Fireteam Piercer Backstory: Spartan Steel

The is the third of FIVE backstories of my in-game Spartans. Each using a different core in Halo Infinite, I wanted to express why I chose each armor and give them each a befitting backstory.
As I post each story, I will add links to the other stories, for easy reference and switching back and forth.
After I conclude posting all five written stories, I will then begin to post the audio versions. with links after, accordingly as well.
Once that is complete, I then plan on writing the first of a hopeful series of full Fireteam Piecer stories. For now, sit back and enjoy the third installment, “Spartan Steel” Fireteam Piercer’s “Heavy”.

Backstory: Spartan Steel

Chapter One: Citizen Montague

Luciferrous Montague was born on the little known inner colony world of Gheny (pronounced gain-ee). Gheny is a small icy planet just on the outer rim of the habitable zone of its local star. The planet houses several metal processing and manufacturing mega facilities. Each of these facilities are cities unto themselves. Due to the excessive heat brought on from the processing of molten metal, Gheny citizens have no worry of heat on such an icy planet. In fact, it gets so hot inside these plants that workers often wear little more than the required protective gear. One step outside of these massive facilities would be an instant reminder of how cold their world really is.

As Montague’s name was a bit long, in his late teens, he shortened it to Ferrous Mont. Having worked various heavy labor industry jobs for all of his teen years, he bore a heavily muscled form. This went well with his shortened name, which translated in the local language, meant Iron Mountain. Mont’s features are that of a tall, dark brown skinned, clean shaven, heavily muscled man. One standout feature is his thick but short mohawk. He always carried his massive trusty hammer with him.

While Mont enjoyed working the various jobs of heavy industry, he longed for something new. The Human Covenant War had already been going on for a few years when Mont turned 20. It was upon his birthday that he made the decision to leave his world behind for even more perilous adventures. He went to the local UNSC recruiting office, slammed his oversized hands on the desk and demanded to be on the next shuttle out of Gheny to join the Corp. The recruiting officer was surprised by Mont’s size and immediately signed him up.

Chapter Two: In Space Nothing Here’s You Scream

Within the hour, Mont was on his way to the nearest UNSC boot camp. Once arrived, he went through the standard battery of physical and mental tests to ascertain his ability to see where he might serve best. Again, his size and strength led the way and made those decisions easy for his drill sergeants. During basic training, Ferrous also was given the opportunity to become a heavy gunner. Few humans could carry the oversized M247H Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) and Mont was up to the task as he was already quite used to handling large heavy industry tools and other equipment. He was a natural fit for this duty. Upon completion of basic training, Mont was assigned to the 412th Calvary Unit. There he learned how to operate all three major variants of Warthog guns. Those being the standard heavy machine gun, rocket launcher and gauss variants. While he appreciated the area of effect the rockets gave and the shear power of the gauss cannon, he favored the heavy machine gun. He loved using the HMG so much that he requested and was approved for use of his own modified HMG. Mont kept it with him for use as a spare should his Warthog’s gun become jammed or damaged, never leaving him without a high powered weapon to handle. The “Iron Mountain” as he came to be known brought fear to many a grunt or Kig Yar on the battle field. He reveled in mowing down large groups of Covenant with his HMG.

During a high stakes mission to reestablish a trade route that had been over run by the Covenant, the Iron Mountain nearly met his match. A UNSC Frigate and two Destroyers came out of slipspace only to be met with two Covenant ships waiting for them. The capital ships traded fire. Mont, seeing that the UNSC was starting to become at a disadvantage, quickly leapt to the nearest unmanned cannon and began returning fire. The thrill of firing an even more powerful weapon filled Mont with a heavy dose of endorphins. He was so focused on the battle in space that he almost missed that a small Covenant boarding party had made it near to his location. Mont ran back to his Warthog and grabbed his own modified HMG and began exterminating the would-be invaders. He managed to kill every last one of them except for one active camouflage Elite. This Elite got close enough to Mont to bring down a slash with his energy sword. Mont blocked the slash at the last second, at cost of his own HMG, having been sliced in half by the energy sword. 

This enraged Mont and he quickly retaliated with a hard crushing smash of the back half of his HMG onto the Elite’s head. The Elite’s active camo fizzled and shut down. Had the Elite not been wearing his helmet, his brain would have been turned to mush. As it were, the Elite was surprised by this human’s strength and stepped backward. This was all Mont needed to complete his revenge. Still carrying his massive hammer from his industrial days, Mont quickly unclipped it and swung a crushing blow to the Elite’s jaws. The Elite screamed in pain as its lower left mandible was left cracked and dangling. The Elite had dropped his energy sword hilt in this moment of confusion. Mont swung back with his hammer, this time catching the Elite between his right mandibles, breaking many teeth. The Elite swelled with pain. It took a second to look around, only to find that the human had picked up the energy sword hilt. The last thing the Elite saw was the bright light of the sword being lit as it was thrust upward through its skull.

Mont was not yet out of danger. Though he had managed to kill the invaders, there was still the matter of either destroying the Covenant ships attacking them or escaping. He knew the UNSC’s small fleet was losing. He also knew the age old line of wisdom to live to fight another day. With on-board klaxons ringing through his ears and the stench of smoke and blood, both alien and human alike filling the chamber, Mont made his way to an escape pod. His chances were few but better than staying aboard a dying ship. As soon as he got inside the pod and strapped in, he hit the eject button. Just in time as the UNSC vessel began to crumple then exploded with terrible might. His pod was but a speck amid the spinning detritus of the now wrecked frigate. That is what saved him. The explosion had blown his pod far away from the main wreck so that he was either not visible or deemed not important enough to check. That stroke of luck gave him the opportunity to carefully glide his pod down into the cloudy atmosphere of the planet he was originally sent on mission for. He barely knew how to fly this thing let alone fully pilot it. Once in the lower atmosphere clouds and having checked for any danger, which there appeared to be none on the radar unit of the pod, Mont brought up the small engines and found a heavily wooded place to land the pod. Surprising himself, he landed with little trouble, only knocking down a dozen or so trees and not leaving much of a trail of downed wood, to be spotted from above.

