Fernando Esparza

Fernando Esparza
Personal details
Species:	Human
Gender:	Male
Hair color:	Brown
Eye color:	Brown
Political and military information
Affiliation:	United Nations Space Command

"This is UNSC Pelican Echo 216. Can you hear me?"

— Fernando Esparza tries to hail a friendly signal.

Fernando Esparza was a civilian contractor who worked in engineering on the UNSC Infinity. During the attack on the Infinity by Banished forces, Esparza fled for Pelican Echo 216, commandeering the craft and becoming stranded after the conflict. In May 2560 he had a chance encounter with Spartan-II John-117 after being stranded in the dropship for 6 months around the shattered remains of the Halo ring. He brought the Master Chief aboard the craft shortly before it came under attack. The two became inseparable as they both needed each other, albeit for different reasons.

Biography

"We lost. Lost everything. There's nothing left for us here. I don't even know where here is."

— Esparza lets the Chief know about their present situation.

At some point in early 2560 Esparza was asleep in the cockpit of his Pelican around Installation 07 when a shaking of the craft and repeated warnings suddenly woke him. Pressure was building in multiple lines but he managed to initiate a protocol which caused the warnings to cease. Just then, however, a piece of debris impacted Echo 216's rear, creating a breach. Esparza rushed to seal it and was successful in doing so, but in the process, he slipped and fell from the box he had been standing on to reach it. When he hit the floor a recording device came out of his pocket and rolled away. This device—containing a recorded message from his wife and daughter—was a small comfort to him over the weeks which followed, during which time he remained stranded in the Pelican near the damaged ring.

Eventually, after repeated viewings of the same message his recording device lost power. It was almost immediately after this, however, that Echo 216 alerted him to the presence of a signal with a friendly designation. He raced to the cockpit and hailed the signal, but before he could identify himself twice he wiped away frost on the cockpit window to reveal an armored Spartan floating nearby: Master Chief Petty Officer John-117. Bringing the hulking warrior aboard revealed that his armor's survival mode had been triggered. To override it, Esparza rerouted what little power remained to Echo 216 into the armor, and was thrilled when parts of the Pelican's interior which had gone dark from a lack of energy suddenly flared to life thanks to the suit's fusion reactor recharging the Pelican's depleted batteries. Esparza enthusiastically welcomed the Chief back after seeing that he'd reawakened. He also noticed that something appeared to be wrong with the servos the man's gauntleted hands, but before he could locate a tool to check his armor's diagnostics John approached him and asked for a status report. This caught Esparza off guard, but he then realized the Chief may not know about what had happened to the nearby ring and so turned his attention to the cockpit. As the Spartan laid eyes on what remained of it he explained that they had lost everything here—though he added that he didn't even know where "here" was. Then, without warning, Echo 216 was hit by something which generated electrical discharges within it and enveloped it in bright light. Esparza panicked at this and signaled to the Chief that he had witnessed this sort of attack before. He advised that they needed to flee, but John disagreed, instead stating that they needed to fight. At that point, Esparza sealed himself within the cockpit while the Spartan took up a position in the troop bay. The Chief told him to get ready right before Esparza opened the rear hatch so he could go on the offensive.

On May 28, Esparza found himself flying Echo 216 through a series of newly-created gorges—thanks to the breakup of the ring—whilst being fired at by anti-aircraft cannons constructed by the Banished. The Pelican took at least a hit each from two of cannons, forcing Esparza to make an emergency landing in a shallow stream. The final impact which stopped the dropship's forward momentum made knocked Esparza briefly unconscious, but when he came to panic and disbelief seized him immediately. The Master Chief attempted to calm him but with little success, instead being berated by Esparza for putting them both in their present predicament. The Spartan decided he needed to eliminate the cannons, of which he'd counted three, and instructed Esparza to remain put with the Pelican until he returned. Doubtful that he would be safe on his own, Esparza protested this. Before hitting the ground he'd spotted a number of Condors and was determined to check whether any of them retained a working slipspace drive which they could use to flee the system. The Master Chief agreed to help him with such a search, but only after he'd first dealt with the cannons.

