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- "Some people make such a big damn deal about it. I mean, who's to say that God didn't carry out evolution?"
- ―John Chase
Johnathos Leon Chase, known commonly as John Chase or J.L. to family and childhood friends, was a special forces operator for the United Nations Space Command Army Rangers and later the United Federation to Restore Humanity Surface Division Ranger-Scout Service; furthermore, he would be involved in the supersoldier program known as AURA as one of the leading members and an instructor of the program.
Throughout his approximately sixty years of devoted service to the military, John would serve primarily as a marksman and field officer, often taking on both professions at the same time. As a designated marksman, he would achieve hundreds of confirmed assassinations, earn the invaluable Colonial Cross, a gold star, two silver stars, two bronze stars, and three purple hearts, among nearly a dozen others and forming an extremely prestigious and decorated service record.
Chase's last known location was on a super carrier leading a diplomatic task force to establish a stronger economical and societal bond between the Humans and various ex-Covenant species. The task force disappeared in 2595 and it nor its members left no trace when they failed to confirm their position after their slipspace transition.
Biography[]
Childhood[]
John on a beach which his house overlooks.
As a child, John was raised in a middle-class family on Reach. He was extremely curious from a young age and often searched the beaches near his house for anything that would spark his interest. On one such "treasure hunt," however, he obtained an old, rusted automatic rifle that had washed up from the tide; from that point he became fascinated with both the rifle, which he hid in an old shack, and many things military-related.
When Chase reached the age of eleven, his mother fell ill to an unknown illness and was pronounced dead ten hours later in a nearby hospital; the cause of death was later found to be an extremely dangerous strain of bacteria that makes its way into livestock grown on the planet. This would have an immediately devastating effect on John, whom mourned her death only for a short time before he taught himself only to think of the positive memories. One particular way he did this was carving pictures of his mother and himself into a piece of driftwood he had found a year before. When he reached the age fourteen he had become to involve himself in local gang activity. He sided with a local gang known as the Greene Diggers, named for the area's mining reputation and after the creator of the gang. John would begin his career in gangs as a drug runner. Under orders from the "brass" of the gang, he would transport the popular club drug Orange Love along with illegally possessed prescription narcotics to and from regional cartels and various dealers; the Greene Diggers themselves preferred not to solicit drugs straight to the public to better avoid detection.
At the age of sixteen, he finally obtained his first weapon above knives and compact pistols: an MA4B assault rifle. Unlike the other gangsters that opted for spraying targets with a blanket of fire, John preferred to use controlled bursts and to a similar extent semi-automatic fire; though his choice of fire style would confuse many fellow gang members, they were often in discreet awe of Chase's natural marksmanship. Unfortunately for John, though, he was arrested a few months later and charged with two counts of manslaughter. Due to the ongoing struggle of the United Nations Space Command Defense Force against the Covenant force, John was required to choose between an extended boot camp and entry into the military or up to twenty years in prison; as with the majority of others that made their way to this situation, he decided to enter basic training for the Marine Corps. During basic training, he would review his life and realize that he had a chance to redeem for his mistakes and to make his family proud of him once more.
Following graduation of Marine Corps training, John was given the promotion to Private. He would proceed to enlist in marksman school. Chase would endure another six weeks of rigorous training and trials, he passed the school in the top ten percentile; Chase would then go on even further to attempt Ranger training. After transported to the discreet planet of <<. FILE CLASSIFIED_PRIORITY LEVEL THREE_EYES ONLY .>>
UNSC Service[]
During the Human-Covenant War, John would serve valiantly for ten years and in a number of conflicts. The first battle that he participated was the First Battle of Animous, occurring on one of the few remaining Human footholds in the Outer Colonies. He and the 185th Ranger Battalion would travel to the planet aboard one of thirteen ships of Battlegroup Kingston, named after the lead ship. John and forty-nine other marksmen were deployed ahead of the other Rangers in order to clear Covenant patrols, eliminate any present rebels if any, establish suitable landing zones and hot zones, et cetera. He would perform at an adequate level, scoring one kill and assisting in dozens as a spotter. The battle as a whole would be a victory though six vessels were lost.
Early Years of the Great War[]
Chase as observed by a drone on the colony Mactave.
