eridani, The Rubble, and Sigma IV

Then Johnny got excited and he shouted to them there:

Chorus:

It's a Long Way To Victory,

It's a long way to go

It's a long way to Victory

To the sweetest maid I know,

Goodbye, Eridani

Farewell Sigma IV

It's a long, long way to Victory,

But my mind's right there!

Verse 2:

Johnny sent a message

To his girl in New Cassino

Saying "Should you not receive this, reply and let me know"

"If I make mistakes in spelling, my dear", said he

"Remember its the pad that's bad, don't lay the blame on me!"

Tyler Sharpe
"I do not follow any government, or movement, or what have you. I only follow those who are braves that hold honor and right above all else. Do I always love to work for the UNSC?  No, no I don't, but right now they're our best hope against a genocidal evil.  When this war is over, we'll see who I believe stays right, and whoever does, I shall follow."

- Tyler Sharpe

Lieutenant Tyler Sharpe was a member of Project FREELANCER during the Human-Covenant War. Born in 2528 on New Vermont in a rebel enclave known as Camp Patriot on the planet of New Vermont, Sharpe joined the enclave's militia in 2546. After a period of time fighting for the rebels, he went AWOL after he was ordered to take part in an attack on the civilian populace of the planet by Jonathan Ulan, who at the time was acting as an advisor to the rebels.

Believing the Covenant to be the greater threat, Sharpe left the rebels and became a civilian on the planet, and about a month after his desertion, joined New Vermont's Colonial Militia unit. Less than two years later, a Covenant scouting force came to the planet, and Sharpe showed extraordinary valor during a skirmish between his scout unit and the aliens.

After this display of skill, the Office of Naval Intelligence began considering to place him in Project: FREELANCER due to his actions and qualifications. Despite his Insurrectionist past, ONI kept it hidden from the Director's prying, and he was allowed into the program.

To Hell...and Not Back
"Think they can see us man?"

"Doubt it. The truck's cargo is protected from surveillance, remember?"

"Oh, right."

"Just stay cool, we'll be ok."

Looking over the dash of his civilian truck, Jonathan Ulan looked around for any of the local constabulary. Chewing on his lower lip, he looked around one more time before turning off the main road onto a dirt path that led below the New Richmond Centennial Bridge. Halting next to one of the bridge's support struts, Ulan hopped out, walked over to the truck's engine, and began looking over it.

"Try it now!"

"Still won't start man, the engine's busted!"

"Damn. Where's our mechanics?"

"Eh, they're on their way, might be seven more minutes according to them."

"I see. Check on our cargo, make sure it hasn't spoiled."

"Alright.", said Ulan's partner as he hopped out of the cab, and walked nonchalantly to the rear of the truck. Opening up the door, he studied the Archer Missile warheads inside for a moment, before closing it and saying to Ulan, "Don't worry, our cargo hasn't spoiled."

"Good. Now let's wait for the mechanics."

Leaning up against the cab, Ulan produced a Sweet William Cigar, and lit it up. Inhaling the fragrant smoke, he looked around, watching for any more constables. Although there were none to be found, he did spot another truck pull off the road and pull up next to him.

"Looks like our mechanics are here", Ulan said as he strode over to the truck's cargo bay, his head swiveling back and forth. As he opened the door, a group of rebel plainclothes fighters jumped out. One of them, who had a distinctive scar above his right eye, came over to Ulan, and said, "Your mechanics are here sir."

"Good.", Ulan responded.

"Has the cargo spoiled?"

"Nope, it's still good". Leaning in closer, Ulan whispered, "Were you followed?".

"I don't know. I don't think so, but I'd stay cautious."

"Alright. Come with me, we have to get the cargo ready."

"Atkinson, status report?"

"All good here Ulan, no intruders detected."

"Excellent, keep a watch out."

"Will do, out"

Returning his radio to its position on his web belt, Major Ulan scratched his stubble as he looked around the dull gray walls of his quarters in his destroyer, Revolutionary Fervor. Pulling out one of the drawers on his polished wood bureau, Ulan pulled out his M6C/SOCOM, and stuck it in its holster. Tapping in a code, Ulan opened the thick door leading to his quarters, and stepped out into the hallway, which were the same gun metal gray as the walls of his room. As a team of engineers rounded the corner, Ulan pulled one aside, and asked, "What are you doing? Has there been a breach?"

"Nothing major sir, just another problem with the outer hull. One of our bolted on Titanium-A plates fell off in Section 9, most likely due to stresses."

"I see. Get a security team to come with you though", Ulan responded. At this, the engineer nodded, and began to move out.

