Analysis of Captain Del Rio

Community Halo Universe
1

Andrew Del Rio’s placement as Captain of the UNSC was not one fueled by skill or integrity, but rather fueled by politics and forgetability. The UNSC Infinity was not an easily concealed project. When it began construction on 2537, it took up half the UNSC’s budget and required a Captain and construction force who could easily drop off the grid. Del Rio turned out to be the perfect choice. While he was a competent leader and Captain, his particular way of handling navy battles allowed him to disappear relatively unnoticed.

> “It’s not easy to find a competent commanders who can drop off the grid unnoticed for that long.”
> -BB referring to Del Rio, Page 422, Glasslands

Despite the fact ONI had commissioned Infinity, Del Rio was not ONI’s choice as Captain. With the prototype ship taking up such a large chunk of the budget, the UNSC found out about the project rather easily. Not wanting ONI to dominate the project and to secure Infinity’s safety, they chose Andrew Del Rio, while ONI opted for Thomas Lasky.

> “Unfortunately, the Woodentop Navy needed to know about her because even ONI couldn’t hide anything that big in the budget, but it’s still known to only a handful of very senior officers.”
> -BB to Osman, Page 421, Glasslands

ONI would eventually concede from this battle, deciding it’d be better to share the ship. However, Del Rio would eventually prove to not be an adequate Captain of Infinity. He was no leader that people would die for, nor was he inspirational. He was simply a manager.

> Del Rio wasn’t her choice of captain for Infinity. She’d learned to pick her battles and had conceded to that one, but she felt vindicated by observing his crew’s body language. He was just someone filling the uniform, a manager rather than a leader.
> -Parangosky contemplating Del Rio as Captain, Page 48, Thursday War

Nevertheless, Del Rio handled Infinity fine in the years that followed. He would soon learn Infinity’s awesome power in the year 2553. During that time, the Sangheili Civil War was just beginning to heat up, and it threatened the Arbiter, the UNSC’s only Sangheili ally. This prompted Infinity to be sent on a Thursday War to Sanhelios as both an impromptu test, and defense of an ally. This Thursday War would show Del Rio just how powerful Infinity is as it was capable of shooting down multiple ships and outright halt the Sangheili Civil War.

> “Good work, Austin.” Del Rio managed a smile. “I think I am going to like this ship.”
> -Del Rio after shooting down Defender of Faith, Page 303, Thursday War

After Infinity was officially recomissioned as a ship designed for peace, it would be tasked with locating the remaining Halos and study them for decommission. This task would lead to the discovery of the Composer on Installation 03, and subsequently lead Infinity to Requiem in the summer of 2557.

Once the Didact had tricked Master Chief into releasing him, he immediately downed Infinity on Requiem, taking away power and control from the ship.

> “Mayday! Mayday! This is the captain of the UNSC Infinity. Unknown enemy has seized control of our ship. We’re without power, and on a collision course with an unidentified Forerunner planet!”
> -Cutscene, Forerunner, Halo 4

And despite the fact Infinity was being forced to crash on Requiem, Del Rio still assumed from his prior experiences that Infinity could handle its current predicament. So he sent out Pelican recon teams to locate the source of the gravimetric disturbance.

> “You were sent on a scouting run in the middle of an attack on the ship.”
> “The Captain thought Infinity could provide us cover and hold off the attack at the same time.”
> -Cutscene, Infinity, Halo 4

Infinity would be thrust into a situation it could not handle. All Pelican recon teams would be shot down along with the invasion of Infinity by Promethean and Covenant forces.

> “Infinity, this is Cmdr. Lasky. Pelican recon teams are down. Repeat. All birds are down. We’ve got numerous casualties and require immediate assistance. Over.”
> “Finally… Did you get the coordinates for that gravity well?”
> “Affirmative, sir. But we’re going to need a bus out of here—
> “Make it happen—”
> -Cutscene, Infinity, Halo 4

Infinity’s bridge would be breached minutes later, prompting Del Rio to order all UNSC forces to return to Infinity to repel the invaders in an attempt to save the ship.

