Malcolm Geffen: Difference between revisions

|homeworld=[[Wikipedia:Wolverhampton|Wolverhampton]], United Kingdom,<ref>[https://twitter.com/#!/karentraviss/status/137139411107332097 '''Twitter''': ''BTW, re Halo Glasslands'']</ref> [[Earth]]<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 181''</ref>

In [[2553#January|January 2553]], Mal Geffen and Vaz Beloi were hand-picked by the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] Commander-in-Chief, [[Admiral]] [[Margaret Parangosky]], to serve under [[Serin Osman|Captain Serin Osman]] as part of a black operations team designated [[Kilo-Five]]. The team, comprised of pilot [[Lian Devereaux]], Dr. [[Evan Phillips]], Spartan [[Naomi-010]] and AI [[Black-Box]], were tasked with sowing discord amongst the dis-organized [[Sangheili]]. On their way to the initial briefing in [[HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-6]] in [[Sydney]], Mal and Vaz stopped by in the ruins of the [[Parthenon]] bar to raise a drink in honor of their friend Emanuel Barakat, who had been killed in action during the final stages of the war.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 35''</ref>  

As part of Kilo-Five, Geffen served aboard the [[UNSC prowler|prowler]] {{UNSCShip|Port Stanley}}, participating in several missions. They provided arms to [[Avu Med 'Telcam]] and the [[Servants of the Abiding Truth]], a faction opposed to the [[Covenant separatists|allies]] of [[Thel 'Vadam]]. <ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 67''</ref> He and Vaz later extracted ONI agent [[Mike Spenser]] from the planet [[Reynes]], where they were involved in a brief firefight with several [[Kig-Yar]] who were attempting to claim the team's dropship for themselves. At one point, Kilo-Five seized the Covenant cargo ship ''[[Piety]]'' and successfully captured an onboard [[Huragok]], [[Requires Adjustment]].<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 237''</ref>  

In February 2553, after ONI had established communications with the human survivors inside [[Trevelyan]], Admiral Parangosky ordered Kilo-Five to arrest [[Catherine Halsey|Dr. Catherine Halsey]]. Geffen accompanied the party that entered the shield world via dropship, detained Halsey and brought her, along with the other survivors, aboard ''Port Stanley''.  

In March 2553, Evan Phillips, accompanied with a fragment of BB, left Kilo-Five to study Sangheili culture on Sanghelios. Mal had warned him not to get killed on his journey. Shortly after, Mal and Vaz were assigned to meet with Spencer on [[Venezia]]. Once in Spenser's hideout in the city of [[New Tyne]], Spencer showed them pictures of all the insurrectionist leaders based on the planet. They looked through the pictures and found one of them to be Naomi’s father, [[Staffan Sentzke]]. However, their investigation was put on hold after an explosion in [[Ontom]], Sanghelios severed Kilo-Five's communication with BB's fragment and Phillips. They were retrieved by ''Port Stanley'' and sent in to recover him.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 456''</ref>  

Arriving at Sanghelios during [[Sangheili civil war|'Telcam's assault on Vadam]], Kilo-Five searched for Phillips in the [[Temple of the Abiding Truth]]. They were initially refused entry into the temple by [[Olar]] because they were nonbelievers. As BB negotiated with him, a nearby Sangheili crowd became aggravated by their presence. Olar relented and allowed Kilo-Five inside the temple. After they realized that Phillips was no longer inside, they evacuated as the Sangheili mob stormed the area. <ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 179''</ref>

BB eventually located Phillips through an intercepted communication and they quickly traveled to [[Nes'alun Keep]] in [[Acroli]] to evacuate him. They extracted Phillips in the midst of a skirmish at the keep.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 245''</ref> During their evacuation, their Pelican ''[[Tart-Cart]]'' was damaged by a [[Banshee]], forcing Devereaux to put her down for repairs. They were followed by a [[Phantom]] piloted by [[Forze 'Mdama]], who had been sent by 'Telcam to recover Phillips for them. After being instructed to help them with repairs, Forze handed over some pipes and wire and left. Devereaux was then able to get ''Tart-Cart'' off the ground.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 265''</ref>

On their flight back to ''Port Stanley'', a fire erupted and they had to re-route to the {{UNSCShip|Infinity}}. There, they witnessed ''Infinity'' in action as it helped the Arbiter by destroying many of the Abiding Truth's vessels. Parangosky then ordered them to extract their informant 'Telcam from the ground. As Kilo-Five abducted 'Telcam from the battle, ''Port Stanley'' posed as a [[Kig-Yar]] pirate ship and destroyed a few of 'Vadam's ships in order to maintain the stalemate between the two factions. Kilo-Five dropped 'Telcam off on New Llanelli and were later retrieved by ''Port Stanley''.<ref>'''Halo: The Thursday War''', ''page 329''</ref>

