Editing Eric Santiago

{{Era|HE}}

{{Ratings}}

{{Human Character Infobox

|death=September [[2552]]  

|rank=[[Pilot]]

|ID Number=  

|weapons=

|cyber=

|era=*[[Insurrection]]

*[[Human-Covenant War]]

|types=

'''Eric Santiago''' was a [[UNSC Navy]] [[Pilot]] during the [[Human-Covenant War]]. He was a member of the [[Colonial Military Administration]] before it was disbanded, and his service to the UNSC was something he had taken out of necessity, not human patriotism.<ref>''[[Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe]]'', ''[[Dirt]]'', page 137</ref> He fought for almost the entirety of the [[Human-Covenant War]].

===Early Career===

Eric Santiago was born on the UNSC colony of [[Madrigal]] in the early 26th century. Some time in early [[2524]] Eric joined the Colonial Military. After getting out of boot camp, Eric was shipped to [[Harvest]] where he met [[Gage Yevgenny]] and [[Felicia Sanderson]] at the [[Utgard]] Space Port. The three quickly became friends. They participated in [[Operation: TREBUCHET]] on [[Eridanus II]], doing small jobs, such as investigating possible [[Insurrectionist|rebel]] activity and riot control in [[Elysium City]]. After two months, they had made friends with [[Allison Stark]], a [[Pelican]] pilot for the CMA, who often flew them to parties on weekends. One particular weekend, after flying a [[AV-14 Attack VTOL|Hornet]] to a night club, an Insurrectionist bomb went off inside, killing Allison, sending Eric into a coma, and heavily injuring Gage and Felicia, who were pulled out of the rubble by ODSTs.

For the next eighteen years flew in and out of battles in a [[Dropship 77-Troop Carrier|Pelican Dropship]], and achieved an unspecified but substantial rank. At some point during that time Eric was reunited with Felicia, now a [[Colonel]], aboard the UNSC ''Chares'' and the two resumed their friendship. Felicia and Gage had both become [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper]]s but the two had been separated and had not seen each other in over two decades.

In the fall of 2552, Eric was involved in an operation to infiltrate a city under siege by the Covenant, who were looking for [[Forerunner|alien]] artifacts. Simultaneously, several former CMA members were performing a clandestine operation to extract a massive supply of gold from a bank, gold that they would take for themselves and retire on. However, after infiltrating the bank, the ODST team discovered a class of school children and their teacher hiding in the underground vault, hoping to survive the planet's inevitable [[glassing]]. Having already loaded two Pelicans full of gold, the ODSTs knew there was no room for the children. To deceive the civilians, the troopers claimed that the gold would be used in the UNSC's war effort. Gage, who had seen too many people killed by the Covenant, was in strong favor of postponing the mission to save them. The other ODSTs, who claimed the children were as good as dead, disagreed, causing an argument. Felicia stepped in, wanting to call in more Pelicans, but the other ODSTs had already raised their weapons at one another. In an instant, Gage was shot in the abdomen, three other squad members were dead, and Felicia was fatally wounded. Gage rushed to her side, but she died in his arms.

Gage, in shock, went outside to find Eric, who informed him that the UNSC were falling back. Gage knocked Eric out with his sidearm and called for more Pelicans, claiming they were under heavy fire. He then flew Eric's Pelican to the pickup point and collected the artifacts the Covenant were looking for, as well as a [[Shiva-class Nuclear Missile|Shiva nuclear device]], then flew away from the city. Gage believed that the Covenant forces would follow him in pursuit of the relics. As he was being pursued by Covenant [[Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft|Banshees]], he was "accidentally" shot down by ODSTs who knew of his betrayal.

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[[Category:Humans (Characters)]]

[[Category:UNSC Naval Personnel]]

[[Category:Characters]]