> “Mayday, Mayday, Code Red. Hostile elements attempting to gain entrance to Infinity bridge!”
> “They’re outside the hatch!”
> “Doors breached! Doors breached!”
> “All units return to Infinity immediately! That’s an order!”
> -Gameplay, Infinity, Halo 4

As UNSC forces began to take back Infinity, Master Chief would be sent by Del Rio to reactivate Infinity’s ship-wide defense network in order to break the Didact’s connection with Infinity’s mainframe and disable the nearby CRS-Class Light Cruisers.

> “That satellite took down the ship’s defenses and is extracting data from the mainframe as we speak.”
> -Gameplay, Infinity, Halo 4

This close encounter with Infinity’s destruction shocked Del Rio. His prior experience with Forerunner technology had never resulted in such a hostile response. His way of handling ships also prompted him to make Infinity’s return to UNSC space a priority. His service record is decorated with numerous ships under his command surviving engagements with the Covenant in one piece. He had no intention of losing Infinity and costing Humanity their dominant role in the Orion Arm.

> “What I want to know, people, is: where the hell did those things come from?”
> “It’s possible that they’re native to Requiem… or whatever counts as native for a Forerunner AI.”
> “We’ve never seen this type of offensive reaction from any of the other installations.”
> -Cutscene, Infinity, Halo 4

> “This is a first contact scenario, Master Chief. Priority is to free Infinity from Requiem’s gravity well and file a threat assessment back at FLEETCOM.
> -Cutscene, Infinity, Halo 4

Master Chief would of course object to Del Rio’s plan to leave. But with Infinity’s Ship-Grade AI destroyed during the crash and the harassment the ship received, Del Rio would be put in a hard place. He saw no other option but to make a tactical retreat and return better prepared.

> “Sir, Infinity drove the Didact back. He’s vulnerable.”
> “He isn’t the only one. You know, I’d think you of all people would appreciate the benefit of living to fight another day.”
> -Cutscene, Infinity, Halo 4

Despite all of Infinity’s Pelican recon teams that were initially sent out being shot down, they did complete their objective of finding the source of the gravimetric disturbance that forced Infinity onto Requiem. With the Gravity Well keeping Infinity on Requiem, Del Rio made it their next objective to disable it so Infinity could leave. Not wanting to subject Infinity to any more time on Requiem than necessary, he chose to not send in recon.

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> “Captain, what’s Force Recon’s assessment of the terrain?”
> “I know you’ve been off the field for awhile Master Chief, but this is a blowthrough op. Sending in recon would slow us down. Telemetry indicates the particle cannons are being controlled from a command post southwest of our position. Roll on that target and neutralize those guns. We’ll meet on the other side and take the gravity well. Infinity out.”
> -Cutscene, Reclaimer, Halo 4

As the ground teams sent in began to take out the particle cannons blocking the air corridor to the Gravity Well were taken out, Infinity would move up in an attempt to neutralise the Well. That would prove to be more difficult as the sheer amount of Covenant air traffic would swarm and engage Infinity, giving it a beating and preventing a target lock.

> “We’re taking a beating up here.”
> “Does Infinity have a shot on the gravity well?”
> “Negative. We’ll never be able to get a target lock with all the air traffic we’re seeing.”
> -Gameplay, Reclaimer, Halo 4

Master Chief would give Infinity that target lock, resulting in a missile from Infinity collapsing the Gravity Well. Once the UNSC forces were back aboard Infinity, Master Chief would once again argue for a continued campaign on Requiem in order to defeat the Didact, claiming that an encounter he had with Forerunner technology revealed history shattering revelations. Humanity had once been a space-faring civilization capable of rivaling the Forerunner Ecumene. Ancient Humanity would be battered by the Flood, crushed by the Forerunners, and devolved and composed by the Didact. Del Rio would find difficulty in believing such ludicrous claims resulting from an intelligence on a on a seemingly, entirely hostile Forerunner world. Despite Master Chief’s persistence, Captain Del Rio would order Infinity’s return to UNSC space.

> “Infinity can not handle that kind of punishment, not again!”
> “This isn’t about us or the ship anymore.”
> “Sir, we’ve seen what the Didact is capable of. If we let him leave this world, Humanity will be at risk”
> “Look, I understand what you think you saw—”
> -Cutscene, Reclaimer, Halo 4

> “Nav — As soon as we know we’re airtight, I want a course laid into Carinae Station. Comm, prepare a warning beacon.”
> -Cutscene, Reclaimer, Halo 4

The order to return to UNSC space would push Cortana over the edge and reveal just how badly she had deteriorated due to Rampancy. Not wanting to endanger Infinity and it’s crew from a potentially life-threatening rampant AI, Del Rio ordered her termination.

