Locklear

"Last time I checked, I take my orders from the Corps- not from some swabbie... Sir."

- Corporal Locklear

Corporal Locklear was a UNSC Marine and ODST stationed on the UNSC Pillar of Autumn in 2552 as one of Major Antonio Silva's company. His first name is never mentioned.

Summary
He was rarely mentioned during The Battle of Installation 04 or at all in the gameplay of Halo: Combat Evolved but was present in Second Squad which was the squad which survived the Flood on the swamp. He was also among the handful of survivors who fled in a Pelican when the Halo was destroyed. He, Lieutenant Elias Haverson, Staff Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson and Petty Officer Second Class Sheila Polaski hid in the debris field until they met with SPARTAN-117 and Cortana in their Longsword fighter. The Master Chief recognized that Locklear was in a state of shock from the destruction of the Halo, describing him as "an assault rifle with its safety permanently clicked off." Locklear was hesitant to accept the Master Chief's command at first, but was eventually subdued by the Chief's greater authority. He and the Master Chief then developed a closer working relationship over the course of OPERATION: FIRST STRIKE.

Locklear helped in the capture of the Covenant flagship Ascendant Justice, and was aboard when they returned to Reach. He then accompanied the Master Chief to the surface of Reach, where they rescued the Spartans who had survived the fall of Reach. At some point, he developed a crush on Polaski. He was greatly saddened when she died in the Slipspace bubble caused by the Forerunner Crystal artifact.

He helped the Eridanus Rebels repair the vessel when they traveled to Eridanus Secundus While there, Dr. Catherine Halsey gave him the artifact, as she felt she could not trust ONI or, for that matter, anyone to place personal orders above military duty. She did not even trust the Spartans enough to entrust them with the Forerunner object. She knew that Locklear would destroy it and told him that it needed to be done.

As the battle at Eridanus Secundus began, Locklear was ordered to collect supplies from the UNSC Gettysburg. He walked into the armory of the ship, found the Ethyl Alcohol and eventually covered the artifact with C-7 Foaming Explosive. He was very upset with the whole universe and mostly with Polaski's death because he was in love with her. He detonated the explosive, which caused a massive burst of radiation, killing him. The Crystal was shattered and some of the parts "squeezed" into Slipspace. The humans on board the UNSC Gettysburg recovered some of the crystal while the Covenant only managed to gather a smaller portion of the crystal.

Locklear's Death
It is unclear if Corporal Locklear committed suicide, as it would at first seem in the book. He was obviously very upset at the death of Sheila Polaski, a Naval pilot to whom he was attracted to, but he also said just before the accident that he "wasn't going to die." It is possible that he was drunk, although the book does not specify whether he drank any of the alcohol or not. But it also said that he did plant foam C-7 around the enclosing Forerunner Crystal, and blew it up due to Polaski's death. In addition, he had no way of knowing that the Forerunner crystal would explode in such a manner and fashion.

Another reason he could have died is because of the crystal's time-altering capabilities, and detonation occurred too early for him to escape the blast radius.

Traits
Locklear, as described by the Master Chief, had numerous traits that allowed him to escape Halo. The most prominent of these traits was luck. In addition, as with all/most ODST's, he was reckless and had a knack for charging headfirst into a fight with odds heavily stacked against him.