Although these things had happened before, Ulan was cautious. The UNSC would more than love to neutralize him after his recent string of successes, including the theft of the Fervor, and there had already been multiple attempts on his life by ONI agents in the past years. Being cautious had kept him alive, and he wasn't about to let up now.

Continuing through the hallways, Ulan began his trek to the bridge, which he had changed the position of to the middle of the ship, with the former bridge turned into an observation center. As he passed through the mess hall, Ulan grabbed an MRE breakfast bar, which he consumed on his way to the bridge. Entering it, the entire bridge, which wasn't very busy as compared to other days, snapped to attention, or at least a loose approximation of it at their stations.

"At ease.", Ulan said with a quick wave of his hand. Pacing past the United Rebel Front flag that adorned one of the bridge's bulkheads, Ulan approached the surveillance officer, Lieutenant Harrington, he asked, "How're the repairs going?", he asked, "Any incursions?", Ulan continued.

"No sir, nothing that I can see. However, would you like me to contact the security team?"

"Yes Lieutenant, I would."

Nodding, Harrington brought his microphone up to his mouth, and said, "Security Team Four-Tango, what is the situation?"

Silence followed, and again, Harrington repeated his statement, to no response.

"They might be having some trouble with their radios. Ask one of the teams nearby.", Ulan said, clenching his fists.

Nodding, Harrington spoke into the radio once again. "Security Team Ten-Yankee, any activity in your area?"

Once again, there was nothing, only silence. Ulan was now convinced that this was no simple accident. Getting on his own radio, he stated, "To all security teams of this ship, we are on high alert. All teams, begin sweeping the ship, with focus on Section 9, over".

Checking his M6/SOCOM, the Major flipped off the safety. Turning to the rest of the bridge crew, he ordered, "Lock the entrances to the bridge". Nodding, the systems operator, Captain Burke, turned to his station, and four distinct thumps sounded through the room.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, Ulan began to pace back and forth across the room, his footfalls distinctive amongst the silence that had enveloped the bridge. Although the UNSC had made attempts on his life before, none of them had ever breached the Revolutionary Fervor.

Turning back to Harrington, he asked, "Can you show me what's going on out there?"

Nodding, the Lieutenant swallowed hard, then responded, "Yes sir, I can. Do you really want to?"

"Yes, I would."

"Understood", said Harrington as he pulled up the security feed.

Ulan's mouth turned dry, and he felt queasy. On the screen, in the mess hall, one of his sergeants pointed out a target from behind a flipped over table that was acting as a makeshift piece of cover for he and his squad, but before he was even able to get a shot off, he fell to the ground. The rest of the unit was in complete chaos, some holding their ground, others begging and praying, hoping to survive. But it did not matter, it all fell silent as each man died.

Taking a deep breath, Ulan saw his hands shaking uncontrollably. As he continued to force himself to watch the massacre on the fuzzy screens, he felt a tiny wet drop run down his cheek. As the battle neared his position, Ulan began to hear the muffled crackle of gunfire through the hull as each security team was taken down one by one. All of a sudden, Ulan felt extremely queasy, as though he had a terrible flu.

After what seemed like an eternity, there was a thumping outside the bridge door. Unholstering his pistol, Ulan took up a position next to the bulkhead, waiting.

After two more minutes of thumping, an explosion threw both riveted gun metal gray doors off their hinges, and two black armored personnel, Ulan could only assume they were ONI, breached the room. Any bridge officers who were quick enough to draw a weapon were quickly neutralized by the ONI agents, splattering blood and gray matter across the consoles.

Ulan had decided already he wasn't going to die in some UNSC prison. Lashing out with a sidekick at one of the agents' midsections, he heard a series of snaps as the agent tensed. Taking advantage of his sudden lapse in concentration, Ulan put the man in a headlock, and stared at the man's female partner, a scowl of anger on his face.

"Make another move, and your friend gets it!", the Major screamed, spittle flying from his lips. He had no qualms whatsoever about killing the agent, but he was worth more as a bargaining chip to stall for time for now.

As the seconds ticked by, the standoff continued, until Ulan released his grip on the agent, and kicked him towards his partner. Charging forward, his head down, Ulan aimed for the other agent's midsection. However, she deftly sidestepped him, and her partner took the hit, his head slamming into the bulkhead with a thud, before falling down, limp.

Turning around, Ulan raised both of his fists, and watched for the agent to make a move. Twitching, and adrenaline running through his veins, Ulan threw a quick left hook at her midsection, which made a series of snaps, but despite these noises, the agent's face stayed stoic, as if nothing had happened.

