Whitaker

"John-117"

Captain Whitaker was a high-ranking member of the local Insurrectionist militia on Alpha Corvi II.

Biography
In 2525, Whitaker commanded an Insurrectionist militia cell affiliated with Colonel Robert Watts' United Rebel Front. In the wake of the Human-Covenant War, Whitaker witnessed the Covenant's brutality first hand when they arrived over his homeworld of Alpha Corvi II and attacked the settlements of Jamshid and Black Reef. During the Covenant's assault on the planet, Whitaker came face to face with John-117 when the Spartan-II stealthily infiltrated the insurrectionists' outpost and collared him. Knowing that he and his group were no match against the Spartans who captured Robert Watts, Whitaker heard out John and was persuaded to side with Blue Team in combating the alien invaders.

Whitaker rallied his men to the defense of the human mining facility on Black Reef where the Covenant were excavating deep beneath the surface. While Blue Team entered the mines to intercept the Covenant within, Whitaker and his men took up positions against the invaders around the mine entrance. During the battle, Whitaker's forces inflicted heavy losses on the Covenant infantry and brought down several Type-25 Spirits arriving to reinforce them, but as casualties rapidly mounted Whitaker ordered the destruction of the mine entrance to deny the enemy access to their target below. Whitaker sent two soldiers, Franny and Miguel to set several charges to destroy the mine while the Covenant swarmed the site. This plan succeeded at the cost of both soldiers and inadvertently trapped Blue Team underground. With more dropships approaching, Whitaker and several of his remaining men retreated to Bondi Beach to find the means necessary to fight off the Covenant reinforcements, commandeering an APC used by the Spartans to reach the site.

At Bondi Beach, Whitaker and his team reunited with Blue Team who had managed to fight their way back to the surface, and both sides fought against the Covenant who were attempting to stop the humans from escaping the planet. After securing the area, Whitaker and his men rushed to Dropship Tango 807 to evacuate with Blue Team, but were denied entry by the flight crew. Whitaker argued that it was only because of their intervention that the Spartans survived, and demanded that he and his men be evacuated. Instead, he was ordered to find his own means off the planet, and that no non-military vessel would be intercepted should they succeed. Watching as his unlikely allies left without them, Whitaker turned his attention to the attacking Covenant while radioing for assistance. Despite their defense, Whitaker and his men were quickly overrun and Whitaker was impaled in the chest by an Elite wielding an Energy Sword. Whitaker's death greatly affected Blue Team, who saw his sacrifice as senseless on the part of their UNSC superiors who thought nothing of sacrificing him and his fellow rebels for time.

Personality and traits
Like all Insurrectionists, Whitaker harbored a deep distrust and resentment of the UNSC and its abuses of power across its colonies, and was completely loyal to the United Rebel Front which sought independence from them. However, Whitaker was pragmatic and deeply perceptive, prioritizing the survival of his men over the rifts that had divided humanity. His pragmatism was most apparent when he agreed to a truce with Spartan-II supersoldier John-117, recognizing that he could not hope to best the physically superior soldier and that it was more beneficial to aid him rather than resist him when confronted with the ongoing genocide being waged against the human race. Whitaker was able to put aside his differences with the soldiers of the UNSC in order to assure his men and his planet some hope of survival, and proved an invaluable ally in their struggle to stop the Covenant's pursuit of the Forerunner artifact.

Perhaps above all, Whitaker was deeply committed to the lives of his men, having earned their complete loyalty despite their conflict with the UNSC and sparing no expense in giving them a fighting chance against a vastly superior enemy force.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Collateral Damage