Approximately two weeks after first arriving at Animous and one week after repelling the first assault on the colony, a second and slightly stronger Covenant task force arrived, now with one vessel for each of Battlegroup Kingston's and an obviously stronger force. Chase, who had remained on the surface to aid in searching for survivors, was pitted against heavy opposition, and he and the platoon he was deployed with fought their way to a safe zone where they were extracted; only two of the UNSC's vessels escaped.
Over the next few months, John would participate in a number of other similar "bloody arrows," each only easing him a bit more into the realization of war. However, he would break this chain when he performed his first boarding operation in 2543. When patrolling near a small colony, his parent battlegroup encountered a lone, unarmed Covenant transport vessel. Chase and one hundred other Rangers and Orbital Drop Shock Troopers would use specialized boarding pods to infiltrate the ship. Within ten minutes, the boarding party was down to twelve Rangers and six ODST's, all of which had regrouped not far from the reactor. One of the ODST's and the commander of the boarding unit, Captain Don Landry, sacrificed himself by distracting a pack of Jiralhanae with heavy fire; he was eventually killed by a spike grenade lodged into his thigh though he allowed the soldiers to make their way to the main reactor and plant explosives and used two Covenant escape pods to escape.
The following conflict that John participated would be one of his most prestigious during the whole of the Human-Covenant War. In July of 2543, Office of Naval Intelligence had put together enough intelligence to safely assume that the Covenant had established what seemed to be a resupply depot on a moon in the Outer Colonies. Using a small stealth craft, then-Lance Corporal Chase and eighteen other Rangers were taken aboard this transport, named the UNSC Thrasher, to the system. ONI's suspicions were confirmed when the small vessel detected six Covenant vessels in orbit around the moon. Using stealth-enhanced Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicles (not to be confused with Long Range Stealth Orbital Insertion Pods) they were launched from high orbit and landed in a half-kilometer radius approximately eighty kilometers away from the main Covenant station on the moon; from there they slowly made their way in. In the first few days of painfully slow travel, they eliminated a dozen patrols at the cost of only two wounded soldiers. When they reached the three kilometer radius, six sniper teams were set up at one kilometer intervals on a ridge overlooking the depot. Chase, with the help of his spotter, would eliminate a patrol single handedly just an hour after he had set up at his post.
This patrol had managed to alert the depot before their demise, however, and John and the others were forced to assault the base as the Thrasher above them struggled to remain out of sight while they deployed two Pelican dropships to support the Rangers. John and his spotter fought their way into a secondary vantage point, from which they picked off enemies charging the other positions. However, just as he emptied his sniper rifle of ammunition and equipped his battle rifle, two Mgalekgolo pairs charged at John and his partner, Private First Class Roy Kaid. A well placed shot by his spotter's DM Rifle killed one of the chargers and the two Rangers were able to pick off two more as they charged. However, his spotter's DMR jammed and he was forced to retrieve his M6I sidearm but was chased by the Hunter. The behemoth slammed his shield into Kaid and knocked him ten yards away, his body limp and no longer conscious. John, not having time to change his magazine, jumped on top of the Hunter and stabbed his combat blade into the neck area of the hunter using a boulder; he stabbed it repeatedly until it shook him off. He dodged its swings multiple times before he succumbed to the effects of the combat blade, which John had managed to lodge the entirety of the blade along with a portion of the handle downward towards the midsection. Chase would be extracted soon after since the orbiting vessels had begun to flood the area with Covenant forces; not only did John forge an everlasting friendship with Kaid but he would also earn a Gold Star for his actions an early promotion to Corporal.
Later Years[]
Chase watching a Covenant Assault Carrier prepare to deploy troops while his unit readies itself.
After he had achieved this great feat, Corporal Chase and Lance Corporal Kaid would operate together for much of the remainder of the war. In early 2545, they were deployed on another boarding operation, though this time on a Covenant Assault Carrier, known to the UNSC as CAC-257. In orbit of a modest mining colony in the Inner Colonies known as Moss, John, Roy, and four hundred other Rangers, Scouts, and ODST's were deployed via dual-occupant boarding vehicles into the bowels of the Carrier. John, armed with an M90B shotgun and Kaid an MA5B, linked with twelve others and fought their way to the secondary control center at the bow of the ship and made quick albeit difficult work of the Carrier's second-in-command and his guard. At this forward control room, they uploaded a virus into the Carrier's operating system which overpowered the local associated intelligence and disabled all shielding and much of the point defenses. But, even as thirty other soldiers arrived at their aid, the center was overrun by Covenant forces and they quickly made their way to a hangar with the help of SPARTAN-149 whom had arrived midway through the operation. They were extracted as four UNSC destroyers and a cruiser obliterated the Assault Carrier, two escorting light cruisers, and a stripped down Jiralhanae-operated frigate.
