- The Old Wolf US
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- Exalted Member
I also think S1 refers to ONI Section 1:
[SMN.UNKNOWN]:[UNITELLIGIBLE > COMPLIANCE(?)]
[DARE.V.500341(S1)]: “Admiral, about my squad?”
[DARE.V.500341(S1)]: “I’ve forwarded their NCO’s name to your --”
"DARE" has requested a squad, led by a specific NCO (Sgt. Johnson?) to help him deal with a situation on the ground that the Admiral doesn't want to deal with because he is busy fighting a ship-to-ship engagement
[SMN.ACTUAL]: “Enough, Captain!”
[SMN.ACTUAL]: “If I survive this attack..."
[SMN.ACTUAL]: “I will deploy per my orders from Fleet HQ!”
[DARE.V.500341(S1)]: “Sir. I don’t report to Fleet.”
[DARE.V.500341(S1)]: “And the men I want? Now they don’t either.”
[DARE.V.500341(S1)]: “Please. Read my request.”
DARE is a Captain and he doesn't report to Fleet. That makes him either a Marine Captain (seriously outranked by the Admiral and being dangerously insubordinate) or is a UNSC Navy Captain working for ONI, still outranked by the Admiral. Either way, he is pushing someone who clearly outranks him to do what he wants, suggesting that he is outside of the normal UNSC chain of command. That suggests ONI spook to me. A SPARTAN I would very definitely fall under the UNSC chain of command, and I just can't see a SPARTAN giving this much lip to an Admiral. Furthermore, DARE has just told the Admiral that the squad he has requisitioned no longer reports to Fleet either, in other words DARE has the authority to take troops away from very senior UNSC commanders as and when required. SPARTANS are good in a fight, but they don't wield that kind of authority. When an Admiral tells the Master Chief what to do, he does it. DARE seems to do whatever he needs to do to get his mission done, regardless of the chain of command.
[STATIC (2.8179s)]
[EXPLOSION (3.0194s)]
[STATIC (7.4501s)]
[SMN.ACTUAL]: “Didn’t think you S1 types ever left your cave.”
[DARE.V.500341(S1)]: “Desperate times...”
I think people are taking the cave reference too literally. I think it just points to DARE being ONI, i.e. working behind the scenes in the shadows, mostly analysing intel in offices rather than being on the front lines (contrast to SPARTANS, who definitely belong front and centre on the front lines). These "desperate times" have forced DARE out into the open to requisition a squad in order to directly gather intel because his usual means of doing so have been lost (presumably due to the attack in progress).
[SMN.ACTUAL]: “Alright, Captain. You’ve got your squad.”
[SMN.ACTUAL]: “If I survive the attack."
[EXPLOSION (2.9016s)]
[SMN.ACTUAL]: “And right now? That’ll take a genuine act of God.”
[DARE.V.500341(S1)]: “I’ll see what I can do.”
DARE apparently has some aces up his sleeve that he can use to save the Admiral's ship. Who knows what though.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I think this could be the squad-based game we've been hearing about, and that it takes place in the aftermath of Contact: Harvest. That's why I think the NCO being requested is Avery Johnson, because of his extraordinary abilities and the fact that he is the only human officer to have fought the Covenant and won.
[Edited on 09.22.2008 10:17 PM PDT]