Goose's ODST Application

[Goose]

Steam Name: Goose
Age: 19

Character Name: Kurt Stiner
Character Age: 31
Character Corps: ODST
Character Rank: PFC
Planet of Origin: Earth

Personality Description:

Kurt Stiner is rather laid back for someone born in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a rather patient yet stubborn individual who will use sarcasm in either a joking manner or in manner in which to hurt someone. Years of fighting has caused some of his more light hearted personality to dissipate, leaving him as a grumpy, cynical middle aged man. He often questions why he is still alive or if there is even a reason for his existence. However all negative thoughts drift away when reality hits, he is alive and fighting because he knows if he stops it would mean the end of the human race and spitting on his family name, which does not bode well with him.

Physical Description:

Kurt Stiner is what many would consider a walking toothpick. He stands at a whopping 6 foot 3 inches and weighs in at 175 pounds. Albeit most of his weight is muscle, he still gives off a rather lanky appearance that some would say he needs a sandwich. He has dirty blonde hair which he keeps within length regulations, but grows it out just enough to spike it up with gel. He keeps his face clean shaven of any and all facial hair due to his dislike of it’s scraggly appearance and not to mention it’s nasty habit of getting in the way of sealing of respirators and the like. His face is pale and sunken in from being fatigued and stressed. To accompany such a face, two tired and dull blue-grey eyes express his distaste for war. In contrast to all these negative features his face projects smile lines and dimples which still show off smooth young looking cheeks despite his actual age. It should also be noted that he is flat-footed, duck-footed and knock-kneed, but despite these flaws they are all correctable. He also suffered a dislocated left kneecap when an operation went south. As for attire and uniform he wears the most basic protective armor the UNSC has to offer, and refuses to dabble in the marking up of one's armor, preferring not to stand out amongst the crowd. When not on the field he is usually seen wearing a black cable-knit sweater, black fatigue pants, and a pair of black combat boots.


Character Bio:

Stiner was born on Earth to Howard and Kathrine Stiner, a military family in Cleveland, Ohio. His father being part of MARSOC and his mother being a nurse for the UNSC. His childhood was stricter than others but by no means was it unfair. His father would give him a “three strikes your out, pal” ordeal. Rather laid back for someone who was part of MARSOC. Of course being born into a military family, he was placed into a military academy instead of a normal school. At the academy he learned the basics of schooling and soldiering. Not only that but he learned how to be self sufficient and to be independent out in the real world incase the military lifestyle was not for him. Fortunately enough the military lifestyle was his cup of tea so to speak. All throughout his school career he maintained slightly above-average grades, which were nothing to sneeze at. He also met a kid by the name of Jan-Willem Dispa who upon first meeting was being bullied for being one of the shorter kids in the class. Stiner without hesitation took on two while Dispa took on the third one. It was not before long when teachers started getting involved and separated the five boys. Threatened with expulsion all five boys were ordered to clean the latrines with toothbrushes for the next three months.

Upon hearing the news Stiner’s father was surprisingly proud of his son for standing up to those three boys. His father told him while growing up “As long as you do not start a fight, but rather finish one. I will not have an issue with you, son.” Life went on after those three months and Dispa and Stiner became best of friends through the rest of their academy years before setting out to either ROTC or a form of Special Warfare schooling where they would finish up the rest of their training, or so one thought. After graduation from the academy both Dispa and Stiner went their separate ways and from that day forth have not crossed paths.

Stiner went to the Special Operations Center of Excellence School for the Army at Fort Bragg. Despite his dreams and wishes of being an ONI Intelligence Officer he felt he would be of more help on the ground with the actual fighting force. Having spent five long years at the SOCOES he was trained in survival, escape and evasion, firearms, sabotage and much more. However there was one skill set that stood out from the rest, and this skill sent shivers down those who were in the same class as him. Despite being taught more than just the basics of psychology, Stiner had an uncanny ability to accurately hit targets that were out at incredible distances. One such occasion he managed to hit a target at a little over eight hundred meters on a cold-bore shot. Having a skill like that, the Instructors did not want to waste such a gift and gave Stiner the opportunity to train alongside Marine Scout Snipers at the Marine Corp Base known as Camp Pendleton in California. Stiner agreed to this fully enjoying that he finally found out a skill that would not have him directly in the line of fire.