Despite the damage already done, Ulan was in no mood to be merciful to her. Yelling a war cry, he threw a roundhouse kick, aiming to hit her in the ribcage again. But she quickly caught his kick, and, using it as leverage to force him to the ground, she stood over him, threw one last punch, and he was enveloped in darkness.

Awakening, Ulan was all but certain he was now on a UNSC prison ship. But, opening his eyes, he saw three of the Fervor's security personnel and a medic, standing above him. "Steady there.", said one of the troops, who he recognized as Jack Carlson, as he helped the Major to sit up.

"What happened?", Ulan asked groggily. "Where am I?"

"You're still on the Fervor sir. You're alright, you just got coldcocked."

"What happened to the other agent?"

"I don't know sir. We saw 'er hauling ass off the bridge as soon as we and a couple other squads rounded the corner, but I don't know where she went.  Probably escaped aboard one of our Pelicans."

"Shit. Casualty report?"

"Almost all security teams sent to intercept the agents were killed."

At this news, Ulan did a double take. "What?", he asked. "Did you say that everyone, who intercepted them is dead?"

"Yes sir. Us, and a few other squads are the only survivors."

At Carlson's confirmation, Ulan knew that almost all of his friends were now dead. Although his outward appearance was completely calm, his only thought was: "I'm going to kill that agent, and destroy the UNSC. They've taken everything that matters from me now, and for that, I won't just make them suffer, I'll torment and attack them until they beg me to stop, and then annihilate them!  Complete annihilation of the UNSC, that agent, or death are now my options."

"Are you ok sir?", Carlson asked, concern evident in his voice.

"What? Yes, I'm alright, I just need a moment to myself", Ulan responded as he staggered off the bridge. Stumbling through the bloodstained hallways, Ulan came face to face with a dead Sergeant Danson, a comrade he had known for his entire time in the Insurrection. Rushing into the nearest latrine, Ulan began retching heavily.

Sitting with his head against the wall of one of the stalls, Ulan yelled, "Goddamnit! I'll kill them all!  I'll fucking make them all suffer and die!  UNSC, ONI, I don't give a damn!  They're all fair goddamn game!"

Yuri Pasternack
Yuri Pasternack, also known as the Armored Ace, was a rebel tank commander. Born in 2532 in an isolated rebel settlement on the colony of Oceania, Pasternack lived an unremarkable life until 2547, when Tess-B312 was sent to the settlement to eliminate a United Rebel Front Colonel who had taken up residence there. As the SPARTAN went house to house, eliminating all resistance, the Pasternack family, who were sheltering the Colonel, lay in wait. As B312 breached the house, she killed both his parents as they attempted to resist. During this, Yuri's arm was shattered and he was knocked unconscious after he tried to attack Tess.

After he awoke, Pasternack found himself lying on the back of a rebel armored vehicle, its crew having picked up his unconscious form. Without any family left, he took on the vehicle's crewmembers as his new family. For the next few years, he worked with the crew, as they taught him a great deal about armored tactics and maintenance.

By the time he was twenty, Pasternack had become the gunner after the death of the previous one in a skirmish with the UNSC, and proved to be a far above average shot with the main gun, destroying seven enemy armored vehicles in one engagement. After a period of a few more years of service, he had become the tank commander, and had earned a half a million credit bounty on his head for his actions. As time passed, Pasternack recruited more members to the cause, eventually forming a motorized unit as a fast attack group.

As the group gained strength, Pasternack decided to make it a roving group. Hijacking a long haul freighter, he loaded it with the group's most valuable vehicles and provisions, destroying the rest, before making a random slipspace jump. Explaining to his unit the plan, Pasternack led them across the galaxy, aiding rebel groups in return for provisions or spare parts for their vehicles.

However, in 2581, Pasternack was heavily burned when an incendiary shell hit and set his armored vehicle afire. Barely escaping with his life, he was believed dead for some time, until he reappeared in 2584 on Oceania, commanding the Oceanian People's Resistance. Despite the UNSC's best efforts to capture or kill him, he continued to escape, and by 2600, was still believed to be the active commander of the OPR.

Childhood
Yuri Pasternack was born to William and Julia Pasternack in an isolated rebel settlement on the colony of Oceania in 2532. As a child, Pasternack developed a close relationship with his parents, both of whom were not rebel fighters, and so were able to spend more time with Yuri. Save for some manual labor he had to aid with for the settlement now and again, Yuri lived a comfortable life, socializing with the other rebels in the settlement.