Chapter Three: Planetfall and the Banshee

Stranded now and not knowing when help was coming, Mont weighed his options. He could wait it out, knowing it would take weeks if not months for a retaliatory strike from the UNSC and hope they would find him. Or, he could scout out the Covenant trading port, infiltrate it and destroy it from within. One way meant surviving on a planet he did not know, without any food and not knowing what he could and could not eat. The other option meant assured death, whether he completed the mission or not. Mont thought to himself, “Well, I wanted more adventure and I certainly got it.” So he chose the second option. That still meant he had to scrounge for food. He wouldn’t be able to start a fire as surely Covenant scouts would easily be able to see the smoke. So he knew he would have to eat raw food. Plants were no problem to find but, he needed protein. One thing that came in handy at this point was his diet when he worked the manufacturing plants on his home world. Meat was not in abundance, so they had to look to alternative sources of protein. That meant insects, in the form of protein bars. This world was plentiful with insects. He just needed to avoid any ones that might contain poison. And this meant his meals would come from mostly grubs. Before leaving the escape pod he gathered up what little equipment he could use. When out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glint. He must have missed it when he was escaping the frigate but, lo’ and behold, there was a HMG stowed under a large blanket with part of the barrel protruding from underneath and with plenty of ammunition. He knew carrying the HMG for the distance he needed to go, would slow him down. However, his gut and his heart both told him he would need it. After all, he was a gunner. He rolled up the blanket and placed some small equipment into a rucksack and slung them on his back. His hammer was strapped to his left leg and he was carrying the HMG with both hands. Though now, at this moment, he felt the HMG barely had any weight to it. Perhaps that was the adrenaline running through him but, he wasn’t going to second guess it. He knew he was just shy of 10 clicks out from the Covenant trading port. Normally Mont would be able to make that in one day. The weight of the HMG would make that a two-day hike, regardless of how he felt at present.

So off he started. Not much happened during his hike. Mont stopped at a set of downed trees to look for grubs underneath them. He carefully set down his gear. The wood of the trees were rotting but still heavy. Mont used his strength to break a chunk of the dying wood apart. There he found a veritable smorgasbord of grubs to choose from. Due to his continued survival training with the UNSC, Mont recognized two species as ones edible for humans. There was a small stream nearby, so he used that to wash the dirt from the grubs than began to feast on as many as he could stomach. Which was quite a lot. He knew there would be more along the way, so he didn’t bother to take any with him. It was getting dark, so he better find a suitable place to camp for the night. Just as he was packing his gear, a banshee flew over. He had been careful and believed the banshee had not seen him. As the world’s sky grew dim then dark, it was then that he could see streaks of fiery light angling down to the planet below. He knew what that meant. It was wreckage from the battle in space making planet fall. He watched for a short time when he noticed a large fireball shoot over him but, still at some height. He continued to watch the trajectory as it met the planet surface. In an instant there was a large explosion, he felt the shockwaves slightly, then all fell silent. Mont decided this would be the best time to get some rest. He was going to have a very busy day tomorrow. He set his pulse wristband to give three short but hard pulses on his wrist to wake him up.

When the pulses rapped against his wrist Mont immediately awoke. While feeling refreshed, he knew he had only slept for about 4 hours. A day on this planet was only 18 standard hours, so Mont knew he couldn’t sleep his normal routine of eight straight. He again assembled his gear, strapped it to himself and set off with HMG in hands. Mont was about three clicks out when he found a lone banshee, curiously on the ground. It was in an off kilter angle to its normal landing position. He put on his binocular shades and looked to see if the pilot was still inside. Whomever the pilot was, it was no longer there or perhaps had been flung away from the craft when it landed haphazardly. Mont didn’t care. He knew this was a ripe opportunity for him. While he wasn’t fully rated for piloting UNSC air vehicles, much less alien craft, he took this chance to be able to sneak up on the Covies in plain site and bomb the hell out of their trading port. He would never get such an opportunity again and he would likely do more damage with this banshee before dying than he would, trying to infiltrate a guarded facility such as this. Mont managed to cut the branches and vines holding the banshee in its awkward position. Luckily for him, it came down at near perfect landing position, which would allow him to take off easier. Instead of taking all his gear, Mont kept shades, hammer and he’d be damned if he left that HMG behind. The banshee could easily carry the extra weight as it was used to carry fully armored elites. 

He strapped the HMG in and was about to board when he heard a sound. Did he make too much noise freeing the banshee? He knew he would have to investigate. Mont couldn’t take the chance that this was a trap and that he’d be killed before being able to take off. Though, he felt this wasn’t a trap. Any Covie monitoring him would have had plenty of opportunity to snipe him dead. Still, he had to see what the noise was. About 20 feet away from the banshee in some overgrown bush, Mont heard the noise again, though this time it sounded more like a gurgling stream. He got right up to the bush with hammer in hand, when he saw it. An Elite lying on the ground with three of its limbs bent in awkward positions. The elite was gurgling up viscous purple blood. Mont raised his hammer about to strike the Elite dead, when the alien spoke to him. Mont always found it strange that Elites could speak basic. This time was no different. The Elite looked up at Mont and said, “It matters not if you kill me. The Covenant will continue its crusade against humanity.” Before outright killing the Elite, Mont had to know what happened to the him. So he asked. The Elite, no longer caring about life, knowing he was about to meet his end, be it by this human or the massive amount of internal hemorrhaging he had sustained, told Mont that he had been on patrol. He thought he spotted a human and was about to turn back to investigate when all of the sudden a streak of fire clipped his wing and he crashed, being thrown from the banshee and knocked against several hard tree branches before finally crumpling to the spot where Mont had found him.

“This MUST be the same banshee I saw last night,” Mont thought, “He did see me. That could have been very bad for me.” Mont almost felt pity for the Elite. However, he had seen the devastation the aliens had brought upon humanity first hand. So that thought was quickly purged from his brain. He looked at the Elite and said, “Do you have anything left to say or are you just going to keep gurgling your purple ooze everywhere?” The Elite let out what passed for a slight chuckle, then said, “Human, your sarcasm and not seeing the seriousness of your race’s destruction will be your undoing. You…”  At that point, Mont had had enough and quickly brought the hammer down on the Elite’s skull, cracking it like a coconut, spilling the contents within. Mont boarded the banshee, did a few of what he thought were flight checks and started up the banshee. The engines flickered alive and the banshee took a heavy list to its port side. Mont quickly corrected that and was able to gently raise the craft into the air. 

