Olympia Vale: Difference between revisions

{{Status|Canon}}{{Status|Featured}}

|homeworld=[[Luyten]]{{Ref/Site|Id=OVUniverse|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/characters/olympia-vale|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Olympia Vale|D=28|M=3|Y=2021}}{{Ref/Game|Id=H5GLtd|Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition|[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition dossiers#Olympia Vale|Dossier files]] - Olympia Vale}}

|parents=*[[Nerina Vale]] {{C|Mother}}{{Ref/Novel|Id=Out3|Out|Chapter=3}}

|hair=Brown{{Ref/Reuse|Id=H5GLtd}}{{Ref/Novel|Id=HitD4|HitD|chapter=4}}

Olympia Vale was born to [[Nerina Vale|Nerina]] and [[Caleb Aagard|Caleb Vale]] on the [[human]] [[Inner Colony]] of [[Luyten]] on [[2536|January 20, 2536]].{{Ref/Reuse|Id=OVUniverse}}{{Ref/Reuse|Out3}} Vale was a child prodigy who had an innate skill in languages.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=GIH5GO}} When she was eleven, her parents divorced, coincidentally on Vale's eleventh birthday. Her mother, a recently promoted captain in [[UNSC Navy]] signal intelligence, was reassigned to [[UNSC High Command]] in [[Sydney]], [[Australia]] on [[Earth]]. Along with two other people, Vale and her mother left for the planet aboard a [[diplomatic shuttle]] for what was intended to be a six-day trip. While en route to the [[Sol system]], their ship's [[slipspace drive]] failed and the trip ultimately took six months to return to inhabited space,{{Ref/Novel|Id=HitD5|HitD|Chapter=5}} dodging [[Covenant]] activity along the way.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=OVUniverse}} After annoying the others aboard the ship with her endless questions, she was shunted aside and ignored. To pass the time, Vale listened to recordings of the [[Sangheili]]'s [[Sangheili (language)|language]] and compared them to translations performed by [[artificial intelligence]]s. She eventually taught herself the language and even proved several of the AI translations incorrect, or corrected inaccurate translations.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=HitD5}} Vale would suspect her father of having somehow sabotaged the shuttle in a last-ditch effort to keep his family on Luyten, but Nerina dismissed the idea so scornfully that Vale concluded that it was a dumb idea until after the [[Battle for Earth]].{{Ref/Reuse|Out3}}

 

After her arrival on Earth, Vale spent the remainder of her childhood on the relative safety of the planet. Vale attended [[Sydney University]] on Earth and, upon graduating, followed in her mother's footsteps and enlisted in the UNSC Navy's [[Office of Naval Intelligence]], specializing in signals intelligence.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=OVUniverse}} Following the end of the [[Human-Covenant War]] in [[2552]], Vale found the opportunity to travel to the Sangheili [[Sangheili colonies|frontier colony]] of [[Khael'mothka]], where she wandered the planet for months. The world was embroiled in the Sangheili's ongoing [[Blooding Years|civil war]], though Vale's well-being was rarely endangered as she learned who to stay away from and many of the planet's inhabitants were both tired of war and curious to see the human.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=HitD5}}

 

Following Nerina's death in the Battle for Earth, Vale attempted to contact her father to let Caleb know that his ex-wife had died in the [[Covenant]] attack. However, Vale learned that Caleb Vale didn't exist. Through her ONI connections, Vale discovered that Caleb Vale was actually a false identity assumed by [[Caleb Aagard]] who had been born on Luyten in the same year as her father, but the trail then ran cold. The only note in Caleb's file was that he had refused conscription in [[2517]] and then vanished. When Vale tried to find a ghost file that would explain the discrepancy, her superior claimed that it was simply a case of father and son having the same name, and then advised her in a tone that suggested that the "advice" came from someone far above both of their heads to stop wasting ONI resources and devote herself to her proper assignment. Subsequently, Vale stopped poking around ONI's files regarding anyone from Luyten and started searching for more subtle ways to find out her father's true identity.{{Ref/Reuse|Out3}}