Within the next week Stiner was off the Camp Pendleton to begin further training as a sniper for the UNSC. The training and weather were brutal. It was almost always raining when he was there, and the exercises and calisthenics were enough to make one throw up or roll over in pain. But Stiner managed to dig deep and press one somehow. Little did he know that this was just the entrance exam for the physical end of things. Out of sixty-five candidates only twenty-five passed and went on to the real thing. For the first phase of training it was nothing but push ups, sit ups, running, running the O-Course, more running and….more running for five weeks. Stiner might not have been the fastest, but he had the endurance to keep running when the other “gazelles” couldn’t, due to sprinting all the time and running out of energy. During those long nights of training where you could not even see your own hand in front of you, that is where Stiner operated the most efficiently. Having been a night owl since he was a kid during the academy this was nothing to him, while his other classmates struggled to keep awake they would look at him like he was from a different planet.

After those five weeks of pain and anguish were over, the real fun began. The second phase was primarily learning how to shoot accurately and with deadly precision, along with learning how to properly camouflage oneself and remain hidden from the Instructors who were imitating enemy patrols.This went on for nine whole weeks as candidates would drop out from either failing to hit the targets a required number of times, or they failed to camouflage themselves properly and were caught by the Instructors. For Stiner this was an adrenaline rush and gave it a 110%, and it paid off, considering he along with eleven other candidates were sent to the third and final phase of training which was to incorporate what learned and use it in a simulation.


Drip...drip...drip

It was steadily raining out at the Kill House this day, accompanied by fog and an occasional strike of lightning followed by thunder. For this mock battle there would be two fire teams. Golf Team and Irene Team. Golf Team would handle the breaching of the building itself and the rooms, while Irene Team would provide overwatch for Golf Team. Golf Team comprised of Sgt. William O’Connor, LCpl. Jennifer Miles, PfC. William Cutter, and Pvt. John O’hara. Irene Team comprised of Cpl. Jeffrey Wilt, PfC. Kurt Stiner, PfC. Matilda Grissom, and Pvt. Kathy Lawrence. There would be two sniper teams overlooking the Kill House from their perches that were out at eight hundred meters. The rain and fog made it difficult to see, ontop of it being cold out this made matters even more so. Nonetheless the simulation went on as Instructors observed both teams and evaluated their performances on note pads.

Irene Team only needed but to complete one last simulation and they would graduate at the top of their class. Golf Team on the other hand needed two more successful simulations before they would graduate. The fog really began to roll in now as the rain began to come down even harder turning the ground into nothing but a mud pit, making it difficult for Golf Team to traverse. Stiner and Matilda in this scenario were the shooters, while Wilt and Lawrence were their spotters. The snipers were using the SR-99 Anti-Materiel rifle that utilized the 14.5x144mm cartridge. A devastating round that would kill any flesh based targets with easy and cut through armored structures like a hot knife through butter.

Golf Team made it to the ground level entrance of the Kill House. Through his scope Stiner could see O’Connor grabbing his radio. “Irene. I say again Irene. We are at the entrance preparing to breach. How copy?” Wilt grabbed his radio and binoculars and began speaking into the radio as he brought his binoculars up to his eyes. “Rodger that, Golf we read you. Continue with breaching, we have you covered. How copy?” O’Connor raised his radio to speak again. “Solid copy, Irene. Proceeding with breach. Just do not accidently hit me or one of my squad mates. Those are live rounds this time.”