> “I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO LEAVE THIS PLANET.”
> -Cutscene, Reclaimer, Halo 4

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> “Commander Lasky. Pursuant to Article 55 of UNSC Regulation 12-145-72, I am ordering you remove that AI’s data chip and retire it for final dispensation.”
> -Cutscene, Reclaimer, halo 4

This event would reveal where Master Chief stood. He would take possession of Cortana’s chip, and keep it aboard Infinity; an act that could endanger the crew. Having undermined Del Rio’s authority, the Captain’s reaction was intense. As a manager rather than a leader, he would be unable to handle the situation correctly, and ordered Master Chief’s arrest.

> “Lieutenant. Arrest that man!”
> “Captain…”
> “ARREST HIM!!!”
> “CAPTAIN!”
> -Cutscene, Reclaimer, Halo 4

But it was too late. Master Chief, being Humanity’s living legend and savior, had inspired Infinity’s crew by his unflinching resolve to meet the Didact’s thread head on. No one would attempt to arrest him.

As word spread of what had happened on Infinity’s bridge, and it became apparent that Del Rio would abandon Chief, the crew would speculate what Del Rio’s fate would be and mull over what had happened.

> “Ah-ha! The old man tried tearing him a new one. Good luck with that.”
> “And good luck on the night watch, private. The old man is still your commanding officer and you will refer to him as such. Are we clear?”
> “Sir, yes sir.”
> -Gameplay, Shutdown, Halo 4

> “Look, I fought to get this assignment, I’m just saying—”
> “The chain of command is still chain of command.”
> “C’mon, who do you think FLEETCOM is going to side with? Don’t be naive.”
> -Gameplay, Shutdown, Halo 4

As Infinity returned to UNSC space, its final destination would be Cairo Station, where Del Rio was presumably debriefed. A peaceful exploratory mission would lead to Infinity’s near destruction, the discovery of a new world, new enemies, and the survival of the Master Chief. Del Rio’s choice to not take the initiative would ultimately cost him his position and the loss of physical form and free will for millions of Humans.

> “Affirmative, Sir. Where’s the Captain?”
> “FLEETCOM didn’t take to kindly to his abandoning you on Requiem. I’m afraid I’ll have to do.”
> -Gameplay, Midnight, Halo 4

Del Rio’s final fate is still unknown, but we can speculate that he was deranked and put at a Navy desk job.

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This was a very informative and interesting read.

It definitely gives me a different view on Del Rio than “that cranky old man who hates Master Chief for no reason”. Although I still don’t agree with his actions, I can understand his mindset.

Anyway, great post. You should do more character analyses.

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I don’t think any of us agree with his decisions. Partly because we knew how the story would progress. But it’s wise to step back and view the events that took place as if we didn’t know what would happen. Could the Librarian be trusted? Would Infinity have been destroyed if it stayed on Requiem?

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This situation was so over-simplified in-game. It’s so complex and there are so many grey areas.

Both the Master Chief and Del Rio were right, in their own senses.

I still kind of agree with Del Rio’s decision, getting Infinity out of there. It would definitely suck to lose basically our only defense against any major attacks and a good portion of the Spartan IV Program.

But then again, the Didact got out and attacked Earth, resulting in millions of deaths, which could’ve possibly been prevented if Infinity had intervened.

Well, if it were up to me, I would’ve fled with Infinity, but left behind a sizable force to help Chief. Those ten updated frigates and a good amount of Spartans would’ve at least been something.

Anyway, nice post, Onyx.

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> I don’t think any of us agree with his decisions. <mark>Partly because we knew how the story would progress.</mark> But it’s wise to step back and view the events that took place as if we didn’t know what would happen. Could the Librarian be trusted? Would Infinity have been destroyed if it stayed on Requiem?