The now short distance between him and the trading port would feel even shorter while flying. His adrenaline began to pump. Mont remembered the basic layout of the port from the mission briefings before the fleet left friendly UNSC space. Three main organic looking buildings that slightly resembled certain seashells from earth, two smaller buildings that were reported to house the port’s forces, a flight control tower and several landing areas around the port proper, that likely would be littered with various craft making trade runs. It didn’t take long for him to notice several tall pillars of smoke in the direction he was heading. As Mont got closer, the revelation of what he was seeing came into view. Wreckage from both space fleets had been pulled into the atmosphere. Many large chunks of debris had plowed their way into and around the port. He was still too far away to see if there were any Covenant roaming around but, he would soon to find out. It came to him that this would explain why a retrieval crew had not been sent out to find the downed banshee and her pilot. He put that thought aside for now as he had a mission to complete. Mont took a wide circle around the port, assessing the damage. Two of the big port buildings had been outright destroyed. The third one was torn in the middle with one half partially flattened by the wing of the frigate he had been stationed on. The flight tower had been knocked over like a tree during a heavy storm. There it laid, cracked and broken in many places with smoke billowing out from most of the cracks. If there had been ships on the landing pads, there were none to be seen or they had been obliterated by the shower of twisted wreckage from the destroyed ships. One of the small troop houses was now a small crater but the other troop house made it through with huge gashes in its walls from shards of metal glancing off the building during the firestorm. This looked to be the only target worth hitting with the banshee. After circling around the port twice to look for stragglers and finding none, Mont started his attack run. Bearing down on the building, he let loose with as many banshee bombs as the ship would allow.  Mont was fairly confident there was no one around and that destroying this building was fruitless at this point. But dammit, he had to destroy something! He switched over to the guns and started firing into the now smoking building, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw several blasts of green plasma heading his way quickly. He had little time to act but spiraled the banshee as best he could to avoid the incoming fire. Still, two shots had successfully hit him and he knew he was going to crash. The EMP blast from those two plasma pistols had temporarily disabled the electronics of the banshee. Able to level out just before the crash, Mont set in for what would be the hardest landing of his life. He thought, “well, this is what I signed up for.” 

Chapter Four: Casualties of War

The banshee crashed hard front end into the ground. It tumbled end over end a few times and came to a rest. Mont, dazed and amazed that he was still alive with just a few bruises and cuts unlatched himself from the banshee.  He grabbed the HMG and got ready for the firefight he knew would ensue. Though it was only 30 seconds at most, those seconds felt like minutes. He couldn’t believe it was taking the Covenant that long to find him and start firing at him. Everything was dead still as he focused his mind. Mont trained his ears toward where he thought the troops would be coming from. Then he noticed it. A lone Grunt running towards the banshee with two upheld plasma grenades in hands. Mont knew this was a tactic used by elites to flush out entrenched UNSC personnel. He also knew he didn’t have time to think about that as he did not know how many troops he was up against. So he lifted his HMG to the ready position with a long feed of ammunition attached and tore through the Grunt with high caliber rounds. The Grunt exploded in a blue haze, fleshy bits and hardened almost armor-like forearms and calves were flung about haphazardly. The plasma grenades detonated immediately after. A group of Jackals, Grunts, two Elites and a single Brute came out of hiding to fire upon the sole human. That was their last mistake.

Mont was so focused, more than he had ever been in his life. He took a lightning quick assessment of all the targets he could see, evaluated their strengths and weaknesses based on his previous training and began to methodically slaughter all the aliens. The Grunts were easy targets and not much of a threat. He didn’t see any snipers, so that meant the Jackals were likewise not a huge threat either. So he brought to bear the HMG on the two Elites first. Ripping into their armor and shredding them apart, both Elites fell quickly in heaps of boiling purple blood. This sent the Grunts scattering in a panic. The gigantic Brute lifted up his enormous gravity hammer, let out a howling battle cry and lunged at Mont. The Brute’s lunge fell short as Mont cut him nearly in two at the midsection. The now bifurcated Brute’s body smashed into the ground coming to rest just inches away from Mont. He then turned his smoking hot gun on the Jackals, exploding them into clouds of purple mist. The few Grunts remaining, while scared, tried to return fire, only to be met with the same fate as their higher ranked comrades. The ground battle took less than two minutes from start to finish. 

He had won. He had taken out the last remnants of the trade port and survived. Mont stood in silence for a moment to see if any more enemy troops would arrive. They did not. Able to finally exhale, Mont took his knees to the ground, setting aside his glowing white barreled HMG and let out a loud glorious roar of victory.

Chapter Five: The Pilot and the Comedian

It was then that he noticed a familiar silhouette in the sky. It was a UNSC Pelican. Mont got the attention of the Pelican when it came around for a closer pass of the trade port. It landed near him and a happy pilot and another marine leapt out to greet him.

“Are there any more with you?” the pilot asked.

“No, it’s just me.”

“I’d ask how you survived but, from the rounds of ammunition we saw being fired in the distance and that HMG you got over there, I think we already know how,” the marine said.

“Are you two all that’s left?” said Mont.

The pilot then dipped his head and quietly said, “Yes, as far as we can tell.”

Mont looked at both of the men and asked them if they knew what had happened to the other trade ports they were sent to destroy.

The pilot spoke again, “Looks like a lot of what happened here happened there too.”

Mont looked puzzled. “How did we get so lucky that our fleet being destroyed in space still managed to take out these ports?”

It was the marine’s turn to respond. “From what Intel I was able to gather, after the frigate exploded…”

“That was the ship I was on!” Mont interrupted.