Stiner had laid out all his magazines prior to Golf Team getting to the Kill House. This was to cut down on time with him fumbling around with trying to get a magazine out of his vest and missing a chance to take out a target. He looked over to Wilt, who at this time was getting the humidity level, wind speeds, and the temperature. “You think it will be this gloomy on the battlefield?” asked Stiner. Wilt looked over to him and shook his head. “Nah, if I had to venture a guess. This sort of weather is once in a blue moon on some of those planets.” Stiner just nodded, not wanting to get too distracted from the simulation. The Instructor barked loudly. “ALRIGHT IRENE! GOLF TEAM HAS JUST CLEARED OUT THE FIRST FLOOR! THEY ARE MOVING TO THE SECOND FLOOR, SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT!” Both sniper teams wrote down the last of their adjustments and were giving the finishing touches to their scope dials.

Just as Golf Team squad leader Sgt. O'Connor peeked his head around the corner from the stairwell and into the second floor hall, a cardboard cutout of a Elite Minor popped out. Both Stiner and Grissom swiveled on their bipods towards the cardboard target as it popped out, both simultaneously squeezed the trigger each sending a round down range at the target. “BOOM”, “BOOM”. Both rounds hit the target. Stiner hit lower left abdomen, while Grissom hit the upper right chest. Both considered kill shots therefore both got a point. No one on Irene Team noticed, but O’Connor had fallen down the flight of steps. He was now yelling and cursing out both Stiner and Grissom for firing without warning. “ MOTHER OF GOD! A LITTLE FOREWARNING NEXT TIME YOU TWO! I THINK I SOILED MYSELF!” Stiner grabbed the radio from Wilt expressing his feelings for O’Connor. “When this simulation is done. I will go buy you some new panties, sound like a plan?” Just then the Instructor barked at Stiner. “STOW IT, STINER! WE STILL GOT BOGIES DOWN THERE HIDING!”. O’Connor could be heard yelling insults at Stiner over the radio, but was ultimately ignored as the simulation went on.

The simulation went on for five grueling hours. Irene Team managed to eliminate thirty-six out of forty targets. The other four were mortally wounded and would have died out from blood-loss, that is if Golf Team did not finish them off. It was a happy moment for both teams. Golf Team had one more simulation to go and they would pass. Irene Team on the other hand was already underway for graduation and being shipped out onto the field within the next month.

Drip...Drip...Drip

Once again it was raining. At least this time there was no thunder, lightning or fog. But this time there was real hostiles out there, and this was no Kill House. Stiner was busy adjusting the cheek rest on the rifle stock when he looked over to Wilt, who was cleaning the binocular lens of rain drops. “I thought you said rain on these other planets were like a blue moon?”. Wilt looked over to Stiner soaked to the bone like his partner was and replied. “Yeah, well I trained to be a spotter for your bullets. Not to spot for rain storms, smart ass.” Stiner just shook his head smirking as he went back to adjusting the cheek rest. At that moment the wind began to kick up, causing the two to shiver like crazy since they were already drenched from the rain. “And you want to do more crazy shit like this? After all this craziness has happened to us already?” Without breaking concentration or even looking over in Wilts direction, Stiner replied cold and callously. “Yes Wilt. How many times must I say that? This is the fifth time you’ve asked me this in a matter of two hours. I would have thought the first two times would have been enough for you.” Wilt was taken aback by this ill-tempered response and remained silent while he continued to clean his instruments of the rain. An hour passed before their radios crackled to life with static and then a voice came on informing them that the main convoy would not be on time due to weather conditions, but a recon team was sent out to secure the perimeter of a now blown out four story elementary school, where charred bodies of school staff and students lie. “This is...this is messed up man. Why did they order us to look at this shit?” asked Wilt. In response to his question Stiner remained silent as he pressed his shoulder against the stock of the rifle and made some minor adjustments to the scope. “Kurt man. I asked you a question. Why do they make us look at this horrific shit?”. This time Stiner spoke in a unnerving tone. “They are not forcing us to look at anything. We are here to secure this block and wait for the reconnaissance team to arrive and set up a defensive perimeter around the school. It is our job to watch over them and ensure their safety. This is war...not some walk in the park, Wilt. This is our third operation together. I would have figured you would have become immune to this stuff by now.” Once again Wilt was surprised by this reaction from his long time friend and partner. “Look, I did not mean anything by it. It just...bothers me is all...those are children who did not know any better that have perished. How you can say such a thing and not have any emotion in your voice dictates to me that you aren’t any better than the Covenant.” Stiner clenched his jaw together and began breathing heavily through his nose. Wilt spoke again. “You know. Maybe you are cut out for those Helljumpers you speak about. You fit the mold perfectly.” Just has Stiner was about to reply to Wilt’s comment their radios crackled to life once again with more static and a different voice. It was the recon team forming up at the school steps and clearing the block around the school.


