Alpha-Nine

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This squad is a small team of six UNSC Marine Shock Troopers, formerly under the command of Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck.^[1]

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 H. "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.

History

Battle of Mombasa

Main article: Battle of Mombasa

During the Battle of Earth, the squad was assigned to the UNSC Say My Name. 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. Although most of the squad, plus Dare, rode out the landings relatively unharmed, the Corporal known as the Rookie was knocked unconscious for several hours.

Dare and Edward 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. Kojo "Romeo" Agu 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 badly injured by a Brute Chieftain. The squad then made their way to Kikowani Station, where they, upon seeing that escape through train tunnels was impossible, hijacked a Phantom and used it to make their way out of the city. However, Buck suddenly realized he knew where Dare was, and ordered Michael "Mickey" Crespo to turn back to the city. Meanwhile, the Rookie woke up in his pod. The Rookie wandered around the city for a few hours, avoiding and engaging Covenant patrols as necessary, trying to track down his squad, being shown by the Superintendent AI (through pre-recorded video sequences) what had happened to them. Eventually, the Rookie 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 "Virgil", an Engineer that had downloaded the Superintendent's memory data into itself. As they prepared to leave, Buck arrived at the data center, his suspicion being correct. Buck, Dare, the Rookie and Virgil made their escape back to the surface. Travelling along the New Mombasa Coastal 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 Virgil were in an ONI orbital facility, where Sergeant Avery Johnson interrogated the alien.