After several [[human colonies]] were unexpectedly attacked by [[Guardian|mysterious Forerunner entities]], Doctor [[Catherine Halsey]] contacted {{UNSCShip|Infinity}} with information about the attacks. In response, Vale and the rest of Fireteam Osiris were tasked with undertaking a [[Battle of Kamchatka|mission]] to recover Dr. Halsey from the custody of [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|“Covenant”]] [[Supreme Commander|Supreme Commander]] [[Jul 'Mdama]] on the Forerunner world of [[Kamchatka]].{{Ref/Reuse|Id=H5Osiris}}

After being briefed by Captain [[Thomas Lasky]] of UNSC ''Infinity'', the Spartans were delivered to Kamchatka via [[D79-TC Pelican]], where they discovered the Covenant [[Battle of Kamchatka|engaging]] their former [[Promethean]] allies. Osiris exited the [[dropship]] to free fall past battling Covenant and Promethean ships, and the Spartans used their armors' thrusters to control their landing. Osiris landed on a mountainside, where the Covenant and Prometheans were currently engaged in combat and the Spartans fought their way through the terrain. While the rest of Osiris engaged the hostiles on the ground, Vale boarded a Covenant {{Pattern|Mikpramu|Phantom}} and engaged its passengers before crashing it into a Promethean [[Phaeton]] and abandoning the dropship to join her team. As one of the [[Sangheili blockade runner|Covenant blockade runners]] crashed into a nearby mountain peak, Osiris was forced to outrun the ensuring avalanche. The Spartans leaped off a cliff and slide down the mountainside, where they regrouped and engaged Covenant forces in a valley. With 'Mdama and Halsey located in a nearby Forerunner structure, Fireteam Osiris fought their way past Covenant and Promethean forces to reach their targets' location. Translating 'Mdama's orders from the [[proselytization network]], Vale determined that the Covenant was deploying a {{Pattern|Shuul'se|Kraken}} to fend off the Promethean forces assaulting the structure. However, the Prometheans managed to make the walker fall into retreat.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=H5Osiris}}

After Fireteam Osiris returned to ''Infinity'', Lasky ordered for the fireteam—along with Commander [[Sarah Palmer]] and Halsey—to travel to the Sangheili homeworld of [[Sanghelios]] to utilize the planet's inactivate Guardian to pursue Blue Team. Vale and the rest of Osiris were taken to the planet's surface via a {{Pattern|Kmiro'sish|Lich}}, where they were tasked with finding Arbiter Thel 'Vadam while he was leading the Swords of Sanghelios against the [[Sanghelios global war|invading]] remnants of 'Mdama's Covenant at the [[Elder Council Chamber]] in [[Nuusra]]. As Osiris engaged Covenant forces, Palmer had [[Mahkee 'Chava]] deploy two [[HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX Mantis|Mantises]] for the Spartans to utilize in clearing out the Covenant warriors at the Elder Council Chamber. Upon arriving at the chamber, Osiris battled the Covenant forces assaulting the building and fought their way inside, where they meet up with 'Vadam. With Osiris' help, the Swords of Sanghelios eliminated the Covenant forces at the Council Chamber. Moments later, 'Chava arrived in a Phantom and extracted the Arbiter and Spartans.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=H5SwordsofSanghelios}} Traveling to the Swords of Sanghelios' encampment at Nuusra, Osiris worked together with Halsey, Palmer, and 'Vadam to formulate a plan to utilize the Guardian. Osiris was tasked with locating a Forerunner [[Constructor]] at one of the Guardian's nearby support stations to allow Halsey to input commands into the construct to force it to activate the Guardian.{{Ref/Level|Id=H5Alliance|H5G|Alliance}} Palmer flew Fireteam Osiris to the support station, but was forced to drop them off just south of the facility due to the presence of a Covenant Kraken nearby. While the Spartans provided ground support, the Swords of Sanghelios assaulted the walker from the air. While the Arbiter's flight squadrons forced the Kraken into retreat, Osiris fought their way to an ancient Sangheili temple located near the support facility. After defeating several Prometheans at the temple, the Kraken arrived at the temple, threatening Osiris' mission. As the walker neared, the Spartans boarded the Kraken and destroyed its power generator from within. Osiris fled that doomed walker and traveled into the support facility via stolen {{Pattern|D'nomlhe|Banshee}}s. Once inside the station, Osiris retrieved a Constructor, but were attacked by Promethean forces. After battling their way back to an extraction point with the Constructor, a Phantom transported them back to the Swords of Sanghelios' encampment.{{Ref/Level|Id=H5EnemyLines|H5G|Enemy Lines}}