“Well, like I was saying, after the ship you were on exploded, the destroyer Captains each gave the order to abandon ship, then took evasive action and set course for the other two ports.” said the marine. “The Covenant ships picking up on what was about to happen, tried to move their ships into ramming position. They were only partially successful. All four ships, both our two destroyers and the Covenant ships collided. Our ships were already on a crash course to the trade ports. So most of the wreckage made its way there. Some of your ship must have done the same, by the looks of what’s left.”

“And you’re sure there are no other UNSC survivors?” said Mont.

The pilot spoke up, “We’ve been searching for the past day and a half.” We’ve not seen nor heard any transmissions from anyone. That is, until we found you.”

Mont stood looking at them. “Okay then. Is your Pelican good to make a slipspace jump?”

“No,” said the pilot. “We took damage coming down to the surface. We can fly in atmo but, we aren’t space worthy.”

“Well then, we’ll just have to see what presents the Covenant has left for us,” said Mont.

“I’m ready for a hunt,” the marine chirped.

“Okay, let’s first find some food and drink, then we can look for a ride home,” said Mont.

“We’re already way ahead of you there. Say what is your name anyway?”

“Ferrous Mont, though my nickname is the Iron Mountain.”

“I can see that, man. You’re one steely veined marine!” said the pilot. “I’m Jacen Jimenez  but people call me JJ and that scrub over there is Mack Stewart.”

“Watch who you’re calling a scrub, air jockey!” Mack said jovially. They all let out a hearty laugh.

“Well boys, now that the pleasantries are over, what was that you were saying about being ahead of me?” said Mont.

“Me and JJ found a bunch of food and drink among the ruins of the other trade ports. We stowed it aboard the Peli, in case we found others and if we were going to be here for the long haul.”

“Great! Then let’s look for a ship that doesn’t have any holes in it that will suck us out into the vacuum of space.” Mont said with enthusiasm.

“Well aren’t you filled with sunshine and horse manure!” Mack snarked.

They again chuckled, got on board the Pelican and began to look around what was left of the trade port. With each passing minute they would lose a little hope. Then Mont noticed it.

Pointing in a direction, “Hey, bring us over to that small purple lump over there,” said Mont. 

“Yeah, I see it now,” said JJ.

As they got closer, their hopes had been realized. An unscathed Phantom was parked a click away from the port. Had the Covenant troops Mont laid waste been more cognizant of their surroundings, they would have found and taken off with the Phantom themselves. Another stroke of luck for the good guys! JJ landed the Pelican close to the Phantom. There were no signs of living creatures and no thoughts of ambush. Before they began to transfer goods and equipment from the Pelican to the Phantom, JJ boarded the Phantom to check if it was able to make space and perform slipspace jumps. What now seemed like the longest five minutes of their lives, came to an end with JJ exclaiming “Yes!” and with that, both Mont and Mack knew they would make it home. All three quickly transferred what they needed to the Phantom. 

“You fellas ready to hit the star lanes?!” yelled JJ.

“Hell yeah!” shouted Mack.

The Phantom lifted off. Mont was inside the cockpit with JJ, while Mack was by the closing bay doors. Then a streak of sharp pink shot out at them. Neither JJ nor Mont were able to see it as they were faced away from the projectile. All they heard was a thud coming from the small troop bay. Mont figured it was Mack just moving some cargo around but decided to take a look anyway. As he entered the bay, he found Mack lying in a pool of his own blood. A large Subanese shard had pierced through his chest and was now lodged into the ceiling of the bay, red blood dripping from it. It was too late and Mont knew it.

“Hey, what’s going on back there? You guys starting the party without me?” questioned JJ.

“No man, you better come back here and see for yourself.” Mont said.

JJ put the Phantom on auto pilot then appeared at the doorway to the bay. He looked over to where Mont was standing, to see the lifeless body of Mack and the embedded needle. “Gawd damn it! That’s it, I’m turning this thing around and I’m going to blast them all to hell!”

Normally, this would be something Mont was all for. However, having just survived a space battle, a couple of days trekking on an alien planet, eating grubs for food, and being in a firefight, Mont knew when this fight was over.

“No!”

“What the hell do you mean, no?!” JJ angrily fired back.

“Just what I said. He’s already dead. We destroyed their ports and the UNSC will be back here soon for cleanup. I am not going back down there for what is probably one solitary soldier. Mack’s dead but, we aren’t. Let’s get back home, report what happened and let the UNSC take care of the rest,” Mont stated. He felt the hole in his chest deepening from having to say those words, from having lost a fellow marine and new found friend. 

JJ stormed back to the pilot’s chair. “Well, you can be damn sure I’m volunteering to come back and kick whatever Covenant ass we find left here!”

“I’m sure you will.”

Chapter Six: The Proposition

After having made it back to UNSC space safely and a week’s ordered R&R, Mont was approached by a bald headed man with a tattoo on the side of his head.

“I’m here to make you an offer. Before you decline, I insist you sit down and listen to me,” the slender man said.

Though the man standing in front of him was tall, he was not as tall as Mont who stood a towering 7’1”.

“It’s not often someone tells me to sit down with such authority. What’s your bit?” Mont asked.

“The UNSC a has taken special interest in you after the report of your latest mission. I wonder, is everything true or did you embellish anything?” the mysterious man questioned.

“Every bit of that is true!” Mont growled. “Look pal, you’ve got a lot of nerve coming to me, telling me to sit down, then insult me to my face about a fully legitimate report!”

“Good, I knew I liked you. Luciferrous Montague, how would you like to join the Spartan program?”

“I haven’t gone by that name in a long time. How did you know?” Mont inquired with an upturned eyebrow.

“The Spartan program finds all it needs to know about prospective recruits,” the man replied.

Mont looked with heavy suspicion. “Did you also know my nickname is the Iron Mountain?”

“Yes, of course. Though I have a better name for you,” said the man.

“A better name? I’ll humor you, what is it?” asked Mont.

“Spartan Steel”, said the man.

This made Mont think for a minute. His nickname was derived from his real name and also resembled his home planet’s export. But Steel was a stronger alloy than the element of iron. It also happened to mimic one of the last things JJ had said to him, saying he had steely veins. He liked it but, was that enough to follow the request of someone who had just insulted him and had an air of superiority about him? Well he thought as he had numerous times in his career prior to this, “I wanted more adventure and this is what I signed up for.”

