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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. |
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Alright men, let's show them the reason why nobody should mess with the Helljumpers!
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First Lieutenant Brian Hartley is a veteran Orbital Drop Shock Trooper in the UNSC Marine Corps and the leader of Task Force Bravo.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Hartley was born on the Inner Colony of Actium in 2506. During his youth, he enjoyed hunting in the planet's forests along with his father and his brother Stephen.
Hartley enlisted in the UNSC Marine Corps at the age of eighteen and moved to Harvest, where he began training. His brother soon enlisted in the UNSC Army and remained on Actium.
First contact with the Covenant[]
When the Covenant attacked Harvest in 2525, Hartley was tasked with the protection of an evac site for civilians. He and his team managed to fend off the invaders by destroying a building and blocking their path. After this, he, along with the other Marines, boarded one of the evacuation shuttles and fled the planet.
Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and return to Harvest[]
Shortly after the fall of Harvest, Hartley volunteered for the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers and became a member of the 7th Shock Troops Battalion. He later returned to Harvest and participated in the Harvest campaign, where he was deployed to the destroyed town of Gladsheim to rescue several Marine squads that had been ambushed by Covenant armoured convoys. After aiding the Marines, he was sent to Newton Armory to protect the various weapon prototypes it held. This eventually earned him the rank of Corporal.
Battle of Jericho VII[]
Hartley as a Corporal during the Battle of Jericho VII.
Hartley was present during the Battle of Jericho VII in 2535. Shortly after being deployed, he witnessed the massacre of the 105th Drop Jet Platoon from the top of a building. Later, he and his team participated in several evacuation efforts, before withdrawing to the UNSC Resolute, as the Covenant prepared to glass the planet.
Battle of Crystal[]
- Main Article: Battle of Crystal
After participating in numerous battles of the Covenant War, Hartley reached the rank of First Lieutenant and assumed command of his own ODST platoon. In late 2550, he was assigned to the UNSC Conqueror and sent to the human colony world of Crystal, which was under attack by the Covenant. Upon making landfall in the jungles, he met Jameson Locke, an ONI agent, and rescued the pilot Trent Pieterson and his Pelican crew. Together, they traveled to the city of Ntesköe, where they helped Police Captain Garth Chyenka evacuate the city. With the civilians aboard the Conqueror, Commander Wright informed Hartley of the reason for the Covenant's attack of Crystal: they were looking for a Forerunner artefact called the Casket. Hartley and Locke soon encountered a Sangheili warrior named Sasuun 'Grtamee who had defected from the Covenant. Locke attempted to kill the Elite, but was stopped by Hartley, who was eager to listen. Sasuun provided them with information about the Casket, as well as its location.
After taking out a series of Covenant AA batteries in a desert, Hartley and the others reached the artefact and encountered Uhzre, Sasuun's co-pilot. Uhzre attempted to activate the Casket, but was soon killed by Locke. The Casket then set itself due to a combination of extreme Covenant glassing and close-proximity slipspace ruptures. Hartley and his men were evacuated to the Conqueror via Pieterson's Pelican, as the Casket destroyed the planet and its entire system.
EUREKA and Task Force Bravo[]
- Main Article: Operation: EUREKA
The loss of Crystal prompted the UNSC to organize Operation: EUREKA - the search for the Forerunner artefacts known as Caskets. Hartley was put in charge of Task Force Bravo, a group of soldiers established by Captain James Croft that would later participate in EUREKA.
Daego Insertions[]
- Main Article: Daego Insertions
Operation: EUREKA's first search zone was Daego, a planet which had fallen into Covenant hands two days earlier. This location was chosen for its short distance to Crystal's system, as well as the knowledge that Hartley's brother Stephen, now an ODST, was last reported to be on the planet.
After arriving at Daego, Croft's frigate, Sword of Giants, deployed Task Forces Alpha to Lima. Hartley was part of Bravo-Three, along with Staff Sergeant Peter Ulan. During the opening stages of the battle, a Stealth Sangheili used its energy sword to slice Hartley's chestplate. Luckily, the Sangheili was immediately killed by Ulan. Following this event, the team headed to a destroyed city and found Stephen Hartley, who had been hiding in a building. They then escorted him to a safe landing zone, where he was picked up by a Pelican.
The ODSTs were not able to find the Casket, and the Daego Insertions were considered a complete failure.
Mission to New Jerusalem[]
- Main Article: First Battle of New Jerusalem
Hartley with his ODSTs during the First Battle of New Jerusalem.
The second search zone was the colony world of New Jerusalem, in the Cygnus system. It was chosen simply due to the fact that it was one of the few Outer Colonies that had not yet been attacked by the Covenant.
When the Sword of Giants arrived at New Jerusalem, Hartley and Task Force Bravo headed to the surface of the planet in Albatross dropships, but were shot down by Kig-Yar pirates. Private Seamus Greco died in the crash.
After clearing the crash-site, the survivors of Task Force Bravo made their way to a settlement. They then used civilian Genets to link up with the other Task Forces at New Haifa. Once there, Bravo and the other Task Forces used several M312 Elephants to get to the city of Tzab Shveh, a possible search-zone for the Casket. Unfortunately, a Covenant strike force had arrived at the planet and placed an energy shield around the city. Hartley managed to destroy the shield using a captured Type-47A 'Protos' Scarab.
