Marcin Bernard

First Lieutenant Marcin Bernard was a member of the Second Soyuz Republic, as well as the. Born in to two anti  parents, Bernard lived a normal life as a student and child, before becoming an adult, when, influenced by the teachings of his parents, he joined the Second Soyuz Republic, a rebel organization that claimed to be the direct successor of the Soyuz Republic, a revolutionary organization that had overthrown the government in the 2490's.

Enlisting, Bernard's academic and physical abilities did not go unnoticed by his superiors, who eventually commissioned him as a Second Lieutenant in the SSR. After finishing his training, he was assigned to the village of Northcoast, near one of the Republic's main command posts.

For four more years, Marcin interacted with the village's populace, keeping the area as rebel-influenced as possible through humanitarian missions. In, when the fortress world of came under attack by the , and all available UNSC forces were recalled to defend it, including the garrison on Soyuz.

Although Bernard did not participate in the coup against the government that followed, he was promoted to First Lieutenant, and placed in charge of a defensive line that was to be built near the village. Acting as an adviser to the main commander of rebel forces in the region, he successfully influenced the officer to build bunkers of, reinforced with.

For two more years, Marcin oversaw the construction of the bunkers, as well as sandbag machine gun nests and trenches, in the event of a UNSC assault. In 2554, the UNSC finally attacked, and Bernard took command of the two hundred rebel troops stationed at the line. Stating publicly before the battle that he would not leave the position as long as he still lived, Bernard commanded the rebel forces against the UNSC in a three day long battle, before his bunker was finally destroyed by the enemy forces.

Childhood
Marcin Bernard was born in, on the planet of Soyuz to William and Kate Bernard. William was a former member of the planet's, and Kate worked as a history teacher at a nearby college preparatory school. With this connection to the military and history at an early age, Bernard became interested in military history after his father began to tell him stories of his ancestor's service.

With this interest encouraged by his mother, Marcin excelled in history in both grade and highschool, however, other subjects such as math left much to be desired. While he was in gradeschool, Bernard was teased for his high weight, which he resolved during highschool as he became a member of his school's crew team, and became far more fit as a result.

Also in highschool, Bernard began to be affected by his parents' ideals of freedom. Although the two were both peaceful in their views, Marcin took it one step further, personally advocating violence, and even wanting to join the on the planet, in an attempt to live up to the soldiering and freedom loving reputation of his ancestors. Although both Marcin's parents attempted to dissuade him, they eventually halted their efforts when it became obvious he was going to join the rebellion no matter what they said or did.

Enlistment
Three weeks after his highschool graduation, and a period of reflection and final goodbyes to family and friends, Marcin went into the slums of the city, and found a URF cell, which he professed his want to join to. Along with fifteen other enlistees, Bernard was taken to a training facility in the Soyuz countryside, where he was informed he was to become a member of the Second Soyuz Republic, a member cell of the URF.

As the brutal training began, Bernard realized he had made a mistake, but as the rebels began to teach them the alleged "atrocities", committed by the, including the razing of in , he convinced himself to press on, if only to avenge those killed by the UNSC, however, the rebels' teachings of "ends justify the means", did not stick in his mind, and he resolved to never commit acts of terror, even though he would be branded a traitor by the URF, and would be left no option to go home, being a traitor in the eyes of the UNSC as well.

In the third week of training, the fifteen candidates were administered physical and academic tests, to determine their aptitude for officership in the SSR. Passing both with flying colors, Bernard, along with a sole other trainee, were considered adequate to be trained as officers, and were separated from the main body of trainees, and sent to another area of the camp, where they were thrown into leadership situations, usually in command of other trainees, and forced to find a way out.

During one such situation, a mock defensive action, Bernard rallied a unit of rebels to fight off the superior instructors' force of twenty personnel, not only placing them in tactically advantageous positions, but also showing exemplary leadership in rallying the intentionally disorganized unit. However, not all of Marcin's training exercises went as successfully, with many of them ending in utter defeat for him and his unit. After a week and a half more of training exercises such as these after his selection, Bernard was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the SSR.

Deployment
After finishing his training, Bernard was granted two weeks leave before he was to report to his duty station at the town of Northcoast. Returning home to both his parents, who, despite having warned him about joining the rebels, welcomed him back. After spending two weeks in his hometown, Bernard drove his Spade to Northcoast, where he was assigned to command a squad of fourteen rebels in the town.

