Wellsley

Wellsley
Biographical information
Began service:	May 1, 2469
Ended service:	September 22, 2552 (aged 83)
Gender:	Male programming
Description:	Stern-looking man with longish hair, prominent nose, and a collared coat; supposed to look like an 18th century British officer
Color(s):	Blue
Political and military information
Affiliation:	United Nations Space Command
Functionality:	Military assistant
Service number:	WLS 3982-0

"Then God help you, because if your plan fails, no one else will have the power to do so."

— Wellsley to Major Antonio Silva, after Silva ignored Wellsley's advice regarding the Flood.

Wellsley (AI Serial Number: WLS 3982-0) was a United Nations Space Command 4th generation, Class-C military dumb AI who was assigned to the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers battalion on the UNSC Pillar of Autumn. He helped Major Antonio Silva and First Lieutenant Melissa McKay set up and operate the Alpha Base on Installation 04. Wellsley was ultimately consumed in the destruction of the Truth and Reconciliation.

Biography

Entered service

Wellsley was created on May 1, 2469.

Fall of Reach

On August 30, 2552, during the Fall of Reach, Major Antonio Silva reported to Wellsley that Spartans had taken all the M90 shotguns from the aft rack on the Pillar of Autumn.

Pillar of Autumn

On September 19, Wellsley helped Major Antonio Silva debrief Fireteam Raven on the approaching Covenant threat during the Pillar of Autumn's approach to Installation 04, informing them that Captain Jacob Keyes had put the ship on Combat Alert Alpha so Raven had to defend the ship from invading parties. During the defense Wellsley informed Raven that the ship's M910 Rampart point defense network was down and to assist in bringing them back online; when Raven did that he overrode the controls so they could use them to hold off external threats to the ship. After Raven had cleared out an area near escape pods, Wellsley told Raven about Keyes crashing the ship, and suggested they should swiftly get into their drop pods.

Landing at Halo

As part of the UNSC Insertion Protocols, Wellsley was onboard Major Antonio Silva's drop pod. During the descent to Installation 04, Wellsley picked out a butte on the surface for Silva to act as an effective home base for the scattered UNSC forces on Halo. Wellsley then sent a message to the rest of the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers about the location, and told Silva that the Covenant owned that location.

Later, he also warned Silva about a Covenant motorized counterattack, which he compared to the French cavalry charge at Waterloo, much to Silva's annoyance. To which Silva then used an Infantry square with A and D Company to counter the threat.

Wellsley eventually got in contact with Cortana, who was with John-117 rescuing crew members from Class-3 Bumblebees, and sent a D77-TC Pelican Echo 419 to pick them up. Wellsley also got in contact with Captain Jacob Keyes and the other surviving crew prior to their capture telling them his group and Cortanas were busy at the moment.

He assisted Pelicans such as Echo 136 get troops prepared for the assault on Alpha base, and after the assault was done helped get the rest of First Lieutenant Melissa McKay's battalion to the base.

Rescuing Keyes

After Alpha Base was secured, Wellsley, Cortana, and Major Antonio Silva concocted a mission to rescue Captain Jacob Keyes, who was being held on the Covenant ship Truth and Reconciliation. In preparation for this mission, Wellsley concocted an array of signals that was able to trick Covenant technicians into believing UNSC dropships were one of their own.

Effort to take back the Autumn

Since Fireteam Raven landed on Installation 04 Wellsley guided them, though a mobile communications link, on a journey to the Pillar of Autumns crash site to assist First Lieutenant Melissa McKay in an effort to take back the ships crash site, and on September 20 Raven arrived. During the battle Wellsley provided information support, and after the skirmish he informed Raven that Major Antonio Silva will brief them on the current scenario after they returned to Alpha Base.

Covenant Alpha base attack

On September 21, when Pelican Charlie 217 appeared near Alpha Base, Wellsley recommended Com Tech First Class Mary Murphy to get more information out of the pilot, questioning how they even knew about the base, and put the base on full alert, also prepping a medical team. As Charlie 217 was landing, it turned out to be filled with Special Operations Sangheili, Wellsley noticed six heavy duty signatures, just as Alpha base was being overrun. To handle the upcoming forces, Wellsley recommended First Lieutenant Melissa McKay and Major Antonio Silva handle the Covenant in the mesa while he dealt with the Covenant at the pads.