Reach[]
- "'Only' isn't a word I associate with the lost of Human lives."
- ―Chase when told the death toll of the assault of Yaribu by another Ranger.
Chase would again participate in more than a dozen painful losses, pyrrhic victories, and similar battles until 2552. Stationed aboard the Marathon-class Cruiser Deception, Chase would arrive in the Epsilon Eradini system just hours before the first of sight of Covenant vessels was made in the system. Before long, he would be deployed near the city of Yaribu along with a dozen other Rangers and sixty Army troopers. Minutes after arriving in the city, construction of their sandbag and polycrete fortifications were well under way. Once they had realized that the Covenant weren't interested, it was too late to evacuate and the troopers remained at the city.
Days later, the Covenant's attack on the city finally began when two Spirit dropships carrying dozens of Sangheili, Kig-Yar, Unggoy, four Ghosts, and two Banshee escorts came across the population center; using their allotted missile pods, they were able to disable the turret on one dropship, destroy one banshee, and force the other dropship to crash land after releasing its two carried Ghosts prematurely. The Army detail then used its two M12 Warthogs equipped with M41 LAAG's to rapidly supress the Covenant strike teams as they exited the bays of the able Spirit; using a modified MA37A2 Assault Rifle, Chase and Kaid picked off panicking grunts and startled Kig Yar before they regained composure while heavy gunners focused on the shielded and well-armed Sangheili and the two Ghosts. As the soldiers wrapped up their assault on the functional Spirit, the second one which had survived a hard landing in a wheat field was able to open its port troop bay doors while occupants in the other struggled to break out. The Covenant reinforcement force caught the garrison off guard, killing five troopers before taking their first casualty. Moments later, members of the second bay managed to force their way out of the dropship only to witness the Spirit's explosion and their own demise along with the remaining operable Ghost. Chase and Kaid were led by an Army Staff Sergeant to a planet weapons cache from which they retrieved grenades and an W/AV M6 G/G "Spartan Laser". The Staff Sergeant attempted to take down the Banshee with the Laser, though was killed by a fuel rod blast. John rushed over to his body and equipped the Laser himself while Kaid and an Army Private provided cover fire. As the Banshee prepared to fire its fuel rod cannon on Kaid, the Spartan Laser discharged and shredded the cockpit of the Banshee and the resulting shrapnel decapitating the sole remaining Elite on the ground; after a regroup the garrison found they only suffered nine fatalities. Though any loss is extremely tragic and something not to be looked up too, it could've been much worse if it wasn't for the successful planning of the small garrison.
Over the next few days the garrison would begin to slowly extract civilians from the city and transport them via three recently acquired Colonial Militia-issue Falcon Tiltrotor craft and a handful of Orca ASV's to a refugee camp unknown to the Covenant forces where they would travel via improvised arm convoys to yet another refugee camp where shuttles could make attempts to escape the planet, though the Cole Protocol limited destinations. Much of the city's five thousand inhabitants had been successfuly evacuated by the time a second wave of Covenant forces arrived; this new troop consisted of multiple Gorgons armed with dual plasma cannons, Ghosts, a pair of Wraiths, and dozens of infantry soldiers. The Sergeant Major in command of the garrison ordered all of the available forces into the buildings of the inner city along with the last occupants of the city before the incoming Covenant assault detail could spot them out. WIP
Operation: CASCADE[]
During the United Nations Space Command's Operation: CASCADE, which was in essence an attempt to clear former UNSC colonies of occupying Covenant Loyalists, he would serve for only slightly more than half of the operation due to complications with an injured Anterior Cruciate Ligament in his right knee. However, he managed to achieve the rank of Staff Sergeant and led a team of twenty commandos through a short yet chaotic tour before stumbling on a ledge while running and catching his boot on the top of the ledge and therefore completely tearing the AC ligament in his right knee. In the aftermath, he would earn another fifty confirmed marksman kills in addition to the service he put in as a leader more so than a marksman.