“Yeah, I’m in.”

“Great. My name is Jun.”

“Just Jun?” said Mont with a smirk.

“That’s all you need to know about me. You will soon understand.”

Mont thought to himself, man, this guy sure seems like a whack job but, he also seems authentic. “Okay, when do I start?”

“We ship out in ten minutes. Don’t bother to pack your things. We’ve already done that for you.”

“Oh you have, have you?” Mont responded. “You better not have forgotten my hammer!”

“We didn’t, but we’ve got bigger and better toys for you to play with,” Jun said, while letting out a devilishly sounding chuckle. “You know, you remind me of a friend of mine from long ago.”

“And who is that?” Mont questioned.

“Never mind. If you complete Spartan training, I may tell you about him. Maybe.” Then Jun disappeared.

Mont went on to complete his Spartan training and augmentation, now an even more imposing figure at 7’6” tall. Further specializing in [REDACTED] heavy munitions and learned how to pilot several UNSC spacecraft.

The newly minted Spartan Steel’s armor consists of:

  • Armor Core: Mirage IIC
  • Helmet: Pilot w/ US/Type E6 attachment 
  • Visor: Bryce
  • Chest: UA/SATek
  • Left Shoulder: SAP/Guardpro MAX
  • Right Shoulder: SAP/Guardpro MAX
  • Knee Pads: UA/Type VTP
  • Wrist: UA/CRA Bracee
  • Utility: UA/Pelvic Plate
  • Gloves: Rift Kappa
  • Armor Coating: Watchdog
  • Spartan Number: [REDACTED]
  • Service ID Number: [REDACTED]

Spartan Steel’s first tour of duty would be as a member of Fireteam Piercer. The new fireteam was stationed aboard the UNSC Infinity and sent on a mission to Zeta Halo. It has not been seen nor heard from since.

Jun has not yet had the opportunity to tell Steel about his friend.

Fireteam Piercer Backstory: Agent 28

The is the second of FIVE backstories of my in-game Spartans. Each using a different core in Halo Infinite, I wanted to express why I chose each armor and give them each a befitting backstory.

As I post each story, I will add links to the other stories, for easy reference and switching back and forth.

After I conclude posting all five written stories, I will then begin to post the audio versions. with links after, accordingly as well.

Once that is complete, I then plan on writing the first of a hopeful series of full Fireteam Piecer stories. For now, sit back and enjoy the second installment, “Agent 28” Fireteam Piercer’s Sniper and Spy.

Backstory: Agent 28

Secrecy surrounds Agent 28. What little is known about him is laid out in this dossier. If anyone asked his name, he simply replied, “Zed.”

Agent 28 comes from ONI. We know that at least some of his duties included spying on insurrection outposts and outer colonies who traded with the Kig Yar. He was often sent first for Intel, then to quell any burgeoning insurrection by assassinating leaders of the insurrection. His tactics were not so obvious, as the murders came by poison, accidents, and seeding the thoughts of mutiny to the point that others, unbeknownst to them, did his work for him. Outposts who traded with Kig Yar were assessed for their value to humanity and more so to the war effort. If trading brought about important Intel, then the operation was allowed to continue. However, if there was no Intel to be gained, or the Intel coming in had slowed or stopped, those outposts were destroyed post haste, often coming when trades with the Kig Yar were in process. This allowed ONI to cover up the outposts being destroyed saying they were casualties in the war effort.

Agent 28’s deep knowledge of Kig Yar trade, tactics and [REDACTED] information was brought to the attention of high level officials within ONI who wanted another of their own to be made a Spartan. While Agent 28 did not agree with that assessment, believing he blended in better with locals as his current self, he was very hard pressed to go against the wishes of his commanders. Reluctantly, Agent 28 went under the process of training and augmentation in the Spartan IV program. While there, he was also tasked to report back to ONI specific bits of information not outlined in this transmission.

The UNSC had been taking a heavy amount of backlash, regarding outposts being decimated, when there was evidence many of those outposts could have been saved or not as heavily damaged as they were. So, with his immense amount of expertise in outer colony trade and habits, Agent 28 was paired with another Spartan to destroy alien trade with humans, as secretly as possible. By using only a pair of Spartans, instead of coming in with warships and orbital bombarding said outposts, the UNSC along with ONI, was much more capable of hiding the fact that they were suppressing insurrection, even in the midst of a galactic war.

Agent 28 and his Spartan partner Sven Sorenson were quite capable of performing their missions with high efficiency. It was during their final mission together however, when things would take a turn. Orders came down to hit a small inner colony city with a tactical fusion bomb, at a recently discovered mining and manufacturing plant that was suspected of supplying enemy forces. The issue is that this was Sorenson’s home planet. ONI was testing his allegiance as they had bigger plans in mind. Sorenson showed no outward disobedience. However, Agent 28, trained to recognize such things during his tenure with ONI, specifically had picked up on some very slight cues. A second longer stare when talking about the mission or a furtive glance when the name of the planet came up was all he needed, to know something was amiss.

When they landed in their modified Condor, Sorenson said that he was going to tend to the fusion bomb. Though this was protocol for their mission, Agent 28 immediately became suspicious. He allowed Sorenson to leave, while he secretly released an insect sized drone to watch him. As suspected, Sorenson was found to be tinkering with the fusion bomb to set it off much sooner. The understanding was, that it would look like an accident and both he, and Agent 28 would be killed in the blast thereby sacrificing himself but saving his home world from a fate he had himself brought about several other human populaces.

Agent 28 sprung into action and did not give Sorenson a chance to explain. That order by ONI was made specifically to the Agent and he knew how to carry it out with lethality. The first thing Agent 28 did was have the insect drone land on and insert itself into Sorenson’s armor. Once in, the drone let loose a small but well positioned EMP pulse that rendered Sorenson’s armor reactor inert. Without the ability to quickly move, Sorenson reached for the trigger mechanism to immediately detonate the fusion bomb. However, Agent 28 stopped him just short of that goal by hitting Sorenson with a sniper shot to his hand, severing the three middle fingers. Then as Sorenson swung around, struck him in the lower lumbar region of his back, splicing through the least protected area of armor and immediately severing Sorenson’s spine.