I think that’s fully why

I, like Nubcake sort of agree with Del Rio

Think at the last two First Contact scenarios with the Flood and Covenant, Del Rio was in a position to want to get out of Requiem, especially since there were Covenant ships which could of probably overpowered it but then on top of that you have a Forerunner and killer machines there also. On top of that he’s the Captain of humanities best ship, responsible for 17,000 lives.

If he stayed to fight Mantles Approach that would of been suicide, even on Midnight, Lasky fired at the Mantles Approach and then seemingly left

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Lasky got out of their after firing because he didn’t want to get Infinity steamrolled. The Mantle’s approach is 65 times bigger than Infinity and outfitted with impressively advanced weaponry.

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Nice post OP, very informative!

Del Rio is a poor commander however you cut it. His unwillingness to perform even basic recon while sending the Infinity’s limited ground forces right at the enemy attest to that, even if you ignore his interactions with the Chief and the whole -Yoink- of Requiem and damn the consequences attitude, which 'm not getting into.

However Del Rio is actually just a symptom of a much bigger problem, IMO.
The problem is two-fold, first of all there is the fact that there simply isn’t enough good, competent officers, especially at high ranks like Captain to fulfil all the spots. Especially because if Lasky is any indication many of the few remaining ones are in ONIs pocket or are ‘compromised’ so to speak (more on this later). The simply fact of the matter is that humanity lost almost all of its best and brightest to the Covenant, meaning there is a void that the new generation simply lacks the ability to fill at the time of Halo 4. People Like Jacob & Miranda Keyes are replaced by people such as Del Rio and Palmer.

Secondly, there is the problem of politics between the branches and the ever growing rift between ONI and the rest of the UNSC. Prior to Halo 4 and the assorted EU material released once Bungie handed over to 343 ONI was for the most part just another branch of the UNSCDF that answered to HIGHCOM and the Security Council just like the other services, although obviously because of their role a lot of their projects were top secret and known only to a few. They were in essence like the CIA or other such agencies taken to 11, they were very secretive and hush hush but they still answered to those outside of the Agency/Office, just only a few high ranked ones.
However now that is no longer the case. ONI is now more akin to a mini empire within an empire, with no oversight from other groups or organisations. The head of ONI is able to command people completely out of her jurisdiction/command to carry out an illegal assassination on an incredibly valuable strategic asset with no one to stop her. IIRC correctly the Infinity was originally ONI’s pet project that consumed huge amounts of the budget, with other branches and figures only let in because they began to wonder where the hell their desperately needed funding was going to. ONI undertakes operations that could backfire disastrously in humanities face (coughkilo-5cough*) without the knowledge of anyone but CINCONI, her sockpuppet (or ‘heir’) and a bunch of meatheads & minions that apparently have no problem committing treason.

In this light the whole ‘appointing Del Rio simply because we can’t have another ONI stooge in a key position’ seems much more understandable; and more importantly the fact that service branch politic-ing has reached the extent that they’ll put an incompetent/inferior officer to be CO of humanities most valuable asset instead of the more competent one simply because he might be ‘compromised’ by ONI represents an absolutely horrifying prospect for the UNSC and humanity.

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I’d like to note that just because FLEETCOM disagreed with his actions, it’s not like they did anything to prevent them. It is likely he was replaced merely because ONI preferred Lasky to Del Rio in the first place, if you’ll notice Serin Osman is a member of FLEETCOM, the very same who ordered the elimination of Doctor Halsey.

If anything ONI allowed these events to occur, because they knew it would give them an excuse to remove Del Rio. Or maybe Del Rio and ONI were even working together, as they both shared a similar view of the Master Chief: Del Rio had little or no faith in him, and ONI wanted to replace him, as is evidenced in the interrogation of Halsey at the beginning of Halo 4.

11

I always saw it as a “screwed if you do, and screwed if you don’t” situation. Both Chief and Del Rio were right. What it finally came down to was the political situation back home and the way the Brass perceives things… (as it always does).

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Nice post OP, very informative!

> Del Rio is a poor commander however you cut it. His unwillingness to perform even basic recon while sending the Infinity’s limited ground forces right at the enemy attest to that

Infinity has over 17,000 crew members. The Pillar of Autumn only had over 4,000 and was capable of performing guerrilla warfare against a Covenant armada and Forerunner and Flood for 3 days straight.