As a child in school, Pasternack was interested in history, especially military history of the conflicts long past, seeing them naively as a time of honor and glory, and had a tendency to daydream about those times long gone, something that he grew out of by his teenage years, but kept his interest in military history.

Loss
"Mom! Dad! No!"

- Pasternack at the deaths of his parents

However, Pasternack's idyllic seeming life was shattered in 2547. In November of that year, a man who was only referred to by the settlers as "Colonel", was taken in by his family. Unbeknownst to Yuri, the man was an infamous rebel commander who had escaped capture on the planet of, and had come to Oceania in hopes of evading the UNSC. Despite the man's checkered past, Yuri knew nothing of it, and saw the man as a hero, having learned about the Insurrection's great icons in his schooling, which was slanted towards the sympathetic view of the rebels.

After two months of sheltering the Colonel, the settlement came under attack by the UNSC, who sent the SPARTAN-III operative Tess-B312 to bring the man in dead or alive. Awakening to the sound of gunfire, Yuri was herded into a closet in the home with the Colonel by his parents, attempting to hide the two from the UNSC. When B312 breached the home, William and Julia attempted to fight her off, but were quickly killed by the SPARTAN. Bursting out of the closet in a display of sheer grief and rage, Pasternack's arm was shattered by B312 and he was knocked out as he attempted to attack her.

Adopted
When Yuri awoke, he was lying on the hull of a rebel controlled mobile gun platform, surrounded by its crew, who had picked up the unconscious teenager after they returned to the settlement after a distress signal was sent to them, and watched over him until he awoke. In a state of grief following the death of his mother and father and grateful to the crew for rescuing them, they took on the status of family to Pasternack. As they roamed around from settlement to settlement, Yuri learned about the systems of the vehicles and the tactics the rebels used in combat.

Along with this, the rebels, little by little, questioned Yuri about what had happened before they picked him up. Describing the figure who had raided the settlement to the crewmembers, the latter told him that the attacker. was a member of the infamous SPARTAN's and the. In a fit of rage at the UNSC, Yuri was itching to get into combat, but the crewmembers refused time and time again, leaving him with rebel sympathizers while they went and did their missions, something Yuri envied greatly.

Gunner
Yuri's role as a simple protege or quasi son to the crew changed greatly in October of 2549, when the rebel crew returned from one of their missions with a member missing. When Yuri asked what had happened, they revealed the member missing was the gunner, who had died when a sniper shot. hit him in the head as he peeked out of the turret. Now confronted with the very real possibility of death from combat, Yuri still volunteered to take his place, feeling he had an obligation to help the crew.

Combat
"They looked just like me. But I put that out of my head. They were faceless drones to me back then.  It's not so simple now I guess."

- Pasternack on his first combat experience

After a three day period of arguing and deliberation, they decided to allow Pasternack to become part of the crew. Issued a captured UNSC tanker helmet, which would become his main headgear for many more years, Yuri became the controller of the vehicle's 125 millimeter main gun and 7.62 millimeter coaxial machine gun. Pasternack's first experience of combat was less than four days later, in an engagement with a UNSC supply convoy, he put the teachings he had been given into practice, destroying four. Later in his life, Pasternack would confide that he felt no sympathy at the time. "We're just soldiers, fighting for different sides. I don't hate them [regular UNSC troops], not anymore. I hate those who are part of the organization known as the Office of Naval Intelligence, those who are behind why I'm an orphan and why so many others are suffering."

- Pasternack on his change of heart towards UNSC troops

Yuri's mixture of anger and skills taught to him by the crew led him to become deadly accurate with the gun, something that was proven at a major engagement between rebel forces and UNSC troops, where he destroyed seven, along with multiple other assorted vehicles. As the combat went on, Yuri began to see the UNSC troops he fought as just as human as he was, started to respect them as equals, and began to accept that the Office of Naval Intelligence were what he saw as the true villains behind it all, and not the average soldier, something that, while it did not impede his fighting against them, stopped Yuri on multiple occasions from committing what would have been effectively cold blooded murder against UNSC troops.

Commanding Officer
As time went on, by 2553 the crew became stretched thin, the constant warfare wearing them down. Needing more help, and with groups of new supporters from propaganda depicting the rebels as heroes, they planned to steal another mobile gun platform. Assaulting a small UNSC convoy, Yuri knocked the treads off of the lead mobile gun, allowing a platoon of rebel infantry to board it and neutralize its crew, while Pasternack held off the other hostile troops in the convoy. Retrieving the disabled vehicle, the rebels brought it to a nearby sympathetic settlement, where the citizens aided in repairing the damaged parts of the tank. After a week and a half, the vehicle had been almost fully repaired.

