Cade McDonough: Difference between revisions

Eiro is tidally locked to an uninhabited planet, but there is a narrow twilight ring on its surface that supports a small settlement. The crew's target was purportedly located around fifty-six kilometers from this ring on the dark side of the moon. Once settling into geosynchronous orbit, it didn't take long for Lessa to locate the ship. Given the moon's deathly cold temperatures, Cade joined Niko in sarcastically remarking on an eagerness to freeze. As Rion and Lessa stayed on the birdge to land the ''Ace'', Cade, Kip, and Niko headed for the staging bay, referred to as the "locker room", to suit up. With sixty seconds until touchdown on Eiro's surface, Cade broached the subject of dead bodies over comms to Rion. The captain gave a noncommittal answer that suggested she didn't want to think about it unless and until they needed to. Once the two women joined everyone else, Cade showed Kip how to link his wrist commpad to his helmet's [[HUD]] and to the rest of the crew. Accepting Kip's thanks, he smacked Niko on the helmet as he walked past him and jokingly reminded him to not forget his plasma cutters, as he had done during a previous excursion. Cade rallied the crew to disembark into the snowy outside and upon first viewing the ship, a {{Class|Halcyon|light cruiser}}, Niko innocently asked him if it brought back memories. For his oblivious insensitivity, Lessa smacked her brother in the head, but Cade just calmly affirmed that it did indeed. After walking around the hall of the [[cruiser]], it became apparent that at best, only a quarter of the ship was present and that it had been cut in two by a Covenant weapon. Cade identified the damage to have been done by a [[plasma]] [[energy projector]]. In order to cover as much ground as quickly as possible, Rion had the crew split up. Cade was directed to find an armory. He set off in search of one near the bridge, as it was likely there were one or two located in close proximity to it. Around forty-five minutes after their scavenging began, Rion checked in with Cade over their comms. He let her know he had discovered a decent payload: [[thermite paste]], small arms, rifles, [[jetpack]]s, body armor, and heavy ordinance. Rion reiterated that the heavy stuff would be left for the UNSC to recover but she instructed him to pack up everything else. After Rion went to explore the cabin of the captain of the cruiser, discovered to have been named the {{UNSCship|Roman Blue}}, she exclaimed and made other noise over the comms upon making some shocking discoveries. Cade and the others, unaware whether everything was okay, filled her earpiece. Just then, a hard blast struck the ''Roman Blue'' and made the whole thing shudder. Cade was the first one to react with a clear pronunciation that they were under attack. Rion ordered everyone back to the ''Ace'', but seeing as she was still back at the captain's quarters, it would take her around fifteen to twenty minutes more than everyone else to get there. Cade let her know that he would by no means be leaving without her but she overrode him by reminding him she could fend for herself and that they had been in similar situations before. Cade reluctantly gave in and agreed to get airborne in their ship and to go dark and lie low to wait for a further signal from her.<ref name="SAS"/>

Cade was described as having grim eyes. Rion thought him to be "all business", as he brought a sense of order and efficiency to the ''Ace of Spades''' small crew. It was not uncommon for him to serve as the "voice of reason" when Rion was prepared to push their work beyond their capable limits. He was steady, stoic, reliable, and the kind of person who could get a job done. He often didn't say much, but when he did, others tended to listen. Rion was amused by the fact that he called her "Forge" when he was pissed. Cade never had the same outward disgust for the UNSC that Lessa and Niko did. but the trauma of losing his family made him have his own personal issue with the way the military had made certain strategic decisions during the war. When he and Rion met, they would passionately debate about politics and wars, but as their relationship deepened, they stopped doing so and focused their energy and loyalty on the one thing they could truly count on: themselves. The number of times that Cade and Rion had been in impossible situations but gotten out okay was more than Rion could count. Cade's experience as a marine and later a salvager made him a man who knew more than anyone the price of taking risks, of jumping systems, and hunting salvage others would fight and kill for. For this reason, Rion valued his insight. Despite their closeness, Rion still never knew what Cade did with the [[credit]]s he earned.<ref name="SAS"/>