Murphy then took the safeties off the anti-air defenses and gave control to Wellsley, after which she and her two companions then were slaughtered by the Elites, Wellsley, witnessing the murders, killed the lights and notified Silva to then send a properly equipped team to deal with the Sangheili inside. At the same time, while control to the anti-air was too late to hit the first dropship, and was ineffective against the Type-26 Banshees, Wellsley managed to shoot down the second out of the six approaching Covenant dropships.

After the attack, Wellsley made a report on the event that concluded that the Covenant were searching for John-117. Wellsley also believed that the Covenant dismissed the Marines and Naval personnel as little more than a nuisance, and the enemy had since changed their minds, monitoring human radio traffic, conducting recon and so on.

Covenant Alpha base attack

At some point Major Antonio Silva and Wellsley debriefed Fireteam Raven on the situation that had happened, including the known information on the ring they were on before the Covenant attacked for a second time.

The Flood

After the Flood attacked Alpha base forces, Wellsley believed that Installation 04 was constructed to house them and keep them under control. Wellsley also had scans of the Flood corpses.

Wellsley and Cortana managed to link up again, and Cortana told him their plan to destroy the Pillar of Autumn. Major Antonio Silva then planned to have Wellsley take a crack at flying the Truth and Reconciliation if Cortana couldn't make it to the ship.

Assisting John-117

On September 22, Wellsley directed Fireteam Raven to a ice canyon to assist John-117 disable the pulse generators, debriefing them on the Flood threat. During extraction Raven got hit and their ride was taken down.

After Raven was recovered and was on route to the Pillar of Autumn, Wellsley commanded Raven to allow John-117 to detonate the Pillar of Autumn's fusion drives.

Truth and Reconciliation assault

When the surviving Marines and ODSTs captured the Truth and Reconciliation, Wellsley sided with First Lieutenant Melissa McKay and attempted to convince Major Antonio Silva not to leave until they were sure that every last Flood on the ship was exterminated.

When McKay cut the communications to the engines, the Covenant ship lost control and crashed on Installation 04. He was fully aware of McKay's actions and just before the ship crashed, he told Silva that if he could be proud of one thing, it was that he had taught McKay well. Wellsley was presumed lost in the crash, as was almost the entire remaining UNSC presence on the ring.

Appearance, personality and traits

Appearance

As with all AIs, Wellsley had the ability to choose his appearance. He had a blue hologram, chose to appear as a stern-looking man with long hair, a prominent nose, and a collared coat, and so resembled his namesake, Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, even being created exactly 700 years after his birth.

Personality

Wellsley was created to act as a military assistant. Though he was less capable than a smart AI, he was useful for managing battlefield logistics. He often referred to his victories as though he were the actual Duke and not an artificial re-creation, which annoyed many of his acquaintances.

Storage

Wellsley was hardware-bound, housed in a command drop pod. During the battle of Installation 04 Wellsley was stored in an armored matrix that was often slung on Major Antonio Silva's shoulder.

Trivia

• In Halo: The Fall of Reach, Lieutenant Hikowa mentions the Pillar of Autumn having a secondary AI for "point defense", though this AI is not named. It is possible, though unconfirmed, that Wellsley was this other AI as no other AIs are mentioned as being present on the Pillar of Autumn in relevant media. In Halo: Fireteam Raven's first level, Escape, Wellsley directs Fireteam Raven to take control of the ship's point defense guns, enabling their manual controls for the fireteam to use - adding further credence to this idea.

• In certain prints of the novel Halo: The Flood, his name is often spelled as Wellesley; this however is never used in subsequent appearances or mentions.

Gallery

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  A render of Wellsley from Halo: Fireteam Raven.

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  Side view of Wellsley's face from Halo: Fireteam Raven.

List of appearances

• Halo: The Flood (First appearance)
• Halo: Fireteam Raven