Requiring a commander to coordinate with, the crew of Yuri's vehicle picked him to command the new addition. Training his new subordinates in the systems of the tank, after two more weeks, the unit moved out. With another gun to aid, the rebels became a massive pain in the UNSC's side, who put half a million credit bounties on each of the tankers' heads, dead or alive. Pasternack's second major loss would come only two months after he became commander of his own crew, when an M808 MBT hit the other vehicle with an armor piercing round, gutting it from front to back, killing everyone inside, including the crew he had come to know as family.

Now knowing that Oceania had become too dangerous a place to stay, he led the crew, as well as a unit of rebel infantry, to an isolated spaceport. Boarding a freighter built for long hauls, the rebels quickly took it over, and Yuri had the vehicle loaded inside the cargo bay. Programming the navigation computer for a random slipspace jump, he escaped from the planet's atmosphere, and then made a jump.

Plan
As soon as the ship jumped into slipspace, Yuri immediately gathered his crew together, and announced his plan for them to become a group for hire. Although it was met with heavy resistance from the other members who did not want to leave their families on Oceania, Yuri made a speech to calm them, declaring they would be of no use to anyone if they stayed there and were killed, rather than go around and decrease their chances of dying. Although those who had family were still bitter, they understood Yuri's reasoning, and followed his orders.

Mamore
"First stop, the hellhole of Mamore."

- Yuri's remark to his crew before they deployed to Mamore

After he finally persuaded his crew to come to a consensus, Yuri set the ship for a course to the war torn colony of. Setting the freighter down in a concealed location on the frontier, Yuri sent out an encoded radio transmission to all known rebel channels, asking if there were any still around. Amazingly, despite the near destruction of all rebel groups on the colony, one rebel unit near Yuri's position responded, and met with him. After a two day period of haggling with the unit's commander, Yuri struck a deal with him, that he and his troops would aid the man, in return for a three fourth's share of any spare parts or provisions they came across.

With the deal settled, Yuri began aiding the cell in attacking the UNSC garrison on the planet. Aiding the cell in harassing the UNSC greatly, Yuri continued to aid the rebels for almost a decade, before his name was confessed to the UNSC by a captured fighter, causing them to restart the hunt for him, as they previously thought he wasdead. With the manhunt having begun, Pasternack and his men quickly boarded their freighter, and evacuated Mamore before the UNSC could find and kill them.

Caspia
Leaving Mamore behind, Yuri and his men went to the colony of Caspia, to aid a nascent rebel group on the planet. Striking nearly the same deal with the commander of the largest rebel unit, Yuri, rather than working with the rebel cell, was allowed to freelance, working as he wished. Without any restrictions imposed on him, Yuri roamed around, endearing the rebels to the people on the frontier through charitable actions, while attacking infrastructure and UNSC military units to weaken the UNSC's hold on the planet.

The most daring attack Yuri organized during this time would also be the one that nearly killed him. Organizing an attack that would completely cripple one of Caspia's cities, leaving it open to capture by the URF, he planned to hit its major targets. Attacking the cities power stations, Yuri managed to destroy two, before the UNSC garrison mounted a response. Attempting to stand his ground, Pasternack's vehicle was hit by an incendiary round, setting it afire. With third degree burns covering his body, Yuri was able to hobble away in the confusion, even though the UNSC believed he was dead with the destruction of his vehicle.

OPR Commander
However, despite the UNSC's belief that he had been killed, Yuri resurfaced three years later on his home colony of Oceania as the commander of the Oceania People's Resistance. Hiding the group within the general populace, he began a campaign of ambushes against the UNSC, organizing mechanized light cavalry units to engage in fast, hit and run attacks on infrastructure and ambushes.

Despite the UNSC's best efforts to eliminate him, Yuri continued to be near untraceable, and was still active as the commander of the OPR. By 2600, Pasternack had a bounty of over two million credits on his head, with the UNSC desperate to eliminate him as he continued his attacks on vital targets, with the sympathetic civilian populace aiding him greatly.

Personality
Pasternack's personality was described as "erratic" by some of his compatriots. While he did not have any mental disorders, as many of his comrades sometimes suspected, Yuri's changes in demeanor from combat to noncombat were indeed very different. In a noncombat situation, Yuri was described as being a friendly, amicable person, something that helped endear him and the rebels to the local populations of planets. However, in combat, so long as his targets were UNSC military, he was deadly effective, going from one target to another without so much as a moment of hesitation.

However, despite his apparent friendliness in noncombat situations, Yuri had a very short temper with regards to more sensitive areas of his life, such as his parents, leading his compatriots to avoid these areas as much as possible, for fear of Pasternack's mean streak if he lost his temper.