> even if you ignore his interactions with the Chief and the whole Yoink! of Requiem and damn the consequences attitude, which 'm not getting into.

You shouldn’t get into that at all as this post was to explain why he acted like that and had that attitude.

> However Del Rio is actually just a symptom of a much bigger problem, IMO.
> The problem is two-fold, first of all there is the fact that there simply isn’t enough good, competent officers, especially at high ranks like Captain to fulfil all the spots.

There are enough. If you noticed, the whole purpose of Del Rio being chosen was because he has a history of keeping ships in one piece, making for an impressive service record, but also because no one would question his disappearance. Lasky was ONI’s choice because he was relatively unknown. All he had done prior to being the XO of Infinity was fly a Broadsword in the UNSC Air Force.

> People Like Jacob & Miranda Keyes are replaced by people such as Del Rio and Palmer.

If you actually pay attention to Miranda’s tactics, she’s a horrible commander. We can’t judge her solely on her actions in game however because we know so little about her service record.

Again Del Rio was selected for political reasons. Palmer is actually extremely competent and an excellent commander. Just because she has an annoying personality doesn’t mean she’s a bad commander. If you pay attention to her role mainly in the Halo 4 Campaign Spartan Assault, and Initiation, she’s actually an innovative fast thinking leader.

> Secondly, there is the problem of politics between the branches and the ever growing rift between ONI and the rest of the UNSC. Prior to Halo 4 and the assorted EU material released once Bungie handed over to 343 ONI was for the most part just another branch of the UNSCDF that answered to HIGHCOM and the Security Council just like the other services, although obviously because of their role a lot of their projects were top secret and known only to a few. They were in essence like the CIA or other such agencies taken to 11, they were very secretive and hush hush but they still answered to those outside of the Agency/Office, just only a few high ranked ones.

You need to remember that we had never had such an intimate knowledge of the inner operations of ONI until the Kilo-5 trilogy came out. If you look a little below the surface of what we know of ONI from Bungie’s canon, we see that they’re still relatively the same. Heck, Ackerson tried to kill Master Chief while a section of Reach was being Glassed.

> IIRC correctly the Infinity was originally ONI’s pet project that consumed huge amounts of the budget, with other branches and figures only let in because they began to wonder where the hell their desperately needed funding was going to. ONI undertakes operations that could backfire disastrously in humanities face (coughkilo-5cough*) without the knowledge of anyone but CINCONI, her sockpuppet (or ‘heir’) and a bunch of meatheads & minions that apparently have no problem committing treason.

Sounds like ONI. The Spartan-II and III projects were never approved by anyone other than ONI yet they represent an obvious breach in moral law.

Note that Kilo-5 isn’t the only SpecOp team ONI has. Look at the Delta-6 Division.

> In this light the whole ‘appointing Del Rio simply because we can’t have another ONI stooge in a key position’ seems much more understandable; and more importantly the fact that service branch politic-ing has reached the extent that they’ll put an incompetent/inferior officer to be CO of humanities most valuable asset instead of the more competent one simply because he might be ‘compromised’ by ONI represents an absolutely horrifying prospect for the UNSC and humanity.

The UNSC choosing Del Rio was not only because of them not wanting ONI to have complete control over Infinity, it was also because Infinity took up half the UNSC’s budget and took 20 years to build. Del Rio’s service record shows he’s a careful commander. I’m sure the UNSC would appreciate someone who’s not going to go around getting Infinity damaged by performing gutsy decisions.

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Excellent post Onyx, very detailed and informative!

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> Infinity has over 17,000 crew members. The Pillar of Autumn only had over 4,000 and was capable of performing guerrilla warfare against a Covenant armada and Forerunner and Flood for 3 days straight.

They had no knowledge of what forces they were sending the ground forces against, or what reserves Jul and the Didact might have waiting. Risking valuable assets like the MasterChief and Lasky due to an unwillingness to perform basic recon is a foolish decision regardless of how many replacement troops you have.

> You shouldn’t get into that at all as this post was to explain why he acted like that and had that attitude.

I’m not getting into that because I don’t share the opinion that it was a heinous crime to not go along with what the Master Chief wants. Others however do so I mentioned it in passing.
Sorry if that was unclear.