Splinter War[]
By the start Splinter War John and his unit of nearly two hundred Rangers (John had been provisionally promoted to Captain when his three superior officers all died in a single hail of rebel gunfire) formed a base of operations on the planet Orbital in the ruins of the capital city, where they stood against numerous rebels before a pro-UNSC battlegroup arrived to eliminate the rebel presence on the planet. The Allied force to brought John and his unit along with them and began to search nearby colonies for signs of other Allied forces. Also at this time, Captain Chase gained control of a larger unit that consisted of highly trained Rangers, ex-members of the UNSC Air Force known as Scouts, a mix of Marines and standard Army Infantry, and numerous able-bodied civilians that volunteered to supplement the weakened forces that fought for the fallen UNSC. Soon after obtaining command of this provisional unit, Chase's first mission was to infiltrate a rebel installation on a new pro-UNSC colony, Mayfield. The rebels that maintained the outpost were known as the United Confederation for Freedom and they were well-known for their capabilities with limited munitions; Chase was aware of this from when he assaulted another UCF encampment on the colony Tate. Chase, along with twenty-five ex-Rangers and Scouts his freshly formed unit, was deployed via Kakapo dropship to just outside the perimeter of the outpost and quickly fought their way in, killing all but six, all of whom were taken prisoner, and the cost of just four, resulting in a 21:1 fatality ratio. This would be one of the first recorded joint operations between Rangers and Scouts since the 2540's.
Fall of Earth[]
- "Warning, Sidney is currently under threat by unconfirmed weapon of mass destruction. Advise of immediate evacuation within half an hour."
- ―Radio transmission sent to all military frequencies on Earth.
Afterward, John went on with the now battle-hardened company and their mother fleet fought on twelve more planets, including the dreadful fall of Earth. When the first wave of Protectorate forces arrived at the doorstep of Humanity's homeland, Chase's parent fleet, now deemed Battlegroup Bravo, was called back to Earth and prepared for the one week journey back. When they arrived back at Earth, the view was one of utter horror: England southern tip was a show of red and brown even visual from orbit, evidence that a nuclear weapon had been detonated. A radio transmission confirmed that the Colonial Protectorate had detonated a Shiva-class warhead in London's outskirts. Battlegroup Bravo hurried to orbit over Sydney, where another battle had already begun. The nine ships of Bravo launched their share of ODST's before three frigates descended into the Atmosphere to rapidly insert troops onto the surface while a frigate, two destroyers, and the lead cruiser remained in orbit to engage rebel vessels and land additional reinforcements elsewhere; John, along with his company, twenty Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, a six-hundred-strong Marine battalion, was what formed the reinforcements sent to Sydney. Using Kakapo dropships, they were ferried to various parts of the city including the Sidney Opera House, which at the time was the acting base of operations for scattered pro-UNSC forces.
John's thirty-soldier platoon that he was inserted with easily purged their vicinity of any rebels while helping out with the remainder of evacuation efforts. He fought his way to the city's main shuttle depot, known as the Sydney Transport Station, and rescued one-hundred civilians along the mile-long stretch. When Chase reached the STS, he rendezvoused with seventeen Army personnel and fifty-four other soldiers from Battlegroup Bravo. They were ordered to defend the massive station while escorting nearly six-hundred refugees onto shuttles and into orbit; from there, they would ascend into orbit and travel through low orbit to refugee camps approximately two-hundred kilometers to the north. Approximately an hour after arriving at the elevator, the station's improvised garrison was ordered to evacuate by a FLEETCOM transmission due to unconfirmed reports of weapons of mass destruction. The garrison used one of the few remaining shuttles and regrouped with Battlegroup Bravo.
Earth after the warheads and other various WMD's and decimated its surface.
