- Sandtrap
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- Intrepid Heroic Member
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I have no real particular "Hero" that I say is the best, but I focus more on acts that have been done. I'll give a few instances of this.
Jenkins. Infected by an aged flood parasite, it didn't have complete control over him. He was in a living nightmare and still managed to overcome the parasite inside him in the vital moments. The tech on TaR could have helped humanity immensely, but the flood it carried would have overwhelmed Earth. Having the willpower to fight that and not give in, is a fine example.
Admiral Whitcomb. Whitcomb then took command of the vessel, navigating it through an anomalous Slipspace bubble and defeating the , despite the heavy damage to the ship. He then took it to Eridanus Secundus, blackmailing Governor Jacob Jiles to help him repair his ship. Whitcomb held off the first wave of attacks which was two Covenant cruisers (just a small scout party for the main fleet). But when the main attack force showed up he knew that he could not sacrifice the crew of the Ascendant Justice/Gettysburg because they were the only ones who knew of the Covenant plans to attack Earth so he traded the rebels lives for UNSC lives. He wanted to stay and defend the rebels but he said "This is not the Alamo and I am not Colonel William Barret Travis, although I dearly wish I were. No, we're running. We're trading hundreds of lives for millions." It was obvious he deeply regretted abandoning the rebels, whom he promised amnesty for their services.
"Hundreds for millions. Duty be damned...I'm still gonna burn in hell for this. Go Cortana, get us out of here. And God forgive me."
He then reluctantly approved Operation: FIRST STRIKE, and although he initally planned to continue on to Earth, on Haverson's suggestion, he had the ship drop out of Slipspace to get some intel on the fleet. Upon seeing the size of it, Whitcomb realized that even if the command station was destroyed, there was still too much of a threat to Earth and decided to do something about it then and there while he still could. He moved the ships to behind a nearby moon and had the Ascendant Justice's Slipspace matrix moved to the Gettysburg so that ship could jump, then detached the two ships, slingshoting Ascendant Justice around the moon towards the Unyielding Hierophant in an attempt to maximize Covenant losses by drawing in as many ships as possible towards the explosion. He rammed the Unyielding Hierophant, and broadcast a message that he had the Forerunner crystal that the Covenant wanted and told them to come and get it. His act as bait was successful, and he perished along with Lieutenant Haverson and the Ascendant Justice. After arming Lieutenant Haverson and himself with submachine guns, he courageously held out for a while before becoming overpowered and overrun by Elites wielding Energy Swords, most likely Zealots. His sacrifice prevented Earth from being overrun by 500 Covenant vessels, a fight that would surely have met with disaster for Humanity's homeworld. Thanks to his drawing in the fleet, all but about a dozen ships were destroyed in the blast, severly weakening the Covenant forces that attacked Earth later and giving it a fighting chance.[7] His last words were:
Now listen, son, remember when we talked about the Alamo. You know every one of the brave defenders in those fights died. They knew the odds, but they hurt the enemy. Both were tactical defeats, but in the end they were also brilliant strategic victories. They made the enemy afraid. Just a few good soldiers fighting for what's right made the difference.
I could go on and on, but I'll leave it at that.
[Edited on 12.08.2011 1:45 PM PST]