Attacking Civilians
"I might be the black sheep amongst my fellow rebels, but when ONI comes for me, and I know they will, they'll be killing a man who stood up and fought their military, not murdered civilians. I've seen too many innocents killed by ONI in my lifetime, and I'm not about to stoop down to that level."

- Pasternack on his "no attacks on innocents" policy

Pasternack's policy on combat was heavily affected by B312's attack on the settlement in which he lived in. In the aftermath, he discovered a majority of the settlement's population had been killed in the raid, all of whom Pasternack saw as innocents. Having had an almost obsession with honor in his childhood days, this reappeared as he became an Insurrectionist commander, refusing to kill civilians, both on principle and because he despised how ONI had, in his words "butchered" the settlement, and he did not want to follow what they did, which would make him as bad as them in his eyes.

Along with these two reasons, Pasternack also saw it as impractical to make the civilian population hate him in a war that was ostensibly for them, and that it would be a waste of supplies to kill civilians when they could be used to fight the UNSC military proper. These beliefs were reinforced by his study of military history and the aid of sympathizers, illustrating to him that civilians who were more sympathetic could be very useful.

UNSC Military and ONI
Despite his hatred of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Yuri was fairly honorable towards the personnel of the UNSC military. Over a period of combat, he came to see them not as evil men and women, but soldiers who were fighting for just a different cause, one that he saw as the wrong one, but still respected them for their determination to do so. Although he was deadly effective against the UNSC, he kept a healthy respect for them, and would treat them with dignity if captured or killed

However, with regards to the Office of Naval Intelligence and its personnel, Yuri had no mercy whatsoever, seeing them as undeserving of any, due to the actions of B312 and what he had heard done from other rebels. Unlike captured UNSC Defense Force prisoners, who he treated with at least a modicum of decency, Pasternack had no qualms about beating or executing ONI personnel, comparing them to the SS of Nazi Germany, due to the stories he had heard of ONI operatives carrying out immoral orders without any hesitation.

Carpathian Liberation Party
"Men, women, children of the colony of Carpathia, the roll call of liberty is reaching out to you. This very day, and for decades prior, the UNSC is and has been persecuting those who voice differing opinions. Today is the age of the thought police.  But fear not!  For your sake, and your children's sake, join the Carpathian Liberation Party, an organization dedicated to the halting of the UNSC's atrocities.  We carry on the legacy of freedom fighters throughout history, albeit in a peaceful capacity.  The Party urges you to join, for your sake, and for your offsprings' sake!  Humanity shall not be shackled, as it has been for centuries!"

- A piece of Carpathian Liberation Party propaganda

The Carpathian Liberation Party, or more commonly known as the Carpathian Liberation Army, was a cell of the United Rebel Front on the colony of Carpathia. Originally formed in 2499 by rebel Adam Makosky, it eventually became part of the United Rebel Front in 2501 when Makosky and three other rebel leaders met in a secret summit to discuss the conception of the URF.

After it became a part of the URF, the CLA became far more powerful with the help of other rebel cells, and began a proper campaign against the UNSC, using the planet's inhospitable mountains as their base of operations. By 2525, the group was one of the most powerful in the, next to the secessionist colony of. However, before the could deploy the newly minted  to dismantle the organization, the  broke out, forcing them to postpone their plans.

Despite the destruction the Human-Covenant War wrought on humanity, it proved to be a boon for the CLA, with the black market of both UNSC and equipment having exploded. By the 2540's, the CLA was so powerful due to Makosky's influence, the UNSC began to seriously contemplate abandoning the planet, as it was becoming an effective black hole of troops and equipment.

However, in 2552, the CLA took a major blow when Makosky was assassinated, leaving them without the influence they formerly wielded due to him. Despite this blow, the organization continued its attacks, before it was effectively destroyed by Delta Company in 2568. Without the ability to wage war as it formerly was able to, the remnants of the CLA became the same as any other organization.

Formation
The Carpathian Liberation Army was formed by rebel General Adam Makosky, originally as an insurgent group to fight the UNSC. Formed in 2499, it took on the front of a peaceful political party, known as the Carpathian Liberation Party, blaming the violent attacks on a fictional organization called the "People's Army of Carpathia". Continuing this guerrilla war for two more years, the CLA's front eventually fell, and Makosky set up its new base of operations in the Carpathian mountains, where they became nearly untraceable due to their isolated location, despite their constant attacks on targets across the planet.