Once on the frigate, John looked down just in time for an extremely startling scene: another nuclear warhead went off in Sidney, the effects soon visible from space. Before long, the sight of multiple more warheads detonating across the surface of Earth, including a 150 megaton PEGASUS warhead detonating at the Strait of Gibraltar, not only obliterating the bridge spanning the gateway to the Mediterranean but also causing damage just over one-hundred kilometers away. While battlegroup Bravo attempted to take in refugees, a total of nineteen nuclear warheads scarred Earth's service along with other highly destructive weapons including a 600-ton Magnetic Accelerator Cannon slug fired at Moscow, decimating a one-hundred mile radius; all of these attacks acted as an obvious message from the Colonial Protectorate that Earth is nothing but another tool in Human superiority.
In the aftermath of the conflict, a total of fifty-one percent of the surface of Earth was rendered uninhabitable to some extent, while much of this was inhabited sections. Due to the compromised status of Humanity's homeworld, the majority of the population has been evacuated to the few other stable pro-UNSC colonies left. From this point, Battlegroup Bravo's frigates and destroyers would ferry refugees to other planets while the lead cruiser would temporarily operate with Battlegroup Delta before the Battlegroup united and returned to conventional "planet-hopping" warfare. By the end of the war, Chase's role would indefinitely change over from marksman to commander and would become a vital member of the newly formed United Federation to Restore Humanity's Ranger Scout Service, a special forces unit inspired in part by the Scouts and Rangers of Chase's unit, among others.
Early UFRH Service[]
- "I am a Ranger Scout; I am the deadliest weapon that the Federation has in its arsenal. My strength lies in my mind, and without it I am blind. I must be conditioned in order to utilize this strength to its fullest extent in order to preserve the safety of my people. I am Ranger Scout, and I am salvation!!!"
- ―Official Ranger Scout Creed, devised by Chase in 2564.
When the Federation was established late in 2564, it was lacking in well-trained brass and because of this John was given yet another promotion to Major and established the 2nd Special Warfare Battalion which included his former unit, now known officially as the 17th Special Operations Company, and a mechanized company. He immediately took to personally hosting a boot camp of sorts for those that had tagged along during the Splinter War and desired to remain with him.
Mental Report[]
As of 2578, John has exhibited few signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or any other peculiar symptoms of extended wartime experiences. This is most likely due to the fact that he excels at managing time when not deployed and often allows himself to rest and practices a small plethora of calming activities, including yoga, meditation to an extent, massage therapy, and even occasional pedicures, all of which he is well aware are calming and healthy for the mind. He has even adopted a young girl orphaned by a revolt in the Outer Colonies when he took on a desk job and raised her with few "interruptions." However, as with almost every single soldier, Chase does struggle with spontaneous, terrifying flashbacks and occasional nightmares. Overall, John is considered to be fully functional and bares no mentally or physically crippling afflictions.
Appearance[]
John could be considered by many to be the face of war in appearance. Dozens of scars ranging from slight plasma burns on his fingers to a half-meter gash swiping diagonally across his chest. John is and always has been fairly muscular and often exercises to maintain his modest physique. His wide shouldered, six foot, four inch build further exhibits his strength and might. His face is also one of both joy and sorrow; his most distinguishing features are his bold sage green eyes which give insight to both his alluring personality and the wartime horrors that he has encountered.
Awards, Promotions, & Decorations[]
| Promotions for CHASE, John L. | ||
| Insignia | Rank | Date |
 |
Major** | December 19th, 2564 |
 |
Captain** | April 10th, 2562 |
 |
Staff Sergeant | December 3rd, 2555 |
 |
Sergeant | December 22nd, 2550 |
 |
Corporal | August 9th, 2543 |
 |
Lance Corporal | January 19th, 2543 |
 |
Private First Class | March 24th, 2540 |
 |
Private | March 23rd, 2539 |
| * = Demoted ** = Provisional Note: All officer ranks were held after the UNSC's collapse. | ||
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Like Avery Johnson and many Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, John enjoyed listening to flip music, often just before deployment. In fact, he enjoyed black flip, an even heavier version of flip music.
- John was always known to somewhat dislike SPARTAN's; he once told a subordinate that he felt that they shouldn't be respected more than the soldiers who made the choice to enlist themselves and they were forced into their training. This does not necessarily mean that they don't deserve respect as Chase was more than aware they were what led humanity to its survival.
- He was quite fond of the MA37A2 Assault Rifle.
- John was fluent in three languages: English, French, and German; he also learned a limited amount of the spoken Covenant language.