Lucas Browning

Lucas Browning
Biographical information
Homeworld:	Vaslo, Alluvion
Born:	c. 2534
Personal details
Species:	Human
Gender:	Male
Hair color:	Dark
Political and military information
Affiliation:	UNSC Marine Corps
Service number:	42410-02214-LB

Lucas Browning is a Hospital Corpsman in the UNSC Marine Corps.

Biography

Early life

Lucas Browning was born in Vaslo, on Alluvion, circa 2534, and grew up in a household of nurses and caregivers. He was evacuated from the planet when he was still a child, presumably in 2542, when the Covenant laid siege to Alluvion. Eventually, Browning became a Corpsman in the United Nations Space Command Marine Corps, and joined the marine complement on UNSC Infinity when the flagship was retrofitted over Earth.

Battle for Zeta Halo

Main article: Battle for Zeta Halo

On December 12, 2559, Browning was aboard the UNSC Infinity when it was ambushed by Banished forces upon arrival at Installation 07. As the Infinity fell to the Banished assault, Browning was evacuated onboard the lifeboat Papa Tango Delta Zero Nine piloted by TJ Murphy. Browning was the last person to board the lifeboat as Spartan Bonita Stone held a collapsing beam above him so he could reach the lifeboat. During its escape from the flagship, Browning's lifeboat flew through a destroyed Banished dreadnought, but it lost its back section to weapon fire, and spun out of control as it entered the ring's atmosphere.

Browning's lifeboat crash-landed on the surface of the ring, and was lodged inside a crevice, leaving its occupants trapped. The crew took turns transmitting a distress call, which was answered by Spartan-IV Tomas Horvath of Fireteam Intrepid. However, after the explosion on the ring and its sudden slipspace jump, they lost contact with Horvath. The event, which fractured the ring, also buried the lifeboat deeper into the crevice, until Spartan Bonita Stone arrived and tore open the lifeboat's hull to pull out each survivor, including Browning. Over the next six days, Browning and other lifeboat survivors travelled across the region with Spartan Stone. They eventually rendezvoused with another group of survivors led by Spartan Nina Kovan. Browning bonded with two other non-combatants from Kovan's group, Erik Bender and Gavin Jo, who were supply staff personnel. The combined group became the "boat crew". Led by Stone and Kovan, they travelled to the UNSC stronghold at the wreckage of the UNSC Mortal Reverie; they arrived on December 19. Browning and Jo were assigned to the med bay within the ship's wreckage.

Browning participated in the defense of the Reverie when the Banished launched an assault on the wreckage on January 31, 2560. Along with other members of the boat crew, he was stationed at a medical tent near the secondary barricade. On February 2, as the UNSC defenses fell to the Banished assault, Browning and Gavin Jo were attacked by a Sangheili Enforcer. While Jo was impaled by the Sangheili's energy sword, Browning was saved by Spartan Kovan. Murphy and Bender tried to carry Jo to cover so Browning could tend to Jo's injury, but Jo begged them to leave as more Banished troops approached. Browning fled along with other UNSC survivors of the battle. In order to prevent the Banished from finding Spartan Kovan and the rest of the boat crew, Browning stole a Ghost and led the Banished troops away from his friends. He expected to be killed, but was instead taken prisoner by the Banished.

On February 8, Browning was taken to Redoubt of Sundering, where he was horrified, then angry, to learn that there was a human working as an inspector among the Banished. The inspector determined that, based on his physique, Browning was either a scientist or a doctor, so Browning was taken to a holding cell separate from the others. Over the next three to four weeks, Browning was left in the cell and watched other humans survivors being processed at the outpost, until he, along with a handful of other prisoners, was taken to Chak 'Lok's Tower for interrogation and torture. During his initial torture session, Browning fainted at the sight of plasma cutters and woke up in an enclosed holding cell. He was fed in scraps or slops every couple of days. He met another prisoner, Spartan Hudson Griffin, who occupied a cell next to his, though the two never actually saw each other, and Griffin kept his identity a secret from Browning.