United Rebel Front
In 2501, General Makosky, along with three other major rebel leaders, met in a summit to form an alliance of their member cells, known as the United Rebel Front. With the alliance's formation, the CLA became far more powerful due to the alliance's influence over other cells, and said influence's ability to gain them more equipment. By 2525, the cell had become one of the most powerful, with a percentage of it having become of a pseudo standing army quality. Even though these units were rarely used as opposed to the majority of the CLA, which was militias and other civilian fighters, when they were, they were very effective, and their existence acted as a morale booster for the rest of the group.

Although the CLA mainly attacked military targets and infrastructure, on multiple occasions, it bombed civilian targets, as at one time, for the UNSC refusing to grant the planet its independence. Despite Makosky knowing of these attacks, he did nothing to stop them, citing them as a reality of the war. With casualties and complications mounting due to the CLA, the newly minted SPARTAN-II supersoldiers were scheduled to dismantle the organization by the end of 2525. However, with the advent of the Covenant threat, those plans were put on hold, and the CLA continued its attacks.

With the new Covenant menace tying up much of the UNSC's attention, the CLA began a far more aggressive campaign against the UNSC on the planet. With a boom in the black market, CLA troops, by the 2530's, had begun to become armed with plasma weaponry, and those that were not were far better armed than they had been less than a decade before. Along with these weapons, they also procured several and two, which they based in hidden airfields, and used for high level strikes.

With casualties of UNSC garrison troops on the planet mounting, the government began to consider giving up the planet in 2545. With the Covenant continuing their relentless march, Carpathia was becoming a waste of troops and resources on the deeply entrenched CLA. However, they decided not to, and in 2552, sent in SPARTAN-B312 to eliminate General Makosky after a captured CLA pilot gave up the position of his base. Not only was she successful, but she also destroyed the entire base, putting a massive dent in the group's operations.

Interspecies Union Conflicts
Less than a year after B312's operation, the CLA had resumed its attacks. However, with a far more ruthless commander, the organization's bombings of civilian targets became far more frequent, as they were no longer able to wield their military power as they once had been. With the CLA still near untouchable by conventional forces, in 2568, the new SPARTAN III's of Delta Company engaged in a week long campaign to dismantle the organization. By the end of the week, all the leaders of the CLA had been killed, and those cells that hadn't been destroyed dismantled themselves voluntarily.

Danzig Democratic Republic
The Danzig Democratic Republic, also known in Polish as the Danzig Demokratyczna Republika and in German as the Danzig Demokratische Republik, was an government on the colony of Danzig. Born out of the abandoning of the colony in 2526 due to the  threat, the DDR was formed out of the multitude of rebel groups that were part of the planet in 2527. Establishing a firm stance of government, in 2530, the DDR began work on its military. Although they were able to gain some equipment from the former UNSC garrison and rebel groups, it was still not considered enough, and they began looking for other ways, including the black market.

Two and a half decades later, the UNSC returned to reclaim the planet. Placing the planet under the control of a military dictatorship, the DDR engaged in a brutal, two-year war with the UNSC, until they surrendered in 2558. Despite this, there were still isolated pockets of resistance by 2565.

Formation
The Danzig Democratic Republic was conceived soon after the abandoned the Outer Colony of Danzig in 2526, due to the pressing threat of the. With no law to speak of, save for vigilantes, the major rebel groups on the planet met in a summit about a month afterward, and agreed to form the Danzig Democratic Republic. Declaring official independence from the UNSC, the DDR immediately began working to form a planetwide government. With some groups refusing to join them, they decided to force them to do so.

In a bloody, year long campaign, the DDR was able to force said groups to join them. With their rule now unchallenged, the DDR got to work forming an actual government. Dividing the planet into sectors, a representative, who both represented the area, and governed it, was elected by the occupants of each sector every year. Along with representatives, each sector also had a military commander, to keep order and possibly take control if ordered by the government.

Interwar Period (2528-2556)
"Not all the Communists in hell can overrun you, so do your bit!"

- A piece of DDR propaganda aimed at a province dominated by derived ideals

With the DDR officially formed and a government in place, the government began to work on making a full fledged military force, having learned from heavy losses that had been sustained during the previous military campaign. Setting up the DDR Armed Forces, the government also formed the "Technology Acquisition Squads", that roamed the planet, looking for pieces of technology or equipment the UNSC garrison may have left behind. Even though their search turned up minimal amounts of equipment, the Squads' search allowed the DDR to form its first military unit, the Capital Defense Garrison, in 2532, made up of volunteers from the Capital Region.