Sorenson, knowing he had failed, resigned himself to his fate. Agent 28 came over to him. Asked if he wanted his helmet off or on for his last breath. Sorenson asked for his helmet to be taken off, so that he could breathe his home world’s air one last time. With that, he took his last breath and Agent 28 shot him cleanly between the eyes with his magnum.

Agent 28 went on to complete the mission as ordered. Destroying the facility and hundreds of workers present during the detonation. However, for the first time in his career, he felt sympathy. He knew better than to report his emotions back to ONI. However, in one sentence of his report debrief to UNSC command, he mentioned that the facility did not look to be making any weapons. This was enough for ONI to know he had been compromised. 

In order to keep an ever more watchful eye on Agent 28, he was reassigned to the UNSC Infinity. There he served under Spartan Commander Palmer, performing typical Spartan missions, no longer conducting the more tactical, secret missions he was accustomed to. He was then assigned to Fireteam Piercer under the command of Spartan Carl “The Duke” Wayon. His last known location was aboard the Infinity as they entered Zeta Halo space.

If you find a Spartan with the following configuration, you have found Agent 28:

  • Core: Rakshasa
  • Helmet: Morrigan
  • Visor: Shibuichi
  • Chest: Standard Rakshasa with Proxy Logistics attachment
  • Left Shoulder: SAP/HVISTLA PLATING
  • Right Shoulder: SAP/HVISTLA PLATING
  • Knee Pads: UA/Type SN
  • Wrist: DOISAC KISS
  • Utility: UTIL/Pocket Doc
  • Gloves: Tenosyno
  • Armor Coating: Smellbringer
  • Spartan Number: [REDACTED]
  • Service ID Number: [REDACTED]

No further documentation.

/End Transmission

Fireteam Piercer Backstory: Carl “The Duke” Wayon

The is the first of FIVE backstories of my in-game Spartans. Each using a different core in Halo Infinite, I wanted to express why I chose each armor and give them each a befitting backstory.

As I post each story, I will add links to the other stories, for easy reference and switching back and forth.

After I conclude posting all five written stories, I will then begin to post the audio versions. with links after, accordingly as well.

Once that is complete, I then plan on writing the first of a hopeful series of full Fireteam Piecer stories. For now, sit back and enjoy the first installment, “The Duke” which is the backstory of Fireteam Piercer’s Leader.

Backstory: The Duke

Nicknamed the Duke after a centuries dead American Cowboy, Carl Wayon of Earth, is as stoic a Spartan as you will find, with exception to Master Chief. Wayon grew up working his family farm as his ancestors had done for the previous 600 years. As such, he knows the meaning of dedication, hard work and long laborious hours.

Carl joined the UNSC, even with the apprehension of his family, due to his self proclaimed duty to protect his family, his land, and his planet from the Covenant threat. He excelled in basic training in physical fitness, and shooting skills with standard issue magnums and battle rifles. He performed so well that he was made his company’s ‘recruit commander’. 

Wanting to do more than “just being the average grunt”, Wayon applied for and was accepted into the ODST training program. He again excelled. Now adding hand-to-hand combat superiority, quick thinking, and decision making on battlefield tactics. Upon graduation, he was granted a commission of Lieutenant and given a squad of ODSTs to lead.

During his time as an ODST, he led several successful missions against the Covenant, to assassinate High Value Targets. Upon each successive mission, his notoriety grew, having a 100% return rate for those under his command. He was quickly promoted to Captain and given a company to command. The Duke’s first mission as company commander came during the Battle of New Mombasa. This would be the cornerstone of his military career.

In charge of a couple dozen ODSTs, he and Colt company dropped into the heart of the confrontation. Thereupon, Captain Wayon and his Colt Commandos laid waste to a nearly assembled Covenant forward operations base. Killing every Covenant they found, save one jackal sniper, who managed to escape. This one misstep proved to be a heavy loss for the company. Soon after that first skirmish, they were met with heavy resistance in the form of a squad of Wraiths and two Banshees. With overwhelming force, the Covenant backlash decimated half of his troops in just the first couple of minutes. This was the first time the Duke had lost soldiers in battle. He and the rest of the Commandos fought back hard, taking a few more casualties but, ultimately winning. Having destroyed the Banshees out of the sky with well placed rockets and a lucky Wraith shot, he now had a ragtag squad of 10 ODSTs and three Wraiths.

Wayon and the Colts would continue to battle in small skirmishes around New Mombasa, surprising Covenant forces in their own Wraiths and picking up surviving ODSTs and Marines along the way. By the time of the quick exit of the Covenant from Earth, the Duke had amassed a force of more than 200 surviving soldiers. Immediately after the battle, He was given a field promotion to Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) and was now placed as leader of the newly formed platoon of Colt Commandos. Wayon and his commandos would serve a few more years together, routing Covenant forces in small and mid-sized battles.

In 2556, top brass from the UNSC came with a new offer for Wayon, “We want you to become a Spartan.” Having great respect for Spartans, he humbly accepted. It was then that he was entered into the Spartan IV program. Having much battlefield prowess, leadership skills, and experience, LCDR Wayon was put in charge of Fireteam Dragoon, a team of four Spartan IVs, after their augmentations were complete.

The Duke selected as his armor:

  • Core: Mark VII
  • Helmet: Linebreaker w/HUL [5X]/BNR/ECHELON attachment
  • Visor: Mentor’s Gift
  • Chest: UA/COG
  • Left Shoulder: UA/FLSF Type C
  • Right Shoulder: HIGHCOM Sentinel
  • Knee Pads: UA/Type MX
  • Wrist: TAC/Holodyne Milspec
  • Utility: TAC/MX CUTTER
  • Gloves: Provespa
  • Armor Coating: Gunsmoke Gold
  • Spartan Number: [REDACTED]
  • Service ID Number: [REDACTED]

Wayon stated that the overall look of his armor, evoked the lawmen of a bygone era, as it related to his nickname. As well, the three main colors of mustard gold, light denim blue, and muddy tan matched his farm’s colors.