Both Stiner and Wilt got to it. First they began scanning the rooftops for any hostile snipers. Then focused on the ground level alleyways incase Covenant forces decided to try some flanking maneuvers. For the time being it was all quiet sides from the soft pitter patter of rain against their helmets and the rifles metallic frame. “This just does not seem right to me.” said Wilt. In response to such a statement Stiner replied by setting out four magazines out in front of him for easy and quicker reach. Fifteen minutes went by, which to them seemed like an hour before an odd sound caught Stiner’s ear. “Ya hear that?” asked Stiner. “What?” replied Wilt. Stiner looked away from the scope and off into the distant sky to see a Covenant dropship headed towards the school. After both expressed their disbelief with each other, Wilt got on the horn with the recon team and informed them of the drop ship. The recon team responded by forming up into a defensive diamond pattern and sought out pieces of rubble to take cover behind. Meanwhile the drop ship deployed a mixture of a squad consisting of two Elite Minors, two Jackals, and three Grunts. Nothing they could not handle, that is until a second drop ship deployed the same amount of enemies. Stiner placed his cross hairs on one of the Elite Minors, knowing it would decimate enemy morale but at the same time boost friendly morale. He was about to take the shot before Wilt nudged him with his shoulder and pointed down below to a squad of Brutes led by a Chieftain. And to make matters worse a thick fog began to roll in just as the rain began picking up and rumbles of thunder echoed in the distance. The sniper team had to make a decision and a fast one, focus on one squad or the other. For Stiner, the only logical way of handling this was to switch back and forth between both squads. He went back to the Elite on the rooftop and squeezed the trigger sending a round into its upper chest, essentially cutting it in half. He then swiveled on the bipod towards the Brute squad where he sent two rounds down range at two Brutes, both contacting their targets. He aimed at the Chieftain and squeezed off a round. To his dismay the round simply tore off a piece of the shoulder armor it was wearing. Wilt stated the wind caught the round and carried it to the right. Stiner was about to do a follow up shot when a round went flying by his head. He looked over to the opposite roof which was the school to notice a Jackal took a potshot at them. He swiveled on the bipod over towards the Jackal and squeezed off the last round in his magazine. The round turned the Jackal into a pink-purple like mist. Stiner ejected the magazine and loaded in a new as fast as he could. He chambered a new round and went back to focusing on the Brute squad to find out they retreated, or so he thought. The team went back to focusing on the enemy forces on the school rooftop and quickly decimated them as the recon team on the ground kept lobbing grenades onto the roof and gave suppressing fire.