> There are enough. If you noticed, the whole purpose of Del Rio being chosen was because he has a history of keeping ships in one piece, making for an impressive service record, but also because no one would question his disappearance. Lasky was ONI’s choice because he was relatively unknown. All he had done prior to being the XO of Infinity was fly a Broadsword in the UNSC Air Force.

Lasky also retrained as a ship officer during the war, so it is far more likely he had some manner of experience in actual ship operations and wasn’t jumped up from Broadsword jockey to XO of humanities largest warship. Because that would be stupid.

> If you actually pay attention to Miranda’s tactics, she’s a horrible commander. We can’t judge her solely on her actions in game however because we know so little about her service record.

She manages to fight her way to her ship on Cairo Station, not get her ship destroyed along with the majority of the rest of the fleet over Earth, reacts quickly enough to follow the Prophet of Regret (and is therefore the only reason the UNSC was able to find Installation 05), contested the Covenant at New Mombasa, and helped stop 05 firing.
Not to mention even though Bungie took a hatchet to her in Halo 3 (“to war”? Really? Going shotgun and Pistol rather than using that machine gun on the Pelican you crashed?) she still managed to lead a guerrilla campaign against the Covenant from the Crows Nest.

So no, she isn’t a horrible commander and we see her actually doing her job just as much as Del Rio, except she does it better.

> Again Del Rio was selected for political reasons. Palmer is actually extremely competent and an excellent commander. Just because she has an annoying personality doesn’t mean she’s a bad commander. If you pay attention to her role mainly in the Halo 4 Campaign Spartan Assault, and Initiation, she’s actually an innovative fast thinking leader.

She must have lost all this excellence by SPOPS then. Because all I see is a REMF who gets her troops into horrible situations (Crimson completely surrounded by a huge Covenant force? I love p**sing off Covenant!); when she does take to the field she fails utterly at her task and botches Majestics attempt in the process and displays moral cowardice or at the very least hypocrisy when it comes to her “Orders are Orders but only when I say so” attitude.

> You need to remember that we had never had such an intimate knowledge of the inner operations of ONI until the Kilo-5 trilogy came out. If you look a little below the surface of what we know of ONI from Bungie’s canon, we see that they’re still relatively the same. Heck, Ackerson tried to kill Master Chief while a section of Reach was being Glassed.

We can however extrapolate. We see Ackerson on the Security Council as the ONI liaison, and as the Security Council is the supreme body of the UNSC it is not un reasonable to assume that ONI answers to them to some degree, especially considering how easily Hood can shut down Ackerson. Furthermore the high ranking members know about ONIs projects, and not just the ones that have been out for a while like the Spartan-IIs but the III’s as well.

As for Ackerson, he never displays the best judgement around, however did he know about the Covenant because I can’t find my copy of the Fall of Reach so I can’t check, especially because apparently ONI was doing some ridiculous information control according to Halo Reach. Either way Ackerson is pretty much the one example we have though, and there isn’t anything to suggest that everyone else was like him when we see over ONI personnel.

> Sounds like ONI. The Spartan-II and III projects were never approved by anyone other than ONI yet they represent an obvious breach in moral law.

We know from First Strike that the III project was approved because one of the non ONI Security council members goes to mention it before being silenced because there’s a junior officer without proper clearance present. Therefore it is not unreasonable to assume that the Spartan-II project was also approved by the few top Security Council officers from other branches.

> Note that Kilo-5 isn’t the only SpecOp team ONI has. Look at the Delta-6 Division.

Never said they were. The Delta-6 division hasn’t grabbed the idiot ball and risked provoking the Human-Covenant War 2: Electric Boogaloo though.

> The UNSC choosing Del Rio was not only because of them not wanting ONI to have complete control over Infinity, it was also because Infinity took up half the UNSC’s budget and took 20 years to build. Del Rio’s service record shows he’s a careful commander. I’m sure the UNSC would appreciate someone who’s not going to go around getting Infinity damaged by performing gutsy decisions.

In this case Del Rio’s carefulness worked against him. Not to mention in the actual game his tactics of ‘we don’t need no recon’ don’t seem especially careful when dealing with an unknown element like the Didact.

