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"I knew we shouldn't have let that kid join Bravo..." — Brad Michaels
This article predates the Great Reset, and is thus considered a Legacy article. It is not relevant to the current canon. |
Corporal Brad Michaels is an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper in the UNSC Marine Corps. He is a member of Task Force Bravo, serving under First Lieutenant Brian Hartley.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Michaels was born on the human colony world of Alluvion in 2524. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2542.
Battle of Alluvion[]
In early 2542, when Michaels heard that the Covenant had invaded Alluvion, he stole a Warthog from his superior officers and made his way to his house, hoping to rescue his family. After successfully reuniting with his family, he escorted them to an evacuation site.
When they reached a transport ship, they found out that it was transporting UNSC soldiers and members of the Colonial Guard, and that it had no room for a whole family of civilians. As he was a military asset, Michaels was forced to leave his family behind while they waited for another ship.
However, the ship never arrived, and Michaels' family was killed when the Fleet of Particular Justice glassed Alluvion.
Battle of New Jerusalem[]
- Main Article: First Battle of New Jerusalem
Roughly four years after the loss of Alluvion, Michaels joined the elite 105th, the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. One of his first missions as an ODST was the First Battle of New Jerusalem, in 2551.
He and his team were sent to New Jerusalem to investigate Kig-Yar pirate activity near the city of Tzab Shveh. However, a few minutes after they reached the city, a Covenant fleet arrived at the planet. During the initial attack, Michaels' team was ambushed and killed by Spec Ops Sangheili. Luckily, he was able to escape and link up with Task Force Bravo. After this incident, he began showing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Later in the battle, the Covenant managed to activate the Armoury, an artefact that stored many Forerunner weapons. While the Armoury was rising out of the ground, a Covenant corvette, commanded by the rogue SPARTAN-I, DAB, exited slipspace above the city. DAB then helped Michaels and Bravo evacuate New Jerusalem. They also loaded the Armoury's artefacts onto the DAB's second ship, the Requisition of Prosperity.
Skirmish for the Requisition[]
- Main Article: Skirmish for the Requisition
The Requisition's reactor failed before it could get to Reach, and the ship fell out of slipspace in interstellar space. Michaels and Bravo used the UNSC Sword of Giants to ferry New Jerusalem's civilians to Reach, leaving the Armoury's artefacts on the Requisition.
Shortly after Bravo arrived at Reach, Captain James Croft was kidnapped by the traitor Admiral Eric Baker. Bravo then split up, with a small team led by Jameson Locke going to rescue Croft and capture Baker, while Michaels and the remainder used the prowler Silent Blade to go back to the Requisition's position and ferry its artefacts to Reach.
When Michaels and Bravo, aboard the Silent Blade, exited slipspace near the Requisition, they were immediately engaged by a small Covenant fleet and were forced to call for reinforcements. The UNSC Sixth Battle Group arrived, igniting a violent battle for the Requisition's artefacts. While the Silent Blade was approaching a Covenant supercruiser, it was cut in half by plasma fire. The front half was completely obliterated, and Michaels and the rest of Bravo left the aft section of the prowler using booster frames and boarded the supercruiser. Inside the cruiser, Bravo split up, with Bravo's leader, Brian Hartley, and Ray Sullivan going to secure a Spirit dropship and the rest of the team (including Michaels) going to the engine room.
After reaching the supercruiser's engine room, Michaels and the others planted several explosives on the engines and made their way to the hangar, in order to board the Spirit Hartley and Sullivan secured. However, before they boarded the dropship, DAB was wounded by a Sangheili. Much to Michaels' disagreement, Bravo was forced to take off and leave DAB behind, as the supercruiser was about to explode. They regrouped with the Sixth Battle Group shortly after.
Arriving at Reach, Michaels had a mental breakdown, stating that Bravo shouldn't have left DAB on the supercruiser and that they wouldn't survive the war without him. He was immediately reprimanded by Brian Hartley, who ordered him to take some shore leave. After this, Michaels was transferred to another ODST team, Omega-Two.
Battle of Ariel[]
In January 2552, Michaels and the rest of Omega-Two were sent to Ariel, after receiving a distress call. When they arrived at an outpost on the planet, he and Higgins found the body of a civilian named Charles and he informed Master Sergeant Frost that it appeared the man died from fright. Shortly afterward, the troopers split into pairs. Michaels stayed with Sergeant Frost, and they separated from the rest of the team.
Later, after the generator of the outpost exploded, he retreated with Frost, although he wanted to stay and search for the troopers who went missing before the explosion. After realising that they may have lost up to four men, he broke down in front of the rest of the platoon and was rebuked by Frost. After regaining his cool, he continued with the rest of the platoon to the other dig site, to look for civilians.
Unbeknown to Michaels and the rest of the ODSTs, the Covenant were preparing to attack them while on their way to the settlement. Fortunately to them, two of the missing troopers, Dutch and Romeo, lured the Covenant away, eliminating a large group of their ground forces in the process. Once the ODSTs reached the settlement, they learned that Romeo and Dutch were alive, and were currently exploring the underground complex below the settlement. Meanwhile, more Covenant were on their way to their position. However, after Romeo and Dutch had the Forerunner AI, the Knowing, self-destruct, the Covenant lost interest in the planet and left without even bothering to finish off the humans.
Fall of Reach, and rejoining Bravo[]
Omega-Two participated in the Fall of Reach in August 2552, where all of the members but Michaels were killed. On August 30, aboard the UNSC Saratoga, Michaels reunited with Task Force Bravo. He rejoined the Task Force, and was sent down to the surface of Reach along with them, their objective being to rescue and gather Major Antonio Silva's ODSTs in Aszod.
Upon landing, Michaels and Bravo made their way to the ship breaking yards, rescuing several pinned down ODSTs along the way. After rescuing all of Silva's ODSTs, Michaels and Bravo were picked up by a Pelican and were brought to the UNSC Pillar of Autumn, shortly before it jumped away from Reach.
Equipment[]
Michaels wears the close-quarters combat variant of the ODST armour, along with a communications backpack and a flashlight on the helmet. His helmet includes a specialised red visor which has a motion tracker.
Michaels' weapon of choice is the BR55HB battle rifle.