With their searches having turned up little, the DDR began looking towards itself for its need for equipment. Even though Danzig had mainly been a farming world, its industrial centers were able to produce farming vehicles such as and  series vehicles. With only this and small arms factories to equip the military, the DDR began to use them in unorthodox ways, such as turning Spades in armored vehicles, and JOTUN cropdusters into unmanned combat aerial vehicles. Although the majority of the military were equipped in this manner, only the regular army was issued uniforms.

Along with this, the DDR instituted a "Do Your Bit" campaign to help finance the immense costs of upkeeping a regular army. Using patriotic propaganda, they were able to get the citizens of the planet to help pay for the costs via donations. With everything in place, by the end of the, Danzig had become a fully functional colony, although its provinces had no police, with DDR sponsored militia fulfilling that role.

Opening Moves
In 2556, a scout ship arrived in the area near Danzig. A nearby DDR Navy patrol, which spotted the scout ship, moved in and boarded it, capturing it and its crew before they could enact the. With the DDR having attacked one of their ships, the UNSC launched an attack, with the intent of reclaiming the colony. At 1420 Hours on August 7th, 2556, a UNSC battlegroup arrived in system. Scrambling all space capable ships, the DDR attempted to fight off the UNSC, taking out two and a destroyer, before the DDR Navy was completely destroyed.

With the failure of their first line of defense, the DDR civilian government handed over control to the military to coordinate their defense more efficiently.

"Fight For Every Inch!"
With the UNSC beginning to land troops, the DDR began to defend ferociously, making the UNSC take heavy casualties for every piece of territory. Added to this the underground movements that sprung up in UNSC occupied areas, and Danzig was soon becoming far more trouble to the UNSC than it was worth. Deciding they needed to end the war after a month and a half of harsh fighting, the UNSC deployed the SPARTAN-III's of Gamma Company. Using the supersoldiers to decapitate the military governors of each region, the UNSC's advance became quicker and quicker, until they finally surrounded the capital, which they besieged for almost a half a month.

Surrender
After a month of the siege, the DDR leaders agreed to surrender to the UNSC. Once the war ended, the DDR was quickly abolished, and its remaining troops were taken as prisoners of war. However, the die hard remnants of the DDR refused to surrender, and staged uprisings in 2560 and 2565, both of which were put down by the UNSC.

Adam Pavlovicz
Adam Pavlovicz was a commando of the. Born in 2529 on the rogue planet of to a middle class family, Pavlovicz lived a life of relative comfort considering the poverty that some lived in. Due to his higher education, Pavlovicz was able to become a Lieutenant in the URF. Soon after completing his training, he was assigned to the URF commandos on the planet, known as the Venezian Airborne Brigade.

After a three month period of trials in real combat against sponsored fighters, Pavlovicz and his unit of twenty commandos were shipped off planet, with orders to impede any UNSC attempt to retake planets that had gone rogue during the war. Using heavily modified, he and his unit were active in heavily delaying the UNSC's reclamation of planets such as , , and even the newly reterraformed. Despite the UNSC mounting manhunts for Pavlovicz, he was never captured, and was still active as of 2600.

Childhood
Adam Pavlovicz was born on March 1st, 2529, in the city of on the rogue colony of, to Pavel and Sarah Pavlovicz, two middle class merchants in the city. Due to his parents' well off status, Adam was able to attend school for far longer than many of his peers, who had to drop out at multiple points to aid their families. Even though his family was extremely privileged as compared to the majority of Venezians, Adam was taught by his parents never to take his status for granted.

Teenage Years
As Pavlovicz became a teenager, he began to learn from his parents the story of the Venezians, as well as pro rebel and independence teachings. While he was in highschool, Pavlovicz fell in love with a girl named Julia Adinson, whom he would later keep correspondence with during his deployments with the URF.

Also as his time in highschool progressed, he eventually decided to join the on the colony. With his education higher than the majority of recruits, Adam was chosen to become an officer candidate. Once he officially took the URF's oath, he was quickly sent off to an isolated training center in the Venezian countryside.

Officer Training
"These are potatoes Commandant, why are we using potatoes instead of real grenades?"

- Pavlovicz, puzzled at an element of his training

In the training area, now Officer Candidate Pavlovicz and the unit of recruits that was placed under his purview were put through a rigorous training program, mainly involving simulated combat with captured, as well as blanks. However, due to the lack of grenades in general for training, the recruits were instead issued potatoes. Along with their combat training, they also endured heavy physical work under their instructors' watchful eyes. After two months of training, the recruits were sent off to their various duty positions, save for Pavlovicz and two other officers, who were quickly deployed to advanced training to become members of the Venezian Airborne Brigade.