Later, while attempting to pick up the Chief and The Weapon, Esparza was kidnapped by Blademaster Jega 'Rdomnai and taken to the House of Reckoning, where he was tortured by War Chief Escharum in order to lure the Master Chief into a final confrontation. The Master Chief managed to kill both 'Rdomnai and Escharum and save Esparza. When the Chief showed respect to the fallen Escharum, Esparza was shocked and called Escharum a "monster". The Chief replied that in the end, Escharum was a soldier.

Esparza later picked up the Chief and the Weapon following the defeat of The Harbinger. He expressed relief upon seeing them, thinking they'd been lost in the three days they'd been missing. Prompted by the Weapon, Esparza, who'd only been known as Echo-216 until then, revealed his real name. The trio flew off in their Pelican, ready to take on the remainder of the Banished on the ring.

	Check out our collection of quotes related to Fernando Esparza on its quotes page.
	Browse more images in this article's gallery page.

Personality and traits

"I'll be safe? Safe?! I haven't been "safe" since I found you! I found you, remember? You were out there on your own and you'd still be out there if it wasn't for me! I thought I was going home!"

— Esparza frustrated with Chief after their Pelican was shot down by anti-air cannons.

Esparza cares deeply for his wife and daughter, both of whom he missed terribly during the prolonged period of isolation he experienced aboard his Pelican. Even then, at the lowest point in his life, he demonstrated extraordinary resilience. Despite being out of food and water, and being cold, isolated, over-exerted, and trapped, he did not give up. When he eventually discovered the Master Chief, he felt relief and triumph.

His patience is not unwavering, however. He can be seen snapping at The Chief multiple times, irritated that his and the Spartan's motivations do not align.

Nicolas Roye.

Production notes

"We're not talking a lot about the pilot at E3 this year. But he is a new character to the Halo universe and we're really taking our time to introduce the pilot and bring him in for players in a really careful way; where you get to learn about the pilot and emotionally connect with him throughout this piece. You'll be seeing the pilot more in Halo Infinite."

— 343 Industries studio head Chris Lee speaks to the pilot's introduction.

Details of this pilot's character design, such as the UNSC logo on his flight suit, are meant to showcase the art direction pursued for Halo Infinite—one that draws significant inspiration from the most iconic and historic parts of the Halo franchise. Echo 216 and her pilot were first introduced in the 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo trailer for Halo Infinite, dubbed "Discover Hope". According to 343 Industries, the pilot will be an important character within that game. In Discover Hope, his resuscitation of John-117 and the life and courage the Chief then brings him were meant to speak to the theme of rebirth. Both Mega Construx and Wicked Cool Toys have produced representations of the character that will become available for purchase. Wicked Cool Toys' figure will come armed with a BR75 battle rifle and an earthen base to stand on.

He will be voiced by Nicolas Roye, and the character was named by Roye himself, after his two best friends from childhood.

Gallery

Concept art

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  Concept art created for Discover Hope.

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  Part of a storyboard made for Discover Hope.

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  This piece of concept art shows the planned moment in which the pilot first sees the Master Chief.

Pre-release images

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  Echo 216's pilot slumbers in the Pelican's cockpit.

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  The pilot watches a recording of his wife.

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  The voices of the pilot's wife and daughter bring him comfort.

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  The pilot mourns his solitude and separation from his family.

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  The pilot is alerted to a friendly signal.

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  The pilot prepares to reroute power to John-117's armor.

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  The pilot looks over John-117.

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  The pilot responds enthusiastically to reawakening the Chief.

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  John-117 is greeted by Echo 216's pilot.

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  The pilot tries to halt John.

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  John-117 and Echo 216's pilot both have their attention drawn by something.

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  Echo 216 comes under attack.

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  The pilot stands looking over wreckage of UNSC origin.

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  The pilot falls to his knees at the sight of a UNSC wreckage site.

Merchandise

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  Mega Construx toy of the Pilot.

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  Wicked Cool Toys action figure of the pilot.

List of appearances

• Discover Hope (First appearance)
• Halo Infinite