Wallace Jenkins

Were you looking for L. Jenkins from the Halo Graphic Novel, or for Captain Jenkins, who commanded during the Harvest Campaign?

Private First Class Wallace A. Jenkins was an infantryman in the UNSC Marine Corps. PFC Jenkins was stationed aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn during the Battle of Installation 04 in September 2552.

Early Life and Career

Wallace Jenkins was born on the Outer Colony world of Harvest, to a farming family. In 2524, he joined the Colonial Militia of Harvest in an effort to make use of himself. His ambition was to join the UNSC Marine Corps as an officer. Though Staff Sergeant Johnson frequently criticized him, he proved to be an extremely quick thinker and a competent Marine. One notable event occurred when he and a fellow recruit, Forsell, were participating in a training exercise with all the other recruits in the Colonial Militia. The two were able to quickly assess the situation and go around the mock attack staged by Sergeants Johnson and Byrne. By doing so, they were almost able to win the exercise; however, a recruit named Osmo beat them to the goal. The two proved that they were competent Marines who could think out-of-the-box; they earned the trust of Staff Sergeant Johnson, and developed a close relationship throughout the First Battle of Harvest.

Battle of Harvest

"Staff Sergeant...he's all I've got left."

— Jenkins, after the glassing of Harvest

Jenkins was a natural sharpshooter and was assigned one of the few XBR55 Battle Rifles during the battle. Jenkins' entire family was killed when Gladsheim was attacked by the Covenant. He was deeply depressed after losing his family, and used his anger to fuel his hatred of the Covenant. The only person close to him to survive was his fellow sharpshooter and friend, Forsell. Forsell had saved Jenkins' life when the latter was blinded by rage, stopping him from trying to kill Tartarus. After escaping from Harvest, Staff Sergeant Johnson offered Jenkins, Forsell, and the remaining militiamen the chance to become Marines in his unit. It remains unknown what Jenkins did when he became a Marine, but by 2552, he was stationed on Reach Station Gamma.

The Fall of Reach

He was on board Reach Station Gamma during the Fall of Reach, still fighting alongside Sergeant Johnson. The other marines with him included Privates Bisenti and O'Brien. Their Friend-Or-Foe tags were detected by SPARTANs John-117 and Linda-058. The group was fighting a pack of Kig-yar Rangers, and defeated them with the help of the Spartans. The Master Chief also helped them destroy the navigation database of the UNSC Circumference, an ONI Prowler, and escape the station aboard a Pelican. They then proceeded to board the Pillar of Autumn, and traveled to Installation 04.

The Battle of Installation 04

Upon arrival at the Halo, the Pillar of Autumn was attacked by the Covenant. Jenkins escaped the ship in the same lifeboat as Sergeant Johnson and his squad. After meeting up with the Master Chief and fighting off Covenant patrols, they took Pelican Echo 419 to the newly established Marine Alpha Base.

The Flood

The Flood infected Jenkins.

Later, Jenkins, along with the rest of Fire Team Charlie (excluding Chips Dubbo), was taken on Pelican Victor 933 to what they believed was a Covenant weapons cache. This weapons cache turned out to be one of Installation 04's Flood Containment Facilities. There, he, Captain Keyes, Sergeant Johnson, and Privates Bisenti, Mendoza, Kappus, and Riley encountered the Flood for the first time on Halo. During the resulting fight, Jenkins panicked, and an Infection Form latched onto him and took over his body. The Master Chief would later watch the horrifying attack using the Recorder Chip from Jenkins' dropped Helmet Recorder. The video ended suddenly, right as the Infection Form hit Jenkins, and infected him.

Jenkins and his entire squad, save for Johnson and Bisenti, were turned into Combat Forms. However, Jenkins' Infection Form was weakened from centuries of containment, and could not fully control him. The infection process occurred normally, but unlike most victims of the Flood, who die instantly upon successful infection, Jenkins remained alive and terrified while the Flood mutated and took control of his body. He was able to control himself to a small degree whenever the Infection Form was in pain, but when it had total command, he could only watch "his" actions.

Survival and Death

The infected Jenkins followed a group of Flood to the surface, where they attacked a group of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers led by First Lieutenant Melissa McKay. Without complete control over his body, Jenkins, who was desperate to end his own life, attempted to get killed while assaulting the Lieutenant. The attempt failed, and he was captured by the ODSTs. Major Antonio Silva tried to interrogate him.

While being interrogated, the Infection Form inside Jenkins' body attempted to attack its interrogators by extending a tentacle through Jenkins' hand, snapping the bones and veins. As Jenkins described it, it was a "living hell". However, the parasite was knocked unconscious by the pain, giving Jenkins the chance to reveal the imminent threat of the Flood beneath the base.. Lieutenant McKay correctly interpreted this and ordered a squad to exterminate them.

Jenkins was later taken to the Truth and Reconciliation while the Marines assaulted the ship. Jenkins knew that Silva planned to take the ship home to Earth. He also knew that there were more Flood present on the ship, and that they would inevitably escape and overwhelm the human population should Silva succeed in bringing the ship home. He thus overwhelmed the Infection Form inside him and tried to destroy the ship by destroying a fiber-optic pathway that linked the Control Room to the engines. He failed, but Lieutenant McKay, seeing the truth as well, destroyed the vessel for him by using a frag grenade. The explosion severed the pathway, cutting off control to the engines and causing the ship to crash into the surface of Halo, where it exploded. The destruction of the Truth and Reconciliation mercifully ended his suffering. Before he died, he managed to mouth the words "Thank you" to the Lieutenant.

Trivia

• He was one of the first people to use the XBR55 Battle Rifle, which entered service in 2524.
• In nearly 30 years of service in the war, Jenkins only achieved the rank of Private First Class (assuming he was never demoted).
• Additionally, Jenkins is portrayed in Halo Combat Evolved as a relatively inexperienced and young soldier, quick to complain and panic; in his development through Halo Contact Harvest, (over three decades previous) he becomes battle hardened and experienced very quickly, and is awarded the XBR55 (and the position of marksman) by Johnson for his accuracy. This timing fallacy could be partially explained by cryo-sleep, but his loss in professionalism between 30 years of service is preculiar.
• Jenkins was voiced by Chris Wicklund.
• Jenkins is the only being known to be have been infected by an Infection Form that was weakened by the long hibernation the Flood form had undergone. He is consequently the only being known to have survived infection by the Flood, to have retained consciousness, and to have been able to exert limited control over his infected body.
• Though he was appointed a sharpshooter in his platoon by Johnson in the events of Contact Harvest, he wielded an MA5B in the Flood Containment Facility, perhaps because of a lack of extra armaments aboard the Autumn.
• An interesting fact is that throughout the game, he wore a Boonie hat, but in both the Halo Graphic Novel and the cutscene where his squad was attacked by the Flood, he was wearing the standard-issue helmet that other Marines wear, as well as having a data chip retreived from his helmet by John-117.
• Jenkins disliked flip music, which was, much to his dismay, the favorite genre of his commanding officer.
• The Halo: Original Soundtrack contains a track named after Jenkins, entitled "Lament for Pvt. Jenkins".