Once again all was quiet, even the rain stopped at that moment. Wilt and Stiner took this time to catch their bearings and got the recon team on the radio seeing if there was any casualties that needed to be evaced. Fortunately no one was seriously injured. An hour passed before things started to just feel wrong. The sound of diesel engines off in the distance were a positive sound as it meant the convoy was coming up the road, but how far out they were was to be determined. Just as Wilt was about to rise the horn to the recon team, he took a plasma bolt to the left shoulder sending him to the ground screaming in agony. Stiner taken by surprise looked over at Wilt before looking over to his left to see two humongous ape-like creatures, who respectfully earned the name Brute. The two savage creatures were snarling at Wilt and Stiner before one raised its weapon at Stiner. He in response ran and slide on his knees across the wet roof to get behind an A/C unit that was directly between them. He frantically ripped his M6 sidearm out of its holster and blind fired three shots at the Brutes before rummaging through Wilts’ backpack to grab two frag grenades. He armed the one grenade and tossed it over at the Brute’s before grabbing the second one. Wilt still lied on the ground motionless for the time being, which filled Stiner with anger. No not anger, but rage. He wanted to rip the guts out these ape-like aliens before slowly ripping them to shreds. He peeked out from behind the a/c unit to see one Brute was lying motionless on the ground and the other was wounded. He was so angry that he did not even hear the grenade go off or their shrieks of pain.

Without thinking too much about it, he stomped out from behind the a/c unit and furiously walked over to the wounded Brute that was now trying to get onto its feet. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he felt something grab his left knee and pull up on it causing a surge of pain that sent him to the ground immediately. The second Brute who lied motionless was not dead and managed to roll over and incapacitate Stiner’s left leg. Just as both Brutes were about to body slam him they were both hit with a surge of bullets. Turns out a squad of Helljumpers were in the area and had orders to assist in anyway possible. One of the Helljumpers heaved Stiner up onto his feet, while two others went to go assist Wilt and the remaining three stood guard. The ODST helping Stiner noticed the second grenade in his hands and took it from him, knowing full well what he was going to do had those Brutes started pummeling him. The two were taken to the convoy which had arrived three hours behind schedule. On the way to the convoy however, Stiner met this platinum haired, lightly blue eyed, female tank crewman which gave him a warm smile and a salute as he was escorted to the nearest medic along with Wilt. This woman made him feel weird inside. He never felt such a sensation before, but he could not stop and speak to her as the Helljumpers were escorting them in a hurried manner. Stiner’s dislocated knee was easily popped back into place. He was given a wrap, some painkillers and was told to go back out. Wilt got the brunt of it however, as the plasma ate away at his tendons and muscle in his left shoulder, which granted him the opportunity to get proper medical attention back at home and get a purple heart. Both were told that Wilt would be out of the fight for a while until his injuries healed. The ODST team that saved them both confronted Stiner about how they lost their sniper to Covenant artillery and asked if he would mind assisting them for the remainder of the mission despite having an injured knee. He took it up with the convoy’s commander, which granted him to tag along with the Helljumpers only because they lost their sniper and he was the only one around at the moment who could fill in for their empty role. The remainder of the mission was successful ending up with Stiner having fifteen confirmed kills.

Three months after the operation while lying in his bunk, Stiner was confronted by two gentleman holding the rank of Captain and the other a Lieutenant. After seeing their ranks he immediately went at attention before quickly being told to be at ease. The two wanted to talk to him in private, so they took him to an office and sat him down and began asking him a bunch of questions about his time in the academy and then at the special warfare school at Fort Bragg. Then they began asking questions about his training at Camp Pendleton and his marksman training. They then asked him questions about what he wanted to do within the UNSC, which Stiner promptly told them he originally wanted to be part of ONI as an Intelligence officer but, decided against it thinking he would make more of a difference on the ground instead of working in the shadows.

At that point they began asking him about what he knew about the ODST, and what they did for the UNSC. Stiner told them exactly what he knew from experience of seeing them on the field and the rumors he heard. With that, his commanding officer General Aarno Grissom came into the room and explained to Stiner who these men were and what they were doing there. Turns out after the operation three months ago the Helljumpers he assisted were impressed with his marksmanship abilities and the higher ups caught wind of it one day and decided to look into it. General Grissom gave Stiner a high recommendation to those who were looking at his service records, meaning this meeting was to see if Stiner was interested in moving into the ODSTs. Shocked by this, he did not know how to respond at first, but he agreed to such a proposition especially after his commanding officer recommended him to these ODST officers. The next several months would be of him training, not only for the ODSTs, but for his life.