Also, as a side note I question the wisdom of spending the better part of 20 years diverting half of your budget to one ship that might not be commissioned in time to even fight anyone when your species is in the middle of getting exterminated. Unless they had a vision of the future implanted by the Librarian and her genetic tinkering or some other method of seeing that they would survive the H-C war and live to see the Infinity commissioned.

15

Wow Onyx, that was a HUGE and enjoyable read. It really makes me rethink my opinion of Del Rio as a character. =)

16

This is a very good read Onyx, you did a nice job. Your thread gets a solid 10/10 from me. :slight_smile:

17

For over eighteen months, I’ve been sitting here, scratching my head on why Del Rio hated the Chief with such a passion.
Then you come along and write this… My man, this was a very educational read.
thank you for helping me clear this up. You get a solid Ten over ten from me!

Shep

18

> 2533274956236455;17:
> For over eighteen months, I’ve been sitting here, scratching my head on why Del Rio hated the Chief with such a passion.
> Then you come along and write this… My man, this was a very educational read.
> thank you for helping me clear this up. You get a solid Ten over ten from me!
>
> Shep

You know this thread is over 18 months old?

19

I disagree with Del Rio based on UNSC Naval history, of Commanders, Captains and Admirals of all degrees charging the Covenant in ships much less than state of the art, or perhaps fairly damaged, or simply fatigued and weary of battle and loss.
Many commanded fleets and battlegroups that suffered full ship casualties to hold a position for reinforcements, or win a decisive battle, bide for evacuation or even just to buy humanity time. Despite survival, each battle was to be viewed through the lenses of utter death for all involved until otherwise disprove.
Del Rio was of this generation. He saw the Covenant and what they would do. HE WAS ALSO ALIVE FOR THE CHIEF.
Saving humanity battle by battle, insertion into enemy territory, rescue of VIPs and other objectives. Between himself and Cortana later on, humanity made contact with the greatest quantities of Forerunner technology and history than ever before. Chief has more experience shooting at smart metal than anyone! Even Del Rio admits it unknowingly in reference to not seeing Forerunner defenses like this; inferring warrior in appearance, single purpose for combat.
If the Forerunner tech couldn’t stop the Flood, but Chief survives it and defeats,it regularly, AND SURVIVES IT COMING TO YOU, wouldn’t you ask HIM what to do!?
Del Rio is on a Halo hunt. He must know what Chief went through; the scope of what wasneededfor any one task. First encounter of a Spartan II with Forerunner AI, autonomous and defensive. First Contact with the Flood. New technologies and flood present on Delta Halo. The assault on Installation 00…
John has known warfare, tactics/strategy, superior enemy force strengths…He has never failed a mission by objective, and only failed battles if all other forces failed first.
After meeting Cortana? Multiply.
I don’t care if he is Lord Admiral Terrence Hood. Just like First Lieutenant Fred-104, when John is there, defer to his judgement. Knowledge of military history, training in conventional and adaptive combat, first hand experience in every form of battle on all terrain other than aquatic, command over non-Spartan marine and naval forces, outperforming ODSTs in every aspect, and each multiple times over.
I DON’T CARE WHAT MAKES SENSE TO A NAVAL OFFICER! If you are in the Halo universe and the unstoppable juggernaut savior of humanity says hi, you are outmatched by default. Keep command, but follow his word.
Stop the Didact, but by your command, erring to Chief’s judgement.
Besides. He was pissed BEFORE Chief even made it to Infinity. Why? >> Savior. Right here. We’ll be okay. <<
“Off the field a while…” BS. Like he was skinny dipping in Librarian’s private waterfall pool until you came! Also, cryo for 4 years? Pick up as he left off. Didn’t know about his nap? Then as far as you know, 4 years in that Hell hole. Insulting, degrading, and ultimately undermining what is essentially John’s lifetime until that moment…Foresight by playing the game is irrelevant. Reading on Chief’s past from Reach until Alpha Halo, and then to First Strike, Halo’s 2 and 3, AND OPTIONALLLY OTHER BOOKS AND CANON STORIES…If I showed Del Rio’s crap after that? Anyone would scratch their heads. I wouldn’t trust him to command a rowing team, especially if he won’t listen to the gold medal winning team leader.

20

Was it the same Cairo Station we saw in Halo 2, or a replacement?