Marcus Locke

"It's good to have you back, James. To be fair, we need that tactical genius you got for the field."

- Locke to James T. Avery. Marcus Frederick Locke ( : 56722-29811-ML)   was a   in the  during the Insurrection and. He was the second captain of the UNSC Alexander where he replaced Wolfgang Franklin after the latter turned traitor and joined the Insurrection.

He was also the field mentor to James T. Avery who founded and led the Alpha-Zulu Corps. Locke and his ship were killed during the Battle of Los Ares on June 15, 2552 while defending the colony from a massive Covenant invasion.

Early Years
Marcus Locke was born on the inner colony world of Langton within the small city Johannesburg. Growing up, Marcus was constantly one to provide for his family being the oldest of 7 and the son of a widower. Marcus took on a series of odd jobs mainly from retail to waiting tables even to underaged police work which earned him little pay, but it was still enough for his family.

When Marcus turned 18 he quickly enlisted with the UNSC Navy in order to earn a higher pay for his family.

Insurrection
After Locke finished his basic training he was sent to the UNSC Aggressor for his first assignment. While on deployment, Locke was able to stubble upon a small group of crewmen who were speaking of a mutiny against the entire ship. One of the Insurgents spotted Locke, and thinking on pure instincts, Locke convinced the group he agreed with them and wanted to help.

When the mutiny began the bridge was captured and some hostages being taken. As the mutineers were explaining their demands, Locke held up the Insurgent leader at gunpoint, placing his magnum at the back on his neck. Locke reviled himself to be loyal to the UNSC and asked if the captain and bridge crew were alright after taking the Insurgents captive. As a result, Locke earn the position of a bridge crewmen onboard the Aggressor and the captain made a note to Admiral Maria Katsenberg of Locke's heroism and actions.

Locke was reassigned to be apart of the recently finished ship, the UNSC Alexander as a navigations and communications officer. Locke was then introduced to Wolfgang Franklin and the two began their work as part of the 51st Fleet. Once the ship was commissioned, the entered slip-space with the rest of the fleet and set a course for the colony world, Mykeyo.

Mission to Mykeyo
After a week in slip-space, the 51st Fleet arrived at the colony world, Mykeyo. The Alexander was tasked with linking with two other ships to investigate a local disturbance nearby one of Mykeyo's four moons. The the three ships arrived they were ambushed by an Insurrections destroyer which was able to throw one of the frigates off guard and destroyed. Franklin and his crew used rotary guns and several archer pod missiles to combat the destroyer. However, another Insurrectionist ship came to the location and a warning beacon was dropped by the Alexander. After the beacon was dropped, the ship was then boarded and attacked by Insurgents.

Franklin and his local troops prepared for combat. As the ship was boarded, reinforcements from the 51st arrived. However, the Insurgents were able to swiftly break into the bridge and attacked the local crew and officers. Though a small firefight broke out, the Insurgents proved to be equal match for the UNSC. ODST forces moved to the bridge location but were stopped by the captain and killed by Insurgents. Wolfgang then reviled himself to be an Insurrectionist along with several others onboard the ship. Their task was to get the ship to conduct an attack on the 51st Fleet. Upon hearing this, Locke and several other bridge crew members opened fire at all Insurrectionist and swiftly began to kill the remaining Insurgents. Locke contacted Katsenberg and informed her of the attack. Marcus then continued to lead the bridge crew and chased the Insurgents back to their destroyer.

However, before Franklin was able to board his new ship, he was cut off by Katsenberg and a squad of soldiers arresting the local Insurgents and stopping them in their path and protected the entire 51st Fleet.

Promotion
After the Insurrection crew and Franklin were arrested or killed, both Katsenberg and the UNSC Navy High Command agreed to reform and remake the crew of the Alexander. Katsenberg informed High Command about Locke's courage and leadership and thus, he was promoted to Captain of the Alexander. Along with his promotion, Locke also received a new crew and new hands to combat forces opposing the UEG and UNSC.

Human-Covenant War
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to what my mother would call 'Shit-Load of Love'."

- Marcus quoting his mother. During a regular patrol in 2525 around Neptune, Locke was ordered to return to Titan to regroup with the 51st Fleet and receive new orders and recruits. When Locke asked about the assignment, he and his fleet learned about the Covenant and were quickly deployed to Harvest.