Shortly after the operation at Sanghelios, Mal was deployed to [[Venezia]]'s capital city of [[New Tyne]]. Under the cover identity of a UNSC deserter, he was to accompany Vaz in infiltrating the local militia in order to gain information on the stolen Covenant battlecruiser ''[[Pious Inquisitor]]''. He replaced [[Naomi-010]] as Vaz's partner due to the risk of Naomi's relation to the rebel leader [[Staffan Sentzke]] compromising the mission. The two ODSTs set out to infiltrate the Venezian militia in order to gain information on Sentzke and ''Pious Inquisitor''.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 84''</ref>

Mal and Vaz met [[Nairn]] and were successful in infiltrating the local militia.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 147''</ref> They then met Staffan Sentzke and his son [[Edvin Sentzke|Edvin]] and were taken to see ''Pious Inquisitor'' due to their professed experience with Covenant equipment.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 183''</ref> Using a tracer planted by Vaz, Kilo-Five attempted to seize control of the ship using Venezia's slipspace communicator. However, their hack was foiled by the ship's [[Huragok]], [[Sometimes Sinks]], who alerted Sentzke of the attempted intrusion.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''pages 240-245''</ref>

Staffan Sentzke had Mal and Vaz captured and interrogated at the [[Stuttgart armory]]. Vaz revealed that he had information about Staffan's daughter. While Sentzke continued to question Vaz at a secure location, Black-Box used Mal and Vaz's neural transponders to locate them.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''pages 261-283''</ref> Naomi took the team's new dropship, ''[[Bogof]]'' — retrieved only moments earlier from ''[[Anchor 10]]'' — and rescued Mal from the rebels' compound.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 322''</ref> Meanwhile, Lian Devereaux took ''Tart-Cart'' to retrieve Vaz and took Sentzke prisoner. They returned to ''Port Stanley'' where Sentzke was informed about the Spartan program and allowed to reunite with his daughter.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 338''</ref>

Meanwhile, a [[Kig-Yar]] crew, lead by [[Shipmistress]] [[Chol Von]], was contracted by 'Telcam located ''Pious Inquisitor''. The Kig-Yar boarded the ''Inquisitor'' and attempted to commandeer the ship for themselves. Sinks, distrustful of the Kig-Yar and only compliant to Sentzke's orders, placed the ship in complete lock-down. Once Kilo-Five located the ship, Sentzke convinced Sinks to allow them to come onboard.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 398''</ref> Mal and Naomi boarded the ship in a different location and eliminated several members of the Kig-Yar crew.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 421''</ref>

Shipmistress Von set the ship to explode and escaped with her remaining crew. While Kilo-Five escaped to their dropships, Sentzke took a Spirit from the shuttle bay but stayed in range to ensure Naomi was safe.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 445''</ref> Vaz requested BB to give Sentzke the file on Naomi's kidnapping to prove him right to his doubting family; BB complied and sent the files to Sentzke's Spirit. BB discovered Sinks had secretly rigged the Spirit with a miniature slipspace drive which would enable him and Sentzke to escape. Black-Box knew ONI would never stop hunting Sentzke if they knew he was alive and chose to erase his own recollection of the incident, leaving Kilo-Five to conclude that Sentzke had died when the ship exploded.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''pages 452-456''</ref>  

The mission was eventually a success and Kilo-Five was granted shore leave on [[Cascade]]. Mal and Vaz went to drink at a bar in the [[Old Admiralty Hotel]] in [[Kowloon]].<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 480''</ref>

Mal Geffen is known to be sarcastic, flirtatious, and had an odd sense of humor. He was good friends with fellow ODSTs [[Vasily Beloi]] and [[Emanuel Barakat]]. After Barakat's death, Mal was determined to keep a promise to Barakat: to visit his favorite bar in [[Sydney]]. Vaz was surprised that Mal did not attempt to flirt with [[Naomi-010]] when they first met.<ref>'''Halo: Glasslands''', ''page 103''</ref> Mal and Vaz enjoyed going to different bars on other [[human colonies]] to try the drinks and flirt with women.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 92''</ref> After watching [[Staffan Sentzke]] comfort a distressed [[Sometimes Sinks]], Mal began to pity him and had a hard time seeing him as a threat.<ref>'''Halo: Mortal Dictata''', ''page 197''</ref>