With the Constructor, Halsey inputted her commands into it and the construct took off to activate the Guardian. However, the Guardian was located in the [[Csurdon Sea]] next to the city of [[Sunaion]], the last bastion of the Covenant on Sanghelios. The Arbiter's forces regrouped and prepared to attack the city to eliminate the Covenant and give Osiris a chance to board the Guardian.{{Ref/Level|Id=H5BeforetheStorm|H5G|Before the Storm}} Traveling to Sunaion with a group of air vehicles, the Spartans, the Arbiter, and several Swords of Sanghelios forces deployed on the ground and [[Battle of Sunaion|engaged]] Covenant soldiers. While the Arbiter led his forces against the Covenant directly, Osiris eliminated Covenant [[Upisa'weri-pattern Shrike|Shrike anti-air emplacements]] to allow the Arbiter's [[fleet]] to move in closer to the city. Unable to receive air support for transport to the Guardian, Osiris accessed Sunaion's undercity to travel towards the construct's location. As the Constructor activated the Guardian, more Promethean forces arrived at the battle and began engaging the Arbiter and his forces. When the Guardian began rising out of the water nearby and started to activate its shockwaves, the buildings around the Spartans began to fall apart. As the Spartans moved to safety, they encountered the Arbiter engaging Promethean forces. The five battled the onslaught of Prometheans, which were soon led by the Warden Eternal, now utilizing another physical body. After a lengthy engagement, the five succeeded in defeating the Warden and the nearby Prometheans just as the Guardian prepared to leave. While the Arbiter remained behind to finish eliminating Covenant and Promethean forces, Palmer and Halsey picked up Osiris in the Pelican and flew towards the Guardian. A pursuing Banshee damaged the dropship, but Palmer was able to drop Osiris off on the Guardian's surface just as it entered slipspace and left Sanghelios.{{Ref/Level|Id=H5BattleofSunaion|H5G|Battle of Sunaion}}

Despite minimal training and experience in the field, Vale has proven to be an exemplary combatant.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=H5GLtd}} As she was often engaged in frontline diplomacy with the Sangheili during her career as a Special Liaison, the [[Office of Naval Intelligence]] required Vale to have some combat skills. She studied [[martial arts]] for several years and attended the [[Green Cloud]] institute. Although she did not consider herself good at combat, Vale used her martial arts experience to nearly throw the unarmored [[Spartan-IV]] [[Elias Holt]] to the ground after he had inadvertently surprised her.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=HitD7}} During [[Operation: FAR STORM]], Vale was able to briefly hold her own against the cyborg [[Bobby Kodiak]], though she was eventually outmatched.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=HitD17}} Despite receiving minimal combat training in comparison to most competitors, Vale succeeded in placing within the top five percent in UNSC [[War Games]] events through a combination of innate physical talent and quick-thinking.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=OVUniverse}} Vale's demonstrated talent for combat, as well as her fluency of Sangheili and knowledge in the species' society, led to her recruitment into the [[Spartan Operations|Spartan branch]].{{Ref/Reuse|Id=H5GLtd}} As a Spartan-IV, Vale has proven to be very skilled in combat. She often uses speed and agility to her advantage, such as during her [[Battle of Kamchatka|mission]] to [[Kamchatka]], in which she boarded a [[Jul 'Mdama's Covenant|Covenant]] [[Mikpramu-pattern Phantom|Phantom]] and single-handedly battled the [[dropship]]'s Sangheili and [[Kig-Yar]] complement in the confined space by effortlessly maneuvering around the warriors as she fought them.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=H5Osiris}}