For some reason or another it had occurred to Stiner that defining moments were always associated with horrible weather conditions. Almost as if something, or someone was trying to make him fail. This held true when he went through ODST training, taking note that nearly everyday it was raining to some degree, even if it was just spitting. This got him thinking about the Kill House simulation, his training as Camp Pendleton and the operation where Wilt got injured. All those times it was raining, this forever caused Stiner to feel uneasy and on edge whenever dark clouds began rolling in. However this did not faze him until after his first drop in ODST school. The physical and mental aspects that ODST training demanded were beyond brutal, it was several tiers above such. But despite this, he somehow managed to dig deep and press on. He would run to the point his lungs would be passed the burning sensation and the taste of blood at the back of his throat was coating his entire mouth. He would do push ups till the point he could not even lift his arms. He did sit ups to the point he felt as if his innards were about to fall out. The Instructors did not hold back at any point, they would get water hoses and spray the candidates at they did butterfly kicks, or when they did any other form of exercises that had them pinned to the asphalt. They would tell the candidates to go run and would not tell them when to stop, rather watch as they dropped like flies out of exhaustion.

Once the physical phases of training were over, it was time for them to familiarize themselves with the SOEIV, or the Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle. Which to many looked like some type of escape pod, metal coffin hybrid. Some candidates flat out refused to get inside their SOEIVs. They were quickly sent packing back their original unit faster than one could say “FUBAR!”. As for the others who either reluctantly or willingly entered their SOEIVs, they were shown how to properly enter and exit the vehicle, how to manually steer it if the situation required it, and how to store weapons inside the pod properly. Once the Instructors got that out of the way, they began fastening the candidates into their seats and then proceeded to close the hatches as head Instructor began counting down for the SOEIVs to begin their drop.

At this point it was 50/50. Candidates were freaking out in their own way. Some were actively screaming and begging to be let out, while others were screaming internally gripping the handle bars within side the pod. The buzzer rang as the countdown ended, and one by one the pods detached and began their plummet from space to Earth's atmosphere and then its surface. To his surprise, Stiner did not feel much of a difference in pressure or otherwise when transitioning from space to the upper then lower atmospheres of Earth. It wasn’t until he hit the ground that he knew his ride had come to an end. He slammed the button for the hatch to open and stumbled out of the pod and looked around the wide open field, which at this point was nothing but a mud pit due to the non-stop rain. He watched as all the other candidates crawled out of their pods and looked around laughing nervously at how they were somehow alive after having endured such an experience. He then looked up to the sky and closed his eyes feeling the rain hit his face ever so gently. He began replaying those words Wilt said to him on that day, where it too was raining like it was now. He inhaled deeply through his nose and exhaled out his mouth before falling on his back laughing to himself, partially out of nerves and partially out of happiness. Perhaps he was meant to be a Helljumper afterall.



How did you hear of this Roleplay & Community?

Isocade had told me about it and after some stalking of the forums I decided I would give it a go.

[Goose]

At the time of this post I was extremely tired and might have overlooked some minor grammatical errors. Let me know of any changes that need to be done. Sorry for it being so long.

[Lt. Dan Taylor]

At the time of this post I was extremely tired and might have overlooked some minor grammatical errors. Let me know of any changes that need to be done. Sorry for it being so long.

Nah, it's fine... Just tell me when you fix them and I'll make a judgement.

[Lt. Dan Taylor]

Had a lot of chunky paragraphs that could've been split up, but other then that if there were grammar errors I either ignored them or they just never really came up.

Good action, plausible story with the 2nd part, child thing was a little bit out of the blue, with like the.. Academy thing? But I'd say it works just fine, good background all-in-all.




fuk u, join nigr