It didn’t take long for Fireteam Dragoon to see action. The next few years saw the Dragoons in typical lightning quick hit missions to take out notable Covenant leaders. Wayon enjoyed this duty as it reminded him much of his earlier days as an ODST. Though now, he was much better armed, augmented, and armored.

The Dragoons were to be given a long overdue stay of R&R, when Wayon was sent word he was being reassigned to the UNSC Infinity to take charge of the newly formed Fireteam Piercer. Within a month after his new commission, the Infinity was sent to Zeta Halo, in what would become a fateful mission for the flagship of the UNSC.

Spartan Carl “The Duke” Wayon and his Fireteam’s whereabouts are currently unknown. Presumed to be on Zeta Halo, they are listed as MIA.

Happy Master Chief Day 1/17!

Today being January 17, we Halo fans often refer to this as Master Chief day.

Whether you know him as Master Chief, Chief, John 117, S117, or the fabled voice behind the helmet-Steve Downes, let’s all celebrate our stoic hero of the greatest sci-fi FPS out there!

Happy Master Chief Day!!!
-Sal

Guess who’s back, back again!

It’s been a little over three years since I last posted here on my blog.
First let me explain why.

The biggest and initial reason at the start was I was very disappointed at Halo Infinite’s release date being push back a year. This upset me so much that I felt 343 had failed us and at that time chose to not support them by not blogging.
I realize now that that was a mistake and that I should have continued to blog. Be that to vent my frustration, that were shared by others, or to continue posting whatever news and reviews I came across.
Then I got a new job with the government. That kept me pretty busy, that by the time I came home, I was pretty exhausted.
I then got Covid in July 2022. This led me to develop “Long Covid”. It’s a neurological disorder. The effects of which have greatly reduced my capacity for working long hours. I get massive migraines, vertigo, and fatigued all the time.
I started to miss work about two weeks after getting Covid, from this. This condition proceeded to get worse and I was calling off sick 2 days or so a week.
Here in the U.S. we have what’s called FMLA. That is the “Family Medical Leave Act”. It means that my employer could not fire me for missing work due to this condition. However, there is a time limit on that. Unfortunately, I had exhausted that time after 6 months.
While both my Supervisor and District Manager didn’t want to let me go, as I was their best employee, since this was a government job, they had to follow the rules.
Instead of being fired, I chose to resign. This means that should I miraculously recover, I could go back to work there. It’s unlikely though as my condition has worsened.

I am now no longer able to work a full time job. Even part time would be near impossible as my condition flairs up at irregular intervals that I can not predict when I would be healthy enough to work. Beyond walking with me usual cane, I now on occasion have to use a walker. This for stability when the vertigo is affecting me particularly hard.

In any event, over the ensuing months, I found myself gradually playing less and less Halo because my cognitive function for playing multiplayer slowed and I was becoming bad at the game.
Enter Firefight. This game mode has been a god send to me! I don’t have to solo queue in MP and can easily slay aliens.
My gaming time shot was up in December and I have been climbing the ranks in Halo Infinite quickly.

This led me to the decision to start posting here on the blog again. Though I’ve been active on twitter and instagram these past years I always was drawn back to wanting to post on my blog again.
Now that I have a renewed passion for Halo, I’m going to give this a go again.
I will say that due to my neurological condition, I won’t likely post as often. Maybe once or twice a week at best. This is mostly because I become extremely tired and get migraines when in front of a computer screens (gaming aside, thankfully! Whew).

So this all means, HaloFanForLife has become my “job”. I set my own hours and work when I can.

I hope you all will rejoin the HFFL community. I have some things planned for the “HaloFanForLife” identity. Beyond blogging, I’ve been streaming a lot lately. Please follow me there at twitch.tv/halofanforlife.

Thanks for reading this post and lets all help grow a positive Halo community together!

-Sal

Toy Review: Wicked Cool Toys Spartan Series 6 inch Master Chief

Technical Specifications:
Articulation:
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• Double Hinge Jointed Elbows
• Ball Joint Wrists
• Swivel Jointed Torso
• Ball Joint hips
• Double Hinge Knees
• Double Jointed Joint Ankles
• Swivel Jointed Toes
Accessories: MA40 Assault Rifle, MK50 Sidekick (pistol)
Additional Contents: Halo Infinite Code card.
Cost: $20 (US)
Availability: Mass Retail (I got mine from Target)

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The packaging is fairly standard. Which is to say it looks nice. A large window shows off the entirety of the contents. Of all the four figures in this first series of 6.5 figs, I think Chief looks the best in package. This is likely due to the green graphics and yellow-orange background that both relate to Chief’s armor/visor.

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Toy Review: Wicked Cool Toys “World of Halo” UNSC Marine

The term “World of Halo” used in the title refers to all figures in that series being in scale with one another.

Technical Specifications:
Articulation:
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• Ball Joint Elbows
• Swivel Jointed Wrists *(see why the star later in the review)
• Swivel Jointed Chest
• Ball Joint hips
• Double Hinge Knees
• Double Jointed Joint Ankles
Accessories: Commando Rifle, green/brown figure stand
Additional Contents: Halo Infinite Code card.
Cost: $10 (US)
Availability: Mass Retail (I got mine from Target)

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

I’ve said previously of the packaging, that I like the shape of it. A large see through plastic window, allows you to see what contents are included.

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Toy Review: Wicked Cool Toys “World of Halo” The Pilot

The term “World of Halo” used in the title refers to all figures in that series being in scale with one another.

Technical Specifications:
Articulation:
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• Ball Joint Elbows
• Ball Joint Wrists
• Swivel Jointed Chest
• Ball Joint hips
• Double Hinge Knees
• Double Jointed Joint Ankles
Accessories: Bulldog Shotgun, green/brown figure stand
Additional Contents: Halo Infinite Code card.
Cost: $10 (US)
Availability: Mass Retail (I got mine from Target)

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

I’ve said in earlier reviews of the Wicked Cool Toys “World of Halo” packaging, that I like the design of the package and how it has a strong look to it. With a very large see through plastic window, it’s very easy to see what contents are included. With the package being large, it does make it easier to find on store shelves.