Although the rebels were in control of the area, Marcin soon found it was due to a rash of terrorist attacks and other intimidation tactics as he attempted to interact with the populace. Knowing the people would be instrumental if the rebels were going to survive a UNSC attack, Bernard led humanitarian missions into the town to endear the rebels towards the populace, which, by the end of the year, had worked, and he was seen as a hero by the people of the town. For two more years, Bernard saw little to no combat whatsoever, and continued commanding his unit within the town, keeping up the humanitarian missions to keep the populace supporting the rebels.

Coup
In July of, Marcin found that there was a coup occurring on Soyuz after the recall of all UNSC forces to help support the planet of , now under attack by the genocidal alliance known as the. Summoned to the nearby rebel headquarters, Marcin was promoted to First Lieutenant, and informed he would be placed in charge of a defensive line near the town. Accepting, he returned back to Northcoast to find the populace, much like himself, indifferent to the fall of the government and its subsequent replacement by the SSR.

Defensive Line
Despite his apathy to the coup, having not taken part in it, Marcin feared that if the UNSC returned and took the planet back, it would become a totalitarian police state to prevent any further insurrections. With this in his mind, Bernard set about attempting to find the best places to build and how to build the defensive line he was in charge of. Remembering back to his love of military history, Marcin came upon the Battle of Wizna and the last stand at Thermopylae.

Armed with this knowledge, and, after researching other rebel engagements with the UNSC, Bernard decided that it would be impossible, at least with rebel resources, to build a line that would withstand a UNSC assault forever, and set about planning one that would delay the enemy long enough for the rebels at the HQ to organize properly to resist.

Convincing the commander of the area's garrison, Colonel Bachmeier, to allot him the resources needed for building the line. Now having the raw materials, Marcin tapped into the good will he had instilled amongst the populace, and convinced them to help him and his troops build the line. Although Marcin's original plan was for twenty bunkers, he was forced to cut it down to only seven reinforced  bunkers, as well as two trenches, and several sandbag machine gun nests.

Battle of Northcoast and Death
"Men, I speak to you on what may be our last few days amongst the living. I promise you, I shall not let this position fall as I still stand, and I implore you, fight with me."

- Bernard, just before the opening of the battle

In 2554, two years after the came to an end, the UNSC returned to Soyuz, and, after a brief space battle, set about taking it back. Evacuating all civilians from the area, Bernard took command of the still incomplete line, and ordered all rebel fighters to take their positions. Knowing there was no chance of winning if the UNSC attacked, Marcin sent out a transmission to the rebels, imploring them to fight to the last man.

With rebel anti aircraft in the nearby mountains keeping UNSC air support from destroying the defensive line, the UNSC Marines were forced to take it on the ground. The first assault, on August 13th, was repelled, as was the second the day after. Continuing to command, even as each bunker was systematically eliminated, Bernard, with his command bunker remaining the last standing on the 16th, ordered his troops to retreat, and committed suicide. Even though his battle was a defeat, Bernard's actions bought the rebels in the mountains time to shore up their defenses, allowing them to hold against the UNSC for longer than expected, and, even after the UNSC's reclamation of the planet, Bernard was seen as a hero, and plastered across propaganda posters for the rebels.

Personality
Bernard's personality stayed mostly the same up until just before the reclamation campaign on Soyuz. Raised on ideals of freedom, and the long-gone glory of his ancestors, coupled with his own tendencies as a teenager and want to live up to his ancestors, he was a rabid supporter of the. However, during his training, as he was being taught that "ends justify the means", with said "ends" including terrorism, he remained a staunch supporter of the rebel cause, but privately, and through his actions, publicly, decried such actions.

As the coup occurred and the reclamation of Soyuz began to approach, as well as the time he oversaw the building of the defense line, Bernard began to see that the rebels had little to no chance of winning against the UNSC, and his zeal, although it remained in a more discreet way, began to die down as he came to terms with his fate. In a final show of honor, as his defense line was about to fall apart, Bernard honored his statement to not let it fall as long as he lived, and committed suicide.

Skills and Abilities
Although Bernard was trained on the MA3A ICWS rifle and M6 series of pistols during training, his marksmanship left much to be desired, with his true strength lying in his tactical knowledge. As a young child, having studied military history intimately, Marcin was well versed in commanding troops, even though his combat skills were below average, even by rebel standards. This knowledge guided many of Marcin's decisions, from partially influencing his decision to work in humanitarian missions for Northcoast's population, to his combat decisions and the building of the defense line where he died.

Trivia

 * Bernard's character, especially regarding his death and statement, are based off of Polish Army Captain Władysław Raginis and the Battle of Wizna