At some point following the fall of the UNSC stronghold at the Reverie, the Banished unearthed a Forerunner cylix underneath the wreckage, which had been converted into a Banished outpost. On April 18, under the orders of War Chief Escharum, Itacus forced Browning to interface with the cylix, releasing the Xalanyn known as the "Harbinger" from stasis. Upon her release, Browning caught the Harbinger's eyes, and she claimed that he will be hers. Browning remained at Outpost Tremonius afterwards; on April 23, when Spartan Stone was scouting out the Banished outpost, she recognized Browning from afar, then returned to Kovan to share her findings. That evening, Kovan snuck into Outpost Tremonius and into the Phantom that held Browning. He couldn't be rescued, however, as the Harbinger and the Banished had put a pair of shackles on Browning's wrists, with a node on the Phantom's hull that would detect the sensors and detonate explosives within the shackles if Browning leaves the Phantom. Browning informed Kovan of the Harbinger, and opted to stay under captivity. Kovan gave him several recording transmitters, instructing Browning to learn whatever he could about the Harbinger or the Banished, and left a tracking beacon to Browning's neck. The Spartan made a promise to find Browning, then left before a pair of Jiralhanae patrol approached. Browning would recount his encounter with the Harbinger, and, per Kovan's instruction, left them to automatically link to any UNSC data pad transmitters in his vicinity; his audio logs on the Harbinger were recovered by John-117 approximately a month later. The next day, on April 24, Browning was taken back to the Tower.

On April 26, Browning was transported to the Harbinger at the House of Reckoning; he managed to record the initial exchange between Chak 'Lok and the Harbinger upon his arrival. The Harbinger and the Banished had prepared a table of cooked food and water for Browning; halfway through his meal, however, the Harbinger stopped him so she can speak to him. Over the next several days, Browning was transported multiple times from his holding cell in the Tower to the House of Reckoning to speak with the Harbinger. On May 7, while he was in his cell in the Tower, Browning tried to describe his experience with the Harbinger to Griffin, but when he tried to recount the encounter, he could only speak in numbers. Griffin managed to comfort Browning, telling him to keep it to himself for now, and they would endure captivity together. By May 15, Browning's repeated encounters with the Harbinger had left him in a hysterical state in which he was involuntarily rambling to himself. He was not present at either the Tower or the House of Reckoning when John-117 attacked either location circa May 28. Given that on May 18, the boat crew decided to rescue Browning, it is possible that Browning was liberated from the Tower before the facility was put out of use by John-117 as there was no sign of him at that time.

Personality and traits

Gavin Jo: "It'll be a miracle if we survive. We're scattered and outnumbered... and we don't even know when or if help is coming... I'm sorry. I'm just being realistic—to a fault, I know. And trust me, I've heard it my entire life. No one likes to hear the truth or look at the world through unfiltered lenses. I don't like it either, I hate it—I hate... this. But—"

Lucas Browning: "It's not in your nature to sugarcoat things. That's why you're good at what you do. Just the facts, right?"

Gavin Jo: "Right."

— Lucas Browning consoling Gavin Jo as the two contemplated the UNSC's situation on Zeta Halo.

Having grown up in a household of nurses and caregivers, Lucas Browning learned that a little attention and comfort could ease the suffering around him—this belief inspired him to become a medic. During the Battle for Zeta Halo, Browning experienced imposter syndrome and had feelings of self-doubt due to his young age and inexperience; the rest of the boat crew often called him "Doc", but he did not feel like he had earned the title. Spartan Bonita Stone described Browning as having an easily-recognisable "fresh-out-of-med-school face". Browning lacked a soldier's physique, which became thinner during his captivity under the Banished.

List of appearances

• Halo Infinite (First appearance)
• Halo: The Rubicon Protocol