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Mega Construx Toy Review: UNSC Spartan Armor Pack

Mega Construx UNSC Spartan Armor Pack

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: 1 minute to sort pieces, 1 minute to build
Set Piece Count: 106
Minifigures: X2 Spartans, Silver Armored Banished Brute
Weapons: Assault Rifle, Gravity Hammer, Mangler, Pistol, Bulldog (Shotgun)
Accessories: X3 figure stands, additional standard torso, shoulder armors and helmet, muzzle flashes, X4 frag grenades, scopes, silencer, Banished crate
Special Features: Armor locker opens/closes
Cost: $15 US Mass Retail. I got mine from Wal*Mart ONLINE.

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The front of the box shows most of the contents in a series of plastic bubbles. (There are more things hidden behind the bottom piece of cardboard.) The back of the card shows some more of the contents and their names.

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Toy Review: Wicked Cool Toys “World of Halo” Warthog

The term “World of Halo” (WoH) used in the title refers to all figures in that series being in scale with one another.

Technical Specifications:
Warthog:
• Fits up to three standard human WoH figures (Driver, Passenger, Gunner)
• Wheels spin
• Machine Gun rotates in place
• Slight swivel joint to Machine Gun
Accessories: X4 Gas Cans, Machine Gun Turret, Machine Gun Ammo Belt, Antenna

Master Chief:
Articulation:
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• Ball Joint Elbows
• Ball Joint Wrists
• Swivel Jointed Chest
• Ball Joint hips
• Double Jointed Knees
• Double Jointed Joint Ankles
Accessories: Assault Rifle
Additional Contents: N/A

Cost: $30 (US)
Availability: Mass Retail (I got mine from Target)

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The packaging is a pretty standard rectangular box. The front shows the warthog in a cool action sequence. It also has a small window that shows the included Master Chief figure.

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Toy Review: Wicked Cool Toys “World of Halo” Spartan MK V [B] + Jega ‘Rdomnai (2-pack)


Normally this is where I put the full Technical Specs, but since this is a two-pack, I’m putting only some of those here, with the articulation per figure later in the review.

Technical Specifications:
Accessories: Shock Rifle, Energy Sword, x2 Black/Grey hexagonal Figure Stands
Cost: $20 (US)
Availability: Mass Retail (I got mine from Target)

The box is large and shows off all the contents of the set completely. Jega looks particularly cool in the box, with his arms splayed out as shown. Near the bottom of the box, the text says what weapons comes with each figure.

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Toy Review: Wicked Cool Toys 12 inch Spartan Tanaka

I would like to mention first that the 12 inch line of WCT Halo figures follows the recent trend of other toy manufacturers. This is to say that the backs of the figures are flatter and there is not as much articulation as their shorter counterparts. The 12 inch line is most definitely meant for kids, so please consider that, as I did, when reading this reviews and should you decide to buy the figures.

Okay, let’s move on to the review.

Technical Specifications:
Articulation:
• Swivel Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• Ball Joint Elbows
• Swivel Joint Wrists
• Ball Joint hips
• Ball Joint Knees
Accessories: DMR
Additional Contents: N/A
Cost: $10 (US)
Availability: Mass Retail (I got mine from Target)

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The packaging is tall and slim. The figure’s arms are slightly pinned behind the figure to allow for a tighter squeeze into the packaging. The DMR is partially on display at the front bottom of the window. Take care to carefully cut away any plastic holding straps before trying to remove the figure or DMR.

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Toy Review: Wicked Cool Toys Spartan Series 6 inch Red Mark VII Spartan

Technical Specifications:
Articulation:
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• Double Hinge Jointed Elbows
• Ball Joint Wrists
• Swivel Jointed Torso
• Ball Joint hips
• Double Hinge Knees
• Double Jointed Joint Ankles
Accessories: CQS-48 Bulldog (Shotgun), Disruptor
Additional Contents: Halo Infinite Code card.
Cost: $20 (US)
Availability: Mass Retail (I got mine from Target)

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The packaging is fairly standard. The large window shows off the entirety of the contents.

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Mega Construx Toy Review: Master Chief Helmet

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Mega Construx Master Chief Helmet

Technical Specifications:
Build Time: roughly 45 minutes to build (Your time will vary from mine as I took pics along the way for this review.)
Set Piece Count: 414
Accessories: Buildable display stand
Cost: $30 US Target

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The front of the package shows the completed helmet on the buildable stand as well as an inset photo of the back of the helmet with the AI chip being inserted into it.
The back shows much the same as well as the buildable Energy Sword set.

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Toy Review: Wicked Cool Toys “World of Halo” Jackal Sniper

The term “World of Halo” used in the title refers to all figures in that series being in scale with one another.

Technical Specifications:
Articulation:
• Ball Joint Head
• Ball Joint Neck
• Hinge Joint Jaw
• Ball Joint Shoulders
• Ball Joint Elbows
• Ball Joint Wrists
• Swivel Jointed Chest
• Ball Joint hips
• Hinged Joint Knees
• Hinged Joint Hocks
• Ball Jointed Joint Ankles
Accessories: Stalker Rifle, Green/Grey Figure Stand
Additional Contents: Halo Infinite Code card.
Cost: $10 (US)
Availability: Mass Retail (I got mine from Target)

And on with the pics! (Click pics to make BIGGER)

The packaging has a nice shape to it. It gives off a vibe of being very “strong”, if you will. Kind of how a muscular person’s torso is. Thicker at the top, slimmer at the waist, then thicker at the hips. It could also be interpreted as being Master Chief’s helmet. Green mostly all over, with the window (visor), having an orangish color card in the background.
The back shows a pic of Master Chief in a running pose. Most of WCT’s World of Halo packaging is like this. Not sure why they went that route instead of displaying other toys in the line? But it still looks nice.
Considering that I open the packaging, the back doesn’t make much difference to me. For those that collect and keep in package, this shouldn’t matter much either as you do not generally display figures with the back facing front.

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