During [[Operation: FAR STORM|the mission]] to [[Installation 00]] in [[2555]], Olympia Vale armed herself with an [[M6 series]] magnum.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=HitD8}} Prior to the [[operation]], she had not used the weapon for years, having only used it previously in a training exercise.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=HitD8}} After becoming a Spartan, she sported the [[COPPERHEAD-class Mjolnir|Copperhead]] variant of the [[MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor (GEN2)|MJOLNIR GEN2]] armor. Vale's armor is specifically designed with a "militarized anthropology" decision support system that aids in her efforts to utilize the complex "terrain" of human and alien society to her advantage.{{Ref/Site|Id=CFCW|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-conventional-warfare|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Conventional Warfare|D=28|M=3|Y=2021}} Her armor, painted red with gold details, has a gold and blue visor.{{Ref/Reuse|Id=H5G}} Vale's preferred loadout is the [[M20 PDW]] as her primary weapon, with the [[Type-54D plasma pistol]] as her sidearm.{{Ref/Generic|Id=GIJ2015|Game Informer #267, July 2015}} However, she also arms herself with an [[M6H magnum]].{{Ref/Reuse|Id=H5Osiris}} As a member of [[Fireteam Osiris]], Vale has also been granted use of the prototypical [[Artemis Tracking System]], an advanced scanning system only given to Spartans with the permission of Spartan Commander [[Sarah Palmer]].{{Ref/Site|Id=ATUniverse|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/universe/tech/artemis-tracking-system|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Artemis Tracking System|D=28|M=3|Y=2021}}

{{Quote|We were well into development on Halo 5: Guardians when Peter started work on Halo: Hunters in the Dark, so we were able to inform him quite a bit on who Vale was and how she thought, but we were really only talking about our own experiences working with her in the course of Halo 5, when she's already part of Fireteam Osiris. Peter took what we said and figured out how Vale behaved before she was a Spartan, which again fed back into our work on the game and has the effect of making Vale more rounded as a person and therefore more "real" in the long run.|[[Brian Reed]], on Olympia Vale's character development.{{Ref/Site|Id=CFJA|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-jurassic-ark|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Jurassic Ark|D=28|M=3|Y=2021}}}}

During the initial story development of ''Halo 5: Guardians'', Vale was first realized as "Spartan Jones" as Fireteam Osiris was being created. After a few weeks of development, Spartan Jones would become a Spartan fluent in alien languages and renamed "Spartan Vesper". As the character was further developed, she was proving to be too "kid genius", so the character was matured while still retaining enough of her innocence to contrast with her fellow squadmates. Eventually, Spartan Vesper was renamed Vale and her character design was largely completed.{{Ref/Site|Id=CFFC|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/news/canon-fodder-fifty-caliber|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Canon Fodder - Fifty Caliber|D=28|M=3|Y=2021}} Vale's [[COPPERHEAD-class Mjolnir|armor]] was specifically designed for her character, making the character appear sleek, lightweight, and acrobatic.{{Ref/Site|Id=H5AS|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/art-showcase|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Halo 5 Art Showcase|D=28|M=3|Y=2021}} User interface artist Eric Will noted that the armor's aggressive "V"-shaped visor proved to be challenging to design.{{Ref/Site|Id=CU81415|URL=https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/community/blog-posts/art-showcase|Site=Halo Waypoint|Page=Community Update 8-14-15|D=28|M=3|Y=2021}}

File:HM-Battle_of_Meridian.jpg|Vale and Fireteam Osiris during the Battle of Meridian in ''[[Halo Mythos]]''.

**''[[Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition dossiers|Limited Edition dossiers]]''

*''[[Halo Mythos: A Guide to the Story of Halo]]''