Alpha-Nine

Dare's Shock Trooper Squad, or more simply referred to as "The Squad", is a small team of six UNSC Marine Shock Troopers, formerly under the command of Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck.

Squad Roster

 * Captain Veronica Dare - An Office of Naval Intelligence operative. She assumed command of the squad right before the drop into New Mombasa.
 * Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck - A Marine Staff Non-Commissioned Officer (SNCO). He was also the former leader of the squad.
 * Corporal Taylor "Dutch" Miles - A Marine NCO that serves as its Heavy Weapons Specialist, also a former driver on Mars, he uses a W/AV M6 Nonlinear Rifle.
 * Lance Corporal Kojo "Romeo" Agu - The squad's marksman.
 * Lance Corporal "Rookie" - The newest member of the squad.
 *  Private First Class Michael "Mickey" Crespo - The squad's explosive ordnance expert and unofficial pilot.



Battle of Mombasa
During the Battle of Earth, the squad was assigned to the. They were a part of a larger ODST unit with the mission to board the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier by dropping in HEVs from low orbit. Before the drop, however, ONI officer Veronica Dare took over command of the squad in order to use them in her mission to gain access to New Mombasa's Urban Infrastructure AI, the Superintendent below the city and retrieve critically important data collected by the construct. She did not, however, reveal the new mission to the squad until mid-drop, when she ordered them to alter their course towards the city's ONI Alpha Site from where they could access the Superintendent. Dare also gave the squad clearance codes to access the Superintendent's systems, allowing them to utilize the AI for assistance, such as providing a three-dimensional map of the city.

Just as they were on their way down, the Carrier jumped into Slipspace, releasing a devastating shockwave and an EMP, which disabled the squads' drop pods' electronic systems, resulting in them landing uncontrollably around the city.

Dare and Buck landed relatively close to each other. Dare's pod hatch was jammed by the hard landing, and Buck rushed to her position in order to help her. However, Covenant forces converged on Dare's position before Buck managed to reach her. When he finally discovered her pod, he found it to be empty, just as he was confronted by a mysterious Covenant creature, which was holding Dare's severely damaged helmet. Romeo appeared and killed the creature. After reviewing the situation with Romeo, Buck decided to get the squad out of the city, as they assumed Dare had been killed.

During the rest of the day, the squad regrouped, and fought the Covenant for control of the city. Finally together, minus the Rookie and Dare, the squad fought waves of incoming Covenant on the top of the NMPD Headquarters building, where Romeo was injured by a Jiralhanae Chieftain. The squad then made their way to Kikowani Station, where they, upon seeing that escape through train tunnels was impossible, hijacked a Type-52 Troop Carrier and found a way out of the city. However, Buck suddenly discovered he knew where Dare was, and ordered Mickey to turn back to the city. Meanwhile, the Rookie woke up in his pod. After wandering around the city for a while, he received a transmission from Dare, who was pinned down in the data center below the city. The Rookie made his way to the data center, and eventually found Dare. Together, they fought their way to the Superintendent's core, where they discovered a Huragok that had absorbed the Superintendent's memories into itself. As they prepared to leave, Buck arrived to the data center and they made their escape back to the surface. Traveling along the Waterfront Highway, they faced heavy Covenant resistance. Eventually, they were picked up by the Phantom piloted by Mickey. They left the city as it was glassed by the Covenant fleet.

Approximately a month later, the squad and the Huragok were in an ONI orbital facility, where Sergeant Avery Johnson interrogated the creature.