Hartley and Task Force Bravo infiltrated the city and found the Armoury, a massive artefact that stored many Forerunner weapons. While Hartley investigated the Armoury, a Covenant corvette, the Prelude to Penance, exited slipspace. Commanding it was a rogue member of the ORION Project nicknamed DAB. Shortly after, DAB helped Bravo evacuate New Jerusalem. Hartley also loaded the Armoury's artefacts onto DAB's second ship, the Requisition of Prosperity.
Skirmish for the Requisition[]
- Main Article: Skirmish for the Requisition
While en-route to Reach, the Requisition's reactor failed, and the ship fell out of slipspace in interstellar space. Bravo then used the Sword of Giants to ferry the civilians to Reach, leaving the Requisition and the artefacts it contained behind.
After arriving at Reach, Bravo learned that Admiral Eric Baker, one of the creators of Operation: EUREKA, was a traitor. Baker sent a squad of Marines to capture Captain Croft on the Sword of Giants. They succeeded, and Croft was taken aboard Baker's frigate, the UNSC Levittown. Bravo then split up, with a small team led by Locke going to retrieve Croft and apprehend Baker, while the remainder (including Hartley) boarded the prowler Silent Blade in order to ferry the Requisition's artefacts to Reach. Unbeknownst to them, a small Covenant fleet had already located the Requisition.
When the Silent Blade exited slipspace near the Requisition and encountered the Covenant fleet, Bravo was forced to call for back-up. The UNSC Sixth Battle Group arrived shortly after, and a major battle ensued. Bravo was ordered to board the fleet's leading ship, a Covenant supercruiser. Once the supercruiser's shields were down, the Silent Blade approached the ship's hangar, but was cut in half by plasma fire. The front half, carrying Private Charles Taylor, was completely obliterated. The rest of Bravo left the aft section of the prowler using booster frames. After entering the supercruiser's hangar, Bravo split up, with Hartley and Ray Sullivan going to secure a Spirit dropship for their escape and the rest of the team going to the engine room. After securing the Spirit, Hartley and Sullivan waited for the others to arrive at their position. However, after planting a bomb on the engines and reaching the hangar, DAB was wounded by a Sangheili wielding an energy sword. As the supercruiser was about to explode, Hartley and the others were forced to take off and leave the hangar, leaving DAB behind. They met up with the Sixth Battle Group once all the Covenant ships were destroyed.
Expedition to Cyrus VII and capture[]
- Main Article: Expedition to Cyrus VII
When Task Force Bravo returned to Reach, Brad Michaels began showing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Hartley ordered him to take some shore leave, fearing that he would reduce the team's effectiveness. Bravo then decided to travel to the planet Cyrus VII, another possible search-zone for the Casket.
Hartley with his ODSTs on Cyrus VII.
Not long after arriving at Cyrus VII, Bravo was deployed to a forest. There, they split up, and planned to ambush a pack of Jiralhanae. Though they were successful, Peter Ulan was killed. Shaken by his death, Hartley and Bravo continued through the forest, only to be ambushed by two Type-47B 'Deutoros' Scarabs. They were captured, and brought to a Covenant prison camp in an unknown system, where the Covenant were using the prisoners to activate Forerunner artefacts such as Luminaries. In the prison camp, Bravo encountered DAB, who had survived the destruction of the Covenant supercruiser. Together, they started a rebellion, and managed to eliminate all Covenant forces in the space station. They then used several Huragok eager to help to remove all tracking devices from a Covenant corvette and told them to ferry all of the prisoners to the nearest human colony.
After hearing reports that a Covenant fleet carrying a Casket was heading to the station where the prison camp was located, Hartley and Bravo placed several charges on the station and left aboard their prowler, Shadow of Splendour, which had also been captured by the Covenant.
Personality and traits[]
During the first half of the Human-Covenant War, Hartley was rather enthusiastic and quick to make decisions. His determination in fighting the Covenant and his ability to inspire those under his command were what earned him the rank of First Lieutenant. However, as the years passed and the war escalated, Hartley grew tired of seeing so many fellow soldiers die, and became colder and more focused on the mission in order to avoid developing relationships with his troopers. The loss of Crystal even prompted him to consider retiring, but as Task Force Bravo was formed, and Hartley was put in charge of it, he made the decision to continue fighting until his death, realising that the defence of humanity was more important than his welfare, and that he did not have a home to go back to anyway. Although his morale was raised by the end of the war, the emergence of the Covenant remnants and new Insurrectionist groups caused him to once again lose hope. Despite this, he still tries to maintain the typical ODST attitude in front of his men.
Equipment[]
A full-body shot of Hartley in his armour during the Battle of Installation 00.
Hartley wears standard ODST armour. He carries a large amount of flashbangs and smoke grenades on his utility belt, and wears bright red shoulder pads that are commonly used by ODST platoon leaders. He also uses a TACPAD on his left arm. In a pouch on his chestplate he carries a medallion given to him by his mother when he was a child, an object which he believes is the reason he survived so many battles of the war.
Hartley's weapon of choice is the MA5C assault rifle, though sometimes he uses a BR55HB battle rifle.